Friends, hello.

I was hoping to have something more exciting to share with you this weekend, namely a recipe for a very simple soft sandwich bread, which I've been making in various ways — sometimes with honey, sometimes with olive oil, sometimes with more or less water and different flours, etc. — since this past summer. The recipe is almost there...

... and I will share it as soon as it is. I have a simple sourdough sandwich bread recipe on the blog, and I've long wanted to include a similar yeasted version there, too. Soon!

In the meantime, I have an overnight chia oat update to share. If you've made these oats, you know the recipe yields two portions, and it can easily be doubled or tripled to have more on hand for the days ahead.

Recently, I've been making individual portions: I line up 6 jars and fill each with:

2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1/3 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup oat milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 teaspoons maple syrup
pinch sea salt
dash cinnamon

I give the mixture a stir, cover the jars, and stash them in the fridge. It is so nice to have individual portions on hand ready to grab on the go or to send off with a child who has slept past her alarm or who has had his braces tightened and is surviving on liquids alone. The joys of adolescence!

I recently bought these 8-oz jars, which are a little tight for the quantities I use in them, but I love their compact size.

And they still allow enough room for a handful of berries or some sliced banana or grated apple:

Overnight Chia Oats

PS: Baked Steel Cut Oatmeal

Review of the Week

A cast iron skillet with freshly baked Irish soda bread.

Super Simple Irish Soda Bread

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

"Great simple recipe, I appreciate the DIY buttermilk option. Baked for 45 minutes in a 10-inch cast iron skillet and turned out perfect! Nice brown crust with a tender-moist crumb inside, just right — thank you for the delicious recipe!"

— Jen

PS: If you love Irish soda bread, you'll love this Simple Irish Brown Bread (another no-yeast quick bread):

And these lemony currant scones:

Freshly baked buttermilk currant scones.

What I'm Craving: Salad for Dinner

I find this time of the year to be the least inspirational from a culinary perspective — I'm tired of roasting everything and craving freshness. In these bleak times, salad for dinner to the rescue!

Charred Broccoli Chopped Salad

A bowl of chopped salad with cashew dressing.

Hetty McKinnon's Sushi Salad

A bowl of sushi salad with brown rice, avocado, edamame, and cucumber with a sesame miso dressing, nori and sesame seeds.

Chopped Thai Satay Salad

A large bowl of chopped Thai salad satay ready to be served.

Kale and Quinoa Salad

Cauliflower Couscous with Almonds and Herbs

In Case You Missed It:

Miraculously Delicious Turkey Burgers (So many of you are making and loving this one!)

Simple Baked Pasta

How to Save Recipes:

How to Save Recipes

Tonda-Style Pizza (Preview)

In Friday's pizza newsletter, I wrote briefly about tonda-style pizza, a very thin Roman-style pizza that happens to be my favorite. Video and recipe to come next week 🍕🍕

Pizza Every Friday