Basics/8 recipes

Basic Whole Grain Cornbread recipe

Use the slow-cooker and liquid smoke instead of grilling and wood chips. The result is outstanding, and the pork is packed with flavor.

These meatballs were very easy to make, and they had great flavor. We added the meatballs to the spaghetti sauce, and our meal was filling and delicious.

Basic Naan recipe

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It's the season of Swiss chard and kale. We got lots of these fresh leafy greens from our CSA farm, and I was trying to come out an idea to use them up, surfing the internet, found a recipe in New York Times, it's a chard and feta phyllo tart. Definitely got the inspiration, I used both chard and kale, instead of feta, I used cheddar; and I sauteed some fresh mushrooms and added some toasted pine nuts, which worked very well. Also, I used a pie plate instead of a tart pan, and it was a great success, absolutely flavorful and delicious. The phyllo crust came out flaky and crispy. Have definitely become one of my signature recipes :)

Make your pasta dishes seem authentic with this spaghetti sauce made of Italian sausage, tomatoes and a variety of spices.

These cherry cream cheese bars were divine. The cream cheese added the rich creaminess; I made my own cherry pie filling, which was packed with cherry flavour and not super sweet, also did a few changes to make these bars healthier (see the linked recipe below) but still decadent.

This prosciutto, fontina and sun-dried tomato tart was brilliant. The combination of these three ingredients and the buttery-crispy puff pastry was absolutely delicious!

It's actually very easy to make your own pretzels. Basically it's as same as making bread, you just need to shape them to pretzel shape at the end. Boiling the puffed pretzels in the hot boiling water is very similar to make bagels, which gives the pretzel chewy texture. Serve these homemade goodness with some mustard, absolutely delicious.

This is the best lassagna I have ever tried, basil-pesto definitely gave the whole lasagna tons of tasty flavor, also used low-fat milk and cheese, reduced the amount of fat, but the sauce was still creamy, asparagus was tender-crispy between the layered creamy stuffed noodles.

Something about bacon goes so well with spinach. Using a hot bacon dressing wilts the spinach just the perfect amount, not rubbery and not too mushy and packed with flavor.

These meatballs were great, and my kids really loved them. Will make it again.

This easy recipe will help you make delicious side dishes like pilafs and pudding.