So Many Dishes

It seems that, everywhere I look, someone has published or posted or emailed a “top 25” (or whatever number) list for the past year, or some other sort of year-end wrap up. Some of these lists are interesting, some are subjective, and some are downright ridiculous.

I almost gave in. I started reading back through my 2025 posts, thinking that I’d pick favorite recipes that I made this year. But I decided that I’d rather look ahead. Face it, 2025 is a year a lot of us will be glad to see in the rear view mirror.

Instead, I decided to make a list of 10 recipes I really want to try in the new year. Before I start listing them, and before you all start pointing out that I cannot count, I want to acknowledge that there are 11 recipes on this list. That’s because we’ve already put one of them on our menu for New Year’s Eve. So that will still be a 2025 dish.

In no particular order:

Ravioli Soup. This is the first of several recipes from Skinnytaste that are on this list. This looks like a perfect Saturday night, watching NFL playoff games dinner. Plus, it will be a chance to use my new immersion blender.

Pork and Shrimp Pancit. I tore this recipe out of the holiday 2024 edition of Allrecipes magazine, because I love Philippine pancit. We were introduced to the dish by Ben’s godmother, who was Filipino. Years later, we were at a holiday potluck, where the mother of one of Alice’s friends, who was Filipino, brought pancit. I recognized it immediately, and she was so excited to find someone who knew the dish. My mouth is watering, just reading the recipe.

Harvest Stuffed Sweet Potatoes. This is another recipe that is going to find its way onto our menu very soon. I’m not sure where I discovered this. Maybe Pinterest? It doesn’t really matter, it looks really interesting, with ground turkey, chopped apple, dried cranberries, and cheese.

Orange Chicken Piccata with Shallots. I may have already written about our standard chicken piccata recipe, which is from the original Frugal Gourmet cookbook. This variation from nutritionist/recipe developer Ellie Krieger looks really interesting, and I want to try it.

Slow Cooker Korean Beef. We don’t use our slow cooker enough. Also, i impulsively bought a tub of gochujang a couple of months ago and still haven’t tried it. Here’s my chance. We love bulkogi, and I think it’s time we tried some other Korean dish.

Chicken Egg Roll Bowl. I like egg rolls. I like bowl meals. This recipe, again from Skinnytaste, looks easy, healthy, and delicious. What’s not to love?

Skillet Turkey Kielbasa with Lentils and Kale. One of our resolutions for the new year is to start including kale in our diet. Turkey kielbasa is a healthier version of a traditional sausage that Ken introduced me to when we got married. This looks like another easy weeknight dinner.

I haven’t been near a mall food court in years, but I always used to love the samples of bourbon chicken that one of the vendors would offer. I don’t think I ever stopped there to get a plateful, but it was tempting. So when I saw Aaron Hutcherson’s take on this dish in WaPo a few weeks ago, I knew that I needed to give it a try.

Baked Feta with Broccolini, Tomatoes, and Lemon. Baked feta was a “thing” a few years ago. I’ve made a baked feta recipe from The Mediterranean Dish that was excellent. This version, from the New York Times, came onto my radar recently. As much as Ken and I love broccolini, this is right up our alley.

Spanakopita Stuffed Peppers. I love eating spanakopita, but I’ve never tried to make it myself. I use frozen phyllo dough for a couple of other recipes, and I’m sure I could make my own, but I’ve never felt the urge to invest that much time and energy. When I saw this recipe in one of the Cooking Light special interest issues, it really intrigued me as a healthier option. Soon.

Cacio e Pepe (Spaghetti with Cheese and Black Pepper). This is our New Year’s Eve dish, so it will be my last new recipe of 2025. Pasta aglio e olio, the garlic and olive oil -sauced pasta is such a family favorite that it is known in our house as “Ben’s favorite pasta.” Somehow we’ve missed this other simple sauce, but we’re about to correct that. Alice gave us a Barolo-infused pasta, and we plan to use that for an easy but elegant dinner. This is another recipe from Aaron Hutcherson of WaPo.

So there’s my list. I promise to revisit it a year from now, so see if we tried al the recipes and whether they lived up to expectations.

Whatever you’re cooking in the new year, happy eating!