For me, March was about 3 things: continuing the adventure of turning anything and everything into a savory pie; absolutely BOMBING in my March Madness bracket, which is a rude and relatively unusual experience for me (Illinois why you gotta do me like that??); and rediscovering how much I love my sous vide machine. Minus one VERY weird egg experience I’m not eager to repeat, it’s never done me wrong. I mainly use it to cook fish, which it does to consistent perfection– far better than I could without it– but I’m resolving here and now to actually use it for something else, sometime this year. And I wrote it down, and I wrote it on the internet, so now I have to do it. That’s the rules. Guess it’s a good thing I never wrote down that I was gonna win March Madness…or wait maybe I should have???
March Faves
#1: Lamb-spanikopita pie. The Book on Pie is SO FULL of creative pie-deas and, in addition to supplying me with the you-can-do-it rough puff pastry recipe I didn’t know I needed, it totally has my creative pie juices flowing. This Greek-y one is my fave so far, but I’m far from done. All the savory pies, forever!
#2: Feta-brined crispy chicken thighs with harissa chickpeas
#3: Chickpea and carrot salad with harissa tahini dressing, feta, and pistachios
Honorary Mention: The honey mustard-almond glaze situation from this Ali Slagle recipe (I love Ali’s recipes so much). We love a tray bake in this house, but this takes ’em to the next level.
- Roasted Ratatouille salad with grilled halloumi
- Tray bake: crispy tofu, red onion, and asparagus with maple-soy glaze
- Zucchini, spinach, cauliflower, and shrimp coconut curry on brown rice
- Pistachio browned butter scallops with roasted carrot puree
- Pizza: homemade marinara, burrata, castelvetrano olives, and salami on 72-hour dough
- Farro nicoise-ish salad with greens, sous vide tuna confit (highly recommend!), olives, soft-boiled eggs, cucumber, and red onion (I used this dressing recipe)
- Sheet pan sausage and brussels sprouts with honey mustard
- Chickpea and carrot salad with harissa tahini dressing, feta, and pistachios (leftovers make for a stellar lunch the next day!)
- Crispy tofu and green beans with maple-gochujang glaze and cauliflower rice
- Homemade hamburger helper
- French onion beef pie (using, as ever, Erin McDowell’s rough puff pastry dough)
- Baked farro and lentils with tomato, feta, and harissa
- Quinoa and spring greens salad with sugar snap peas, shredded carrot, pistachios, and yogurt-feta dressing
- Feta-brined chicken thighs with harissa chickpeas
- Grilled swordfish and shredded brussels sprouts salad with balsamic-candied walnuts and ricotta salata
- Crispy-skinned (or not so crispy in this case because I’m terrible at crisping fish skin) sous vide salmon and brussels sprouts with peanut vinaigrette
- Pizza: roasted tomato sauce, asparagus, kalamata, red onion, and fontina on 72-hour dough
- Creamy potato soup with kale and Portuguese chorizo
- Braised lamb leg, gigante beans, and olive and feta-stuffed focaccia (using Samin Nosrat’s focaccia recipe/method)
- Lamb-spanikopita pie (again with Erin McDowell’s rough puff pastry dough)
- Leftover gigante beans and lamb leg with roasted zucchini with mozzarella and garlicky bread crumbs
- Tray bake: bacon, tomato, broccoli, and gnocchi
- Tray bake: brussels sprouts, sweet potato, and halloumi with honey mustard
Law and Lentils 