Cooking Through Half Baked Harvest: Every Day
In the small cabinet above the oven sits about a dozen cookbooks. This growing collection has been acquired in various ways including being gifted, bought, or even handwritten by family members. This is where I have stored cookbooks since I have lived apart from my parents, and partially choose to store them there because that is where my mother stores her cookbooks. When wrapping up a move in June of 2022, I realized the majority of these books had been collecting dust in the cabinet. The books sat out of sight and out of mind, mainly because it required a stepping stool for me to open said cabinet. However, a small idea popped into my head. That idea ended up launching me into a year and a half journey where I cooked through an entire cookbook.
I ended up choosing to cook through Half Baked Harvest: Every Day by Tieghan Gerard because her cookbook appeared very approachable. I have been following Tiegan on Instagram for years, and she is constantly posting new videos about her delicious recipes. While I had success with some of her recipes that she posted online in the past, I wanted to see if this translated with her third cookbook. First, I needed to figure out how to tackle this large feat.
I started tracking how I completed recipes by highlighting the recipes in the book with three different colors: green, yellow, and red. Green recipes were those that I thought could end up on our every day rotation. It was both delicious and something I felt like I could make after coming home from working a long day at the hospital. If it was a recipe that needed to be made on the weekend, it had to be restaurant level quality.
Yellow recipes weren’t necessarily bad flavor wise, but ones that I ran into hiccups while cooking. This could mean either the ingredients weren’t readily available, the texture turned out wrong the first try, or there was part of the flavor profile missing that was advertised in the recipe title. Sometimes, these recipes got second attempts and I ended up writing my modifications in the margins. The red highlighted recipes were those that I was not a fan of the recipe nor the flavor, and will not be making again in the near future. Out of the 124 recipes, the stats came out as followed:
95 green recipes
24 yellow recipes
5 red recipes
Half Baked Harvest: Every Day is the third cookbook written by Tieghan Gerard and came out at the beginning of 2022. Tieghan has been cooking for her large family in Colorado for over ten years, and has gained millions of loyal fans on social media.
After establishing the ranking scale of the recipes, I decided I would not be tackling the cookbook from cover to cover. Tieghan sorts her recipes of the book into categories: breakfast, appetizers&sides, soup&salad, pasta&pizza, vegetarian, chicken, beef, fish&seafood, and dessert. I knew if I tried to go by category, I would get fed up with beef after the second or third recipe in a row. Instead, I tried to match recipes with ingredients and set up my shopping list accordingly. I especially tried to do this with perishable ingredients like leafy greens, fresh fruits, or cheeses. This really cut down on ingredient waste, even though I did find myself stuffing bags of kale in the freezer so they wouldn’t rot before the next recipe.
I was able to hit the ground running and knock out the first half of the recipes within half a year. By then, I had figured out Tiegan’s trends when it came to ingredients, such as her love for fresh herbs and browned butter. I was super proud of the momentum I had gained and the friends I made along the way who also loved her recipes. By the time I posted my halfway update in January of 2023, I figured “I can knock this challenge out in a year, right!?” Oh, how lofty were those dreams.
If it isn't blatantly obvious, I didn’t finish the cookbook in a year. Life events got in the way such as moving, graduations, and travels. I found myself not touching a Half Baked Harvest Recipe for almost two months. However, I did not let the goal of completing this challenge fade away. After my husband and I felt more settled after moving to Arkansas, I reassessed the plan and plowed forward. It may have taken speed cooking and baking through the month of December, but I am proud to say that I completed my goal.
After having some time to reflect on this experience, there are a few big takeaways I have from this culinary journey. First, I am pleasantly surprised with how I have learned to adapt recipes when they do not turn out perfect. Through the sheer number of times I had to pull out a pan and get cooking, I was able to figure out how to fix the flavor or texture of a meal if it started to go awry. I slowly became very comfortable with adding a splash of extra chicken broth here or a pinch of salt there. I have always been able to follow a recipe well, but now I feel like I am really coming into my own as a home cook.
Besides gaining culinary confidence, I was also able to try a variety of flavor profiles with different cultural backgrounds. I was never a picky eater growing up, but there were some ingredients like harissa I never knew existed. It was fun experimenting, even if it meant going to four stores to find the right ingredient. Through all of the planning, prepping, and taste testing, Drew and I were able to come up with a list of our personal favorites and least favorites.
Sweet Potato Pierogis was the recipe that graced the cover of the cookbook, and one that we had many opinions of after taste testing this eastern European inspired dish.
MC’s Favorite Recipes
Saucy Peanut Garlic Noodles with Sesame Sweet Potatoes: This recipe was a highlight in the first installment of this challenge, and it still holds true at the top in my heart. I am personally a big fan of umami flavors, and this hit the perfect level of comfort food but still nutritionally beneficial with sweet potato and kale. I love the combination of peanut, soy sauce and garlic. It was an added bonus that it took less than thirty minutes to throw everything together and be able to sit and watch my favorite show with a hot bowl of noodles.
Coq Au Vin Chicken Meatballs: As I have gotten older, I realized I have been sleeping on wine based sauces. The white wine paired with cream and aromatic herbs almost makes you want to slurp this sauce with a straw. Our household tends to eat chicken as our preferred protein, so this dish combined with mashed cauliflower or mashed potatoes made for an elevated weeknight meal. I will happily pull out this recipe to impress friends if they are coming over for dinner.
