Notes about Recipes in this book

• Maple pecan scones

  • julesamomof2 on May 28, 2025

    Easy and delicious. Recipe was flawless and produced pretty scones.

• Cuban sandwich with slow-cooker pulled pork

  • averythingcooks on June 18, 2025

    I scaled this way back to 8 oz of 2" pork shoulder cubes & despite being nervous about the slow cooker having barely any liquid, it worked really well. I switched to low at 2 hours & (based on the smaller amt?) it was shreddable by around 3 hours. We did deviate re: the bread choice using our favourite "large, oblong sliced" rye, making 1 large sandwich that we split. I used a fancier grainy honey mustard, grated gruyere & a homemade cucumber relish full of extra bits and we cooked it in a well buttered grill pan, weighing it down with another pan. We agreed that this is a delicious sandwich that will be made again.

• Chicken salad

  • julesamomof2 on May 28, 2025

    Very nice chicken salad and easy to make with leftover grilled or roasted chicken. Threw together for a quick lunch.

• Elote salad

  • averythingcooks on February 13, 2025

    As someone who has always preferred to cut the corn off the cob before eating, I thought this was a very good version of this dish. I added ground pasilla chiles to the corn while it cooked (rather than as a garnish) and used feta in place of the "have never seen it in a store here" cotija. I will make this again.

• Milk bread

  • averythingcooks on June 09, 2025

    I am very happy with the resulting loaf here...nice flavour & a good texture that makes great toast. BUT the dough was too sticky for kneading so lots of flour/dusting was involved & I also used the folding technique with a bench scraper with that extra flour to get close to something kneadable. Maybe that's why the top is flatter than the nice domed loaf in the picture (?) but no matter because we do really like it.

• Chicken chili with poblanos and corn

  • julesamomof2 on April 07, 2025

    Valerie says in the recipe intro this dish is between a chili and a soup and for me it's definitely in the soup category. It was very much a thin soup on day one, thicker on day 2 but still soup. While delicious, I may have lost some points with those expecting a true chili.

• Quick turkey and butternut squash soup

  • julesamomof2 on April 07, 2025

    Hearty soup with lots of texture and flavor from the bacon, squash, and kale. Will be on the winter soup rotation.

• Roasted cauliflower and garlic soup

  • julesamomof2 on April 17, 2025

    This is my 3rd soup recipe from the book and my favorite so far. 20 cloves of garlic seemed like a lot so I halved the amount and still got plenty of roasted garlic flavor. I used my Vitamix to blend this and that was key to getting the creamy consistency without the cream.

• Roasted cabbage

  • julesamomof2 on April 08, 2025

    Wow, was this ever different and delicious. I've definitely never had cabbage like this before and it was a hit. The chili crisp really makes the dish.

• Chicken breasts with tomato Prosecco sauce

  • averythingcooks on July 04, 2025

    I keep 200 mL ("piccolo") bottles of Henkell on hand pretty much all the time, using it here (in place of the rose prosecco) & we really enjoyed this saucy chicken beside roasted broccoli. With shallots, grape tomatoes, capers, lots of basil +the sparkling wine, it felt a little fancy even though it came together very quickly. After a quick taste, I did stir in some Dijon for a little sharpness and when the shallots & tomatoes are ready in the gardens with the basil still going strong all summer, this will get made again for sure.

• Chicken thighs Parm

  • averythingcooks on March 31, 2025

    This is a quick, lighter (ie no breading) & tasty version of chicken parm that we both enjoyed. I used a mix of mostly provolone topped up with mozzarella & as I often find the boneless skinless thighs that I buy are smaller than those called for in my books, I made the full recipe (4 thighs) for 2 of us & we ate it all. I needed less marinara & shredded cheese than called for and was generous with the fresh basil. Easy choice for repeat.

  • julesamomof2 on April 25, 2025

    Easy, flexible, and so good I made it 2 nights in a row. The first night I used chicken thighs and fontina instead of provolone and the next I used chicken breasts and parmesan only for a less cheesy version. The mix of onion and garlic powders with a few chili flakes makes it more interesting.

• Ginger miso chicken wrap

  • averythingcooks on November 13, 2025

    I had leftover roast chicken to repurpose and since I can only keep (and use up!) so much cabbage, I used the green cabbage on hand (in place of savoy), thinly slicing it and quick pickling it in a mix of pickled carrots, radishes & red onions (+ a big splash of brine from 1 of the jars) from my canning cupboard. Our wraps were made with romaine lined flour tortillas, chicken, pickled veg & her Ginger Miso Dressing (pg 326). We both thought these were good :)

• One-pan honey mustard chicken thighs

  • julesamomof2 on April 17, 2025

    This was lacking in flavor for me with the honey mustard not really coming through in the final dish. The pan sauce is a very simple white wine/stock sauce that needed something. Probably not a repeat for me.

• Peanut chicken with collard greens

  • julesamomof2 on May 28, 2025

    The whole family really enjoyed this one bowl meal. Will repeat.

