Notes about Recipes in this book

• Crisp-tender lettuces with maple-ginger vinaigrette

  • dbuhler on January 31, 2024

    This was a bit of a let down for me. It has an amazing combination of ingredients but it was completely one note... ginger. I don't think I'll make it again.

• Mushroom-parsley salad with Parmesan

  • Lepa on February 16, 2020

    This was interesting but probably not a repeat. As it turns out, we prefer our mushrooms cooked!

• Farro salad with radishes, peas, and mint

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    This really was a good salad, though my experience of making it was somewhat frazzled. Can’t remember if that was recipe related though!

• Tomato-fennel soup

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    This is a good soup, but not my favorite tomato soup—that would go to the Smitten Kitchen roasted tomato soup.

• Creamy parsnip-leek soup

  • Lepa on April 08, 2020

    This was fine - if you love thyme or parsnips- but probably not a repeat.

• Root vegetable and bean soup with garlic toasts

  • bwhip on April 14, 2023

    We enjoyed this soup very much. Simple, but with remarkable depth of flavor. I’m sure our lovely homemade chicken stock helped. Easy and delicious.

• Indian-spiced skillet supper with chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach

  • Lepa on March 30, 2020

    This was okay but I didn't like it as much as Indian food I make from Indian cookbooks. The flavor was a bit flat.

  • Trepess on September 01, 2020

    Really enjoyed this and pretty simple ingredients/pantry items. Substituted 1/2 coconut milk for the heavy cream and used olive oil instead of butter. Nice with a dollop of yogurt.

  • MollyB on April 17, 2022

    Liked this a lot! A relatively easy vegetarian meal, that was good with naan. We used a fairly spicy serrano, and I liked the heat level with that.

• Pasta with chard and Italian sausage

  • Helin on April 30, 2024

    Not sure where I went wrong with this one. I did not have chicken broth so I used water, which Molly noted would mean a cleaner flavor overall. I used a nutty pasta (busiate made with durum wheat), and that might have taken the nuttiness of the dish too far. In general the balance of pasta to other ingredients seemed off. The recipe makes more than 4 servings, so I added more sausage to the leftovers. The recipe had a lot going for it but somehow it ended up being underwhelming.

• Penne with roasted summer squash, burst cherry tomatoes, and feta

  • bwhip on October 02, 2020

    Really lovely dish, where the roasted vegetables are the star of the show. I used goat cheese (recommended by the author as an alternative to the feta), and it gave it a nice creaminess and tang. I really like the way the pasta is there, but that it isn't a pasta dish per se.

• Quinoa bowl with red peppers, chickpeas, and roasted broccoli

  • MollyB on January 16, 2020

    I loved this recipe! It was a fair amount of work, but all came together beautifully for a filling and healthy bowl. I made the carrot pickles from the book, and it was worth it - they are very good and the crunch and spiciness of the carrots really added to the dish. I used cooked einkorn rather than quinoa, following her guidelines that you can substitute other whole grains for the quinoa.

• Rice pilaf with turmeric and carrots

  • Ileana on January 29, 2022

    Made this exactly as written, and it was very easy and very delicious. Next time, might add chopped pistachios or toasted almonds to add some texture.

• Creamy polenta

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    Used this for my first time cooking polenta. This turned out so good. Recipe was very helpful!

• Roasted salmon and broccoli with ginger-soy marinade

  • Skamper on September 14, 2020

    Tasty. I liked the broccoli more than the salmon.

  • franker32 on April 26, 2025

    I agree with Skamper. Meal was flavorful but soy gives salmon a sea forward taste. I think a bit of lemon squeeze on salmon would help greatly here, although broccoli does not need it.

• Roasted halibut with chile-lime butter sauce

  • Lepa on February 27, 2020

    This is one of the best fish dishes I've ever made. It is simple but stunningly good. My whole family (including sometimes fish-skeptical kids) ate it happily and there was even some plate licking. Because we were eating with kids I used a jalapeno that was pretty mild and the sauce wasn't spicy at all. My husband and I added the diced jalapeno on top of our portions and even adding it at the end was perfect. I liked the temperature guide; it helped me to cook the halibut until it was tender and done but not rubbery. We ate this with an herbed basmati rice and that was the perfect pairing.

• Cod with spinach, tomatoes, and shallots

  • Barb_N on February 11, 2020

    This recipe has a lot to recommend it - beautiful colors, easy clean up, low fuss, low fat (I used cooking spray on the parchment and just a touch of olive oil, not pats of butter). The most difficult part is making the parchment ‘bags’ but with Molly Stevens’ directions I succeeded at last - start from the round end of the half heart and twist the pointy end into a ‘tail’.

• Crispy chicken cutlets with arugula salad

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    This was really good, though personally I find breading and pan frying chicken like this a pain. Might be worth it?

• Turkey and vegetable potpie

  • Rinshin on January 06, 2020

    Outstanding pot pie using leftover turkey. Having a flavorful homemade turkey stock helps too. I liked the addition of turnip and button mushrooms. Mushrooms taste permeated throughout the filling. Added parboiled Yukon potatoes and subbed in snap peas for peas. The snap peas retained the crispness even with baking nicely. This is the best pot pie ever including my own. Photo added

  • Skamper on October 30, 2023

    Very good pot pie. I liked the addition of mushrooms and turnips. The crust was easy to work with and delicious.

