Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mustard chicken breasts with ginger and tangerine

  • Jane on May 28, 2017

    I liked this a lot. I marinated the chicken for about two hours which gave a good flavor. And finishing it off with more tangerine zest and parsley was a nice touch. I served it with baked sweet potato and roasted asparagus.

  • TrishaCP on January 08, 2018

    I'm in the "just okay" crowd on this one. We marinated for about 2 hours, and I concur with Zosia that the only citrus notes came from the zest added at the end.

  • L.Nightshade on April 02, 2017

    This is a main course, definitely not a complete dinner. The headnotes state to serve with roasted potatoes, sweet or regular, and the salad on page 371. Chicken breasts (thighs can be subbed for dark meat lovers) are pounded to about 1/2 inch, then marinated in whole grain mustard, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, ginger, tangerine juice, tangerine zest, and olive oil. Per the recipe, they are cooked under the broiler, but due to our non-working oven, ours were done on the grill. Once cooked, they are topped with additional zest, parsley, flaky salt, and drizzled with olive oil. Tangerine is absolutely lovely with chicken! And the entire combination, with mustard and ginger, was just delicious. It’s a very easy treatment for chicken with a substantial reward. I served this with the grilled broccolini from Gjelina, and that was dinner.

  • FJT on July 01, 2017

    We really liked this, although I need to practice pounding the chicken to make it thinner so that it cooks in the time stated. Flavours were great - I used Dijon mustard instead of wholegrain. We thought the flavours were well balanced. This was a nice, light main course served with a pile of vegetables.

  • Delys77 on April 06, 2017

    The broiler results in nicely cooked juicy chicken but very little browning in my oven, which I somewhat missed. Perhaps the grill.

  • stockholm28 on April 04, 2017

    I liked this, but it didn't quite rise to the "must make again" category. It is only 6 WW points, so if you are looking for a lighter recipe, this fits the bill. The takeaway for me was pounding the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thick and cooking under the broiler. The chicken cooked quickly yet did not dry out.

  • Zosia on June 23, 2017

    This was okay but I thought the mustard overpowered the other ingredients. The only citrus I could taste was the zest added at the end. I did like the method of flattening the breasts slightly to ensure an even cook.

  • paulabee on May 21, 2017

    This was good but I don't think it merits repeating - while the marinade is an unexpected combination of flavors, it's not really much more than the sum of its parts. Good but not amazing, and there's so many other recipes in this book that look delicious so I'll move on to those!

  • megaelim on April 02, 2017

    This was really delicious. I subbed in boneless thighs (this was the first thing I broiled in our new oven, so I was definitely experimenting with time there. Thighs do take longer.). The tangerine went really well with the chicken. I served with some rice and sautéed Swiss chard - BF said he'd happily have this again.

  • Tweedles81 on March 07, 2020

    I agree with all of the comments about this being good, but not great, and I too will move on to other recipes in this amazing book instead of trying this one again. I marinated the chicken at room temp for 15 minutes. The chicken had some flavor but not a lot. It sounds like marinating did not help all that much based on the other reviews.

• Harissa chicken with leeks, potatoes, and yogurt

  • Jane on August 11, 2017

    I've been meaning to make this for a while having read all the rave reviews from members. Wow, I wish I had not waited so long. I didn't even make it with my preferred combination - thighs and dill - but even with drumsticks and parsley/mint this was a great recipe. This will be repeated often.

  • westminstr on April 17, 2017

    Like others, I really liked this dish. I used arugula (lots) instead of herbs. I cooked longer (about an hour total) to solve the flabby skin problem, and I thought it was a touch too salty. Small quibbles, this had great flavor.

  • vickster on March 27, 2019

    All the raves about this recipe are true. It is easy, quick, and absolutely delicious! The harissa give such a wonderful flavor, and is complemented by the yogurt sauce as a finisher.

  • BethNH on April 08, 2017

    I increased the ingredients as follows : My package of 4 thighs weighed just over 2 lbs. and I upped the potatoes to 2 lbs. also. I used the same amount of marinade which seemed perfectly fine. I cooked the thighs for 25 minutes, added the leeks and moved the pan nearer the top of the oven for 10 minutes, and then moved it back down for the last 10 minutes after the skin got crispy. We all liked this dish but none of us loved it. My 17 year old said he'd give it a 6 or 7. It was tasty but not overly spicy (I understand the TJ's harissa is moderately spicy). The potatoes were lovely and the chicken was nicely cooked. I'm not sure that the leeks added anything and at a price of $4 I would have been just as happy with onions. I felt that I should have added a vegetable to round out the meal. I'll make it again and I know we'd all enjoy it but I obviously didn't love it as much as some.

  • milgwimper on October 01, 2017

    Fabulous recipe, and easy to prep. The chicken was crisp and juicy, the potatoes were melting and delicious. The leeks were crispy and silky at the same time. I loved the addition of the yogurt and fresh herbs to add freshness. We used dill, parsley, and mint. We used mild Harissa as we had people who cannot handle spice. It was delicious, and it has been added to our rotation.

  • RosieB on June 05, 2017

    This was so easy and so delicious. I used a good quality Harissa and Dutch cream potatoes with a whole chicken which I jointed. The chicken and the potatoes went crispy and the Harissa flavour was perfect. I loved the lemony leeks. Definitely make again.

  • TippyCanoe on March 09, 2018

    I had no leeks, so used sweet onions. Absolutely delicious. The harissa I used was quite spicy, and we loved the dish as it was written.

  • TrishaCP on June 12, 2017

    Beyond delicious. I used cilantro and dill as my herbs and the dill was particularly appealing here. We used two bone-in, skin-on breasts and it was perfect for us. I would use less oil if cooking dark meat in the future- with the breast there was just enough to get everything crispy without greasiness. I upped the harissa to three tablespoons (Mina brand-my first time using) and was happy with that choice.

  • L.Nightshade on April 26, 2017

    I subbed out most of the potato with turnip and rutabaga, cutting the rutabaga a bit smaller than the others as I thought it would take longer to cook. We got organic, free range thighs, which were huge. (I wonder if chickens are self conscious about their thunder thighs.) I left them in a few minutes longer for the first cook, and added the leeks for the last 20 minutes. I had run out of my favored harissa, and also out of our homemade harissa, so I used Mustapha’s. It’s got a nice kick that comes in after the first taste. This looked so good, even while cooking (through my new, big oven window!), and smelled good too. Everything was cooked perfectly, and went so well with the herbs and garlicky yogurt. I noted that the photo in the book has something sprinkled on it but nothing mentioned in the recipe. I sprinkled around a little Aleppo pepper.

  • Astrid5555 on January 06, 2019

    No idea why I waited so long to cook this recipe, absolutely fabulous! Husband immediately declared this to be his new favorite chicken dish. I halved the spices to make it kid-friendly and it worked. New family hit!

  • FJT on March 29, 2017

    We really liked the flavours, but I had been expecting the potatoes to crisp up and was very disappointed to find my sheet pan was swimming in liquid after 25 mins of baking. I got rid of most of the liquid and put it back in the oven for another 15 mins before adding the leeks ... only to find even more liquid when I went to add them. There was no way anything other than the chicken skin was ever going to become "golden and slightly crisp". This is a mis-match between expectation and reality rather than a fail. We happily ate it, but I can't bring myself to rave quite as much as others have about this recipe!

  • Delys77 on April 10, 2017

    This was just delicious! The heat from the whole foods harissa was just right and the timing worked out pretty well. I might add about 5 minutes to the initial 20 minute cooking. We doubled everything and this was good for about 5 servings. Add a bit of milk and lemon juice to the yogurt to achieve pourability.

  • meggan on March 18, 2020

    I am lazy so I just threw the leek mixture in with everything else. That was fine.

  • chawkins on April 13, 2018

    Super delicious and quite easy. I used 3 thighs and 3 drumsticks that came to about two and a half pounds. I did not increase the marinade. I also cut down the amount of salt to half. Used cilantro as the herb.

  • tui on November 06, 2017

    Very nice. The harissa I used gave just the right amount of bite to the chicken and potatoes. I made it for three, as the recipe says, and it was just the right amount - with a dessert of strawberries to follow. Mine even looked just like the photo!

  • KarinaFrancis on April 13, 2019

    It’s all been said, but I’ll echo the comments of others, simple and crazy delicious. The herbs just take over the top. I tried it a second time but used a Pyrex dish and was disappointed, stick with a sheet tray

  • stockholm28 on March 23, 2017

    This might be my favorite sheet pan supper yet. Potatoes and chicken thighs are tossed in a mixture of harissa, cumin, and olive oil and roasted on a sheet pan. The leeks are added about half way through cooking. The chicken and potatoes have some nice kick from the harissa which is tamed by a yogurt garlic sauce and complemented by fresh herbs. This will definitely be repeated.

  • Zosia on May 31, 2017

    I haven't much to add except to repeat what others have said about how good this is. I doubled the recipe and had to divide the ingredients between 2 pans, chicken on one, potatoes and leeks on the second. I increased the flavourings accordingly but used only 2tbsp olive olive on the potatoes and leeks alone and just made sure to baste the chicken a few times with its own juices. Very easy to put together but with the fresh herbs and yogurt sauce somehow giving the impression of effort.

  • ksg518 on April 30, 2017

    I know this recipe doesn't really need any more praise but this is fabulous. I made it pretty much as written with chicken thighs and fingerling potatoes. My harissa isn't overly spicy and I might increase the amount the next time. I used dill and parsley and thought they were the perfect herb combination for this dish.

  • Tatiana131 on March 23, 2018

    Fabulous recipe. Well seasoned, and contains just enough salt and heat to be addictive. The layers of flavors are astonishing. I cooked the chicken for about 10 minutes longer for each round pre and post leeks. The yogurt sauce and herbs really round out the flavors, I used parsley, cilantro and dill.

  • stef on June 09, 2017

    Didn't have harrisa so I used a Korean chilli paste. Otherwise followed the recipe. We loved it. Comfort food

  • joanhuguet on March 22, 2017

    This was just wonderful in every way, and so easy. Nicely browned, with everything cooked perfectly. I found the garlic yogurt unnecessary for the chicken, but fantastic with the potatoes. I used Trader Joe's harissa, which made for a moderately spicy dish.

  • MmeFleiss on June 26, 2018

    I’ll be honest that I thought this was blah the first time I made this in my smaller electric oven. Everything just steamed. This time around I decided to make it in my larger gas oven with a much larger sheet pan and it was great—barely any excess moisture in the end. I followed the recommendations here and cooked it for an extra ten minutes before adding the leeks.

  • sarahj22 on January 09, 2018

    This was easy and enjoyable but after reading so many rave reviews I was expecting a little bit more. The harissa spice was slightly too subtle for my taste and the potatoes didn't crisp up as much as I would have liked. (I think this was due to the liquid from the leeks.) If making again I'd probably add extra harissa and allow the potatoes to brown a little more before adding the leeks. It's a nice dish for very little effort but it didn't exactly wow me.

  • annmartina on June 12, 2018

    As with other Melissa Clark recipes, this one is so much more than the sum of its parts. I mixed butternut squash with the potatoes. Don't be afraid of the harissa

  • Frogcake on June 22, 2017

    The flavours of this quick sheet pan dinner are absolutely delicious. I agree with all of the previous reviewers. I served this with home-made bread to sop up the tasty juices. Lovely. Could eat this all week.

  • paulabee on May 21, 2017

    Delicious! will absolutely make this again. I used chicken thighs and subbed regular onions cut in large chunks for leeks, which I didn't have on hand (this worked well but might try the leeks next time; I imagine either would be good!). Used the dill and parsley combo, and had some extra harissa on the side for dipping. Phenomenal recipe.

  • raybun on April 26, 2017

    I used chicken legs, small new potatoes and all the herbs mentioned except the dill. We loved this, and I will add more harissa next time. Can't wait to receive the book, influenced by all the glowing reviews and notes I've been reading on EYB.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Soo great. I moved the pan closer to broiler and felt the potatoes turned out perfect. Loved the use of thighs over breasts but was a bit oily after roasting. The Garuda spice is a new one to me and we all ended up loving it! The leeks almost disappeared after cooking so maybe next time I'll be brave and add the amount the recipe calls for. A keeper. Liked by old traditional eaters who don't like new tangled food and young skeptics who turn up their noses at too many veggies at my table.

  • clcorbi on March 24, 2017

    Echoing the positive reviews below, we loved this recipe. It looked absolutely gorgeous on the pan, and tasted even better. I upped the amount of chicken used to 1.75lb, because that was what I had, but next time I'd rather do less chicken and more veggies--the potatoes were my favorite part! I'd be interested in trying this recipe with shallots, too, which I prefer to leeks. The garlic yogurt is so good here. I used a mixture of cilantro and parsley as a garnish, but would love to try this with dill sometime. I also increased the roasting time by about 10 minutes before adding the leeks, because the chicken was still looking a bit flabby. I'd maybe even go a little longer next time, because we love really crispy chicken skin. This will definitely be repeated--make this recipe ASAP.

  • rionafaith on September 24, 2018

    Good basic sheet pan meal. I would use more harissa next time -- or maybe mine was just old and losing flavor. I topped with arugula instead of herbs and it was a delicious addition.

  • Dcampos on June 19, 2017

    I added trimmed sweet baby peppers with the leeks, used cut up whole chicken, doubled the paste mixture, and sprinkled Aleppo on the final dish. Yum!

  • averythingcooks on August 12, 2017

    And yet another comment on this recipe! Simply delicious !! etc etc.....but here is my "change" (my fault - not the recipe!). I wanted to use boneless skinless thighs (really all I ever have in the freezer in addition to boneless breasts and whole chickens )...... so I marinated the thighs and potatoes as instructed THEN pulled all the potatoes out of the bowl onto to my pan and roasted them for the first 20 minutes; then put the chicken and rest of juices from the bowl onto the pan and roasted for 20 more minutes; then lastly added the leeks for maybe 10- 15 minutes. It was simply delicious - and don't underestimate the garlicky yogurt ! Next time,I think I'll add some red pepper chunks and grape tomatoes to the pan before the leeks just to veg it up a bit more - and oh yes there WILL be many next times ,

  • amandacooks on April 07, 2017

    This was really, really good. My favorite recipe from this book so far. I used around 2 lbs of bone-in chicken thighs (no drumsticks) and it was just more than enough for 2 adults and one toddler. I'm really glad I chose dill as one of the herbs...I don't think it would have been as good without the dill.

  • bwhip on April 03, 2017

    Oh man, this was REALLY good! I doubled the recipe so we'd have leftovers, and it worked out fine on a single rimmed sheet pan. We loved the flavors. The yogurt sauce and herbs were the perfect balance for the wonderful harissa flavor on the chicken and potatoes. This one's a keeper.

  • sosayi on August 24, 2017

    As with everyone, I loved this recipe! Changes: I used a large paella pan and cooked this on a charcoal grill. It worked perfectly and the smoky flavors really enhanced the dish. I also added half lemons to roast with the rest, and then squeezed the juice over at the end. I also doubled the yogurt sauce. Like others, I enjoyed the combo of dill and cilantro for the herbs and also used some Aleppo pepper to top it. I'll be making this again and again.

  • pandasaurusrex on March 29, 2017

    As amazing as everyone says it is. Hot, addictive flavor cooled by tart yogurt. I found the amount perfect for 2 hungry adults -- wouldn't have seemed like enough for 3 without a side dish. I agree with clcorbi on both upping the potatoes (to ~2lbs) and on adding 10-15 min to the roast time before adding the leeks. Next time I'll be careful not to smother the potatoes with the leeks which results in slight steaming. I used the Les Moulins Mahjoub brand of harissa (Tunisian).

  • mgmcewen on June 28, 2017

    Great recipe, really fulfills the book's promise for a single dish meal unlike a lot of the other recipes.

  • Baxter850 on July 24, 2017

    Great dish. Would increase to 3 tbls harissa and double the yogurt sauce next time.

  • hbakke on May 09, 2019

    Delicious! Used basil, mint, cilantro, and dill for the herbs.

  • robertofwine on February 04, 2019

    Fantastic and our go-to for a one-pan meal. Have served it to company who wanted more, more, more. We love the harissa on this, and the crema balances the spice nicely. Try this, highly recommended!

  • Kap802 on May 09, 2020

    Biggest change I make is add carrots in addition to potatoes. The carrots work so well I forget they aren’t in the original recipe!

  • Sparkles75 on June 21, 2019

    Easy to prepare with fantastic payoff. I halved harissa as feeding to young kids and that was a good call. Made with sweet potato instead of white potato and was a big hit.

• Coriander seed chicken with caramelized Brussels sprouts

  • Jane on January 22, 2019

    This was a quick and easy recipe for a weeknight. I hadn’t planned ahead so only did a 30 min marinade but there was plenty of flavor, especially from the mustard. One I will repeat.

  • westminstr on March 28, 2017

    I really loved this, and it was very easy since everything is prepared the night before. I used thighs. However, brushing the mustard on the chicken skin made it stay flabby, in future I will put the mustard under the skin or on the flesh only. Note that I made a half recipe for the adults and a separate plain version for the kids.

  • sfcarole on June 26, 2020

    I finally tried this and loved it. My husband especially loved the very crisp Brussels sprouts and chicken skin. I used bone-in thighs and cooked for 20 min., turned over the sprouts, and then baked another 15 minutes - all at 425º. Per westminstr's suggestion I smeared the mustard/oil on the flesh underside of the thighs. For the first 20 minutes I put the loose leaves of the sprouts that accumulate when trimming them, plus the garlic, under the chicken. Then I pulled them out for the last 15. We made the recipe with four thighs, the better to have leftovers. Loved the citrusy flavor of the coriander. This is a definite repeat!

  • meggan on May 07, 2019

    I had to use frozen Brussels sprouts because there are slim pickings in the produce department in Maine this time of year. It worked ok though they could have been more caramelized. I also did not have coriander seeds so I only used ground powder and I used boneless skinless chicken. The chicken cooks faster this way but lacked any nice crunchy skin.

  • hillsboroks on May 03, 2019

    Great flavor and relatively fast preparation makes this recipe a winner. I made a half recipe for two of us using 4 chicken thighs. I was only able to marinate it for 30 minutes but it was enough to make the flavors saturate the chicken and Brussels sprouts. When I checked the temperature on the chicken at 30 minutes it was done just right and the Brussels sprouts were perfect. My husband absolutely loved this dish so I will be making it again. I may try Westminstr's suggestion of brushing the mustard sauce under the skin next time.

  • stockholm28 on April 16, 2017

    I liked the flavors, despite the fact that I only marinated for 30 minutes. She uses a mix of ground coriander and toasted crushed coriander seeds which I thought was odd, but the half crushed seeds do lend a nice note. I used chicken thighs. I roasted on the top rack of a convection oven. The chicken skin did get crispy, but some of my brussels sprouts got completely burnt, so I would definitely check everything at about 20 minutes. I felt that 2 1/2 tsps of salt was too much, so I'd scale back some. The recipe is here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018590-coriander-seed-chicken-with-caramelized-brussels-sprouts

  • clcorbi on November 30, 2018

    Really delicious, flavorful sheet pan recipe. I had to almost double the roasting time to get my brussels/chicken as crisp as I wanted, but I'm sure that just depends on the oven. I was actually out of coriander seeds so I only used ground coriander, and I still loved the result. Will be repeated for sure.

  • Niemie on March 28, 2017

    A weeknight winner: crave-able, the preparation is very hands-off, easy clean up, and reasonably healthy

  • purrviciouz on November 24, 2019

    I liked this however I need to keep in mind for myself that 1/4 - 1/3 lb chicken is one serving for us. I might decrease chicken and increase sprouts next time, maybe add potatoes to the roast instead of polenta if I want a more prep ahead meal. Very tasty.

• Pizza chicken with pancetta, mozzarella, and spicy tomatoes

  • Jane on September 12, 2017

    I liked this though my finished dish looked rather different to the book photo. Like Astrid I found the tomatoes had lost all definition in the sauce - my tomatoes also threw off a lot of liquid so the chicken was sitting in soup (tasted lovely though). This isn't a quick weeknight dinner - start to finish was well over an hour. Though it's a good way to use your tomato harvest - uses 1.5 pounds of large plus a pint of cherry.

  • Astrid5555 on April 23, 2017

    I loved the concept of the dish, but the end result was somewhat different to what I was expecting, also from the picture. No way the tomatoes look that nice in reality after the sauce has cooked down for more than 40 minutes. On the other hand the sauce was very good and we all happily had this for Sunday lunch. And this is also when we would have it again, not as a quick weeknight dinner option, too much chopping and waiting going on here for my taste.

  • Larkspur on April 22, 2017

    I substituted canned diced tomatoes for fresh tomatoes (I did use fresh cherry tomatoes)

  • averythingcooks on December 31, 2018

    I first saw / made an adaptation of this on Food52........now I make it following Melissa's book and we LOVE this. It produces an awesome cast iron pan of delicious "tomato saucy, cheesey, capery, basily" chicken thighs!

  • Baxter850 on July 24, 2017

    Fun little recipe although it's nothing to stop the presses. Would reduce the anchovies next time.

• Coconut curry chicken with sweet potatoes

  • Jane on May 29, 2017

    This is good dinner if you can spare an hour, of which 40 minutes is just oven time. I didn't have any Thai red curry paste so had to use green. I'd say the garnish of toasted coconut flakes and toasted mustard seeds is important for the final dish.

  • TrishaCP on April 08, 2020

    This was a very flavorful curry. The sweet potatoes are quite soft but I didn’t mind the texture. This recipe did require a fair amount of chopping, so I’m glad I prepared it during the weekend to reheat during the week.

  • hillsboroks on April 05, 2019

    We loved the flavors in this dish. Don't skip the coconut, mustard seeds and lime at the end. They really amp up the flavor. Clcorbi is right that the sweet potatoes/red yams do get quite soft so maybe they could be added partway through the time in the oven. I also think that waxy potatoes, carrots and green beans could go nicely in this dish.

  • clcorbi on December 17, 2018

    Really nice flavor, but I found that my sweet potatoes got way too mushy during the allotted cooking time. I might substitute them for a heartier vegetable next time--I think even carrots could have worked better.

• Anchovy salmon with chive butter

  • Jane on August 07, 2017

    I liked this though preferred the anchovy butter with a boneless skinless chicken breast the next night. Because the directions are to melt the butter in a hot pan then cook the salmon skin-side down for 3 minutes, by the time the pan goes in the oven the butter was very brown. On the second night I pan-fried the chicken breast in olive oil first, only adding the butter and basting it shortly before it went in the oven. It had plenty of flavor but wasn't burnt. I served it with Green beans with caper vinaigrette (lots of capers!)

  • westminstr on April 17, 2017

    Excellent way to cook salmon, flavorful and very good. Chives not essential (though nice if you have them). Next time remember to cut larger pieces of fish into portions for quicker cooking. Everyone liked this. The skin was very crispy and did not stick in my cast iron skillet.

  • TrishaCP on May 21, 2017

    A solid treatment for salmon- it was flavorful. I agree that the chives aren't essential-in fact this recipe was first published in the NYT but omitting chives.

  • hughb on November 27, 2018

    Winner. Flavorful and easy.

  • meduff on February 04, 2019

    I have made this several times all with different results - always excellent and always so very easy. This should be a required dish that every novice in the kitchen could/should to learn make. It comes out looking great, has some complex flavors, and is impressive to serve. My only comment - I could not get the skin to crisp the first several times, which Melissa Clark mentions as one of the goals of this dish. It was always great - but no crispy skin to be seen. So today I added a very small bit of oil, put the skin side down and let it crisp. It took 3 minutes. I added ½ of the butter, threw in the capers and put it in the oven. After 8 minutes I started to smell this rich buttery aroma - but it smelled almost burnt I panicked for a few seconds, pulled the fish out and breathed a sigh of relief - no burnt anything. Yeah for me. What I did have is a beautiful piece of fish with crispy skin, bits of brown butter, capers, anchovies and chives. Total yum.

• Fusilli and roasted cauliflower with capers

  • Jane on May 21, 2019

    I don't cook pasta very often so all I had was half a box of shells, about 9oz. I used those with a whole head of cauliflower and doubled the sauce ingredients. I also added a chopped preserved lemon. It is very monochromatic but tastes great. I did find the raw garlic taste too strong (and I love garlic) so I'd use half the amount next time. As others have noted, the Parmesan cheese is essential not optional.

  • westminstr on November 06, 2017

    Like others, we thought this was very good. I used about 3/4 of a very large head of cauliflower - it was 6 cups chopped at least and filled an entire sheet pan - and about 12 oz pasta. This was a good amount and ratio for us. Even a little more cauliflower would have been fine. I doubled the capers as well but only used one raw garlic clove since my crowd is sensitive to raw garlic. I was out of lemon so had to skip that; added some chopped parsley which added freshness and improved the appearance as well (white on white is always kind of a drag to look at).

  • kari500 on May 05, 2020

    We liked this, but it didn't have the oomph of our regular version. I think there are two reasons for that. I should have doubled all the sauce stuff, since I doubled the pasta. Unfortunately didn't have that much lemon zest. The second thing is that I think the capers would have more impact if they were not roasted. We love roasted b sprouts, and I think would have appreciated them more on their own. Maybe with broccoli and tons more of the lemon/caper mix, this would be a home run. We all liked it, but it won't replace our normal, similar pastas.

  • TrishaCP on April 04, 2017

    Delicious! The roasted cauliflower and capers were amazing- the roasted capers were particularly great and I will use that technique again. I used whole wheat penne out of necessity and skipped the pine nuts and butter. I also only used one clove of garlic, and it was plenty.

  • Astrid5555 on May 03, 2017

    This is very similar to Martha Stewart's "Pasta with roasted cauliflower and lemon zest" from "Meatless" which I have been cooking regularly since the book came out in 2013. The only difference is that MS includes red onions and parsley and uses orecchiette pasta, whereas MC wants you to add some minced garlic to wholemal fusilli pasta. I doubled the cauliflower and used one whole head, otherwise we would not have had enough for two adults. Both dishes are delicious, and now I have two options to choose from for my roasted cauliflower cravings. Yum!

  • FJT on April 28, 2017

    This was a nice, tasty recipe. I agree that the Parmesan definitely isn't optional!

