My favourite recipes of 2023

Fast veggie dinners & my go-to meal to freeze

Hello!

While I love the small thrill that comes with trying a new recipe, the 10 or so I’m sharing today are the ones that power my weeks. I’ve been making some for years, others were new discoveries in 2023. Hope you find one or two to add to your regular rotation.

Easy vegetarian dinners

Do you have a go-to meal that you make when you come home from a holiday? I have two and take such comfort in cooking them after any time away. They’re easy to shop for too:

Five-ingredient baked ratatouille

I’ve made this cheat’s ratatouille at least once a month since stumbling across it on A Cup of Jo. Like the recipe below, it’s flexible and forgiving, so I normally add extra veggies so I can use a full 400ml bottle of pasta sauce.

Sheet-pan bibimbap

I wrote about Eric Kim’s easy bibimbap (NYT Cooking gift link, and video) in the first-ever edition of this newsletter and have been making it ever since. Eric describes the flavour as “a kaleidoscope in your mouth”. If you can find it, this Tasmanian-made gochujang is excellent.

Trusty recipes by Heidi Sze

A favourite part of my job involves commissioning recipes for the ABC and it’s always satisfying when they become part of my day-to-day life. Many favourites come from Heidi Sze, a dietitian and recipe writer, whose meals feel balanced and easy.

Baked frittata with potato, silverbeet and red onion

Heidi’s baked frittata is often made when we’re running low on supplies (and ideas) and yet it’s a meal I always looking forward to eating. I’ve swapped the spinach for greens in the fridge and the cheese to whatever is around! Her green baked eggs are another favourite when it’s an eggs-for-dinner kind of night.

Quick beetroot salad with grapes and feta

I mostly make this easy salad for work lunches. It uses pre-cooked beetroots (the kind you buy vacuum-packed), so most of the work is done. You can feel organised without sacrificing your weekend/evenings!

Korean-inspired dinners

Doenjang salmon rice bowl

This meal is even better with a side of kimchi and roasted seaweed sheets.

This is another Eric Kim recipe (NYT Cooking gift link) I’ve been cooking for more than a year. The marinated salmon pieces are so tasty and it’s very simple to make. It’s a regular weeknight dinner and a cosy meal I’ve made for family and friends.

15-minute kimchi linguini with gochujang butter

By Lara Lee, this speedy pasta dinner has a barely cooked sauce that’s assembled while your pasta water boils. It’s a rare meal that’s genuinely possible to make in 15 minutes without feeling stressed.

Gentle miso soup

I loved learning to make miso soup from scratch last year! There’s something very soothing about the steps in this Eric Kim recipe (NYT Cooking gift link). It’s a lovely soup for chilly nights or when you’re in the mood for something simple.

Bigger meals to eat and freeze

Bon Appetit’s ‘best’ bolognese

I love Andy Baraghani’s ‘best’ bolognese — the prep isn’t too fussy and it’s always delicious. Because it takes some time to cook, I like to serve it with the fancier golden egg pasta from the supermarket. For the last two years , I’ve ended my summer break making bolognese for dinner and the freezer.

Hetty Lui McKinnon’s vegetarian chilli

Hetty’s version is so plentiful and is built around tinned beans and tomatoes. In this house of two, we can have it as chilli, nachos and in burritos, and still have enough to freeze. This would be an easy one to share with a friend, without feeling like you need to double-batch anything (always a barrier for me!).

Breakfast

Overnight oats

Assemble all the ingredients in a container, give it a stir and you have breakfast sorted for days. I use Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s recipe and serve it with poached fruit in winter.

Alison Roman’s perfect pancakes

I am loyal to just two pancake recipes — Alison Roman’s perfect pancakes (which can also be used to make waffles) and Thalia Ho’s Dutch baby (with and without the caramel apples).

A new-to-me baking newsletter + food resolution

I volunteered to make a bûche de Noël/Yule log for Christmas and almost chickened out — the recipes out there are very complicated. Then I found Nicola Lamb’s version, in her baking newsletter

Kitchen Projects

. I loved the GIFs throughout the recipe, which kept me on track. Plus, it was the most delicious version I came across, with a chocolate custard ganache (basically homemade YoGo!). Highly recommend checking it out for future baking projects.

Finally, I have a new food resolution (2022 was garlic bread and 2023 was affogato!). I’ve decided 2024 is going to be my donabe year. Think it’ll be perfect for the colder months in Tasmania.