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Made these with farmers market bison but next time I'm definitely going to adapt the spice base to my favorite bulgur and pinto bean veggie burgers. I think they will be delicious. We ate them in flatbread with arugula and diced cucumbers and the harissa "mayo" which I made with equal parts mayo and plain yogurt. Great, vibrant flavors!

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I didn't quite have the 5 oz mustard greens called for and I was only making this for myself anyway so I just diced up one slice of crusty pain au levain and grated on a little less than 2 T of cheese. I halved the dressing ingredients for the most part and used only about 2 T olive oil then mixed the vinaigrette directly in a medium size salad bowl that I later tossed the mustard greens into rather than dirtying a second bowl. It was such a delicious and filling lunch that I'm planning to make it again tomorrow with some baby Russian red kale. If anchovies aren't your thing, I think a t or so of dijon would be a perfect substitute.

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I had a bunch of greenmarket asparagus and decided to make this for lunch while working at home today. It was so simple to put together, and so delicious! I used panko because I didn't have fresh bread crumbs on hand, and skipped the anchovies for the same reason. The dash of lemon zest in the crumb and garlic mixture brightens the flavor, and the combination of fresh asparagus, the crisp crumbs and the eggs made for a perfect work-at-home-day lunch.

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I didn't have any garlic scapes (bummer) but I did have green garlic so thought I would give the pesto a go with it instead. The recipe calls for 1 lb of pasta for 4 people but I usually cook 6 oz for two with leftovers so I went ahead and did what I usually do but kept the amount of sugar snap peas the same. In my opinion, if you're going to use the entire pound of pasta, you're gonna need a whole lot more peas. I also don't like my veggies cooked in butter so rather than sautéeing the peas and then adding them to the pasta, I threw them into the pasta pot during the last minute of cooking. Be sure not to skip the dollop of fresh ricotta at the end. It really tames the bite of the pesto, as promised and brings the entire dish together. I loved everything about this dish but my favorite part was when Melissa tells us to use cavatelli or "other pasta that makes you happy". That comment was enough to make me happy :)

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I didn't think I liked fennel until I had a restaurant salad of shaved fennel and citrus, topped with a piece of perfectly cooked salmon. After that, this totally appealed to me. I halved the fennel and parmesan, but not the dressing, so I had a bit extra, but I liked the way the fennel soaked it in. I also used blood orange zest and juice and blood orange olive oil because I happened to have those things, and I added some blood orange segments to the salad as well. If I were to try to improve upon this salad, I would leave the dressing alone, but I would use less fennel and add in a good amount of orange segments, because I think the juice and crunch textures work really nicely together. And while I'm sure regular oranges are fine, if you can get blood oranges, I think it really elevated this. A mixture of different color oranges would have been beautiful too - in that case I might use the lightest color for the juice in the dressing to keep the fennel whiter. And finally, I feel like I could have done without the cheese (I used pecorino romano), but it was really, really good with it too.

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A basic roasted vegetable dish with Yukon Gold potatoes and golden turnips (not sure how these are different than rutabagas?). I added golden beets and sunchokes to expand on the gold/sun theme :)

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This Indian-inspired lentil dish was not too labor intensive, aside from slicing the scallions (and I think onion or shallot would have been fine too). I did not have madras curry powder so used a regular one and added some red pepper flakes. We ate this with basmati rice and beet greens sautéed with coconut oil and garlic. The coconut and mustard seed topping was great over everything, but having used coconut flakes as instructed, I think I would swap in shredded coconut instead to get a better distribution. I also want to try freezing this little meal in one container for a grab and go lunch for work. Definitely going to freeze some of the lentils, as this recipe makes too much for 2 people!

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I've been looking for a "go -to recipe" for black beans and rice. This is it. It is both delicious and easy. I made it vegetarian --without the chorizo. It has so many things going for it. First of all, taste: this is the classic! Secondly: it's simple. There are very easy ratios so eventually it will become something you can make without looking at a recipe. Easy ratios, like 1:1 oregano and cumin; 1:1 fresh jalapeno and onion and red pepper and can of black beans. I will be making this several times a month.

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I have never met a biscuit I didn't like and these were no exception. The dough was very easy to work with and baked into soft, crumbly biscuits but (c'mon, really!) the star here is the cardamom butter. The flavors worked perfectly with the Indian accented red lentil soup that I added almost too much cayenne to. I actually think I might prefer it on cornbread and as I was mixing it up, I immediately thought how great it would have been on the hush puppies I had recently served with honey butter. I don't think I'm going to have any trouble finding ways to use the leftovers.

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had to try them shredded [great idea] and with caraway but without the pancetta [sub onion].