When I first cracked open my copy of America’s Test Kitchen’s newish cookbook How to Roast Everything, my instinct was to flip past seemingly-basic recipes like weeknight roast chicken, roasted thick-cut pork chops, baked sweet potatoes, and this, a gussied-up twist on roasted broccoli, but that would have been a mistake. Sure, I know my way around the kitchen, but with cooking (and many things in life), it’s often small lessons and tweaks to technique that make the biggest impact.
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Fast and Easy
Deep Immune Soup With Turmeric-Ginger Broth
Every once in a while, the stars align and a recipe comes to me just when I need it most. In this case, I was flipping through Laura Wright’s The First Mess Cookbook, tabbing recipes to try, on the same day that Andrew came down with a nasty head cold. Boosted with a generous dose of ginger, turmeric, black pepper, and chili flakes, this golden broth would have caught my eye, sick patient or no, but under these circumstances it quickly jumped to the top of my to-try list. Steamy, spicy, and sinus-clearing, it does it’s advertised job well, and since the solid ingredients are classic noodle soup additions (orzo and the tried and true trio of onion, carrot, and celery) it’s also quite comforting.
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Spicy Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Turnips, and Onion With Bacon
Try as I do to resist my urges, I tend to be a bit of a backseat driver when Andrew is cooking. While a desire (or really, an impulse) to tweak and refine are useful qualities to have when testing or developing recipes, it’s hard, verging on impossible to shut off, and is perhaps less of an endearing quality when directed towards one’s significant other. (Sorry, Andrew!) Still, every once in a while, when he hasn’t banished me from our kitchen, our minds and palates come together to create something quite wonderful, like this spicy brussels sprouts, turnip, bacon, and onion situation.
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Breakfast Fried Quinoa With Sriracha and Greens
Greens, grains, eggs, bacon, and sriracha, these are the building blocks of a breakfast that perfectly straddles the line between healthy and indulgent. It’s the sort of thing that I crave after a night out that maybe, just maybe, involved a bit more wine than what is probably wise. Don’t get me wrong, some hangovers call for a diner-style grilled cheese with bacon or something similarly carby, cheesy, and decadent, but on days where I wake up feeling just a bit off, a breakfast like this feels like smarter move.
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Individual Grain-Free Chocolate Chunk Cookie
Every so often while flipping through a cookbook, I flag a recipe to try not because I think it sounds delicious, but rather because I’m curious and even skeptical about how it’ll turn out. This gluten-and-butter-free, almond-flour-based chocolate chip cookie from Izy Hossack’s The Savvy Cook is a prime example of that. When I first glanced at the ingredient list, I was puzzled, to say the least. Could almond butter, almond flour, honey, vanilla, baking soda, chocolate chunks, and a bit of salt combine into something that pushes the same buttons as a classic chocolate chip cookie? Or, would it bake up like a protein bar or sad diet cookie?
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Summer Squash With Parmesan, Pine Nuts, and Basil
Summer squash, pine nuts, Parmigianno-Reggiano, olive oil, basil, salt, and pepper. You might look at this pared-down list of ingredients, and be tempted, as I initially was, to gild the lily, perhaps with a spritz of lemon juice or a few drops of rosemary-infused oil, but trust me here — or rather, trust Deborah Madison — this recipe doesn’t need it.
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Miso-Avocado Soba Noodles With Kale
As much as I love creamy pasta dishes like bechamel-rich lasagna, macaroni and cheese, and baked pastas, that combination of ultra-rich dairy and pasta is a ticking tummy time bomb, so I try to avoid it unless it’s really, truly worth it. Instead, I typically get my creamy noodle fix by tossing al dente strands with sauces made from non-dairy alternatives like cashew cream, almond butter, or, in this case avocado. It might sound a bit odd, but when blended up with miso, garlic, a touch of lime juice, and olive oil, avocado transforms into a rich vegan sauce. Paired with nutty soba noodles, ribbons of kale, and crunchy sesame seeds, it makes for a guilt-free, totally-craveable dinner option.
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Prosciutto-Wrapped Almond-Stuffed Dates
At first, I felt a bit silly sharing this three-ingredient snack with y’all. Do you really need a recipe for an appetizer whose name (prosciutto-wrapped almond-stuffed dates) more or less explains how it’s made? Is it really that inventive? Possibly not, but then, I realized, it’d be a shame to keep something so simple and delicious to myself, and so here we are.
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Spiced Cauliflower With Honey-Tahini Sauce and Almonds
Part of the beauty of cauliflower lies in its mild, mellow flavor. Adaptable and unobstrusive, it’s a blank slate ready to be dressed up how you please. Grated and stir-fried, it approximates fried rice; steamed, mashed, and lashed with butter, it’s a superb stand-in for mashed potatoes; roasted whole and basted with olive oil, it’s centerpiece-worthy. Similarly, it takes to a wide range of seasonings. Here, I’ve gone a more traditional route, preparation wise. Florets are tossed with warm, aromatic spices (cinnamon and hot paprika), then roasted hot and fast. Decked out with toasted almonds, a blizzard of parsley, and an addictive tahini-based sauce, it is shockingly good, especially when paired with some juicy lamb chops, as pictured here.
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Brie, Mushroom, and Caramelized Onion Egg Muffins
Here’s an earth-shattering statement for you (not): weekday breakfasts are hard to get right. Finding something that is at once convenient, satiating, reasonably healthy, and tasty is no short order, especially when it comes to savory starts. One winner I keep coming back to is the frittata, and its diminutive, Pinterest-friendly iteration, the egg muffin.
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