  • Delys77 on April 11, 2017

    Very easy to put together and very tasty. Add some reserved pasta cooking water to moisten a touch. For us the parm wasn't optional, I would also sprinkle with parm before serving. You can also up the cauliflower some. Replaced butter with all olive oil and was still very good.

  • hirsheys on January 23, 2019

    Simple, easy, and tasty. Next time, I'd use the whole head of cauliflower for a higher ratio and back off the garlic a bit. (Or maybe microwave one clove garlic and butter together to take the edge off it).

  • stockholm28 on December 09, 2018

    The roasted cauliflower and capers were excellent and this was a surprisingly flavorful dish. I found the raw garlic a bit harsh and might try roasting some garlic next time I make this. I agree that the parmesan is not optional.

  • Zosia on June 20, 2017

    I also loved this dish...easy and very flavourful. I too used a whole head of cauliflower and some of the pasta cooking water.

  • Nerples on April 17, 2020

    This is EXCELLENT served cold the next day, so don't be shy about making a big batch! I've made this a few times and enjoy more of everything as other reviewers have mentioned. A whole head of cauliflower, and extra capers. Don't miss the lemon juice as this really makes it imo. I happen to love the garlic which I pummel into a paste in a suribachi so that it's evenly incorporated throughout. Also.....after running out of pine nuts I started substituting pecans never looked back. Yum!

  • Lepa on May 31, 2017

    We really loved this dish. I have had my eye on it since I bought the book but was prepared for it to be underwhelming. I was wrong! This dish tastes rich and bright at the same time and it is so compelling. I anticipate making it often.

  • Frogcake on April 20, 2017

    We found this to be very tasty and simple to make. Loved the technique of using capers. I made this using ravioli stuffed with cheese and spinach. I also added a bit of the pasta water. It made for a superb, quick and filling dinner. Will make this one again!

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    As Delys says, the parm isn't optional! I added extra cheese, too. This was such a simple, tasty pasta prep. We upped the amount of cauliflower to about 3/4 of a head, which was the right ratio of veggies to pasta for us. I upped the butter, lemon juice, etc. to taste to compensate. This was a very nice dinner.

  • mfranklin125 on May 03, 2017

    I went heavier on the cheese and garlic. It was such a good dish.

  • bwhip on November 29, 2017

    Very good, remarkably tasty for such a simple list of ingredients and easy prep. I doubled everything so we'd have leftovers, as recipe said it serves just two. Garlic winds up being fairly strong, since it's effectively raw, but I didn't mind it. Photo in the cookbook looks like regular pasta, but we used the whole wheat as called for in the ingredient list and it was very good.

  • hbakke on September 12, 2019

    Tasty. I used a whole head of cauliflower and 12 oz of penne and adjusted the remaining ingredients to accommodate the additions.

  • meduff on March 13, 2019

    This is very good but as others have said there was not enough. Melissa’s recipe serves 2 but at 4 ounces of pasta, and ¼ head of cauliflower per serving as the entree in my house that would never get by the side eye of my family. I upped everything - I actually doubled almost everything. I used a full head of cauliflower, 12 ounces of pasta, doubled or tripled the capers (because, well they’re capers). I used the juice of two lemons and the zest of both those lemons as well. Doubling everything was enough to make three good size portions. This is what I learned in making this dish a few times: 1) I began to realize this dish needed some color. I knew that this dish would have been white (pasta), on white (cauliflower) on white (serving dish) - so I used purple cauliflower and I think that helped a lot. 2) Adding a protein to this dish would be so easy and so good and more filling. A happy accident tonight with the leftovers: I had a small amount of preserved lemons. So good!

• Coconut rice noodles with ginger and eggplant

  • Jane on March 28, 2018

    This was fantastic - such depth of flavor. It's not exactly quick, taking about an hour start to finish but it's so worth it. I served it as a vegetarian/vegan main, using vegetable stock and no fish sauce - it was a great meal.

• Warm white bean salad with arugula pesto and preserved lemon

  • Jane on August 24, 2018

    This wasn't a great success though it wasn't the fault of the recipe. I cooked dried cannellini beans in the Instant Pot, following Melissa's instructions from her Instant Pot book. After 25 minutes at high pressure and a natural release they were still undercooked so I brought back to high pressure for 5 minutes more with manual release. And now they were mushy. So when mixing the beans with the pesto the consistency was all wrong (I should have loosened the pesto to compensate). I did love the taste of the pesto though so I will try making this again, maybe cooking the beans for 30 minutes.

  • joanhuguet on March 22, 2017

    Simple and fresh tasting. A great way to use up one of those giant clamshells of arugula that always seems to go bad. I substituted lemon zest for the preserved lemon.

  • Lepa on July 05, 2017

    This came together quickly and was a very good, satisfying meal. Next time I will taste all the elements together before adding additional salt. I added some salt to the arugula salad but when I added the beans & pesto, it was a bit salty.

  • ellencooks on March 28, 2017

    This was fantastic! The picture looked like there were croutons although they weren't in the recipe. But I added some breadcrumbs, toasted on olive oil with some chopped garlic and Parmesan.

  • puddlemere on January 29, 2019

    I thought this turned out very well. I also had some homemade arugula-walnut pesto already in my freezer, so I just used that and threw in some minced preserved lemon along with the beans. I also added croutons made from homemade bread, and I think they made a big difference. She calls for optional sliced shallot, so I considered making some quick-pickled shallots to put on top, but I was too hungry to wait. Next time!

  • clcorbi on March 31, 2017

    I cheated and used some of my own homemade pesto from the freezer for this recipe. I defrosted the pesto and added in some chopped preserved lemon to taste, then proceeded with the recipe as written. This shortcut made the dinner really fast and easy to throw together! I added garlicky sourdough croutons as a garnish, as well as a few pine nuts. This wasn't anything earth-shattering, but it was good, easy and healthy.

  • Tweedles81 on February 05, 2019

    This was super easy and delicious - a great, healthy weeknight dinner! I made it with two cans of beans and followed the recipe as written (but left off the optional shallots). I agree with others that adding bread would be nice, but it was great without it! We will be making this again.

• Curried chickpeas with eggplant

  • Jane on July 29, 2018

    I liked this. I love curry spices and all the other ingredients so this was a good recipe for me. My only slight quibble is that the baby eggplants looked gorgeous before cooking - pale purple and white striped - all that was lost in the cooking. But that is probably always the case with these - it was my first time cooking them.

  • Lepa on June 26, 2017

    I wasn't crazy about this. The recipe was too fussy and labor intensive and the result wasn't worth it. The flavor of garam masala was dominant. It was fine with some yogurt and chutney but overall not worth repeating.

• Fried halloumi with spicy Brussels sprouts

  • Jane on November 26, 2017

    I make these a lot, probably once every couple of weeks. They can be a veggie dinner on their own or served with a protein on the side. I love the combination of the caramelized spicy sprouts alongside the crispy, salty cheese.

  • westminstr on January 02, 2019

    I finally made this dish and loved it. I tweaked it by roasting the halloumi alongside the sprouts which worked great and one less pan to clean. Loved the cumin with these flavors. I had to make additional tweaks since I was out of lemon and aleppo pepper - had to sub preserved lemon juice and hot chile flakes. The regular lemon would have been better as the dish was pretty salty with preserved lemon plus halloumi, but some acidity is needed. I would easily make this again.

  • FJT on June 07, 2019

    I’ve been meaning to make this since I got the book and finally did. I used lime juice instead of lemon and a fresh chilli instead of chilli flakes but because they needed to be used up. Really tasty dish - we loved it!

  • j_h on July 10, 2018

    Great, added lemon zest before I roasted the sprouts. Next time instead of lemon juice and aleppo pepper I might try drizzling with apple balsamic. Perfect with lamb cutlets.

  • Zosia on October 26, 2018

    Very easy and tasty. I had only half the required halloumi but the ratio of cheese to vegetable was fine for a side dish.

  • joyous on February 21, 2018

    Tasty and quick. I served with lemon chicken thighs from Genius Recipes and felt like it was 3 side dish servings.

  • sosayi on March 02, 2018

    Absolutely moreish. Very easy and quick to make. I served it with roasted cod with a ladolemono sauce and farro. I would agree that the recipe make about 2-3 side dish servings. Maybe it felt like 2 to us, as our cod portions were about 3 oz. The recipe list should probably include lemon juice, as a heads up, as you are supposed to finish the dish with a few tablespoons of it. I used the ladolemono sauce instead, but felt that the lemon really adds a brightness to the dish that you would miss if it weren't there.

  • chefrodney on April 24, 2018

    Simple, good, quick.

• Green beans with caper vinaigrette

  • Jane on August 07, 2017

    This is a great, simple but flavorful treatment of green beans. I served it with Anchovy salmon with chive butter which worked well.

  • imaluckyducky on August 27, 2019

    Bright and zippy, an excellent counterpoint to a more robust or fatty main. Comes together quickly and, as promised, there were no leftovers.

  • Zosia on July 16, 2017

    Simple and lightly dressed but with lots of flavour. I served them with the herby Parmesan dutch baby from the same book.

  • Lepa on July 09, 2017

    This was a nice, easy green bean dish. Perfect with salmon!

• Roasted hake with crispy mushrooms

  • gastronom on September 02, 2019

    Simple and tasty way to prepare white fish. I used fresh halibut and it was delicious.

  • Jviney on January 04, 2020

    This is one of those recipes that gives me great affection for Melissa Clark. I am not a big mushroom fan and picked the recipe because it fit a diet my husband and I are working through. As such, my expectations were low. I had sea bass in the freezer, and this dish came together in no time flat with excellent flavor. We loved it.

• Swordfish with lemon, chile, and fennel

  • westminstr on April 15, 2019

    I've made this at least three times but somehow haven't left a note. This is my favorite way to cook swordfish. Don't forget bread to dip in the sauce.

  • kari500 on December 17, 2019

    Strong 5 stars for this recipe. It's easy and it's delicious. I use Flexitarian's fennel salad recipe (ground up fennel seeds added to the seasoning). The swordfish comes out nicely cooked, not tough the way it can sometimes be when cooked as a steak. I bump up the chilies.

  • MollyB on May 29, 2019

    Loved this dish! Quick, easy, and very good. I made it with mahi-mahi, which worked beautifully. I served it with rice, which was pretty good, but I'd probably go with bread or linguine next time.

  • TrishaCP on April 07, 2019

    This is absolutely great. So simple and delicious. I also served this with pasta tossed with pan juices (I added a bit more butter too). I just added the marinated fennel on top, but it could also be served on the side.

  • Lepa on August 17, 2017

    This was a huge hit in our house. It is the perfect weeknight supper- very simple and quick and the flavor is extraordinary. My kids even loved it. We had it with panzanella and it was the perfect quick, late summer meal.

  • Lepa on September 15, 2017

    I made this tonight for a dinner party (four adults and four children). I cooked some pappardelle, doubled the fish recipe, tossed it with the pan juices and a bit of extra butter, then added the swordfish back to the pan. It was an excellent way to feed a crowd, especially one that included children who were more interested in pasta than swordfish. I served it with a caprese salad and green beans and it was a lovely feast.

  • meduff on March 07, 2019

    This is all kinds of perfect and easy - super easy. It has some of my favorite things - lemon, fennel seeds, a little red pepper, butter add swordfish that wasn’t overcooked by using another one of Melissa’s secrets - cut the swordfish into cubes and cook them slowly in oil and butter. One of my favorite parts of this dish is the fennel that marinates in lemon and salt while the fish is cooking. That in and of itself is so very good- it is crunchy, salty, soaked with lemon - for me a total yum. This is meant to be a side or a garnish but I could make just this for a lunch and be happy. This marinated fennel will be used for many other things - all good. This recipe is everything I expected from this book. Excellent food, impressive to serve, and easy. Actually you could prep a lot of this in the morning and it would take a just a few minutes at night to heat the pan and cook.

  • mpo on January 07, 2020

    I too really enjoyed this dish. The amount of flavor for the little work was very surprising! I placed arugula on top, and put the fennel salad on top of that, and served with some sauteed eggplant.

• Roasted sausage and cauliflower with cumin and Turkish pepper

  • westminstr on September 27, 2017

    This worked out pretty well for us. I roasted everything together on the same sheet pan for about 40 min to get everything nice and brown. The garlicky yogurt adds a lot and was very yum! Served w lettuce/tomato/cuke salad. Good hands off weeknight meal though not a 30 minute meal in my oven.

  • TrishaCP on May 01, 2017

    We loved this one. The key for me is the garlicky yogurt- it added that pop of freshness and creaminess. I only used one baking sheet too, but the downside to that approach is that the cauliflower ended up soggy when my sausages burst a bit in the oven. We skipped the pine nuts and went with fresh parsley.

  • L.Nightshade on May 20, 2017

    My cauliflower was done too soon, didn't need the extra time. I did pop both the sausages and the cauliflower back into the oven on broil for the last few minutes, as they were fully cooked, but not showing any color. (I prefer the Batali method of broiling the cauliflower; it gets a nice char at the same time that it’s fully cooked.) I added extra garlic, and the zest of a lemon to the yogurt, for a bit more zing. I used lots of Aleppo pepper, and put extra on the table in a salt cellar. I used all the suggested herbs. I made a little tomato salad, as I thought a bit more color and a different texture was needed to make a meal. All in all, very nice for a quickie dinner. The cumin and Aleppo work well with the cauliflower, and with the Italian sausage. The leftovers made a meal that was just as good as the first one. I’d like to vary the spices and type of sausage some time, when another quick dinner is called for.

  • Astrid5555 on July 04, 2017

    Delicious, quick and easy! Also used only one sheet pan, but made a foil divider so the sausage juices did not interfere with crisping the cauliflower. The garlic sauce is a must!

  • FJT on April 27, 2017

    This was nice, but nothing special. I had really nice sausages and I think they outshone the cauliflower (which on its own was good). I even went out and bought some Aleppo pepper and really wasn't sure why I'd bothered!

  • Delys77 on September 22, 2017

    We really liked this but I think it is very dependent on the quality of your sausage. If the sausage isn't super flavourful to start with then it won't be anything stellar. I put the sausage and cauli in at the same time and had it in there for a bit more than 30 minutes. I also had to drain a touch of the fat part way through. On the whole a good dish but given the short ingredient list you need high quality sausage.

  • chawkins on May 10, 2018

    This was good even though I forgot to add the Aleppo pepper. I especially like the carmelized cauliflower and wished there were more, they did shrink down a lot when roasted, so may double that next time. I just used regular sweet Italian sausages, the store was out of the hot ones which are what we normally prefer.

  • Rinshin on September 09, 2017

    This was just ok for us. The overall taste was quite mild bordering on bland. Not sure what effect aleppo pepper made since I could not taste the difference it made. Really nothing stood out here. Photo added.

  • e_ballad on May 22, 2018

    I’m a little surprised that this has been rated so highly. I cut the cauliflower into thick ‘steaks’ rather than the florets recommended in the recipe. Using the same temperature & cooking times, the cauliflower was incinerated & the sausages were shriveled inedible morsels. We use a calibrated oven thermometer so would recommend reducing oven temp & checking much earlier. Ended up with cereal for dinner...

  • Frogcake on May 23, 2017

    A delicious, simple sheet pan dinner. Really healthy too! We loved the garlic yogurt sauce, like others. Not much work to clean up. I've made this recipe with mushrooms and broccoli with times adjusted accordingly.

  • raybun on May 29, 2017

    I was very happy with this dish, easy, quick & so tasty! The family devoured it. Served with corn on the cob drizzled with spicy honey (small victories), great meal!

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Perfect weeknight meal. Great for cleanup as I used one pan. I couldn't stop eating the cauliflower! So yum! The sausages should be quality as they're the center of the dish. A salad and dessert filled us all up! Keeper. Kate thought she could live without the sauce - it added a lot but only for the adults in our group.

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    Yum. Really nice sheet pan dinner. I used some gorgeous pork sausages from the farmer's market and roasted the whole thing on one pan--I think it's a crazy suggestion to use two pans here! I initially roasted the cauliflower for 20 minutes rather than 10, to try and get it a bit more crisp. I then added on the sausages for 25 minutes, and threw in some pine nuts to toast on the pan for the final 3 minutes. I had neither Turkish pepper nor Aleppo pepper, so I sprinkled some smoked paprika over everything. I'm not always a big cumin fan, but here, the whole seeds really worked for me. As did the delicious drizzle of garlicky yogurt. I had this with a slice of garlic toast and it was a really nice, satisfying, easy dinner. With minimal dishes to clean up!

  • Tweedles81 on December 30, 2017

    I have made this twice now - really excellent! I bought thick sausage so it needed to cook a bit longer than suggested. All of the suggested garnishes really add to the dish. I will be adding this to my regular dinner rotation, and may double the cauliflower moving forward because it is so gosh darn tasty!

• Stovetop mac & cheese

  • westminstr on January 18, 2018

    For our family, use 12 oz pasta and increase other ingredients accordingly. Can replace cream w butter/milk combo. We also like to add extra cheese!

  • hirsheys on November 15, 2019

    This was quite easy, but one note. No need to do it again.

  • Zosia on May 04, 2017

    It tasted good and initially the sauce was quite smooth and luxurious but it congealed very quickly - perhaps because I doubled the recipe? Regardless, everyone ate and enjoyed it.

  • Larkspur on April 22, 2017

    Until I tried this recipe I never made a homemade mac and cheese that my family actually liked.

  • Lepa on July 25, 2017

    This is really quick and good. Like Niemie, I added steamed broccoli to make it a bit healthier. Delicious!

  • Frogcake on May 01, 2017

    I flagged this recipe as easy and SUPER delicious for my two sons to make at university. Why would anyone ever buy the crappy fake cheese boxed stuff when you can make this? As my youngest son loves crunch, we developed modifications that include making butter-garlic pan fried panko topping and extra crunchification under the broiler (mac and cheese goes into a casserole dish). We all loved this and will make again -so many other permutations and combinations. You can even eat this mac and cheese directly out of the pot!

  • sosayi on October 07, 2019

    Such a simple and quick recipe for homemade mac and cheese. It was great as a side for barbeque. Used whole milk in place of cream to no ill effect. Doubled the recipe quite easily. Would make again as an accompaniment to a meal or if the kidlets wanted a quick mac, but it's not full-on meal worthy on its own (not that I think it's intended for that, anyway).

  • Niemie on March 31, 2017

    Great weeknight fare. I added steamed broccoli and peas. With whole wheat pasta, I can almost rationalize that this as a healthy option.

• Orecchiette with broccoli rabe and almonds

  • westminstr on April 17, 2017

    More complicated than my usual recipe and not as good.

  • Zosia on October 30, 2019

    We really enjoyed this. I substituted shallots for the red onion as that's what I had and thought the sweetness they brought to the dish was a nice foil for the slightly bitter rapini.

  • Tweedles81 on February 02, 2019

    I thought that this was very simple and easy. Not much had to be chopped, and if it did it was not a mince or anything complex. I didn’t see where in the recipe that I was supposed to add the almonds back in after toasting them. The end result tasted earthy and slightly bitter and yummy. Definitely add the lemon juice to taste!

• Warm squid salad with cucumber, mint, and aioli

  • westminstr on April 17, 2017

    unexpectedly delicious! I followed MC's squid method which worked well but took 3 batches for 1 pound of squid. For the aioli I doctored jarred mayo w garlic, salt, EVOO & lime juice as I only wanted a small amount. Short on cukes so added arugula and subbed parsley for mint. This was excellent and the kids really liked it too. But 1 pound of squid does not serve four of us.

  • clcorbi on May 05, 2017

    I second that this was delicious. Like Westminstress, I used good-quality storebought mayo and added chopped garlic and lemon juice to taste. I also let my cukes and chopped mint marinate in a little salt and lemon juice while I did the rest of the prep. This was my first time cooking squid, and I think I was a little too afraid of overcooking it, so I didn't let the squid get quite as much of a char as you can see in the cookbook photo. On the bright side, my squid wasn't rubbery at all! Served with garlic toast, this was a delicious, easy, fast dinner. I was very generous with the lemon juice and sea salt garnish over the just-cooked squid, and I think it made a difference. Next time I'd add even more cucumber to the salad, to up the amount of veggies, and also because I really loved it with the aioli. Highly recommend!

• Spicy roasted shrimp with eggplant and mint

  • westminstr on April 21, 2017

    We loved this too. I also used two sheet pans and upped the eggplant and shrimp a bit. Cooked everything at 425 so the eggplant would cook a bit faster, prepped the shrimp while eggplant cooked, put the shrimp in and everything was done at the same time. Could be done on one sheet pan but I wanted to leave the shrimp plain for my kids. Loved the mint. Great dish! Note that this dish really only serves two, so if you want more you would have to use two sheet pans anyway.

  • vickster on April 11, 2019

    Delicious! The harissa mixture is so good on the eggplant. I may make only the eggplant some time.

  • BethNH on April 16, 2019

    I have never cooked eggplant before and can't remember if I've ever eaten it either. Like others I used only one sheet pan and added the shrimp after the eggplant had cooked for 20 minutes - cooked them together for 8 additional minutes. As I don't know what cooked eggplant is supposed to be like I can say that I wish I had peeled the skin - it was tough and leathery and there was no way to chew it. The eggplant was very, very soft - easy to mush like mashed potatoes. We enjoyed the eggplant kind of smooshed onto the shrimp. There was a lot of flavor and two of us ate the whole thing. I think in the future I'd peel the eggplant and cook it for less time.

  • okcook on February 21, 2018

    I used Japanese eggplants and only two tablespoons of oil for a lighter version. I had some okra so added those to the pan as well. I did not make the shrimp. This is delicious. Definitely a make again.

  • blintz on March 25, 2018

    This combo did not sound appetizing to me, but based on everyone's notes --and a big eggplant that was getting old--I made it and it's great! I used two pans, and next time will double or triple the recipe. We had the skimpy leftovers for lunch the next day and were sad we didn't have more.

  • L.Nightshade on April 02, 2017

    As MC states in the opening note, this is a sheet pan supper, but one which requires two sheet pans. The cubed eggplant is tossed with olive oil, harissa, cumin, and salt, and starts roasting on one sheet pan, for 20 minutes. I interpreted the timing to mean the shrimp should go in after the eggplant has been cooking for 20 minutes, then both should cook for the remaining seven to ten minutes. My eggplant was done by the 20 minute mark, so the shrimp had to cook separately. (Full disclosure: our oven is broken so I’m cooking on convection. Even though I cook at a 25-50º lower temperature than stated, the convection oven could very well count for the timing differences.) Wonderfully flavorful, with just the right level of spicing. Mr. Nightshade insists on a repeat of this dish, so I’m tagging with “easy” and “do again.” Myself, I wish I had used about six eggplant and had leftovers. I can eat this stuff like candy. Spicy candy. Mmmm.

  • Astrid5555 on April 25, 2017

    Excellent, just the right level of spiciness. Next time I would add the shrimp to the eggplant after the 20 minute mark and not dirty another sheet pan. Will definitely make again.

  • stockholm28 on September 01, 2018

    The eggplant was particularly good. I used a single sheet pan and used fairytale eggplant slices into 1/2 inch rounds. I cooked the eggplant as directed for 20 minutes and then added the shrimp to the same tray to save me from having to wash up a second tray. I made half a recipe and this worked fine.

  • Zosia on August 06, 2017

    This is also delicious made with cauliflower.

  • ksg518 on April 02, 2019

    This was a recipe I passed over many times as being sort of odd until I saw all the enthusiastic comments. This was delicious! We made it as directed, using two pans. Our eggplant was spicy with a few pieces that were a little too spicy but that may have been our error in mixing. The shrimp cuts some of the spices. I especially liked the mint. This is very easy and a perfect weeknight dinner.

  • saarwouters on February 19, 2018

    This was goooood! Used just one sheet pan for 2 persons, but wish I had made more, it was so delicious! Also: great method for cooking shrimp in the oven.

  • mrshalf on December 19, 2017

    Our crew of 7 loved this. No need for two sheet pans and be sure to use good quality shrimp. Great weeknight sheet pan meal.

  • meduff on April 04, 2019

    This is just so very good. A must make. A few thoughts:1) I really recommend peeling the eggplant. I made this three times - the first time the eggplant skin was crispy and delicious with the creamy eggplant. The next two times - cooked the exact same way - the skin was like leather. I couldn’t chew it, or bite through it. I had to peel the creamy eggplant off the skin just to eat that part of its deliciousness. That annoyed me and I learned that the eggplant must be peeled or it will frustrate me. 2) Put foil down on your sheet pan - it made it much easier to clean up. I think I would have had a hard time cleaning that sheet pan if I hadn’t. 3) You don’t really need two sheet pans. One full size pan will work just fine. 4) When you're ready to put the shrimp in the oven, save yourself some time and energy - buy the peeled and deveined shrimp. I didn’t but will next time.

  • Lucylew on October 06, 2019

    I made this recipe solely based on the reviews. I used quartered fairy tale eggplant and I added the shrimp after the eggplant had cooked about 25 minutes. I wasn't sure what I thought about the dish a bite or three into it, but it tasted better and better the more I ate. I will make it again.

• Anchovy chicken with lemon and capers

  • westminstr on April 15, 2019

    Made as written and loved it. Truly fast and very tasty - a real weeknight winner.

  • sfcarole on May 23, 2020

    I've been working my way through Clark's Dinner: Changing the Game chicken recipes and I just got around to trying this last night. Most of the recipes are easy and very flavorful. This one was no exception. I rough chopped the anchovies to help in their dissolving and I chopped the capers to give more of their flavor per bite. Everything else was done as directed. It took 10 minutes in the oven. We both loved it and I'll make it again. Oh, and I served it with a dollop of plain yogurt mixed with salt & pepper and some of the minced garlic. She suggests this topping in other recipes and I find myself using it on many meat preparations.

  • Astrid5555 on April 02, 2017

    We had mixed reactions to this dish. While I have to admit that I liked the sauce by itself (did not have any capers to add, so only garlic, anchovies and lemon), I and younger son did not much care for it with the chicken (used boneless skinless thighs). However, husband and older son loved it.

  • hughb on November 27, 2018

    Delicious, fast, and easy.

  • FJT on June 25, 2017

    This was easy and delicious. I would have enjoyed it more had I not burned my hand despite the warning in the recipe - next time I'm finishing it on the stove top rather than in the oven!!

