aside from the last category on this page, i can personally vouch for each of these recipes as tasty and doable following these directions. very few of these recipes are totally original, but very few follow a single source with any degree of precision. i tell you this because you should totally modify these to taste and seek inspiration from other sources too. i religiously decrease salt amounts, remove green beans and olives, and usually eschew meat and occasionally pass on hard-to-find ingredients. also, i refuse to cook without love.

i welcome your feedback, modifications, and suggestions for future kitchen excursions! enjoy =) gently at gmail dot com

main courses

• mom's easy chick(en) squares. what you can make with meat or meat product, a block of cream cheese, an onion, and crescent rolls is pretty freakin' awesome.
• chicken pot pie. significantly more flavorful than what you've had before.
• thai green curry. recipe for the paste, suggestions for adding veg and cooking.
• my go to creamy orange curry. Still love it 20 years and 50 batches later.
• vegetable curry stir fry: just one way to do it. requires vindaloo seasoning, but you could reasonably substitute a greater amount of regular curry powder or just extra cumin and cardamom.
• simple sweet curry: (squash, pumpkin, sweet potato).
• moroccan stew: they call it "chick pea tagine" but i made it without the chickpeas and it was great. stew composed nearly completely of vegetables (plus olive oil and flour) yet darn tasty. simple in ingredients listing and quick to make (30 minutes total).
• shroom & fauxmeat stroganoff. possibly the most dairyfat-heavy recipe I've ever made, and deliciously rich as a result.
• best lasagna i've ever had. i didn't know the beauty of superlasagna before now! i guess you could add meat, but i didn't. part of what's amazing about this is that you don't need any spices, only garlic and fresh basil. like, not even salt.
• An even more complex, very rich and meaty lasagna from the show Lessons in Chemistry. Works fine with GF flour and noods!
• bacon pumpkin pasta (broken link, sorry). these things can always use more garlic. i wish i could recall more about this. it was tasty, though. it wasn't this recipe, but it might have been close. except i just cubed the pumpkin, didn't puree it.
• Ronda Levin's chiles rellenos: a casserole-style cheesefilled chile dish. fairly simple to make, extremely cheesey and tasty.
• Hannah's mac n cheese: uh, decadent! roux-and-real-cheese-based mac n cheese deserves to be served on silver.
• coconut chowder with scallops: an original creation of JasonW's and mine. can be made without scallops & butter and will be vegan then. lots of veggies and great flavor.
• veggie chili: a conglomeration of all the recipes i could find for veggie chili. a little bit of everything i like is in it, but it's more of an exploration of available options than a recipe. you can recreate the chili i made from it, though.
• vegetarian tortilla soup. most hearty!
• smoked salmon bisque. bisqueliness is next to godliness!
• Lizzie's sugared squash: very reminiscent of what they serve at magnolia cafe as curried pecan squash. yum+!
• curry faux-meat balls
• meaty italian meatballs
• peruvian quinoa: quinoa is a peruvian grain somewhat like rice, in that you cook it in water to make it edible and it expands vastly during cooking. however it has substantially more food value. the cool thing about this dish is that it keeps exceptionally well (in the fridge--but when camping in the desert we ate the leftovers out of the pot that had been sitting on the stove uncovered all night and it was STILL great). also the flavor only improves with time. you can also add just about anything you like to it. we've stuck TVP (textured vegetable protein), a variety of veggies, and just about every spice we could think of in it and never made a bad batch. you may need to cook it longer than specified especially if you start doubling the recipe. you'll be able to tell by tasting it when it's reached a good consistency. thanks to the CalTech Vegetarian Club for the recipe (via pal flex/MikeP).
• Makhani Chicken aka Indian butter chicken. followed the allrecipes recipe except: tripled the garlic and ginger, heavy cream instead of half & half, start out with a TBSP of butter along with the peanut oil for sauteeing and double other butter amounts, and skip the cornstarch, just use 1/4cup of ground raw cashews with half the suggested water as a thickener, add extra garam masala to all stages, and use some ground coriander as well. also puree the sauce after prep but before simmering with the chicken, so it's less lumpy. yeah, i should transcribe this, but i'm lazy. Also it needs more zazz somehow. haven't figured out how to do that without making it spicy. will try ground fenugreek, more coriander, and the bay leaf i didn't have handy next time! and maybe a dash of turmeric to make it yellow instead of pinkish...
• enchilidas aren't hard but a roux makes them delightful. I used fajita-marinated chicken and doubled the chiles and tossed in some chile powder.
• butter chicken that's easy. not as tasty as other makhani recipes but way simpler!
• great fried chicken. best fried chicken I've ever had. Intended for sandwich use but could eat'm straight.
• Very simple pad thai that was quick to make. Contrast with Alton Brown's pad thai which I have not made yet but is a bit more complex.
• Gavino's Instant Pot faux Barbacoa. Needs more seasoning and may work better with a bit less meat or chuck from not-the-cheap-case?
• Brisket in the crock pot. Don't even need a recipe - put it in fatty side down with a jar of marinade and half a jar of water, cook for 8 hours. Amazingly tender and savory meat (will want sauce, not quite good-without-accompaniment like the better BBQ restaurants are, but still really good if you find a cheap brisket!
• Egg Foo Young was interesting to make. Basically a shallow-fried omelette with gravy? I will get more adventurous with the added omelette ingredients next time if I make it again. It was good, and not too hard to make - but the cleanup was pretty tedious, both in number of dishes used and disposing of used oil and the cast iron cleaning...
• (simple) Garlic/beef/cheese/rice skillet. Could have used more veg or maybe some chilis or something to zazz it up.
• BBQ chicken twice-baked potatoes. Could be a side dish but this recipe is a whole potato per person. Don't worry about how big the potatoes are as you aren't going to scoop them out like traditional twice-baked, just shovel stuff on top of the already-baked-once potato before recooking. Good use for already-cooked chicken!
• baked chicken Katsu. This is the GF version but you could easily sub non-GF panko and flour if you don't have em. I didn't bother with the sauces but you do need SOME kinda sauce to go with it since the breading is pretty dry (crunchy!) even though the chicken is nice and moist even without marinating in buttermilk as I usually do. You'll benefit from a probe or meat thermometer to know when the chicken is done but not overdone. I paired with the simple Japanese cucumber salad below. Could use some rice or noodles on the side!
• Moussaka. Got the recipe from Stage West's 2025 Xmas card, oddly. It's pretty good if a bit effort intensive. Make it again without the eggplant or after sweating them a LOT better. Needs a very deep baking dish!!
• Potato Leek soup. So rich and creamy!

