Registered dietitian Rima Kleiner of Dish on Fish shared an elevated twist on classic avocado toast.

She recommended smashing avocado onto a slice or two of whole-wheat toast and topping it with arugula, smoked salmon, and a light drizzle of olive oil.

"This easy bistro-style breakfast provides one to two servings of whole grains and a serving of vegetables, which are both rich in dietary fiber to help lower blood cholesterol levels and provide important nutrients and phytochemicals," she told BI.

Registered dietitian and nutritionist Shena Jaramillo told BI that overnight oats are an easy way to start off a DASH-friendly day of eating. 

"This is a high-fiber food that will help to keep cholesterol in check and provide you with plenty of vitamins and minerals," she said. "Best of all, it's ready when you wake up, and it can be prepared in advance."

Overnight oats can be made with low-fat dairy or nondairy milk, your favorite fruit, and a sprinkle of coconut or chocolate chips. Simply mix uncooked oats with your choice of milk and let the mixture sit in the fridge until the oats are tender.

Whipping up a veggie omelet is a sneaky way to use up leftover produce and start your day with some protein. 

"For this dish, throw in all the leftovers from the fridge. Spinach, onions, bell peppers, and jalapeños are some of my favorites," Jaramillo told BI. "This is a higher-protein food to help keep you full throughout the day."

Along with the protein punch from the eggs, the vegetables in this dish deliver some fiber and micronutrients. 

Certified nutritionist and skin-health specialist Ann Ramark told BI that a mango bowl may be the perfect breakfast for those who have a sweet tooth. 

She suggested topping thawed-out frozen mango chunks with fresh berries, a scoop of pea protein powder, and a handful of chopped almonds. 

"With this sweet breakfast alternative, you get an extra boost of antioxidants from the fruit and protein from the powder," she said. "The healthy fats from the nuts will also increase the uptake of the antioxidants from the fruit and berries."

If you don't usually have time for a sit-down breakfast, Ramark suggested making a Mediterranean-inspired sandwich with sourdough bread, hummus, bell pepper, tomato, and a few slices of avocado. 

"By choosing a whole-grain bread like sourdough, you're avoiding added sugar and sodium," she told BI. "Hummus is also a great spread with lots of extra fiber, protein, healthy fats, and even extra antioxidants from the chickpeas."

This breakfast can also be cobbled together the night before to keep your morning routine as streamlined as possible. 

Carrot and ginger may sound like an odd breakfast combo, but Ramark told BI that the smoothie blend is a great way to load up on fruits and veggies.

To make the smoothie, blend a handful of kale with some chopped carrot, a knob of fresh ginger, some mango chunks, a scoop of protein powder, and a squeeze of lime. Serve it up with a handful of nuts or seeds on top. 

"This is a powerful smoothie with tons of fiber, antioxidants, protein, and healthy fats from the nuts to make sure you get a great nutrient uptake," she said.

Registered nutritionist and dietitian Erica Ingraham told BI that peanut-butter toast made with whole-wheat bread and topped with berries is a fantastic DASH option that's both sweet and savory. 

"This breakfast has all the macronutrients: carbs, protein, and fat," she said. "Nuts contain monounsaturated fats, which are heart-healthy. Fruit is also a good source of fiber. Fiber may also help lower blood pressure and inflammatory markers in some individuals, contributing to a healthy heart."

The DASH diet recommends reducing animal products such as meats, cheeses, and butter, and adding in more plant-based foods.

Ingraham told BI she recommends trying a tofu scramble to boost your protein and fiber intake sans animal products.

"Sauté tofu with onions, peppers, greens, mushrooms, or whatever vegetables you have left in your fridge," she said. "This tofu scramble is a great way to get some plant-based protein and an extra few servings of veggies into your day."

Registered dietitian Melissa Nieves told BI that whipping up an egg-white "tortilla" and packing it with veggies is a hearty, low-sodium breakfast option. 

"Eggs are a great source of high-quality protein, which can make for a filling breakfast," she said.

Adding potassium-rich vegetables such as spinach, mushrooms, and broccoli will further help increase your overall daily vegetable intake.

To make the "tortilla," simply separate the yolks from the whites of two to three eggs and allow the whisked whites to cook in a non-stick pan until they are solid enough to flip. Then ladle in as many veggies as you like. 

For a heart-healthy meal that comes together in seconds, Nieves recommended loading a cup or so of Greek yogurt with a spoonful of unsweetened granola, chopped fruit, and a handful of nuts such as walnuts or almonds. 

