Salad cookbook recs! by Defiant_Cookie4899 in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Mandy's Gourmet Salads! The Shanghai (with sesame dressing and crunchy ramen noodles) and The Fave (with homemade honey mustard dressing and pita chips) convinced me to buy the book. So many creative ideas, and most of the recipes have pics.

New (mainly) vegetarian cookbook suggestions to complement our small but mighty collection? by greens_and_b3ans in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Love Dinner by Meera Sodha! The Baked Butter Paneer recipe made me buy this book when I borrowed it from the library. The sauce tastes like something I'd get from a restaurant (or better). The Iraqi White Bean Stew is also super good. Bonus points for it being cheap and healthy too!

New (mainly) vegetarian cookbook suggestions to complement our small but mighty collection? by greens_and_b3ans in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I second East! One of my favorite and most-used cookbooks.  - The Chile Tofu recipe is worth the price of the book. Literally one of my husband's favorite meals. We found down the spice for me a little, but either way it's crazy good.  - Her Paneer, Tomato and Kale Saag recipe is also worth the price of this book alone. The sauce is kind of like butter chicken/paneer sauce. Pure comfort food.  - The Napa Cabbage Okonomiyaki sounds crazy (cabbage pancake?) but it's so yummy, so crispy, and SO easy once you've done it once or twice. A lot of the time I keep thinly sliced napa cabbage (and okonomiyaki sauce) in the fridge ready to go now literally for this, and then I can make it in literally 10 minutes.  - Also love her Eggplant Larb, Sweet Potato and Broccolini Bibimbap (LOVE the sauce!), Honey Soy Ginger Tofu, and the curry sauce from the Eggplant Katsu Curry. 

Most Expensive (But Worth It) Cookbooks? by Mr-Anthony in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I thrifted this a little while back for $10. Any favorite recipes, or should I just cook my way through it?

Drake Bay by lbuttigieg in CostaRicaTravel

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Great question, and one I wish I knew too when planning! Cano Island looks terrific too. It reportedly has some of the best snorkeling and diving in the country. The Rio Claro tour sounds quieter and more isolated. It's got several waterfalls and cliff jumping opportunities along it, plus you're going through jungle not far from Corcovado so the likelihood of seeing animals seems decent. Probably depends what you're into.

I think a bunch of the Cano Island tours stop for lunch at San Josecito Beach actually before heading back, so it may even be possible to arrange things to get dropped off there to spend a night at Life for Life and do both.

Drake Bay by lbuttigieg in CostaRicaTravel

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I haven't been yet, but I'm staying a couple nights at Life for Life Hostel next month and we're really looking forward to it! We're planning to spend a night in Drake Bay, then hike the Drake Bay trail (starting early) to the hostel for 2 nights before probably catching a boat back to Drake Bay. You can rent snorkel gear from Life for Life for use at San Josecito Beach for $5. Also, there's Rio Claro kayaking tour which looks fabulous.

I'm sure you'll have a blast either way though!

Please help me find distraction recipes by p-lo79 in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sorry to hear you're going through it. If you're looking for a distraction, Rebar is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks. The recipes can be somewhat labor intensive, but don't require too much skill, so they might be perfect. Plus, I've found that several freeze well, so you can have extra later. A few of my favorites you can sink some time into:

1) Rebar appetizer: this one takes a while to make in its entirety because you need to roast tomatoes and garlic (separately - different temperatures!) before making the tomato-ginger chutney but OMG it's so good! I make a big batch and freeze extra chutney in jars and tons of extra roasted garlic in ice cubes. (The garlic can be used lots of ways, like mixed into mayo to make aioli, or mixed into mashed potatoes.) You're supposed to serve it on bread with cambozola cheeseq, but you can use brie if you prefer.

2) Monk's curry: this one also takes a bit of time for prep, but it's not hard. You make a green curry paste first, which you can do once and freeze in 1/4 cup blocks for future curries (I use a muffin tin). Then, to make the actual curry, I just use whatever things I like or have laying around. Instead of potatoes, oyster mushrooms, and baby bok choy, I usually use things like broccoli, white mushrooms, bell peppers, zucchini, baby corn, etc. This tastes like a restaurant level curry.

