Best Fall Recipes in Blogland

Pin It

Fall is here. The season of sweaters, falling leaves, and embracing comfort food. As I wrote out our grocery list for the next week, I realized many of my favorite come from my favorite food blogs. And I thought we all could use a little comfort today. So, without further ado, the BEST fall recipes from blogs. I've been using most of these recipes for years. So they are definitely Tracie tested and approved. J is also quite fond of most of them.

 From Smitten Kitchen 

Smitten Kitchen's Arroz Con Pollo (Cuban Chicken with Rice). Why do I love this? It's relatively cheap (especially if you ditch the beer for a little added chicken stock and make your own roasted pepper strips), it's a one pot meal, and it's even better the next day. Leftover are always awesome. They are even more awesome when they TASTE BETTER THE NEXT DAY.

Photo from Orangethe

Warm Butternut and Chickpea salad with Tahini from Orangette. This is, hands down, my favorite thing to make with butternut squash. It's so comforting. It's also really cheap, except for the tahini. But you'll have lots left over, so make some hummus. Here's a bonus recipe: the best hummus ever. When you roast red peppers for the hummus save some for the Cuban chicken and rice dish!

From The Wednesday Chef

The Wednesday Chef's adaptation of Mark Bittman's Tomato Paella is juicy and warm and slightly and spicy and...After a summer of eating tomatoes, you'd think I'd be sick of them. I'm never, ever sick of tomatoes. However, no one wants to eat hothouse tomatoes raw (ew!), so I start busting out the best cooked tomato recipes. This is one of the best. OMG, it is so good I want to get up and make this right now! True confession: I am cheap, so I don't buy Spanish pimenton. I do use Adobe seasoning in it, and it is awesome.

From The Wednesday Chef

 Roasted Carrot and Red Lentil Soup (from the Wednesday Chef) might not sound super exciting, but I promise you if you make this soup you'll thank me. Often, because you'll make it repeatedly. It's filling, incredibly tasty, and super cheap (and when you REALLY need cheap eats it also works with green lentils). It's also easy to make a lot of it, so it's great for a crowd.

Photo from Anne's Food

 Roasted chickpeas from Anne's Food changed my life. This might sound like hyperbole...okay, it is a little hyperbolic but roasted chickpeas are the most delicious snack/lunch/dinner/brunch/dessert option you'll ever have. Salty and crunchy and super filling- they are awesome party food. We make them for movie nights. We make them for Real Housewives nights. We make them because it's a day ending in -y. They are simply awesome. You can also toss different flavors on them for new roasted chickpea experiences.

From Cheap Healthy Good

Another awesome food to graze upon (instead of look upon, because it doesn't look all the awesome) is Cheap Healthy Good's white bean dip. A can or DIY cup of cannelloni beans, some garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and lemon juice go into a blender and out comes one of my favorite dips of all time. And it's even good for you! It definitely has less calories than Helluva Good French Onion Dip, my other dip fave. Cheaper, too.

Photo from Beyond Salmon

 Beyond Salmon's Grapefruit Risotto was one of the first things I cooked for J. Aww! Memories! Seriously, this is good...so good! And rather sophisticated, so you could totally serve it to someone you're trying to impress. I know it can sound kind weird, but this dish is smooth, citrusy, cheesy deliciousness. Helen's oven risotto method is also awesome.

Photo from Beyond Salmon

 Another Beyond Salmon recipe. This tomato and onion tart recipe is WONDERFUL. The tomatoes char up, bringing their sugars to the forefront and cuts through the heavy richness of the cheese perfectly. Oh, and the jam you cook the onions down into? Heavenly. True confession time? I don't make my own pie crust. I recommend Trader Joe's/Aldi's frozen pie crusts. They brown up nicely and aren't sweet. I also use the mixture in the tiny little cute pie shells for an appetizer like experience.

Photo From 101 Cookbooks

 Roasted cauliflower popcorn from 101 Cookbooks. The first time I made this was Thanksgiving 2008. I've never stopped making it. Aldi's had cauliflower on sale for $.99 this week, so I had it for dinner, um, a few times this week. I've sometimes cheated and used panko breadcrumbs or substituted a ground spicy spice for a fresh minced pepper. It's still delicious, every time.

Photo from Smitten Kitchen

And now, ladies of gentlemen, the best recipe in the blogosphere. Yes, I'm serious. It's ridiculously good. It's Smitten Kitchen's Thai-Style Chicken Legs. She posted it in the summer, and apparently it is awesome on the grill, but I always get a hankering for it in the fall. The ingredient list might sound weird (fish sauce!), but I promise you it all blends together into something absolutely fantastic. It's sweet and complicated in this weird way you never knew you wanted your chicken to be sweet and complicated in. If you keep fish sauce and hoisin on hand it's also cheap for a meat dish.