  • purrviciouz on January 30, 2019

    We loved this and it was really fast and delicious weeknight dinner. I didn't have bread so I added pasta to the pan sauce before adding the chicken back. I mashed the anchovies with mortar and pestle to a paste to avoid any leftover anchovy chunks. Will definitely make this again. I might add more capers next time.

• Cuban flank steak with lime and fresh mango

  • westminstr on March 28, 2017

    Subbed a london broil for the flank steak which held up beautifully in the overnight marinade. Great flavor. Also so easy when you buy the mango pre-sliced. I made this in a cast-iron skillet, about 5 min per side and 5 min in a 425 oven. It came out perfect (for london broil) but I think it really would have benefited from a charcoal grill and a better cut of meat.

  • TrishaCP on April 01, 2017

    This was fine- in that flank steak is always appealing to me- but I thought overall the flavor was bland. I only marinated the steak for about an hour, but I think it really needs the overnight marinade, which she suggests as an option. I agree this is probably best grilled rather than broiled. Also, this needs a side dish or salad- the steak and mangoes aren't going to cut it alone. ETA- leftovers were much more flavorful for sandwiches the next day, but I still would probably not make this again.

  • Zosia on June 13, 2017

    Marinating for only 1 hour really didn't allow the flavours to penetrate but serving the thin slices with meat juices and some of the reserved marinade made a big difference. Everyone really enjoyed it and, surprisingly, even the mangoes were a hit. I'll try to give it a longer marinating time when I make it again.

• Anchovy lamb chops with capers and garlic

  • westminstr on March 28, 2017

    Five stars for the sauce! Loved it. But did not care for the blade chops and will use loin chops next time. The kids didn't like the sauce so leave some chops plain for them. Also note to self that I undercooked them at first, they took longer on my stove than she specifies in the recipe.

• Fried lemon pasta with chile flakes

  • westminstr on January 23, 2019

    I liked this pretty well but my kids didn't. It was a bit more fiddly than a usual weeknight dinner. I think it would be less fiddly with repetition, but I probably won't repeat because my kids didn't eat it. It was however a great way to use Meyer lemons. I blanched for 2 min & I think 3 would have been better.

  • jenmmcd on June 17, 2019

    My family really liked this dish, kids included. I did blanch the Meyer lemons for 4-5 mins to get the bitterness out, but then they were great. I also topped it with roasted cauliflower with capers and breadcrumbs—kind of a mash up with the next recipe in the book. That was a yummy addition too. Will make again.

  • TrishaCP on May 04, 2020

    Wow, we absolutely loved this. I blanched my lemons for five minutes based on prior reviews, and added basil (didn’t have the celery leaves).

  • Astrid5555 on November 20, 2017

    I agree with Tweedles81, this pasta dish is amazing! I was lucky enough to have found some Meyer lemons at the store last week, so this was a quick weeknight pantry staple dinner. Added the optional parsley and used pappardelle pasta. My lemon-averse husband asked me to please, please make this again as soon as possible.

  • VineTomato on May 31, 2020

    I finally found Meyer lemons in London - a rare treat indeed and after searching Eat Your Books we settled on this recipe. We loved it.

  • bching on June 18, 2019

    We love this. I've made it several times--occasionally with straight from the tree lemons which I suspect are less bitter.

  • ellencooks on April 09, 2017

    This was quite good! I didn't have Meyer lemons and used my homegrown unknown variety, but thicker skinned than a Meyer so I doubled the blanching time. Really good and quick to go together.

  • Tweedles81 on November 20, 2017

    This was amazing - probably the best pasta dish I’ve ever made! I used Meyer lemons and blanched for 3 minutes. The only substitution I made was that I used egg fettuccine, as that is what I had on hand. My toddlers didn’t like it (probably because of the prominent lemon flavor), but my husband and I gobbled it up!

  • meduff on January 23, 2019

    I really wanted to love this dish. What is not to love about lemons, pasta, and a little cheese? I made it twice just to make sure it I was giving it the justice it was due. For me this dish was a deceptively difficult the first time around, and way to fussy for a weekend night meal if you've had a busy day. I had to blanch my homegrown Meyer lemons longer than the recipe called for, and my lemons are pretty sweet. The second time around I omitted the celery leaves and substituted basil - which I liked much better. I had a hard time caramelizing the lemons and needed to use more oil than called for and turn down the heat so it didn't burn my pan a second time. Next time I would add capers - because almost everything is better with capers. I still really want to love this dish.

• Red curry and coconut tofu with cherry tomatoes and green beans

  • westminstr on October 04, 2019

    I followed others suggestions on the cherry tomatoes and added at least double the amount of mushrooms, also extra coconut milk. Stirred in some brown sugar at the end and some extra fish sauce to balance the flavor. This was a solid B+. I used Thai Kitchen red curry paste and I think I would have liked this better with a different brand and flavor of curry paste.

  • vickster on June 09, 2017

    Very good Thai curry.

  • vickster on June 09, 2017

    This is really good - in spite of the cherry tomatoes not being in the recipe. I make Thai curries now and then, and this is the best I have made. Just a few tweaks from my usual recipe gave the flavors the refinement they needed. I pretty much followed the recipe, but added more mushrooms and also added broccoli.

  • Lepa on July 18, 2017

    The first time I made this recipe, I was confused about the lack of cherry tomatoes in the ingredients/directions so I left them out. This time I added a cup of halved cherry tomatoes with the tofu and green beans and it dramatically improved the flavor of this curry.

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    I am really confused as to why the recipe name says "with cherry tomatoes" when cherry tomatoes are not listed in the ingredients, instructions, or even in the header where the author often describes variations for the recipes. I have not been able to find errata for this book on the web...will try making it anyway (as written, without cherry tomatoes) and see how it turns out. ETA: So I made this...the flavors were really nice, but the sauce was very thick. 1 cup of coconut milk is definitely not enough liquid. It was already pretty thick with just the mushrooms and became almost impossible to stir once the tofu and green beans were added (without breaking up the tofu at least). I added 1/2 cup jarred diced tomatoes even though I had planned to follow the recipe as written. I probably could have added more (or some veg broth), plus the rest of the can of coconut milk. I left out the chile and used less curry paste for the toddler; the adults added red chile flakes to their servings.

  • Sparkles75 on December 11, 2019

    My book may be a corrected edition as 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes are listed in the ingredients. This is a quick and yummy dinner when made with frozen white fish pieces which is what I did. I felt it was missing a little something and added a dash of brown sugar and it was perfect so would do this next time.

• Roasted carrots with walnuts, feta, and dill

  • westminstr on January 26, 2018

    Fantastic. I subbed parsley but want to try the dill. Carrots cooked down a lot.

  • eliza on September 13, 2019

    This was quite good. The carrots I used may have been smaller since they were completely done in 20 minutes and some were quite burnt. I liked the balsamic better than the pomegranate molasses.

  • Zosia on August 16, 2017

    The combination of pomegranate molasses and sweet roasted vegetable is fabulous. I made this the first time with sweet potatoes and coriander and the second, as per the recipe, with carrots and dill. Both were delicious.

  • pistachiopeas on June 28, 2017

    Very delicious. A nice vegetarian main with some other dishes.

  • coryelizabeth on June 23, 2018

    This was wonderful, but with balsamic and pomegranate molasses. I think the overall roasting time could be reduced slightly (the tips of my carrots turned black). But then again, the tips were delicious.

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    Really delicious and easy. I need to accept that I'm just not a huge dill fan, so next time I'd try these with mint or cilantro.

  • meduff on January 01, 2019

    Once again a great dish. What is not to like about roasted carrots? I found the feta to be a nice touch in balancing the sweetness of the carrots. I used my favorite aged balsamic ( Aceto, Balsamico Di Modena, Oro Gold), which may have been a little too much for the carrots and feta. I didn’t use the walnuts at all. A super easy and very elegant dish. This will for sure be made many many more times in my kitchen. Melissa Clark says to cut the carrots lengthwise. You need to be super careful when doing this. One slip of those carrots or knife and you could badly cut your finger or hand. The carrots are rolling around, the knife was slipping - this recipe could come with a danger sign: handle knife and carrots with caution. Next time I would just cut one side of the carrot flat a few millimeters in so it doesn’t roll.

  • Lucylew on October 12, 2019

    We really enjoyed this, even my vegetable adverse husband had two servings. The pomegranate molasses is so good on the carrots! The dill, walnuts, molasses, it all worked brilliantly!

• Black bean skillet dinner with quick-pickled red onion and lime crema

  • westminstr on April 15, 2019

    I've made this twice, once with canned and once w home cooked beans. I think it is quick, flavorful and healthy but nobody else in my family likes it at all. (Writing this note now to remind myself not to make again.)

  • TrishaCP on April 08, 2020

    We really liked this served the night of and the leftovers were great too. I would probably be wary of using canned beans. As other members noted - the extra cooking with the vegetables might make the canned beans too soft. I used dried beans and the final texture was perfect. I didn’t have red onions so made the best of it with pickled ramps. Red onions would have been better though!

  • stockholm28 on April 22, 2017

    Overall, I liked this. I used dried beans so I actually started this 2 days in advance (soaked overnight on day 1, cooked beans on day 2 and stored in fridge, and made skillet dinner on day 3). I thought the chili was just average; when I want veggie chili, I will stick to my go-to recipe from "New Basics". The real takeaways for me were the lime crema (I used light sour cream) and pickled onions. These really jazzed up the dish. The other takeaway was in her instructions for storing the beans after you have cooked them. She suggests storing in some of the cooking liquid which I'd never thought of.

  • ksg518 on March 04, 2019

    I've made this several times and think it's delicious. I've always used dried beans and I think I wouldn't like it as much with canned beans. I find black beans from the can to be a little soft for my taste and I think cooking them again with the tomatoes and other ingredients would turn them to mush. I serve this over rice and, if anything, the leftovers are better than the original.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    We eat a ton of black beans and have had them all ways I bet. This recipe is a keeper because it made me excited for lunch to have leftovers!! The flavor combo is wonderful and the Lime Crema had me licking the serving spoon after plating! I was excited to see how easy the red onions were to do - need to keep those on hand. Yum????

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    I really enjoyed this, and I'm not always a huge fan of tex-mex. I reduced the cubanelle pepper to 1 pepper rather than 3 - maybe my supermarket just had enormous cubanelle peppers in stock, but I thought 3 would have overpowered the black beans. I think the red onions were the best part of this meal. We used sour cream for the crema and really enjoyed it, but next time I'd make a half-recipe, because we came nowhere close to needing the full cup. I served this in tortillas for dinner, and then had the leftovers over rice for lunch the next day, and I really liked it both ways.

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    I thought the lime crema was the best part of this dish. Definitely a keeper for serving with other Mexican or Tex-Mex dishes instead of plain sour cream. We weren't fans of the quick-pickled red onions, but we don't normally care for raw onions anyway. I liked the idea though, so the next time I make black beans I might try serving them with pickled red onions from a jar since we usually like the softer texture of those. We thought the beans were good, but nothing terribly special. Maybe the cubanelle peppers make a difference? I'm not sure I've ever had them, and they weren't available at my grocery store. I subbed a large yellow bell pepper.

  • Maaseelulu on August 01, 2017

    Another successful recipe from Dinner for me! I omitted the cubanelle/bell pepper and used ancho chili powder. I found this to be an all around very flavorful, easy, vegetarian dinner that I will definitely make again.

• Olive oil-braised chickpeas and Swiss chard with cumin

  • westminstr on April 19, 2018

    I used home-cooked chickpeas and their broth, subbed kale for swiss chard, cut the olive oil to about 1/3 cup (which seemed like plenty). Was nervous about using the full amount of cumin but it turned out to be perfect. Also I was out of lemon so subbed some juice & goop from a jar of preserved lemons. Did not blend. The kids ate it w feta but I preferred it plain. I really enjoyed this dish! I don't have too many vegan dishes in my repertoire so this was a great find.

  • crandall57 on May 27, 2020

    Made this as a side dish and omitted the bread. Cut the recipe in half and was enough for four as a side. Enjoyed leftovers for breakfast, heated up leftovers with an egg white and topped with Manchego cheese.

  • seherhussain on May 04, 2019

    Super easy weeknight recipe; the chickpeas definitely need a good amount of salt and the lemon at the end lifts the whole dish. Very tasty with chard and would make again.

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    This is one of the better incarnations of chickpeas and Swiss chard that I've made. I think the extra olive oil really made a difference (most recipes only call for a tablespoon or two). I don't have an immersion blender, so I followed the instruction to put about half into my high-powered blender...where I proceeded to blend it for what was probably too long. It looked like a green smoothie and made the finished dish look less appealing than the photo. Next time I would leave it a little chunkier and blend less of it. I will definitely make this one again if I decide to buy the book (using a library copy right now).

  • aromo on January 18, 2019

    This was amazing, from deceptively simply ingredients. I used spinach, a sub she suggested and it has lingered in my memory for months. I did not blend at the end, I think.

• Citrus salad with olives

  • westminstr on January 26, 2018

    Used blood oranges and skipped the olives. Aleppo pepper and smoked salt. So good!

  • saarwouters on July 27, 2018

    Skipped the olives and added some sumac. Great side dish!

  • meduff on January 15, 2019

    This is the prettiest salad I have ever made. The smell from the oils in the peel on a very cold and very rainy day made my kitchen smell so good. The bits of mint added a hint of sweetness and another pretty pop of color. I used red grapefruit, and the following varieties of oranges; blood, cara cara, and navel. Instead of regular olive oil I used a Blood Orange olive oil. I did not add the olives. In my mind it also took away from the wow factor of this very simple but very beautiful salad. I had this great citrus that I wanted to let shine all on its own. This dish came together in no time. Still a little longer than Melissa Clark says but not too much longer. It took me a total of 15 minutes. This would be a great salad to serve on a warm sunny day . I would miss the blood oranges in the summer. They sure brightened my salad today.

• Quick-roasted cauliflower

  • westminstr on November 27, 2017

    The cauliflower turned out perfect with this high heat roasting technique. I used romanesco and it was tender and browned.

• Marmalade meatballs with cider vinegar glaze

  • vickster on November 07, 2019

    These are delicious! I ate with pita bread, but would love to try on mashed potatoes or rice. (I'm not so sure about the polenta.) They bake up easily in the oven, but I may try in the Foodi.

  • hirsheys on June 10, 2018

    Was not impressed with these. The flavor was fine and they were easy to make, but I craved more sauce. (In fact, I think I made two extra batches for the leftovers!) Perfectly adequate, but not worth my time.

  • rmardel on August 17, 2017

    easy to make. Ok but nothing special. Although they have potential, perhaps needing only a little more ginger or onion, I'll probably not try making them again.

  • paulabee on July 29, 2017

    These were great! I used anchovy paste rather than diced anchovies, and I also seared these before adding the glaze and broiling (rather than broiling for the entirety of the cooking process, as the recipe suggests- I liked the added crispness from the sear).

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    These were even better the next day. Kid friendly but not all were fans of glaze. Good news is meatballs were delicious on their own. Great appetizer or with starch and veggies.

  • averythingcooks on October 29, 2017

    We really enjoyed these! I used a 50/50 beef / pork mix & anchovy paste, then oven roasted (instead of broiling) the meatballs and stir fried some colourful peppers and red onions. I poured the glaze over the veg , added some fresh noodles and stirred the meatballs in at the end for a really delicious "dinner in a bowl".

  • purrviciouz on January 01, 2019

    I brought these to a potluck and they were a hit! After broiling I put them in an oven dish then poured the glaze in and used more like a sauce. I used pork instead of beef and made a double batch. This will be a go to potluck dish for me.

  • cnorton on February 23, 2019

    These are a family favorite for ready-in-a-hurray, kid-friendly quick meals, or an appetizer to bring to parties. Great w/ brown rice, pineapple and stir-fried greens. I agree that there could be more glaze (for me), but my teen prefers the meatballs without it. In a pinch, you could just dip them in sweet Thai chili sauce on the side. Tasty!

• Kibbe-style lamb meatballs with herbed yogurt

  • vickster on June 19, 2019

    These meatballs are delicious. I followed what TrishaCP did and baked them instead of broiling. The herbed yogurt is wonderful, especially for me as I love dill! I will make these again.

  • TrishaCP on June 29, 2017

    This was fine if not exceptional- I would think about bumping up the spices in the meatballs next time. The bulgar softened nicely with her soaking technique but the mixture was quite soft. I left them in the fridge overnight but I think they may have broken on me if I hadn't done so. I ignored the broiling instructions because my ground lamb was fatty and I didn't want all of that fat splashing the broiler- I cooked at 425 for 25 minutes instead and sure enough the oil had really poured out of the meatballs, so I felt like I made the right choice. This really needs a salad or cut up raw vegetables to be a a complete meal, even with the recommended naan bread.

  • ksg518 on October 02, 2017

    We thought this was wonderful and will be making this again. We didn't have any issues with the softness of the mixture or extra fat. We used the broiler as directed and overcooked them a little to get some nice brown spots. We served it with a tomato and cucumber salad as Clark suggests. Naan would be good too and I could see adding a spread of hummus if we added the bread. I also think making these smaller and using them to stuff a pita would be delicious.

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    Subbed lamb for ground beef. My family likes this but it sure isn't enough variety to be called "Dinner".

  • Lsblackburn1 on July 07, 2020

    Thanks for the suggestion to bake these. I did the same and they came out great. Super moist.

• Polenta with broccoli rabe and fried eggs

  • SheilaS on August 01, 2017

    I cooked the polenta in the Instant Pot (pot-in-pot) and substituted broccoli for the broccoli rabe. I found it to be a quick, tasty and satisfying breakfast. I'll certainly make this again with the broccoli rabe or another more bitter green when I have a chance.

• Niçoise salad with basil anchovy dressing

  • kari500 on August 19, 2019

    Delicious, and in rotation with a few changes. I don't serve it as a composed salad, and I add a head of bibb or boston lettuce torn up. Dressing is fantastic.

  • pistachiopeas on June 28, 2017

    This is my new favorite Nicoise recipe. The dressing is absolutely delicious.

  • Lepa on March 27, 2017

    I made this with fresh poached tuna. I omitted the radishes/cucumbers but added hard boiled eggs. It was lovely and easy. I will definitely make this again!

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    Awesome! We love this. I make the potatoes and green beans with the dressing quite often as a side dish.

• Sesame chicken with cashews and dates

  • kari500 on August 19, 2019

    I really liked this a lot. Dates add pretty much nothing, so could easily be skipped.

  • Delys77 on April 22, 2017

    For us this was ok but I found the aromatics didn't really permeate the dish because they were left mostly whole. I would prefer to mince them in.

  • stockholm28 on March 23, 2017

    This is a variation of the 3 cup chicken recipe on the NYT website. It uses dates and cashews. My recipe looked nothing like the photo in the book as everything got a deep mahogany brown. Nevertheless, this was really good and the leftovers were also very tasty. Definitely worth a repeat.

  • Rachaelsb on April 03, 2018

    I thought this was delicious. I used a medium sherry instead of rice vinegar which added a nice depth to it. So easy, quick and satisfying. Will definitely make again

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    This is a quick weeknight meal. I think next time I'll use less oil as the last 3xs we've done it my stomach hurt after :( thighs plus oil - yikes! I love the nuts and dates added in. It's not a flavorful meal tho.

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    I also thought this was just okay. I was intrigued by the idea of using dates in a stirfry, and while the result was fairly tasty, I'd rather just turn back to one of my Dunlop books when I want a memorable Chinese stirfry. I also agree with the below comment that the aromatics didn't come through well--better to just mince them in.

  • mfranklin125 on May 01, 2017

    Was pretty good. Nothing exciting but flavorful

• Miso-glazed salmon with brown sugar

  • kari500 on January 12, 2020

    My husband bought salmon to make for dinner and then felt sick, so it was left to me to cook. I came straight to EYB and looked for a quick and easy salmon recipe, and this popped up. I had everything but the limes, but did have lime juice, so I added that to the marinade. Our broiler doesn’t work, so I did this all on the stovetop, which I do a lot with salmon. I was worried that the family would think this was too sweet, but they enjoyed it (maybe a bit too sweet for me, but helped by some crunchy salt to finish). The marinade keeps it nice and moist. I did 5 minutes per side. Not bad at all for a last minute meal.

  • Zosia on June 17, 2017

    Though my salmon was cooked before the marinade had time to brown, and there was no sauce to speak of as all the excess marinade burned onto the baking sheet (thankfully lined with foil as directed so clean up was easy), it tasted fantastic. It was salty, tangy and slightly sweet with a bit of gingery heat (I used about 1 tbsp) and was a big hit with family who don't like much sweetness in savoury dishes.

  • Lepa on June 27, 2017

    My kids really liked this salmon. I made it with the coconut rice/peas recipe from Clark's book Eat This Now and it was a lovely combination. My salmon looked nothing like the picture here. Instead, it had a thick coating of cooked marinade crusting the top.

  • e_ballad on October 29, 2019

    A very quick & tasty way to prepare salmon. I completely agree with @Lepa that the image was in no way similar to what made it onto our plates - maybe a little water might thin down the marinade to more evenly coat the fish.

• Butternut squash and red lentil soup with coconut and spinach

  • caitmcg on April 04, 2017

    I liked this soup a lot. The earthiness of the lentils and cumin balance the sweetness of the squash, and the coconut milk adds lushness. I recommend reducing the stock/water to 4 cups for best consistency. I did not use more than 2 T. olive oil for the sautéing.

  • chawkins on April 20, 2018

    Quite delicious. It turned out that I only had 3/4 cup of lentil in the house, so I reduced the amount of water to 3 cups and used the the same amount of stock as stated for the recipe, the consistency of the soup was just about right for me. No baby spinach at the market so I just got an 8-oz bag af regular spinach and used it all. My husband felt that I should have either chopped the spinach up a little or blended it up with the rest of the soup, but I’m pretty sure that one puréed in with the other ingredients, the color of the soup would turn into an unappetizing brown.

  • e_ballad on September 04, 2017

    I seem to be in the minority for this one: whilst this is an ok soup, made as per the book, we found it fairly bland. The lime added a slight pique in interest & we certainly seasoned generously. This may be more reflective of our liking for a number of pumpkin dhal recipes that have a bit more going on, rather than the recipe itself.

  • Frogcake on June 17, 2017

    We enjoyed this soup very much. I didn't reduce the liquid as others did as I preferred it more fluid (not porridge like). Nice with chopped parsley or coriander sprinkled on top. I served this with grilled garlic bruschetta for a light dinner.

  • lou_weez on May 28, 2017

    I wish I had read caitmcg notes on reducing the amount of stock/water. The soup was too watery. The taste however, was really nice and it is a recipe I will try again minus 1-2 cups of water!

  • bwhip on November 16, 2017

    Delicious soup. My wife and I both enjoyed this very much. Based on other comments, I reduced the amount of water added to two cups, and found the consistency of the resulting puree to be quite perfect. I used a bit more squash than the recipe called for, and was generous with the cayenne. Lovely soup for a cool fall evening.

  • meduff on March 21, 2019

    I am in the minority on this soup, but I am glad I am not alone. This recipe calls for coconut milk and red lentils both of which were new to me and neither one do I care for based on this recipe. I agree that there is way too much liquid required. In the end I used 3 cups stock and 1/2 cup heavy cream to make it "thick and porridge like". I changed things in my next 4 attempts because with so many great reviews I wanted to like this - I do like butternut squash soup - this one would not be on my make again list.

• Pan-fried asparagus with lemon zest

  • caitmcg on April 04, 2017

    This was very nice (you can't go wrong pairing asparagus with lemon and garlic), and very fast, but a bit of a PITA. I used a larger skillet than the 10-inch one Clark specifies for my pound of asparagus but found the spears were still too tightly packed to move by shaking (per the recipe), nor were they easy to turn as the browned in the fast time they cooked over high heat.

  • meduff on January 06, 2019

    This is a beautiful dish and is super simple. The lemon adds brightness and color. The garlic is almost always a go to for asparagus at our house. All in all is great for whipping up a pretty dish that requires very little thought at the end of a very busy day.

• How to cook quinoa for 4

  • mlbatt on October 28, 2018

    Comes out perfect!

• Creamy red lentil dip with lemon

  • sck on January 01, 2018

    Tastes just like hummus. Good but not too interesting.

  • Londonyankee on October 14, 2018

    Added more lemon juice and coriander to give it flavor,

  • Lepa on March 28, 2020

    This was a good spread to make while stuck inside without many groceries left. I added more lemon and salt and found that it was better once we drizzled it with flaky salt and black sesame seeds (as recommended). We ate this with warm flat breads and my kids didn't notice that it wasn't the regular hummus we normally eat (but they liked the extra smooth texture). Pretty good but not exciting and I probably won't revisit.

• Mapo tofu with mushrooms and pork

  • BethNH on March 31, 2017

    This was the first recipe I tried from this book. Having never made Mapo Tofu before I found the directions very easy to follow. I may have cooked the pork just a tad too long because it got crunchy but it was still delicious. Both my husband and I enjoyed this but didn't find it spicy as the recipe indicated. After searching other Mapo Tofu recipes I found that most add chili oil. I added chili oil to the leftovers and that made the dish much better.

  • Frogcake on May 25, 2017

    Although we enjoyed this dish very much, I agree with BethNH that it needed something to get the fiery flavour, so chili oil also worked for us. I used ground turkey and served it with brown basmati rice. We loved the camphor smokiness of the Sichuan peppercorns, which was a new discovery for me. Will make this again!

  • tmitra on September 26, 2019

    I generally avoid tofu dishes, and unfortunately, this one epitomizes why. Even with Asian-inflected hot sauce on top, it managed to be bland. Per the introduction, I used chopped fermented black beans in lieu of black bean sauce with garlic, but I doubt that was the issue.

• Shrimp pad Thai

  • BethNH on April 08, 2017

    There was a bit of operator error for me. First, I noticed the lime zest in the ingredient list that was then never called for in the recipe. I added it as a garnish at the end. Secondly, because I seem to consistently have problems with undercooked rice noodles, I soaked my noodles for too long and therefore ended up with mushy noodles in the finished product. Third, and perhaps most important, I have never cooked with tamarind paste. The recipe calls for 1.5 Tablespoons of tamarind paste to be added to other ingredients to make a sauce. The tamarind paste just stayed a big glob in the sauce - never breaking down. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do with it. I also bought tamarind concentrate so after trying to stir the paste to break it up, and pushing it through a sieve, I finally just added a couple of teaspoons of tamarind concentrate. I added three Thai chiles which meant that my Pad Thai was quite spicy which we enjoyed. Overall, we liked this but it needs tweaking.