• Beef and broccoli

  • averythingcooks on November 06, 2025

    As we have liked all the broccoli beef recipes I've tried, it's not surprising that we also liked this. I upped the veg with strips of sweet peppers & red onions which meant that I needed to stretch the sauce a bit, using oyster sauce. I had a heavy hand with the chili flakes & added chives. The toasted sesame seeds were a nice touch and we ate this over cauliflower rice. As it was a quick meal that makes use of what I typically have on hand, I would repeat.

• Crispy Parmesan potatoes

  • averythingcooks on February 19, 2025

    My potatoes were perfectly cooked before they got a true "crust" of parmesan but no matter...we scooped out all the flavourful stuff in the pan with the potatoes. I do have some other versions of this recipe to try but we were certainly happy to eat these :)

  • julesamomof2 on May 30, 2025

    So good! I had not heard of the viral recipe and these were so good I've made them 3 times so far. No need to look further then this one for crispy parmesan potatoes!

• Baked sweet potato fries

  • julesamomof2 on April 17, 2025

    I have no business rating this recipe as I forgot to add the cornstarch and the result was not the crispy fry advertised. That said it was a nice way to enjoy sweet potatoes and I will try again soon.

• Coconut poached salmon and rice

  • julesamomof2 on April 08, 2025

    This was good, but would have been better by adding a veg to the mix, like snap peas or spinach. Will play with it a bit next time depending on what greens I have on hand.

• Crispy cod sandwiches

  • julesamomof2 on April 14, 2025

    This recipe was the one I was most excited to try from the book and it did not disappoint! My brioche buns were huge which made the whole thing a bit too bready, but that is the buns fault not the recipe. Next time I would try to find the smallest bun possible so the flavor of the fish shines through. I did make my own tartar sauce from pg. 331 so I could keep it dairy free with veganaise.

• Four-cheese baked ziti

  • averythingcooks on January 26, 2025

    I scaled this to 1/3 using a 1 cup block of meat sauce from my freezer topped up with passata. The provolone piccante cheese is a nice touch, adding a little more oomph than just using mozzarella does. This was pure comfort food on a snowy Saturday night.

• Spaghetti and meatballs

  • averythingcooks on January 09, 2025

    I just made the meatballs to use for another recipe. A 1/2 recipe gave me 10 x 1.4 oz meatballs which are smaller than the 1/4 cup scoop she suggests. There is lots of flavour here but after adding the 1/2 egg, it seemed a bit dry so I just added the rest of it. These did the job I needed them for & I would come back to try to make the full meal with the sauce.

• Strawberry pretzel salad

  • julesamomof2 on April 25, 2025

    I doubled this and served it with my Easter spread for a pretty, sweet side. Easy to make but a bit time consuming with the chilling required between layers.

• Jalapeño ranch dressing

  • averythingcooks on February 23, 2025

    This got raves as a dip for raw vegetables. In place of the dried green herbs, I used a generous spoonful from a freezer jar of "ranch herb blend" (4 : 2 : 0.5 mix of fresh parsley, chives & dill that were chopped, spread on a sheet pan to flash freeze then into the freezer in a jar). I used a splash of brine from the pickled jalapenos in place of the lime & this stuff pretty much disappeared. One thing: if using it as a dressing, I would thin it with buttermilk.

• Creamy Italian dressing

  • averythingcooks on January 17, 2025

    With pizza on the menu, I made this to use both as a dressing for romaine, celery + red onion & as a dip for the crusts. I don't often reach for dried herbs in dressings but for this one I used my deluxe Italian blend (full of lots of good stuff) in place of the 3 called for. She suggests a bit of water for thinning, but I used buttermilk instead to good effect. We both thought this was great & it will get made again.

• Blue cheese dressing

  • averythingcooks on January 24, 2025

    I love blue cheese dressing and this one hits all the flavour notes I crave. Definite repeat.

• Green goddess dressing

  • Hillhan on February 14, 2026

    I made the day before and so glad I did as the flavors melded better.

• Shallot dressing

  • averythingcooks on December 02, 2024

    This is a nice assertive dressing which I used over romaine & friends beside some rich cheesy sandwiches. As always, I have to use a dried herb blend (this time a "deluxe Italian") as my stock of individual dried herbs is very limited. It keeps for a week and will easily get used up.

• Ginger miso dressing

  • averythingcooks on November 13, 2025

    This was a very good as written and yet (as often happens with this type of dressing) we liked it even more with a little shot of honey. A 1/2 recipe made lots for the 2 of us & 1st use was with her "Ginger Miso Chicken Wraps" on page 180 of the book. With a fridge life of a week, I will have no trouble using this up.

• Honey mustard dressing

  • averythingcooks on June 23, 2025

    With leftover steak in the fridge + greens coming out of the garden, it was dinner salad night and this dressing, with its great balance (at least for us) of sweet + sharp (shallots) + mustardy acid was perfect.