2012 | Page 2 Of 4 | Healthy Delicious

“Doritos Locos” Taco Bake

Doritos Locos Taco Bake. Yup, I went there.

And you know what? I don’t regret it at all. Those folks at Taco Bell were really onto something.

I’ll be honest – Taco Bell totally grosses me out. I stopped eating there long before the whole “our meat isn’t even meat” scandal and I don’t have plans to start any time soon. But I just had to see what all the fuss about Doritos Locos Tacos was about, so I took matters into my own hands.

Taco bake is one of my most popular recipes, and all it took were a few small tweaks to give it a new look and feel. WOW. Where has this been all my life?

Maple Oat Pecan Scones

If there’s one thing I’ve been more obsessed with than brussels sprouts lately, it’s maple. It all started with a drive to Vermont to take in the foliage. Along the way, we stopped at one of our favorite chocolate shops, and I picked up a small package of maple shortbread cookies and the most adorable little jug of syrup I’ve ever seen. Since then, it’s pretty much been all maple all the time.

When it came time to pick a recipe to make for this month’s secret recipe club, I crossed my fingers and hoped to find something maple-y. Success! These maple pecan scones from Baking & Creating with Avril fit the bill perfectly, and they’re delicious to boot!

Apple Butter Barbecue Pulled Chicken Sliders

These tasty sliders are so much fun – perfect for game day, backyard parties, or just as something a little different for dinner. They have a great balance of sweet, spicy, and tangy flavors and are easy to make on a weeknight with ingredients from your pantry.

Deep Dish Pizza with Brussels Sprouts & Bacon

I’ve been waiting for months to make this pizza.

There’s a restaurant around the corner from our house that serves a pizza topped with brussels sprouts, pancetta, and brie. I excitedly gave it a try over the summer but was pretty disappointed. It just wasn’t right – the flavors were too flowery, the crust was too delicate, and the brussels sprouts were too small. Plus, who eats brussels sprouts in August anyway?

I promised myself that as soon as the weather was a little more appropriate, I’d make my own version of the pizza at home. It was hard to wait, but I didn’t want to start eating all of my favorite all foods too early because I was afraid that I’d get burned out on them before the cool weather even started to set in. Finally, I decided that it was sufficiently Fall enough. This version is everything that I had hoped the restaurant’s would be: the dough is thick, chewy and charred; the meat is smokey; and the brussels sprouts are slightly caramelized and abundant.

wilted spinach salad with goat cheese and pecans

Wilted Spinach Salad with Chevre & Pecans

I’m not typically a fan of spinach salads, but this one is different – and I’m obsessed! To make it, you sautée onions and the throw the spinach into the hot pan. The heat from the pan gently wilts the spinach just enough to soften it up a little and take some of the bitter edge off it. Then it all gets tossed with toasted pecans and crumbled goat cheese. The contrast between the sweet onions, crunchy pecans, and creamy goat cheese (which melts a little from the residual heat) is amazing!

Juicy Bison Burgers with Mushrooms & Onions

If you have any extra mushrooms after making the lasagna I posted last week, this recipe is a great way to use them up. Loaded up with mushrooms and onions sautéed until they’re so soft they almost melt, these burgers are so flavorful that I’ll even make an exception to my “don’t you dare serve me a burger that isn’t smothered with cheese” rule.

Turkey and Spinach Lasagna from Healthy. Delicious.

Turkey, Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna

Lasagna is sacred in our house. We make it every year for Christmas Eve, using Shawn’s “secret recipe.” It’s expensive and fattening and totally the kind of thing that you only make once a year. Until last week, it was also the only lasagna Shawn will touch – you should have seen the look on his face when I tried to use slices of eggplant instead of noodles for some of the layers a few years ago. I was scared that there might be mutiny.

But I finally did it! After years of trying, I made a healthier lasagna that not only met his approval, but also had us fighting over the leftovers.

Two-Minute Salmon Terryaki

I saw this salmon teriyaki over on The Kitchn a few weeks ago and immediately ran to the store to get the ingredients to make it. I’m so glad that I did, because now not only do I have a new go-to weeknight recipe, I have a fail-proof new way to cook fish! I feel like this photo doesn’t do the recipe justice at all; the salmon is incredibly succulent and falls apart into big, tender flakes with a gentle tap with your fork. Served over rice it doesn’t look like much, but we’re still talking about it weeks later and I can’t wait to make it again.

Rather than cooking this salmon on the stovetop or roasting it, you cook it very quickly under the broiler – it literally only takes 2 minutes!

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