10 Actually Easy Dinners
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

10 Actually Easy Dinners

I have a few dishes in regular rotation that I lean on in moments of desperation or when life gets too busy. Meals that feel like a relief: “wow, we’re fed, and that was so easy.” My criteria for inclusion here is simply: would I want to make this and clean it up by myself after I get home from work? If no, I didn’t include it. (Mostly, this means the list has a lot of soups and stews.)

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Zucchini, Mushroom + Dill Pasta Bake
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Zucchini, Mushroom + Dill Pasta Bake

I wanted a vegetarian pasta bake that felt indulgent but not heavy, and I wanted to lean into my love of jammy zucchini. One of my personal favorite flavor combinations is balsamic and dill, and I’m leaning fully into that with a probably-sacrilegious version of a bechamel sauce that incorporates either white wine or balsamic, depending on your preference.

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10 Meatless Weeknight Dinners
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

10 Meatless Weeknight Dinners

I’m sharing some of the best vegetarian recipes in my cookbook. It’s easy enough to eat vegetarian by simply omitting meat from recipes or eating cereal for dinner, but I’m far more interested in having meals that make me forget I ever ate meat to begin with. I want to feel satisfied at the end of the meal! I want protein and umami!

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Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Coconut Sweet Potato Lentil Soup with Rice

This soup is such a great choice for a night when you want a bowl of something warm, but also healthy and nourishing. Sweet potatoes! Ginger! Curry powder! What’s not to love? I’ll admit that I tend to throw frozen spinach into just about everything (sneaky greens are my favorite greens), but it works so well here.

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Chicken Enchilada Soup
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Chicken Enchilada Soup

After a few rounds of tweaking, I’ve arrived at this: my ideal enchilada-ish soup. It’s cozy, deeply flavored, full of pantry staples, and ready well under an hour (yes, even with prep work). Bonus: it’s even better the next day.

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Taco Bake
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Taco Bake

It’s simple: we’re going to make chili, and then we’re going to top it with a layer of cheese and bake the cornbread right on top of it. That’s it. Chili is best topped with cornbread anyway, and this way you get it all in one bite. You’ll love it, I promise.

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Thai Red Curry and Sweet Potatoes
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Thai Red Curry and Sweet Potatoes

Fall is here, which means I’m once again rifling through my recipe book for cozy dinners full of fall squash and sweet potatoes. This one definitely fits the bill and is perfect for weeknights: cubed sweet potatoes or butternut squash, cooked with ginger, onions, and Thai red curry paste for a fragrant, nutritious dinner.

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Miso Ramen
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Miso Ramen

I wanted a miso soup that felt like a whole meal. I also didn’t want to work very hard. We always keep ramen in our pantry in case of extreme laziness - we’ve been known to dump some peas and carrots into the ramen pot and pretend that counts as eating our vegetables. So… miso ramen?

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Curried Chicken and Barley Soup
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Curried Chicken and Barley Soup

I love chicken noodle soup, but it doesn’t really satisfy as a meal. This take swaps the noodles for pearled barley, which is high in fiber and has a slightly chewy texture that makes it a great sub for noodles. The recipe is packed with good-for-you aromatics like garlic, ginger, and turmeric. The carrots and celery turn the recipe into a little bit of a cuisine mashup, but I think it really works.

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My Dad’s Chili
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My Dad’s Chili

Fun fact: a few years ago, this chili won me second place at an office chili cook-off. There were more than twenty entries… it’s that good!

Every region and family has their own favorite chili, and this is mine: a thick consistency, a little sweet, heavy on the meat and beans.

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Slow Cooker Carnitas
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Slow Cooker Carnitas

This is a foolproof, flexible recipe that will give you meal after meal of delicious carnitas… The options are endless, which is why this recipe is a meal-prepper’s dream.

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Corn and Shrimp Chowder
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Corn and Shrimp Chowder

The beauty of this recipe is in its simplicity. There is something magical about a pile of chopped vegetables and broth turning into something so delicious with just a few seasonings and some half and half.

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Chicken and Dumplings
Food Alyssa H Food Alyssa H

Chicken and Dumplings

I love (and am comforted by) chicken and dumplings so much that this is the dinner I made the night I took the practicum of my NCIDQ exam. After months of studying and hours of testing, all I wanted was to reward myself with a bowl of this deliciousness.

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