Slow-Roasted Salmon with Fennel, Citrus, and Chiles

This salmon recipe from Bon App was a hit at our house! Easy to prepare and is ready in about 35 minutes, great for weeknights. It's so light I would consider making a heavy side dish, not just rice and salad as I did. (Salmon deliberately omitted from photo as the rest of the dish was so gorgeous)

Halibut Confit With Leeks, Coriander, and Lemon

This halibut dish was a stunner this summer, and easy to prepare. Simple and elegant, I'm going to make again soon!

Herby Barley Salad with Butter-Basted Mushrooms

I was looking through Bon Appetit's Thanksgiving 2015 magazine to look for inspiration for 2016. This Barley salad was awesome, everyone here agreed. Our mom apparently loves barley, and thought this (vegetarian, oh my!) was a great side dish.

Of course the mushrooms alone can cost a fortune (I used oyster and chanterelle, and highly recommend), and the herbs take a bit of time to tear up, so it's not going to be your week night staple. But when you have the time, it's a fantastic hearty, fall side. 

Vegan Banana Bread

I have been trying to diversify what we feed Mr. W, and first started with some spinach-laced baked goods. Those were not well received.

I made this pumpkin bread from Smitten Kitchen, but it has 1 and 2/3 cups of sugar! Way too much. Of course it was amazing.

Sarah told me about this vegan banana bread, which of course elicits eye-rolls and noses being turned up. But it was surprisingly good! I used regular sugar instead of coconut sugar, but otherwise stuck to the recipe easily. Mimi had some white chocolate chips that expired only one year ago, so I threw a few on top. I went out of town and this was gone in about 2 days flat. Highly recommend.

Cauliflower with Pumpkin Seeds, Brown Butter, and Lime

A lot of people grunt and moan about Cauliflower, but once you roast it properly, it can take on the world!

This version from Bon Appetit is pretty simple and very rewarding. Everyone on Leyden ate this up! This is also easy, without too many ingredients or steps. 

Farro and Tomato Salad with Fish-Sauce Vinaigrette

This  Farro and Tomato Salad with Fish-Sauce Vinaigrette tasted differently than expected, and was liked by all. I recommend using a lot of green onions, and keep them pretty long, I cut mine too short.

(stollen photo)

GRILLED PORTOBELLO AND FARRO SALAD

I was looking for a new farro recipe to eat with a spicy shrimp dish, instead of nutritionally-void rice. I came across this one from epicurious and we all loved it. The grilled portobello mushrooms were a great treat. Next time I might add a dry cheese in, and definitely cut back on the 7 tablespoons of oil, it seemed a bit much. Great recipe.

Corn Salad with Hazelnuts, Pecorino, and Mint

This corn salad from Bon Appetit was a huge hit last weekend when Sarah was in town. Sadly, it takes quite a bit of prep (blanching the hazelnuts?!). I would probably double it next time I make it, and just cook the corn inside instead of the grill. Chopping the mint and tarragon takes some time, but it really is a delicious side dish.

(no photo :()

Ricotta and Spinach Frittata With Mint

This recipe from the NYT is simple, fast, pretty healthy and tasty. I would add more mint as I didn't taste it at all. I also didn't steam the spinach but used fresh spinach, and a lot less of it. This is not a culinary masterpiece, but good to keep in mind when you need something easy and relatively healthy.

Blueberry Coconut Muffins

These muffins were great and coconutty and we ate them too fast! Of course I used full fat coconut milk, maybe that has something to do with it :) Make them!

Home made wheat thins, AKA, CRACKers

These crackers from Smitten Kitchen are the most addictive crackers I have ever eaten. Little Miss S didn't care for them - she wants the boxed kind from the store. These were gone in a day. Probably because they are so full of butter and salt.

Nut loaf

The Boulder vegetarian hippie in me came out and I made a nut loaf. I've wanted to try this for years. I found a recipe on The Kitchn and it was really good, and really rich. Also very healthy.

Kung Pao Brussel Sprouts

I haven't spent much time with Asian cooking at home, and am glad I started here with this recipe. These were fantastic and eaten quickly. They didn't take a ton of prep (wish I had more photos), and would highly recommend serving with something not-so-salty, as these cover that area well.

I did not pour all of the sauce over the sprouts, and am glad as it would have been too much. You can use the remaining on other sturdy veggies.

Crepe Cake

I made this cake for Kevin's birthday breakfast. It takes a long time, but is delicious. I would make it again and not actually form a cake, just make the crepes and eat with the filling. I would also eat the filling with about 100 other types of food, including strawberries.

The "frosting" is amazing, and I cannot recommend it enough. The quality of the vanilla bean probably dictates its incredibleness, so make sure to use a good / fresh one. Mine was from Hawaii.

This is delicious and really healthy, too. I used goat instead of feta; I made it with baby kale. This was the first time I had baby kale, and it was delicious. I used a nut mix instead of just walnuts. Recipe here.

Lentil Meatballs

I found this recipe in a book called The Sprouted Kitchen by Sarah and Hugh Forte. They meatballs are really filling and although kind of bland*, they taste great with any sauce you top them with. The recipe in the book suggests serving them with pesto, which I did the first time I made them. That was delicious. Since I have eaten them many times with bbq sauce. I've even tried guacamole, and that's pretty good, too.

1 cup lentils, rinsed
2 cups water

2 eggs, lightly beatened
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup ricotta
1/4 freshly grated parmesan
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
Few pinches thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
2/3 cup bread crumbs

Put the lentils in a pot with the water and bring to a gentle boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the lentils are tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and set aside to cool.

Transfer the lentils to a food processor and pulse until it forms a chunky puree. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add the eggs, olive oil, ricotta, Parmesan, garlic, fennel seeds, thyme, salt and pepper. Stir to combine well. Stir in the bread crumbs and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes.

Preheat the over to 400. Roll one inch balls together and place on the baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, turning the balls over 1/2 way through.

*Mom couldn't finish when I served her these meatballs.

Peanut Soba Noodle Salad

If you need a cool, peanut buttery summer noodle dish, this is the one! I ate some of the dressing on the salad, then decided to add in some ginger and give it a whirl again, which I highly recommend. The recipe is slightly off with out it. I highly recommend making the day before serving, it tastes much better 24 hours later.

Cashew Cream

If you've ever read a vegan cookbook you've heard of cashew cream. If not, you may not know what it is. The best I can interpret is that it's a sour cream substitute used a lot in vegan cooking. Finally I decided to try it.

You soak 1 cup cashews in water over night.

You rinse the nuts and then add them to a blender with about 1/2 cup of water, and blend. On its own I don't really see the point, but on top of Mexican food it's pretty good.

Have you see the Oh She Glows site? I like her recipes. I just borrowed her cookbook from the library and am loving it. You should check it out.

101 Cookbooks' Lentils Folded into Yogurt, Spinach, and Basil

I saw this recipe and tried it right away. It is so fresh and delicious and easy to make. I ate it on a bagel, dipped pretzels into it, and loaded it onto celery. Make it!

BBQ bowl

I love BBQ and there are not many options for BBQ if you are a vegetarian. I found a promising recipe and have made it a few times now. I leave out the tofu and like it better with garbanzo beans. I also use roasted broccoli instead of kale sometimes, and it's really good. I use Trader Joe's BBQ sauce.