Since Nora has let us all know that spring is high time for goat cheese, we thought we’d share a quick appetizer that frequently shows up at our dinner parties…Goat cheese pairs so well with sweet and savory things. We’ve served it drizzled with honey and on toast rounds with olive tapenade. This dish is more subtle, but we love the green and yellow flecks. Plus, it’s a great way to use some herbs you’ve been growing.

We threw a birthday party for a friend on Friday, and we asked her what kind of cake she wanted. The answer: “A banana cake with cream cheese frosting.” Come again? We asked if she didn’t mean carrot. No, she wanted banana. And not banana bread, mind you. Birthday cake. Well, we found a great recipe from a funny source…Turns out Paula Deen, the high priestess of Southern decadence, served none other than a banana nut cake with cream cheese frosting as her wedding cake.

We wrote about this recipe two years ago and just got around to making it (with a minor citrus swap-out) this week. We might not forgive ourselves for taking that long. If you like sherbet, heed our advice: This is one of the easiest and most addictive desserts we’ve made in a while.We’ve always been bigger fans of sherbet than sorbet. Sorbet is virtuous. Sherbet toes that fine line between, “I’m eating fruit for dessert! Go me,” and “Oooh, this is creamy.

Meat “debris” is something we saw on menus when we lived in New Orleans. It is a Louisiana invention (we’re assuming), typically made from crusty slivers of meat that fall into the bottom of the pan while you’re cooking a beef or pork roast. For our version, inspired by a brunch item at the amazing Dante’s Kitchen in New Orleans, we put our debris over fried eggs. Where’d we get the meat?

Consider this cake decorating for dummies—foolproof ways to make a layer cake look super impressive without a lot of fancy tools. Two even use store-bought candy.One of these designs requires a piping bag of sorts, although we’re sure a Ziploc would work. And number 3? Malted milk balls! How mod and futuristic does that look? And you could be as sloppy as you wanted with the frosting underneath.

Have all of you apartment dwellers been waiting for a new Grilling Month recipe that can be made indoors, on a grill pan? You have? Well, here you go. We made these peaches on a charcoal grill at a friend’s house AND on our own grill pan once we got home. The recipe worked just as well indoors. Get the details, with the decadent whipped cream, below… We kept the grilling part as simple as possible — just a smidge of olive oil on the surface to keep the peach from sticking.

We had a bunch of carrots to use this week and were craving something Indian-inspired. It being Escapes Month and all, this soup from Bon Appétit sounded like the perfect recipe to celebrate far-flung locations and exotic flavors. Read on for our full review…The process of making this carrot soup is pretty much identical to our own technique for how to make soup from almost anything — sauté carrots and onions with some spices, pour in chicken broth, simmer, then purée.

Oh, we’ve been waiting for this for a while…Tomatoes finally showed up in our CSA this week, and we got straight to eating them. First it was a no-cook tomato sauce for dinner. Today, tomato sandwiches for lunch.This is how we make ours. Nothing fancy — no bacon or lettuce or even toasted bread. Just plain, white bread, lots of mayonnaise, salt, and pepper. The tomato juice runs out with the mayonnaise, leaving milky, pink drips on the plate… Heaven.

OK, everybody… Please note that the title says healthIER. We’re not promising low-fat, cholesterol-free chicken wings here. But some of us are big basketball fans (of the Tar Heels, specifically) and, for better or worse, enjoy a few bar food specialties over Final Four weekend. Click below for our lightened-up (organic!) hot wings with blue cheese dip.We admit that fried chicken is not exactly the dish one should start messing with in an attempt to cut calories.

Remember those chocolate chip cookie cakes you used to buy at the mall? It’s like that, only better. Crispy on the edges, soft in the middle, and so quick, we may never make individual scoop-and-drop cookiesHere’s how we ended up with our giant cookie: We wanted a hot, straight-from-the-oven cookie for dessert the other night and had all the ingredients on hand. But something about scooping balls of dough made us tired.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy) We all know Rachael Ray appeals to the masses with recipes prized for speed and ease. But she’s also all about keeping costs down, and we appreciate that. With these two recipes (which both feed four people), we think you could buy organic ingredients and still come in well under the $10 mark.We realize Rachael Ray is a polarizing figure, and many of her recipes rely too heavily on poultry seasoning, ground beef, and shredded cheese. But you know what?

This is not tzatziki. We know it looks like tzatziki. And before you ask, “How many cucumber-yogurt sauces does one really need, anyway?” Let us explain the difference… When I was growing up, my grandmother used to serve sliced tomatoes from her garden topped with a creamy cucumber dressing. It was white, lumpy with fresh cucumbers, and full of mayonnaise, I’m sure. This is my attempt at recreating that dressing (without eating spoonfuls of mayonnaise).

Did you eat graham crackers with peanut butter when you were a kid? We did. (Of course, you won’t find peanut butter anywhere near a preschool these days…) Here’s a grown-up version of that snack that satisfies our sweet tooth but has a nice kick of tangy, unsweetened yogurt. This is a very filling snack; in fact, we’ve eaten it for breakfast and stayed full for hours. It’s got protein, calcium, and crunch — yum.

I often have very mediocre results when cooking fish (consider it my very own kitchen nemesis). But I was inspired by Faith’s review of Emeril’s Fish Provencal, which seemed foolproof in its simplicity. That recipe gets cooked on the grill, however, and I wanted something easy to pop in our oven. Inspiration, thy name is foil packets. This is really a template for any type of baked fish.

Breadcrumbs usually lie like a lazy blanket on top of pasta or casseroles. For this quick dish, I toasted them up in flavored olive oil, tossed them with roasted cauliflower, and let them shine as a main ingredient. Cauliflower and breadcrumbs alone can be bland, so I added flavor by first roasting the cauliflower in the oven. Do be sure to take the time to cut the cauliflower into tiny, bite-sized florets.

Actual Greeks would probably take umbrage at our title here. We’re throwing some olives and feta in our pasta and calling it Greek? Well, sort of, yes. Have you ever made pasta with ground lamb? When I buy it, it’s almost always for meatballs. But I decided to throw it into some leftover macaroni (you could use any short, fat pasta), and it was delicious. Lamb is not that expensive, either, and adds a really nice richness.

There’s more to this pasta dish than just chicken, olives, and feta. There are some artichoke hearts, fresh oregano, and a lemon vinaigrette — a whole mess of salty, tangy flavors. The idea for this recipe started with a leftover container of olives. I was imagining a pasta that mimicked a Greek salad, so we shopped for some feta cheese and a few fresh (pitted) olives to supplement the ones we had (which we had to pit — whew).