Brad made Creamy Fennel and Bean Soup. The broth was super flavorful, and it was nice to have some beans not blended for a little texture. With the bacon and chives sprinkled on top adding a bit of crunch, smokiness, and bite, this was a wonderful soup that I’d be happy to have again.

JeeYun made Herbed Egg Salad with Pickled Red Onion. She served it with nice seedy crackers, and this was a wonderful treat that everyone kept going back for more of… even people who said they don’t normally like egg salad! Maybe because it used a vinegar and yolk mixture instead of mayonnaise.

Erin made Indonesian Fried Tofu Salad. With pineapple and grapes as main ingredients, this was seemingly a fruit salad, only I’ve never had a fruit salad with fried tofu before. On my first bite I wasn’t sure what to make of this salad, but with each successive bite it sort of grew on me.

Drew made Bread Salad with Kale, Beets and Blue Cheese. It was delicious. The kale was tender, the fried bread added nice crunch and body, beets and honey gave it sweetness, and the creaminess of the blue cheese rounded it all out perfectly.

Shayna made Stir-Fried Broccoli with Sichuan Peppercorns. She thought it was boring, but I liked it, perhaps because it reminded my of the broccoli my mom made all the time when I was growing up. Other people also really enjoyed the typical Asian garlic-ginger-soy-spice combo that’s hard to go wrong with.

Brian made Sweet-and-Spicy Ginger Green Beans. Also very reminiscent of green beans I’ve been eating for much of my life, I was happy to eat these. The combination of sugar, soy, fish sauce, ginger, vinegar, white pepper, and red pepper flakes is again commonly used in Asian cuisine, and for good reason.

I made Pasta all’Amatriciana. The flavors were great from white wine and a lot of garlic, a bit of spice thanks to red pepper flakes and black pepper, and crisp salty bits of pancetta. My only complaint is that the pasta was a bit overcooked – next time I’d boil it for less time to keep it more al dente.

Anthony made Three-Cheese Pizza. In highly precise Anthony style, he weighed out exactly the specified amounts of mozzarella, fontina, and parmesan cheeses. It was tasty, but I would have been happy with more cheese.

Anthony also made Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps. These were fantastic. The meatballs were tasty on their own, and when wrapped in the lettuce leaves and topped with seasoned carrots, cilantro, scallions, and the lime/sugar/chili/fish sauce were a treat I couldn’t get enough of.

Barbara made Za’atar-Roasted Chicken. I am a big fan of za’atar, and this dish goes big with it, giving the chicken a healthy coating that fully embraces the seasoning. It was really good topped with the garlicky lemon sauce.

Hector made Georgian Chicken with Walnut-Cilantro Sauce. This dish managed to have tons of wonderfully rich sauce surrounding tender chicken that still had crisp to its skin. I wouldn’t have been able to guess all the ingredients that made up the sauce – all I could tell you was it tasted incredible.

Tammy made White Balsamic Chicken with Tarragon. I’ve been hearing a lot about vinegar chicken lately, so I was excited to try this one. Disappointingly, I found it a bit uninteresting, but it may just have suffered in comparison to the very bold flavors of the other two chicken dishes.

Erin also made Coconut-Saffron Macaroons. I love saffron, cardamom, and ginger, so I thought I would adore these cookies, but I found them somehow off-putting. The saffron gave them an appealing aesthetic, but for some reason those spice flavors didn’t work for me in a macaroon.

Heather made Brazilian Chocolate Fudge. She felt it was too heavy on the cinnamon, so she added some sea salt to the cashew coating, which was a really nice complement to the rich fudge. I thought these were good, and with a little less cinnamon to allow the espresso and cocoa flavors to come through, they would be amazing.

Hector also made Benne Seed Cookies. With white sesame seeds, black sesame seeds, and tahini, these were sesame on sesame on sesame… and that’s all right with me. If you like sesame, you’ll love the intense toasty nuttiness of these cookies.