As I close out my posting for the semester, I wanted to rank the recipes I’ve cooked and posted from my least favorite to favorite, factoring in taste, presentation, convenience, and price.
6th Place: Roasted Garlic Parmesan Cauliflower
In last place, is unfortunately, the roasted garlic parmesan cauliflower. Although I do like this side dish, it does probably land as my least favorite compared to the other recipes I’ve made for this site. Taste wise, it’s a delicious side, but doesn’t necessarily go with every dish, and isn’t as unique as some of the other things I’ve cooked. Overall, this is a reliable side dish for dinner in relation to both convenience and taste, but considering price per serving and presentation, it isn’t the best ranked.
5th Place: Chicken Lettuce Wraps
Next on the list is the chicken lettuce wraps. This is where the decisions REALLY started to get tough. This is definitely one of my favorite recipes of all time, both taste, price, and presentation wise. However, they are a little more time consuming to make, just because I prefer to prepare all the ingredients before cooking, and like to use ground chicken, which takes a while to season and cook thoroughly, but with some multitasking, these could be made simpler. I am an avid fan of ordering lettuce wraps at restaurants, so I have had some pretty outstanding ones in local restaurants. However, one strength of these lettuce wraps compared to ordering them out is that you can completely customize what you want to put into them.
4th Place: Steak Hibachi at Home
The fourth place ranking goes to the at home steak hibachi dinner. This was one of the more time consuming meals, so I couldn’t rank it in the top 3, but it is delicious and definitely more affordable than going out to a hibachi dinner. Despite it being much cheaper and still delicious, you are missing out on the experience of going out to a hibachi dinner. The presentation and taste are still good, but you aren’t witnessing the onion volcano on fire or the chef being able to flip around eggs.
3rd Place: Easter Sides Special
Getting the bronze in my ranking is the Easter side dishes. These have a special place in my heart, as they’re traditional dishes that my mom makes every year for Easter. However, it felt wrong to rank a holiday special in the top 2. In general, these dishes are time consuming, but are simple and just need a longer time to cook. They are all extremely delicious, and pitting them against each other was a difficult task. They’re all unique and pair well with most main dishes served on Easter or other holidays, as well as being extremely cost friendly. They also all pair nicely with other dishes on a plate, so the presentation factor is there as well.
For the Easter sides, I ranked them against each other too, as there were three separate recipes included in this one.
3rd in Easter Sides Special: Pineapple Stuffing
2nd in Easter Sides Special: Scalloped Potatoes
1st in Easter Sides Special: Sweet Potato Casserole
2nd Place: Tex Mex Egg Rolls with Avocado Lime Crema
In second place is the tex mex egg rolls with avocado lime crema. Coming up with this recipe gave me a lot of creative freedom to mix and match different cuisines and test different ideas I had. I love egg rolls, whether it be the average Asian-inspired egg roll or something more unique, like a Mexican-inspired egg roll, so this dish is very high up on my ranking. Although it is more time consuming, I’d say it’s worth the wait, and is definitely worth the price per serving. Presentation-wise, I felt like a culinary expert placing the egg rolls on top of the smeared crema. I served these to a few of my friends, and they also really enjoyed them, so I feel validated in putting them this high on the ranking.
1st Place: Breakfast Hash Bowl
In first place is my favorite recipe, which I made countless times after I first cooked it, which is the breakfast hash bowl. This dish was originally inspired by a breakfast poutine I ordered at a local diner, but I’ve come to like my own creation even more, and it is WAY more affordable! This was the first recipe I posted, so I may also have some sentimental bias towards it as my semester comes to a close. However, considering all factors: taste, convenience, presentation, and price, this recipe is an 11/10. For me, it checks all the boxes, and still allows me to have some creative freedom because I can add whatever toppings I feel like that day. Overall, this is probably my favorite recipe I’ve ever made, and one I will continue to make regularly.