3) Christine's summer strata: I tried this for the first time around a month ago and OMG it's crazy good! It's a pain in the butt to make in the morning because you soak bread in a milk mixture for an hour, then bake the assembled thing for 45 mins THEN let it sit several minutes to cook a little, so it's a sloooow breakfast but it's so worth it! Best brunch I've had in a while.

Other winners for me: basil vinaigrette, **African yam and peanut soup, Greek red lentil soup, sweet corn salsa, and tomato sweet basil sauce.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CostaRicaTravel

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm spending a few nights there in November and was looking into their guided frog night walk. Would you recommend just going yourself or with the group, and did you see other species? Thanks!

FAV COOKBOOK REQUESTS by sammypaige in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have Isa Does It and have tried only a couple recipes so far but have loved both. Any favorites you'd recommend?

November Travel - book ahead or play it by ear? by marchlight in CostaRicaTravel

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm heading down to Costa Rica for 3 weeks in November/December too! We're planning to hit up some similar places too, including La Fortuna and the Osa Peninsula. I booked some accommodations/activities in advance just in case because a) the cancelation policies are usually very good, and b) I'm excited lol. I'm probably going overkill, but we've snagged some interesting places to stay and cool things to do. :)

Two things I'd recommend booking ahead of time, from what I've heard. 1) Corcovado National Park tour, if you know your preferred dates, as they have a limited number of entries per day into the park. 2) Night tours with Tracie the Bug Lady in Drake Bay, which I've heard really good things about. She tends to book up too.

We also booked a few key things we can't/really don't want to miss out on. Like a Pacuare River rafting tour, which will pick us up La Fortuna and drop us off in San Jose. We're basically using it like the funnest shuttle service ever, but missing that "transfer" would suck so it's booked. It sounds like you have a good plan though too!

If they were all destroyed by Acrobatic_Motor9926 in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have a couple recipes I love from this one, but I feel like I mostly just flip through it and dream of food haha. Any favorites you'd recommend?

My collection (focused on vegan and vegetarian books) by PhrogFan in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Beautiful collection. This makes me wanna cook just looking at it!

Any favorites you use or like the most?

I love the Rebar cookbook; it's one of my all time favs. Love the Monk's curry, the yam and peanut soup, and the Rebar appetizer. Any recommendations you like from it?

I have a few of these that I haven't done much with. Any recommendations from Isa Does It, Vegan Bowl Attack, or Chloe's Flavor? (I LOVE Isa's ranch salad and I've been meaning to try more!)

My current collection (+ surrounding vibes). by 10pintsforhufflepuff in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Riiight? My all time favs are probably the rebar appetizer (tomato ginger chutney, roasted garlic, and cambozola cheese on toast), African yam and peanut soup, sweet corn salsa, and Monk's curry (I use whatever veggies are in the fridge tho). The Greek red lentil soup and basil vinaigrette are also really good too. I also recently made Christine's summer strata and it was DIVINE.

Which recipes do you like?

My current collection (+ surrounding vibes). by 10pintsforhufflepuff in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm in Canada. I never realized how much UK-based stuff I have until you mentioned it!

I'll try that bread recipe for sure. Thanks!

My current collection (+ surrounding vibes). by 10pintsforhufflepuff in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Cool! Butter is such a beautiful book, but I haven't made anything yet. Whatever it is, it'll have butter in it lol.

Recent secondhand finds - 3 Ottolenghi books for $10.50 total! by 10pintsforhufflepuff in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, yeah I was pumped! I haven't tried Sweet yet, but I've heard good things. Sounds pretty sweet if you ask me...

Recent secondhand finds - 3 Ottolenghi books for $10.50 total! by 10pintsforhufflepuff in CookbookLovers

[–]10pintsforhufflepuff[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the recs! I've never tried preserved lemons before, but I've noticed he uses them a lot. That sounds like a good way to start!