My social life has really hit its stride since moving to Colorado two years ago, which is perfect for my little Gemini heart but not so much for my wallet. I'm pretty sure I have eaten at more restaurants this summer than in the last two years combined. I tried to reign it in this week by going grocery shopping (a novel concept!), but the second I got home from Whole Foods my friend texted, “Want to go get pizza and salad tonight?” Say no more. We went to White Pie, where I obviously had to try the one with mashed potatoes on it. I introduce to you, the “Paulie Walnuts” — mashed potatoes, bacon, mozzarella, candied walnuts and parsley.
This month’s cookbook is another Bon Appetit alum, Andy Baraghani. (If you’re a fellow/former BA fan, I have also done Claire, Molly and Carla.) Andy’s book was one I was most anticipating because he brings a lot of Middle Eastern pizzaz to each of his recipes, which I appreciate. I have only quickly flipped through the book to bookmark some that I’m most looking forward to trying, but each of these recipes looks like it could be restaurant-worthy. Let’s dig in, shall we?
August Cookbook: The Cook You Want to Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress by Andy Baraghani
First recipe I made was the eat-with-everything cucumber salad (pg. 136) to go with my leftover mashed potato-topped pizza. I love a recipe that I can easily modify to make single-serving, but I could totally see myself serving this at a dinner party! It’s such an easy salad to put together (took my less than 10 minutes) but the flavor packs enough of a punch to make it impressive. It also makes a perfect work-from-home snack!
Last week I also made Andy’s pasta with brown butter, whole lemon and parmesan. It’s not in the book, but it’s one of my favorite “I haven’t gone to the grocery store all week” recipes. This is basically the grown-up version of buttered noodles (aka perfection).
Thanks for reading, sweeties! 🍎