Spring Carrots with Apricots and Pistachios from The Splendid Table: A perfect side dish to welcome the spring weather. It also packs a lot of flavor for such an inexpensive dish, as you can easily omit the pistachios.
Homemade gnocchi and marinara sauce: I’ll be posting a full account of this recipe later this week. Surprisingly easy.
Brown Sugar-Brined Chicken: I made a modified version of this Splendid Table recipe when I was unable to track down ancho chilis in my neighborhood. Instead of creating the chili paste, I just mixed a bit of chili powder and extra pepper with the orange zest, juice, garlic, and oil, and then rubbed it underneath the skin. You can tell from the photo a bit of the minced garlic ended up on top of the skin. Whoops.
The overnight brining resulted in a much better roast chicken and I may make it standard pre-roasting practice from now on. Some people complain of it making the meat too salty, but I found it to just make the chicken extra moist.
