Honey Nut Carrots
Before I started sharing my recipes online, my social media was dedicated to sharing my life and outfits. I always loved cooking for friends and family, but I never thought my audience would care about kitchen content. When I got to college, I noticed many of my friends living in dorms or campus apartments wanted to cook for themselves but didn’t know where to start. That’s when I decided to incorporate cooking content into my overall social media presence, aiming to share easy, approachable recipes that even the most amateur cooks could make with limited time and equipment. One of the first recipes I shared was my simplified honey nut carrots—carrots roasted with sweet honey and crunchy nuts. I’ve been making this easy side dish for years as a fun way to make vegetables more appealing. Over time, I’ve made a few improvements, like adding a bit of Calabrian chili for spice and goat cheese for a tangy contrast to the honey, but the simplicity of the recipe remains the same. The carrots come out perfectly roasted, their natural sweetness enhanced by the honey, while the nuts add a delightful crunch. The goat cheese brings a creamy, tangy element that cuts through the richness, and the Calabrian chili has just the right amount of heat to balance the flavors. These Honey Nut Carrots are versatile. They pair beautifully with roasted meats, fish, or grilled dishes, and their vibrant color and flavors make them a standout on any dinner table. Easy enough to throw together in a pinch, yet impressive enough to serve at a holiday meal or barbecue.
Charred Broccolini
I like crushable dishes that are a bit wabi-sabi. The char on the veg, the chop on the nuts—they don’t need to be consistent to be delicious. If you find broccolini that’s starting to flower, all the better. It’s messed up, it’s beautiful, and it’s going to be delicious, because you’re hitting it with layers of fat, abetted by grains of paradise, a genius African spice that looks like black pepper but tastes like black pepper with cake spices thrown in.Serve this immediately, while the pecorino romano is still melty. You likely won’t use all the anchovy-garlic oil, but the rest will keep, in the fridge in an airtight container, for up to 1 week.
Hasselback Potatoes
These potatoes are a lot easier to master than you would think. The magic happens when you add butter and leave them to do their thing in the oven. (I’ve also included a clever little hack for making the vertical cuts.) They are a great side dish for a celebratory meal and an ideal accompaniment to a good steak.
Potato-Cauli Mash with Yogurt and Chives
It definitely scratches the itch for mashed potatoes, but the cauliflower and yogurt make it feel much lighter and like something we could easily incorporate into our regular rotation.
Turmeric Pickled Turnips
A quick-pickled veg always adds a ton of dynamic flavor to sandwiches, salads, cheese boards—you name it. Plus, it’s a way to use up extra produce before it goes bad. This brine works well with carrots, onions, radishes, and zucchini, too.
Delicata Squash and Frisée Salad with Dates and Pepitas
We are firmly in the “Your Thanksgiving Menu Needs a Salad” camp. We want at least one bite to be raw, crunchy, and acidic to counter all the heavy stuff. This offering is a great compromise for salad lovers and haters alike. It has a piquant sherry-mustard dressing and bitter frisée—a welcome break for your palate—but it’s balanced by rich roasted squash, sweet chewy dates, and nutty pepitas.
Green Beans in Spicy Brown Butter with Crispy Shallots
Traditional green bean casserole is perhaps more delicious as a memory than it is in reality. It’s an incredibly rich belly bomb, and making it is kind of a production. We wanted to take our favorite things about it (butter, tender green beans, crispy onions) and add some elements to brighten it up (sriracha, lemon). This version hits all the marks, and it does so with only 7 ingredients. Huzzah!
Roasted Carrots with Miso, Honey, and Walnuts
The combination of sweet, sticky honey and toasted walnuts conjures up memories of the takeout classic honey-walnut shrimp. But this carrot-inspired rendition is a lot less treacly and a lot more umami-packed, thanks to the miso. The fresh garlic and scallions add a pungent bite, which keeps this whole situation balanced.
Japanese Sweet Potatoes with Lime-Tahini Yogurt
You could easily serve this year-round. We like it as a grown-up alternative to the sugar-laden sweet potato dish you normally see on Thanksgiving. Not that we’re trying to cut the sugar per se (it is a holiday after all), but Japanese sweet potatoes are already plenty sweet, and the tart and creamy lime-tahini yogurt keeps this dish in decidedly savory territory.
Sweet Potato Curly Fries
"Ever since I realized that I could use my spiralizer to make curly fries, life hasn’t been the same. Not only are these fries adorable, but the spiralizing process cuts the baking time down by more than half, which is invaluable when you’re pressed for time."
Broccolini with Ginger, Garlic, and Tamari
Just about anything tastes amazing when it's tossed with tamari, toasted sesame oil, garlic, and ginger, and broccolini is no exception. Simple, clean, and totally satisfying, this easy side provides a dose of green to balance out the scallion pancakes and sticky, saucy chicken on your table.