• Roast pork loin with maple-miso glaze and mustard-pickled raisins

  • MollyB on September 30, 2024

    This was great! The brine plus the low-heat cooking made for juicy, tender pork, and I loved savory glaze. The pickled raisins were very tasty, too, and a nice complement to the pork.

• Green beans with shallots, herbs, and lemon

  • Lepa on May 05, 2020

    This is a great way to prepare green beans. I used thyme and champagne vinegar. My husband doesn't normally love them but he really enjoyed this recipe and asked me to make it again.

  • bwhip on October 29, 2020

    Excellent, this was a lovely way to prepare and serve green beans. Some of the best we’ve had.

• Celery root and potato mash

  • danlaik on October 01, 2023

    This turned out very good! The celery root makes this a more interesting variation.

• Hungarian-style slow-cooked peppers and tomatoes (Lecsó)

  • Lepa on August 17, 2021

    This is amazingly delicious with end of summer peppers and tomatoes. It was so sweet and luscious! I mostly followed this recipe but added one pound of tomatoes instead of .5 pounds because I wanted it to be more tomato-stew like (and because Susan Derecksky's Hungarian cookbook uses 1/2 peppers and 1/2 tomatoes; otherwise the recipes are similar). We ate this over rice and included kielbalsa.

• Lecsó with sausage

  • Lepa on August 17, 2021

    This is amazingly delicious with end of summer peppers and tomatoes. It was so sweet and luscious! I mostly followed this recipe but added one pound of tomatoes instead of .5 pounds because I wanted it to be more tomato-stew like (and because Susan Derecksky's Hungarian cookbook uses 1/2 peppers and 1/2 tomatoes; otherwise the recipes are similar). We ate this over rice with some sour cream and included the kielbalsa.

• Summer squash and tomato gratin

  • Barb_N on June 26, 2020

    I made this with a slight adaptation, adding sliced eggplant. If I’d had more time I would have pre roasted the eggplant because I knew it would be spongy otherwise. This is not a difficult dish, but with all the slicing and dicing and almost an hour in the oven, it was a very late dinner. That said, it is a quintessential summer dish!

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    This is now a staple for us in the summer, especially when we are overrun with squash from our CSA. So good. I’ve served this with both polenta and a rotisserie chicken and salad.

• Gochujang chicken wings

  • billcranecos on October 23, 2020

    This was tasty. The sauce for the wings got better the more we ate.

  • MollyB on April 13, 2026

    Loved these wings! The preparation did, as promised, produce nice, crispy skin. And the sauce was great! We did a batch with 2 lbs. of wings for 3 of us, and we wished we had had more.

• Spinach and sopressata frittata

  • Lepa on March 21, 2020

    This may be the best frittata I've ever made. I didn't have sopressata so I used salami and I also used gruyere instead of fontina (and creme fraiche instead of cream). The texture was excellent (not rubbery like some frittatas) and it was so flavorful. I baked it for twelve minutes and finished with two minutes under the broiler, which was perfect. I highly recommend this frittata!

• Chickpea-flour flatbread with caramelized onions

  • Skamper on February 08, 2021

    Made this for lunch and it was ok, but probably won't repeat.

• Bo's big bad breakfast sandwich

  • Lepa on March 22, 2020

    I guess you may not need a recipe for this sandwich but the book was a good source of inspiration. We added bacon, avocado, chedder and tomatoes. Delicious!

  • Skamper on December 27, 2020

    Tasty and easy. The harissa mayo was a great idea and added nice heat. Added oven roasted bacon.

• Triple-ginger apple crisp

  • danlaik on April 17, 2023

    Good! Not super gingery, somehow.

• Brown butter-hazelnut shortbread cookies

  • Skamper on February 17, 2021

    Good but didn't blow me away. Makes a very soft, crumbly shortbread. Had to edit to say I'd kept a roll of this dough in the freezer and sliced and baked them the other day. I had some nutella around from another recipe and discovered that these as sandwich cookies are amazing. Even though I didn't absolutely love them the first time around,I would totally make these again for sandwich cookies.

• Honey walnut tea cake

  • Lepa on February 21, 2020

    This is my kind of cake: it's not too sweet and is filled with nuts and spice (cardamom!) and a touch of citrus. Really delicious!

• Quick vegetable pickles

  • MollyB on January 16, 2020

    I made her carrot pickle variation, with carrots, serrano peppers, and ginger. I really liked the heat from the peppers. I served the carrots with the quinoa bowl from the book, and they were great in the dish. I would definitely make the recipe again, but I would take the extra step of cutting the carrots into coins rather than sticks.

• Pickled carrots with ginger and jalapeño

  • MollyB on August 10, 2021

    I love this recipe. I've been getting a lot of carrots from my CSA this year, and I've been making a new batch every time we finish a jar. They're good as a garnish in salads or bowls, or as a side alongside burgers, hotdogs, tacos, etc., or even just as a snack.

• Spring pickle mix of radishes, cucumbers, and peas

  • MollyB on June 06, 2022

    The sugar snap peas in this were great! I did a mix of radishes, peas, and baby turnips, and used tarragon rather than dill, as that's what I had on hand, and the peas were by far the best part. My radishes and turnips turned out a bit soft - I didn't presalt them as I was short on time, but I would add the presalting step if using them again, as the notes indicate that would help retain crispiness.

• Savory tart dough

  • Skamper on October 30, 2023

    A delicious, easy to make and work with crust.