Chopped Salad with Deli Chicken and Avocado

Words cannot describe how much I love avocado. I...I won't even try. Anyway, this salad was great! It combined the aforementioned avocado with a bunch of vegetable, a nice light dressing, and deli meat, which meant I didn't have to cook a things or even turn on the oven! A great summer meal.

Taco Stuffed Pepper

As you know, I am a HUGE fan of taco meat. And I've wanted to stuff a pepper for a while now. So, really, this was a natural evolution for me. And it turned out great too!

Chicken Satay with Peanut Dipping Sauce

OMG, this was so good! If I'd known peanut sauce was this amazing I'd have tried this long ago! So good! I mean, it was good without the sauce too, but wow!

This post is also going to give you a little bit of extra instructions in addition to the usual 'mix this with that' routine. I'm going to give you some tips on how to keep your cooking area from becoming contaminated by peanuts. You see, I live with a brother who has a deadly peanut allergy, but there are some easy ways to keep safe when using peanut and peanut products so I'm going to include them here!

Cheese and Mushroom Flat Frittata

Now everyone knows that traditionally frittatas are puffy and thick and served in wedges. But what if you're eating alone? What if you just want a nice egg dish with an amazing cheesy crust on top? Well, the answer is the flat frittata. You serve it all to one person and, while it may not 'technically' be a frittata, who's going to quibble about something so yummy?

Roasted Ratatouille

This is a great twist on a classic: easy, simple and delicious! And you know me -- any excuse to eat eggplant is probably a good one. Depending on how many vegetables you like to eat and the size of yours, this makes between two and three servings. Save some and use it to top pasta!

Low-Fat Lemon Berry Cake

Well, the cake looked pretty, and everyone seemed to like it just fine, including me. But it definitely, definitely should have risen more and been spongier. Also could have been less dry. Thank goodness for the filling / frosting, which was amazing!!

Smoked Salmon and Tomato Salad

This is a perfect light summer salad, and really great on those days when it's just too freaking hot to cook. It's bright and fresh and really just yummy! Who says smoked salmon is just for bagels and cream cheese?

Chicken and Soba Noodle Stir Fry

For Asian food cuisine purists, what I did here is probably a major faux pas: mixing a Chinese-style stir-fry sauce with Japanese noodles. But whatever; it turned out good. You can find soba noodles in the Asian section of your supermarket. If you can only find them pre-packaged with flavoring, do what I did and throw out the packets.

Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Sometimes you just want simple, familiar comfort foods, and I think mashed potatoes count. Here's an easy recipe that I made up. You don't even have to peel the potatoes!

Garlic-Ginger Chicken Broth

Have you ever wanted to 'dress up' canned or boxed chicken broth into something that doesn't taste so, well, pre-fabricated? No? Well you should! This trick I found gives the broth a lovely depth and makes the kitchen smell great! It would make a great start to Alphabet soup!

Stovetop Casserole

Casseroles are not so much about recipes per se as they are about throwing things together. There is a lot of room for variation and invention. Having said that, this one turned out really well and is really simple to make. Cooking it on the stovetop eliminates that pesky waiting-period where it bakes in the oven. It's also less hot than a traditional casserole, so you can dig right in. Fell free to change these guidelines in whatever way you see fit.

Indian-Spiced Fried Rice

I've never actually fried rice before, so I was a bit surprised to see the little grains jumping around in the pan. It was pretty cool! Anyway, I really liked this, and it was a nice change from boring, regular rice. As a heads-up, I used much more tomato than in the picture: it was pretty much covered! I just thought it looked prettier like this.

Teriyaki-Glazed Pork

I totally love Asian-inspired cooking! I also love meat. So this is really a match made in heaven! I admit I changed the recipe from what it was in the book, but it's still basically the same. Anyway, this is the 'new' recipe.

Buttered Egg Noddles With Cheese

Mmmmmmmm buttered cheesy egg noodles! Could there be an easier, more perfect comfort food? Anyway, this isn't so much a recipe as it is common sense, but I'm posting it anyway. This should feed four to six people depending on how many noodles you generally eat.

Chicken and Baby Bok Choy Stir-Fry

I love stir-fry! It's so easy and delicious...the best of everything, really. This one turned out pretty well: fresh-tasting, only a little salty. I'd do this again for sure!

Berries with Devonshire Cream

A nice snack for a summer day, and a great way to use Devonshire cream!

Salmon Packet with Sicilian Flavors

I love cooking in packets because it means everything will stay nice and juicy and tender. I also like that I can abandon my meal in the oven and forget it until the timer goes off. This packet turned out pretty nice, with mild flavors of everything mixing together, while still tasting like wild salmon. I love salmon!

Date Squares

Ah, classic date squares: how could I live without thee? Actually, compared to most other date squares, these are pretty healthy. Making them with orange juice cuts back on the sugar and makes it easier for your body to absorb the iron in the dates. They're not so much a delicious dessert as they are a prescription for avoiding anemia.

Creamy Tomato Soup

I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed with this soup. I found it, well, bland. Too bland. Bland is not really my favorite flavor when it comes to soups. Anyway, this was probably due to the fact that I couldn't find all the ingredients necessary for this soup, and maybe a bit due to the fact I substituted skim milk for half-and-half. Anyway, the recipe I'm listing is the one from the book after I mutilated it into blandness. This soup is for two servings.

Vanilla and Maple Cream Ice Cream

Have you ever wished you could say 'hey, I made that ice cream' but lacked some of the necessary equipement...like, oh I don't know, an ice cream maker? There's something so fancy about homemade ice cream, isn't there? Anyway, now you can 'make' some in any fancy popsicle mold that says it can handle soft products! My advice is to get fancy ones you can eat out of like bowls in case the stick part slides right out, as it so often will. Enjoy your 'homemade' ice cream creations!

Strawberry Bread

This is a lovely, cake-like bread that tastes delicious alongside either lunch or breakfast. It's moist, thick and generally good at reminding you that bread can taste like dessert at any time of the day.

French Egg Casseroles

This recipe makes 2 casseroles and, boy, are they yummy! I especially remember eating these when I was younger (though I can't recall ever having actually used the breadcrumb topping). Although they were designed for times when you have leftover hard boiled eggs, they're really great whenever you want them! So go ahead, boil some extra eggs on purpose. I promise you won't regret it.