Notes about Recipes in this book

• Skillet broccoli with olive oil

  • Liz_Young on June 13, 2022

    This was the best broccoli I have ever had!!!

• Quick roasted green beans

  • Ishie1013 on July 11, 2025

    This was quick, easy, and delicious, even impressing a green bean skeptic. Made alongside brisket for the 4th and made a great summery side.

• Simple mashed sweet potatoes

  • Skamper on July 22, 2023

    Simple and delicious. I made a half batch and didn't need to add any more salt at the end.

• Creamy orzo with peas and Parmesan

  • Ishie1013 on August 14, 2024

    Very quick and easy recipe that made an excellent side along with lamb chops. I am a big fan of orzo in general and the brightness of the peas pairs well with it.

• Southwestern black bean salad

  • Skamper on April 26, 2023

    This was good. I wanted something lighter to go with tacos so I swapped diced cucumbers for black beans. made a half batch & used frozen corn. Added 1/4 tsp coriander.

• Roasted broccoli with garlic

  • cameron_9ui0sv on February 23, 2026

    Very basic recipe. I would make it again, but it’s nothing special.

  • gabriel_c7b1w8 on March 28, 2026

    So this app doesn’t save my recipes?from the books?

• Roasted broccoli with shallots and fennel seeds

  • Skamper on May 23, 2020

    We both liked this. I made an approximate half recipe.

• Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon and pecans

  • DavidandValerie on June 03, 2021

    Make this one. It is the best!

• Braised red potatoes with lemon and chives

  • Liz_Young on July 06, 2022

    These were good, the flavor was mild. Not a quick recipe. I have other potato recipes that I like better.

• Best baked potatoes

  • Skamper on February 15, 2023

    This has been my go-to method for baked potatoes since it was published in Cooks Illustrated magazine.

• Best baked sweet potatoes

  • Skamper on February 15, 2023

    These turned out well. My 8 oz potatoes reached 200F after 6 minutes in the microwave. At that point, I took a page out of the "best baked potato" recipe in this book and bathed them in a bowl with 1/2 c water and 2T kosher salt briefly before roasting. My potatoes were probably done at about 45 minutes. I turned off the oven and let them go until the rest of dinner was ready and they were not overbaked. I'll bake them this way again.

• Roasted sweet potatoes

  • Liz_Young on August 04, 2024

    These were delicious! Love having the sweet potatoes cut into rounds instead of into pieces. A bit time consuming, takes approx 75 minutes in the oven, but so worth it!

• Cumin and chili roasted sweet potato wedges

  • hillsboroks on January 04, 2022

    This method of roasting sweet potatoes was easy, fast and yielded a new delicious side dish. The spice rub of cumin, garlic powder and chili powder was perfect, not overbearing but rather a nice complement to the sweet potatoes. I would have given this 5 stars if the wedges were a bit crispier on the outside but I will definitely make these again.

• Garlicky broccolini

  • Skamper on September 22, 2020

    Good but not a standout. Could have used another minute in the covered pan.

• Browned and braised cauliflower with Indian spices

  • Ishie1013 on July 11, 2025

    Great and easy side dish and used up a half head of cauliflower before it went bad. Would definitely make again.

• Whole pot-roasted cauliflower with tomatoes and olives

  • Cookbooksgalore on May 14, 2023

    Must be great to have a test kitchen with industrial grade equipment. But if you pulse 2 x 28oz cans of whole tomatoes in a regular food processor, you will spend ten minutes cursing and cleaning the counter as the juices run down the stem of the blade and spill everywhere. Use a Vitamix if you have it, or put the tomatoes in a bowl and use an immersion blender.

• Jeweled rice

  • Kitiara121 on June 08, 2025

    I made this as a side to go with grilled lamb chops at a dinner party. It went really well and I received many compliments. It takes a little more time than normal rice but not by much. Well worth the effort and not a difficult recipe.

• Barley with celery and miso dressing

  • Skamper on August 17, 2020

    We loved this. Great flavor. Made a half batch. Barley took about 38 minutes. Used regular rice vinegar. Good at room temperature.

• Quinoa pilaf with herbs and lemon

  • anya_sf on July 10, 2025

    Good, basic quinoa pilaf recipe. Texture was nice and fluffy.

• Avocado salad with oranges and fennel

  • Skamper on January 25, 2026

    Made a scaled down version for 2 servings. Very good.

• Beet and carrot noodle salad

  • hillsboroks on January 20, 2023

    This has a tangy Thai peanut sauce style dressing which goes really well with the carrots and beets. But next time I think I would save a lot of work and just grate the veggies rather than try to make the spiralized noodles. The raw beets had a sweet earthy flavor which went nicely with the carrots. Once the dressing was added everything turned pink so you couldn’t distinguish carrots from beets but it all tasted very good and the leftovers were still tasty the next day.

