u/singyourownsongs

(I'm using u/ehherewegoagain's PITA (pain in the ass) and outcome (quality of finished dish) rating system.)

1. Sweet & Sour Tsukune from Ohana Style by Sheldon Simeon*

This was not the best, but I’m including it here because the cookbook is new and popular. The method for cooking the meatballs didn’t work, I had to switch pans half way through, and the sauce was cloyingly sweet. Kids ate the meatballs but didn’t like the rest. I liked it well enough the day I made it, but the leftovers made me realize that I really didn’t enjoy it. (PITA: 5, Outcome: 4).

2. Cauliflower-Scallion Frittata with Harissa and Feta from Milk Street Vegetables*

This was quick and easy and excellent for dinner as well as leftover for lunch. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 8)

3. Steamed Broccolini with Crispy Garlic Sauce from Zahav Home by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook*

I wasn’t a huge fan of the microwave steaming method, but the sauce was so, so good. I’d make it again using a stove-top steamer and I’d also make it with different vegetables (green beans, broccoli, etc.). (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

4. Red Pepper, Potato, and Peanut Sabzi form Indian-ish by Priya Krishna*

This is, essentially, a hash. We ate it as a main topped with yogurt, but it would also be great with a fried egg on top. The book also suggests scrambling some eggs and serving the eggs and sabzi inside warmed tortillas. (PITA: 2; Outcome: 8)

5. Roast Chicken with Cipollini Pearl Onions, White Beans, and Lemon from Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck

This is meant to be an easy meal, so there’s no dry-brining or seasoning of the chicken. I think it would benefit from being seasoned/salted a few hours ahead of time at least, but it was pretty tasty as is. I’ve never used pearl onions and was afraid of how long it would take to peel them, but the recipe includes a useful tip (submerge for 1-2 minutes in hot water) for removing the skins. I liked the post-roast bean addition and will consider doing with other recipes in the future. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

6. Arugula and Romaine Salad with Radish, Shaved Parm, Pistachios & Mint from Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck

Lidey notes that this is her favorite salad and now I understand why. We’re not big radish eaters, but my husband and I both really enjoyed the combination of flavors and textures and I’ll definitely make it again. The salad was an excellent complement to the roast chicken. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 10)

7. Lemon-Dill Tuna Patties from The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook by Yumna Jawad

These are easy, flavorful, and kid-friendly. (PITA: 1, Outcome: 9)

8. Lemon-Feta Broccoli from The Feel Good Foodie Cookbook by Yumna Jawad

I served this dish with the tuna patties. While the kids were less interested in the broccoli than the tuna patties, they did eat it, which is a win in my book. (PITA: 2, Outcome 8)

Honorable mentions (recipes I forgot to photograph):

9. Courgette and Feta Fritters with Preserved Lemons, Dill, and Mint from Mediterra by Ben Tish*

I’ve made many a zucchini fritter, but these might be my new favorite. There’s a lot of chopping in the prep (hence the higher PITA score), but that’s ok because the fritters are so flavorful. They are great warm, but they were also great out of the fridge as a snack. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 10)

10. Sheet Pan Salmon Niçoise Salad from Home is Where the Eggs Are by Molly Yeh

If a Niçoise salad is on a menu, there’s a good chance I’ll order it. I really enjoyed this one, even if there was A LOT of coercion required to get my 6yo to eat it. I served all the components separately and let each person make their own combo. The eggs cook in the oven while the veggies roast and my only change for next time would be to rotate the eggs halfway through to ensure a more-even cook. As written, they are soft-boiled on one side and hardboiled on the other, which makes peeling difficult. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 8)

11. Marinated Halloumi Skewers from Flavor (US) / Flavour (UK) by Sabrina Ghayour.

These were indeed flavorful and were excellent served with my local hummus shop’s fluffy fresh pita bread. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 9)

*I borrowed these books from the San Francisco Public Library.

(I'm using u/ehherewegoagain's PITA (pain in the ass) and outcome (quality of finished dish) rating system.)

