Simplest Spaghetti al Limone

October 11, 2023October 8, 2023 by akc

This was not the first time I’ve made the Simplest Spaghetti al Limone, from the Smitten Kitchen Blog. It’s very easy to make and comes together in a flash, so it’s a great easy dish for a solo meal. I imagine it would also be a great side for seafood.

Deb has you make the sauce in the bowl you’ll serve the pasta in, and then garnish with some basil. I was making one serving for myself, so I decided to have it in a soup bowl instead of a pasta bowl. That gave me room to make the sauce and saved me from dirtying a mixing bowl. (Or, uh, eating dinner out of a mixing bowl.)

I picked some tiny basil leaves off of the plant on my deck and didn’t bother to cut them down. If you don’t have basil but you do have chives or parsley I think either would be a fine substitute garnish.

Dinner prep did not have my full attention while it was happening, which led to this being a little more lemony than I would have liked. So if you adjust the amount of pasta you’re making, make sure to keep the proportion of lemon the same. Also, don’t skip adding the pasta water. I just realized I did, and that would have helped as well.

A large white bowl holds a tangle of spaghetti with a handful of small basil leaves scattered over the top. The pasta, and the sides of the bowl, have flecks and small blobs of parmesan. — Simplest Spaghetti al Limone from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Kale Salad with Cherries and Pecans

October 6, 2023October 4, 2023 by akc

I made the Kale Salad with Cherries and Pecans from the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook as a side dish one night, but ended up eating just about all of it for lunches instead.

I used a combination of pecans and hazlenuts, since I didn’t have enough of the former and thought the latter would go well. I also only put on about half of the dressing to start, and massaged it in. It looked like too much to me, and I’d rather have to add dressing to an underdressed salad.

In terms of prep, I did what I usually do which is to chop the kale and then clean and dry it in my salad spinner, which works great. I have double-sided cutting boards, so I just flip it over after that and quickly wash the knife. (I do the same thing with romaine lettuce, which I find also helps remove the bitter taste you get sometimes).

This is a tasty kale salad, and it’s very easy to make. As with all kale salads it’s got some chew, which I like. But I do think you need to balance that with some crunch, and the radishes help a lot with that. If you want to skip them, I’d recommend adding more toasted nuts or some other crisp, crunchy element.

A white bowl holds a pile of dark green pieces of kale, mixed with red and white slices of radish. A couple of round, beige hazelnuts are visible on top, as well as some dark red dried chefries and blobs of goat cheese. — The Kale Salad with Cherries and Pecans from the *Smitten Kitchen Cookbook.*

Perfect Blueberry Muffins

September 26, 2023 by akc

The Perfect Blueberry Muffins from the Smitten Kitchen blog are truly perfect. I’ve made them several times and they never disappoint. The recipe makes 9 muffins, which is ideal for a two-person household. It feels abundant but not like I should freeze half of them.

I do recommend following Deb’s instructions and making the 9 muffins, otherwise they will not be as tall and craggy. And you should definitely seek out the turbinado sugar, that is really what sends these over the edge into perfection: it gives them that bakery vibe. (I would not recommend substituting regular sugar for this, it won’t give you the crunch.)

This time around I made these with a friend who came over. This is a one-bowl recipe so there wasn’t immediately a clear way to split up the work, but she handled the mixing while I flitted around the kitchen gathering ingredients and tools, prepping the pan, etc. It worked out really well.

This time around the blueberries turned the batter blue, but that doesn’t really bother me. If you want to avoid that, leave them in the freezer until the last minute and try to shake off any ice crystals that have formed inside the bag.

A top down shot of a blueberry muffin on a plate, on top of a black and white patterned placemat. The plate has a white background with an abstract pattern in orange, teal, and green. The muffin has a blueberry just off the top, and overall is lightly tinted blue. There are sugar crystals glinting from the top. — The Perfect Blueberry Muffins from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Corn Salad with Chile and Lime

September 20, 2023September 5, 2023 by akc

This Corn Salad with Chile and Lime from the Smitten Kitchen blog is Deb’s version of esquites, which are basically deconstructed elotes. Delicious no matter the format, if you ask me. I wanted to try these as a side dish for taco or quesadilla night.

The only change I made from Deb’s version was that I microwaved the corn instead of grilling or broiling it, so we didn’t get the charred element.

We don’t keep Tiajin around, so I used chile powder and salt, and I definitely should have added a bit more lime. I actually think that using greek yogurt instead of sour cream would add an additional element of tang that would do well here, so I’ll try that if I make these again. Overall it was delicious, but it felt very cheesy and didn’t quite hit the mark for me as a veggie side, especially up against a meaty quesadilla.

Yellow and white pieces of corn fill the frame. They're topped with dark brown flakes of chile powder and bright pink pieces of pickled red onion. — The Corn Salad with Chile and Lime from the Smitten Kitchen blog.

Two Bean Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

September 15, 2023September 4, 2023 by akc

The recipe for Two Bean Salad with Basil Vinaigrette in Smitten Kitchen Keepers didn’t really jump out at me initially. But as I was looking for ideas for something light to have alongside tomatoes and burrata it seemed perfect. I served it with some quinoa to round it out a bit and it was a nice, fresh side dish.

I made the basil vinaigrette a couple of days ahead of time and stored it in the fridge. My basil wasn’t minced very well, I think because I used my mini food processor. There’s not a lot of liquid in this vinaigrette, so the basil leaves weren’t moving around very much. Now that I think about it, I bet the blades on that are fairly dull, I think it’s at least 20 years old. (Perhaps I should replace it…)

I didn’t make any changes to this, though I have no idea if I had the amount of green beans she called for; I just used a quart of them that I picked up at the farmer’s market.