BeckyL's Reviews
101 recipes reviewed. Showing 51 to 100Sort by: Book Title 
| Date | Rating | Recipe Title
Make It Italian : The Taste and Technique of Italian Home Cooking
By Nancy Verde Barr
Knopf - 2002
I was not particularly fond of this salad, I think it was the fennel that did it for me. It was a hit with others, however, and was very easy to make.
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Mighty Spice Cookbook: Fast, Fresh and Vibrant Dishes Using No More Than 5 Spices for Each Recipe
By John Gregory-Smith
Duncan Baird - 2011
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).
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This easy salad is full of flavor and makes a great side dish. Very quick and easy to put together.
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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.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This was a really easy salsa to put together. The flavor was pretty good -- I tend to like things saltier than most recipes and haven't quite adjusted that balance here, but otherwise it's really a great salsa.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
These were amazing! I made them for Superbowl Sunday and they were a HUGE hit. They were pretty easy to put together and cheap to make a ton of them.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
This chili was fairly easy to put together and Ree's instructions are extremely easy to follow. Very tasty, had a great texture. I would have liked more spice, surprisingly, and will adjust next time I make this.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
Oh, man! These are amazing! They are a bit time consuming to put together, but they're rich and flavorful. Very worth it!
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I've never attempted brisket before. Now, this is not a bbq brisket, but rather more of a roasted brisket. It came out fantastic! It was much easier than I'd expected cooking a brisket to be. Perfect if you're looking for something to feed a large, hungry crowd. It does take time to prepare, however.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
I was a little worried about this dish when I made them. My potatoes weren't cooking through (because I'm impatient) and then they stuck to the masher. I added some fresh minced garlic to the recipe -- sprinkled it over the potatoes before baking. The finished product was so tasty and well worth it.
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Website: Pioneer Woman Cooks
As soon as the mushrooms hit the pan of hot butter, I knew these were going to taste amazing! Pretty easy to put together, but I'd recommend doubling the recipe since they tend to go fast!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Sam the Cooking Guy: Just a Bunch of Recipes
By Sam Zien
Wiley - 2008
This is a great, simple recipe. It turns out perfectly every time that I make it. You can't go wrong with such a simple side.
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These are great appetizers. The one thing is that you must use the puff pastry sheets. I've had a hard time finding them and have tried to substitute both phyllo sheets and crescent roll dough. Neither works as good as puff pastry sheets.
Also, if you can find the HP Brown Sauce (a UK condiment) to use in place of steak sauce, it's a real treat.
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YUM! This is simple and cheap to put together. Pairs well with just about anything, especially in place of traditional cole slaw side.
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These were fairly simple to put together. The sauce is a bit on the heavy side and I thought it could use a bit more spice, but I like things very spicy.
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I'm not so great at cooking fish and, even though I followed directions to the T, this did not turn out as well as I'd hoped.
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I was looking for something easy for a New Year's Eve party and these were perfect. I was, of course, leery about the grape jelly, but the meatballs turned out super tasty.
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Website: Savory Spice Shop
This is one of my favorite dishes. Serve it with Cinnamon Lemon Couscous.
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Website: Savory Spice Shop
I love couscous and the use of cinnamon and lemon made this fantastic.
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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.
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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.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Caramel corn. Yum! This is like Cracker Jack with a kick. I used bagged microwave popcorn and had no trouble following Smitten Kitchen's instructions for this recipe. On a scale of one to ten I'd put ease somewhere in the middle because it is a mess to put together.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
As an appetizer this is a recipe that's quick to put together from ingredients that are usually on hand. The flavor was amazing -- we served the creamed mushroom portion with toast on the side and let people put them together themselves so that the bread didn't get mushy. It was tasty straight out of the pan as well as at room temperature.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This was a strange drink. They were a bit time consuming to put together and in the end it was like drinking a piece of cantaloupe. Not a bad thing since that's what it was supposed to be, but personally I think I'd rather eat the cantaloupe than drink it.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
Not one of my favorite dishes. The recipe was easy to follow and I really wanted to like this, but I'm not enough of a broccoli fan. If, however, you love broccoli in its raw form, I highly recommend trying this as you will probably enjoy it more than I did.
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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.
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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.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
These are amazing. Super easy, super tasty, and my new favorite way to eat kale.
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Website: Smitten Kitchen
This really is the simplest apple tart ever! And it tastes so good.
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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.
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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!
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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.
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Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Any Time
By Tyler Florence
Clarkson Potter - 2006
We made these steaks for Valentine's Day. They were quick and tasty -- I think we did overcook them a bit, which based on the directions seems very easy to do.
The crab salad is actually a separate recipe and we did not make it this first go around.
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I love this stew. It's got a great flavor and is very hearty. I serve it with a horseradish sour cream that I found with another of Florence's recipes, but plain sour cream on top is nice as well.
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I was a bit intimidated by this recipe at first. Some of the ingredients were things that I hadn't used before and I couldn't find Thai Bird Chiles to save my life. I substituted another kind of chile and found the recipe to be pretty easy to follow. The dish came out amazing. We served it with a coconut rice and it was heaven.
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This didn't turn out so great the first time around, but I have hope and plan on trying it again. I found my chicken was too dry and my plums were kind of bitter -- probably not in season when I bought them, or not late enough in the season for them to have great flavor.
Otherwise, preparation wasn't too bad and the instructions were easy to follow, as usual for Florence's dishes.
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We made this as an accompaniment to the steaks for Valentine's Day (Roasted Tenderloin of Beef...). I had some nice fresh baby broccoli that we used in place of regular broccoli. The dish would have been great except that it was finished before the steaks and cooled to room temperature, making the crispy parmesan not so crispy and the broccoli kind of limp.
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Vegetables Every Day: The Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today's Produce With over 350 Recipes
By Jack Bishop
William Morrow Cookbooks - 2001
Though the artichokes require a bit of time and handling, this recipe is well worth it if you aren't in a hurry. Super tasty and great flavor combination.
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Bishop gives excellent directions, especially for the base of this recipe -- Roasted Beets. They can be used in so many other dishes once you get this method down, and it couldn't be easier.
This is still my favorite way to eat beets, though, with just a little olive oil and sherry vinegar.
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