Whether or not you're superstitious (I'm not), the New Year's Dinner is a fun tradition.  I look forward to it every year.  Last year I decided to make Ree Drummond's Hoppin' John as a sort of spin on my family's classic meal.  

Closeup of the beans, with the bell peppers.  So good- we may have spooned it over quinoa.

• Sugar cookies, rolled out, punched into shapes like bells, trees, stars, mittens, reindeer, and decorated with frosting or sprinkles
• Gingerbread men and houses
• Fruitcake Cookies (I can't believe I've never given the recipe- will try to fix that soon!)
• Those store-bought slice and bake sugar cookies that are dyed in the middle to look like a Christmas tree or Santa's hat
• Those small, pre-made butter cookies that have red or green sprinkles and sometimes look like a wreath

Either way, the cookies are tasty, and the dough can be frozen for later use.  They're addictive, so beware!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
from Smitten Kitchen

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Whisk dry flour, salt and baking powder in bowl and set aside. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla and cocoa in mixer. Gradually add flour mixture, and mix until smooth. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour.

Roll out cookie dough on floured counter. Cut into desired shapes, brushing extra deposits of flour off the top. (It does disappear once baked, though, so don’t overly fret if they go into the oven looking white.) Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 8 to 11 minutes (the former for 1/8-inch thick cookies, the latter for 1/4-inch cookies) until the edges are firm and the centers are slightly soft and puffed.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

                                 

Since the cauliflower stands up well to heat, it still retains a nice bite to it that sort of mimics the texture of meat.  Not that you will fool your tastebuds, but it's a nice texture and flavor.  I really believe the secret to vegetarian or vegan dishes, though, is not to sub in a vegetable for meat and expect the same result.  You will 100% of the time be disappointed if you're expecting the flavor of chicken, shrimp, or beef, and you're eating cauliflower or beans or whatever.  The secret is instead to prepare the vegetable in such a way that it is the star and not a stand-in.  This dish does a really good job of doing just that.  The cauliflower has a good amount of fiber, so it's filling, and when paired with a grain, such as quinoa or rice, it's a good meal in and of itself.

Being a stir fry, this is a quick and easy to prepare dish, so you can have this meal in about 15 minutes, not counting the time it takes you to cook your grain.

Spicy Stir-Fried Cauliflower
from the Pioneer Woman

serves 2

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets
2 tsp. vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tb. soy sauce
1 lime, juiced (or about 1-2 Tb Rice Vinegar)
2-3 green onions, sliced thin
1 Tb. Sriracha or hot sauce

Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium-high to high heat. Add the oil, then the cauliflower and garlic. Stir the cauliflower around the pan, allowing it to get very brown in some areas. Cook for 3 minutes, then turn heat to low. Add soy sauce, squeeze in the juice of the lime, and add most of the sliced green onion, reserving the rest for serving. Stir and allow to cook for 1 minute, then squeeze the hot sauce over the cauliflower. Stir until the hot sauce has been incorporated. Add a little more hot sauce if you want a deeper color and flavor.
Serve hot in a bowl. Sprinkle extra sliced green onions on top, and serve with a lime wedge.

For a more filling meal, serve with 1 cup quinoa or rice.

3/4 stick unsalted butter, melted, divided
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (from a 1/4-ounce package)
1/4 cup warm milk (105–115°F)
1 tablespoon mild honey or sugar
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading and dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup canned pure pumpkin
2 large eggs, divided, plus 1 yolk
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 tablespoon water

Butter muffin cups with 1 tablespoon melted butter.

Stir together yeast, warm milk, and honey in a large bowl and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, start over with new yeast.)

Mix flour, salt, pumpkin, 1 whole egg, yolk, orange zest and juice, and remaining 5 tablespoon butter into yeast mixture with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until a soft dough forms. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and knead, dusting surface and your hands with just enough flour to keep dough from sticking, until dough is elastic and smooth, 6 to 8 minutes. Form dough into a ball.

Put dough in an oiled large bowl and turn to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Punch down dough (do not knead), then halve. Roll half of dough on a lightly floured surface with lightly floured hands into a 12-inch-long log (keep remaining half covered with plastic wrap).

