I’m late to posting my 2013 favorites list, but it turns out that pregnant Jess runs a bit behind on everything, so it’s actually quite fitting. When I went back through the recipes that got the most views in 2013, most of them were recipes I would have picked as my own favorites for the year. From my beloved spicy green beans to the pancakes that we have made every couple weeks since my dad declared them “the best” pancakes he’s ever had, here are the top 10 Inquiring Chef recipes of 2013:
10. No-Bake Speculoos Pie. Just six ingredients, but the key element of this pie is speculoos (also known as cookie butter, Biscoff…or the most addictive spread ever).
9. Ginger Scallion Noodles. A packet of ramen noodles gets a serious upgrade with fresh herbs and tasty sauce. These were a hit last year for Chinese New Year.
8. Crunchy Szechuan Green Beans. Spicy and a little bit sweet, I can make an entire meal out of these crunchy pan-fried green beans.
7. Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake. This coffee cake is filled with whole raspberries and topped with extra crumb topping. Because who doesn’t like extra crumb topping?
6. Pan-Fried Crispy Chickpeas with Lime. Chickpeas become crispy and snack-able with a mix of spices and a squeeze of fresh lime.
5. Sugar Cookie Lemon Tarts. Making pie crust is not my forte, so baking lemon tarts in a sugar cookie crust turned out to be a perfect (and tasty) solution.
4. Vietnamese Summer Rolls with Hoisin-Peanut Dipping Sauce. I need to bring these back for the new year – so simple, but that dipping sauce is highly addictive.
3. Chocolate-Dipped Banana Bread Truffles. Banana bread balls dipped in chocolate. These last all of 5 minutes in our house.
2. Pasta Salad with Feta, Tomato, Kalamata Olives and Sweet Basil Vinaigrette. This was our go-to salad last summer. I brought it to pot-lucks, made it at the beach, and packed it in our lunches.
1. Light and Fluffy Whole Wheat Pancakes. There was no contest – these pancakes got four times the traffic as the pasta salad that preceded them on the favorites list. It’s well-deserved – the pancakes really are that good.
Thank you so much for reading, commenting, and hanging out here in my virtual kitchen! May 2014 be full of happy times, great memories, and plenty of good food.
And here are my past favorites lists:
Thanks for all the nice recipes, Jessie. Happy New Year!
Thanks for this list Jess. I made the specilicous pie and it was terrific!
So glad you liked it Ellisha! Thanks a bunch for taking the time to let me know!
Better late than never! So glad you posted this round up. Those pancakes do look delicious (as does everything else).
What a good list, I see a few I need to try! Happy new year:)
Happy new year to you, Sarah!
What a selection Jess. Those pancakes practically jump off the page into my mouth!
Great round-up Jess! I’m loving the pasta salad, noodles, coffee cake and pancake. Pinned! 🙂 Happy New Year. I’m so glad I found your blog. I’m looking forward to see what you come up with in the kitchen. HUGS!
We LOVE those green beans at our house! My husband asks for them quite often! haha and who am I to say no??
Hi Jess,
Can’t wait to try out your take on those green beans! Hope to see you and Khun F soon 🙂
xo – L
Happy New Year, Lyn!!! See you soon!
Everything looks wonderful…and I feel like I have to try the whole wheat pancakes. We make pancakes a lot since my son loves it and I don’t have a waffle maker. : )
Hi again – had to report back that I tried the whole wheat pancakes today. I just had to given the rave reviews! And they were terrific! The brown sugar adds a lovely deep sweetness so that we didn’t miss the butter (I was tempted to use butter instead of oil but glad I didn’t). My husband, son, and I all enjoyed it. It’s rare to find such a good pure whole-wheat pancake recipe. I used white whole wheat flour, as I usually do…thanks for sharing this. I will be making again for sure and I love another use for leftover buttermilk that I always tend to have in the fridge.