"I like to recommend Greek yogurt over regular yogurt since it's much higher in protein and therefore keeps you fuller for longer," she told BI. "Also, yogurt is full of potassium and calcium, minerals which are necessary for healthy blood pressure and which the DASH diet emphasizes."

Nieves suggested blending up a smoothie that uses a base of low-fat yogurt with a dollop of nut butter and a handful of frozen fruit. 

"Adding nut butter to your smoothie increases the protein content and provides heart-healthy plant-based fats," she said. "Nuts may also help reduce the tightness in blood vessels, which contributes to high blood pressure."

Smoothies have the added bonus of being super easy to make, and you can even batch-prepare the ingredients and freeze until ready to use.

Registered dietitian Madeline McDonough told BI that chia pudding is a surprisingly easy and filling DASH-approved breakfast.

"Chia seeds are rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats as well as insoluble fiber," she said. "If you're making your own at home, you can opt for a low-fat milk or milk alternative as the base and top with your favorite fruit or nut butter for the perfect DASH breakfast."

Add cinnamon to your chia pudding for some sugar-free sweetness, or sprinkle on some fruit for an additional boost of vitamins.

This story was originally published in January 2020 and most recently updated on January 8, 2025.

Read More:

• I followed the Mediterranean diet for a week, and I get why it's so popular
• 5 of the biggest drawbacks of the Whole30 diet
• 8 of the best ways to eat eggs on the go
• I always skip breakfast, but eating it for a week changed my snacking habits for the better

Creamy, Spicy Tomato Beans and Greens, published in April, was fourth on the list in terms of ratings, and I was excited to give it a try.

It's been quite the year for the humble bean. Beans and legume-based recipes have been all over my TikTok feed, and I can see why — they're cheap, easy to cook, vegan, and add heft and creaminess.

Combining cannellini beans with sun-dried tomatoes, cream and parmesan in this recipe — similar to the combo that's in the super-viral Marry Me Chicken — it was easy to see where the flavor was going to come from.

Into the pan went the onion, crushed pepper, and garlic, and then the beans and sauce.

It was beautiful to watch the sun-dried tomato and puree slowly melding into heavy cream.

The beans themselves were hearty and rich — I couldn't finish a modest portion, but despite the description, the dish didn't come out remotely spicy. Perhaps the crushed red pepper I bought was milder than the recipe allows for.

Crusty bread with a drizzle of olive oil was also a must — as were the toasted Parmesan panko crumb and arugula, which added much-needed texture and freshness.

Third on the list was the Sticky Miso Salmon Bowl.

Everything about this dish — butter-laced sushi rice, tender broiled salmon in a sticky glaze of miso, honey, ginger, and grapefruit — called out to me.

But somewhere along the way, I messed up.

The recipe called for two teaspoons of fresh grapefruit zest. But as I tasted the glaze it was off-the-charts bitter.

I restarted with half as much zest and ended up with a marmalade-like substance to coat the salmon, hoping that the broiling process would mellow it out.

It didn't.

It's clear that the grapefruit — citrusy, aromatic, and a little bitter — is the stand-out flavor twist for this recipe.

But either due to me messing up, or perhaps getting an extra-amped grapefruit, the result tasted harsh and metallic.

The sushi rice was glorious, however. Stirring butter and diced scallions in made it glossy and rich, an almost decadent accompaniment to the avocado.

Done right, this dish would pretty much be my dream meal, but I'll have to be extra careful next time around.

Salad is generally my least favorite method of getting nutrients, so I wasn't too excited about this one, which was second on the list.

But the Taverna Salad is a good proposition — as the author says, it's based around a mashup of fattoush, a Lebanese dish, and Greek salad, making this a sort of Mediterranean super-salad.

Inside the dish are chickpeas, capers, tomatoes, red onion, parsley, scallions, cucumber, bell pepper, and Kalamata olives, along with cheese and croutons, and a garlic and red wine vinaigrette.

You can make this dish with store-bought pita chips, but it's worth the effort to fry them fresh in lashings of oil.

And with the toasted halloumi, the residual warmth and fattiness makes the salad super moreish.

I took this one around to my parents' house, and it went down a storm, almost eclipsing the main event of steak.

There's plenty of salty 'meatiness' in the form of the capers, olives, and cheese to balance out the freshness and crunch of the vegetables.

The One-Pot Chicken and Rice With Caramelized Lemon, which was top of the ranking, was rustic and full of flavor, and combined the richness of chicken fat with unctuous, caramelized lemon.

This recipe works by browning off the chicken thighs and caramelizing the lemon slices separately, before starting the rice and broth in the same pan.

The dish is then topped with the chicken and lemon, and it all goes into the oven.