Healthier Zuppa Toscana: This soup is already one of my personal favorites, and it is my go to order for Olive Garden’s unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. This zuppa had a bit of a kick to it with the red pepper flakes, and I loved adding pesto for additional flavor. My mother-in-law remembered this recipe and has been asking for it. I have a feeling other people will as well when I make it for them this Winter.
Saucy Peanut Garlic Noodles with Sweet Potatoes was one of my favorite recipes in the cookbook, and to me embodies what it means to have an “every day” recipe.
Drew’s Favorite Recipes
Chipotle Cheddar Corn Chowder: Both of us are a big fan of soups, but this one really won Drew over with the smoky chipotle flavor. Honestly, he is a sucker for anything with a Latin America spice profile. This is one of those meals you have to force yourself to stop eating because it is so delicious.
Spinach and Pesto Stuffed Butternut Squash: I was surprised when Drew told me that this was one of his favorite dishes in the cookbook. When we first got married, butternut squash was on the list of foods he avoided. However, this spinach and pesto stuffed version won him over. The sauce is creamy and cheesy, but the meal doesn’t leave you feeling stuffed since it is mainly vegetables.
Spicy Tuna Stack: This is the type of dish that looks very impressive, but did not take a lot of effort to make. I tend to be the one in the relationship who craves sushi, so the flavor combo of marinated spicy tina, rice, and avocado makes for a meal that is fit for a restaurant. I will say don’t cheap out on the tuna since you will be consuming it raw. We ended up going to a higher end grocery store for that particular ingredient.
One of Drew’s favorite recipes, Spinach and Pesto Stuffed Butternut Squash changed his opinion entirely on the winter vegetable.
MC’s Least Favorite Recipes
Shredded Brussel Sprout Salad: This salad left both Drew and I thinking one word: Ouch! I was initially excited to try this recipe because it sounded packed with flavorful ingredients: blue cheese, toasted nuts, and pomegranate seeds. The fact of the matter was it was way too crunchy! Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crunch but this recipe literally made our jaws hurt. I think brussel sprouts are best served roasted instead of raw.
Summer Melon Salad with Cucumber and Feta: This flavor combination was a little bizarre when I read it, but I was willing to give it a good college try. In the end this recipe was a miss for me. It was a bit too busy with the competing flavors. I loved all of the ingredients separately, but not together. I think I prefer my watermelon to not have any added vinaigrettes.
Vegan Chocolate Mousse: While I thought the flavor of this mousse was pretty decent, I really struggled to get it to properly set. Even after the third attempt and following the recipe word for word, it still came out soupy vegan chocolate sauce with whipped cream. The texture of the desserts was actually something I struggled with consistently with the Half Baked Harvest cookbook. I believe it is because of the altitude differences. Tieghan tests her bakes at her studio in Colorado, which is a much higher altitude compared to the rest of the country. The textures of my baked goods and mousse while living in Florida would often come out too dense. In Arkansas I found her baked goods took less time than the recipe suggestion. I lived, and I learned.
In my humble opinion, the Summer Melon Salad with Cucumber and Feta had too many clashing flavors.
Drew’s Least Favorite Recipes:
Sweet Potato Pierogi: This recipe opinion might be controversial, because it was actually the photo cover of the cookbook. It ended up being a miss for both of us. We know in general pierogis are a comfort food that aren’t necessarily bursting with flavor, but we figured that the brown butter sage sauce would at least elevate the dish. In the end, it was a lot of work for a one noted meal. We were also very surprised that this was chosen as the cover photo because to us it did not encapsulate what it means to have an “every day” meal. If I am making homemade dumplings, it is a weekend activity.
Garlic Yogurt with Poached Eggs: We were both intrigued with this recipe because it wasn’t anything we had heard before. We typically eat greek yogurt with sweeter flavors like berries, but were not opposed to having it as the base of a savory dish. Besides, we use it for the base of our homemade tzatziki. The ingredients separately are all delicious, but they did not blend well together. The warm eggs made the greek yogurt even runnier, so in the end, it was almost like a yogurt soup for breakfast. This combination ended up being a miss.
Beet and Burrata Salad: Drew and I were optimistic for almost every recipe in the cookbook, except this one. In fact, I held off for the longest possible amount of time to make this recipe. We both enjoy burrata, but are not a fan of beets. Even after making this dish, we didn’t really understand this combination and thought it tasted extremely earthy and had a weird texture. Maybe if you like beets you should try it, but we personally would not recommend this recipe. I’m sure there are cookbooks full of better ways to serve burrata.
I consistently had difficulty getting the Vegan Chocolate Mousse to set. In the end, I slapped a ton of whipped cream on the chocolate liquid and called it a day.
Overall, I had a very positive experience cooking through a cookbook in (over) a year. I feel like I learned a lot about myself, and it was fun to share the experience with those along the way. While this book may be closing and going back on the top shelf above the oven, I have a feeling another book will be opened very soon. In fact, there may be some audience input as to what cookbook I cook through next. Stay tuned!