Top 10 Smart in the Kitchen Recipes

Looking Back at 2018

It’s so interesting to look at what you’ve been searching on my site. You all love simple, straight-forward recipes. I’m linking the most popular recipes from 2018 for you below. Have you made them all? Work your way through them and let me know what you think! I wish you all a happy and healthy 2019 and I can’t wait to share more easy recipes and meal plans in the year ahead. If you’re in the Houston area, keep an eye out for my New Year’s appetizer story in the Wednesday food section of the Houston Chronicle (you can also search for it online). And looking forward to 2019, check out the Memorial Hermann Resolution Challenge to get free weekly meal plans, prep videos, fitness plans and articles to keep you motivated and on track. I loved developing the meal plans for them, with some new recipes for you all that aren’t on my site yet.

Top Ten Favorite Recipes

1. La Taqueria Green Sauce is hands down the most searched for recipe on my site, with over 3,000 more hits than the next most popular recipe. I’ll try not to be offended that it’s not my recipe. Never mind that, make it stat and put it on EVERYTHING. It stores well in the refrigerator for a week to 10 days. It’s a smooth and spicy serrano and tomatillo sauce. If you want a more mellow and chunky tomatillo salsa, try my roasted version.
2. Weeknight lasagna. If you followed my Christmas menus, you may have made this for an easy Christmas Eve dinner. If not, make it this week for an easy, no-fuss, feed-a-crowd meal.
3. Super simple salad dressing. I always stock this in my refrigerator for salads. Feel free to try it with apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar. If you use good quality extra virgin olive oil, the dressing will solidify when it’s chilled. Put it on the kitchen counter when you start cooking dinner and it will return to room temperature by the time your salad is ready to toss.
4. Whole chicken in the slow cooker. Throw this together on a busy day and dinner will be done with little to no effort. Extra chicken can be shredded for quesadillas, salads, chicken salad and soup.
5. Roasted cauliflower hummus. This was the only surprise in the list, only because I haven’t plugged it very much. The cauliflower hummus was a recipe I developed for one of my Vintage Round Top cooking retreats when I was doing a round of Whole30.
6. Vegetable stir fry. There’s nothing better than a dinner made from freezer and pantry ingredients — it’s perfect for those nights you get home from vacation and don’t have a stocked refrigerator, or early in the week when you haven’t had time to stock up yet.
7. Jalapeño mint margarita. Because a minty and spicy marg is just what the doctor ordered. I like a very tart margarita, add more agave if you’re so inclined.
8. Salsa verde chicken. This is in heavy rotation at our house. You can use store bought green salsa, such as Herdez brand, or leftover La Taqueria green sauce or roasted tomatillo salsa.
9. Spinach salad with pesto and peas is definitely more of a spring or summer recipe, when basil is in season. File this one away for a fresh take on spinach salad once your basil blooms.
10. Weeknight chili. This is another family favorite in our house. Make it with ground beef, turkey or dark meat chicken. Double the meat and remove the beans to make it a chili con carne. Use kidney beans, chili beans or black beans. It’s so versatile, simple and surprisingly full of flavor for such a pared down recipe. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors have a chance to marry.