Cut log into 6 equal pieces, then cut each piece into thirds. Roll each piece into a 1-inch ball by cupping your hand and pushing dough against work surface as you roll in a circular motion. Put 3 balls side by side in each of 6 muffin cups.

Make more rolls with remaining dough in same manner. Cover rolls with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until dough is about 1 inch above rim of muffin cups, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in middle.

Whisk together remaining egg and water and brush on tops of rolls. (You will have leftover egg wash.)

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Transfer rolls to a rack and cool at least 20 minutes.

recipe note:
Rolls are best the day they’re made but can be frozen (cool completely, then wrap well) 1 month. Thaw, then reheat on a baking sheet in a 350°F oven until warmed through, 5 to 10 minutes.

• I had 3 large sweet potatoes and still got about half a dozen balls out of it.  
• Next time I will cut back a bit on the sugar, and even just a bit on the orange juice.  It was very good, but cutting back on the two will make it a little more savory.  

Bake in the oven for about 10-15 minutes (varies on oven) or until the eggs are just set.

Notes

• Learn from my mistakes.  Oil or line your muffin tin if it is not "non-stick."  Even if it is, it's still not the worst idea.  I spent FOREVER cleaning out that tin.
• These work in mini muffin tins too- baking time is shorter
• The base of this muffin is the egg.  All other add-ins are optional.  What else might you try?  Olives?  Jalapenos?  Feta Cheese?  I had a combination- some contained cheese, greens, mushrooms, peppers, onions, and sausage, while others had just cheese and slow roasted tomatoes. 
• These are good, and I loved that I can store them in the fridge or freezer and reheat them.  I am not completely convinced that they're at optimum, but I could have overbaked them or maybe they need a little more to be perfect textured.  Either way, they're pretty good.  

I then topped it with sliced Romaine lettuce, avocado, and more cheese, because more cheese is always a good thing.  It was so good!  Make this soon for a fun way to use up some of your big batch chili leftovers.

Taco Pizza
all ingredients may be adjusted to feed your crowd.

1 pizza dough ball or prepared pizza crust
1-2 cups chili
1 cup cheddar or other cheese of your choice
1 cup shredded lettuce
1/2 avocado, diced
Salsa or taco sauce

Preheat your oven to its highest setting and place a pizza stone in the oven on the center rack.  Allow it to preheat for about 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Meanwhile, prep your crust according to recipe or package directions.  Top with a thin layer of chili and cheese and bake for about 10 minutes, or until crust is browned and toppings are melted and bubbly.

Remove from oven  and allow the pizza to rest on a cooling rack about 2-3 minutes.  Top with lettuce, some remaining cheese, and the diced avocado.  You can also top with salsa or taco sauce for additional taco flavor.  Slice and serve.

• If you're a sort of regular reader, you've probably read before about how I'll choose foods I can cook in stages, and this dish is another good example of breaking up the prep over different days or times of day.  I roasted the squash the night before and stuck it in the fridge.  The next day, I picked up with the rest of the prep and served it.  It turned what would have been about an hour or so prep into two sets of 30 minutes or so each.
• You don't want the squash super, super soft (though tender) after roasting, because you want to make sure the skins or shells hold up.
• The original recipe called for ricotta cheese.  When I went shopping, the store was out of ricotta, so I took a cue from my favorite lasagna recipe and used cottage cheese.  It worked well, but I wonder if the ricotta would yield a slightly smoother and maybe creamier end result.

When they first come out of the oven, they are puffy, but don't worry; they will settle.

Notes

• If you visit the original post site (the link to the original post is the recipe title), you will see that Averie's cookies are a bit thicker.  I used about half the dough she uses for one cookie, so that I'd have more.  This may have affected the candy corn staying in tact.
• I baked mine 9 minutes, just like the recipe suggested.  Some still looked too underdone, and even after about 5 mins. were too soft to pick up from the baking sheet.  After further cooling- maybe 30 minutes- they were fine to pick up.