This dish was delicious. But if I made it again, I'd make some adjustments — I ended up with way too much rice, and I needed to cook it in the oven for longer than stated, as my chicken was still a little pink.

I also used the leftover Kalamata olives from the Taverna Salad, which turned out a little too salty for my taste. The recipe says you can also use green olives, which is what I'll use next time.

I wasn't able to make the Cheesy Green Chile Bean Bake, which was fifth on the list, due to not being able to get my hands on pinto beans, so I turned to the sixth choice, Peanut Butter Noodles.

The comment section on this recipe is a massive love-in — people are wild for this extremely simple dish.

"I wanted to eat this alone, naked, in a closet. It's that good," one commenter wrote.

I was curious to see for myself.

This dish involves just a handful of ingredients: noodles, butter, soy sauce, Parmesan, and, of course, peanut butter.

Everything about the recipe seems designed to be as simple as possible: You're encouraged to use the cheapest peanut butter you can find, and the noodles are from packet ramen.

You can also use spaghetti, so in the interests of science, I resolved to try both.

The dish is just a matter of cooking your spaghetti/ramen, then mixing some of the cooking water with the rest of the ingredients to make a glossy sauce.

As soon as I tasted the spaghetti version, I knew it wasn't for me: they were just too thick and heavy with the cloying sauce.

The texture with the springier noodles, however, had just the right chew.

Even so, I won't be making it again.

The recipe is clearly designed to be an umami-fest that you can blearily throw together after a night out. But it was just too bland and salty for me.

Before I started, I had hit a bit of a cooking rut and was fresh out of ideas.

It was brilliant to throw the choice open to the popular vote, and to see what people — 17,265 devoted NYT Cooking readers at the time of writing — were eating and loving.

Most of the five dishes were not recipes I would have chosen myself, but they've broadened my outlook — and I'll definitely be cooking some of them again soon.

Garten's easy turkey lasagna is a simple take on the standard recipe with a few surprising ingredients — namely, goat cheese for the filling.

Her recipe calls for sweet Italian turkey sausage, but since I had trouble finding that at any grocery stores near me, I used regular ground turkey and seasoned it with Italian seasoning, red-pepper flakes, and a bit of sugar.

After seasoning the ground turkey, making the sauce was pretty straightforward.

When I simmered onion, fresh herbs, canned crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste together, I had a pretty standard, meaty sauce to work with.

I'd never made lasagna with goat cheese, but Garten's recipe meant I stirred 3 to 4 ounces of it into 15 ounces of ricotta.

The combination was tart and flavorful. The flavors of the goat cheese stood out in the dish, especially with the lightness of the ground turkey.

I really liked that Garten's recipe included fresh mozzarella cheese.

So many lasagnas lean on grated or shredded mozzarella, so slicing up a fresh log was a nice touch.

Garten's cheese-laden lasagna was a dairy lover's dream.

The goat cheese gave that layer some extra tang and flavor, and the fresh mozzarella provided layers of thick, cheesy goodness that made for a great cheese pull.

De Laurentiis' classic Italian lasagna made me question the standard recipe I've been following for years.

I'm used to ground meat, cheeses, and tomato sauce. But De Laurentiis' recipe requires 20 ounces of frozen spinach and a mixture of white béchamel sauce and homemade tomato sauce.

De Laurentiis' method puzzled me, but who am I to argue with a master of Italian cuisine?

I made a béchamel sauce and a standard tomato sauce to assemble the chef's lasagna and stirred the two together.

De Laurentiis also said to keep the ground beef separate, layering it into the dish on its own.

Before assembling, I followed the instructions and stirred together three large eggs and 1 ½ pounds of ricotta cheese.

I'm not a fan of a lasagna that's heavy on the egg flavor, but her recipe wasn't overly eggy in the end.

De Laurentiis' recipe had a lot of spinach, and there wasn't much seasoning to add flavor.

The spinach was my least favorite ingredient in any of the lasagna recipes, and I'm usually a big fan of the leafy green.

De Laurentiis' lasagna disappointed me, mostly because it wasn't very flavorful.

I don't think the many steps of the complicated recipe paid off in the end.

Drummond, better known as The Pioneer Woman, doesn't mess around with protein-filled meals.

Her simple lasagna recipe calls for 2 pounds of ground beef and a pound of hot breakfast sausage.

The chef also included cottage cheese instead of traditional ricotta and tons of fresh herbs, such as basil and parsley.

I eat a high-protein diet, so I was immediately drawn to Drummond's meat-heavy lasagna sauce.

