This seaweed salad is colorful, delicious, and boldly flavored with sesame dressing. If you enjoy seaweed salads at Japanese restaurants, try this fun twist on the concept. Many prepared seaweed salads are colored with food dyes, but this one obtains its lively color from veggies.

If you’re relatively new to seaweed, like I am, this salad offers a great introduction. It calls for arame, which has a more mild and sweet flavor compared to other seaweed varieties. The crisp textures of cabbage and bell pepper, combined with soy sauce and ginger, contrast beautifully with the seaweed.

This salad is the perfect way to incorporate nutritious seaweed into your diet. Seaweed’s nutritional benefits vary depending on the specific variety, but they are often a good source of fiber, iodine, potassium and magnesium, among others. I try to consume a wide variety of whole foods, so seaweed is a welcome addition.

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This homemade sesame dressing offers bold flavor for your homemade salads. It requires just four core ingredients: toasted sesame oil, tamari or soy sauce, lime juice, and a dab of Dijon mustard.

If you have the time and energy, add freshly toasted sesame seeds, fresh ginger, and garlic. They ramp up the flavor, but this dressing is already delicious in its simplest form.

Make this sesame dressing when you’re craving a green side salad. It’s easy to whisk together from basic pantry ingredients, and it tastes so much better than store-bought dressings.

I created this dressing recipe to serve over this seaweed salad, but it goes with so much more. Below is a full list of suggestions for making your own salad tonight!

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This Kalamata olive-flavored white bean dip is the recipe you didn’t know you needed. Sure, it’s not the most appetizing-looking appetizer out there, but it’s delicious and easy to make. It’s a nice alternative to hummus and a lovely way to savor Kalamata olive flavor without feeling overwhelmed by the saltiness.

This recipe was inspired by an appetizer we ordered at Lidia’s, a local Kansas City restaurant owned by renowned chef Lidia Bastianich. Some white bean dips are downright unappetizing—they can be gloppy, too salty, or flavorless—but not this one. The Kalamata olives lend welcome richness in both texture and flavor.

To make this recipe, you’ll need just a few basic ingredients—white beans (I used Cannellini, but Great Northern would also work), pitted Kalamata olives (plus a splash of brine), olive oil, salt and pepper, and an optional sprinkle of fresh basil. You’ll find serving suggestions and the full recipe below.

This white bean dip is a great impromptu recipe to whip together when guests are on their way. I’m always scrambling before guests arrive, so I like to have a repertoire of easy recipes that I can pull together in no time. This one is a winner! I hope you’ll bookmark it to make soon.

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Have you experienced cashew butter? It is sublime and somehow much more delicious than a handful of toasted cashews. A spoonful of homemade cashew butter tastes like a treat. It’s nearly as enticing as cookie dough, as far as I’m concerned—sometimes, I add a few chocolate chips to achieve the full cookie dough effect.

This homemade cashew butter recipe is easy to make in a food processor. The trick is to lightly toast your cashews before blending for the best flavor and texture. Even then, cashew butter has a more neutral flavor than most other nut butter. It’s quite versatile.

Homemade cashew butter contains no additives like sunflower oil; it’s made simply with cashews and a dash of salt to enhance the flavor. Since it is so fresh, it offers better flavor than store-bought options.

Store-bought cashew butter can be quite expensive—I often balk at the nearly twenty-dollar jars at Whole Foods. Making it at home can cost half as much. We could get into a philosophical debate about time versus money, or make cashew butter in the same length of time. Let’s make some already.

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Make this cilantro lime dressing recipe the next time you prepare a Mexican meal. It’s bright, sunny and fresh! This dressing is boldly flavored with fresh lime, olive oil, cilantro, garlic, honey, cumin and Dijon mustard. You can make it creamy or spicy if you wish.

Drizzle this dressing over crisp greens with sliced avocado and toasted pepitas for a perfectly simple side salad. You’ll find a longer list of salad toppings to choose from below.

I improvised this dressing to make a green salad with leftovers from my Fajita Veggie & Halloumi Bowls, and I loved it so much that I wanted to share it with you. It’s almost as versatile as my favorite Lemon Vinaigrette and suits some flavors even better.

This dressing comes together quickly in the food processor and keeps in the refrigerator for up to one week. Sometimes having a vibrant sauce on hand makes all the difference!

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These almond flour pancakes offer fantastic flavor. Truly, I’d pick these over buttermilk pancakes at a diner. They’re golden, tender and so flavorful that I often enjoy them with just a spread of almond butter on top. Our two-year-old is a fan, too.

Since these pancakes are made entirely with almond flour, they’re gluten free. Of all the wholesome pancake recipes on this blog, these win the “lowest in carbohydrates” award, so they don’t spike my blood sugar. This pancake recipe is a real winner.

