If taking a step outside of your comfort zone sometimes involves cooking, then I’ve got some great recipes for you in this Recipe Roundup! The first two recipes in the Roundup came about because one of my clients gave me some homemade goat milk paneer (Indian cheese) and since Saag Paneer is one of my all-time favorite dishes, I jumped at the chance to make it for the first time, so an Indian dinner was in the cards. The waffle recipe is a game changer if you are a fan of waffles that are crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. And the Southwestern Spinach and Black Bean Dip is likely to become a go-to in our house. Are you ready to step out of your bubble and try a new recipe?

Saag Paneer: Spinach with Indian Cheese after poking around online for a while I settled on this recipe because it seemed to be the most manageable. Instead of using frozen spinach I used spinach from my farm share, I used coconut oil instead of vegetable oil, and I skipped the chili pepper in the hopes that my boys would be more open to eating it. Other than those modifications, I followed the recipe closely and the outcome was AMAZING. I could have eaten it for a week straight. My boys still weren’t convinced, but did eat the little bit that they each had on their plate, and my husband loved it almost as much as I did.

Make again? Absolutely and soon!!

Potato Curry with Peas and Carrots I made this to accompany the Saag Paneer because I was confident that my boys would enjoy it, and I was right. I found the directions on this recipe to be a little vague for my taste, but I have made enough curries that I could figure it out. It did take longer than I had anticipated, but the flavors were fantastic and it was relatively simple to make.

Make again? Yes. But I’ll probably type up my own directions to follow. Maybe I’ll post that recipe sometime soon…

Best Homemade Waffle Recipe I stumbled upon this recipe last weekend as I was trying to find a waffle recipe that only required one egg. The secret ingredient in this recipe is cornstarch and I have to say that I am a convert! I made this recipe using spelt flour instead of all purpose flour, to add some whole grain heft, and they were still light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. All four of us LOVED these waffles. Two quick notes: 1) the batter is much runnier than any other waffle batter I have ever made and seemed to require more batter per waffle, so be prepared and 2) I will never make a single batch of this recipe again. Even for my family of four, this recipe was barely enough for breakfast and I guarantee you will want leftovers for the freezer.

Make again? Yes! This is going to be my new go-to waffle recipe!

Southwestern Spinach Black Bean Dip I made this to take as a side dish to a taco night at a friend’s house. Instead of canned corn I used frozen and I added a bunch more spice, but other than that I followed the recipe. It was delicious, filling, and packed with spinach. It also makes a TON! We gorged on it and there was still a lot leftover, which I then mixed with some leftover chicken to make a variation on my baked chimichangas, which were the biggest hit of the week in my house.

Make again? Definitely and definitely will turn the leftovers into baked chimichangas again, too!

<p>The post Recipe Roundup: May and Early June Edition first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

Slow Cooker Greek Chicken Pita

This has been on my “to try” list for a long time and boy and I glad I finally tried it. It was a huge hit! I tried this on a super busy day. In the morning I threw the chicken and spices into the slow cooker (it took at most 5 minutes) and left for the day.  When we got back in the evening I got the salads together, chopped up some lettuce to add to the mix, and we were sitting down to dinner in less than 20 minutes! Everyone loved it and there was a bunch left over for lunches the next day. My 8-year-old declared it a recipe to be added to the rotation.

Make Again? YES!

Lamb and Spinach Pizza

Another winner in our house! I didn’t have baby spinach on hand, so we missed that component (would definitely add it in the future). I used some yogurt dip I already had in the fridge (basically the same recipe as hers, just with added herbs). I let kids decide whether they wanted feta (one did, one didn’t) and I let them top their own pizzas with the mint and yogurt sauce (both went for mint, one for the yogurt sauce). They were so simple and everyone loved how they got to make them their own way.

Make Again? Most definitely!

One Pot Chicken Lo Mein

I used 3 cups of vegetable stock that I had left over, plus 1 cup of water. Then I added extra soy sauce to boost flavor. I also used regular spaghetti rather than whole wheat, since that’s what I had on hand. A tip: stir it often! It starts to stick on the bottom. I would worry about it sticking more with whole wheat pasta since it takes longer to cook. To make this vegetarian I think you could easy replace the chicken with tofu or seitan. I thought the finished dish was ok, everyone else in the family loved it. Definitely a healthy, easy dinner I will keep in my back pocket.