1. Stone Fruit Halloumi Salad from Everyday Dinners by Jessica Merchant*

We went cherry and peach picking the weekend before I made this and the fresh fruit along with the halloumi and basil vinaigrette made for a lovely light weekday meal. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 10)

2. Mee Goreng from Everyday Cook by Donal Skehan*

Aside from halving the amount of sambal oelek (it was still plenty for us), I made this exactly as written and really enjoyed it. If you, like me, end up with quite a lot of leftover bean sprouts, check out my honorable mentions section for what to do with them. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

3. Sheet Pan Soy-Glazed Meatloaf & Veggies from Skinnytaste High Protein by Gina Homolka*

I still had baby bok choy after making the Mee Goreng, so I picked this recipe to use some of them in a different way. The kids liked the meatloaf (which I made with coarse oat flour rather than quick oats), my husband liked the veggies, and I liked it all well enough. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 7)

4. Caramel Cod with Fragrant Lime Coconut Rice from Family Style by Peter Som*

Another hit from this cookbook! I’m not going to lie, my kitchen smelled like fish sauce for a full day even with my air purifier running, but the fish was so tasty I could overlook that. There was lots of leftover sauce, so I saved it for future meals. The rice is excellent—way better than the coconut rice in Molly Baz’s More is More. Finally, it would be a much prettier dish if I liked cilantro, which is supposed to be the garnish on the dish. (PITA: 5 [mostly for the lingering smell of fish sauce, otherwise a 3], Outcome: 9)

5. Greens and Herbs Butter Bean Pasta from Big Veg Energy by Christina Soteriou*

I wish I could say my kids enthusiastically ate this, but they did eat it. My husband and I especially enjoyed the drizzle of pomegranate molasses over the top. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 7)

6. Tomatoes with Cottage Cheese and Bagel Seeds from Smitten Kitchen Keepers by Deb Perelman

A short but sweet recipe that got me out of a breakfast rut. If you use store-bought everything bagel seasoning, be sure to adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, as those mixes often already contain salt. (PITA: 1, Outcome: 9)

7. Chilly Silken Tofu with Tomato Salad from Chinese Enough by Kristina Cho

I made this just for me and my husband. He’s come to like most tofu recipes, having not eaten much (if at all) before we met, but he realized eating this that he’s not a fan of silken tofu. More for me! (PITA: 2 [cutting and artfully displaying the silken tofu took this recipe from a 1 to a 2], Outcome: 8)

8. Stewed Chickpeas with Peppers and Zucchini from Simply Julia by Julia Turshen

This came together quickly with ingredients I already had on hand. My husband and I were both surprised by how much more we liked than we expected to. While the kids didn’t eat it, they did enjoy the mayo-based sauce with their carrot sticks. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 8)

9. Jirjir - Arugula Salad from Imad’s Syrian Kitchen by Imad Alarnab*

This is an incredibly easy but very flavorful salad perfect for a warm evening. It comes together in five minutes if you cube the watermelon ahead of time. (PITA: 1, Outcome: 9)

10. Chickpea Spread with Caramelized Onions and Parsley from Polish’d by Michal Korkosz*

As with all recipes requiring well-caramelized onions, this is not one to make when you’re short on time or patience. However, the end-result is so, so good. This would be an excellent potluck offering as it is vegan and (unsurprisingly) nut- and gluten-free. (PITA: 3 [it always takes longer to caramelize onions than the recipe said it will], Outcome: 10)

Honorable mentions (recipes I forgot to photograph and/or are from food blogs):

• Bean Sprout Stir Fry from The Omnivore’s Cookbook blog by Maggie Zhu
I had about 14 oz of bean sprouts leftover after making the Mee Goreng and this was a great way to use them up. We ate them alongside a tofu and broccoli stir fry, also from this blog. (PITA: 2 [for picking through the bean sprouts], Outcome: 7)

• Classic Mac from The Mac + Cheese Cookbook by Allison Arevalo and Erin Wade (of Homeroom in Oakland)*
I asked my 12yo what he wanted for dinner after soccer practice and he requested mac and cheese. He’d previously asked me to borrow this book from the library, so I figured I’d make this recipe. It’s simple and rich and was exactly what he wanted. (PITA: 3, Outcome: 10)

• Chocolate, Banana, and Oat Cookies from Bake Smart by Samantha Seneviratne
These were tasty and we all liked them, but they are very sticky and also a bit crumbly. (PITA: 2, Outcome: 6)

*I borrowed these books from the San Francisco Public Library.

