Simple Butter Lettuce Salad

I can’t tell you how much I love this salad. Butter lettuce has a delicate, sweet crunch to it, and its crevices catch the nubbins in the vinaigrette perfectly. It’s crazy simple, and it’s the perfect accompaniment to Frittatas, Soft Scrambled Eggs, Simplest Roast Chicken, Crispy Curry Quinoa Cakes … you name it.

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Whole Wheat Couscous with Raisins and Almonds

I’m always on the lookout for a good whole grain dish. This whole wheat couscous is a winner on several fronts. It’s tart and tangy, savory and sweet. It’s super simple, and it plays as well as a side dish as it does a salad.

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Pesto-Rubbed Butterflied Grilled Chicken

This is true end-of-summer fare. A batch of pesto from the basil that’s growing gangly in the garden. (Try our zippy Asian Pesto, Basil-Mint Pesto or Spicy Sage and Parsley Pesto.) A spatchcocked (butterflied) chicken cooked (relatively) quickly on the grill, since the days are shorter now. Which is good. I like saying goodbye to a season with a taste of all I love about it — and this grilled chicken recipe has it.

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Grilled Eggplant Steaks with Crazy Easy Tomato Sauce

Christopher and I pulled this together on a whim one night when we were dialing back to just veggies, healthy fats and whole grains. We had eggplant and tomatoes in the garden, onions in the pantry, and a brand new Magic Bullet on the counter. This grilled eggplant recipe demonstrates that all it takes to make a healthy dinner is a few simple ingredients!

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Slow-Cooked Molasses-Honey Baked Beans

This baked beans recipe is an (updated) old Mack family favorite. Now, it’s one of the staples our friends look forward to at Huber gatherings. It has a long list of “goes with” … hot dogs, hamburgers, roast pork, barbecued chicken. You name it. Honestly, these baked beans make a meal in and of themselves. They also freeze really well, which makes them ideal to pull out for camping or ski trips, when we know we’ll be feeding a crowd.

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Double Decker Portobello Burgers

Looking for a satisfying veggie burger recipe? These portobello burgers will win you over from beef burgers … they’re that good. Portobello mushrooms have a meaty texture that appeals even to committed carnivores.

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Spicy Sweet Potato Wedges

These sweet potato wedges have a spicy foil to their sweetness. They’re reminiscent of sweet potato fries, but a whole lot healthier. Look for the dark-skinned sweet potatoes with bright orange flesh (also, erroneously, called garnet yams).

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Sauteed Sesame Bok Choy

Letting the bok choy get nice and browned in some places–what the Chinese call “the breath of the wok”–adds a smoky savoriness to the fast, stir-fried side dish.

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Spice-Rubbed Roast Fish with Lemon & Fennel

The subtle spice rub and fragrant fennel make this easy roast fish dish something special. Use any type of medium- to firm-flesh fish, such as sustainably caught cod, haddock or Pacific halibut. What’s sustainable and available varies, depending where you live. That’s why we’re fans of the SeafoodWatch Regional Guides.

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