Recipe: Avocado-and-Beet "Poke" Bowl

Avocado-and-Beet "Poke" Bowl

Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Mar 2022, p. 59
4.8 stars

I love poke bowls, but as we have gone more plant-based, this recipe intrigued me. How can beets mimic the raw tuna? Well, it did! I really liked all of the textures in this dish -- the poke-like beets, the fresh cucumber, creamy avocado, crunchy peanuts...

Ingredients: rice or soba noodles, beets, avocado, cucumber, ginger, sesame oil, lime zest and juice, chile-garlic sauce, seasoned rice vinegar, soy sauce, dried wakame, scallions, sesame seeds, peanuts

Tips/Notes:

• Make double the sauce next time so there is some to pour over the noodles
• Allow enough time to cool down the beets
• Serve with vegetable spring rolls

Recipe: Broccoli Soup with Turmeric, Peanuts, and Crispy Shallots

Broccoli Soup with Turmeric, Peanuts, and Crispy Shallots

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb. 2020, p. 71
4.8 stars

I honestly wasn't sure how this was going to turn out even as I was cooking it. It turned out GREAT! Super flavorful with nice textures and complexity, including HEAT from the serrano. The reserved broccoli added at the end was a nice touch, adding to the texture. The soup also had a good consistency, almost tasting like it had cream in it -- it doesn't!

Ingredients: broccoli, onion, Yukon potato, spinach, serrano, garlic, shallots, dry-roasted peanuts, turmeric, fish sauce, mint or cilantro leaves, vegetable oil, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used 2 medium potatoes
• Used a ton of spinach (4 large handfuls)
• Used cilantro

Cocktail Recipe: Shadow Woman

Shadow Woman

Food & Wine Magazine, Mar 2022, p. 61
4.8 stars but a strong drink!

This is a strong drink -- but oh so good. Better than cocktails I've ordered in restaurants. I love the complexity of it. I modified it a little bit in that I used pear liqueur instead of pear brandy. The recipe is from the American Bar in the Savoy Hotel in London. 

I modified it to the following and mixed it all in the glass -- didn't strain it.

• 1.5 oz bourbon
• 0.5 oz pear liqueur
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• orange and lemon peel twist
• ice

Recipe: Quick Broccoli Frittata

Quick Broccoli Frittata

Martha Stewart Living, Sept 2021, p. 56

4.6 stars

This was definitely QUICK! 

For a frittata on a weekday night when I don't have much time, this was overall good. There are other frittata recipes I've blogged about that were better but for a quick meal, I'm going to make this again. Plus, we generally have all these ingredients in the fridge.

Ingredients: frozen broccoli florets, eggs, sharp white cheddar, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, avocado, flaky sea salt

Tips:

• Next time, try gruyere instead
• Next time, roast the broccoli to caramelize it a little bit
• Served with tater tots and a salad

Recipe: Italian Wedding Risotto

Italian Wedding Risotto

Food & Wine Magazine, Feb 2022, p. 42

4.7 stars

This potentially can be a 5 star recipe when I remake it. As we are eating more plant-based, I tried Beyond Meat's Italian Meatballs. Not great. So, next time I'm going to try making the meatballs using Impossible ground beef and then will update this blog.

Overall, the risotto was really nice; I would make it again.

Ingredients: pork, panko, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, parsley, egg, chicken stock or broth, extra-virgin olive oil, butter, yellow onion, celery, arborio rice, dry white wine, baby spinach, garlic, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Used vegetable broth instead of chicken broth
• Used a LOT (3-4 big handfuls) of spinach
• As noted above, will try to make the meatballs using Impossible beef next time

Recipe: Super-Speedy Ziti

Super-Speedy Ziti

Martha Stewart Living, Jan/Feb 2022, p.52

4.8 stars

There is another recipe on this page in the magazine "Baked Ziti with Sausage and Bechamel" that I actually intended to make and wanted to note here as the recipe looks delicious -- however, because of a lack of time, I tried this Super-Speedy Ziti. It was great!

