From my kitchen to yours, I hope you’re ringing in a happy and healthy new year. Here at flavorrd, I’m looking back on another year of healthy everyday staples, indulgent-yet-nutritious treats, MyPlate fun, fermentation, pressure cooking, and generally doing our best to master the art of feeding ourselves. It’s interesting to note what changes over time… Compared to 2014 (flavorrd’s first year), the most obvious trend is that 2015 has become the year of the Instant Pot: 4 out of 5 of my highest ranked pages feature the popular electric pressure cooker. I’ve come to really value pressure cooking as a time-saving/energy-efficient/flavor-boosting technique in my everyday kitchen, so it’s been really cool to get the opportunity to connect with other cooking nerds like me who get excited about this stuff too. You can look forward to more new insta-recipes in 2016, along with plenty of other wholesome goodies and food-for-thought from my dietitian-kitchen.
But first, let’s reminisce for a minute. Here’s the countdown of my top posts of 2015:
5. Eating Well After Oral Surgery: It warms my dietitian heart that this post made top 5! When brainstorming the best foods to eat while recovering from my recent gum recession surgery, I found a lack of practical evidence-based nutrition advice online. I figured it would be a good deed to write up my recommendations, and I’m glad it seems to have helped out a lot of people!
4. Gift Guide: Bells & Whistles for the Instant Pot Obsessed: This brand new post really skyrocketed to the leaderboard! If you’re the proud owner of a shiny new pressure cooker (Instant Pot or otherwise), these key accessories can expand your healthy cooking repertoire.
3. [Instant Pot] Pressure-Steamed Artichokes: As a real-food advocate, this photo still makes me swoon every time – vibrant fresh herbs lovingly grown on my front stoop, gnarly wild lemon, and what I wholeheartedly consider to be the most romantic vegetable you can share with someone you love. Fancy enough for a special occasion, simple enough for everyday – courtesy of Instant Pot!
2. [Instant Pot] Everyday Lentil & Spinach Dal: A longtime favorite weeknight staple in my kitchen, adapted for the pressure cooker. Super healthy and super satisfying vegetarian meal!
And finally, 2015’s #1 recipe…
1. [Instant Pot] Insta-Chicken! This post won by a tremendous landslide, and I can’t say I’m surprised, since the technique really has revolutionized my weeknight/foodprep chicken cooking habits. Simple, versatile, healthy, delicious. And if I might nominate an honorable mention, the Chimichurri in a Hurry drizzled on top meets all of those lofty qualifications too!
It was a good year, and I’m looking forward to 2016 being even better. I’m resolving to have more fun in this space, to share more, to be creative and curious and to eat some really good food along the way. Thanks for joining me!