side dishes

• indian yogurt-cucumber dip (raita) and homemade simple flatbread to go with it. simple and sounding not nearly as tasty as it turns out to be. slightly zingy!
• pita bread. seriously authentic, not too much hassle.
• tomato pesto tart: four ingredients! incredibly easy! but looks like a million bucks and tastes super-rich. vegetables and less fidgety. if you're not making any side dishes with your pasta, this is what you want.
• samosas: once again, the highest uncommon denominator of the top 5 samosa-based web recipes, with a twist i created myself to make dessert samosas.
• baked brie: simple technique, a couple of easy options.
• spinach artichoke dip: i quadrupled the garlic, doubled the dill and basil, used sour cream instead of mayo, and used 1.5 cans of artichoke hearts. and it was good.
• brussels sprouts with bacon which was the belle of the ball at thanksgiving dinner. you could use nuts other than chestnuts if you wanted.
• green bean casserole that somehow makes me not hate to eat green beans. uses fresh beans and mushrooms instead of canned.
• you cannot make a richer, tastier cheesy garlic bread. trust me on this one.
• Mexican Street Corn (aka Elotes) via my sister Kim.
• sweet+savory baked brussels. The recipe is simple and tasty but need to work on my "crispy" technique while cooking - they were soggy but otherwise great.
• cheesy onion bread. Need to watch the video to really understand how best to make it and don't skimp on cooking time so that it really cooks through. worth another try for a party.
• Sweet potato salad with bacon. Really good! Maybe double the dressing while maintaining potato and celery and green onion amounts if you want it zestier, but def not required to be enjoyable!
• Maple-roasted brussels and butternut squash. My new favorite go-to brussels recipe. Turned out amazing and was much easier than bacon/onions version that used to be my go-to. I probably used extra maple and cinnamon compared to the recipe, and it was well loved all around.
• Tiago's mom's Brazilian cheesy bread (GF)
• Eva's Naan
• Japanese-ish Cucumber salad. Could use a touch more sugar in my opinion but pretty great! Here's another version I like without any changes though I think adding chopped avocado to either is a win.
• Navajo (?) fry bread. Better than the recipe I tried a decade ago for sure. Should add savory stuff to the dough next time!
• "Crack" potatoes super dairy bomb, really easy baked potato recipe. Can sub any savory protein for bacon (we used veggie sausage successfully, could use regular sausage or chicken too). Could take more veggies like sauteed onions, and did better with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese on top in the last 15 min to make em "pop".
• Kung Pao brussels. Could be a main if you added noodles?
• Cream cheese wontons (similar to crab rangoon, esp if you add some cooked shrimp or something).
• Another roasted beets/brussels recipe. It was good. Add some goat cheese at the end maybe?
• Crash hot potatoes are pretty simple but better than baked potatoes and healthier than french fries (maybe)

