Recipe: Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Soup

Creamy Tuscan Chickpea Soup

Food & Wine Magazine, Sep 2025, p. 40
5 stars

This soup was DELICIOUS! We've made various soups like this, but this was different and extremely flavorful, I think due to the sun-dried tomatoes.

Ingredients: Italian sausage, chickpeas, lacinato kale, celery, yellow onion, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, chicken stock, heavy cream, extra-virgin olive oil, basil, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used plant-based (Beyond) Sausage. Next time, cook and keep separately as it got gummy in the soup when we ate leftovers.
• Used more celery than called for
• Used vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and less than called for (used some water)
• Add Parmigiano-Reggiano on top next time so the cheese doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan
• Added a little more cream

Recipe: Cheesy Chickpea Salad Toast

Cheesy Chickpea Salad Toast

Bon Appetit Magazine, May 2023, p.18
4.7 stars

We'd made this before, but I'd forgotten to take a photo and blog about it. It seems like it would be an odd mix of ingredients, but it all really works together. You need EVERYTHING, though, we didn't use dill. Really good -- super flavorful. Great with chips and a salad.

Ingredients: bread, chickpeas, celery, extra sharp cheddar, cornichons, red onion, dill, butter, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, flaky sea salt, hot sauce

Recipe: Mushroom and Lentil Ragu

Mushroom and Lentil Ragu

Food & Wine Magazine, Sep 2025, p. 44

5 stars

I love this recipe so much! It was DELICIOUS!!! I can't wait to eat the leftovers. So flavorful!

One note: It was a little watery but thickens with time (next day - it was the perfect consistency).

Ingredients: cooked polenta, black lentils, crushed tomatoes, mixed mushrooms, yellow onion, carrots, tomato paste, dry red wine, vegetable broth, heavy ream, garlic, red pepper, oregano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Recipe: Salmon with New Potatoes, Spinach, and Cider Cream

Salmon with New Potatoes, Spinach, and Cider Cream

Food & Wine Magazine, Mar 2025, p 86
4.9 stars

Really nice dish! Restaurant-worthy, but lots of notes below.

Ingredients: salmon fillets, spinach, baby new potatoes, hard apple cider, heavy whipping cream, canola oil, unsalted butter, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used apple lemon ginger juice instead of hard apple cider
• Made half of the heavy whipping cream/cider sauce since we didn't make 4 salmon fillets
• Spinach wilts! Used 5x and would probably make even more spinach next time
• Make sure to cook the spinach separately as the water from the spinach thins the sauce -- so cook separately and then add to the sauce
• Didn't bake the salmon -- cooked it on the stove

Recipe: Creamy Pistachio Pasta with Crispy Guanciale

Creamy Pistachio Pasta with Crispy Guanciale

Inside the Rustic Kitchen

5 stars

Delicious!!! A bit on the heavy side but this is definitely restaurant worthy even though it's a pretty basic pasta. We used some dry pistachio pasta that I had picked up in Hico, TX in a small cafe.

Pistachio pesto ingredients: unroasted pistachios, basil, garlic, Pecorino Romano, EVOO, salt, pepper

Ingredients: pasta, guanciale, heavy cream, Parmigiano Reggiano

Tips/Notes:

• Had made our own pesto prior to making this dish so it wasn't pistachio pesto
• Use bacon next time instead of guanciale as the latter is SO fatty

Recipe: Chicken Salad with Haricots Verts

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

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

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

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

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.

Recipe: Cheesy Sesame Phyllo Bites

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