Happy Herbivore: Light & Lean by Lindsay S. Nixon
Recipe: "Cheater" Peanut Butter Muffins
Baked by: Fay Verburg, Associate Director, Reese Library
"I made "Cheater" Peanut Butter Muffins from the Happy Herbivore Light & Lean cookbook by Lindsay Nixon. I have several printed cookbooks by the same author, and I use them frequently. I chose this recipe as I knew I had most of the necessary ingredients at hand. I used regular flour instead of white whole-wheat flour, and I did not have any nondairy milk, so I used 2% milk instead. The muffins do not have any eggs in them since this is a vegetarian/vegan recipe. I liked the taste of the muffins, but they came out rather dense and lacked the typical cake-like muffin consistency. Easy to bake-easy to eat!"
The Columbia Restaurant Spanish Cookbook by Adela Hernandez Gonzmart and Ferdie Pacheco
Recipe: Chicken Diablo
Cooked by: Thomas Weeks, Reference & Instruction Librarian, Reese Library
"I enjoyed this chicken! It was spicy with a bit of a sweet undertone. I’ve never really tasted anything like it before, so that was good! It was pretty easy to make, but does take some time because you have to let the chicken marinate for 2 hours. I actually halved the amount of hot sauce to ¼ cup because I was almost out and I thought it was still plenty spicy. Additionally, I put too much sauce in the skillet, so they didn’t brown very well. I served it with roasted asparagus and black beans and rice and it was a delicious meal!"
Cooking the French Way by Lynn Marie Waldee
Recipe: Strawberry Crepes
Cooked by: Sandra Bandy, Assistant Director for Content Management, Greenblatt Library
"In order to make Crepes with Strawberries from the cookbook, Cooking the French Way, I had to use 3 different recipes in the cookbook. The end result was delicious. The batter wasn’t sweet. It had a firm texture to hold the strawberry mixture while folding.
Here are a few tips I would suggest. First, I used whole milk. The recipe only indicated milk. In order for me to coat the entire bottom of the pan, I used ½ cup of batter. The crepes were slightly thicker than an authentic French crepe. I would suggest ¼ cup of batter and really swirl the mixture to coat the bottom. Medium-high heat the batter cooked much faster than 2 minutes so watch for firmness. I used tongs instead of a fork to flip the batter, more control and less opportunity to tear your crepe. For 3 cups of fresh strawberries, a ½ of cup sugar was too much. Cut down on the amount of sugar to really taste fresh strawberries. With a little more practice, this recipe was quick and easy. Friends and family would enjoy this for a dessert or a morning breakfast."
The Grit Restaurant Vegetarian Cookbook by Jessica Greene & Ted Hafer
Recipe: Grit Salsa
Cooked by: Bettina Askew, Medical Library Associate, Greenblatt Library
"Since I’ve been quarantining, my fridge hasn’t had as much fresh food in it as usual. I’ve been craving some fresh salsa and I thought it would be worth a quick grocery trip. The Grit (located in Athens, GA) is a favorite restaurant of mine so I was excited when I saw we have the cookbook. The recipe turned out really well, it was super tasty! I accidentally went a little crazy with the onions, but luckily no one has to smell my breath since we’re social distancing."
The Good Fork Cookbook by Sohui Kim
Recipe: Chilaquiles
Cooked by: Ali Gomez, Access Services Librarian, Greenblatt Library
"This dish is a spicy, filling delight! It’s easy to improvise too if you can’t get all the ingredients. My version skipped the radishes and added some improvised refried black beans. They’re sure to mess up your kitchen, requiring a bunch of pots and pans. But I really don’t have much else to do but clean anyway, and they are so worth it!"
The Craft Beer Kitchen by Cooper Brunk
Recipe: Beer-Bread French Toast with Maple Nut Brown Ale Syrup
Cooked by: Jacob Gallay, Clinical Information Librarian, Greenblatt Library
"I chose this recipe because it required baking bread. I’ve made some instant breads from packaging before, but I’ve never had to create dough from scratch, proof it, punch it, let it sit, etc. The stores were out of instant yeast, so I had to call in for some outside help on how to use dry active yeast instead. We activated the years using the beer that went into the recipe, and the bread came out looking wonderful. The next morning, we sliced it up and made the rest of the French toast batter and beer-syrup. I’m not lying when I say that this was the best French toast I had ever tasted! I was surprised at how easy it was to create and thankfully there were plenty of leftovers."
The Washington Post Cookbook by Bonnie S. Benwick (editor)
Recipe: Ann Marotto's Fresh Tomato Pie
Cooked by: Maranda Christy, Special Collections Library Assistant, Reese Library
"This is what I like about this tomato pie recipe: it’s very adaptable according to what kinds of ingredients a person has on hand. For instance, I only had one large tomato (instead of the three the recipe calls for) so I substituted some red & yellow peppers I had in the refrigerator. So really, it’s a tomato & pepper pie! I used a pre-made pie crust instead of a homemade one (as I did not have any cottage cheese available) & a mixture of mozzarella cheese and cheddar cheese, in place of Swiss cheese. This tomato pie is a good option for vegetarians or even those meat eaters who just want a veggie meal for a change. It is delicious!"
The Chopra Center Cookbook by Deepak Chopra, MD, David Simon, MD, and Leanne Backer
Recipe: Traditional Awesome Brownies
Cooked by: Gail Koaume, Assistant Director for Research and Education Services, Greenblatt Library
"If you are a fan of chocolatey cakey brownies, you will love these! The recipe calls for a few items you may not just happen to have on hand, like turbninado sugar and whole wheat pastry flour (I used whole wheat flour and sifted it). It also has a lot of steps, like toasting the nuts and cutting butter into ½-inch cubes. In the end, it’s worth the effort because they are hearty and flavorful. The recipe even comes with a warning at the end: 'These brownies are really good, so control yourself and eat only a little at a time'.”
The Party Girl Cookbook by Nina Lesowitz and Lara Morris Starr
Recipe: Jerk Chicken Sticks
Cooked by: Tina Kenyon, Library Assistant, Reese Library
"This was a challenging recipe for me, as I do not cook a lot. I think this would be better cooked on a grill rather than baked the way the recipe states. The flavor was great. The jalapeno adds just a little kick with out being overpowering. I had to cook mine a little longer because I bought these huge skewers and my chicken was a little small. It is a great recipe and I will definitely make it again!"
