I’ve made a number of burgers in my time, but I’ve never made a black bean burger. I always thought of them as very dry and crumbly, and tasting primarily of beans, which didn’t appeal to me. But then recently I’ve had some black bean burgers out at restaurants that were quite good. And since I’ve been trying to eat less meat I decided to give it a go. But since I have no experience making these burgers, I turned to the internet and relied on the RATIOS in a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction. I usually use her site for sweets, but she promised these would work out so… To make it my own, I went with Moroccan flavors.
Slow-Cooker Pork Chili Tacos
It’s been too long since I posted a taco recipe! I’ve been trying out vegetarian tacos recently, but this time I just really wanted something meaty and dripping with sauce. After the first time I had this pork stew recipe from The New York Times, I knew it would work great in a taco shell. Boy was I right.
Lo Mein with Pork Dumpling Meatballs
This recipe from Vrunka on Food52 makes great pork potstickers, but it makes wayyyy too much filling for a single package of potsticker wrappers! I couldn’t just throw away all of that perfectly good filling, so I decided to implement it in tackling a personal challenge of mine: making at-home versions of take out classics that actually taste like the stuff you get at the restaurant. I’m always wary of trying a new pad thai or chicken tikka masala recipe, because inevitably it doesn’t taste exactly right and what’s the point of going through all the effort to make something that will be slightly disappointing? But I persevered, and by relying on help from a few online sources, this lo mein recipe is exactly what I wanted.
Vegetable Lasagna aka Carb Loading
I recently completed a sprint triathlon, even though I hate running (and exercise in general). One of the only things that gets me through the training is the ability to eat whatever I want because I know I’ll burn the calories off later. This lasagna, which I made for carb loading the night before the race, is the cherry on top.
Fig and Blue Cheese Burgers
I got a new book! For my birthday, my sister got me The Food Lab by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, of Serious Eats fame. The point of the book is to teach you about the science behind why certain techniques work in the kitchen, and generally to provide a foundation of 
understanding that can allow the home cook to experiment confidently. Aka, exactly up my alley. For my first recipe from the book, I wanted to try my hand at making French fries, as the variability of fry quality I’ve experienced and the rumors of the double fry method have always intimidated me. So of course, I needed to pair them with a great burger…
Pasta with Artichokes and Edamame
I originally decided to make this recipe because I was craving artichokes (that’s normal). But then my grocery delivery service brought all the ingredients except artichokes (first world problems). So I was going to go ahead and try it without the artichokes. BUT THEN I remembered that I live in Little Italy, and there are multiple specialty food shops that would love to sell me Italian artichokes. No, you didn’t need all that back story, but suffice it to say you’ll be glad I managed to find some artichokes.
Smørrebrød
I’m still reminiscing about that trip to Copenhagen! I knew before we crossed the pond that I would have to try smørrebrød, the quintessentially Danish open-faced sandwiches that are stunning both in looks and taste. These sandwiches are Scandanavian style in food form – restrained but luxurious, with every component carefully placed. While the classic is pickled herring, these days smørrebrød are made with anything under the sun, meaning that they’re a great opportunity for creativity and recipe development. Here, I’m sharing an easy recipe for a smørrebrød based on smoked salmon and capers.
One Pot Mac and Goat Cheese
This is another one of those cleaning out the fridge recipes. I had this grand plan to make someone else’s goat cheese pasta recipe, but then it was the end of the week… and I was tired… So instead, I decided to challenge myself to generate a different pasta recipe with that goat cheese, using as many fridge ingredients as possible and as few dishes as possible. I’d heard about those one-pot pasta recipes and can totally understand the appeal but have always been concerned about the quality of the final product. This recipe isn’t quite to the level of dump everything in a pot and forget it, but it does only dirty the one pot, and it came out really tasty! I’ll call that a win!
Rotisserie Chicken Potstickers
This recipe in a COMBINATION of two things I’ve been wanting to do for a while: try my hand at homemade dumplings and use up some leftover rotisserie chicken I had in my freezer. I love eating dumplings and they’re so beautiful – forming them was just like one of my craft projects. They’re also great because you can make a ton at once and freeze them for future meals. Now that I have the technique down, I’ll be doing this much more often!
Asparagus, Ricotta, and Arugula Pizza
Ahhhh pizza. This is not my first pizza recipe on this site and it won’t be my last. It’s just so versatile and easy, I find myself relying on it when I can’t think of what to make, especially when I have a bunch of odds and ends left over in the fridge. Today, I go for a pesto sauce – one of my favorites, and try the whole salad on top of pizza thing that has been popular for a while.
Results Not Guaranteed 