If you’re new to almond flour, this recipe is worth buying a bag. I’ve fallen in love with baking with almond flour and have several more recipes coming soon. I’ve realized that regular flour, whether it’s all-purpose or whole wheat, tends to dull other flavors within the recipe, whereas almond flour lets them shine. It’s magical!

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Love a good paloma? Me, too. The paloma is a delightfully fizzy grapefruit, lime and tequila cocktail hailing from Mexico. If you enjoy a Greyhound, grapefruit margarita or ranch water, this cooling drink is right up your alley.

South of the border, palomas are typically made with grapefruit soda like Squirt or Jarritos, which taste similar to Sprite to me. Up here, bartenders often mix them with fresh grapefruit juice and sparkling water instead. I prefer mine to be less sweet and more citrusy, so I love the made-from-scratch option.

This paloma recipe is made from scratch with basic ingredients. You’ll need tequila, fresh grapefruit and lime, simple syrup (which is very easy to make), and Topo Chico or sparkling water. Make them at home with top-shelf tequila and you’ll enjoy a better paloma for less money than you’d pay a restaurant.

To make this paloma, we’ll shake everything but the Topo Chico in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shaking the ingredients together yields the kind of paloma you’d receive at a fancy cocktail bar. It’s a brief step that is worth the extra effort.

Finally, we’ll pour the mixture into a glass filled with ice and top it with Topo Chico to retain all those glorious bubbles. You can watch how it all comes together in the brief video below.

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Want to roast chickpeas that are actually crispy? You’re in the right place. I’ve cracked the code, and I’m here to share it with you. These roasted chickpeas are a delightful snack rich in protein and fiber. They’re also great sprinkled over hummus and salads.

To be honest, I never loved roasted chickpeas until I learned how to make them this way. They were always just ok—warm and lightly crisp on the outside but unchanged on the inside. They didn’t feel worth the effort when chickpeas warmed on the stove are nice already.

These roasted chickpeas are legitimately so gloriously crisp that they are popcorn-level irresistible. In fact, they’re so crisp throughout that you should serve them with a drink to help wash them down.

The trick is in the method. I found some helpful clues in a New York Times recipe by Colu Henry and tweaked the method from there. It took ten tries to ensure we had landed on the very best technique, and I found several fun flavor variations along the way. Here we go!

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Friends coming over? Make this baked goat cheese! It’s warm, creamy, tangy but lightly sweetened with honey, and a touch savory.

This irresistible appetizer comes together quickly in a food processor with simple ingredients. We’ll whip the goat cheese with cream cheese, honey, garlic and seasonings. Once baked, this dip is your favorite restaurant-level delicious.

I modeled this recipe after the lovely goat cheese dip at Rye, a restaurant in Kansas City. We visited a couple of times to research the French Blond Cocktail (reportedly Taylor Swift’s favorite!) and I remembered how much I love their goat cheese appetizer.

I asked about the ingredients and came home determined to recreate it. I’ve simplified the ingredients a bit, but this dip is just as nice. I hope you’ll try it!

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Posset is a rich, creamy, citrusy British dessert. The balanced lemon flavor teeters irresistibly between tangy and sweet. A little goes a long way, so it’s perfect after a big meal. I’m downright obsessed with this recipe. Keep reading and you’ll see why!

Posset is an easy make-ahead dessert to offer at parties in individual servings. It would be lovely at Easter and Mother’s Day celebrations, baby showers, dinner parties, and more.

To make posset, you’ll need just four ingredients—heavy cream, sugar, lemons and vanilla extract—and a few extra hours to chill it in the refrigerator. You can make posset the night before and even freeze the leftovers.

Posset has been consumed in Britain for well over 600 years, though it was originally a hot drink made from sweetened, curdled milk mixed with wine or ale. It was often served to help cure colds or fevers. The modern chilled citrus and cream version came to be in the twentieth century. Since the recipe is British, posset is pronounced like “pocket” but with an s.

I first attempted posset for my cookbook, but I overcomplicated the recipe by trying to serve the posset like cheesecake squares over graham cracker crust. In hindsight, it’s best served simply in small containers, and garnished as desired. Years later, my husband reminded me of posset after he made some on a whim after finding the concept on Instagram.

I pulled out my old notes and tweaked the amounts of cream to use one full pint, used just enough sugar so it’s not too sweet, and specified the exact amounts of lemon zest and lemon juice rather than calling for two or three lemons, which always vary in size. To achieve a consistent consistency, I found a trick from America’s Test Kitchen—we’ll know the mixture is done simmering once it has reduced to two cups. This tested and perfected recipe is ready for your kitchen!

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