I know the Super Bowl has come and gone, but I made this for the party we went to and it was just too good not to share. The recipe is a combination of one a friend gave me a couple weeks ago and what was already in my mind, and I’m really pleased with how it came out. There are tons of variations out there of course, but this one is by far my favorite. Be careful, though – this dip is very addictive. In fact, I may or may not have eaten a fourth of the pan by myself. And that is part of the reason I’ve started Couch to 5K. (Any other walkers/joggers/runners out there? You can follow my progress on the widget on my sidebar and motivate me if I’m slacking off!) Anyway, I digress, so on to the dip…here’s what you’ll need!

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One more Thanksgiving post before I get on to the Christmas stuff – promise! But this dish was just too good not to share. I made this as a side for our Thanksgiving feast, because I didn’t want to make a green bean casserole. Now don’t me wrong, I love a good green bean casserole…but I just wasn’t feeling it this year, so I decided to do something else. Something different. Something decidedly not noncaloric, because it’s Thanksgiving, and why not? So I opened my copy of Mastering the Art of French cooking to peruse the gratin section, and I decided on this. It was so easy to put together, and you can even prepare it ahead of time and bake it later, which I took full advantage of – I stored it in a lidded Pyrex dish in the refrigerator until it was ready to go in the oven. Try it out the next time you have guests over; it’ll be a hit for sure!

Recipe adapted from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck.

• 2/3 cup onions, diced
• 1/2 lb potatoes, peeled
• 1/2-1 lb kielbasa
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 cup swiss cheese, shredded

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Cook the onions in butter or oil until tender, but not overly browned.

Cut the potatoes into slices.

Cut the kielbasa into small slices.

Beat the eggs with the whipping cream, adding in the salt and pepper.

Drop the potatoes into the boiling, salted water and cook 6-8 minutes. Drain. Butter a 9×9″ baking dish. Layer half the potatoes, half the cooked onions, and half the kielbasa. Then, layer the rest of the onions and remaining potatoes.

Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes, and shake the baking dish to send the liquid to the bottom. Sprinkle on the swiss cheese.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until nicely browned.

As I mentioned in this post, I’ll be blogging Thanksgiving recipes every day from Saturday through Thanksgiving Day. Tomorrow I was going to start things off with an appetizer, and then Sunday I was going to move on to some sides. Well, I decided that just one appetizer wasn’t enough, so I’m getting started a little early today with these zucchini and onion quesadillas. They’re so easy to make, you can have a pile of ‘em ready in just a few minutes for your hungry guests! Here’s what you’ll need:

Makes 4 quesadillas (12 servings):

• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 zucchini
• 4 10″ tortillas
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Shredded colby jack cheese

First, chop the onion into chunks, and shred the zucchini. Dry the zucchini with a paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible.

Sauté the onion chunks and garlic in vegetable oil over medium heat. Remove to a paper towel to absorb some of the liquid.

Layer half of the tortilla with the zucchini, onion and garlic mixture, and two kinds of cheese – I used white cheddar and colby.

Cover with the other half of the tortilla and either grill or pan-fry in vegetable oil until the cheese is melted. Using a pizza cutter, cut each quesadilla into three pieces. Serve warm.

I have an unhealthy addiction to Panera’s broccoli cheddar soup in a bread bowl (I have an unhealthy addiction to fresh, warm bread in general). But the soup is great too; perfect for cold, rainy days when all you want to do is curl up on the couch with a blanket and a good movie. It was one of those cold, rainy days when I decided that I wanted broccoli cheddar soup, but I didn’t want to go out into the crummy weather to get it. So, I decided to create my own. I made bread bowls using Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day dough that I had in the fridge – and by the way, have you heard that authors Zoë François and Jeff Hertzberg are coming out with a new book? It’s called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, and it’s full of delicious whole wheat and even gluten-free recipes. You could make your bread bowls using their master whole wheat bread recipe, and they’d be even healthier and just as delicious. Try it out this weekend! Here’s what you’ll need for the soup:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1/2 lb fresh broccoli, chopped
• 1 cup carrot, shredded and chopped
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cardamom
• 8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese
• 4 ounces grated colby jack cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

First, prepare the bread bowls. To make two bread bowls, I took half a batch of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day dough out of the container in my refrigerator and divided it in half again. I let the dough rest on a floured pizza peel on my counter for about 40 minutes. While you’re waiting, make sure your baking stone and broiler pan are in the oven, and preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

For the soup, sauté the onion and garlic in the butter over medium heat.

Remove the onions and add in the flour, stirring constantly. Add in the half and half, milk, and chicken stock. Bring to almost a boil.

Add the onion and garlic back in, along with the broccoli and carrots. Simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes.

While the soup is simmering, bake the bread for 30 minutes, and then remove to a wire rack to cool. When the bowls are still a little warm, cut out the centers.

Season the soup with the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cardamom. Stir in the cheeses (and you can play around with the amounts; use however much or little you like) and let simmer for 10 minutes longer before serving. Pour the soup into the bread bowls, and enjoy!

These biscuits are wonderful because they’re fluffy yet hearty, homemade yet quick to make, and very, very versatile – you can pretty much put anything in them that you want! Don’t like green onions? Try chives or rosemary. Want them for breakfast? Throw in some bacon and a little maple syrup. I love ‘em because they’re a perfect companion to chili. But you can toss in whatever your heart desires – the possibilities are endless!

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp whole milk
• 4 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 3-4 minced garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup finely minced green onions
• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Cut in the shortening with a couple of forks or a pastry blender.

In a small bowl, combine the milk, oil, and egg, whisking gently until well-combined.

Chop up the green onion and garlic.

In a large bowl, mix together the dry and wet ingredients.

Stir in the garlic, onion, and cheese.

Spoon the batter into a greased muffin tin.

Bake about 20 minutes.

Serve ‘em while they’re hot!