Eileen made Pimenton-Spiced Chickpeas with Spinach and Manchego on Toast. For those like me who didn’t know… pimenton is smoked paprika. The smoky flavor of the spices was great, manchego is one of my favorite cheeses, and Eileen home-made the baguette – can’t beat that!

Laura C. made Prosciutto, Asparagus, and Arugula Rolls. The asparagus and arugula were really simple dressed with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper, but were such a good fresh complement to the saltiness of the prosciutto. Pretty, tasty, and so easy to grab another.

Jeff made Lemony Hummus. I think he said it best himself – not the best hummus he’s ever had in his life, but homemade hummus will always be better than anything store-bought. A solid hummus that went great with the delicious pita chips he brought from Jordan Market.

Jeff also made Rosemary and White Bean Smear. This was one of the recipes I’d considered making, so I was excited to try it. I will definitely be making this dip in the future – it was yummy and only required pureeing a handful of ingredients that I commonly have on hand. Though he did say he had a hard time finding cannellini beans… guess we’re still having supply chain issues.

Kaija made Trumpet Mushroom Chips. These were fantastic, a stand-out even among a group of very delicious dishes. Salty-sweet and crispy – many people commented that they were almost like bacon. I can’t wait to get to the store to buy some trumpet mushrooms for making this dish.

Kaija also made Polenta Cakes with Shiitake Mushrooms, Roasted Garlic, and Thyme. I love shiitakes, and wow are they good roasted with garlic and thyme. The one thing I think could have made this dish better is if the polenta cakes had a bit of crispiness to them.

Robert made Pickled Red Onions. I am a huge fan of pickled red onions, and this is a good version of them. Good enough to just snack on by themselves, but also a wonderful condiment for… pretty much everything.

Robert also made Japanese Eggplant Mousse with Za’atar. He was a bit annoyed that even though he doubled the recipe it came out to what he felt was a tiny amount. So maybe just triple the recipe when you make this tasty spread.

Robert also made Thyme-Roasted Parsnip Tangle. I don’t think I’ve ever cooked parsnip, but maybe I need to start. Robert brought his kitchen torch to re-crisp the parsnip since we weren’t eating it fresh out of the oven. The crispy bits were the best.

I made Roasted Cherry Tomatoes in Olive Oil. This is nothing more than cherry tomatoes and garlic cooked low and slow in olive oil, salt, and pepper, but it makes fantastically sweet tomatoes that seem like a fancy dish you might have slaved over. Your kitchen will smell good for hours while it’s in the oven.

Brad made Roasted Beet Tartare with Cheese and Pistachios. As you can see, this dish couldn’t be more beautiful. And it had the taste to match. So many wonderful layers of flavor between the beets, orange vinaigrette, shallot, pistachios, mint, and creamy cheese.

John made My Marinated Beans. These beans are super lemony… in the best possible way. I found myself irresistibly drawn back for another bite. And I’m happy Suzanne Lenzer approves of canned beans because let’s be honest – cooking dried beans takes forever.

Laura W. made Apricot, Berry, Fig (or almost any kind of fruit) Almond Slices. She made hers with giant blueberries that were lusciously sweet. It concerned her that the recipe didn’t call for any kind of leavening agent, but she worried unnecessarily as apparently this almond cake doesn’t need it.

Naran made Whatever-You-Fancy Fruit Crumble. What he fancied was apples, blueberries, and oranges. I’d never had baked oranges before, but it turns out they’re as good a fruit to bake as any. Naran didn’t have rolled oats, so he soaked steel cut oats instead, and that worked fine.

Acacia made Eiffel Tower-Inspired Coconut Macaroons. Can you believe she formed these by hand? We all thought she must have used a mold. These had the taste of the traditional treat, but were a cute rendition perfect for a party.