Lately.

The Christmas tree is up and my first batch of holiday concerts starts tomorrow. I can't believe I've been in my new kitchen for three months now. Here's a roundup of some of the newest meals I've made in the new home: 

Grilled Swordfish with Corn Salad from NYTimes Cooking (the link is for a free version): 

Rather than grilling the swordfish, I pan-fried it on the stove but I wasn't quite yet use to our new cooktop so the fish charred a bit (but just like grilling, right?!?). The bright corn salad was the perfect accompaniment to the meaty swordfish and it also had a hint of Asian flavors with the rice vinegar and sesame oil. 

Black Bean Soup with Chorizo and Braised Chicken from Serious Eats

This soup was packed with so much flavor with the addition of chorizo and chipotle peppers. It has a bit of a kick, which was also a comforting warmth on a brisk fall day. 

Herby Rice with Kimchi Shrimp Tomato Sauce from Carla Lalli Music

I bought myself Carla's cookbook and couldn't wait to try the recipes. This easily came together with ingredients I already had at home. Butter, kimchi and shrimp make the perfect combo in this comforting dish. I'm delighted I had another way to use up older kimchi in my fridge. 

Harissa and Farro Stuffed Acorn Squash from the Ambitious Kitchen's cookbook The Comfortable Kitchen (no link to the actual recipe but here's another one from her site for stuffed acorn squash)

Now that I have a roommate that can slice through tough-skinned squash, I anticipate eating more squash. We were gifted this cookbook filled with delicious-looking, healthy recipes. Acorn squash makes a great vessel for hearty grain salads like this one. 

Chocolate Cream Cheese Bundt Cake from Sally's Baking Addiction

This bundt was technically the first thing I baked in my new oven. Surprisingly, my nose detected this cake was done about ten minutes before the timer went off and it totally was fully baked! I didn't let the cake cool in the pan for fear it would overbake....and the cake turned out to be wonderfully springy and moist. Pure luck that my first bake wasn't a total disaster. And this was another winner from Sally's Baking Addiction!