  • Delys77 on April 24, 2017

    Rice noodles are always a risky proposal for me. I didn't follow her instructions nor the package instructions, instead I just covered with boiling water from the kettle for about 4 minutes, which was perhaps 1 minute too long. I also omitted the sprouts as they aren't popular around here. On the whole the recipe was pretty good, but it wasn't quite what I would call pad thai. Usually pad thai has some form of tomato product in it, and also the egg should be visible as opposed to being just a coating for the noodles as it is in this rendition. Flavour wise it was pretty good, but not likely a repeat for us.

  • Rachaelsb on April 18, 2020

    Different from other comments - we enjoyed this. Less as an authentic tasting Pad Thai and more as a satisfying noodle dish with shrimp. Comfort food. We also added chicken and I agree you need to go heavy on the garnishes and a twist of lime in the end gives it a bit of a kick.

  • Rradishes on March 19, 2018

    This was just ok. Just an ok noodle dinner. The rice noodles stuck together so I spent some time trying to separate them as they were soaking, but that might have been my fault. I would soak the noodles in a larger bowl next time.Overall, the dish tasted close, but not quite there for restaurant pad Thai version. Couldn't quite pinpoint what the sauce was missing, but tasty enough to make it again especially since now I have a whole jar of tamarind paste.

  • clcorbi on October 26, 2017

    I thought that this was a serviceable pad thai, even though it didn't taste super authentic. Next time I would prefer to fry up the egg in advance and then chop it into pieces to mix into the finished dish, rather than letting it coat all the noodles (which, I agree with the other comments, was odd). The garnishes are pretty important here--I think you need a big squeeze of lime at the end and plenty of crunchy peanuts to make this dish shine.

  • bwhip on March 30, 2017

    This was okay, though my wife and I both found it a bit too sweet. Also, although I followed the directions in the recipe for preparing the rice noodles in warm water, and used quite hot water and left them in longer than called for, they were still quite firm even after cooking a bit more with the sauce before serving.

• Mexican tortilla soup with avocado and chipotle

  • BethNH on April 02, 2017

    While my husband unpacked the groceries I started this soup for lunch. From start to finish the entire process took about 35 minutes - well under the 45 minutes stated in the recipe :-) Once I got the onion, poblano pepper and jalapeno in the pan, I was able to chop the rotisserie chicken. I broke up the tomatoes as I put them in the pot. As everything simmered I made the homemade tortilla strips and cut up avocado and cilantro. The only deviation I made from the recipe is adding a jalapeno and smoked paprika when I realized I forgot to buy chipotle in adobo. The soup would have been better with the chipotle in adobo but that would have meant waiting for another day. Even with this substitution, the soup was very flavorful and delicious. I'd definitely make it again.

  • stockholm28 on June 09, 2018

    This is very fast to make if you have leftover chicken or a rotisserie chicken. I did not bother with the fried tortillas. It also freezes well if you freeze without the various garnishes. While it is not the best tortilla soup I’ve ever had, it is quite flavorful. I froze individual portions and it has been a great option when I get home late from work and don’t feel like cooking.

  • Zosia on September 01, 2017

    This had good flavour for such a quick cooking soup. With only the chicken meat from a cooked thigh, I was quite short on that ingredient so added cooked black beans for a bit more substance. I also used grated garden fresh Roma tomatoes instead of canned.

• Sticky tamarind chicken with crisp lettuce

  • BethNH on May 05, 2017

    Made this for dinner last night with skinless boneless thighs. We served it with rice and green beans. The marinade was delicious and gave the chicken good flavor. My chicken, however, was neither sticky nor caramelized. We all thought it tasted good enough but none of us loved it and I doubt I'd make it again. I've confirmed that none of us really care for chicken thighs and I wonder if this marinade would be good with chicken breasts on the grill when it finally gets warmer.

  • TrishaCP on August 02, 2017

    This tasted quite good but I agree with BethNH that my chicken wasn't sticky, or caramelized. (I also used boneless skinless thighs.) I also didn't think it had much tamarind flavor, which was disappointing.

  • hughb on November 27, 2018

    While the flavors were good, mine too was neither sticky nor caramelized. Although I like many of the recipes in this book, I won't make this one again.

  • Zosia on May 04, 2017

    The flavours of the marinade were nicely balanced and resulted in flavourful and succulent chicken but there wasn't much heat so the jalapeno wasn't optional for us. I used boneless thighs for an even quicker cooking meal and served them with flatbreads and broccoli slaw made with lime and mint.

  • ellencooks on April 04, 2017

    This doesn't quite make a whole dinner for me but I was surprised at how well this chicken went with some romaine leaves and jalapeños. I spread the tamarind sauce around the lettuce and it made a nice dressing. Did not add the pictured cilantro and radicchio which is not in the recipe. My major complaint about this book. Pictures do not match recipes.

  • hbakke on May 07, 2019

    Meh. Couldn't taste any tamarind in the finished dish and the marinade incinerated in the oven. The accompanying lettuce with jalapeno doesn't create a full meal in my opinion. I wouldn't make this again.

• Ginger pork meatballs with cilantro and fish sauce

  • BethNH on March 31, 2017

    These meatballs and the dipping sauce were to die for delicious. Although there was a lot of chopping the recipe was easy to follow. Everyone loved it and we will definitely make this again.

  • DKennedy on April 04, 2017

    I stovetop cooked up one meatball to test for taste purposes, and it is so flavorful and addictively delicious I couldn't wait to serve them up. My initial thought was that these would make wonderful lettuce wraps or banh mi/dumpling filling . Note that I doubled the amount of ground pork called for in the recipe, and modified the other ingredients as follows: 6 garlic cloves, and 4 teaspoons lime juice. All the other ingredients I left at the single batch measurements. With this liquid to solid ratio, the meatballs are not too wet to start as was a complaint of other people who made these. FWIW, the oven broiled version were not as flavorful as the stovetop, but mush easier to prep. Next time, I may opt to make these stove top. The Dipping sauce is fantastic.

  • TrishaCP on March 22, 2020

    This dish has been on my “to make” list for ages and it didn’t disappoint. Lots to chop so prepare the meatballs in advance if you are cooking on a weeknight. I didn’t like the dipping sauce alone when I tasted it (I was wondering about all of the comments below from people who disliked it)- but I liked it fine together with the meatballs.

  • Astrid5555 on April 18, 2017

    These are exceptional! I followed the other reviewers' suggestions and pan-fried the meatballs instead of broiling them, which worked really well. The dipping sauce on top elevated this dish to something really special. Not very involved and really weeknight-dinner friendly. Will definitely make again!

  • Delys77 on April 12, 2017

    We went with the broiler method and it took about 10 minutes under my broiler. It was easy and the flavour profile was pretty good but we found the dipping sauce overpowering and the meatballs only so so under the broiler. I wish I had read the other reviews prior to attempting as the pan fried would likely have been more to our taste.

  • twoyolks on April 11, 2020

    I liked the flavor of the meatballs but they just seemed odd as meatballs.

  • imaluckyducky on September 22, 2019

    Decided to try a different variation of pork meatballs, similar to Smitten Kitchen's recipe with the coconut broth. I added more of the cilantro, garlic, ginger, and fish sauce to the mixture per other reviewer's recommendation (and my preference). These meatballs are softer than Smitten Kitchen's, and are at risk for drying out from overcooking due to the lack of eggs or breadcrumbs (don't worry, they stick together just fine!). Had to pan-cook them as well instead of broiling - they didn't get brown enough before pork fat started splattering everywhere. The dipping sauce is extremely nice and a fun and different way to eat them, per the 3yo. Served with somen noodles with ponzu sauce and smashed sichuan cucumbers.

  • ksg518 on March 24, 2020

    We really liked these. We substituted shallots for the scallions but otherwise followed the recipe. We served them with rice so the sauce was on the rice and not used as a dipping sauce. We also used the meatballs and rice as a filling for lettuce wraps which worked out very well. A definite repeat.

  • e_ballad on March 01, 2020

    I enjoyed these & they were a doddle to prepare. Best of all, they can be prepared ahead of time, making them a super-quick midweek meal.

  • raybun on June 09, 2017

    I'm adding my praise to this recipe. They were delicious! I pan fried mine to colour them, then finished cooking them in the oven covered in foil. They were very moist and SO flavourful. The family loved them. I served them with the coconut rice and Sichuan cucumber salad from the same book

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    We broiled these as well, and I wish I could rave about them like everyone else, but truthfully they weren't my favorite. I do think pan-frying would have helped. There was something about the dipping sauce that I didn't really enjoy--I think maybe it was too salty.

  • bwhip on June 06, 2017

    These were really great, and easy for a weeknight. I served them with the Coconut Rice and Smashed Cucumbers from the same cookbook as the author recommended, and it was a really nice combination. I cooked the meatballs in a pan on the stovetop to give them a nicely seared exterior, as suggested by some of the previous reviewers. Flavor of the meatballs and dipping sauce was just great.

  • pandasaurusrex on July 19, 2017

    I'm in the camp that thought these meatballs were just so-so. For all the yummy ingredients that went into them, they were rather underwhelming in flavor (or perhaps overpowered by the fish sauce). I pan-fried them based on the other reviews. I also thought there was something "off" about the proportions in the dipping sauce but couldn't put my finger on it.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    I love these! Have made them once with ground pork and once with ground turkey. Ground pork was better, duh. They taste like the inside of a dumpling but I agree with others they can be a bit band without the dipping sauce. There's definitely a lot of chopping involved but it comes together pretty quickly once you're done.

  • purrviciouz on April 05, 2020

    These were quite delicious although a little crumbly. I served them with rice, pickled carrot, and sauteed greens.

  • Lucylew on September 24, 2019

    The meatballs were delicious and really didn't need the sauce, which is good since I didn't care for the dipping sauce. Served with white rice and broccoli dressed with sesame oil.

• Homemade seedy crackers

  • okcook on December 04, 2018

    I didn't have as much success. The dough was very wet so I added 40 more grams of flour. I guess I did not roll mine thin enough because I had trouble getting the middle cooked without burning the edges. The taste is ok. I will have to try again.

  • raybun on June 22, 2017

    I would never have considered making crackers before I saw this recipe. They took 5 minutes to make, and 15 to bake. They had a great texture and flavour, with no gmo's or other hidden ingredients store bought ones often hide. I cut them as soon as they came out of the oven as I thought it would be tricky once they hardened but I managed to cut them in half when cold too, without breaking them.

  • Jviney on March 15, 2019

    I really liked these...I broke them apart once they cooled, and used sesame seeds, minced dried garlic, and caraway seeds. Hard to stop eating them...

  • ehandsman on May 12, 2020

    I swapped out the whole wheat/rye flour for chickpea flour and while they're a bit thicker than they probably should be, they are crisp and delicious!

• Chicken and grapes with sherry vinegar

  • Emily Hope on September 28, 2017

    This was good -- I didn't have time to leave the rub to marinate on the chicken before cooking, and I'm sure it would be improved that way, but it was fine popped straight into the oven. The sauce was delicious. I love roasted grapes, but we had a bunch of really small grapes we picked at a farm, and I decided to leave them on the stems, as is shown in the photo (though the instructions say to stem them). This was mistake--the grapes were shriveled and impossible to get off of the stems once they'd cooked. We ended up just tossing them and using the sauce. Served with a tomato salad with burrata.

  • averythingcooks on September 01, 2017

    This was interesting :) We really liked the fennel seed , lemon rub and the chicken itself roasted perfectly following the temperature and timing given. But as for the grapes........they roasted nicely alongside the chicken but when it came time to serve, there was much discussion. Ultimately, we scraped the pan drippings and grapes into a small pot with the sherry vinegar, skimmed some fat off and puréed with the immersion blender. This warm, blended sauce was really nice with the roasted chicken. Perhaps next time I'll include onions ( to eventually blend into the sauce ) & baby potatoes to roast along with everything else.

  • meduff on February 01, 2019

    I loved, loved, loved this recipe. It was so easy and the chicken ridiculously good. This made the list for Sunday dinners and company coming over. The only problem I had was the “sauce”. You add sherry vinegar to the pan dripping to make a sauce. The first time I made it exactly the way it is written but I should have drained the fat from the sauce - that fat left the sauce greasy and a total yuck. The only other thing I tasted was the sherry vinegar and I thought it overwhelmed any benefit the sauce would have given the chicken. Believe me that chicken didn’t need any help - it was perfect just the way it was. When I made it the second time - still a perfectly cooked chicken (I bought a 4.25 pound slow growth chicken which I would do again) I did use a fat separator and then took the drippings minus the fat and added the sherry vinegar again. I still didn’t like it - the sherry vinegar tasted way too strong. Next time I wouldn’t even mess with the sauce. It was perfect on its own.

• Vietnamese-style skirt steak with herb and noodle salad

  • Emily Hope on March 24, 2017

    Another hit from this book for us--steak had great flavor, and so did the noodles. It also held up well for lunch leftovers the next day. I did make some changes, one that worked and two that didn't--NY strip steak was on sale so I used that instead of skirt--yum. I will say that I'd marinate the steak in the shorter end of her timeframe (I think her window is like 1-8 hours)--after about an hour it was already a bit mushy on the outside. I also reduced the amount of fish sauce (we use Red Boat and I always feel like it's super strong) and upped the noodles--the first thing my husband said after taking a bit was "needs more fish sauce"! Score one for Melissa. I also dressed the noodles about an hour or so before we ate, and wish I'd waited, as the dressing had absorbed too much into the sauce and the flavors were more muted.

  • TrishaCP on July 13, 2017

    We really liked this one too. We made several subs out of necessity and to use what was on hand- hakurei turnips for radishes and cilantro/Thai basil instead of mint. We marinated the steak about 1 hour, and that was plenty of time for the marinade to really penetrate the meat. We also had Red Boat fish sauce, and I would reduce the amount used next time to maybe 1/3 cup- it was quite potent.

  • sarahj22 on October 10, 2017

    Yum! We both really liked this one. I changed it slightly suiting what we had in the flat (egg noodles rather than rice noodles, added some crispy salad, ditched the peanuts) but I think this is a recipe that lends itself well to adaptation. I followed the recipe exactly for the marinade / salad dressing and it was absolutely delicious. I agree with the other cooks who suggest cutting back on the marinating time (mine was around 10 hours but that was too much, though MC says up to 12 hours is fine) and using less meat (if you slice the steak very thinly then you really don't need a lot of it). Definitely a keeper.

  • clcorbi on August 30, 2017

    Add us to the list of people who enjoyed this. I only had 25 min to marinate my steak, unfortunately, but it still became fairly flavorful. I only had a .8lb steak but used the full 8oz of noodles and added some extra sliced radishes and cucumber to compensate. This ratio of meat to noodles and veggies was just fine with us--I'd think if you had 2lb of meat, you'd definitely want more noodles. I was worried the sauce would be too aggressive because of all the fish sauce, but it was actually quite tasty. This is a nice, fresh-tasting summer dinner that I would make again.

• Cacio e pepe with asparagus and peas

  • Emily Hope on March 24, 2017

    Based on the ingredient list I wasn't expecting this pasta to be anything special, I just happened to have all of the ingredients on hand, but it was really good! C felt so too--we couldn't put our fingers on why, but maybe it's the sauteeing of the black pepper? We used whole wheat penne--I'm sure it would be even better with white pasta but that's how we roll these days. Definitely will be making again.

  • Astrid5555 on May 05, 2020

    We really liked this! Based on the other reviews, I did not blanch the asparagus and peas, but added them to the pan with the pepper and sauteéd them until done. Next time I would even add more asparagus.

  • stockholm28 on April 01, 2017

    This was very good for a quick pasta dish. I couldn't find pecorino toscano, so used her suggestion and added extra parmesan. No pencil thin asparagus were to be found so I cut fat asparagus stalks into quarters lengthwise. The asparagus did not get done enough, so if I am faced with tough asparagus again, I might cook them in the pasta water for a minute or two before adding to skillet. She says this serves 2 to 3. I cut the recipe in half and it was a huge serving, so next time will make a third.

  • Rachaelsb on January 28, 2020

    Really enjoyed...I increased both the peas and asparagus and could have increased the pepper too! Easy to make, great weeknight dinner.

  • Zosia on April 23, 2017

    Quick and easy and much more flavourful than I anticipated. Based on stockholms28's review, I reduced the pasta and sauce ingredients by one-third but kept the vegetables the same to serve two. My ratio of veg to other ingredients may have been off, but we really enjoyed it this way.

• Asparagus frittata with ricotta and chives

  • Emily Hope on March 29, 2017

    Of the recipes I've tried so far, this frittata has been my least favorite--although I did make one change, so I'm not sure the recipe is to blame entirely... I used about twice as much asparagus as she said (12 oz vs 6 oz), as we've got a couple of bunches we're trying to get through. In my 9-inch pan, it took longer for the frittata to set, and the middle never got "custardy", it was just still liquid while the outer edges were clearly cooked. In the end, I resorted to running it under the broiler for about a minutes, which did the trick, though the edges were still overcooked. The flavor was... fine. I usually put more stuff in my frittatas--some sauteed onion, some cheese, and this one is pretty plain. My bog-standard Lucerne ricotta from Safeway probably didn't help, either--I really wished it were goat cheese or something. On the plus side, super quick to put together. I served with a arugula, fennel, and radish salad with parmesan (a good match), and buttered whole wheat toast.

• Leek, tomato and farro soup with pancetta

  • Emily Hope on March 29, 2017

    I suppose this goes without saying, but I'd only make this soup with a pancetta that you really like, as the flavor of it really permeates the dish. We used a Fra' Mani pancetta that was a bit too funky, and I wish we'd used something else, or reduced the quantity. The soup itself is solid, if not amazing--a nice winter stewy-type of soup, as she says in the headnote. I used a 4-cup bag of frozen tomato puree from the summer, which worked well. However, I only used about 3/4 cup of farro (all we had in the house), and I still ended up needing a couple of cups of additional water to thin it out (she mentions in the headnote you might need some)--if you were making it with 1 1/2 cups of farro as the recipe calls for, I'd imagine you'd definitely need the extra water, unless you like your soup super-thick.

  • chawkins on April 16, 2018

    I would not have made this had I not had a leek and some pancetta that needed to be used. How on earth do you expect to cook one and a half cup of farro in the juice of a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes? It tasted good after I made some changes based on what I had on hand and previous comments. I upped the amount of carrots and celery since I only had one leek. Added about 2-3 oz of prosciutto since I only have 4 oz of pancetta. Added 4 cups of chicken broth and only used 1 c of TJ’s 10 min farro. It was soup when served, but tomorrow it will probably be the consistency of risotto. ETA: it remained soupy the next day.

  • Zosia on September 09, 2017

    I omitted the pancetta for a vegetarian version and I think the flavour of soup suffered greatly. Using the full amount of farro resulted in a pot of cooked farro and vegetables not remotely soup or even stew-like. I needed more than a litre of vegetable stock to thin it out, far more than the "bit" you're advised you might need. I won't make this again.

  • sosayi on January 19, 2018

    I'd agree with past reviews that this is nothing like a "stew" in my mind and that I also needed to add a fair amount of water to have the farro cook through (maybe 2 cups?). BUT. The final flavors of the bowl (which was more like a risotto), were phenomenal. I followed amounts of everything else exactly, only adding in a parmesan rind to the pot. Very warm and comforting and I'd certainly make it again. In fact, I'm devastated that the leftovers went to the husband and not me. Sigh.

• Roasted cauliflower salad with chickpeas, tahini, and avocado

  • Emily Hope on March 24, 2017

    We totally loved this salad--it has a lot of variety in textures and flavors, with something new going on in every bite. I especially loved the dressing and can see using it for other things (poached chicken, kale salad...) I did change a couple of things: left the chickpeas out of the dressing (forgot to add them), used mixed salad greens instead of watercress, as that's what I had (I think next time I'll try arugula instead), and left out the sesame seeds. Still good! I will say that, even with the chickpeas and a piece of toasted bread on the side, it didn't seem very substantial--next time I might add a soft-boiled egg.

  • Londonyankee on July 02, 2018

    Okay but not great.

  • chefrodney on April 17, 2018

    Fine but unexceptional; the flavours ended up pretty muddled together.

• Curried lentils with poached eggs and garlicky yogurt

  • Emily Hope on March 24, 2017

    This soup was good, and very substantive with the eggs and yogurt (we went with one egg apiece, and had it with bread, not rice), but I'm not sure I like it as well as her braised lentils with the coconut topping from Cook This Now, which has a little more textural variety. It just seemed to need a bit more zip (to be fair, I left out the chilis because of the kids). I added some harissa to my bowl and that helped. Note that the flavor profile is pretty similar to the red lentil dhal in the book, which I preferred. C and the 2 year old liked it (I mixed a bunch of yogurt into her bowl), the picky 4 year old wasn't a fan.

• One-pot mujadara with crispy leeks and spinach

  • Emily Hope on January 26, 2018

    This one didn't work for me at all -- at the 20 minute mark, the rice was done, but the lentils were very crunchy and the whole thing was still soupy. After leaving on the heat for 10 minutes more, the lentils were edible (though still al dente, which I don't care for), the rice had turned to mush, and it was still a little wetter than I'd like. Although I like the idea of cooking everything together for mujadara, in practice I think that the lentils are too much of a wild card to make it work. I liked the flavors, so next time I'd saute the aromatics, add enough water to cook the lentils, and cook the rice separately. (Alternate idea: someone on the NY times suggested cooking it with brown rice; that might work because of the increased cooking time needed.) Also, my leeks were decidedly not crispy, they were soft and browned--not a problem for us, but also not as advertised...

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    I'm not a fan of this dish in general but was a great choice to double for filling work lunches.

• Red lentil dhal with spiced brown butter and yogurt

  • Emily Hope on March 24, 2017

    We liked this soup a lot--the browned butter topping really makes it (the soup by itself is relatively bland). I must be greedy, but I wished that there was more topping to go around (not butter, pe se, but the stuff in the butter). Only thing I changed was to use fresh turmeric instead of dried, since that's all I had around.

  • Rachaelsb on July 08, 2017

    Yum...even without the sauce. Make sure adjust temp when cooking brown butter sauce so doesn't get too crispy! Ha!

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    I'm with Emily. That topping made the dish!!! Delicious. I love dal of all kinds and this was super tasty!

  • Maaseelulu on June 12, 2017

    This dinner was amazing. I love that I keep hitting homeruns with recipes from this book. This one was so simple and easy, and like the other two commenters mentioned, the sauce changes the game.

  • EmilyinSF on February 17, 2019

    I found this only ok. I preferred the sweet potato dhal, which came out with a more complex flavor for me.

• Sweet potato dhal with coconut

  • Emily Hope on January 26, 2018

    This dhal was totally delicious--loved the flavor that the sweet potatoes added. Not a huge amount of work for the result. We used yogurt instead of coconut cream and it worked well. My only problem was that I used the Instant Pot and there was too much liquid -- I needed to cook it down for a good 20 minutes after taking off the lid. Next time I'll try reducing the water by a cup to see if that works.

  • TrishaCP on May 19, 2017

    We made a half recipe for two of us- we thought it was very good but it made plenty and we have loads left over. The yellow split pea aroma is never my favorite, but once the wonderful smells of coconut kicked in, all was good. I would probably throw some garlic into the tarka the next time though.

  • paulabee on June 01, 2017

    I loved this recipe- the sweet potatoes cooked down to basically melt into the dhal. I didn't use the coconut cream, but served with a dollop of plain greek yogurt and the toasted dried coconut. Will absolutely make this again. This is the second of Melissa Clark's dhals that I've made and this was the clear winner so far. As others noted, this does make a ton of food, so be prepared to freeze a few portions + have leftovers.

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    This was just okay. I think I prefer red lentil-based dahls, or maybe it was just this recipe--either way, the split peas had an almost dirt-like scent the whole time they simmered, and it was off-putting. I would suggest making a half-recipe of this unless you have an army to feed--it makes a TON of food.

  • EmilyinSF on February 17, 2019

    I loved this. I subbed red lentils for the split peas, and the result was smooth and very good.

• Tofu fried rice with sugar snap peas

  • MollyB on December 05, 2019

    This was great, though more work than my standard fried rice, with the browning of tofu and vegetable prep. It was a nice, flavorful meal-in-a-bowl for a weeknight (though the 8-yr-old in the family did not approve). I used French green beans rather than snap peas, as there were no snap peas to be found at the two stores I tried, and they worked well as a substitute.

• Kimchi grain bowl with kale and runny egg

  • MollyB on April 12, 2018

    This was great! I made it with short-grain brown rice and a mix of baby kale, chard, and spinach, and other ingredients as written. Very easy and tasty for a weeknight if you have cooked grains on hand. Will definitely make again with whatever grains I have around.

  • TrishaCP on July 19, 2018

    I liked most of the major components of this recipe (the sauce, kale, kimchi), but if making this again, I'll probably just fry an egg with a runny yolk rather than soft-boiling it. My personal preference. Also, I made this on a weekday, and it generated many dishes since I had to cook the grains from scratch.

  • joyous on January 08, 2018

    Love this recipe. I've made it multiple times switching up some of the components but always with the dressing and the kimchi, kale and egg. Especially like it over leftover coconut rice.

  • clcorbi on January 17, 2018

    Very tasty and quick to throw together. I'm not a huge fan of steamed kale and might rather chiffonade it and massage in the dressing to tenderize it next time. Otherwise, very good and leftovers keep well.

• Winter vegetable hash with jalapeños and fried eggs

  • MollyB on February 14, 2018

    Very tasty and healthy recipe, good for a weeknight. I was cautious with the chile (we used a serrano), and I wish I had added more. Don't skip the vinegar - it really perks it up and ties things together. It would be good with cooked potato added, if you happen to have some around. My only quibble with the recipe is that it claims to serve 4-6 - the full recipe served 2 adults for dinner, with 1 egg apiece atop the hash.

• Georgian lamb kebabs with dill sauce

  • MollyB on February 08, 2018

    Awesome recipe. We grilled the lamb. My six-yr-old happily ate it, even though it was fairly spicy. The leftovers were great to have around - the lamb made a tasty wrap with some hummus, cabbage, sliced peppers and some cucumber yogurt sauce.