desserts

• infamous famous bacon chocolate chip cookies (broken link). go light on the chocolate chips, heavy on the butter. glaze + bacon topping are required for full enjoyment. the above recipe is an off-site link; since her blog went tits-up, i fortunately made a local mirror.
• pretty good pumpkin pie written in high Seussian style.
• not-quite as good still-warm pumpkin cheesecake-ish pie. just as good once it's been in the fridge for a few days tho!
• bacon fudge. who knew, fudge was so easy to make? and tasty too (local mirror of PDF version).
• bacon-pumpkin pie. it was awful. don't make this.
• vegan carrot cake. some of the best carrot cake i've ever had, and no butter? wtf! i will probably add pumpkin pie or apple pie style spice next time but the moisture and density level was perfect!
• multiberry crisp. if you have 6 cups of misc berries laying around, take them and a cup of butter (recipe calls for 4.5cups berries, 1.5cups butter), and otherwise follow this recipe exactly. made some extremely awesome accompaniment for ice cream!
• paula deen's bread pudding. she calls it "the best bread pudding recipe" and not only is it fucking divine it's also really easy to make and hard to screw up even if, like me, you're not so much a measurer of ingredients.
• corn-syrup-free pecan pie. it's better than the other kind, and i'm a texan so you can trust me on that...
• Marina's Pumpkin Cheesecake. Pretty easy for a cheesecake and pretty darn tasty. incredibly-dairy-heavy!
• Gluten free apple/pear crisp. I skipped the agave and apple juice and used butter instead. easy and taaasty.
• Gluten-free cheesecake. Pretty easy, if not cheap or fast. Allocate 8 hours to making this since you have to start by letting cream cheese come up to room temp, and it takes 5ish hours to bake, cool, and set the cake!
• GF Lava cake. Might need a lil cooking time adjustment for smaller cupcake-sized silicone baking thingies that we have, but seemed pretty good to me. Not sure Lori loved them...
• (simple) Garlic/beef/cheese/rice skillet
• real simple cottage cheese based chocolate mousse. Might like more cocoa / syrup and def wants whipped cream/etc toppings, but not bad!
• better mousse using nutella
• deep fried apples (worked fine with GF flour). Loved both sauces! Recipe made wy too much of the cream anglaise and frankly you probably only need to do a couple apples unless you are feeding 6+ - so you could reduce the batter by HALF and still have plenty!

sweet-but-not-quite-dessert bits

• they call it carrot souffle but it isn't that fragile. or souffle-shaped, really. i do, however, find it to be the best presentation of sweet carrots i've ever tasted--it's pretty fantastic and sugar/butter-riffic. not actually healthy. good to bring to potlucks, because it's dessert that you can eat before dessert-time =)
• vegan apple bread: extremely moist and dense (incredibly apple-laden) but tasty apple bread. also includes vegan frosting recipe! thanks to my cousin Rebecca.
• vegan banana bread: lighter but still full of fruity goodness. this recipe courtesy of my pal Johnbo.
• mom's banana bread: i grew up on this stuff. it's cheap & easy & so good.
• donuts. claimed to be like krispy kreme's. dunno about that, but tasty!
• someone else's mom's zucchini bread: simple & tasty.
• homemade granola. I might use less brown sugar, it's pretty sweet already. more cinnamon is ok too!

sauces/condiments

• Cynthia's fondue recipes: not really all that hard! swiss, and cheddar types.
• bread and butter pickled jalapenos: sweeter than your average store-bought pickled jalapenos; easy and cheap to make.
• Gavino's pizza sauce: guaranteed to make a better pizza sauce than you could possibly imagine.
• veggieriffic marinara sauce. I still prefer Gavino's version, but this is practically a meal's worth of food. Definitely worthy of a spaghetti-and-sauce-only dinner.
• hearty queso made with real cheese
• Easier queso that's still a bit better than velveeta and rotel
• my interpretation of mango chutney
• my favorite alfredo sauce
• curry guacamole. two great tastes that...you know.
• Chuy's jalapeno ranch. one of my all-time favorite condiments!
• Mole Coloradito sauce. Very yum - I want to drink it but it goes well on enchiladas or anything really. Needs way less stock (I used only 1 cup and it may have been too much) and less (or no?) oil when "fry/simmering" at the end. I also upped the chocolate a bit as suggested in the recipe.
• Tahini/soy drizzle sauce for everything. Didn't turn out to be amazing, except, amazingly simple!
• Sun-dried Tomato Pesto. Goes well on sandwiches!