Ingredients: ziti or rigatoni, marinara sauce, sweet or spicy Italian sausage, mozzarella, ricotta, heavy cream, fresh basil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips:

• Used a jarred Calabrian marinara sauce (could've still used some red pepper)
• Didn't want to over salt the dish; it needed a little Maldon at the table

Recipe: Cheesy Lentil-and-Black Bean Nachos

Cheesy Lentil-and-Black Bean Nachos

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

4.8 stars

Easy, delicious weeknight vegetarian meal!

Ingredients: tortilla chips, cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, brown lentils, crushed fire-roasted tomatoes, black beans, portobello-mushroom caps, red onion, garlic, serrano, chili powder, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, ground pepper

Ingredients for serving: chopped tomatoes, fresh cilantro, lime

Tips:

• Had green lentils so used them instead of brown
• I thought the liquid was going to be too watery, but it did reduce down!
• Served with pickled sliced jalapenos
• Serve with sour cream next time

Recipe: Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups

Crunchy Peanut Butter Cups

dominosugar.com

5 stars

I found this recipe while reading some industry trade news -- it caught my eye because I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. My sister actually made these while visiting, and they were delicious and overall really easy to make! Only 6 ingredients!  The texture of the peanut butter center was spot-on, just like Reese's. Now I'm thinking about all the variations and flavors we can potentially make!

Ingredients: semi-sweet chocolate chips, all-natural crunchy peanut butter (no sugar added), powdered sugar, vanilla extract, unsalted butter, salt

Tips:

• Made half a batch and it still yielded 17 cups.
• Used a mix of semi-sweet and dark chocolate.
• It's easier and more efficient to fill each paper liner with all of the chocolate, push the peanut butter mixture into the center and then smooth the chocolate on top.
• To chill these faster so we could taste them, we put them in the fridge. If you do this, you definitely need to let them come down to room temperature so it's easier to remove the paper liner from the chocolate.

Recipe: Dal Palak

Dal Palak

Bon Appetit Magazine, Nov 2021, p. 26

4.8 stars

This dish turned about better than I expected especially since we don't cook many Indian-inspired dishes. Not hard, just a few components that I had to manage to get the timing right as I wanted each component to be done and ready to eat at the same time (including the falafel that I added to the side).

Ingredients: steamed rice, masoor dal (red lentils), onion, spinach, cilantro, garlic, ginger, ground turmeric, lime, ghee or unsalted butter, black mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seed, small dried chile, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Added at least 2x the amount of spinach and likely could have added 4x
• Baked falafel on the side

Recipe: Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese and Crispy Shallots

Tomato Salad with Blue Cheese and Crispy Shallots

Bon Appetit Magazine, Sept 2021 p. 29

4.5 stars

This salad was fine, not amazing which is why I rated it 4.5 stars. It's super simple and is a good salad to make when we have extra blue cheese and also crispy onions (we had some fancy ones from making green bean casserole). We always have lettuce and tomato and the dressing ingredients on hand.

Ingredients: Bibb lettuce leaves, mixed tomatoes, blue cheese, fried shallots or onions, sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, extra-virgin olive oil

Notes:

• Used what we had in the fridge: romaine lettuce and cherry tomatoes

Recipe: Mama Rosa's Lasagna de Carne

Mama Rosa's Lasagna de Carne

Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2021/Jan 2022, p.47

5 stars

This is one of the most interesting lasagnas we've made as the sauce calls for red bell pepper, cilantro and cumin (plus black olives and capers - but we didn't add these ingredients). It also was one of the best lasagnas we've ever made because hubby made the lasagna noodles from scratch. Great for a dinner party; will definitely be making it again.

