For the past two years I’ve had fun picking my favorite recipes of the year. I picked one recipe per month month when I did The Best Recipes of 2007 and The Best Recipes of 2008, but this year I had good intentions of narrowing it down to a top ten list. I looked through the monthly archives, picking a few recipes that I remembered fondly, and when I was done saving bookmarks, I had 39 favorites! It was nice to notice how many of the recipes I picked had a personal connection where the recipe or cookbook had been recommended by a reader or another blogger. I’m not going to try to sneak all 39 recipes into this list, but I think I’ll mention a few others after my top ten list.
I’m not trying to rank the ten recipes, but let’s start with the Spicy Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew recipe (pictured above) that I got from a reader named Paula. I love red lentils and chickpeas, and I thought this was a perfect use of those two ingredients.
It was my friend Trudy who told me about brussels sprouts roasted with pecans, and when I mentioned it on Twitter, Sean from Hedonia added the idea of tossing the cooked sprouts with some gorgonzola cheese to create the Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Gorgonzola Cheese I recommended for a Thanksgiving side dish. I loved this so much I gobbled it up when I tested the recipe, and have been making it ever since.
This Spaghetti Squash and Chard Gratin that I made with some of my garden produce was inspired by a slightly different spaghetti squash gratin I found at Daily Unadventures in Cooking. I’ve noticed a lot of other bloggers are making variations of this dish too.
A reader named Robin sent me this recipe for Strawberry Spinach Salad with Almonds and Dill. Not only did I love the recipe, but it’s also being featured in an iPhone application of strawberry recipes, produced by the California Strawberry Association and scheduled to launch January 26.
This recipe for Asian Lettuce Cups with Spicy Ground Turkey Filling was adapted from one I saw in California Sol Food, a great cookbook I got as a gift from Alice Q. Foodie when I met her in San Diego in 2008.
~I saw the recipe for Roasted Broccoli and Shrimp on many different blogs, but it got adapted into Spicy Roasted Green Beans and Shrimp when I made it myself.
I confessed I had 39 recipes picked as “favorites” so you know I haven’t mentioned all the recipe ideas I loved this year. Choosing favorites is so hard, but if you’re a regular reader and I missed one of the recipes that you liked most, I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
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Anonymous, I do have a post about Getting Started on the South Beach Diet but nothing like a shopping list or menu. I believe you can get that type of thing on the official South Beach Site, which you have to pay to join. I work hours and hours every day on the blog already, and don't want to spend more time making menus, and wouldn't have any idea what to recommend that everyone would like anyway.
The information about South Beach can all be accessed from a spot in the right sidebar that says "South Beach Stuff." There might be some other helpful information there.
Kayln, I am curious if you have a recommended "getting started" shopping list and recipe guide … I your site! I love it so much, that I am ALL OVER the place with what to get, what to try first, how much to buy. Just curious … 🙂
happy new year – love seeing these lists – and I am in admiration at you narrowing it down to 10 dishes with the amount that you blog – I confess I tried to do a top 12 and just couldn't.
Great list, and it all looks wonderful. Those Tuscan eggs just jumped right off teh page at me, I'll be trying those. Good idea for an end of the year post. Thanks Kalyn
33 Comments on “The Top Ten Recipes of 2009 from Kalyn’s Kitchen (plus Ten Honorable Mentions)”
Strawberry Spanish Salad Recipe is awesome. Your blog is superb. I am very impressed your posting style. Thanks for sharing.
Marisa, thanks! Hope you have fun trying some of them.
Wow! I can see why you had a hard time deciding. Every single recipe that made the cut looks absolutely amazing.
*And she scurries off to bookmark them all*
Mrs. L., that's how I feel about my own list of bookmarks too!
Yummy sounding recipes all! Many on my bookmarked list. Maybe this is the year I actually cook all these bookmarked recipes!
Anonymous, I do have a post about Getting Started on the South Beach Diet but nothing like a shopping list or menu. I believe you can get that type of thing on the official South Beach Site, which you have to pay to join. I work hours and hours every day on the blog already, and don't want to spend more time making menus, and wouldn't have any idea what to recommend that everyone would like anyway.
The information about South Beach can all be accessed from a spot in the right sidebar that says "South Beach Stuff." There might be some other helpful information there.
Kayln, I am curious if you have a recommended "getting started" shopping list and recipe guide … I your site! I love it so much, that I am ALL OVER the place with what to get, what to try first, how much to buy. Just curious … 🙂
What a great roundup of tasty and healthy dishes from 2009!
Happy New Year!
happy new year – love seeing these lists – and I am in admiration at you narrowing it down to 10 dishes with the amount that you blog – I confess I tried to do a top 12 and just couldn't.
I am so glad! Best site – delicious receipes. Thank you!
There are so many great ones in 2009 . . . how can they be narrowed down???
We made your fruit salad with fresh dill many times over the summer – I just can't make fruit salad anymore without it!
Don't forget the Double Mushroom Soup. Was that from 2009? It is the best!!! Happy and healthy New Year.
Great list, and it all looks wonderful. Those Tuscan eggs just jumped right off teh page at me, I'll be trying those. Good idea for an end of the year post. Thanks Kalyn