  • stockholm28 on April 16, 2017

    These were really flavorful and very easy. I was concerned about the cinnamon, but it really blended in nicely with the other spices and I liked the heat from the cayenne, I made these on the grill. Lamb chunks are marinated in garlic, salt, cinnamon, paprika, cayenne, allspice, black pepper, and olive oil. You also make a dill sauce which is a really more of a relish than a sauce. It is comprised of bell pepper, cucumber, dill cilantro red chili, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. I served the kebabs on rice, topped with the dill sauce.

  • mfranklin125 on April 06, 2017

    Awesome. Easy. Delic. Salad great too I added greens and red onions and feta and served as a side.

  • megaelim on May 22, 2017

    Really good, and really easy. I put it in the marinade after lunch on a Sunday, so probably around five hours. The grill wasn't set up yet, so used the broiler. The relish was a nice addition. I made up enough for for the two of us to have it as a side salad.

• Za'atar chicken with lemon yogurt

  • DKennedy on March 26, 2017

    Wonderful. I made a few modifications so I could serve this as a one pan meal After the meat was broiled on one side - I undercooked the second side, lowered the temp to 400, and added toasted kale and chickpeas (from Melissa's other chicken sheet pan recipe on p. 26) to heat through. We ate this over 2 nights. The first night I forgot to add the finishing touches - lemon, the yogurt sauce, pom seeds, and sumac. The second night I put it back under the broiler and added all the missing finishing ingredients. Much much better the second night.

  • TrishaCP on August 03, 2019

    I was only able to do a 30 minute room temperature marinade, but this was still absolutely delicious.

  • L.Nightshade on April 02, 2017

    This recipe calls for marinating the boneless, skinless thighs for two to eight hours. I decided to make this quite late in the day, so mine marinated for only about an hour, but in a vacuum-sealed bag. I’ve never done that before, and I do believe it drove the marinade into the meat very effectively. The marinade consists of lemon juice and zest, za’atar, parsley, olive oil, salt, and lots of garlic. Our thighs were grilled, but cooking under the broiler is given as an option. Greek yogurt is mixed with grated garlic, lemon zest, pepper, and salt, and served alongside the chicken (not in my photo). My oh my, was this ever good. I used all the optional garnishes, parsley leaves, mint leaves, sumac, and pomegranate arils, and I won’t consider them optional when making this again; they add to both the flavor and the appearance of the dish.

  • Rachaelsb on July 04, 2017

    This was delicious!!! Even better the next day! Only thing not sure about was Greek yogurt mix-grated garlic got a bit bitter. Works well with breasts and thighs.

  • Zosia on June 10, 2017

    This was really very good. The chicken was moist and the dish tasted fresh and bright from the lemon, the yogurt sauce and the garnishes. I marinated the chicken for the full 8 hours (probably closer to ten but my thighs were partially frozen when I added them to the bowl) and I would do that again.

  • Frogcake on August 08, 2017

    Totally delicious! The thighs marinated for eight hours. I left the skins on and oven broiled them with basting. We loved the lemon yogurt drizzle. Served with brown basmati, roasted zucchini and carrots, and simple green salad.

  • HalfSmoke on August 04, 2018

    Super easy to prepare and very flavorful, although the zaatar is a bit overwhelmed by the lemon and garlic. Other, similar herb blends could be substituted without missing a beat. Straight oregano would turn this into a Greek souflima. Cooked this over coffewood lump charcoal which imparted a delicate smoke flavor. Don’t forget the char on the chicken — this is a must.

  • BasicStock on April 16, 2017

    This is so flavourful. I made it for my husband and myself, so didn't do the garnishes, but if I made it for company, which I think I will, I would go for the whole gamut of finishing touches for the presentation.

  • Tweedles81 on July 07, 2019

    Delicious! I used an indoor grill pan and marinated for 3 hours. This was super easy - thumbs up across the board (which doesn’t happen often with preschoolers). Served with turmeric roasted carrots from another cookbook. I will definitely be making this again!

• Chorizo pork burgers with grilled honey onions and Manchego

  • DKennedy on March 28, 2017

    These were dinner tonight. I tweaked the recipe by using 3 lbs. ground pork and 6 oz. soy chorizo (both TJs brand) mostly because the sample batch I tested was way too chorizo tasting for me. (I didn't have the recipe with me when I went shopping so I didn't realize the chorizo should have been Spanish. I think Spanish would make a huge difference). I served these with the glazed onions set out in the body of this recipe. The onion glaze is delicious and it will be my go to way to grill onions from now on. I made a dijon herb garlic aioli to serve alongside and added avocado. I also painted the outside of the burgers with an Indian mustard which I think really added a special touch. These go into the make again pile, but using Spanish chorizo.

  • TrishaCP on April 15, 2020

    We really liked the flavor of the burgers. I agree the onions are a must.

  • southerncooker on April 30, 2017

    My son loved this burger and the rest of us enjoyed it as well. Hubby wouldn't try it though. I did slice my onions thick and that worked great. I used my grill pan for the onions and the burgers. I ended up using just over a pound package of ground pork and the whole 19 oz package of chorizo.

  • FJT on March 28, 2017

    This is my first recipe from this book and it was fantastic. I used spicy Italian sausages and the extra smoked paprika instead of chorizo (as recommended in the recipe if you can't get fresh chorizo). Very easy to make and very tasty (the onion glaze is more-ish!). Some notes for next time I make it: don't slice the onions very thinly or they really burn quickly and slice the cheese thicker. I did use Manchego but it was a little bit lost amidst all the spice; I might just use whatever cheese I have on hand next time. My husband wants me to make this again ... preferably tomorrow, so I know it was a hit. Happy to have left-over burgers in the freezer for another time.

  • Zosia on June 07, 2017

    We loved these! They were incredibly moist and full of flavour, like chorizo but a bit toned down. I agree with an earlier reviewer that the manchego was a little lost so I would use a sharp cheddar next time. The onions were a delicious accompaniment but it really needed something acidic to cut the spice and richness so I served it with a tangy coleslaw. I used Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's "homemade" Tupperware chorizo and served them on sweet potato buns (pan de camote from book of buns).

  • raybun on June 04, 2017

    Very tasty! I had trouble finding the raw chorizo but finally managed. Thanks to the notes I sliced the onions thickly, they were my favorite part. I agree that a sharp cheddar or other cheese would do if manchego is not readily available or pricy. A definite 'make again'.

  • clcorbi on June 26, 2017

    Pretty good! I'm probably biased because we just recently made the excellent lamb burgers from Made in India, and these can't quite compete with that recipe. But they were still delicious. I scaled down the recipe for two people, using 6oz each pork and chorizo. I left the dried spice quantities whole, though, and we thought the burgers were nice and flavorful, so I'd do that again. I agree that the onion glaze is superb. I'll repeat that for sure. No grill over here, so I charred the onions in a hot skillet. I topped the burgers with gouda, mayo and a bit of mustard--very nice.

  • Lucylew on October 12, 2019

    These were really good! I used fresh chorizo from Whole Foods and munster instead of manchego since that is what I had on hand. Cooked the onions in the oven rather than grill. Since I made the full recipe and there is only two of us, I have four burgers in the freezer. When I cook them, I will definitely grill the onions to maximize carmelization.

• Roasted sumac chicken with plums

  • DKennedy on April 04, 2017

    Another show stopper weeknight meal. I air dried my chix in the fridge o/night after seasoning lightly w/ s & p.. On the day of, I rubbed marinade all over and returned it to the fridge for 8 hours. One hour before serving, I allowed it to come to room temp. While it was doing this, I sliced up the plums, shallots, and juiced the lemon After the first 30 minutes, I took it out and turned the bird over (contrary to Melissa's advice). I also turned the oven temperature down to 400 (another deviation) before adding the plums to the bottom of the pa ). When they hit the pan juices the smell was intoxicating! Poured lemon juice and olive oil over the half-cook bird. After 20 minutes I flipped the bird back onto its legs, brushed what remained of the marinade and the lemon juice over the bird, and gave it a rest while I put the plums back in to get a little more caramelized. Then put the bird back in for 10 more minutes to crisp up before serving.

  • DKennedy on April 04, 2017

    In the NY Time Version of this recipe, Melissa does 2 birds and serves it up for Rosh Hashana.

  • TrishaCP on September 29, 2018

    Just as delicious as everyone else said. My chicken was 4 1/2 lbs, and I decided to follow guidance here to turn down the oven temperature to 400 degrees after the first 30 minutes. Not sure if that's why, or if my chicken was just huge, but I needed 30 minutes longer to cook it through than the recipe specified.

  • chawkins on September 18, 2018

    Delicious! Only marinated for an hour. Used 3 large black plums which gave me a full 2 cups, 1/2 T of agave nectar in place of the honey and juice of half a lemon, other than that followed the recipe exactly in ingredients, temperature and timing, turned out real well.

  • jnetlw on August 20, 2017

    Opted for the 3Tbs honey with the plums. It definitely could have used the extra Tbps with the sourness of the plum variety I used. Lovely companion to the roasted chicken.

  • dinnermints on August 23, 2018

    Delicious! The chicken air-dried in the fridge overnight, and I did turn down the oven to 400 per a previous comment (not sure how long I ended up cooking it). I cooked it breast-side down the whole time (forgot to even consider whether that was a good idea or not), and it turned out just fine.

  • stockholm28 on August 27, 2018

    I thought this was delicious. Rather than a sheet pan, I used a smaller 12 inch saute pan which I stuck in the oven so my plums were not spread out as much. This resulted in a rather thick plum ”sauce” rather than recognizable pieces of fruit. The chicken was very moist and I loved the tart and sweet sauce. I marinated the chicken 6 hours and used Italian prune plums. Next time, I would turn the heat down to about 400 as dkennedy suggests when the plums are added. This will be made again when plum season comes around again next year.

  • bendelker on September 24, 2017

    Just a warning that this may be the best chicken you ever make; so it may ruin other recipes.

  • joyous on August 28, 2017

    I followed the recipe except for using half a red onion instead of shallots. The spices were burnt by the time I added the fruit. The fruit also burnt by the time the chicken was done. If I do this again (which I'm not sure I will), I'd cook at a much lower temperature.

  • Tweedles81 on September 04, 2017

    My husband is an incredible cook - and this is the best thing he has ever made! Besides adding a little bit of Aleppo pepper to the rub and using 1/2 an onion instead of the shallots, he stuck to the recipe. We marinated the chicken in the fridge for only one hour. Based on another reviewer's comment, he turned the heat down to 400 degrees when the plums were added. The total cooking time for us was 55 minutes. Everything turned out amazing! Our kids (almost 3 and almost 1) loved all of the meal components! This was the first recipe we tried in this cookbook, and we look forward to many more! My husband hates that I am a cookbook addict and tries to deter me from buying new ones whenever possible. When I told him that Melissa is coming out with an Instant Pot cookbook in October, he said "You HAVE to buy it!" Yay! :)

  • Lucylew on October 13, 2019

    Made this last week and followed the recipe but added 1/2 teaspoon of Aleppo pepper. This chicken was terrific! My husband, who says he's not really a fan of chicken, has requested this again. The plums are perfection. I chopped up the remaining chicken and plums, added sliced celery and mayo and had the absolute best chicken salad sandwiches the next day! This is definitely in contention for my favorite roast chicken recipe.

• Smoky paprika chicken with crispy chickpeas, roasted lemon, and baby kale

  • DKennedy on March 22, 2017

    Excellent and totally do-able as a weeknight meal. I added extra thighs to the pan, subbed regular blanched kale for the baby, and used regular lemon.

  • julesamomof2 on December 11, 2017

    This was good, but next time I would make the kale and chickpeas separately. (I couldn't find baby kale so I braised the kale separately anyway) I couldn't get behind chickpeas that became crispy sitting in a pool of chicken fat. I used an Amish chicken that was a little larger and took longer to cook than the recipe stated, which means that you have to be really careful when you add the chickpeas and lemons to avoid them burning.

  • Zosia on April 17, 2017

    This was a big hit with family although I did make a few changes: I spatchcocked the chicken so it would cook more quickly and lacking a cavity, stuffed the herbs (rosemary) under the skin; I cooked the chickpeas and kale separately to accommodate a vegetarian and without the benefit of cooking these in the chicken juices, doubled the paprikas for a little more flavour. Note that you'll need to refer to both the headnotes and the instructions to get the complete roasting time of the chicken (approx 1 hour 20 min). I used a regular lemon and blanched it twice as suggested; it added lemon flavour without any bitterness.

  • e_ballad on October 20, 2018

    I differ from the other reviewers in finding this a little underwhelming. It is essentially a standard roast chicken, to which cooked chickpeas are mixed with paprika & kale towards the end of cooking. Perfectly fine, but unlikely to be repeated given all of the amazing roast chicken recipes.

• Vietnamese caramel salmon

  • DKennedy on March 29, 2017

    I am the second person to review this recipe and I am coming to a completely different conclusion. Absolutely fantastic, lip smacking, delicious. This is an easy to prepare, and delicious way to broil salmon. I broiled mine by mounting a round cake cooling rack inside a small round Chantal pan. I used wild caught salmon sold in two packs from TJs. I will be serving this on a salad with a light sesame dressing mixed with the leftover pan juices. Oh, and I 1/2ed the marinade amounts, adding a little extra water to ensure it didn't burn out when under the broiler.

  • TrishaCP on November 04, 2018

    Good and quick preparation for salmon.

  • stockholm28 on April 01, 2018

    I liked this and it was very quick to prepare. The caramel sauce burned in the parts of the pan that were not covered by fish, but the fish was fine.

  • joanhuguet on March 25, 2017

    This is the first recipe from this book that I wouldn't repeat. The sauce, which uses brown sugar instead of actual caramel, lacks the complexity of an actual Vietnamese caramel sauce, and tastes mainly of sugar and ginger. In addition, I found that it competed with the fishiness of the salmon instead of complementing it.

  • Lepa on October 17, 2018

    My husband and I liked this, especially topped with the jalapenos, scallions and cilantro. My kids, however, LOVED this fish. My son said it was the best fish I've ever made. I couldn't believe the enthusiasm. I guess we'll be eating this frequently. It's a very easy dish, so I'm not complaining.

  • sosayi on September 25, 2019

    Made this again, loved it again. I subbed dill and Fresno chile for the cilantro/jalapeño portion of the topping and it was arguably even better.

  • sosayi on December 18, 2017

    I also loved this preparation. Good, quick recipe that had fantastically complex flavors. I cooked half the amount of fish, but did not cut the sauce in half. Served over coconut rice , drizzled with extra sauce, and with ginger-garlic stir-fried green beans on the side. Definitely needed the hit of heat from the jalapeno and would recommend using the cilantro, too. Both were "suggested" toppings, but I'd argue that they should be required.

  • meduff on January 05, 2019

    So super easy and earns a 10 out of 10. The salmon, brown sugar, chiles, ginger, fish sauce, lime, and soy makes this fabulously caramelized sauce. The skin came out super crispy, sweet, a little spicy from the ginger - all good things. I made this twice. Once with farm raised salmon, that was 1/4” thick. It was an incredibly thin piece of fish and I wondered if I would ruin it because it was so thin. The second time going back to the market they had the most amazingly beautiful and super thick King Salmon Fillets that were 1½” thick and perfect. Both were excellent. The king salmon made a much more impressive presentation and I would do it again for company or any special event. This dish gets rave reviews from anyone I serve it to - impressive to look at, tastes great, and super easy.

  • Lucylew on October 23, 2019

    I bookmarked this recipe because I had some sockeye salmon to use but I was so skeptical that I almost did not make it. Thankfully I put my reservations about "sweet fish" aside and bit the bullet. So good! What an outstanding recipe! I served it with coconut brown rice and beet greens sautéed with ginger and garlic. So good!

• Peachy pork with pomegranate molasses and charred onion

  • TrishaCP on September 08, 2017

    This was flavorful and easy. Loved the onions the most. The recommended cook times for the chops did not work for me at all-my broiler isn't great. I needed to cook the pork much longer than specified.

  • chawkins on October 30, 2018

    Super easy and quite good. The pomegranate molasses adds a lot of flavor to the pork chops. Broiling made my sub-par end-of-the season peaches palatable. I used Vidalia onions.

  • Zosia on September 01, 2019

    Very tasty. The combination of onion, molasses and peaches had a nice balance of savoury, tangy and sweet flavours that complemented the pork well. My pork was cooked the way we like it after the 8 minute roast time (they were quite a bit thinner than the recipe specified) so I removed the chops to a plate to rest while the peaches etc broiled, then combined everything at the end.

• Jalapeño-honey steak with cilantro and lime

  • TrishaCP on September 05, 2017

    This is really good. I marinated my steak (a ribeye) for about six hours. I think overnight would be even better. I used two jalapeños with their seeds and it was the perfect amount of spice to complement the honey. I used a dark honey that isn't too sweet and it was perfect. I did need the additional salt she mentioned for serving.

  • mrshalf on December 19, 2017

    We liked this. Teen guests thought was yummy, don't forget the jalep peppers tho! Served with scalloped potatoes in the book as pictured. VERY filling meal.

  • hbakke on May 15, 2019

    Good steak marinade. Could really taste the cilantro and lime.

• Garlic-chile chicken breasts with cucumbers and green ginger sauce

  • TrishaCP on May 04, 2017

    The cucumbers are amazing! We also doubled the cukes, and with the larger amount, you actually don't need the sauce anymore. Which is good, because I didn't like the sauce. The chicken was fine (healthy!), and I would make it again just to have with the cucumbers.

  • Delys77 on March 02, 2019

    I also enjoyed this, especially the cucumbers which we doubled.

  • stockholm28 on May 08, 2017

    I hate to be the contrarian, but this was just o.k. for me. I liked it well enough, but not enough to repeat. I would have preferred sriracha over chili garlic paste. I also prefer the Vietnamese cucumber salads made with rice wine vinegar to this one.

  • pistachiopeas on June 28, 2017

    Comfort food. Loved everything about this. The only part I'd skip, if short on time, would be the green sauce.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Of all the dishes I've tried from Dinner - this was almost...bland. Next time I'll amp up the sauce. The chicken was the bland part - the Green Ginger Sauce was amazing!

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    This is a new favorite from this book, right up next to the harissa chicken with potatoes and leeks. YUM. Per the advice of many on CH, I doubled the cucumber recipe, and that gave us a better proportion of veggies to chicken. It would have been a good call anyway, because the cucumbers are delicious! I liked them so much that I actually made them again later in the week, to serve with another dinner. This cucumber sauce is FAR superior to her recipe for smashed cucumber salad in the back of the book. I will be turning back just for these cukes again and again! Adding a bit of the poaching liquid to the rice really takes this bowl meal from good to great, in my opinion. The combo of tender poached chicken, spicy cucumbers, and comforting rice is really a perfect meal to me. The only criticism I have is that we didn't love the green sauce--I think it had a bit too much ginger for my taste. I'll experiment with that next time. There will be a next time because we loved this meal.

  • mfranklin125 on October 17, 2017

    Love the cooking style for the chicken.

  • bwhip on May 09, 2017

    This was very tasty! We served it over brown rice, and the ccombination of the gently poached chicken breasts with the cool and zippy cucumbers, along with the spicy sauce, made for a really dynamic contrast of flavors, temperatures and textures. Next time I might cut back jalapeño in the sauce to one, or use less of the sauce, because it was really spicy! My lips are still on fire (but smiling).

  • cellenly on June 12, 2019

    Like everyone said, the family loved the cucumbers which we doubled. The spicy green sauce was super spicy, and I would skip it next time because we wouldn't miss it. We would just put the cucumbers on the chicken. There was enough spice in the cucumbers for us. We also cut down the jalapeños in half, and we were fine (and we're not a family scared of spice). Actually, it was still on the spicy side for us even when we halved.

• Spicy pork and black bean chili with sage and white cheddar

  • TrishaCP on December 21, 2019

    I made this with ground turkey and rebosero beans, and added a jalapeño with the red pepper. (Still wasn't spicy.) My husband really liked it, I thought it was ok. I do think the sage and oregano were nice.

  • FJT on June 24, 2017

    I made this a day in advance so the flavours had a chance to develop. It is quite mild, so I added an extra poblano pepper; next time I might go for jalapeños. I used a mix of black beans and Santa Maria Pinquitos because that's what I had in the freezer. Very tasty and disappeared quickly!

  • ksg518 on October 21, 2019

    This was delicious and may become my new go-to chili recipe. I used green carmen peppers instead of the poblano/red pepper and probably doubled the quantity of peppers. I also used turkey which is a suggested option, although I think pork might be better. I also used fresh oregano instead of dried. I really liked the oregano and sage addition. I agree with others that it's not really spicy. I used Penzey's medium chili powder and, while it had a slight kick, spicy isn't what would come to mind when describing the dish.

  • clcorbi on August 28, 2017

    Agree that this is a mild chili--not sure why "spicy" is in the title. That being said, the flavor was nice. I used a red bell pepper because that's what I had, but I think the poblano would have been better here. We definitely enjoyed this and I'm happy to have the leftovers, but it wasn't anything earth-shattering, and there are still other chili recipes I want to try. So, alas, not repeat-worthy.

  • averythingcooks on August 19, 2017

    This is bubbling away on the stove right now and early tastings confirm - it is good! Sage is not always my favorite flavour but I went with it and I am glad I did. I did add a jalapeño and used my hottest chili powder to amp it up based on the "mild" comments I have read (which does beg questions re the word "spicy" in the title). The only other change is that I subbed corn in place of the 2nd can of black beans........because I like all things "corn and black bean".

  • sosayi on November 27, 2017

    I'm not sure I should review this, as I made so many substitutions, but it was delicious... so... why not? Substitutions: one fresh chorizo link and two slices of bacon for the ground pork (freezer cleanout) and Dried Chili Paste (frozen in Tbl blocks) in place of red pepper/poblano. My chili paste is fairly spicy, so I actually decreased the Chili Powder (using Chile con Carne seasoning from Penzeys), as I was attempting to feed a toddler. Unfortunately, it was still too spicy for him and just mouth-warming for the rest of us. I'd use the whole amount in the future, and just make him something else. This was a good base to build-off of, incredibly quick to prep, and used mostly pantry goods. I'd make this again, for sure, with the assumption that it's easy to tweak and use things that I already have up.

  • megaelim on April 02, 2017

    This is a nice, mild chili - very easy to make. Good base flavor. I'd probably amp up the chili powder if I made this again, but if you're making this for someone that hates heat, it'd be fine as is.

• Seared sausage and rhubarb with Swiss chard

  • TrishaCP on June 18, 2019

    We absolutely loved this. The tart rhubarb was great with the chard and the sausages. We served with polenta.

  • ksg518 on May 01, 2017

    This was very good and relatively quick. I think the photo is a little misleading since it doesn't look like the chard is really wilted. The addition of the maple syrup and the garam masala elevates this beyond a "put some sausages on some greens" dish. My sausages were on the spicy side - so much so that I wondered if they were hot Italian sausages in the wrong packet. I think I would have preferred sweeter sausages, but my daughter said she liked the extra kick.

  • ellencooks on May 26, 2017

    I liked this. First time using rhubarb in a savory dish. I served it with polenta.

  • megaelim on June 05, 2017

    This was really good, and so easy. We really liked the tartness of the rhubarb against the rest of the flavors.

• Fish tacos with red cabbage, jalapeño, and lime slaw

  • TrishaCP on December 09, 2017

    This is a great recipe- I would put this up there with the Harissa chicken in terms of loving it. I was able to obtain hake so used it here- our broiler is wonky so we just broiled until flaky. We had leftover slaw and had leftover tacos the next day with shrimp (sautéed in the same spice blend).

  • Delys77 on April 25, 2017

    Great dinner and comes together quickly. I used mahi mahi as that is what we had and broiled for 4 minutes per side. The fish has a lovely flavour and all the accoutrements make for a lovely and quite healthy dish. Great weeknight meal!

  • dinnermints on September 13, 2018

    YES, garlic lime yogurt sauce. Simple and yet really adds a lot. It was a bit overpowered by the large garlic clove I chose; next time I'd do a smaller one. I used 1 T olive oil for the slaw, which was also good. Seeing pistachiopeas's comment about the Fish Without a Doubt method for the fish, I'm thinking I'd try that next time. Agree with other comments that this is a great weeknight meal!

  • stockholm28 on December 16, 2017

    I concur with the other reviews. These were great and they are a pretty simple and healthy meal. I used halibut because that was the only decent white fish that was available today and it worked fine. These are definitely going in the rotation. I think they would be good with grilled shrimp too.

  • Zosia on April 29, 2017

    A tasty, quick dinner. I also used mahi mahi and it developed a lovely crust under the broiler. The garlic-lime yogurt sauce was outstanding and will be made again for other tacos.

  • pistachiopeas on March 31, 2017

    Really loved these. Made a couple of small changes. I used the Fish Without a Doubt method to sear & then finish the fish in the oven. Skipped the lime zest as I was feeling lazy and thought fresh lime juice would be enough. For the slaw, I used Savoy cabbage instead of red because that was what I had. Loved the slaw so much! The next day made a quick taco for lunch with the same slaw but threw in a fish stick and that was great too!

  • joanhuguet on March 22, 2017

    This was less perfect than the other recipes I've tried from the book, but still repeatable! The fish took on a nice smoky flavor from the seasonings, but the texture was a bit soggy – maybe my broiler runs a bit low. The cabbage slaw was the highlight.

  • Lepa on February 23, 2020

    This was a hit with my family. We used cat fish because the fish merchant convinced my husband it would be perfect for tacos and it really was! It took five minutes to cook. My husband suggested we use some pickled red onions next time but otherwise we thought this was perfect.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Love! Love! Love! Everything about this was a hit. The fish was fantastic and I was thrilled it wasn't fried. The cabbage came together very quickly. I loved the garlic and lime zest in the sour cream. A definite favorite from Dinner!!!

  • lou_weez on May 08, 2017

    The flavours of this meal were fantastic. Next time I would double the quantity of fish as it wasn't enough for the four of us.

  • clcorbi on August 29, 2017

    Yum. We loved these too! I really enjoyed that the fish was baked rather than breaded and fried. I cheated and used a bag of slaw mix, so I didn't even have to chop any cabbage, which made this meal even faster. These will definitely be repeated, as we are big fish taco fans but our (previous) favorite recipe is a lot less healthy and much more rich.