• Broccoli salad with creamy avocado dressing

  • cellenly on November 13, 2025

    Cut up broccoli night before. I forgot to steam it (would have done in microwave), and I was nervous it was too raw but it was fine. But I also cut things up small. Also visually, best to cut the crowns close to florets and the top of stalks into thin strips into quarters length-wise. Even though not cooked the top of stalks were tender. I had chopped figs, golden raisins, cranberries that had been soaked in grand marnier and threw those in. Also didn’t roast my pecans. Threw in bacon too. Tasted great. Really liked the avocado dressing. Creamy enough but not heavy, and lemon brightness.

• Fresh corn salad

  • cpandrew on July 06, 2022

    I liked the suggestion to salt and drain the tomatoes in a colander before adding to salad. I will use this hint in other dishes with tomatoes.

• Slow-cooker mushroom biryani

  • Skamper on October 20, 2020

    We both enjoyed this and it was pretty quick and easy. The note said it would only work in a traditional slow cooker, but it worked fine in my instant pot on slow cooker mode. I followed the directions about microwaving the onions, etc, but next time would try sauteing them in the IP as well. I used brown basmati rice and it was done when I checked after 90 minutes on high.

• Rustic bread stuffing with fennel and pine nuts

  • Skamper on November 27, 2020

    Good but not amazing. Made a half batch. Too many onions.

• Potato gratin with leeks and fennel

  • Skamper on December 27, 2021

    Very good side dish for ham. I scaled this down for a smaller number of servings, using approximately one third the amounts called for, and baked in an 8x8 pan. I did the initial bake earlier in the day and the final 30 minutes while the ham rested.

• Cheddar and scallion drop biscuits

  • Rinshin on May 11, 2022

    Perfectly tasty biscuits. Almost as simple as mixing pancakes and easier because these are baked. The texture is light even when cooled and I can taste both cheddar and green onions. Good accompaniment to soups or sliced in half with ham. Photo added.

• Cheesy corn casserole with jalapeños and cilantro

  • hillsboroks on October 12, 2022

    This was a great dish to use up some of the abundant garden corn that we just put in the freezer. It was relatively quick to put together and oh so delicious. I made a half recipe and put it in an 8 x 8 inch LeCreuset casserole and it was just perfect. It cooked to a nice golden brown in about 40 minutes. Next time I will reduce the jalapeños to about half for our tastes.

• Saffron rice pilaf with apricots and almonds

  • hillsboroks on April 10, 2023

    I was so impressed with the results when cooking basmati rice using this technique. It was perfect, each grain separate and perfectly cooked. We aren’t fans of saffron so I omitted it but the rice with the apricots and almonds was fabulous.

• Husk-grilled corn

  • Ishie1013 on August 11, 2024

    Made this with the cilantro-lime butter on the same page and it came out beautifully. Tasted fantastic and really sweet. Great way to take advantage of corn season.

  • paula_2jbrri on May 26, 2026

    I don't have a gas or charcoal grill, nor space for either. Instead, I have a stove-top grill pan and a George Foreman electric grill. I tested this recipe on both. To prepare the corn, I use a chef’s knife to cut off both ends of the ear and then score the husks with the heel of the knife. When I cooked the ears on the grill pan, the husks tended to fall off when I fliped them. Next time, I’ll try scoring the husks after cooking. With the George Foreman grill, I just closed the lid, so I didn't have to move the ears around. Both grills cooked the corn nicely, but I got better grill marks with the stove-top pan. I didn’t make aluminum boats for the butter because I used the shallow stainless-steel pans I have for my air fryer.

• Cilantro-lime butter

  • Ishie1013 on August 11, 2024

    Delicious in the husk grilled corn. The flavor profile was perfect.

• Lemon and herb red potato salad

  • Liz_Young on November 18, 2024

    This was okay, but I am not a fan of tarragon. Will keep looking flavorful potato recipes.

• Sweet potato and Swiss chard gratin

  • Skamper on April 21, 2025

    This was disappointing. after an hour of baking, the potatoes still had too much bite and there was a half inch of liquid in the dish.

• Mediterranean chopped salad

  • valderaa on November 25, 2025

    Reliable basic with nice upgrades of using escarole and adding walnuts.

• Stuffed portobello mushrooms with spinach and Gorgonzola

  • valderaa on November 28, 2025

    Great comfort food meal, a bit elevated by the gorgonzola. I used frozen spinach, substituted chickpea crumble (from the Heart of the Plate) for the breadcrumbs, and used a mix of oven-roasted mushrooms in the filling. I also replaced the sherry with ATK's alcohol free substitute, which was surprisingly good (apple sauce, ACV, soy sauce, & water). Delicious. Leftover filling will be great in an egg white omelet or with beans.

• Zucchini and orzo tian

  • katie_uspqdv on February 20, 2026

    Easy. I think two shallots was too many, one is enough

• All-American potato salad

  • jmohart on April 05, 2026

    Made without the optional eggs. This was okay eaten same day (timed per instructions) but maybe it'll be better tomorrow.