Butternut Squash Risotto

I was so proud of myself that this recipe turned out as delicious as it did. I am - ashamedly - usually a boxed risotto kind of person, but this time, I wanted to go full homemade, and I did! This is a delicious recipe, and is based off of a Williams-Sonoma recipe. I used the full amounts of this recipe and later realized that it served six, so for this post, I'll cut it in half to serve three (although the leftovers were delish!). Enjoy!

Cheesy Cauliflower Casserole

The key to a good Thanksgiving dish is to take a healthy food and cover it in cheese/butter/gravy (I am only half-kidding). This year, I took steamed cauliflower and doused it in cheese. This recipe makes one large casserole dish (which is enough for your entire party to get an initial and a second serving), and has been adapted from Real Housemoms.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Croissants

This week, my coworker celebrated surviving breast cancer by hosting a "pink potluck" at work. We all wore pink and many of us brought in pink food. Choosing a recipe based on the food's color is actually not an easy thing to do, but I did it. This is an easy and delicious addition to any potluck or brunch.

Creamy Potato and Kale Soup

This semester has been incredibly busy for me. One full-time job, one part-time job, and finishing my degree. Cooking (and even more so, blogging) food has, unfortunately, been low on my priority list. I have been eating old favorites, quick meals, and going out to eat more than I would prefer. So, last night, I had two hours between jobs and decided to toss together this soup to eat when I finished my second shift. It was the greatest idea. I have made & blogged a lot of soups before, but I will say, not-so-humbly, that this is the more delicious one yet. This recipe makes many servings, which is great because it heats up so well. Enjoy!

The Session: The Hard Stuff

I was invited by the amazing Tasha (or, as you may know her on Twitter: @metacookbook) to join in on a monthly Friday beer blogging event called The Session. I love the idea; every month someone in the online beer community is the host and chooses the discussion topic. Tasha is this month's host and her questions are:

1. What do you want people in beer culture to be talking about that we’re not?
2. What do you have to say on the topic(s)?

These topics may seem a little outside of my realm of food recipes, but it's really not. The online beer community is near & dear to my heart and I want to be more involved in it. I also cook with beer quite a bit and hope to do more recipes and pairings with beer in the future (in fact, if you have a suggestion, please send it my way!). With all of that said, let's dive in.

Honey Nut Goat Cheese Deviled Eggs

This weekend was the Fourth Annual Deviled Egg Pageant and, of course, I competed yet again. Previously, I made Taco Deviled Eggs, Roasted Garlic Deviled Eggs, and Dill & Stone Ground Mustard Deviled Eggs. Every year, the competition gets even more cutthroat, and I wanted to step into the realm of sweet deviled eggs. I started with a recipe that I found for goat cheese deviled eggs and began to brainstorm on what would go well with goat cheese. I decided on a honey drizzle and my partner (who entered an amazing tiramisu deviled egg this year), suggested that I top that with crushed nuts. Thus, these beautiful deviled eggs were born. This recipe makes 20 deviled eggs.

Kale & Avocado Wrap

Vegetarians sometimes have a harder time putting together simple lunches than meat-eaters, especially when things like lunch meat exist. Charmington's in Baltimore - you know, the awesome café that hosts my favorite monthly lit reading and even welcomed the President of the United States in January (!!) - makes a plethora of amazing meatless lunch options. Their kale and avocado wrap is my favorite and I just had to recreate it. Grab these ingredients from a grocery store and make enough to last for the week. The following recipe makes one kale & avocado wrap.

Veggie Migas

Apparently, migas is one of my new favorite things. I haven't really been exposed to them too much growing up (which, I'm sure to some of you out there is completely blasphemous). They are fairly easy to make and super-filling and delicious. You can add any veggies to it that you want, but I kept it fairly simple for this recipe. I used a recipe from Cookie & Kate (lovelovelove that blog) as a guide and this recipe makes enough for two large servings.

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

In lieu of a birthday cake this year, I baked my partner a strawberry rhubarb pie by request. I have never cooked with rhubarb before and was nervous because of the whole poisonous thing. Alas, it turned out deliciously and no one was poisoned! Success! This recipe makes one pie and was adapted from a great recipe from The Kitchn.

Chilled Peanut Butter Noodle Salad - "The Mental Salad"

Golden West Cafe in Baltimore has one of my all-time favorite dishes: the vegan Mental Salad. It is essentially a romaine salad topped with cold peanut butter sauce-covered noodles, carrots, scallions & sesame seeds. It is so delicious and I just had to replicate it! I needed a starting place, so I used a Table For Two recipe as a guide. My recipe was enough to feed two people dinner, plus a few days of leftovers (these noodles are perfect for leftovers, since they have to be chilled anyway). Enjoy!

Black Bean and Cheese Enchiladas

Enchiladas are great for entertaining a few folks or for making on a Sunday and wrapping up a few for your lunch over the week. The best thing about this recipe is that you can toss in any extra vegetables or proteins that you have lying around. This recipe makes at least 12 enchiladas.

Everything Bagel Truffle Oil Croutons

These croutons are my new weakness! I wanted some croutons to bring to the Baltimore Homemade Trade event this past month and figured I would just use whatever bread I had lying around the house. There happened to be a ton of everything bagels in my pantry and once I got the idea in my head about these croutons, I had to make them. This recipe makes about six servings of croutons (one serving per salad or sitting, if you will).

 

Layered Eggplant Parmesan

This dish brings out the best in eggplant parmesan and the best in lasagna. Meaning, it's delicious. Seriously delicious. I used Lick My Spoon's recipe as a jumping off point (the photos of her recipe made me want to lick my computer screen). This recipe makes about six servings.

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Sandwiches

These cookies are my absolute favorite. I have a good friend that makes them for every occasion (mostly because everyone that she knows practically forces her to do so), and I decided to try my hand at it for my Annual Great Cookie Exchange. This recipe makes 30 cookies and will blow your mind with how easy they are! Enjoy!