Like Garten, Drummond's recipe relies on canned tomatoes and tomato paste to make up the rest of the sauce, along with lots of chopped, fresh herbs.

Cottage cheese is a staple for meeting my daily protein goals, but I'd never had it in lasagna.

Drummond completely did away with traditional ricotta, and in the end, I enjoyed the flavor the cottage cheese brought to the meal.

My son, the picky eater, didn't even notice the switch.

Tossing 3 pounds of meat into a lasagna felt like overkill, but I ended up loving it.

Lasagna can be carb- and dairy-heavy, so I liked how protein-packed Drummond's version was.

Drummond's meaty lasagna was my favorite.

I would make her recipe again — it just might replace the family recipe I always default to.

Drummond's lasagna was perfectly cheesy and flavorful, had the right ratio of sauce to noodles, and was incredibly simple to assemble.

Best of all, it was a hit with my entire family.

This story was originally published on December 21, 2023, and most recently updated on December 24, 2024.

Fieri's recipe had some ingredients that made his roasted fingerling potatoes stand out.

For one, it contained nearly as many mushrooms as it did potatoes. But I love mushrooms, so this wasn't a problem for me.

The recipe also said to include thyme and rosemary, but I subbed thyme for oregano because I really dislike thyme.

Fieri's recipe instructions were simple.

I tossed all of the ingredients together except the butter, spread the potato and mushroom mixture on a sheet pan, and then placed little cubes of butter all over.

Although I expected the little fingerling potatoes to cook fairly quickly, I was skeptical they'd be done in 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

I was right.

After 20 minutes in the oven, my potatoes couldn't be pierced by a fork at all. They needed closer to 40 minutes at this lower temperature.

These potatoes tasted good, but they needed to be paired with a mushroom in every bite for the full flavor effect. The mushrooms seemed to absorb most of the herbs.

Fieri's potatoes weren't crispy — like I usually prefer — thanks to the added moisture from the mushrooms and butter. But these were a tasty alternative to my usual side dish.

Garten's garlic-roasted potatoes sounded delicious to me.

Aside from garlic and potatoes, other ingredients included salt, pepper, olive oil, and some fresh parsley.

Garten called for small red or white potatoes. I like both, but I used white for this recipe.

Because I have a mincing tool for garlic, it took very little time to prep this recipe.

I just needed to mix all the ingredients (minus the parsley) in a single bowl and lay the potatoes in a flat layer on a sheet pan.

Once my oven preheated to 400 degrees, I baked the potatoes for about 45 minutes. I turned them a couple of times while cooking, which helped make sure they got crispy all around.

When they were done, I quickly tossed them with a bit of fresh parsley.

After 45 minutes, the potatoes were nice and crispy, just how I like them.

I loved the texture, and the parsley added some freshness. But I would have loved even more herbs, like rosemary, for a more vibrant flavor.

Ray is known for her 30-minute recipes, and this hearty side dish is no exception.

The prep time only took me about five minutes, and there were only five ingredients.

Ray said to mix the ingredients right on the sheet pan rather than dirtying an extra dish, which made the prep even easier.

Then I popped the potatoes in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes.

Ray's potatoes turned out to be a good balance of crispy, salty, and herby.

I could taste the rosemary in every bite. I also liked that the exteriors were slightly crisped, but the insides were really soft.

These didn't get quite as crispy as Garten's, but I still enjoyed them — especially since they only took 20 minutes.

It was really difficult to choose a favorite because I loved each recipe for different reasons.

Garten's potatoes were extra crispy, which I loved. And the mushrooms and herbs in Fieri's potatoes made them very flavorful.

If I had to choose a favorite, I'd go with Ray's roasted baby potatoes with rosemary. They were flavorful, and I liked that they were a little crispy but still really soft inside. Plus, they were super quick and easy.

This story was originally published on December 23, 2023, and most recently updated on December 20, 2024.

The recipe lists potatoes, an egg, flour, salt, and pepper. I was surprised to find that the recipe called for frying the latkes in clarified butter instead of oil. Eating foods fried in oil is part of Hanukkah tradition, so I was a bit skeptical about this change.

I managed to cut myself almost immediately. Grate with caution.

The resulting batter had the consistency of oatmeal.

The recipe includes instructions for how to make clarified butter. You can also just buy ghee at a grocery store and skip this step.

It reminded me of skimming the fat off the top of chicken soup. It was easy, but took extra time waiting for the solids to settle.

Garten's recipe instructs using a tablespoon of the potato mixture for each latke.

I also loved that frying the latkes in butter didn't make my entire apartment and person smell like oil. It's a strong scent that tends to linger. These just smelled mildly like melted butter, which was amazing.

