BeckyL's Reviews
101 recipes reviewed. Showing 1 to 50Sort by: Book Title | Date 
| Rating | Recipe Title
Website: The Food Network
Jeff Mauro really captures all the classic gyro flavors in this simplified Greek pita "taco." We added a little extra spice by making a harissa hot sauce to go with it.
useful (0)
Website: The Food Network
From the first episode of Sandwich King! I loved this sandwich. The fig spread is fantastic and we've used it on all kinds of things since trying this recipe.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was an easy pasta dish to put together for a weeknight meal. I thought the sauce was a bit thin, but my husband loved it.
useful (1)
Website: The Food Network
These really are the most creamy and decadent mashed potatoes ever! I loved the flavor and the consistency, which is something I always struggle with when making mashed potatoes.
useful (0)
Website: The Food Network
This is one of Pioneer Woman's recipes from her new show. Overall, I found there was too much oil in the dressing/marinade for my taste. Had I cut that just a bit from the recipe, I think it would have been a great salad. We served this alongside ribs and Ree's mashed potatoes.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I liked this pasta salad, but my husband was more fond of it than I was. I couldn't get the sauce to the right consistency for my preference. It's an easy dish to prepare and good for a weeknight meal.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This pesto sauce is rich and creamy -- super easy for a quick dinner when you don't want to mess with something that has a lot of steps. Leftovers don't hold up so great -- I find the sauce tastes best while it's still warm.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
I've been trying to add different sides and salads to our meals and came across this one after purchasing an abundance of peppers at our local farmers market. The capers add the perfect tang to the dish. An excellent and easy salad option.
useful (0)
Mighty Spice Cookbook: Fast, Fresh and Vibrant Dishes Using No More Than 5 Spices for Each Recipe
By John Gregory-Smith
Duncan Baird - 2011
This is the author's version of baingan bharta and though he suggests it as a side or a possible accompaniment to meat, we ate it over rice as a main dish.
useful (1)
The filling on these is reminiscent of a dish I had at an "authentic Mexican" restaurant in Austin recently. The meat is well seasoned and I love that this is a great alternative to the same old stuffed peppers recipe I've been using for ages. I almost think the meat could use a little sweet addition (maybe some raisins).
useful (1)
This easy salad is full of flavor and makes a great side dish. Very quick and easy to put together.
useful (1)
Website: Boulder Locavore
The tomatoes alone would make a great side dish. This was so good, I'm a bit ashamed to say that my husband and I polished off an entire pie crust's worth. We ate it as a main and I used leftover tomato filler on a salad.
useful (1)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
We bought a ton of tomatoes from our local farmers markets and this recipe was one of two fabulous tomato recipes we tried. Simple to put together and so tasty!
useful (1)
Website: The Food Network
This is an excellent summer dessert! So creamy and the mint complements the strawberry so well.
useful (1)
Website: Epicurious
This dish was pretty tasty, but you have to be careful not to let any of the components get cold. It made a nice, hearty dinner and was a nice way for us to use up some spinach (should have made extra of that!).
useful (2)
Website: The Food Network
We found a local kebab place recently and were inspired to try making some on our own. Aarti's cherry and cashew filled kebabs here are really great. They're full of flavor and easy to put together. It's so hot out, we grilled them rather than frying them indoors. Yum!
useful (3)
Website: The Food Network
We've been trying quinoa recipes lately and I have to say Aarti's use of it in Tabbouleh here is really great. It makes a hearty and veggie filled side dish that's perfect for summer (I could eat a whole bowl of it as a meal!).
useful (2)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
It was definitely a soup night last night and Smitten Kitchen's Cream of Tomato Soup and Classic Grilled Cheese were perfect for the evening! Classic comfort food at its best. The soup was a little time consuming in terms of seeding the tomatoes, but all of the ingredients were things I readily had on hand, so not having to hit the grocery store was a bonus. It took about an hour to get together from start of prep to finish. I can see how the soup would be easily adaptable as well -- might add some fresh herbs next time, or a pesto swirl just to change it up a bit.
useful (1)
Website: Cooking Channel
This was so good! The yogurt adds a great creamy texture to the dish. We ate this with jasmine rice and the cauliflower roti.
useful (0)
Website: Cooking Channel
These were very tasty, but we weren't quite sure when they were cooked all the way through. The cauliflower filling had a great flavor!
useful (0)
Website: The Food Network
I never would have thought to combine these ingredients in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich, but they work together so wel!
useful (1)
Website: The Food Network
These were very tasty. Peas and edamame in place of chickpeas -- interesting variation on a falafel.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
Wow! Burgundy has got to be the best marinating liquid ever. I've now had steaks and these fabulous mushrooms soaked in the stuff and I can't even begin to describe how amazing.
