Recipes
Beef and Bean Taquitos with Avocado Sauce
'Tis the season for hosting parties. While sometimes that can be a bit stressful, the experts at Cook's Illustrated have come out with this book of 75 "only the best" appetizer recipes to reduce some of the stress. All-Time Best Appetizers Cookbook makes it easy to create a spread with everything from things that can be dipped, spread, or eaten by the handful to two-bite treats. These Beef and Bean Taquitos with Avocado Sauce are great for any get together...or for a "finger food" dinner. From the authors: "Why this recipe works - Making crunchy, golden taquitos is easy for restaurant cooks with access to a deep-fryer; our goal was to make them foolproof for home cooks, too. Adding mashed pinto beans to a seasoned ground beef filling and rolling the taquitos tightly helped the filling hold together. Sealing the edge with egg wash offered extra insurance, and frying in a mere cup of oil prevented the taquitos from unrolling as they cooked."
Learn moreLentil Loaf with Awesome Sauce
I've made this recipe for lentil loaf a million times. It is a go-to dish that keeps coming back around. Why? It's true the loaf is moist and flavorful, healthy, and satisfying. It's true that you can make it with just about any assortment of seasonal vegetables and spices. But the real reason is that the sauce is AWESOME. Seriously. For a family that loves to experiment with new dishes, the fact that we keep coming back to this recipe is a testament to its greatness.Credit goes to The Simple Veganista and her perfectly proportioned recipe for The Ultimate Vegetable Lentil Loaf. We've barely adapted it here. For our tastes, the secret is in the sauce, a simple blend of balsamic vinegar, ketchup and maple syrup, that pairs perfectly with all manner of flavors in the loaf. For this recipe I made it with New Mexico Chili Powder and our new Garlic Salt, but Sassy Steak Spice and Creole Seasoning also work well.
Learn moreBacon-Wrapped Ranch Poppers
Warm up the grill for your next BBQ with these flavorful poppers! The jalapeños are filled with cream cheese spiked with our Ranch Seasoning and then wrapped in bacon for the perfect bite. They disappear quickly, so plan on cooking up several rounds.
Learn moreAncho Chili Beef Empanadas
Who doesn't love food that you can hold in your hand? The beauty of empanadas is that the rich, buttery dough can be filled with almost anything - sweet or savory. Our Ancho Chili Powder is mild-medium in heat and adds magnificent depth to the beef and vegetable filling we chose. Ancho chiles have a wonderful, darkly sweet flavor, so we added a little Alderwood Smoked Salt for just a touch of smoky contrast. They can be served either hot or at room temperature - we like ours with salsa, sour cream and a Hibiscus Margarita.
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