Because there weren't any other added ingredients to the batter, the potato flavor shone through and the buttery crust was delicious.

It didn't have the oily taste of a traditional latke, but I actually preferred the milder taste of butter.

Stewart's recipe involved twice the amount of potatoes and eggs that were in Garten's, as well as additions like grated onion and beer.

Stewart's recipe says to reserve this potato juice, let the milky starch sink to the bottom, and pour off the liquid — similar to the clarified butter I made for Garten's recipe.

Grated onions are standard in latke recipes — beer, not as much. I was curious to see how it would affect the flavor and texture.

The larger latkes took much longer to fry than Garten's, and they were a little more unruly to flip. I'm still trying to get a resulting oil splash out of my favorite jeans.

I could already tell that these latkes were going to be the more traditional of the two.

I couldn't taste the beer, but the grated onion and the crispy, oily goodness created a sharper flavor that screamed Hanukkah to me.

Even though they're not fried in oil — which is kind of the point of eating them on this holiday — I enjoyed Garten's latkes more because they were easier and faster to make, and they had a mild, buttery flavor that I loved. But Stewart's recipe is perfect for traditionalists.

I know Fieri loves spice, so I wasn't surprised to see smoked paprika, ground cumin, and cayenne pepper on his ingredient list, alongside granulated garlic and onion powder.

His recipe also called for ground pork, fresh parsley, salt, and pepper.

To my surprise, it didn't require any sort of liquid, like milk or eggs, which raised suspicions that these meatballs would be rather dry.

I measured out the various spices and seasonings and added them to a mixing bowl with the ground pork, combining everything with a fork.

But I quickly realized the easiest way to ensure all the spices were distributed evenly throughout the meat would be to mix it by hand.

I recommend popping on some thin gloves as the paprika and cayenne pepper can stain bare skin.

I began pinching small amounts of the meat mixture and weighing them into 2-ounce portions. Then, I rolled them into balls and arranged them on a tray lined with baking paper.

While I did this, I turned on the oven to let it preheat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once all the meatballs were prepared, I popped them straight into the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Fieri's recipe recommended 10 to 15 minutes, so I decided on a middle ground.

The meatballs filled my kitchen with the pleasant aroma of spices.

Because there was so little fat in the recipe, there also wasn't a lot of grease. But that meant these meatballs were quite hard and dry.

I enjoyed the flavors of the spices, but I think they definitely need a sauce.

Drummond's recipe had just a few more ingredients than Fieri's, but it involved fewer spices.

The addition of oats to bind the mixture, milk for moisture, and minced onions for flavor made it feel more like a classic meatball recipe.

Drummond calls for ground beef, but my local butcher had ground chuck, which has a higher fat content than ground beef. I was aware that my meatballs might turn out slightly greasier than the chef's, but I didn't mind.

Her recipe also included flour and oil for dredging and frying later on, as well as more onions, ketchup, white vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and sugar for a sauce.

Drummond specifically called for "very finely minced onions," which I struggled to cut. I did my best to chop the onions up small.

Aside from measuring out all the other ingredients, mincing the onion was the only prep required. I put everything in a mixing bowl with the ground beef before realizing I was meant to mix the beef and oats before adding everything else.

I figured it would be fine as everything gets mixed together anyway, so I continued with the recipe.

After mixing all the ingredients, I noticed how much looser the mixture felt compared to Fieri's. But it didn't seem too wet to roll into tablespoon-sized balls.

Once they were rolled out and arranged on a baking sheet, I covered them and let them firm up in the fridge.

I heated some oil in a heavy-bottomed skillet and dredged three or four meatballs in the flour while waiting for it to heat up.

Once the oil was hot, I added the flour-coated meatballs and let them sizzle, turning them over until they were light brown all over.

While my oven preheated to 350 F, I removed the browned meatballs from the heat and arranged them on a rectangular baking dish.

Once all the meatballs were browned and in the baking dish, I turned to Drummond's sauce recipe.

I minced more onions and mixed them in a bowl with ketchup, white vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and a couple of dashes of hot sauce.

I poured the sauce mixture all over the top of the meatballs, ensuring they were covered, and placed them in the oven for 40 minutes. The chef recommended 45, but mine were done quicker.

When I first opened the oven to remove the meatballs, I was hit by the acidic smell of the white vinegar, which was slightly unappealing.

But this quickly dissipated, and the resulting dish was very tasty. I was impressed by how moist and tender the meatballs were, and I enjoyed the extra flavor that came from browning them first.

The tangy sauce was also a good complement to the meatballs.