Meat Sauce Ingredients: ground beef chuck, red bell pepper, onion, plum tomato, cilantro, parsley, black olives, capers, jar of marinara sauce, tomato paste, bay leaves, garlic, Italian seasoning, ground cumin, extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper, Kosher salt

Assembly Ingredients: dried lasagna noodles, ricotta, mozzarella, garlic, Italian seasoning, extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper,  Kosher salt

Tips:

• Made red sauce from scratch instead of using a jar of marinara
• Made fresh lasagna noodles
• Used Impossible plant-based meat instead of ground chuck (also cut the amount in half from 2 lbs to 1 lb)
• Used 3 garlic cloves instead of 5 so it wouldn't be too garlicky
• Left out the black olives and capers

Recipe: Garlicky Smashed Chickpeas with Corn

Garlicky Smashed Chickpeas with Corn

Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p.20
4.8 stars

Super easy weeknight dish that was healthy! Nice layers of flavor but it's missing a crunch ~ something I wanted this evening. I'm trying to think of what could go with this that could add that texture.

Ingredients: eggs, chickpeas, onion, poblano chile, corn, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, dill, cilantro

Tips/Notes:

• May want to use a non-stick pan for the chickpeas -- but be careful smashing them as you don't want to scratch the pan. The chickpeas stuck to my stainless steel pan.
• Used canned corn since we had a can of it -- could also use frozen
• Used dried dill as I didn't want to buy fresh dill in case I didn't like the flavor it added -- it was fine; I probably should add more dried dill to see what it  really imparts to the flavor
• Served with falafel (more chickpeas!) since I had them in the fridge

Pan-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh

 

Pan-Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Tempeh

Bon Appetit Magazine, Dec 2021/Jan 2022, p.40

4.8 stars

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out -- it was not a recipe that I would've chosen to make (and we've never cooked with tempeh before), but hubby flagged it in the magazine and we made it. It was surprisingly FLAVORFUL! And oh so healthy. The chipotle chiles in adobo made the dish -- not a surprise for me as I generally love the flavor it imparts.

Ingredients: sweet potatoes, apple (Pink Lady or Honeycrisp), tempeh, chipotle in adobo, shallots, lime zest and juice, cilantro, grapeseed or vegetable oil, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Instead of 25-30 min, our sweet potatoes took about 35 min to roast (depends on size of the potatoes)

Recipe: Cheesy Rice Porridge with Greens

Cheesy Rice Porridge with Greens

Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p. 18
4.9 stars

This recipe was so easy and healthy -- nice recipe to start out the new year. I didn't rate this as 5 stars because hubby didn't like this as much as me.

Ingredients: chicken broth, jasmine rice, sharp cheddar, kale or Swiss chard or spinach, chili oil

Tips

• Used vegetable broth
• Used kale
• Used chili crunch oil
• Added sharp cheddar on top
• Served with gyoza

Recipe: Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart

Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p. 63
4.5 stars

We had 2 pears and almond flour that I needed to use so when I saw this recipe, I thought it would be perfect especially since I really love the flavor and also texture of almond flour.

This recipe took a couple of days to make because the tart dough needs to sit and then chill in the freezer. Overall, it was an easy recipe, and I liked the flavor.

Two issues: The pears that I used were too ripe, so it caused the tart to be a little too "juicy." Also, the tart filling rose and overflowed so beware if you make it and make sure to put the tart pan on a sheet pan.

Tart Dough Ingredients: Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, egg, Kosher salt

Filling and Assembly Ingredients: pears, almond flour or meal, all-purpose flour, Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla extract, almond extract, Kosher salt; sliced almonds and powdered sugar

Recipe: Garlic & Herb Swirl Bread

Garlic & Herb Swirl Bread
Better Homes & Gardens, Dec 2021, p. 171
4.7 stars

This is only the second bread recipe I've ever made, and it turned out pretty well! It was focaccia-like in texture. While there were a number of steps to make this, the most work was planning ahead and chopping up all of the herbs. Otherwise, it was actually pretty easy to make.

Despite all of the butter in it, it wasn't buttery and it actually needed butter at the table. The herb flavors also mellowed out as I thought the herbs would be overwhelming.

Looks impressive if I can say so myself!