  • jenburkholder on July 08, 2020

    Tasty enough for how easy they are (sub-30 minutes), but nothing particularly special. Used mahi-mahi for the fish. The sauce needed more acid than called for, so we ended up squeezing a lime into it.

• Coconut rice

  • TrishaCP on September 30, 2018

    Great coconut flavor.

  • Lepa on June 06, 2017

    This is easy and the result is very rich and satisfying. We ate it with tofu with garlicky peanut sauce (from Clark's In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite) and gingery stir-fried broccoli. The rice was fabulous with the peanut sauce.

  • raybun on June 09, 2017

    This was very good! The coconut flavour really comes through. It went very well with the ginger & pork meatballs from the same book.

  • averythingcooks on January 25, 2018

    Such a simple idea with such good results !

  • sosayi on December 18, 2017

    Worked great with brown rice. Served with the Vietnamese Caramel Salmon.

• Spicy pork noodles with ginger and baby bok choy

  • TrishaCP on April 02, 2017

    This was ok to fairly good for me. Somehow, the flavor felt flat to me (maybe because I was using low-sodium tamari for my soy sauce?). However, my husband really liked it and had no complaints. Personally, I don't feel like the Chinkiang vinegar garnish is optional here- it really perked things up. The recipe amount should serve four people generously- we used the thicker rice stick noodles so it felt pretty substantial. We used green cabbage in place of the bok choy- about one third of a large green cabbage.

  • coryelizabeth on April 18, 2019

    This was amazing. I used ground turkey instead of ground pork and simply mixed a little Chinkiang vinegar in at the end. Delicious and relatively light at the same time.

  • mfranklin125 on May 04, 2017

    I added garlic and cilantro and parsley and did Swiss chard in addition to bok choy. Was so good.

• Crispy tofu with ginger and spicy greens

  • TrishaCP on September 30, 2018

    This tasted good, and I thought the ratio of tofu to veggies (I used bok choy) was perfect. I don't usually de-seed chiles, but I did in this case, and had a good heat level. The tofu cooking method was good, but I think I'll be trying Zosia's method next time for a healthier approach.

  • Zosia on July 09, 2017

    Very tasty and not quite as mouth-numbingly hot as I expected. My green serrano chile added a grassy flavour that stood out from the other sweet, caramel flavours of the sauce so I'll replace it with another red chile next time. I used only 1 tbsp butter and baked the tofu cubes until crisp after first tossing them with 1 tbsp each of the soy sauce and cornstarch. I served it over rice.

  • Lepa on January 25, 2018

    Overall, this was a hit with my family. I didn't add any chilis so my kids could eat it and the adults added chili sauce at the table. I liked this method of cooking tofu and plan to use it in other dishes. We ate this with brown rice, which was good. I can't imagine this feeding four people without rice.

  • clcorbi on June 21, 2017

    This recipe is clearly a riff on Ottolenghi's black pepper tofu, but a bit easier to execute and definitely less intensely flavored. I'm going to be forever indebted to this version because it taught me a lifesaving trick--if you toss your tofu in cornstarch, it doesn't stick to the pan! I always struggle SO much when frying tofu, and this method made it so easy and fast, and didn't leave me with a horrible pan to clean up. What a win! Anyway, the flavor here is pretty good. I was iffy on the molasses but I have to admit it was nice. I'd like a bit higher ratio of tofu to cooked veg, but that's just a personal preference. If I repeated this I'd try the suggestion on the Dinner: A Love Story blog to substitute green beans for the bok choy, and I might up the amount of sauce a bit, since this should be served over rice.

  • hbakke on May 02, 2019

    Tasty. Tofu was very crispy. We served this with jasmine rice.

• Chile and ginger-fried tofu salad with kale

  • TrishaCP on October 17, 2017

    We liked this as well- it is pretty flexible. I subbed chile garlic sauce for the Sriracha out of necessity, so omitted the garlic and reduced the soy sauce. Maybe because of this substitution, the ginger was not a prominent flavor. I only had time to marinate the tofu 30 minutes, but I still achieved great flavor. I would say that you really need a side like noodles or something if you are making this for a family of four as specified.

  • Zosia on December 30, 2017

    This had great flavour and was relatively quick to make. I didn't marinate the tofu at all, just cut it into pieces smaller than directed to increase the surface area for the sauce to cling to.

  • Frogcake on August 10, 2017

    Delicious. Love the technique of coating the tofu in cornstarch, which helps prevent the tofu pieces from sticking to the frying pan. Will be making this one again!

  • clcorbi on March 28, 2019

    I really enjoyed this recipe as well, especially when bulked up with some noodles. I also added sliced soy eggs to the salad for a little more protein. So flavorful, and the leftovers only get better, making it perfect to take for lunches. I used baby kale and would do that again--I think the kale holds up better here than spinach would.

  • koolMoD on October 09, 2017

    Was pleasantly surprised at how simple and delicious this recipe was. I absolutely loved this recipe! The marinade was fantastic and the cornstarch coating on the tofu was a genius idea to make the tofu nice and crispy (and not stick to the pan). The pairing with the simply dressed greens was great. I served it with rice noodles on the side for a perfect dinner.

  • Sleeth on November 16, 2019

    Good, though a bit too hot. I used Sriracha, but left out the Serrano pepper. I would use less Sriracha if I make this again. My slices were a bit thick, which would have worked better if I had pressed the tofu first before marinating it to reduce moisture.

• Farro and crispy leeks with marinated chickpeas and currants

  • TrishaCP on May 22, 2017

    We really loved this too. We also halved the recipe and maybe the proportions were off, but I would use significantly less olive oil next time.

  • stockholm28 on July 15, 2017

    My crispy leeks turned out to be mostly charred leeks, so next time I will watch more closely. I thought this was better on the second day after the farro had absorbed the flavors.

  • julesamomof2 on September 10, 2019

    This was great - next time I would up the leeks and the lemon. I made the whole recipe and it makes A LOT so when I (definitely) make this again I'll halve the recipe.

  • Jscantlin on December 06, 2018

    Really good. Made 1/2 recipe and used 1/2 c. dry chick peas. Also much less farro- about 1 c. cooked. This will be a make-ahead, easily packed lunch staple.

  • Lepa on January 05, 2018

    This is delicious and has become part of my family's frequent rotation. It is a fantastic salad to have in the refrigerator for quick snacks/lunches.

  • ellencooks on August 31, 2017

    I made the leeks a day ahead and nibbled. Loved them but they were a bit salty. I crisped them up the next day and used golden raisins. Quite good.

  • puddlemere on December 10, 2018

    Very good. I agree that this is better after it sits a while to let the flavors meld. I used dried cranberries in place of currants and also added some toasted chopped pecans.

  • clcorbi on May 09, 2017

    Agreed that this was excellent. I would make this again in a heartbeat. We also made a half-recipe, and it makes a lot of food, but this is so good that I'd still make a full recipe next time. I also added one extra leek, because I had it, and the crispy leeks were the best part of this dish so I'm glad I did! I omitted the currants because we don't like fruit in savory dishes, and garnished with a little sriracha, which was tacky but delicious. This is really great cold too. Yum. I will be making this again.

  • bwhip on March 23, 2017

    This was excellent! Easy to put together, with a great variety of textures and flavor. We used Italian parsley in lieu of celery leaves, and I cut the recipe in half since there's just two of us. Delicious. Served it with the Jalapeño-Honey Steak with Cilantro and Lime (used Italian Parsley for that too), from the same cookbook.

  • purrviciouz on April 11, 2018

    This was fantastic and we made the whole recipe to have on hand for lunches throughout the week. I added an extra drizzle of good olive oil just before serving. This would also be perfect to bring to a party. I might do 1.5X the leeks next time.

• Farro salad with cherry tomatoes, smoked mozzarella, and mint

  • TrishaCP on July 31, 2017

    I liked the flavors (especially the smoked mozzarella), but again I thought this was too oily and would just add to taste in the future. (I said again because I had the same issue with another farro salad from this book.) I subbed basil for the mint.

  • rglo820 on August 31, 2017

    I was really underwhelmed by this as it was written. It was too much farro relative to the other ingredients, and even squeezing the entire optional lemon over the salad, it barely tasted dressed. Were the farro quantity halved, I think it would be a totally different story.

  • stockholm28 on August 20, 2017

    I didn't love this salad, but attribute that to learning that I really don't care for smoked mozzarella. Had I made it with a different cheese, I think it would have been fine. It definitely needs the lemon and mint. I preferred the farro with crispy leaks recipe (also in this book) to this one.

  • Zosia on July 25, 2017

    Such a simple salad but a few choice ingredients like smoked cheese and sherry vinegar added complexity to its flavour profile. I used basil in place of mint.

  • Lepa on January 05, 2018

    I liked this salad and my family did, too. It had just the right balance of flavors.

  • Frogcake on May 14, 2017

    A very tasty salad, which I served with BBQ'd flank steak. A few tasty additions: sliced avocados, eggplant chips, roasted tofu (inspired by the amazing tofu recipes in this book that I will try soon!) and roasted broccoli.

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Fun to make farro - no need to be intimidated ever again. This was a great lunch for work. I'd never had smoked mozarella- tasty stuff!!

  • clcorbi on July 05, 2017

    Very tasty salad, and it kept really nicely at room temp (we took it to a 4th of July picnic). I might prefer basil to mint next time. I also decreased the amount of farro to 1.5c but kept the other ingredients the same, and found that the amount of vinegar plus add-ins was perfect that way.

  • mfranklin125 on August 15, 2019

    So easy and tasty good weeknight dinner made along side to wings and did feta instead of mozarella and also added arugula and parsley and cilantro.

  • Tweedles81 on June 23, 2019

    This was very good and fairly easy. I only used 1.5 c (got the 10 minute farro from Trader Joe’s) and that seemed like the right amount. Mine had a bit of a bitter flavor to it but that just may have been the particular sherry vinegar that I used or the especially grassy-tasting olive oil. The mozzarella and tomatoes were a great combo. I can see why people subbed basil but the mint was also fine. Will likely make again for a quick and healthy lunch.

• Winter vegetable salad with kale, cabbage, and Thai lime dressing

  • aliceanne on February 06, 2019

    The Brussels sprouts are a must - but you can change up everything else. I almost never use leaf lettuce - I've used baby spinach, baby kale, and even just shredded red cabbage + herbs.

  • joyous on June 12, 2018

    This turned out better than I expected. The only odd part was the red leaf lettuce as it wilted compared to the hardier greens. Totally agreed with MC's note that the Brussels add a meaty quality. I may make this again in winter.

• Spinach salad with chickpeas and sweet potatoes

  • aliceanne on February 06, 2019

    This is a dinner-party-worthy vegetarian salad. I add extra roasted carrots and sweet potatoes.

  • Lepa on July 17, 2017

    We liked this. It was easy to pull together. I loved the contrast of the sweet potatoes and carrots with the texture of the spinach and the garlicky dressing pulling it all together.

  • mrshalf on December 19, 2017

    Very tasty and we're always looking for ways to use cheap chickpeas to feed us all. I don't know I'd say this was Dinner tho. Maybe a good lunch...

• Seared pork chops with peas, scallions, and pancetta

  • aliceanne on February 06, 2019

    My family enjoys this dish - the pork drippings add significant flavor to the peas. I've used both snow peas and sugar snap peas in this recipe.

  • Zosia on July 21, 2017

    The flavours weren't spectacular but the pork was moist and the side was a tasty riff on pancetta and peas. This was also an easy 1-pan meal suited to a busy weeknight. I wasn't sure about the instructions for cutting the peas (and the photo didn't help) so I left them whole and they were still fresh tasting with a bit of crunch by the time the pork was cooked through.

• Herbed Parmesan Dutch baby

  • blintz on October 20, 2018

    Finally had a chance to make this recipe. I've only made sweet versions of this humongous pancake. I had almost a pound of very fresh chanterelles from Berkeley Bowl that I brought home to Boston, so I sauteed them with shallots while the eggs were cooking. A fab combo and it looked amazing. Used an 11 inch cast iron skillet. Thyme and tarragon for herbs. Next time I will cook the eggs a bit less.

  • chawkins on May 12, 2018

    My husband loved this. I have a 7’’ cast iron skillet and I cook for the two of us only, so I just made a third of the recipe and that even worked. The cooking time was a lot less than that for the whole recipe, it was done in about 12 minutes. All measurements were approximates, as I used 3 eggs rather than 2 and 2/3 eggs and I have no measuring spoons for 1/6 tsp.

  • stockholm28 on May 02, 2017

    Wow. I would have skipped right over this had it not been for the reviews on chowhound. I loved this savory version. I made this with thyme and chives and loved those herbs with the parmesan. When I added the eggs to the flour, it was super lumpy; it looked like scrambled eggs. I had to really whip it into shape. I was concerned about this because her instructions say to mix "until just combined." It came out perfect, so don't be afraid to whip it, whip it good. Next time I will try sifting the flour and I will also cut back a bit on the butter. This will definitely be repeated. The recipe is here: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1017789-savory-dutch-baby

  • Zosia on July 16, 2017

    A savoury dutch baby is a great idea and this one had wonderful flavour. I used an immersion blender to eliminate the lumps in the batter and since I substituted 1 tbsp olive oil for the butter, which meant the pan wouldn't be pre-heated stove top, I popped the pan into the oven for 10 minutes before adding the batter. We really enjoyed it. I served it with green beans with caper vinaigrette from the same book.

  • Rradishes on February 24, 2018

    Easy week night dinner. Next time I'll try to scale down, 8 eggs makes too much for 2 people. Also next time I'll go less on the flour, it was a little too dense for me.

  • Summerlandsky on April 04, 2020

    I made this with 9 eggs and a full cup of milk. I also used a Cooks Country trick and replaced the extra 2 tablespoons of flour with 1/4 cup cornstarch ( a little extra to account for extra egg and milk). The cornstarch makes it crispier. The cheese was probably a little more than a cup of Parmesan and a shredded blend I had in my fridge. I didn’t add the flaked salt until the finish with reserved thyme and chives. Served it with a hearty salad. My kids, 9 and 12, and my husband gobbled it up! Easy dinner.

• Stovetop fusilli with spinach, peas, and Gruyère

  • Astrid5555 on April 04, 2017

    This was not mind-blowing, but probably because of the substitutions I had to make (Parmesan instead of Gruyère, cumin instead of garam masala). Apart from that I was looking for a quick weeknight pasta dish and this absolutely fits the bill.

  • Rachaelsb on July 05, 2017

    Easy to prepare after a day's work. Comfort food with nice texture and flavor.

  • Zosia on May 24, 2017

    We really enjoyed the flavours of this, particularly the garam masala that wasn't there in enough quantity to identify but made up for the lack of other flavourings like aromatics. Based on my experience with the stovetop mac and cheese, I changed the method slightly. After draining the pasta, I added it back to the pan with the cream, spinach and seasoning and tossed over low heat until the spinach was wilted. It was quite dry so I added some reserved pasta cooking water and most of the cheese and tossed again until the cheese was melted. I avoided both the congealed sauce of my mac 'n' cheese and the "cheesy blob" that amandacooks described in her review.

  • Lepa on January 05, 2018

    This was quick and easy. My whole family loved it.

  • e_ballad on October 07, 2018

    Not very excited about this one. Perfectly fine, but nothing especially memorable.

  • puddlemere on April 18, 2019

    I also got the cheese and spinach blob. Other than that, this was a quick and satisfying (if not very exciting) pasta dish.

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    The garam masala really elevated this simple pasta dish. I used spelt pasta and it worked well here. (As a side note, this was the first time we had tried spelt pasta, and we found we liked it a lot better than whole wheat pasta.) My only complaint is that the spinach turned into a cheesy blob after wilting it in the cheese sauce, and it was hard to break up the blob when stirring in the pasta and peas without breaking up the pasta too. Next time I might wilt the spinach in the hot pot after cooking the pasta and peas, stir together the pasta/peas/spinach in a large bowl, and then pour the cheese sauce over everything and stir it together. Sure, it would dirty another bowl, but I think in this case it would be worth it.

  • Tweedles81 on January 25, 2018

    I got the cheese/spinach blob as well. I just continued to heat the final dish through in the pot and that helped disperse the cheese. I used whole wheat pasta and used whole milk instead of cream, since that’s what I had on hand. This ended up being a hearty, fast weeknight dinner that the whole family enjoyed!

• Penne and Brussels sprouts with bacon and pecorino

  • Astrid5555 on October 27, 2018

    Delicious, perfect weeknight dinner, will make again!

  • FJT on April 07, 2017

    Very tasty, quick weeknight dinner. We enjoyed it and will definitely make it again.

  • Zosia on April 29, 2017

    Another delicious, quick pasta dish from this book. I used 2 small bunches of kale, one of the recommended substitutes, and added some of the pasta cooking water at the end since it was a little dry.

  • ksg518 on April 09, 2018

    Excellent pasta dish. I used pancetta instead of bacon but otherwise followed the recipe. Very tasty and quick enough for a weeknight. Clark says this serves 2-3; two of us ate it all.

  • ellencooks on January 03, 2019

    I made this but used extra sprouts and added some toasted bread crumbs and cheese to the top and put it under the broiler for a minute. This was really good. Next time I will add even more Brussels sprouts.

  • Frogcake on May 15, 2017

    Really delicious. I used white wine in place of water and sprinkled asiago cheese instead of pecorino. The best thing I did was get distracted during the cooking of the sauce. The result was lovely browned shredded sprouts. Perfect supper and very quick.

  • raybun on May 26, 2017

    I also made the kale version of this recipe, the family loved it. Quick & easy for a midweek supper. There's no mention of what to do with the rosemary so I chopped it finely before adding it to the bacon.

  • meduff on December 30, 2018

    This is a dish where I can say “yum” out loud. There just isn’t anything bad about this dish. So many of my favorites: pasta, roasted brussel sprouts, pancetta, a little red pepper flakes, and lemon to add some brightness. Total yum! It was so simple and easy. It took me a little longer than the 20 minutes stated but that is par for the course with me. I changed out the penne for fusilli, pancetta for bacon, no jalapeno (I can control the amount of heat with red pepper flakes. I haven’t learned that with jalapenos yet), no pecorino at the end. I did sprinkle the juice of ½ lemon over the dish when it was done. Next time I will definitely add lemon zest and some capers. Melissa Clark seems to be such a big fan of capers I’m not sure why she didn’t add them. I increased the amount of pasta to 13 ounces, the brussel sprouts to 16 ounces, and the pancetta to 4 ounces. This then served 4. Total keeper!

  • elena1049 on April 12, 2020

    This is a staple in our house - usually double to 16 oz brussels, a whole box of pasta, and about 8 cloves garlic

• Tomato salad with herbs, shallots, and lime

  • Astrid5555 on September 03, 2017

    So good, the shallot-lime addition is just delicious! Perfect for the last summer tomatoes.

  • Frogcake on June 26, 2017

    We loved this dressed up tomato salad! I used heirloom tomatoes as suggested, which made for quite a pretty and scented platter with the torn herbs. The shallots pickled in lime juice were a very, very tasty new addition to an otherwise simple salad. I drizzled blood orange scented olive oil on the salad.

  • BeckyLeJ on February 25, 2018

    This is a fairly basic salad, but I that’s exactly what makes it such a good pairing with a hearty main dish. The lime is tangy and refreshing and the salad as a whole is really easy to put together.

• Pappardelle with chicken livers and rosemary

  • Astrid5555 on August 14, 2017

    Excellent! 10/10 from a family of chicken liver lovers! Substituted Marsala wine for the dry sherry because this is what I had on hand and added some butter together with the pasta water in the end.

• Summer grain bowl with browned corn, black beans, chiles, and arugula

  • chefmichael on July 01, 2020

    Very good. Used wheat berries. Added sour cream and used some Tajin seasoning.

  • southerncooker on April 30, 2017

    I made a half recipe of this for daughter and myself. We loved it. I had some Kamut that we've never tried before and decided to use that for the grain. This made for a very filling, beautiful and delicious supper.

  • coryelizabeth on August 20, 2017

    Wonderful. The pine nuts felt essential to the finished dish; they really pull all the flavors together. The pickled jalapenos are also a delicious addition, but I think you could substitute sour cream for a similar note.

  • clcorbi on August 04, 2017

    Yum! Very simple and delicious. I omitted the arugula (we were out), but added the optional avocado. I had to broil the corn a bit longer to get any char on it, but that's fine, as I'm pretty sure my broiler isn't very high-powered. For the grain, I used a mix of rice and quinoa. I was concerned that this bowl would be bland, because you don't really salt any of the veggies while assembling, but the cumin/garlic/olive oil vinaigrette has plenty of salt added and was very tasty. The resulting bowl is nice and flavorful and fresh-tasting. I'm excited to eat the leftovers for lunch today. I think a fried egg on top of this bowl would be a very welcome addition (but when wouldn't it be?).

• Fresh corn cakes with tomatoes and fried sage

  • southerncooker on March 26, 2017

    Made these for our lunch. Son, daughter, hubby and I all agreed these were delicious. I used grape tomatoes since they seem to have the most flavor this time of year. I also used frozen corn. Can't wait to make these again at peak tomato and corn season.

  • Zosia on June 23, 2017

    We really enjoyed these. The pancakes had good corn flavour that was nicely complemented by the garlicky tomatoes and sage. I was also going to comment on the odd texture of the pancake but just realized I forgot to add the butter to the batter. Oops

  • coryelizabeth on August 07, 2017

    This was just okay. Somehow, it felt like a lot of work for -- essentially -- cornmeal pancakes with some tomatoes on top. The final product was fine but not something I'd repeat.

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 25, 2019

    This were tasty, but I think I should have served them with the suggested creme fraiche or yogurt. They were pretty dense and needed something a bit tart and creamy to wake them up a bit.

• Black bean and roasted poblano quesadillas

  • southerncooker on March 23, 2017

    Daughter and I loved these. I couldn't find smoked mozzarella so used regular and added a couple drops of liquid smoke. We ate ours with the optional avocado slices and lime wedges. Omitted the cliantro and added some salsa when we ate them. I made a half recipe for the two of us.

  • sosayi on November 05, 2018

    Very good and very filling quesadillas! For ease of prep I'd either make sure the beans are canned or cook them in advance. I'd also just use regular sour cream and sliced avocados as toppings, with a squeeze of lime. I sort of went overboard and made the suggested lime crema and pea guacamole, too. While they were good, I don't think they were necessary as there was plenty of flavor in the bean filling. Definitely cut the recipe in half, too! Waaaay too much for 3 people.

• Killer hummus with whole chickpeas

  • southerncooker on November 10, 2019

    I used canned chickpeas. I didn't put any whole ones on finished hummus like in picture. I did drizzle on olive oil and sprinkled on half sharp paprika. It doesn't say anything about adding the whole ones in recipe. We ate with garlic chive pita crackers and also Ritz. Delicious.

  • ksg518 on November 27, 2017

    I thought this was a wonderful hummus and will repeat. This version uses the baking soda method to help soften the skins and it resulted in some of the smoothest hummus I've ever had.

• Eggs poached in South Indian purgatory

  • seherhussain on May 03, 2019

    Super easy weeknight meal and I appreciated the flavor shake-up from traditional middle eastern shakshuka to an Indian-ish one.

  • Delys77 on April 03, 2017

    Easy weeknight meal! The spicing is mild enough not to overpower the egg. I cooked for 6 minutes which resulted in a fully cooked egg. Go with 4-5 next time. If you have to cook the egg fully for a little one you can transfer some sauce and the egg to a smaller pan.

  • clcorbi on July 27, 2018

    I enjoyed this as a nice alternative to the standard shakshuka flavor profile. Next time, though, I'd like some add-ons: yogurt would be good dolloped on top, especially garlicky yogurt, and maybe some pickled onions or something crunchy to perk things up. I found this dish to be very spicy, but I might have just had a really potent pepper.

• Tomato-braised white beans with chorizo

  • FJT on August 24, 2018

    Easy and tasty! Perfect for a cool, wet day. Will make again.

  • Lsblackburn1 on May 14, 2018

    Easy and yummy. Love dried chorizo and this uses a lot of it! Used canned white beans and tomatoes from last years garden.

• Fried eggs with chiles, tamarind sauce, and crispy shallots

  • FJT on April 03, 2017

    Intrigued by cicorbi's comments, I decided to try this one out (it was a recipe I'd passed over when reading the book). My family thought it was a very strange concept, but agreed that it tasted good. I'd happily serve the tamarind sauce and fried shallots over poached eggs on toast.

  • hirsheys on April 08, 2017

    Made this for lunch today for 1 - it's pretty easy to cut down the recipe by half. Instead of chiles, I added a little sambal ooelek to the sauce. I wished for slightly more sweetness in the sauce, but that might have been user error - I think my tablespoon of tamarind was more heaping than the brown sugar. Still, it was quite easy and definitely satisfying, though a small salad or asian cucumbers on the side would be a great addition.

  • clcorbi on March 24, 2017

    This is a ridiculously flavorful, quick dinner. I made a half recipe for two people. You start by frying a few shallots in oil, then set half aside for a garnish, and add the other half to a sauce made of equal parts tamarind paste, fish sauce, brown sugar, and water. Simmer that down to a syrup, fry some eggs, and serve them over rice with the sauce, fried shallot garnish, sliced chile, and cilantro. So easy, and so many big flavors! I threw some scallions on top and used Sriracha in place of the chile, and I really couldn't clean my plate fast enough. This is such a nice back pocket dinner for nights that you need to eat fast, and the tamarind sauce is such an amazing boost of funky, sour, umami flavor. Really good stuff.

• Faux-tandoori chicken

  • FJT on April 05, 2017

    We always like Indian food, so I had to try this recipe. The flavours were nice but could have been much punchier - served with some Major Grey chutney you almost couldn't taste the chicken. Next time I will use more spice and leave the seeds in the jalapeño.

  • Penchantforproduce on May 02, 2017

    We made this last night with chicken drumsticks. It did not get great browning but this may have been a failure of the oven. We will try again tonight with the oven on convect. Also I found the marinade lacking but re-reading the recipe I realize I accidentally reduced the amount of cumin thinking it called for a TSP and not a TBSP, the correct amount of cumin would likely help. I may also up the amount of ginger on the next run.