Garten's recipe had the longest ingredient list, including three types of meat: ground pork, ground sirloin, and ground veal.

She also called for fresh Italian pecorino cheese, fresh Italian Parmesan, bread crumbs, minced garlic, fresh parsley, and pepper.

The wet ingredients in the recipe included water, two extra-large eggs (lightly beaten), and ¾ cups of dry red wine (I went with Rosso).

Garten's recipe required the most prep. I grated both cheeses, minced the garlic and parsley, and measured out the bread crumbs.

Then, I added all three ground meats into a large bowl and mixed them together before adding the dry ingredients.

Once everything was thoroughly mixed, I poured in the red wine, eggs, and ¾ cup of water.

After combining all the ingredients, I began rolling the mixture into 2-ounce portions.

I arranged the balls on baking sheets and brushed each with olive oil, as Garten instructed.

Once my oven was preheated to 400 degrees, I popped the meatballs in and baked them for 30 minutes. The recipe said between 25 to 30 minutes, but I chose the top end to ensure the different meats were cooked all the way through.

When I pulled the meatballs out, I noticed most of them were surrounded by pools of grease.

They also smelled very strongly of cheese, which I would normally enjoy. However, in this instance, it was slightly off-putting for some reason.

The meatballs were well-seasoned, thanks to all the salt in the cheeses, but I was surprised to find that they were kind of dry.

I was sure all the liquid from the eggs, wine, and water would make them moist. Maybe the liquid escaped from the meat with the grease during the cooking process.

Still, in a tomato sauce with spaghetti or polenta, I think these meatballs would be quite delicious.

Drummond's recipe was the most classic and produced really delicious meatballs with good textures and flavors.

I kept a few to try with a different sauce, and they worked just as well, so they're also quite versatile.

Garten's was a more adventurous recipe. But it included a lot of expensive ingredients and didn't yield results that have me dying to make it again.

Fieri's meatballs were very tasty, but they needed a sauce to help the texture. Given the short ingredient list, though, they were probably the easiest to make.

This story was originally published on December 16, 2023, and most recently updated on December 13, 2024.

Click to check out the other celebrity-chef recipes we've put head-to-head so far.

Turkey curry and chili are two great options for day-after-Thanksgiving recipes because of how easy they are to prepare.

"Curries, chilis ... those are your basics," Ray told Business Insider.

Ray's recipe for turkey corn chili takes only 25 minutes to prepare and uses simple ingredients like cooked turkey meat, chopped onion, chopped bell pepper, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock or broth, and frozen corn. 

Who doesn't love the smell of a pot of ragù simmering on the stove during the colder months?

Ray's recipe for turkey porcini ragù uses dried, sliced porcini mushrooms, a pound of leftover Thanksgiving turkey, turkey or chicken stock, red wine, onion, garlic, crushed tomatoes, and more. 

For this recipe, Ray recommends rolling leftover stuffing into a ball and dropping it into broth like a matzo ball.

Add "leftover vegetables, any sort of meat, turkey, chicken, or ham, and you have the equivalent of a matzo-ball soup," Ray said.

One of the simplest ways to reuse leftover Thanksgiving turkey is to make a sandwich, wrap, or even a burrito, which Ray said is one of her favorite methods. 

You can add other Thanksgiving fixings like turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and gravy to your tortilla, or you can go a more standard route with fillings like shredded cheese, turkey, lettuce, and tomato. 

One of the most unique ways to use leftover stuffing is to make her recipe for savory stuffing waffles.

"You can put your leftover stuffing in your waffle iron, and then just put the turkey or the pheasant on top of the crispy stuffing once you take it out of the waffle iron," Ray said.

"[Top it] with a little bit of fruity maple syrup, like cranberry sauce and maple syrup, or some sort of warm honey drizzled over the top."

During a visit to the "Fixer Upper" stars' famous restaurant in Waco, Texas, in February 2022, I ordered the classic Farm Breakfast, which consisted of two eggs, tater tots, bacon, a side of fruit, and a biscuit served with strawberry butter.

I liked the meal, but the biscuit blew me away. The crumbly pastry instantly melted in my mouth when I took a bite, having the soft texture I look for in a biscuit. The strawberry butter took it to the next level by adding moisture and a subtle sweetness to each bite.

It was one of the best biscuits I've ever had, which is saying a lot, as I grew up in the South. As I left the restaurant, I regretted only eating one.

The recipe for "Jojo's Biscuits" is available on the Magnolia website, and since I don't know when I'll be able to go to Waco to get my pastry fix again, it seemed only fitting to try to make them myself.

