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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The Americano cocktail is a fizzy, bittersweet drink with Italian origins. It’s the perfect aperitivo before dinner or a refreshing weekend afternoon sipper. The Americano is a unique spritz that strikes the elusive balance between bitter and sweet. This cold, bubbly drink is lovely on a hot day, yet the complex, warming flavors are equally welcome before Thanksgiving supper.

Americano cocktails are made with Campari, sweet vermouth and club soda. If you love a Negroni, this drink is right up your alley. The Americano is served in a taller glass with club soda instead of gin, and the Negroni is actually a derivative of the Americano. Don’t write off this cocktail if you don’t like Negronis, though (I don’t!). It’s like a Negroni light, and you can adjust it to suit your preferences.

Americano cocktails have nothing in common with Americano coffee, except that they were both popularized by Americans visiting Italy. Apparently, the Americano is based on another drink, the Milano-Torino, which is made with just Campari and Vermouth di Torino. There are several origin stories, and I’m not sure which one is true. All I know is that this is a nice cocktail! I hope you enjoy it.

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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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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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These thumbprint cookies offer classic shortbread flavor with dazzling jam centers. Using almond flour makes them gluten free and extra delicious! They’re tender and buttery with a pop of sweetness in the center. Make these irresistible cookies for any special occasion, or just because.

This thumbprint cookie recipe is honestly so easy to make. You don’t need a mixer. You don’t need to wait for perfectly softened butter. You don’t need to chill the dough before baking. The dough comes together so quickly and rolls so easily that this recipe would be a fun baking project with kids. If you don’t typically bake with almond flour, this recipe is absolutely worth buying the bag.

Thumbprint cookies are particularly fun and versatile because you can change the flavor and the color of the centers by your choice of jam. These treats are perfect for the holidays, like Valentine’s Day (I suggest raspberry or strawberry filling), Easter (try several jams for a fun color mix), Independence Day (perhaps raspberry and blueberry), and Christmas (anything red).

For those with special diet considerations, I’ll point out that this recipe happens to be gluten free and egg free. You can make it dairy free and vegan by substituting coconut oil for the butter (see recipe notes). It’s also partially naturally sweetened with maple syrup. Of course, the recipe is not nut free due to the almond flour, but it might be just the cookie you’ve been searching for.

I’ve been perfecting this recipe over the past couple of months. I’m just so excited to share it with you! I hope it becomes a go-to recipe for you, too.

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Bored by your dinner plans? This green goddess tahini will liven up any basic meal! I’m always so happy to have it in the refrigerator to serve as an appetizer or snack.

A dollop or two brings together random leftovers and simple meals made with veggies, greens, whole grains or beans. You can also spread it onto your sandwiches or wraps. Green goddess tahini is here to save the day. You’ll find many more serving suggestions below.

This recipe was inspired by a similar dip that I grabbed at Whole Foods before hosting girls’ night (Falafel King brand). A couple of my friends follow dairy-free diets, so I’m always looking for fun options that satisfy our requirements. As the night went on, we all fell in love with this vegan dip—it’s creamy, rich yet fresh, and satisfying. It’s irresistible.

So, I combined my Best Tahini Sauce (truly the best) with the herbs from my Easy Green Goddess Dressing, and here you have it. You can make this recipe with any combination of cilantro, parsley, basil, dill and/or mint. Add a small handful of fresh tarragon if you can find it for that characteristic green goddess flavor. This dip (or sauce) is lovely in any season. I hope you fall in love with it!

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Have you tried a ranch water cocktail? If not, let me introduce you! Essentially a tall tequila soda with extra lime, the ranch water is more than the sum of its parts. If you use a great tequila and Topo Chico, it tastes quite special.

The ranch water is like a bubbly, light and totally unsweetened margarita. If even “skinny” margaritas are sometimes too sweet for you, try a ranch water instead. It’s super refreshing and perfect on a hot day. When I’m at a bar without an exciting wine list, the ranch water is my go-to drink order regardless of the season.

Ranch waters hail from Texas, with Ranch 616 in Austin claiming to be “home to the original ranch water.” I honestly can’t recall when I first tried a ranch water—maybe it was during my month in Austin in 2015, or sometime in between. My brother lives in West Texas and I was delighted to discover ranch waters at his wedding reception a few years ago.

Pre-made ranch water cocktails in cans are becoming more popular, but you can’t beat a homemade ranch water made with good tequila, bubbly Topo Chico and fresh lime. They’re so easy to make. Find my recipe below!

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These chimichurri chickpeas are bold, hearty and zippy. This simple dish features tender chickpeas, crumbled feta cheese, and homemade chimichurri sauce. It’s ready in about fifteen minutes.

Chimichurri verde hails from Argentina and is typically served on steak, though I love it in many other preparations. It’s a bright herbed sauce made with fresh parsley, garlic, red onion, red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.

While traditionally made with a mortar and pestle, my preparation method uses the food processor as much as possible, so it comes together very quickly.

You could call this recipe is a collision of leftovers or, better yet, a happy coincidence. This summer, we invited friends over to grill and I made my chimichurri sauce to go with our meal. I was thrilled when one of our friends took his first bite and demanded the recipe.

We had a bit of sauce leftover, so I stashed it in the refrigerator near some extra chickpeas. The combination proved fantastic once I added some creamy, tangy feta cheese.

While the sauce is Argentinean, this dish’s flavor profile is more recognizably Mediterranean. I love this lively side dish, and I hope you do, too.

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Brighten your day with this chipotle salsa recipe! Make it for an afternoon snack with tortilla chips, or serve it alongside your favorite Mexican recipes. This chipotle salsa is a little smoky, somewhat spicy (or downright spicy, if you wish), and totally irresistible.

This salsa is based on my go-to red salsa recipe, with the addition of smoky chipotle peppers. Chipotle peppers are vine-ripened jalapeños that are smoked and dried, so they offer great depth of flavor. For this recipe, we’ll use chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, so they’re ready to blend into the salsa.

This chipotle salsa requires only seven basic ingredients, and the end result tastes so fresh. You’ll need canned tomatoes, onion and garlic, fresh cilantro, jalapeño and chipotle peppers, and fresh lime.

This chipotle salsa is easy to make and comes together in about 10 minutes. Keep reading for a few more tips and the full recipe. I hope you love this one as much as I do.

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