Weekend Cooking: 4 Winning Recipes

Happy Saturday, my friends. If you're in the Northern Hemisphere, I hope you are seeing the end of the unbearably hot weather for a while. I'm so glad things have moderated a bit here in Pennsylvania. For those of you on the other side of the equator, let's hope winter has done its worst and signs of spring have arrived.

Most of my cooking lately has been from tried-and-true recipes or from online sources. I have a couple of new cookbooks and food-related books to talk about, but today I want to alert you to four new-to-me recipes that have earned a spot in my permanent files.

Let's start with dessert first. I was looking for a sheet cake to make for July 4 and came across this one from Six Sisters' Stuff. If you don't know about Six Sisters, you should check out their website and YouTube channel. It's true that many of their recipes rely on processed foods (like cream-of ___ soup), but you can also discover some real gems, like this cake. I find their recipes to be reliable and delish.

The cake came out moist and light, and it was truly good. In fact, our dinner guests asked for the recipe. In case you're not sure, the correct pan size for this Easy White Texas Sheet Cake is a half-sheet pan. I looked for red, white, and blue sprinkles, but my grocery store was out of them, so I used the standard mix of colors. The website says the cake freezes well, so that's what we did with the leftovers. We'll have cake again later in the summer.

You may recall that we are now getting the bulk of our meat from Butcherbox. We've been with them for over a year and have never had a bad piece of meat. When we first signed up, we used a friend's discount code; if you're interested, mine's here: $30 discount to Butcherbox (I will also get a $30 credit if you use the code). Anyway, their site also includes tips for cooking various cuts of meat, informative videos, and recipes.

I decided to give their Easy Braised Eye Round a try. Our roast was about 2 pounds, and I used a meat rub from the cookbook BBQ&A (recipe available on my blog here). I followed the beef recipe exactly. We sliced the roast across the grain and made hot sandwiches: we put mustard on ciabatta rolls, then the meat, and topped with the oniony sauce. Yum!! (Photo from the Butcherbox site.)

The next recipe is vegetarian, but it could easily be made vegan by substituting something for the feta cheese. This main-dish grain bowl comes from one of my favorite recipe sites: Budget Bytes. I wrote about the Budget Byte cookbook a few years ago and still use that book and the website frequently.

The recipe for Kale and White Bean Power Bowls says it serves four, and that was just about spot-on; we had it for dinner two nights in a row. This was really good just as written. When I made the vinaigrette, I was worried there wouldn't be enough, but it was perfect. Instead of separating the servings, I put the rice in the bottom of a serving dish, tossed the kale and beans with the dressing, and scattered on the toppings. The dish held up beautifully for two days, even with the vinaigrette. I used oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes. Note: next time, I'm going to skip sauteing the kale; instead I'll wilt it under boiling water and add extra garlic to the dressing.

Finally, I made a ramen noodle and chicken dish from Epicurious, another recipe site I use all the time. This is billed as "a perfect summer picnic dish," and I would have to agree. It was all that we could do to not eat the entire salad in one sitting. It was really just that good. And it would defintely be fine as a picnic dish, because it was just as good the second night as it was the first.

The Garlicky Instant Ramen Noodle Salad with Grilled Chicken Thighs was easy to put together. I made only a couple of simple changes. First, I used cilantro leaves and stems (no roots) in the marinade. Second, as is often the case, Wegman's was out of Fresno chiles, so I used jalapenos. Third, I had a fresh lettuce mix from a neighbor's garden, so I used that instead of romaine. Finally, I have a mild peanut allergy, so I used sliced almonds instead. I would make this again and again. It was truly a winner. (Photo from the Epicurious site.)

I plan to catch up on your Weekend Cooking posts from last week as well as from this week as soon as possible. We have a couple of family activities this weekend (including a christening!) that will take me away from my phone and computer.

Shared with Weekend Cooking, hosted by Marg at The Intrepid Reader (and Baker)