I'd heard the recipe, which makes about 20 biscuits, was difficult to make, which made me apprehensive because I'm an inexperienced baker. 

For me, baking usually consists of adding ingredients to a box mix, so making biscuits from scratch was intimidating. But I was up for the challenge since there was a chance of tasting something even vaguely similar to Magnolia Table's breakfast treats.

You probably have most of what you need to make "Jojo's Biscuits" in your kitchen cabinet:

• Self-rising flour
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Salted butter
• Eggs
• Buttermilk

The recipe says to whisk the self-rising flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl.

The entire recipe ends up in this bowl, so I recommend using the biggest one you have available. 

It's also a good idea to have a full bag of flour on hand, as you'll need more of it toward the end of the recipe.

The three sticks of cold butter used in the biscuit recipe need to be cut into 1/2-inch pieces or grated before they can be added to the dry ingredients. I'm not that comfortable with a grater, so I decided to just slice the butter.

I used a baking scraper to measure out my butter sticks, as the one I have has ruler marks on it.

As I sliced up the butter, I laughed to myself thinking it was no wonder I liked "Jojo's Biscuits." Who wouldn't like a biscuit with three sticks of butter in it?

Before making the biscuits, I had never used a pastry blender, so I ordered one on Amazon for the occasion. 

Joanna's recipe instructs that the butter must be cut into pea-sized chunks, so I made sure to press into each chunk of butter, combining it with the flour mixture.

Because it's sticky, chunks of butter got stuck in the pastry cutter every few times I pressed it into my bowl full of ingredients.

I used a knife and my fingers to push the butter back into the bowl, continuing to combine it with the flour.

I got nearly everything down to pea size, but I struggled to find every slice of butter at this step because much of it had slipped toward the bottom of the bowl. I wish I had used a spoon to make sure I was splitting all of the butter in the bowl evenly.

The next step of the recipe is to stir two beaten eggs into the mixture using a wooden spoon.

I mixed my eggs together before I started combining my dry ingredients, so it was easy to grab them and mix them in. 

After that, it was time to add buttermilk, again using a wooden spoon to stir the ingredients together until it created "a sticky mass." The recipe notes that you should add an additional teaspoon of buttermilk one at a time if the mixture doesn't have the right consistency. I ended up having to add one additional teaspoon to my dough before it seemed right. 

Stirring everything together was definitely the most challenging part of the recipe because the dough was firm, thanks to all the butter. My arm started to get sore, and I had to take a few breaks as I stirred.

I also thought I was done once or twice, and then realized there was loose flour at the bottom of the bowl that hadn't been incorporated into the mass. I think if I had a bigger spoon, I might have had an easier time mixing it all together.

I was excited to see my dough coming together, as it had the consistency and shape I was hoping for. 

After it's prepared, the dough must chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and up to overnight. I let mine sit for about 45 minutes, pre-heating my oven to 400 degrees a few minutes before I took it out of the fridge.

Once the dough chilled, it was time to press it out with my hands and cut out biscuits.

According to the recipe, the dough is supposed to be pressed into a round about 14 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick. I measured my dough to ensure it was the proper length across, but I wasn't as consistent with making sure the slab was the same height all the way across.

Before I removed my dough, I thoroughly floured my workstation and my hands, as the recipe instructed. 

Because the dough had become sticky as I stirred it together, I could tell this step would be important. I was glad I applied a lot of flour to my work surface, as I didn't have any issues with my dough sticking as I cut out my biscuits. 

Joanna's recipe calls for a floured, 2 3/4-inch round cutter to cut out the biscuits from the dough.

Because I'm not an avid baker, I don't have cookie cutters or rounds around the house — but I do have wine glasses. I measured one of my glasses, and it happened to be the exact size Joanna recommended. I knew my love of rosé would come in handy someday. 

I made sure to thoroughly flour the rim of the glass before I pushed it through the dough, and it worked like a charm. I was left with beautiful, round biscuits. 

I put my biscuits on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper, nestling them together as Joanna's recipe instructs. I typically make cookies when I bake, so I was surprised the biscuits were supposed to touch. 

To make the egg wash, I combined one egg with buttermilk and brushed the mixture on top of the biscuits. 

Once every biscuit had been lightly coated, it was time to pop them in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. 

As I put them in the oven, I was worried I had done something wrong because the recipe had been so easy to make. Sure, it was time-consuming to stir everything together, but it wasn't challenging otherwise.

I pulled my biscuits out when the crust had turned a golden brown, and I was immediately met by a scent I can only call buttery.