Ingredients: all-purpose flour, active dry yeast, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, Parmesan cheese, oil-packed dried tomatoes, basil, thyme, oregano, garlic, red pepper

Recipe: Creamy Swiss Chard Gratin with Crispy Gnocchi

Creamy Swiss Chard Gratin with Crispy Gnocchi

Food & Wine Magazine, Nov 2021, p.46

4.8 stars

I forgot to take a photo of this one! We served this for dinner with friends -- it was a nice dish that we could prepare in advance and bake while they were here... a creamy delicious dish, though it was a little bit on the heavy side for me. Next time, we'll serve this with a light salad.

Ingredients: Swiss chard, refrigerated potato gnocchi, Gruyere cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, red onion, all-purpose flour, whole milk, Dijon mustard, garlic, cayenne pepper, ground nutmeg, unsalted butter, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Apple Pies.... Sarah's Best Apple Pie (with Crumb Topping) and Maple Bourbon Apple Pie

We made two apple pies, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Both were very different -- and neither memorable in taste though they looked nice. I'm including them here so we remember them and can compare them to future apple pie recipes.

Maple Bourbon Apple Pie

Better Homes and Gardens, Nov 2021, p. 95

1st photo

I don't remember tasting much of the bourbon. The lattice was fun to make -- well, my sister, did that part! In reviewing the recipe again, it's odd that there were no spices mixed in with the apples, perhaps so that the bourbon and maple could shine through, but they didn't.

Ingredients: apples, all-purpose flour, sugar, butter, maple syrup, lemon juice, bourbon, egg white, Demerara sugar

---------------------------------------

Sarah's Best Apple Pie  (with Crumb Topping)

Martha Stewart Living, Nov 2021, p. 58

2nd photo

I thought this would be a hands-down amazing pie coming from Martha Stewart's magazine, but it was average, fine, ho hum. I'm looking for an ah-maz-ing apple pie recipe.

Ingredients: apples, all-purpose flour, apple cider vinegar, sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground cloves, butter, black pepper, Kosher salt

Crumb topping ingredients: all-purpose flour, quick-cooking oats, light brown sugar, butter, baking powder, Kosher salt

Recipe: New Mexican-Style Breakfast Burritos

New Mexican-Style Breakfast Burritos
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p.78
4.6 stars

Potential ski-trip breakfast recipe! This is similar to what we make when we're skiing -- a hearty burrito, except this recipe definitely has a "New Mexico" taste/flair to it because of the New Mexico chiles in the sauce.

Sauce Ingredients: New Mexico chiles, garlic, Mexican oregano, all-purpose flour, Kosher salt

Burrito Ingredients: tortillas, sausage to your liking, eggs, cheddar, russet potato, New Mexico green chiles, unsalted butter, garlic powder, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips:

• Used plant-based sausage
• Couldn't find New Mexico chiles so used New Mexico chile powder
• Added white onion to the sauce
• Couldn't find New Mexico green chiles so used a can of hot Hatch green chiles
• Cooked the potato, plant-based meat and Hatch green chiles together
• Made "tacos" instead of a burrito

Recipe: Spicy White Bean Casserole with Calabrian Chiles

Spicy White Bean Casserole with Calabrian Chiles

Better Homes & Gardens, Dec 2021, p.172

5 stars

This was so surprisingly good! To be honest, we had put off making this recipe because it said the total time to make it (including baking was 1 hr 20 min). It took just an hour.

While we're eating and leaning toward more vegetarian/plant-based, this recipe did have a little bit of pancetta for umami which was necessary (just 3 oz).

Ingredients: cannellini beans, broccoli florets, panko, pancetta, yellow onion, Calabrian chiles or peppadew peppers, chicken broth, heavy cream, cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, olive oil, lemon, garlic, dried oregano, basil, red pepper

Tips:

• Used 1.5 lbs (a bag and a half) of frozen broccoli. Note: Try using non-frozen broccoli next time which may make the dish less "soupy"
• Couldn't find Calabrian peppers so used red pepper
• Substituted vegetable broth for the chicken broth