Sunday, August 10, 2025

Recipe: Chicken Salad with Haricots Verts


Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2014, p. 102
4.9 stars

I love salads that have potatoes and green beans in them -- this hit the spot and is definitely a restaurant-worthy $28 salad. Note that we used salmon instead of chicken. I may not need to order this in a restaurant anymore!

Ingredients based on our recipe: salmon, mixed greens, potatoes, haricots verts, radish, shallot, garlic, Sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard, thyme, sugar, olive oil, black pepper


Sunday, July 27, 2025

Recipe: Spicy Hoisin Dipping Sauce

Spicy Hoisin Dipping Sauce
Food & Wine Magazine, Jul 2025, p. 39
5 stars

This sauce goes with the Vietnamese Spring Rolls that we made.
Delicious! Just like in the restaurant!

Ingredients: hoisin sauce, sriracha chile sauce, tahini, soy sauce, water

Tips/Notes:
  • Didn't include any water as the sauce thickness was good

Wednesday, July 23, 2025

Recipe: Spicy Black Bean and Chicken Salad with Roasted Cumin Vinaigrette


A McCormick Gourmet Collection Recipe by Cat Cora
4.7 stars

We made this plant based using Impossible Chicken. Good salad, but the dressing was a bit acidic for me. Overall, we liked it and will make it again.

Vinaigrette ingredients: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, lime peel, lime juice, cilantro, ground cumin, Dijon mustard, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper

Salad ingredients: lettuce, chicken, black beans, cherry tomatoes, corn, red bell pepper, red onion

Tips/Notes:
  • Used Impossible Chicken
  • Added queso fresco

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Recipe: Sweet Corn Salad with Pancetta and Mushrooms


Sweet Corn Salad with Pancetta and Mushrooms
Food & Wine Magazine, Sep 2015 p. 120
4.8 stars

Lovely salad by then Baccarat Hotel chef Shea Gallante, so definitely restaurant-worthy. Love all of the textures and flavors!!! The Gruyere cheese is a must.

Ingredients: frisee, corn, scallions, pancetta, cremini mushrooms, chives, Gruyere cheese, extra-virgin olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey, apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips/Notes:
  • Used mixed greens instead of frisee
  • Used frozen corn
  • Used baby bella mushrooms instead of cremini mushrooms
  • Next time, need to shave the Gruyere cheese on to the salad.

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Recipe: Cheesy Sesame Phyllo Bites


Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2016/Jan 2017, p.60
4.9 stars

So... we had extra puff pastry left, and I pulled this recipe and didn't realize it uses phyllo pastry (not puff pastry), but it still worked and was delicious!

Ingredients: phyllo pastry, Gruyere, black and white sesame seeds, butter, egg white, smoked paprika, salt, pepper  

Tips/Notes:
  • For our modified recipe, we didn't use egg white


Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Recipe: Cashew-Chickpea Salad with Cabbage Slaw


Martha Stewart Living, Jan/Feb 2022, p. 99
4.8 stars

Really good(!) and I like the cashew chickpea mix. Interesting ingredients that work together -- this is restaurant worthy.

Cashew-Chickpea Crunch Ingredients: chickpeas, cashews, cashew butter, sesame seeds, miso, tamari, ginger, extra-virgin olive oil

Salad Dressing Ingredients: unseasoned rice vinegar, ginger, sesame oil, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Other Salad Ingredients: Savoy or red cabbage, radishes, cilantro, mandarin oranges 


Tips/Notes:
  • Used almond butter instead of cashew butter
  • Used mixed greens instead of cabbage
  • Used Cuties oranges

Sunday, June 22, 2025

Recipe: Congee Pot Pie



Bon Appetit Magazine, Sept 2022, p.88
4.7 stars

Really delicious Asian pot pie. Like most pot pies, it's a bit "heavy" especially because of the rice, so we won't make this very often, but it tasted just as I expected it to!

Ingredients: biscuit dough, rotisserie chicken, all-purpose flour, white rice, chicken broth, scallions, shallot, garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, butter, ground white pepper, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:
  • Used puff pastry instead of biscuit dough
  • Used Impossible Chicken (air fried) instead of rotisserie chicken
  • Used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
  • Instead of individual ramekins, made one large casserole
  • The rice actually broke down in the last 25 min mark

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Recipe: Ramen Noodle Salad


Food & Wine Magazine, May 2026, p. 44
4.8 stars

Delicious and easy -- just a bit of prep work! The dressing tasted like peanut sauce. Super healthy. Added some plant-based protein -- see tips/notes below.

Salad: instant ramen, baby arugula, napa cabbage, corn, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, nori, scallions

Dressing Ingredients: rice vinegar, soy sauce, tahini, toasted sesame oil, sriracha chile sauce, ginger, garlic, granulated sugar

Tips/Notes:
  • Didn't use napa cabbage or nori
  • Used frozen corn (blanched it)
  • Added mixed greens, edamame, and seared tofu with togarashi



Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Recipe: Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes with Lemon Crema




Saveur, issue?, p. 38
4.7 stars

This should be called a HEALTHY Dutch baby, not a pancake!!! There is not much sugar in this so it tasted super super healthy. Definitely need maple syrup on it!

Ingredients: quinoa, flour, buttermilk, eggs, whole milk, 2 cinnamon sticks, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, butter, Kosher salt; Mexican crema or sour cream, lemon, granola, maple syrup

Tips/Notes:
  • Next time, make 1/2 the batter! This recipe made 3 LARGE Dutch babies
  • Served with a side of bacon

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Recipe: Root Vegetable Tarte Tatin




Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2015, p. 71
4.7 stars

If you look at the recipe on epicurious.com or bonappetit.com, you'll see that ours looks very different from their photo. It's because we did not slice the vegetables into rounds and did not invert the whole thing on to a plate. I'm actually not sure how we could invert it as there was so much liquid. We'll try it again, but during a fall/winter month as this really is more of a fall/winter dish.

The goat cheese and sage really make this dish!

Ingredients: Yukon Gold potato, sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, fresh goat cheese, red onion, olive oil, white wine vinegar, sugar, rosemary, sage, Kosher salt, pepper; also all-purpose flour, butter, apple cider vinegar, Kosher salt for the pie crust

Tips/Notes:
  • Cut the vegetables into rounds next time
  • Forgot to add the white wine vinegar to the caramel so added it afterwards -- need to remember next time