Make Again? Yup.

What recipes have you tried recently? Do you have recipes you’d like to me to add to try out for next month’s roundup?

<p>The post Recipe Roundup: March Edition first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>

With this series I want to give you an honest account of what worked in my kitchen and what didn’t. I’ll share ways that I simplified recipes, ways I adjusted them, how easy or hard I thought they were, and, most importantly, how they turned out. My hope is that this series will show some of the practical tricks you can use to simplify and modify recipes but that it will also exemplify how flexible, creative, and fun cooking can be, even when things don’t turn out as planned…

So without further ado, here’s my first installment of The Recipe Roundup

Crispy Smashed Potatoes with Garlic Pesto

The moment I saw this gorgeous recipe from The Minimalist Baker I knew I had to try them and I am very glad I did because they were DELICIOUS!! The original recipe called for boiling the potatoes first, but I didn’t want to make two pots dirty for one side dish so, to simplify and turn it into a one-pan dish, I cut the potatoes into quarters (a little bigger than bite-sized), tossed in them olive oil, and started roasting at 425. Half way through the roasting I took them out, smashed them, drizzled a tiny bit more olive oil on so they wouldn’t dry out too much, and then put them back in. Then I just topped them with pesto I already had in the freezer.

Make Again? YES

Roasted Citrus

I was so excited to try these. I mean, come on! How gorgeous is that picture?! I have been ogling roasted fruit for a while and imagining all of the different ways I was going to use it, so for my first attempt I made some cara cara oranges and grapefruit slices. Sadly, these were a bust for us. No one liked them, not even me. The roasting took the juicy-ness out of the fruit and I didn’t find that there was a boost in flavor that made that lack of moisture worth it. That being said, I could see how some people would really love these, so don’t rule out trying it for yourself!!

Make Again? PROBABLY NOT. I might try other fruits, but roasted citrus was not our thing.

30 Minute Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken is my husband’s go-to order on those very rare occasions when we order Chinese food (or when I am out of town), so when I saw this recipe from Don’t Waste the Crumbs I knew I had to try it as a special surprise for him. When it was put out on the table my 8-year-old said, “but I don’t like Chinese food!” And then he took a bite and said, “Oh! I guess I like homemade Chinese food!” I call that a win! It was super simple to throw together and to make it even easier I used a bag of the stir fry mix you find in the frozen veggies section at the supermarket. It took longer than 30 minutes to cook, more like 35, and I cranked up the oven to 400 for last 10 minutes, but that may be because I used frozen vegetables which slowed the cooking of the chicken down.

Make Again? ABSOLUTELY!

One Pot Chili Mac n Cheese

One pot + chili + mac and cheese?! This recipe from Well Plated sounded almost too good to be true… but it wasn’t!! It was a huge hit! Everyone really enjoyed it and I loved that it was a one-pot meal. The recipe is really simple as it is already written, so the only change I made was skipping the jalapeño to keep it from being too spicy for my guys. It took a little longer to cook than the directions said, maybe 5 minutes more. Next time I might add some chopped frozen spinach or baby spinach for the last few minutes of cooking, then I wouldn’t even need to make a side veggie!

Make Again? FOR SURE.

Taco Bowls

I have been wanting to make taco bowls for a while and so I used these directions for my first attempt when I was also testing out the avocado crema I blogged about last week. The crema was a huge hit, but the bowls were not. They did not look nearly as pretty as they did in the pictures, in fact they barely worked as bowls. As you can see here:

Now, if it only had been my failure at getting the shape right, which was to be expected as food presentation and crafty-ness in general is not my forté, that would have been one thing, but everyone said they had a weird consistency—not crunchy enough, a little chewy. So all in all, a bust.

Make Again? I might try making the bowls again, because I love the idea, but next time I think I’ll try a different approach and might use corn tortillas instead of flour.

<p>The post The Recipe Roundup: What I made, what worked, what didn’t first appeared on The Balanced Kitchen.</p>