The Best Things I Ate in January

Here’s my January 2021 recipe roundup of the best things I ate last month!

Saturday mornings for me are all about meal planning for the week to come. Surrounded by cookbooks, foodie newsletters, my favorite cooking websites and a steaming cup of coffee, I set to work to curate a daily menu full of variety and healthy options that also fit my family’s schedules.

Each month, I share the fruits of discovering new and tested recipes with you. Whether you’re looking for inspiration or to get out of a cooking rut, stop by each month for a round-up of the best things I ate. Or, follow me on Facebook to get a weekly recap.

Air fryer Southwest Egg Rolls (The Belly Rules the Mind)

Loving my air fryer! These southwest egg rolls were so good! We ate them for dinner along with a southwest style chopped salad. These would certainly make great party food, too.

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Broccoli, Cheddar, and Brown Rice Cakes (Cooking Light)

My son is a sucker for cheesy broccoli rice, so I had a feeling these would go over better than ok. To be honest, I wasn’t totally certain they would hold together as the patties seemed really loose when I formed them, but they did! Bonus: they smell like tater tots while baking. Served them with tomato soup for a vegetarian meal — and totally dippable.

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Air Fryer Salmon with Maple Soy Glaze (Skinnytaste)

Salmon is our go-to seafood, so I just had to try it out in the air fryer. Delicious! Although, next time I’ll reduce the cooking time by a minute. By no means was the salmon overcooked. It was still tender, not dry. It’s my personal preference to cook salmon medium to medium-well, especially when it’s a premium cut. Served this with Homemade Fried Rice (check out ‘The Best Things I Ate in December’ post for a link to that recipe).

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Spicy Miso Shrimp (Compelled to Cook)

I don’t remember how I first came across this recipe, but I knew my family would enjoy it. We, especially my son, are huge fans of Asian flavors so any excuse to eat it is a welcome excuse. I did make a swap and used a Korean fermented soybean paste called doenjang instead of miso, because I already had some on hand. It’s similar in flavor to miso, but has a coarser, thicker texture. It worked beautifully. I served it with stir-fried broccoli — the marinade would’ve been great added to the broccoli, too!

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Baby Greens with Goat Cheese, Beets and Candied Pecans (Skinnytaste)

I finally paid a visit to Whitehall Farm Market near my home and came away with some fresh baby lettuce, red and gold beets and several other seasonal produce items. I can’t wait to go back and try some other locally produced goods! Anyway, it made sense to make this salad. If you’re starting with raw beets, read through the post for various ways to cook them (I roasted ours). I used Trader Joe’s Sweet & Spicy Pecans (one of my favorite things) and added a little chopped chicken breast. Yum!

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Baby Greens with Goat Cheese, Beets and Candied Pecans

Crispy Cheesy Pan Pizza (King Arthur Baking)

Full disclosure: I did not make the dough in this recipe, but instead bought pre-made, raw, whole wheat pizza dough from my favorite grocery store and started with step 8. And, baked it on the bottom rack for 25 minutes. We also added pepperoni! We are thin crust or Neapolitan style fans, but this was really good! I would totally try it again, but make time to make the dough. If you like deep dish, you’ll love this.

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Curious about how I meal plan and keep track of all these recipes? How to Completely Transform your Meal Planning Game has all my secrets!