In February I set out to eat a salad every day. There were a few reasons for this, the main one being that I felt like I’d barely seen a vegetable for most of the holiday months and January. Also, February is not an inherently easy time to eat fresh produce, so it seemed like a good time to make an extra effort. Finally, I’d been feeling like I was in a bit of a slump when it came to cooking at home, and I hoped this little challenge to myself would spark some creativity.

I failed outright at this on two days (in both cases because I planned to have the salad at dinner, then just never got hungry enough - not a great reason, I know) and had two questionable days (one where my aunt said that a mix of olives & feta seemed “salad-y enough”, especially considering I’d also eaten a taco with cabbage slaw on it). Overall, though, it was a success and it was fun!

My absolute favorite discovery was the citrus caprese. Caprese salad is such a perfect summertime treat that I was very skeptical about a wintertime version, but it really does work! The citrus fruits stand in extremely well for the tomatoes, and they have the added bonus of reminding you that warmth is a thing.

Wintertime Citrus Caprese

• some citrus fruits (I usually used blood oranges - so pretty! - but a combo of oranges and grapefruit is excellent, too)
• fresh mozzarella, cherry-sized
• fresh basil, chopped (buy a plant from the store, you’ll feel happier for having something green around!)
• drizzle of olive oil
• drizzle of balsamic, if you want
• sprinkle of salt
• grind or two of pepper

1. Put all that stuff together
2. Eat!

Bonus: it keeps pretty well, so you can totally make it ahead.

I saw this internet thing about frying cheese in the waffle iron. While it sounded delicious and quite possibly life-changing, I was suspicious. It just seemed to good to be true; surely all that could come of putting that much cheese in your waffle iron would be a gigantic mess, right?

Wrong.

So, so wrong.

This photo does absolutely no justice to the melty, crispy, gooey, crunchy wonder that is waffled cheese.

My friends & I waffled 3 different kinds of cheese. In order of goodness, they were:

1. Spanish cheese (grilling cheese similar to halloumi)
2. Muenster
3. Pepper jack (this melted & spread out lots more than the other ones, so it was messier, but still worth it)

The waffle iron will henceforth be known as the cheese iron in this household.

PS: Due to a friend’s allergy, we used gluten-free all-purpose flour and panko, and everything still worked beautifully.

It’s ok, guys, I found it: the best mac & cheese ever is Martha’s Macaroni and Cheese at Smitten Kitchen. Seriously, no one needs to mess with another recipe ever again. This is decadently creamy and crispy on top and just right in every possible way – it’s the epitome of comfort food, and the little touch of nutmeg is sublime. If your housemate made it on New Year’s Day and skipped the bread on top you wouldn’t even miss that part, and if you ate it on the couch with a side of roasted veggies, a couple episodes of Dr. Katz, and the last of your hangover fading away, well, you’d be setting a damn fine tone for 2015.