beveragie

• hurricanes, the drink: my research on creating them via internet search engines, all distilled to one file.
• my sister Kim's mango lassi
• Mhat's hot chocolate. substantially better than swiss miss (but still in shelf-stable powder form)
• Actual hot chocolate made with, well, chocolate. And milk. And nothing else.
• Margaritas made with actual fruit are amazing. Does require a premium blender that can handle the tough stuff for a long time!
• Whipped lemonade is simple light sweet and tasty

things I will make someday soon

• Casey's frozen mango cocktail deliciousness
• Aeryn42's tuna tartare & Chrysta's ceviche
• potato/garlic soup from lori. she recommends more garlic (duh!), twice the roux, twice the sausage, and not draining the sausage.
• pad thai. mostly alton brown's doing.
• apple and sausage and cheese pie. why the hell not?
• seaweed risotto sounded good to me.
• sweet potato non-fried falafel. hmm...
• mujadra. sounds interesting and simple and hearty.
• tomato pie. to quote: Think pizza meets cheesy bread and they make-out in a pie crust.
• apple walnut gorgonzola tart. i love all those things! 4 great tastes that...well, you know.
• broccoli cheddar soup. i like all of her suggestions for modification. and it's not too complex, so that's nice.
• butternut squash-based pasta sauce. love'm squashes!
• @geekygirldawn's vegan cornmeal-based pizza crust..
• queso con rajas! gotta keep improving my queso game, even tho my recipe is pretty fucking awesome!
• jalapeno poppers, the next level. actually almost every damn recipe using crescent rolls on pillsbury.com looks mouthwatering. i'm starving. i should go eat something before i impulse buy a pallet of crescent rolls and spend the rest of my days experimenting.
• beer & cheese cupcakes. with bacon option. drool.
• april's spaghetti salad. was surprisingly tasty, gotta try it.
• Chili I helped my friend Cameron make--easier than my recipe but really tasty.
• some good punch i had at a party once.
• homemade ginger ale
• totally non racist black bean soup
• sweet apple baked omelette. curious!
• oriental cole slaw. well, it's simple, even camp-worthy...
• a, er, sausage-rice-thingy.
• deepak's easy pork mole.
• microwaveable hollandaisesauce.
• makhani panir!
• beety tart!
• decadent breakfast lasagna
• no-knead cast iron pan pizza
• herbal nyquil? sounds tasty and not actually healthy...
• "perfect" cheesecake?
• english muffin homemade
• no URL - was just recommended preparing corn for cooking by soaking in coconut milk.
• carrot butter?! Sounds divine.
• pistachio butter
• Reuben casserole. two great tastes?
• great roasted potatoes from Alton Brown
• nashville hot fried chicken
• Claire L.O. made this and fool sniped her recipe+changes: [...] made a few adjustments: sub 2/3 tbs. curry powder for paste, bottled ginger puree for fresh, a lemon's worth of zest for lemongrass, pickled jalapenos for fresh (less heat, more flavor), coconut cream (not milk), and add a shit ton of salt to bring out the flavors. Don't forget the coconut sugar, the instructions leave them out!
• Should attempt these porkchops, says Lori in Jul 2020
• butternut squash chili?
• tocino sweet filipino sausage recommended by Dennis
• Italian "fondue"
• carrot fritters I found accidentally once
• dumpling noodle soup sounds good
• sweet plantain gnocchi what?!
• Mie Goreng (similar to Pad Thai) from the NYT
• Goat Cheese and Dill dutch baby - might just take a shot at it with 1:1 GF flour?
• Cheese Dreams (could use GF bread)
• Alton Brown's cottage cheese cheesecake
• Lentil tomato soup sounds hearty without being all cream.
• Garlic/Chili rice noodley dish
• Bunch of broccoli and X ideas
• Gluten free naan?. Should re-read the recipe for Eva's before I try this.
• easy miso pasta
• Blistered broccoli pasta
• the easiest roasted chicken?. Comments suggest pre-heating the pan with the oven and also filling the pan with potatoes.
• intrigued by crispy rice salada
• Could I make my own Banh Mi?
• Cowboy Butter Melting Potatoes sure sound good.
• Fancy broccoli steaks?
• Some pretty great potato ideas
• Cowboy butter
• Pecan pie lasagna - looks pretty easy to do GF with GF graham crackers.
• rich choco cake, could probably make GF
• Lemon almond cake, could probably make GF
• No-bake pistachio cheesecake bars. But needs pistachio cream...
• Butter swim biscuits. look easy and comments say a straight GF flour sub just works!
• potatoes instead of noodles in lasagna?
• Lasagna roll-ups (quasienchiladas)
• ham and cheese savory bread pudding?
• Funeral potatoes - should check out other recipes too before just using this one.
• tater tot hot dish - should check out other recipes too before just using this one
• no bake lemon mousse
• marry me meatballs but meredith recommends finding a crockpot version that is even simpler. Not sure I'll be able to find GF frozen meatballs tho...
• Melting Spanokopita Cabbage. I'm interested in getting to know rich cabbage better. But most recipes ain't rich...