Crispy Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic-Honey Drizzle
I needed to mix up my veggie side dish game recently, because I’ve overdone it a bit on the cauliflower front, as well as being very carb-heavy (lots of sweet potatoes and butternut squash).
Enter these crispy roasted brussels sprouts with balsamic and honey…
I’m absolutely in love with this honey balsamic brussels sprouts flavor combo…the sweet-bitter taste that soaks into the sprouts and softens them a bit. That, combined with the sea salt added before roasting and the deeply charred nature of the brussels sprouts, makes this dish truly magical.
The main change I’ve made from the original recipe is backing waaaay off the amount of dressing/drizzle. I’ve found that a 1-tablespoon-to-1-teaspoon ratio works best, and even sometimes a bit less than that (I eyeball when making for myself). You don’t want it sopping wet.
Amazing, Flavorful (& Easy) Chicken Shawarma
Obssssssessed. That’s what I am with this spiced (and a little spicy) easy chicken shawarma.
The first time I made it, I was first blown away by how phenomenal my house smelled while it was cooking. And then when I took my first bite, the flavors just exploded in my mouth.
The recipe is so simple that it’s hard to figure out why it’s so GOOD.
You don’t need any special equipment, or really anything in the way of special ingredients, to make this. It can be thrown together in just a few minutes of hands-on time. It’s just this magical combination of spices and cooking the meat until it’s really tender. Easy peasy.
A couple of tips on this one…the turmeric ended up staining my non-stick loaf pan. So now I have a savory pan and a (new) pan for sweet bakes 🙂
Also, Nadiya’s original recipe calls for 1 tablespoon of cayenne which is…WHOA. But you do you. I’ve backed that off significantly in the recipe below.
Delicious & Easy Kale Salad
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to give this a try. I’ve been wanting to find an easy kale salad recipe for forever, something I could put in my regular dinner rotation. And don’t roll your eyes…when done properly, kale can be totally delish.
When not done properly it’s a tough, chewy mess. Fear not, this is not that kale.
As I said above, I’ve been wanting to lock down a great basic kale salad for forever. But then I stalled and stalled…partly waiting to actually find lacinato kale in my grocery store (it’s like a unicorn!).
Finally I gave up and tried this with curly kale, and totally loved it. It’s such a simple combination of flavors, but can be super flexible depending on the ingredients you have and is equally great with either curly or dino/lacinato kale.
I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe, mostly to the dressing. I felt it had WAY too much lemon juice so I halved it, and also added a bit of dijon mustard for some creaminess and tanginess.
I love the fall feel this salad brings, but it’s honestly great any time of year. I also love that it takes less than 10 minutes to throw together.
5-Minute Healthy Breakfast Tacos
These healthy breakfast tacos have been giving me *life* the past several days!
I’ve been on a bit of a “detox” the last couple weeks, nothing super extreme but the kind where you tell yourself you need to LOCK. IT. UP. I’ve been focused on eating simple, unprocessed foods as much as possible, lots of fruit and veg, largely staying away from alcohol…you know the drill.
And these easy breakfast tacos have been playing a big role in enabling my “being good”. I can be on a conference call, taking notes and speaking up, and still whip these babies up in 5 minutes. They’re a great fast lunch when on the go.
I also love how simple they are, yet how satisfying they are…I don’t feel cheated in any way, and I’m full for hours.
They’re also really versatile, so you can get as creative as you’d like with extra toppings or seasonings. Even calling this a “recipe” feels like it’s overstating things a bit—they’re that easy.
If you’re timing this, here goes…READ THE POST
Salmon Potato Hash With Fresh Herbs
Some of the best recipes result from trying to use up an ingredient, and that’s definitely the story of this AMAZING salmon and potato hash.
I’d bought a couple giant salmon filets, but the week kind of got away from me and they were smelling stroooong. I was trying to figure out what to do, since throwing $20 worth of salmon away did not appeal. But just eating the filet itself kind of freaked me out. So I decided to just bake it up and figure it out later.
Then I got a brainwave about a salmon and potato hash, since I also had a bunch of red potatoes to use up. After looking up a bunch of recipes nothing struck my fancy, so I just made it up.
And this has become a new fave, a hearty and healthy lunch option that makes great leftovers and is the perfect way to use up leftover salmon.
The recipe is super flexible, so you can add other veggies or adjust the seasonings based on your mood. Just don’t add anything too wet (like fresh zucchini or squash)…it’s meant to be dry and get kind of caramelized.
You’ll actually notice through this recipe that I alternate between two sets of photos. I’ve made this a few times, and once I added in some roasted butternut squash that was just sitting around. Don’t let it confuse you!
To really level it up, serve with some fresh salty feta, goat cheese, or capers, or top with poached or basted eggs. READ THE POST
How To Baste Eggs: Basted Eggs with Caramelized Shredded Brussels Sprouts
What are basted eggs, you ask? Well, friend, prepare to fall in love. It is a super fast and easy way to cook eggs, but strangely flies under the radar. It’s somewhere between fried (which I never ate growing up) and poached (which is complicated and challenging). Basting eggs takes like five minutes total, and you can choose whether the yolks are runny or firm. So let’s talk how to baste eggs.