1. Tangy Stir-Fried Cabbage and Glass Noodles from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon

🚨The fairly picky 12yo liked it and said I should make it again! I repeat, my tween ate this! 🚨 Sadly, the 6yo did not, but the rest of us enjoyed it. (PITA: 3, Outcome 8)

2. Almond Butter Banana Bread from Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz

I made this once several years ago, but because I’m always wanting to try new recipes, I hadn’t made it since. However, I had ripe bananas and a large jar of almond butter, so it was the perfect time to revisit this recipe. Considering my family finished it in 24 hours, I guess I’ll need to make it again soon. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 10) 

3. Smoked Salmon Deviled Eggs from Barefoot Contessa: How Easy Is That? by Ina Garten*

My whole family loves deviled eggs which is good because we dyed (and then immediately refrigerated) two dozen eggs. The recipe calls for hard-boiling 8 extra large eggs, so I used 10 of my large pre-boiled ones but I could have used a dozen given the amount of leftover filling I had. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 9)

4. Vibrant Spring Green, Dill, and Pistachio Orzo from The Green Batch Cookbook by Sam Gates*

I cook a lot, frequent San Francisco’s bountiful farmers’ markets, and have lived in Australia and Ireland, but I didn’t know until I made this dish that the “Spring Green” in the recipe title refers to young, immature cabbage plants. Collards are supposed to be a good substitute, but my Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry them and I didn’t have time to stop elsewhere that day so I subbed baby broccoli. This dish was delicious day of, but also excellent as leftovers throughout the week. (PITA: 5 [lots of chopping], Outcome: 9)

5. Sweet Potato and Black Sesame Bundt Cake from Tenderheart by Hetty Lui McKinnon

This was the first of two cakes I made for a cake fundraiser I hosted. I knew there would be a lot of chocolate and lemon cakes, so I thought I’d make something super different. I really loved the flavors of this—and it’s great for breakfast too, as it’s not very sweet. (PITA: 4, Outcome: 8)

6. Triple-Chocolate Layer Cake from Bake from Scratch: Volume 5 by Brian Hart Hoffman*

There were two ingredient errors on my part: One, none of my regular grocery stores had Dutch-processed cocoa powder—an ingredient I used to always have on hand—for the dark chocolate layer. Two, I melted white chocolate chips for the frosting, which meant that the frosting seized after the initial crumb coat due to the stabilizers in the chips. Nonetheless, my 12yo LOVED this and my fundraiser guests and I did too. (PITA: 6, Outcome 8)

7. Walnut Golden Raisin Soda Bread from Bake from Scratch: Volume 2 by Brian Hart Hoffman*

I made this one for a post-concert reception and it went fast. I wish I’d made a loaf to keep, but it’s so easy I will definitely make it again soon. (PITA: 3, Outcome: 10).

8. Spatchcock Chicken with Hungarian Seasoning from Zahav Home by Michael Solomonov and Steven Cook*

I prepped this in the morning before dashing out for an event, leaving the cooking instructions behind for my husband (who rarely cooks more than a fried egg). He had just taken it out of the oven when I got home and it took only a few minutes to make the sauce. The chicken was tender and flavorful and the veggies rounded out the meal. (PITA: 3 [spatchcocking the chicken, otherwise a 2], Outcome 10)

9. Cacio e Pepe Udon from To Asia, With Love by Hetty Lui McKinnon

So easy and so good. I used frozen udon noodles (don’t bother with the dried ones; the texture will be all wrong). Grating the pecorino was the “hardest” part of making this. There is a lot of salt and umami, so the 6yo wasn’t a fan, but that was fine because there was more for the rest of us! I definitely recommend pairing this with a light and acidic veggie side. (PITA: 1, Outcome: 10).

Honorable mentions (recipes I forgot to photograph):

10. My Baked Ziti from Crave by Karen Akunowicz*

This was a hit with the whole family. I used chickpea pasta because I’ve realized that I can’t taste it or really notice the texture in baked pasta dishes and it’s a great way to get my kids some extra protein. It’s pretty heavy on ricotta, so an acidic side salad is a must. (PITA: 3 [but 1 if you use jarred sauce instead of making it from scratch], Outcome: 8)

11. Grilled Chicken with Yogurt and Shawarma Spices from Cooking in Real Life by Lidey Heuck Another dish the 6yo refused to eat (she didn’t like this combo of shawarma spices), but the rest of this loved. The spiced yogurt marinade makes the chicken incredibly tender and flavorful. I don’t have a grill or a very good grill pan, but cast iron skillets did the trick. (PITA: 3, Outcome: 9).

 

*I borrowed these books from the San Francisco Public Library.