Thursday Thirteen #418

 

But I don't cook! I was having a tough time thinking of an idea for this week's TT when voila! The Old Farmer's Almanac Readers' Best Recipes came in the mail.* Problem solved. I don't cook and normally I'd just put this booklet downstairs in our shared laundry room for someone who might want it – and that's where it will still end up – but it does give me fodder for a post.

Each of these recipes was submitted to the Old Farmer's Almanac by a reader and then taste tested by their kitchen team. If one of them looks tempting to you, you can find the full recipe and a photo at Almanac.com. 

1. Stuffed French Toast. It's baked in the oven instead of fried on the stove top, so you use less butter and clean up is easier.

2. Florentine Spinach Dip. This recipe has a lot of cheese in it, which sounds good to me. The Almanac taste testers agree. One even asked to lick the casserole bowl. 

3. Apple Slaw with Honey Mustard Vinaigrette. A light side dish. "The sweetness of the apple and honey complements the green onions, mustard and vinegar."

4. Slow Cooker French Onion Soup. I see there's Parmesan in the recipe, which I'm sure enhances it. The Almanac team reports that it's "very good and very easy to make."

5. Blue Cheese Brussels Sprouts. OK, this one doesn't appeal to me at all. It's a baked dish, which I suppose is a good way to prepare Brussels sprouts – if you like that sort of thing.

6. Not-Too-Spicy Veggie and Lentil Chili. It's a one-pot recipe that can be prepared on a slow cooker (which I'd expect) or on a stove top. 

7. Traditional Potato Salad. I smiled when I saw this recipe because it includes both Miracle Whip and mayonnaise. Maybe potato salad could have resolved the long-running, good-natured argument between my mom (Team Miracle Whip) and my niece (Mayo Forever!).

8. Celebration Meatballs. Do you like your meatballs spicy or mild? This recipe gives you ideas for how to dial up, or down, the spice in the sauce.

9. Oatmeal Berry Bars. I like this one because like #8, we're given an easy way to adapt this one. If you prefer your bars extra chewy, substitute almond meal for half the flour. 

10. Hawaiian Shrimp Tacos. Shrimp, with pineapple salsa and wasabi dressing. While the tacos are definitely neat looking, this one looks like a lot of work. The pineapple salsa also works well on salmon.

11. Kat's Tortellini Salad. Now this one, on the other hand, looks pretty easy. Except for the sliced, marinated artichoke hearts. I wouldn't do that myself, I'd use the store bought ones. But that's me. In culinary terms, I'm just one notch above a savage.

12. Nana's Apple Pecan Cake. Here's something I never notice or consider: When slicing cake, do frosting or crumbs stick on the knife? Apparently this is a big deal to people who take this baking thing seriously. So here's a pecan cake that's easy to slice into "clean" slices.

13. Fresh Mexican Salsa. This recipe was developed by an American living in Tokyo. She missed Mexican food and experimented with ingredients available to her over there. When she landed on this recipe, she not only used it for chips and dips, she spooned it onto scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Let me know if any of these appeal to you. Remember, you can find the full recipes  at Almanac.com. 

Please join us for THURSDAY THIRTEEN. Click here to play along, and to see other interesting compilations of 13 things.

 

*It was included in a fundraising appeal for Boys Town.