My most-made recipes of 2024
Plus, your top 10 and a magical kitchen soap
Hello from the lazy days of summer, where I thought I had another week off but am actually back at work tomorrow ðŸ«
At the start of a new year, it’s fun to look back on the recipes I recommended in 2024 to see what stuck. You’ll find your favourites too (I loved seeing what crossed over), plus the deodorising kitchen ‘soap’ I found on holidays.
Everyday food
Hetty’s lentil bolognese
This is the meal I made most for the freezer and I was always excited to eat it. Over the years
has made so many of my favourite dishes vegetarian for ABC Lifestyle, where I work. So I asked if she could make a meat-free bolognese that hit the same nostalgic flavours as the one I grew up eating. As always, she delivered!Two more Hetty recipes I made often last year: honey and lemon tofu (forever comforting) and her take on kimchi jjigae with mushrooms and tofu.
Breakfast plates!
Not a recipe so much as a combination I couldn’t get enough of! The fruit changes as the seasons do and it’s a good excuse to buy different cheeses (tilsit is my current fave). This dreamy Paris vlog inspired me to make a version with a fresh baguette. And I’m obsessed with this breakfast tray from the final season of My Brilliant Friend, with a slice of cake (with icing and sprinkles!), yoghurt, fruit and coffee.
On weekends many pancakes were made, and I was most loyal to this caramel apple dutch baby.
Beetroot and red grape salad on repeat
After a big week of Christmas eating or any time away from home, I turn to this sweet and earthy beetroot salad, which I can shop for and assemble on auto-pilot. By nutritionist Heidi Sze, it’s made with pre-cooked beetroots and lately I’ve been adding quinoa, baby spinach and crumbled feta to make it more substantial.
Lentil soup and stovetop shakshuka by Lina Jebeile
So many recipes from Sydney-based food writer Lina Jebeile became weeknight favourites, especially her lentil soup with lemon, potato and greens. The ingredients are simple, the greens are flexible and I could always muster the energy to make it.
I started making her stovetop shakshuka last year and never stopped (I’ve made it twice this past week). It’s quick and delicious and can easily take four eggs if it’s a meal for two.
Slightly more involved meals that are worth the effort
Easy garlic butter spaghetti
I asked Tony to make Deb Perelman’s garlic butter spaghetti for my birthday last year and we both loved it! You bake a whole head of garlic in butter, so it’s bound to be delicious. It’s also easy to transport. We’ve blitzed up the sauce and cooked the pasta at a friend’s Airbnb.
Salmon bowls with green tea noodles
I only made Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s green tea soba noodles with salmon twice last year but it was a memorable dish. The noodles and broth are served cold, making it a refreshing meal for hot nights. I loved the subtle flavours from the green tea noodles to the slightly sweet broth.
Your most-clicked recipes
So many good ones here!
Spiced chicken and lentil tray bake by Ismat Awan
Chilli sesame beef and broccoli (with the best garlic rice) by Ismat Awan
One-pot shiitake and chicken rice by Emiko Davies
Breakfast cookies by Zoë François
Stovetop shakshuka by Lina Jebeile
Mud cake with salted chocolate frosting by Jenny Rosenstrach
One-pot chicken with tomato rice by Lina Jebeile
Spinach and chickpea curry with paneer by Hetty Lui McKinnon
No-knead pizza dough by Jim Lahey
Lentil bolognese by Hetty Lui McKinnon
Goodbye garlic hands!
Before I go, I bought this stainless steel soap that helps deodorise your hands after chopping garlic or onions. You use it with running water, like you would a bar of soap. Apparently you can get the same effect by running your hands down a stainless steel surface. Did everyone else know this? I found mine at a gift store for $5, this one is similar.
See you in Feb!
Still making that iced green/peppermint tea on repeat over here!
Hello Sonya in 25. Love all these recipes, but first and second i will try are Hetty's Lentil Bol and Heide's Beetroot and Red Grape (total sucker for anything beetroot - sort of a story, And never wear white or pale clothing if a lot of beetroot in the dish). Other recipes all so so v good also. Big fan of Hetty Lui and Emiko Davies. Will explore all in time.
Now "Stainless Steel" soap. I also have bought one from Daimyo store on impulse, and think maybe it works re odour, but can find no credible research to back up, and placebo response high in stuff like this. But OK, if we are just talking about odour transfer.
But certainly no evidence about reducing/preventing harmful bacteria transfer; so good old soap and water, and clean trim nails is de rigeur, and gloves.
Maybe an in-house, or on TV, second opinion from Dr Karl would be instructive and I am sure a bit of fun.