| Good Saturday morning, everyone. Sometimes I can't believe I get to say that to you — so many of you from across the country and around the world — each week. Wild. One of the other privileges of my job that I never want to take for granted is getting to talk to and meet food people whom I greatly admire. This is not a humblebrag about how I get to hang out with famous people. Often the ones I get most excited to chat with are not celebrities, but rather authors and chefs who are passionate about — and good at — what they do. Sometimes those two categories overlap, though, and that was true recently when Aaron Hutcherson and I cooked with Wolfgang Puck. We invited the celebrity chef (he's one of the relatively few I'd apply the overused term to) into our Food Lab to show us how to make one of his most famous dishes: Chinois chicken salad, which he started serving at one restaurant in 1983. It became so popular that he decided to offer it at even more, letting his chefs riff on it as they saw fit. Watching Puck as he seared chicken, chopped vegetables, whirred together a spicy mustard dressing, tossed the salad by hand and then elegantly plated it was like seeing an artist at work. It reminded me that even though cooking (and recipe developing and testing) can be solitary, there's so much joy, sharing and memory-making to be had. People have been eating this salad for 40 years. Wouldn't it be grand to think that maybe some of my recipes might have that kind of staying power, too? Even if you can't get to one of Puck's restaurants, you can make this dish at home with Aaron's take, which we're calling Wolfgang Puck's Chinois Chicken Salad in honor of its creator. (We also have a meatless riff in our archives, Orange and Cashew Cabbage Salad With Sesame Dressing.) In addition to the bevy of produce, which includes juicy mango and bitter radicchio, one of my favorite features is the crispy wonton strips. Grab a bag at the store and be prepared to be wowed by the array of colors, textures and flavors of the impressive salad. Joe Yonan also shared a colorful, textured main-course salad this week with his Warm Carrot, Bean and Couscous Salad. The secret: cooking sliced carrots and pearl couscous in carrot juice, which doubles down on the root vegetable flavor and lends a vibrant hue to the dish. Because it holds up well and can be served at room temperature, this is a great one to hang on to for office lunches and summer cookouts. I could see Ellie Krieger's Lamb and Artichoke Arayes With Yogurt-Feta Dip working for on-the-go eating, too, or as a relaxing patio dinner. These Middle Eastern crispy pita pockets feature ground lamb, which is lightened by canned or jarred artichokes. If you're looking for a satisfying, leaner alternative to burgers, give them a go. Need a drink to accompany whatever you're eating this weekend? Try the Black-Eyed Susan Cocktail, which we're sharing in recognition of today's Preakness Stakes in Baltimore. This fruity and relatively strong quaff made with orange juice, bourbon, vodka and peach schnapps is the official drink of the race at Pimlico, and it's just the thing for these increasingly warm days. In our cooking chat this week, we helped readers figure out how to get thin and crispy cookies, understand why cast iron doesn't heat evenly and decide what to make with an excess of matcha. What can we do for you? Submit your questions now for our next chat Wednesday at noon Eastern, and then come on back when we go live. Until next week, happy cooking. | 
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