It was warm and inviting, and based on both the aroma and the look of the biscuits, I was optimistic I had actually pulled the recipe off. 

I let the biscuits cool for about five minutes before I took a bite.

My mouth watered as I bit into the flaky treat.

The biscuits had a soft interior surrounded by a crumbly crust, just like the delectable pastry I had tasted at Magnolia Table. They were sweet, but I could tell they would taste just as good with jam as they would with bacon, as is ideal for a breakfast carb.

As I soaked up the flavor of the pastry, I knew that if I had strawberry butter within reach, I would have felt like I was back at a counter seat in Waco. 

Although all of the biscuits were delicious, some of them were thicker than others because I had not been as diligent as I should have been when pressing out my dough round. 

It didn't matter this time around since I was only making the biscuits for myself, but if I make the recipe for a group, I wouldn't want anyone to get a smaller biscuit than someone else. 

I definitely recommend taking your time shaping the dough and cutting your rounds if you try this recipe.

And because they're best when you take your time with the biscuits, they took me a few hours to complete, especially because the dough needed time to chill in the fridge.

That wasn't a problem here, but I could see that being annoying if I wanted to make this recipe for breakfast and woke up hungry.

Next time I wanted to have them for breakfast, I would probably let the dough chill overnight, as it would make serving the biscuits for breakfast or brunch nearly stress-free.

You might immediately associate Jojo's biscuits with breakfast, but I think they'd be the perfect substitute for the rolls or cornbread that people often serve at a holiday dinner. 

In fact, Joanna often serves her biscuits with her sausage gravy. You could swap her recipe for the gravy you typically serve with turkey on Thanksgiving for a savory and sweet pairing. 

Plus, you can save any leftover dough for a second batch of biscuits for a delicious brunch later in the week. It's a win-win. 

These three-ingredient sugar cookies by BellyFull take 15 minutes to whip up and use things that you probably already have in your kitchen: unsalted butter, granulated sugar, and all-purpose flour.

However, if you want to make your sugar cookies even more special, you can also use a few extra ingredients like vanilla, a quick and easy icing like this one from Betty Crocker, and festive red, green, or blue sprinkles.

This recipe by SweetPhi uses baking soda, sugar, light corn syrup, dry roasted peanuts, and flaky sea salt to create a rich holiday treat. You won't even need a candy thermometer to make this dessert — just a saucepan, measuring spoons, and parchment paper.

To make sweet-and-spicy chocolate bark, you'll need hazelnuts, two bars of dark chocolate, dried cranberries, sea salt, and cayenne pepper.

One of the best parts about making chocolate bark is that not only can you customize the toppings, but you also don't even need to bake it. Melt the chocolate, add your toppings, and stick it in the fridge until it is hardened and ready to break apart.

If you enjoy peppermint mochas, you'll love this four-ingredient dessert. To make white-chocolate peppermint bark, you'll need candy canes or hard peppermint candies, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and peppermint extract.

It's perfect for making with kids and keeps up to three weeks in the refrigerator, meaning you can enjoy it all holiday season long. 

The Stay at Home Chef's recipe for five-ingredient peanut-butter cookies is gluten-free and includes creamy peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, one egg, and vanilla extract. 

Whether you're a peanut-butter fanatic or simply an inexperienced baker, this easy recipe by Kitchen Fun calls for four ingredients that you might already have in your pantry: creamy peanut butter, powdered sugar, butter, and semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Make the peanut-butter dough, dip the balls into the melted chocolate, and refrigerate them until the chocolate has hardened. If you want to go the extra mile, you can also top the balls with festive-colored sprinkles or nuts for added flavor and texture.

Gimme Some Oven's recipe for five-ingredient whiskey dark chocolate truffles uses dark chocolate, heavy cream, butter, sea salt, and your choice of whiskey.

Be warned: These sweet treats aren't intended for kids. Since the truffles aren't baked, none of the alcohol gets a chance to "burn off."

To make Gimme Some Oven's lemon bars, you'll need all-purpose flour, butter, powdered sugar, eggs, and lemons. Or, if you're looking to make life even easier, you can buy store-bought lemon curd.

Dip your strawberries into melted semisweet chocolate, set the strawberries down onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, and wait until the chocolate has set.

To make your chocolate-covered strawberries even more show-stopping, you can also melt some white chocolate and drizzle it over the top of the strawberries before setting them aside to harden.

Taste of Home's recipe for five-ingredient chocolate fudge relies on pantry staples: butter, semisweet chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract.

It only takes 10 minutes to prepare, meaning you can have a sweet treat ready to serve faster than you can say "mistletoe."