These mushrooms take a bit of planning, but they are so incredibly worth it!
useful (1)
Website: Homesick Texan
www.homesicktexan.blogspot.com
The soup itself is really tasty. I had some difficulty with the pecans, though. They didn't quite get as crispy as I would have liked. Rather than toasting in a skillet, I'm thinking next time I'll try doing them in the oven instead.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
Oh, my. This is fantastic! Granted, the dumplings are not the plain dough dumplings my grandmother made (but don't tell her!). These are seasoned drop style dumplings and the cornmeal adds a wonderful texture!
useful (2)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I only started using cauliflower recently and this was a nice easy way to start. The soup is really tasty and great for a cold night.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
We made this as part of our New Year's Day pork, black-eyed-pea, and cabbage tradition. Not only was this dip really tasty, but it was a nice break from the typical black eyed pea dishes that we make.
useful (0)
Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2008
First off, I'm not a huge fan of zucchini, but I am a huge fan of carbonara. Jamie's use of zucchini in this recipe is actually, in spite of my preferences, very good. My one recommendation is that you be sure your bacon or pancetta is a good one as it will add a lovely flavor to the dish that you will otherwise have to compensate for with seasoning (or salt as the case was with mine).
useful (3)
Jamie's Food Revolution: Rediscover How to Cook Simple, Delicious, Affordable Meals
By Jamie Oliver
Hyperion - 2009
I'd previously only used leeks in soup and was really excited to find another alternative here. We ate these alongside roast and they were amazing.
useful (0)
I have to say that I'm not normally a big fan of cauliflower. In attempting to try it out in a way that I might actually like it, I turned to Oliver and his cheesy soup. As with most in this cookbook, the recipe was very easy to assemble and the flavor was actually pretty good (even from a non cauliflower fan). I would recommend using a higher quality Cheddar so that you get the full cheesy impact (I accidentally bough low-fat and added a bit of cream to the dish to make up for it since I find low fat cheeses to be more oily than creamy).
useful (0)
This is another of Jamie's "quick pasta" dishes. Like the others I've tried, quick, flavorful, and super simple. Salty bacon, the creamy sauce, and the peas make this a great alternative to plain mac and cheese (or shells and cheese).
useful (0)
This dish is amazing. So simple and so rich! If you're a big fan of cheese, you definitely have to try this out. The mix of the garlic and rosemary with the oozy camembert over pasta is comfort food at its best.
useful (0)
I was trying to make a healthy and light meal for dinner. My issues with this recipe were not the recipe itself, however. Jamie's directions were easy to follow and the food actually turned out delicious. I'm not very experienced with cooking seafood and so am definitely one of the ones he mentions in the book as missing out because of this fear. This is a super simple way to ease into cooking fish.
useful (0)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was one of the first things I made with my new stand mixer. The bread came out fantastic, with one small exception -- it goes stale very fast. Not that it lasts that long! We ate half of it hot out of the oven.
I'd imagine it would be pretty easy to put together without a stand mixer (I've only had one a few months) but I've also noticed that most of Pioneer Woman's recipes like this one do call for and have instructions for stand mixers.
useful (1)
Food Network
(Jul/Aug, 2010)
This recipe only takes as long as is required to roast a couple of peppers and cook a box of pasta. Very good and very simple! Also pretty versatile considering you can really add just about any veggie to the dish.
useful (0)
Food Network
(June, 2010)
This was like a fake out risotto that tasted almost as good as the real thing. Overall, I thought the dish could use more seasoning, but it was a really simple weeknight meal. The recipe calls for trout, but says you can substitute chicken. We went the easy way out and used precooked rotisserie chicken to save even more time.
useful (0)
Website: Homesick Texan
www.homesicktexan.blogspot.com
I use this gravy on fried pork chops. It's great on mashed potatoes, chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, and anything else you might use brown gravy on. A Southern staple!
useful (0)
Website: Homesick Texan
www.homesicktexan.blogspot.com
This New Orleans style BBQ shrimp is soooo good. Super easy instructions to follow and pretty quick to put together, too.
useful (1)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I've been having high altitude issues with my usual banana bread recipe and decided to try something different. Ree's recipe (her mom's actually) has sour cream in it, which I figured would solve one of my problems: dry banana bread. I was so right! This one is rich and cake-like and super moist inside.
useful (0)
Website: JamieOliver.com
Summer is soon arriving and this is one my favorite recipes for salad. I use it as a guide for making my own versions, but the dressing is always the same.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
This really is the simplest apple tart ever! And it tastes so good.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
These are amazing. Super easy, super tasty, and my new favorite way to eat kale.
useful (1)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was a really tasty dish, but I definitely did something wrong. It came out very, very thick. I'll definitely try it again, though.
useful (0)
Website: Savory Spice Shop
I make this as an accompaniment to the Jamaican Jerk Burgers. This dip is just as good as an appetizer with tortilla chips, but the cool pineapple and avocado cut the heat of the jerk burgers so well, you just have to try them together.
useful (0)
Website: Savory Spice Shop
This is another absolute favorite of mine. I buy Savory Spice Shop's spicier jerk and make these with ground turkey. They are amazing and you absolutely have to make the Grilled Pineapple Avocado Dip to go along with it.
useful (1)
Website: Savory Spice Shop
I love couscous and the use of cinnamon and lemon made this fantastic.
useful (0)
Website: Savory Spice Shop
This is one of my favorite dishes. Serve it with Cinnamon Lemon Couscous.
useful (1)
Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I thought this was very tasty. The next time around, though, I will definitely include potatoes and amp up the jalapenos as well. I wanted this to be fiery hot, but it wasn't very spicy at all.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
I thought this soup was ok. The croutons turned out very good, but the soup could have used a bit more flavor.
useful (0)
Website: Smitten Kitchen
These crostini are truly wonderful and completely addictive! Couldn't be simpler either. I used a fresh, homebaked loaf of bread and all of the actual pesto ingredients go right in the food processor.
useful (1)