If you make these for a party, then you will want to start early.  I could only fit about 4 whole tortillas on a baking sheet, and that's only like 1 serving.  So yes, I ate a whole pan.  I'll go be filled with self loathing now.

Baked Corn Tortilla Chips
to make 1-2 servings

4- 6 inch corn tortillas
Canola or other flavorless oil OR cooking spray/spray oil
Salt (I use Kosher but regular would be fine)

Preheat an oven to 350 and center your oven rack.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment (optional, but makes for much easier cleanup).

Cut your tortillas into quarters (or whatever size you desire- sixths would be fine too).  Lay them flat in a single layer on your baking sheet, and spray with oil.  You can use a Misto sprayer, a pump sprayer, or even a spray bottle with a nozzle, or even cooking spray- you just want an even, light layer of oil on the chips.  Sprinkle with salt.  Turn over and repeat on the other side.

Bake in preheated oven about 10-15 minutes, flipping about halfway through.  They are done when they've crisped up and are golden with some light browning.

Notes

• Depending on your love of salt, you may want to go easy at first.  Remember you are salting both sides (or just salt one side if you were heavy handed on the first side).  These can tend to be a little salty if you aren't careful.
• Despite their sturdiness, they get soggy more easily than the store bought chips.  Be warned.

• I decreased the original amount of sugar by about half, and I'd probably decrease it further next time.
• I will also decrease the olive oil next time, likely to about 1/3 cup.
• The onions said "sweet" in the store, but they were hot!  If your onion is hot, I'd encourage you to cut it back to 1 onion AND/OR to rinse the onions under cold water and let them drain a couple minutes before adding them to the rest of the mix OR to quick pickle them in the vinegar before the vinegar and sugar are mixed together and heated.

This was one of the first dishes I ever pinned to my food board, and after nearly 3 years on Pinterest I am finally trying it out, and I'm glad I did.  It's really good.  It's a solid recipe for your repertoire that is one of those go-to, sure bets.  It's almost stupid-easy and is quick to prepare.  Serve with a salad or other vegetables on the side.

Maple Dijon Chicken
from Witty in the City blog

1.5 lb package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs)
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1 Tb vinegar (rice/rice wine/white wine/apple cider)
1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

Preheat oven to 450.  Line a 9x13" baking dish or pan with aluminum foil for easy cleanup.  If you wish (and I did), trim excess fat from thighs and salt and pepper both sides.  Place into a single layer into the dish.

In a small bowl or mixing cup, mix together the maple syrup, the Dijon mustard, and the vinegar.  Pour over the chicken, turning the chicken to coat.  Bake the chicken in the preheated oven for a total of about 40 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the thighs reaches 165.  About halfway through cooking time, baste and or turn the thighs in the sauce for even cooking and flavor distribution.

Remove from oven and sprinkle rosemary on top of the chicken.

Chocolate Chip Pie
From Just Desserts by Paula Deen

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9 inch pie shell

Preheat  your oven to 325.  In a medium bowl, mix together flour and sugar.  Add all other ingredients, stirring until moistened.  Pour into an unbaked pie shell and bake 45-60 minutes, until set.  The top will also be lightly browned.

Serve with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Notes

• I used mini chocolate chips, because I liked the idea of smaller chips of chocolate scattered throughout.
• If you use a glass dish like I did, it's best to reduce the heat of the oven by 25 degrees Fahrenheit and extend the time a little, which allows for a better browning of the crust while not burning everything else.

• I made the actual muffin as the original poster wrote them, but I left out the glaze.  I am just not much of a glaze girl on cake doughnuts or muffins.  For the glaze recipe, just click on the recipe title, which doubles as a link to the original post.
• These freeze well.  Wrap them individually and place in a zip-top freezer bag.  Thaw either on counter or in microwave about 30 seconds.

Prep your farro:  follow package directions to cook farro.  Let cool.  Also may be done ahead of time.

• I always like to give credit where it's due.  This recipe was inspired by a Smitten Kitchen recipe.
• Farro is a grain, and it is sold in several places.  I found my bag at Trader Joe's.  If you can't find farro, you can substitute barley, quinoa, and even rice or some other grain.