And then I’ll share a “recipe”…which isn’t really a recipe so much as a meal combination that I stumbled upon many years ago in the throes of desperation, trying to avoid yet another meal of cereal and wine.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that…
I’ve already shared my love of brussels sprouts, including this delicious, easy caramelized shredded brussels sprouts (and much faster than roasting them in the oven!).
So one night, I had a few brussels sprouts sitting in the fridge I knew I could make up, but that wasn’t going to cut it for dinner. So I decided to baste up some eggs for a protein kick. What was great was how the egg yolk (I like mine on the runny side) mixed in with the brussels sprouts. Think of these brussels sprouts like you would a vegetable hash, a wonderful base for eggs.
Simple No-Cook Tomato Sauce For Traditional Margherita Pizza
Everyone should have a simple pizza sauce in their repertoire, something they can throw together in just a couple minutes from ingredients in their pantry. And for me, there is nothing more perfect in its simplicity than the traditional tomato sauce for margherita pizza.
I’ve been on a grilled pizza kick, both because it’s amazingly delicious, and also because I’ve been trying out all sorts of grilling different techniques to determine once and for all what the best is. And in the process I’ve eaten a loooooott of margherita pizza. So much. But so yumz.
Check out my deep post on how to grill pizza, and the best dough recipe for it!
There are just a handful of ingredients in this super simple pizza sauce recipe, so quality really matters. And all it takes is a quick whiz in the blender, so no heat, no mess, and literally 5 seconds. Then you can make this easy, delicious traditional margherita pizza! READ THE POST
Chetna’s Easy Chicken Curry
So here’s the thing. This is not the most photogenic dish. It’s just not. But MAN, it packs a wallop of a flavor punch. This easy chicken curry recipe from Great British Bake-Off contestant Chetna is healthy and simple, but (most importantly) totally delish.
Now, some folks may ask why there’s no curry powder in it, if it’s a curry. But actually curry powder is a largely Western invention and addition, and “curry” is just a larger class of dishes. You can read a bit more about it here since, as a white American farm girl, I’m not the expert 🙂 Suffice to say, this is a curry!
You may look at the total preparation time and think, “ain’t nobody got time for that on a weeknight”. And maybe that’s true, but what I love about this recipe is that the hands-on time isn’t much, and the first several steps go in stages with plenty of time in-between to prep…so while the oil heats up chop your onions, while the onions cook chop up your tomatoes, etc.READ THE POST
One-Skillet Thai Ground Turkey Curry with Rice
It’s been a bit since I found a main dish recipe I really loved. I’ve had a few “okay” ones, but this…now THIS is worth sharing with you. It’s only recently I’ve started playing around with ground turkey (i’m a hamburger girl), and wouldn’t have thought to put it in a curry. But this easy Thai ground turkey curry is so lovely and comforting that I’m a convert.
This recipe really is quite versatile. I added zucchini as I like the green color it adds, and also as a way to cram some more veggies in. The first time I made this I also substituted sweet potatoes for the carrots (very thinly sliced, like matchsticks), and both were delicious.
What DOES matter is using really good quality coconut milk if at all possible. I’ve linked to one that I am currently using that I buy on Amazon, but try and find one without BPA-lined cans, guar gum and similar stabilizers, and with the highest fat content possible (don’t go “light”!). I think Trader Joe’s organic canned coconut milk is great as well.
This is so easy and adaptable that I’ve made it a few times in the past few weeks, trying to make sure I had it right. I made it in both a very large skillet and a stockpot (and both worked fine) so you may see both make an appearance in the photos below.READ THE POST
Winter Grain & Roasted Vegetable Salad With Balsamic Dressing
It’s happened. I found a salad recipe I love. True, it’s packed with roasted vegetables and hearty grains in addition to the baby kale…
But still, I absolutely love this recipe, and for a person who’s not really into salad, that is saying something!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that it’s CRAZY adaptable, takes very little hands-on time, and you can use store-bought ingredients to make things simpler. I used pre-cooked beets (I still went ahead and roasted them after), and a clamshell of baby kale which is tender and doesn’t need shredded.
This roasted vegetable salad is also a great dumping ground for other leftovers…I’ve tossed in roasted veggies, grilled chicken, and anything else that caught my fancy. It made a great make-ahead lunch for taking to work all week, and I actually *looked forward* to pulling it out of the fridge.
Besides swapping out the wild rice for a hearty grain like barley, and I played with the dressing proportions quite a bit…in particular, I decreased the olive oil so it makes less dressing but the flavor is stronger—so you need less and cut the calories down a little.
Because I use baby kale and it’s more tender, this works okay, and you can add the dressing ahead of time without everything getting too soggy. It packs a punch!