• Speedy roasted chicken with garlic, rosemary, and mustard

  • Delys77 on November 10, 2017

    This is tight for a weekday as it takes close to an hour but it was quite good and might be doable if you have a bit more time than usual on a weeknight. I skipped the wine as all I had was rose and I didn't like the idea of that in the gravy and it was still very good. The gravy is definitely a winner given the garlic. I stirred a touch of mustard into the gravy and it was very good this way. Lastly, I do like the idea of dark and white meat so thighs and breasts would be my suggestion if you don't want to cut up a chicken. I halved my breast halves to make about 4 pieces and this worked well.

• Cumin-chicken meatballs with green chile sauce

  • Delys77 on April 26, 2017

    These didn't do it for us. I found myself wanting some sort of dairy for the sauce and I thought the meatballs were a touch bland and dry. Not bad, just ok for us.

  • ellencooks on June 05, 2017

    The meatballs were good but the sauce was way too spicy and I only used 1 seeded jalapeno. Must have been an extra spicy one!

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    The meatballs are super flavorful, but I don't feel qualified to judge the green sauce, because ours was WAY too spicy. Next time I'll definitely taste it as I go before adding 2 jalapenos--I suspect I purchased extra-spicy ones.

  • BeckyLeJ on February 25, 2018

    This was tasty, and I did use a bit less of the jalapeño based on the other notes, but I really thought the meatballs needed rice or something starchy to go alongside them. I’m thinking either a saffron rice or a cous cous of some kind. I did pair it with the Tomato Salad with Herbs, Shallots, and Lime (Melissa Clark’s Dinner, p 372).

  • Lsblackburn1 on June 10, 2018

    I made the sauce with roasted green chilis instead of jalapeños and Greek yougurt and it was awesome. Served this with herby garlicky rice. Super tasty!

• Shrimp banh mi

  • Delys77 on April 07, 2017

    The flavour was very nice but I would add a touch of salt to the cakes when blending, not just sprinkled at the end. I would double this recipe to feed 3. Also, it is a small amount to food process to start with so use the small bowl or chop by hand and then add to the large food processor bowl with the shrimp.

  • Rinshin on August 31, 2017

    This was good but not special. I've had other shrimp patties which were more to my taste I cooked the mixture as flatter patties instead of hash as first choice mentioned. Instead of regular radish, I used daikon since I like the taste and texture better. My husband liked it fine as sandwich but for me it was a little too filling. I would prefer them served without the bread. 8 oz shrimp made 4 small thin patties and this was for 2 servings. I would increase the shrimp to 12 oz next time so that patties are little thicker.

  • ksg518 on September 11, 2019

    We thought this was very good although admittedly not what we consider to be a traditional banh mi. It was a little on the messy side to eat. We followed the recipe except that we used some pre-pickled jalapenos instead of adding a fresh one to the carrot and radish mixture.

  • clcorbi on April 28, 2017

    I wasn't really feeling this recipe. The flavors just didn't turn out to be as bright and vibrant as you'd expect from a banh mi. Also, I thought MC's comment about "mystery meat" in the headnote was a little off-color, considering she's managed to formulate an even more mystery meat-ish recipe than any Vietnamese banh mi I've ever had. Just a thought.

• Stir-fried tofu with summer squash, basil, and coconut

  • Delys77 on April 04, 2017

    This was easy and quite good. The onion adds a fair bit of sweetness so you could consider cutting it back a touch and adding some more acid or maybe even some heat to balance the flavour. I also blended the sesame with some peanut when sautéing the zucchini and tofu as it would have been too much otherwise. The tofu was very nice with the marinade. Doubled to serve about 4 adults and few little one's.

  • ksg518 on September 05, 2017

    I was somewhat skeptical of this recipe but needed to use some squash and wanted something different. It turned out to be very good and I will definitely repeat it. I used less coconut than Clark calls for because I wasn't sure that the coconut would work well with the squash but it was the highlight of the dish, adding a crunchy texture in addition to the flavor. Next time I might grill the squash since I couldn't get it to brown very well in the pan. I also had issues with the tofu sticking but it was still very tasty.

• Smashed Sichuan cucumber salad

  • Delys77 on April 12, 2017

    I wanted to like this but I found the cucumber just gave off so much water that the dressing didn't get a chance to permeate the dish. It was ok, but not a repeat for us.

  • julesamomof2 on May 16, 2018

    This was just okay, even with the chiles it was a little bland. On the plus side, it was very easy to put together which is definitely a must when preparing several dishes. However, I would be willing to put in more work for better flavor for sure.

  • raybun on June 09, 2017

    I bypassed the smashing step and just sliced the mini cucumbers I had. The sharp rice wine vinegar dressing with ginger garlic & chilli went very well together with the ginger pork meatballs from the same book, served with coconut rice.

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    This was edible, but really not good enough to make it again. I don't really know why I thought I'd enjoy it more than the many excellent cucumber salads from Dunlop's books. The flavor was too mild, other than the slices of red chile, which were too assertive to me and felt sort of out of place.

  • hbakke on September 15, 2019

    Ty liked this more than I did. Not as flavorful as I had hoped. The sauce became very watery after adding the cucumber. The cucumber smashing made an enormous mess in the kitchen. As usual, I replaced the red chilies with jalapeno since nowhere sells red chilies around here.

  • meduff on February 02, 2019

    I had to make this 3 times. I had the same problems as others have had. For anyone wanting to make this dish I have a couple of suggestions that I think might help - especially with the dressing getting so diluted. 1) Smash the cucumber in a ziplock bag - otherwise you may be finding cucumber slime and seeds all over your kitchen. 2) Salt the already smashed cucumbers with about 1 ½ teaspoons of kosher salt. Let them drain for 30 minutes. Cucumbers contain about 98% water. This will help to keep the dressing from being so diluted. I pulled 8 tablespoons of water out of mine. 3) Buy the Chinese Black Vinegar - it makes a huge difference - all for the better. You can find it on Amazon - I bought Soeos Chinkiang Vinegar, Chinese Black Vinegar, Zhenjiang Vinegar. This is a good quality one that I will use often. 4) I could not find any fresh red chilies so I used something called Sambal Oelek Fresh Chili Paste in the Asian section of my local market.

• Quick-roasted broccoli

  • twoyolks on April 28, 2020

    Simple but great roasted broccoli.

  • sosayi on February 06, 2018

    I feel strange reviewing this... as I sort of feel roasting broccoli doesn’t require a recipe, but I did like Melissa Coark’s suggestion to add the optional whole spices (cumin seed and mustard seed) partway through cooking. So... yes. As delicious as roasted broccoli always is.

• Roasted tofu with broccoli rabe and garlic

  • meggan on May 09, 2019

    I don't feel my tofu benefited from roasting despite all the oil brushed on it. It was pretty dry and meh. Sometimes that's the nature of tofu.

  • purrviciouz on May 24, 2019

    I enjoyed this. The tofu was crunchy on the outside and creamy inside...almost like fried tofu. This will become a staple and will add tofu cooked with this method to salads and I'll sub other vegetables here.

  • laublo on May 02, 2019

    Broccoli rabe came out very stringy and weird (maybe mine was more leafy than the author's?). I think it would be great with broccoli, broccolini, or cauliflower. The tofu was fantastic.

• Turkish lamb chops with sumac, tahini, and dill

  • chawkins on March 24, 2018

    Wish I had read the previous reviews before I started cooking. The chops were delicious with the spice mix, however, the tahini sauce is definitely too salty. Don't understand why sumac is part of the recipe name when it is listed as an optional ingredient.

  • tui on November 13, 2017

    The chops were delicious. I will definitely use that spice mixture again. However I agree with a previous note - the tahini dressing wasn't remarkable and would have been too salty if I had used all the salt suggested.

  • e_ballad on July 15, 2017

    Great spice blend for the lamb, though we weren't super-excited by the tahini dressing.

  • tmitra on September 29, 2019

    Based on the notes below, I didn't expect to like the tahini sauce, especially as I don't like tahini much anyway, but I actually thought it worked. I used 0.75 t salt, rather than 1.75 t!

  • Lucylew on October 23, 2019

    I loved the spice rub on the chops and the instructions to broil them were spot on. I will definitely make these again. Did not make the tahini sauce because it did not sound good to me.

• Skillet brown-butter cornbread

  • chawkins on February 02, 2020

    Very buttery with a lighter and fluffier texture than Goin's brown butter cornbread. I made half of the recipe in a 9-inch cast iron skillet. Also like the addition of fresh corn in the batter.

  • Lepa on September 07, 2017

    This cornbread was custardy and luscious- one of the best I've had!

  • e_ballad on June 01, 2020

    Absolutely delicious & so easy to prepare. Our new go-to recipe.

• Slow-roasted tuna with harissa and olives

  • hillsboroks on March 27, 2018

    This cooking method for tuna is incredibly simple and yields such amazing flavor and texture. Tuna is so easy to over cook but with this method there is much less chance of cooking it too hard. I used a metal 9" bread pan and set my timer for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes I checked the tuna and it needed more time in the oven so I set my timer for another 5 minutes. When I checked it again it was just starting to cook but was still quite rare. Heeding the recipe's warning about taking it out to rest when it was still underdone, I removed it from the oven and set the timer for another 10 minutes. The results were sublime! The tuna was cooked perfectly, the texture was silky and the other ingredients added just the right amount of flavor punch. My husband loved it. We had enough for leftovers so I just rewarmed them for 30 seconds in the microwave oven and enjoyed our tuna for a second night.

  • sosayi on January 29, 2020

    Flavorful and easy to prep. I've made this a handful of times. At various times I've added: thyme in place of rosemary; thinly sliced peppers; preserved lemons. Leftovers are amazing as tuna salad for lunch the next day.

  • robertofwine on February 04, 2019

    Cooked it perhaps a little longer than I should have. Used a glass loaf pan and checked after 10 minutes, then 15. I'm guessing c. 13 minutes is perfect (I also let it sit about 15 minutes after it came out of the oven, so that might not have helped). As tuna doesn't cut perfectly into cubes, I would recommend keeping them on the larger side rather than small. Definitely needs a bit of everything in the bite - tuna, olive, flaky salt and lemon...and the harissa hangs nicely a bit. Served with a Planeta Cerasuola di Vittoria red wine from Sicily - worked nicely together. I agree it makes a lot - a pound would be more than enough for 2. Well worth a try for a relatively quick weeknight recipe!

• Thai chicken breasts with coconut milk and lemongrass

  • stockholm28 on April 16, 2017

    The flavors in this dish were pleasant enough, but I really missed the chilies and ginger. To be fair, she notes in the headnote that this is not intended to be spicy and works when you need to feed both adults and kids. The dish is basically boneless, skinless chicken breasts simmered in coconut milk, fish sauce, lime juice, lemongrass, and garlic. You add shitakes and scallions. You serve it over rice. This dish took under 30 minutes including prep. I'd make it again because it is super easy. I'd doctor it up a bit with some chilies and ginger.

  • mfranklin125 on April 04, 2017

    Easy. Liked. Good.

• Asian grain bowl with roasted shiitakes, tofu, Brussels sprouts, and miso dressing

  • stockholm28 on April 21, 2019

    Excellent bowl, but there are a lot of components.

  • Frogcake on June 24, 2017

    A really great make-ahead dish. I didn't bother pickling the carrot. I had a few left over roasted heritage carrots that I threw into the food processor with the other dressing ingredients, adding a pinch of sugar and an extra squirt of lime juice. This made a very yummy miso dressing. My husband bbq'd carrots, brown mushrooms, eggplant and red peppers, all tossed in sesame and peanut oil as directed. I also fried the tofu in advance according to the recipe. I served this family style on a giant platter, at room temperature with BBQ'd salmon fillet. Our guests raved about it!

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    There are a lot of steps and ingredients to this one, but the result is really delicious, so I'd say it's worth it. For the grain base we used a mix of quinoa and white rice (which was already cooked, so we just mixed it in with the quinoa before serving). The dressing is really delicious. I had leftovers of both the miso dressing and pickled carrots, and I used them on fried egg tacos for my breakfasts the last few days, which was absolutely delicious. This would definitely be repeated.

  • meduff on March 28, 2019

    I agree with clcorbi there are a lot of components to this dish so I prepped as much as I could the night before, including the dressing. Everything held up really well. While the grain bowl is good the star of this dish is the miso dressing. Without it this dish would be fine, plain, but fine. The dressing is really the star. I would use this dressing on many salads, veggies, chicken and fish. Total deliciousness.

• Smoky fish and potato chowder

  • ddutton848 on June 11, 2017

    We loved this! We made a few changes based on what we had on hand. Used pollock in place of hake for the fish, Yukon Gold potatoes from our CSA in place of fingerlings, 2% milk in place of whole, and chicken stock in place of fish stock. We also did not pour off the bacon fat (didn't have much), but just added 1 T of butter to the bacon fat before the leeks went in, because extra smoky bacon taste is not unwelcome in our house. It was excellent! Served with the Rye Cheddar biscuits as suggested. Husband rated the meal 'incredibly satisfying'.

  • sosayi on August 16, 2017

    Absolutely delicious chowder! Only changes: using (3) cups of homemade fish stock, not (2) and (1) of water; not pouring off the bacon fat (there really wasn't that much); cutting the fingerlings smaller than she called for (which allowed them to cook more quickly than 25 minutes and also fit on a spoon better); adding a few cloves of garlic. I'll definitely be making this again and again. Super simple and full of flavor. Oh, we used halibut!

  • Lsblackburn1 on May 04, 2020

    Very yummy light-ish dinner (hey, whole milk, not cream!). Used cod.

• Pea pesto with ricotta

  • Rachaelsb on November 19, 2017

    Yum! Reallly fresh recipe that is great for crowd as appetizer. Serve either with crackers or pita chips.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    This is a great dip and really tasty nut free pesto. I used only basil but would try with mint next time.

• Scalloped potato skillet gratin with Gruyère, leeks, and black pepper

  • Rachaelsb on April 02, 2018

    Trying to think of some new dishes for Passover and this one was perfect. I had forgotten how delicious Potatoes gratin are. The addition of the leeks and sage gave it a bit of a step up from usual gratin without compromising on the comfort factor. This is also a fun recipe to make and presents beautifully on the table.

  • Lepa on March 13, 2018

    Today was a cold, drizzly day and I was craving comfort food. This hit the spot. I remember loving scalloped potatoes as a child and my kids were crazy about this, too. It was a bit more sophisticated than the dish I grew up with (creme fraiche and sage!) but every bit as comforting and delicious. This makes a large amount and we will have plenty of leftovers (hooray!)

• Pizza with broccoli rabe, ricotta, and olives

  • Zosia on January 03, 2020

    There were quite a few ingredients in the topping that tempered the bitterness of the rapini so even those who aren't fans of the vegetable enjoyed this. One small issue was that the toppings didn't stay put...perhaps mozzarella or provolone instead of ricotta might help anchor things. I blanched the rapini and mixed it with a little oil in which I cooked the garlic rather than frying it in oil.

  • hbakke on April 30, 2019

    We made one big pizza. It took at least double the amount of time listed in the recipe to cook. The pizza was tasty. Maybe use more chili flake next time.

• Butternut squash pizza with sage and roasted lemon

  • Zosia on December 17, 2018

    Interesting and delicious pizza with nicely balanced flavours. I agree that the pizza could use more topping.

  • bwhip on March 27, 2017

    This was delicious, and very easy. Flavors were excellent. Remarkable how well blanching the lemons took the edge off. Next time I make this I'll double all of the topping quantities, as I thought they were a little sparse for two pizzas.

  • BasicStock on May 06, 2017

    I told my husband "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" in trying this recipe, and I've gained a totally new slant on pizza toppings. And I've not been shy about trying different toppings in the past. The lemon slices are so different, but work well with the cheese, sage and squash. I think next time I'll add even more squash, it seemed the lighter element in the mix. Will definitely make this again.

• Lemony pasta with chickpeas and parsley

  • Zosia on July 25, 2017

    The flavours were light and fresh - I particularly liked how well the lemon and rosemary came through - but between the pasta and the chickpeas, it was still a substantial dish. Like the other reviewers, I didn't use the full amount of parsley, about 2 cups.

  • clcorbi on April 15, 2017

    I love any version of chickpeas with pasta, and this one didn't disappoint. I didn't really think that mashing up the chickpeas improved the dish, so next time I'd just leave them whole. Also, I think 3 whole cups of parsley would have been a crazy amount to this dish. I substituted about a cup of chopped basil, because I had it and needed to use it up, and I thought the flavor of the basil worked so well here that I'd do it again next time. 1c was definitely sufficient, though.

  • bwhip on May 04, 2017

    This sounded kind of interesting, easy and different, so tonight I gave it a go. It was excellent! I made it with rigatoni, which I happened to have on hand. I probably used a little less than two cups of parsley, which was plenty. I'll definitely make it again for a quick and easy, yet tasty meal.

• Smashed white bean toasts with roasted asparagus and sumac

  • Zosia on June 10, 2017

    These tasted as you would expect from the ingredients; they were good but nothing out of the ordinary. I cooked dried beans for the mash and grilled the bread and asparagus on the barbecue so that added a little extra flavour. I did like the use of sumac to perk the dish up.

  • saarwouters on June 05, 2018

    Lovely dish. Served it as an appetizer (not as a dinner). It's a bit more special than the usual Italian white bean on toast, because of the asparagus and the sumac. I did use canned white beans, which was fine for us.

• Stir-fried tofu with spring vegetables

  • Zosia on June 13, 2017

    We really enjoyed this. It was light and spring-like in appearance and the sauce ingredients didn't overwhelm the delicate flavours of the peas and pea shoots. I sliced my tofu and cooked it in batches using Thug Kitchen's dry fry method to get more of the crispy surfaces we like and added it back to the pan before the soy-sauce and rice wine went in. I used 227g sugar snap peas and 100g pea shoots so my proportions may have been a bit off (I find it difficult to measure these things in cups); I did need to add extra soy and sesame oil at the end.

• Gruyère frittata with caramelized onions

  • Zosia on October 13, 2017

    The flavour was very good with a nice balance of onion, egg and cheese. The onions did take longer to caramelize than the recipe indicated and I needed to increase the heat to reduce the wine. Since we prefer a firm frittata, I baked it at a higher temperature. Worth repeating.

• Penne with Parmesan, fresh ricotta, and black pepper

  • Zosia on June 17, 2017

    Quite good thanks to the lemon zest and a lot of black pepper (and Parmesan cheese). A sharply dressed side salad helped to cut the richness.

• Farro pasta with zucchini, mint, and ricotta salata

  • Zosia on June 28, 2017

    Despite the title, the recipe does not include mint. However, the book's photo of the finished dish has mint in it, and I liked the idea of a zucchini-lemon-mint combination so I made it with mint. This was a nice light-tasting pasta dish; the mint added freshness and the lemon perked up all of the flavours. Since I prefer my zucchini with a little texture, I removed it from the pan while the tomatoes cooked and added it back in with the pasta etc.

• Garlicky calamari with basil, chile, and lime

  • Zosia on July 14, 2017

    The garlic and chile infused oil combines with the lime juice to make a most delicious dressing for the squid, something you want to mop up with some good bread. The dish is light and fresh but I had a hard time eating an entree sized portion with nothing else to accompany it. A smaller plate served as a starter would be my preference.

  • aromo on January 18, 2019

    This was so delicious. My husband and I finished it all off.

• Thai lettuce wraps

  • Zosia on June 26, 2017

    Very tasty. There's a bit of chopping to be done but cook time is brief. It all came together in the time it took to cook the rice I served with it. I used extra lean ground turkey.

  • lcomer on August 20, 2017

    Used chicken instead and doubled the seasonings. Keeper.

  • joanhuguet on March 22, 2017

    Quick, easy, and perfect. I served rice vermicelli tossed in sesame oil to wrap up in the lettuce along with the filling - otherwise, this would have been a very light dinner for four.

• Burrata Caprese with peaches, tomato, and basil

  • lhkelsey on July 30, 2017

    This was delicious!! Perfect summer salad.

  • ksg518 on September 11, 2019

    This is great! We made it several times this summer. It's a perfect summer lunch or dinner and comes together in minutes.

  • joyous on February 21, 2018

    This recipe is all about the ingredients. If you have amazing fruit, tomatoes and cheese -- you can't go wrong. It takes virtually no time to pull together. We enjoyed it with proscuitto or salami and crusty bread. And a cold glass of rose. Pretty much my idea of a perfect summer meal.

  • Lepa on September 12, 2017

    This was okay but I didn't love it. The concept is lovely but the pesto wasn't creamy enough. If I made it again, I might add nuts to the pesto.

• Thai-style mussels with coconut and lemongrass

  • ksg518 on February 04, 2020

    This was very good and certainly quick and easy. I didn't have any chilies but will try to remember to include them next time since they would work well against the sweetness of the coconut milk.

  • lindseyshannon34 on July 11, 2020

    I was kind of disappointed with this dish. The flavors were not quite as vibrant as I thought they would be. And 2 lbs of mussels is probably more for 3-4 people, not 2.

• Thai-style shrimp balls with napa cabbage

  • ksg518 on December 08, 2017

    I could not get these to form balls; they were more like shrimp blobs. Maybe I should have patted the shrimp dry before adding them to the other ingredients and/or chopped the shrimp smaller. Also they weren't anywhere close to done after the three minutes steam time Clark calls for. At that point I just took them and added them to the stir fry veggies I was making to go with the balls. That worked great! The shrimp has great flavor and the dipping sauce made a good topping for the dish. I served it all over brown rice for a good dinner. I'll probably use the recipe again but skip the "form them into balls and steam" part.

• Red coconut curry shrimp

  • ksg518 on September 19, 2017

    This was very good. I made it as directed but I think you could skip the daikon without losing anything. This comes together fairly quickly, so it would be a good weeknight choice. The leftovers have held up well too.

  • Lepa on December 20, 2017

    This didn't wow us. I hoped to have a richer, creamier curry but the sauce was pretty thin. I doubt I'll repeat this one.

  • mrshalf on November 01, 2017

    Since shrimp are so expensive, I'd choose another recipe than this one to highlight a pricey ingredient. I should say we feed 7 here so I need a two pound bag. It's also not "Dinner" but the main course in what needs to surely be a more rounded out meal.

• Fusilli with burst cherry tomatoes, mint, and burrata

  • ksg518 on October 01, 2018

    This was great! I made it per the recipe using about 2/3rds mint and 1/3 basil (which the notes suggest as a possible alternative to just using mint). I wasn't sure if I would care for the mint but I really liked it. I'll make this again but probably up (or even double) the amount of cherry tomatoes. I thought the pasta to cherry tomato ratio was a little to much in favor of the pasta.

  • ddenker on August 03, 2017

    We liked this, but I made some changes (which I regret). Subbed fresh spaghetti instead of fusilli. Only used mint and didn't add the basil we bought. Epd thought the cheese was too much for him even though we each got one ball of burrata. Ruby (now 3 yo) cried hysterically when I put it in front her (garnished with green onions and mint). She just ended up eating the spaghetti! I liked it because of all the fresh ingredients/flavors, but wasn't blown away. 8/1/17

  • bwhip on August 15, 2017

    Another winner from this outstanding cookbook. Very simple to prepare, quick and easy - but remarkably flavorful. I loved the mix of the warm, burst tomatoes, the creamy cheese (I used buffalo mozzarella), and the abundance of fresh herbs (I used a mix of mint and basil). Excellent.

• Spicy beets with yogurt and ginger

  • ksg518 on December 16, 2019

    I thought this was just OK but perhaps that's because I like beets because they are sweet. Notwithstanding the recipe title, mine weren't particularly spicy although that could be because my jalapeno was fairly mild. I served this with the suggested coconut rice and thought the two dishes complemented each other very well.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    As someone who doesn't always love the sweet beet flavor, this is a great recipe. The seeds counter the sweetness and the yogurt sauce is nice and zippy. If you hate beets, just make the yogurt as a nice condiment for anything roasted or grilled.

• Sweet and sour tofu with corn

  • ksg518 on July 31, 2018

    This is really good. I made it as directed except I used cut up tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes would be better because they will hold their shape better but I needed to use up what I had. If you don't want to go the tofu route, I think this would be good with shrimp. This sauce is great!

• Spicy Thai salad with coconut and crispy tofu

  • ksg518 on July 31, 2019

    This was a very good summer dinner, only requiring a small amount of cooktop time. We omitted the chilies so I suppose we made Thai Salad instead of Spicy Thai Salad. The only negative is that, not surprisingly, the tofu doesn't stay crispy for leftovers. Perhaps it should be stored separately. I agree with jenniebakes that the dressing is very good.

  • jenniebakes on October 13, 2018

    This is really good. I personally prefer to make the tofu just cooked and soft rather than crispy, but the dressing is excellent.

  • jenburkholder on July 10, 2020

    Unlike the others, we thought this was only ok. Good enough to eat all of, and certainly pretty easy, but the flavor was uninspiring and not worth the amount of chopping. There are better salads out there with similar ingredients.

• Carrot muhammara with toasted cumin and walnuts

  • ksg518 on November 27, 2017

    This was amazing. I cut my carrots a little too small and some ended up charred. Once I discarded those, I probably had a higher ratio of peppers to carrot than Clark intended but it was still very, very good. The key here is the walnuts, some of which are ground up as part of the spread and the rest added as a chunky addition. I did top it with the toasted cumin seed, but I could easily see skipping that part in the future.

• Greek avgolemono soup with greens

  • pistachiopeas on April 14, 2017

    Pretty spartan. Not a repeat for us, since M didn't like it.

• Spicy Thai fried rice with sausage and greens

  • Joyceeong on April 05, 2018

    Made a couple of changes, using ingredients I already have. Instead of chorizo, I've used dried Chinese sausage. Since the Chinese sausages are lacking the spiciness of Chorizo, I've added 1 tablespoon of chilli flakes. Instead of stir-frying the eggs with the rice, I've fried them and serve with the rice. A lovely delicious lunch.

  • mrshalf on December 19, 2017

    This was good. A bit salty because I used Chinese sausage (new to me). Could just leave out. A different take on fried rice - glad I tried it.

  • lou_weez on November 07, 2018

    I used Chinese sausage and added some kecap manis. Next time I would cook the eggs separately as it made the dish a bit gluggy, still tastes good though.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    Really liked this! Great flavors and the plentiful greens + lime are very welcome balance to the salty funky spice. Will make this again.

• Vietnamese rice noodles with daikon radishes and cucumbers

  • ddenker on August 03, 2017

    Epd didn't like this dish. I liked it, but would tweak it in the future. We have never used daikon radish before and found the flavor slightly bitter and unpleasant. The peanut sauce was good although we had to sub chile sauce for the chile oil. We added boneless, skinless chicken breasts that Ed made. We also used an entire 8 oz package of rice vermicelli noodles because we were adding four chicken breasts. We found ourselves craving pad Thai instead of this. 8/2/17

  • Niemie on March 30, 2017

    A terrific weeknight meal. Be sure to drain the rice noodles very well, otherwise the entire dish tastes somewhat diluted. I also made a double batch of the peanut dressing. When you have that prepared and on hand, this dish can come together in 5-10 minutes.

• Turkish bulgur pilaf with yogurt and pumpkin

  • Lepa on July 23, 2017

    This was simple to throw together and really good with some broiled fish. The topping of yogurt, chile and salt at the end is essential.

• Pomegranate quinoa with crunchy chickpeas

  • Lepa on February 19, 2018

    We thought this was awful. The dressing doesn't compliment the other ingredients at all. I made it with the avocado and spinach salad, as suggested, and the combination was tolerable (only because that salad is so good) but we threw all the leftovers away.

  • EN1 on February 04, 2019

    I liked this, esp for meatless Monday. I like the sweetness of the pomegranate molasses

• Green and wax beans with olives, tomatoes, and mozzarella

  • Lepa on June 26, 2018

    Meh. Lots of fuss for a salad that tastes a bit muddy. Nobody liked this and most of it went in the compost.

• Maple-roasted tofu with winter squash

  • Lepa on April 18, 2017

    This was a bit fussy to prepare and we weren't thrilled with the results. If you make it, note that the recipe directs you to cut the tofu into slabs but you should instead cube it.

  • clcorbi on February 03, 2018

    We didn't love this. The flavor profile is kind of odd to me; it's close to tasting like an Asian dish, but somehow doesn't make it there. Also, as usual, I don't love adding sweet ingredients (maple syrup) to already-sweet vegetables (butternut squash). That being said, I did enjoy the flavor of the maple syrup rub on the tofu. We both wished there was MORE of the tofu, though: there's 2.5lb of squash to 1lb of tofu, which doesn't feel like the correct proportion to me. Overall, I wouldn't repeat this without making significant changes, even though I do like the concept of a sheet pan dinner involving tofu.

  • cdglamontagne on February 04, 2020

    Agree with others that this was good, not great. A little too sticky sweet, but that was helped with some lime juice and fresh cucumber mixed in along with the cilantro. I used delicata squash and added brussel sprouts. You could probably do this on one sheet pan, but my squash cooked quicker than the tofu browned.

• Israeli beet labneh

  • Lepa on April 18, 2017

    I made this for my book club and it received rave reviews. The flavors were interesting and the jalapenos added a nice kick. Excellent with the recommended wasa crispbreads, which I don't normally like.

• Rye and cheddar biscuits

  • Lepa on September 16, 2017

    These were delicious. We ate them slathered with butter with potato leek soup and they transformed a simple meal into an extraordinary one.

• Roasted winter vegetables with herbed buttermilk dressing

  • Lepa on February 24, 2019

    I liked this but it was a bit odd how the lovely, crisp roasted kale becomes chewy in this dish. My kids love kale chips but didn't like them here because of the texture. Overall, I like the flavor combination and the toasted walnuts are a nice finishing touch.

  • lou_weez on August 30, 2017

    This was nice, nothing mind-blowing. I added a boiled egg to everyone's plate for bulk and protein. Probably should've added some boiled rice too as it was a smallish dinner.

• Horta salad with feta and olives

  • Lepa on April 18, 2017

    We weren't crazy about this dish. It was too lemony. I think I would have liked it better if it had deeper flavors, perhaps if it was sauteed in anchovy first? I don't think we will try this again.

• Egg crostini with radish and anchovy

  • Lepa on January 05, 2018

    This was good but fussy, so I'm unlikely to make it again. It's difficult to manage a bite that includes all the components because of the size/texture of the various components. The egg was crumbling, the anchovies and capers kept escaping. When I did manage to get a proper bite the flavor was good but my struggle with coordination prevented me from enjoying this as much as I had anticipated. I suspect this is a failing on my part, not Ms. Clark's.

  • meduff on January 15, 2019

    I think it’s perfect for appetizers. The watermelon radishes were new to me. I tasted one separately from everything else and it was quite peppery. When you put it all together it is a great bite. The watermelon radish loses it “pepperiness” and balances out the saltiness of the anchovy. This is not an easy dish to compile. In fact, I’m calling bull to the 20 minutes she says it takes to make, sorry Melissa. On the positive side much of it can be made and prep ready a day in advance leaving only the bread to toast the day you serve it. I bought a good egg slicer and a mandoline, otherwise the eggs fell apart and the radish was sliced unevenly causing the dish to fall apart when you pick it up. Another keeper!

• Summer spaghetti with uncooked tomato sauce and ricotta

  • Lepa on August 29, 2017

    This was fresh and tasted fine but we didn't love it. This is the first time I've tried a raw sauce and I strongly prefer the rich taste of cooked sauce.

• Escarole salad with crispy pimentón chickpeas and a runny egg

  • ellencooks on November 15, 2017

    My canned chickpeas didn’t crisp but still tasted good. I’ve had similar recipes that were good, as this was. Repeatable but not spectacular.

• Crispy salt and pepper pork

  • ellencooks on June 05, 2017

    I agree that the smaller cubes are tastier. I find that's true for me for most cubed meat. I also thought it would need a sauce so I drizzled some some rice vinegar, sherry vinegar and ponzu sauce over chopped iceberg lettuce and sliced cucumbers. I served with coconut rice plus lime juice, jalapeños and cilantro over the meat as suggested. Loved it!

  • clcorbi on May 10, 2017

    This recipe seemed like an intriguing way to use pork shoulder, plus Food52 highlighted it as a genius recipe recently, so I had to give it a try. The result is certainly not bad, but I don't know if I'd call it genius. I loved how simple and fast this was to make, and I also really loved the heavy amount of sichuan peppercorns involved--the pork gets a nice, appealing crust of pepper on the outside which is very tasty. However, I think 1" cubes are a bit too big considering just how chewy the meat is. I think 1/2" cubes would be in order next time--every time I found a smaller piece in my bowl, I enjoyed it much better. I also found myself wishing this recipe had some sort of sauce, because the result is quite dry. I think the recommended sliced cucumbers would have helped, but some sort of sauce to drizzle over would really take this from good to great, IMO.

  • hbakke on May 01, 2019

    I would use a bigger pan next time, as the meat was a bit crowded. Added a lime vinaigrette to the lettuce and cucumber. Very tasty. I used cilantro, mint, and basil for the added herbs.

• Shakshuka with golden tomatoes and goat cheese

  • e_ballad on June 07, 2018

    Very nice, but it’s a tough challenge competing against Ottolenghi’s recipe. We also found the dill to overwhelm some of the other flavours, rendering them largely obsolete.

  • Jviney on September 03, 2019

    I loved this - the flavor of the sauce was lovely, and filled the house with a delicious aroma. The amount of goat cheese was perfect and I had some nice golden tomatoes from the farmer’s market. Subbed basil for the dill - my husband’s preference. We ate all the eggs but I saved the rest of the sauce to enjoy with toast tomorrow. Will make it again.

  • dc151 on March 21, 2020

    I have made several different shakshuka recipes, but this is one of my favorites. I do cut back on the dill, as I'm not a huge fan.

• Sweet peppers and sausages with ricotta salata and fresh oregano

  • e_ballad on June 14, 2020

    The ricotta salata really pulls this together so it MUST NOT be omitted! Very simple to pull together.

  • Frogcake on June 14, 2017

    So tasty! I love the idea of porky sausage juice glazing the roasting peppers. This came together in less than ten minutes-then, it was just waiting for everything to cook. I wish I had these quick and simple recipes when my kids were younger!

  • Jviney on May 09, 2019

    This was one of those helpful, easy, quick, good-enough meals that are super nice for a weeknight. I wouldn’t say it was memorable, but I was grateful it was relatively healthy and only dirtied one pan!

• Herb-marinated steak with lemon

  • e_ballad on September 13, 2017

    Marinated overnight, this was a very tasty dish. I suspect that cooking it over direct heat would result in all the marinated goodness being lost, so I would highly recommend the overhead grill.

• Pork scallopini with sage, black pepper, and apples

  • e_ballad on July 03, 2018

    Very quick to prepare (15 mins including prep), but not particularly notable. The sage was barely discernible when added to the pan - adding it all right at the end would probably be a better option.

  • meduff on February 01, 2019

    I am in love with this dish. Super fast and so so easy! I had beautiful 1/2" pork cutlets and couldn't bring myself to pound them down so I cooked them the way they were. The pork had the saltiness from the anchovies (they had melted in the pan), the apples were soft but held their shape and provided a great contrast to the pork. The crispness of the sage leaves was a fun addition and one which I will use again for flavor and as a garnish in other dishes.

• Lamb stew with barley and leeks

  • e_ballad on October 30, 2017

    This was ok, but we’ve been spoiled by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s version. Would recommend seasoning more vigorously.

  • puddlemere on January 29, 2018

    I thought this was great, although I did make a few changes. I used half homemade chicken stock and half water, and I didn't have turnips, celery, or kale so I just left them out and upped the carrot and potato and added some frozen peas at the end. I also browned the lamb first, even though the recipe calls for putting everything in all at once.

  • clcorbi on April 09, 2018

    We also enjoyed this, but, like puddlemere, I made a lot of changes. I aggressively browned my lamb, then browned the onion, celery, and a bunch of added garlic in the lamb drippings. I also used half homemade chicken stock and half water, and added a generous dash of TJ's umami paste. With those changes, this stew was rich, savory and very comforting. I imagine if I had followed the recipe as written and skipped all the browning, it would have been much more lackluster.

• Pomegranate chicken breasts with walnut butter

  • Frogcake on November 21, 2018

    Delicious! I toasted two slices of homemade bread before whizzing it to make the walnut butter. The pomegranate oil is an amazing tasty complement to the walnut butter roasted chicken. I served this with pan roasted carrots, yam and cauliflower drizzled with harissa oil.

• Pappardelle Bolognese with lentils and sausages

  • Frogcake on May 16, 2017

    Good bolognese -would make again. It's a heartier sauce with the lentils. I've made it with ground horse meat, which is delicious but texture-wise, prefer it with sausages. I added about a quarter cup of dry red wine too.

  • cdglamontagne on May 26, 2019

    Love this recipe and we make it often. Use good sausage and the lentils will take on a deep savory flavor while adding a healthy and economical boost. I never have fresh rosemary and dried works fine - this recipe seems pretty adaptable. Leftovers are great too.

• Chile-rubbed spatchcocked chicken with avocado ranch dressing

  • tmitra on July 02, 2020

    The chicken was fine, but the "avocado ranch dressing" was more like guacamole than dressing? I'll be experimenting with it more.

• White bean dip with charred scallions

  • puddlemere on July 18, 2018

    I left out the dill and put this on crostini with slices of pickled egg, and it was quite good, although the raw garlic flavor was a bit much. I would use just one small clove if I make it again. The charred scallions really make this dip.

• Korean-style stir-fried beef (Bulgogi)

  • mrshalf on March 30, 2017

    Delicious marinade. Just be sure to cook within time frame - too long marinating and meat turns mushy. Ask me how I know... :( Try this one again!

  • purrviciouz on September 04, 2018

    This was really delicious and a fun way to have a dinner party with everyone getting involved. I doubled the sauce and it was all gone. The beef cooks very quickly so stay close.

• Greens and feta phyllo pie

  • lou_weez on November 01, 2018

    We enjoyed this simple tasting pie with a salad. It's not anything overly amazing but ticks the meatless Monday box.

• Japanese omelet with edamame rice

  • clcorbi on July 23, 2018

    I thought this was fairly good, and definitely low-effort, but the omelette was a bit too sweet to me. Maybe I'd use a little less mirin next time to compensate. However, this problem was nothing a little extra sriracha didn't fix. I agree it's nice to have extra veg here--next time I might stir-fry in a shredded carrot with the rice, and I also like the idea of having cucumbers on the side.

  • BeckyLeJ on February 25, 2018

    This omelet was easy and a nice alternative to my regular tuna or smoked salmon rice bowls! I wanted more veggies, so I paired it with the Smashed Cucumber Salad with Salted Peanuts and Wasabi Peas Smitten Kitchen Every Day, p 50. The marinated celery from Pucky Peach’s Easy Asian would be another good pairing.

• Chilaquiles with tomatillo salsa and baked eggs

  • clcorbi on May 01, 2017

    We made the easy version and used pre-made salsa, so I'm not really qualified to judge, but this recipe was easy and flavorful! H especially LOVED it. I'm sure that the tomatillo salsa adds something special, so I'd make the extra effort and do the salsa next time.

• Spiced crab and corn cakes with coriander yogurt

  • clcorbi on July 12, 2017

    I've been eyeballing this recipe patiently waiting for corn season, but unfortunately I wouldn't recommend it. We made a half-recipe to serve two people. I actually had 1oz less crab than called for, but proceeded with all the other ingredient quantities as written. The cakes wouldn't hold together and were extremely difficult to fry--if I had had the full amount of crab I think it would only have been worse. Also, the pureed corn gave them an odd texture, and truthfully I didn't think the sweetness of the corn worked well with the Indian spices. These needed chile or something. (In fairness, I think the flavor is a matter of personal preference--my boyfriend enjoyed these a bit more than I did, although he agreed he doesn't want to repeat them.) The yogurt dipping sauce was tasty, but the cakes themselves were too much of a fail to salvage. Also, you really need a veggie or something crunchy and fresh to go with these--they don't feel like a balanced meal on their own.

  • urmami on September 07, 2018

    I made this exactly as directed for a Labor Day kickback and they were pretty perfect. I found the batter very easy to work with, just enough filler to hold everything together without overpowering the crab. I'll always have a soft spot for Old Bay but the Indian spices and corn are such a great backdrop for super fresh crab meat. Also superb match with not-too-oaky Chardonnay, as crab always is.

• Middle Eastern farro-lentil balls with tahini

  • clcorbi on March 19, 2018

    Yum! We really liked these--they feel like very substantial despite being vegetarian. I didn't love the tahini sauce, and might prefer a garlicky yogurt sauce next time. I also found the cinnamon to be a tad much in comparison to the other spices. Otherwise, delicious.

• Creamy caramelized broccoli soup with lemon zest and chile

  • clcorbi on October 03, 2017

    This was good--not great, but good. I didn't find that the soup tasted particularly caramelized, although pan-searing the broccoli was definitely a fast way to soften it. I was hesitant to add as much salt as MC calls for--over 2t seemed like quite a bit, but I think it actually is necessary to give this enough flavor. Next time I'd just follow the salting instructions as written. Even so, this is the kind of soup that really needs the lemon juice/parm garnish to make it shine. Maybe a bit too bare-bones for me.

  • mfranklin125 on October 19, 2017

    This soup was light and yummy. I added beef boullion and lemon and lime and Parmesan. Was nice. Needs bread :)

  • Jviney on March 11, 2019

    I didn’t love this right away...the consistency was more puréed than I expected but somehow not as smooth as I wanted. At any rate, it was really good the next day and I crumbled leftover rye and cheddar biscuits over the top. Super.

• Vietnamese ginger chicken

  • lizbot2000 on April 08, 2017

    Really needs the cilantro, so don't skimp on it.

  • mfranklin125 on April 29, 2019

    I added peanuts and really went heavy on the lime and ginger. Did honey instead of sugar. Was good.

  • hbakke on September 15, 2019

    I didn't love this. I just don't really like fish sauce in most things. I think I overmarinated the chicken since it had a chalky texture. I wouldn't make this again.

  • excurvatus on July 26, 2019

    This is such a wonderful, zingy chicken recipe. I recommend making it and wish I could remember to make it more often.

• Asparagus polenta with burrata

  • amandacooks on April 05, 2017

    This hands-off method of making polenta worked really well for me. Seems like every time I've made polenta before, I've had to stand there stirring the whole time. I guess I thought it would get lumpy if I just left it to cook. I used about 2/3 broth and 1/3 water, and it was plenty rich even though I forgot to add the butter at the end. The asparagus turned out great...I liked that the author gave a broad range for the cooking time so I knew when to start checking it. And you can't go wrong with burrata. The whole combination worked really well together.

• Fettuccine with spicy anchovy bread crumbs

  • jesinishibun on June 13, 2017

    I suspect there might be a mistake in this recipe. The panko is cooked in olive oil, but not seasoned; however, the "spicy" in the recipe title leads me to believe there should probably be some red pepper flakes in there as well. A similar Melissa Clark recipe from NYT Cooking calls for 1/4 tsp of red pepper flakes for 1 cup of bread crumbs, so next time I try this recipe I'll probably add a good-sized pinch to the pan along with the panko.

• Ratatouille with crunchy, meaty crumbs

  • bwhip on September 02, 2018

    We enjoyed this dish very much. The ratatouille is delicious on its own, but the crispy lamb crumbs really take it to another level. Clever and delicious. Pretty easy to prepare, and uses just one (big) pan.

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 18, 2019

    Great way to use the summer garden’s veggies and herbs! Served over white rice.

• Sausage polenta with red cabbage and caraway

  • sosayi on October 11, 2019

    Perfect for a blustery fall evening. Changes: I added some extra caraway, used broth instead of water in the polenta (which MC says is an alternative), cut my cabbage into eighths instead of sixths, and eyeballed the apple cider vinegar at the end. The cabbage was beautifully caramelized, the vinegar added a great tang, the polenta was very creamy, and the sausage flavor (we used polish sausages from our local butcher) permeated throughout. Lovely.

• Zucchini-cornmeal cakes with mint chutney and yogurt

  • mgmcewen on June 28, 2017

    These are excellent but I've used simpler zucchini cornmeal cake recipes that didn't need as much prep or as many ingredients that were just as good.

• Columbian-style chicken with corn, avocado, and lime

  • Tweedles81 on June 23, 2019

    This was a good recipe. The broth was particularly scrumptious. However, it took me way longer than 50 minutes, and the chicken was still undercooked after 10 min so I had to cook it longer and ended up drying out the chicken a bit. It was a good recipe but I’m not sure it was worth the effort.

  • cellenly on June 12, 2019

    We made this and the previous recipe Garlic Chili Chicken Breast w/ Cucumbers back to back nights. The family enjoyed this overall more than the previous recipe which is usual since we love Asian flavors. This recipe was easier too. Next time, we would make more of the salsa and more corn. There was plenty of broth which was delicious.

• Kimchi pork chops with kale

  • jenniebakes on September 23, 2018

    This was good, but not life-changing. I might make it again but with so many other recipes to try, it hasn't made it to the top of my repeat list. It just felt like it was missing something.

• Eggplant gratin with tomato and goat cheese

  • Lsblackburn1 on August 24, 2018

    Very simple and fast. Yummy and filling served on top of toasted slices of Kalamata olive loaf.

• Pasta carbonara torte with tomatoes and sage

  • Jviney on September 05, 2019

    Excellent, easy dinner. I almost cried at the kitchen table when, for the first time ever, my five- and three-year-old boys said this was the best dinner I have made. Might up the sage next time as I could not taste it...and I would add a few more peak season cherry tomatoes...but then the kids probably wouldn’t like it anymore. Anyway. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing.

• Green tahini dip

  • Jviney on January 01, 2020

    This dip is very good - nutty, herby, lemony. I loved Clark’s method of blanching the spinach by pouring a kettle of boiling water over it and through a colander. Next time I’ll double it.

• Spanish tortilla with serrano ham

  • Jviney on April 15, 2018

    I had to sub salami, as it’s what I had on hand, but this dish got better and better as I ate it the two or three days after making it.

  • jenverde on April 17, 2018

    This was excellent!

• Blood orange chicken with Scotch whiskey and olives

  • meduff on January 12, 2019

    I marinated it for 30 minutes but next time I would do it overnight. I used Melissa’s secret of topping the oranges with sugar to caramelize. That was a total fail for me. It took less than 30 seconds for the first batch of blood oranges to burn to a crisp because of the sugar. I then tried to sprinkle a tiny amount of sugar on to the oranges and it didn’t caramelize at all. I let the oranges sit under the broiler for two minutes, nothing happened except the color started to drain from the oranges. I got nervous and took them out. I decided they were pretty enough as is and served dinner. This was a winner. The chicken was tender, juicy, and really flavorful. The skin was crispy and the juice from the blood oranges flavored the skin. A total win.

• Caramelized lemon chicken

  • meduff on March 13, 2019

    This is a good dish. Very easy, tasty, crispy skin, and no dry stringy white meat anywhere. Simply seasoned with salt, pepper, lemons, and a little red pepper. I did not blanch the lemons as called for. This is the third recipe I have made so far where Melissa asks you to cut the lemons into quarters and then blanch them to remove some of their bitterness. I use Meyer lemons, and I just don’t really see a need to do this. I just skip that step. I am the only one that would eat the lemons anyway so I placed a lemon that had been cut into quarters under the chicken and as it cooked and steamed it imparted a really lovely and beautifully subtle taste to the chicken. I make a large amount of preserved lemons every year and I did place some of them on my plate with the chicken - it was excellent. I am huge fan of preserved lemons and I think they elevate almost any dish. Would I make this again? There are so many great chicken recipes in this book that this wouldn’t make the top 10.

• Crispy chicken cutlets with kumquats and cranberries

  • meduff on January 11, 2019

    If there is any dish in this cookbook that takes me back to my childhood it has to be this dish. The chicken is crispy and crunchy. The meat is tender. I have never fried food before but the smell in the house and the sound of the chicken frying in oil bought me right back to the kitchen and home I grew up in. There just isn’t one thing that is bad about this crispy chicken. Then you get to top it with this fabulous chutney. It’s tart and sweet. The color of the chutney is such a bright ruby red - it is a happy color. This recipe is so easy. The chutney can be made in advance - even a day ahead. I did make the citrus dressing but in the end opted not to use it. I didn’t want to take a chance that my very crispy chicken would might become a soggy mess. Next time, I think I’ll serve the citrus dressing on the side and people can choose for themselves. I thought the dressing was fine - nothing terribly special. It is the rest of the dish that shines.

• Branzino with grapefruit and rustic olive-caper tapenade

  • meduff on December 27, 2018

    This is one amazing dish. We liked it so much we had twice in a row. The grapefruit and rosemary imparts just the perfect hints of both. This is a real keeper. The only frustration was the bones. Even having an expert fishmonger debone it he couldn't get them all and told me that would happen. In our minds it made no difference if it was deboned or not - same incredible flavors. I had visions of serving this to guests - that will not happen as I now have nightmares of us all sitting around the table picking bones out of our mouths. Nope, just no.

• Rustic shrimp bisque with fennel

  • meduff on January 18, 2019

    This soup is incredibly good, but Melissa Clark how do you ever get this done in an hour? I've made it twice and both times it took more than two. In addition the photo does not quite match the instructions if garnishes matter at all to you. In the instructions Melissa says to peel and devein all the shrimp. After they are cooked the instructions say to save some of the pretty shrimp for the garnish. Mine are not pretty now - they are peeled and deveined - no tails on. Yet when you study the photo she has clearly left some of the tails on the shrimp for the photo. I find this frustrating and not the first time the photo didn't match the instructions completely. Still an exceptionally good soup with many layers of flavors. It would be very very good with apiece of crusty bread slathered in butter with a little garlic. Yum.

• Butternut squash polenta with ricotta and fried sage

  • meduff on February 14, 2019

    This is the second dish, that I have made, where the butternut squash is the star of the show and this dish is just OK. I am disappointed. I think my execution of this recipe was accurate. The dish is creamy, the squash is flavor forward and the polenta comes in second. The squash is shredded and that really helps to incorporate it with the polenta. I just thought this dish was fine - nothing great. It was easy to make and did take me about 40 minutes minus the prep. I did change the garnishes to pancetta, brussel sprouts, and parmigiano-reggiano. I am tired of the fried sage leaves as a garnish, I had done that in at least two other dishes. I think the garnishes I did pick were more interesting and secretly I had hoped my family could get passed the squash part if it had enough pancetta on top.

• Asparagus carbonara

  • meduff on January 08, 2019

    I have never made carbonara sauce before so for me this recipe was a practice in frustration, and perseverance. I made this a total of 5 times to get it right. The first three times as instructed with the same results of cooked scrambled eggs. After doing some research of watching Youtube videos, and reading more recipes about carbonara I learned that the sauce is an exercise in time and temperature - which is crucial for carbonara. The fifth attempt was so much better with a few minor tweaks - one whole egg, one egg yolk, more cheese. In the end with above mentioned changes I really loved this dish. It was really really good - minus the fact that I could not execute it the way the recipe was written. After more practice I would even serve this at dinner. It was salty, rich from the eggs, and filled my veggie quotient. I would say if you are more experienced than me in making carbonara sauce none of the above will cause you frustration and you will love this dish.

• Braised pinto beans with bacon and winter vegetables

  • excurvatus on July 26, 2019

    I could eat this if I had to, but it was so unappealing, I'd pass.

• Simplest green salad

  • excurvatus on July 26, 2019

    This has become my salad jumping off point. I vary the acid/fat depending on the style of food it's accompanying.

• Kitchn

  There's a lot of sheet pan cooking; just seasoning things and tossing them under the broiler or in a super-hot oven to encourage intense browning and charring in ways most recipes just don't.

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• Food52

  ...breezily international, with special emphasis on Middle Eastern and Asian flavors and with little pretense of authenticity.

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• Simply Recipes

  These recipes are the ones you want to make at home—unfussy, colorful, healthy skillet dishes, pizzas, quesadillas, chilis, sheet-pan dinners and salads, with flavors from around the world.

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• Food52

  How to participate in Food52's August 2017 Cookbook Club featuring this book. 7 recipes to get you started.

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• What's Gaby Cooking

  It’s loaded with over 200 recipes that will change your dinner game for sure...it’s perfect if that’s not enough inspo for dinner I don’t know what is!

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