Confession time. I don’t drink wine. I don’t like it. To some of you that makes me a monster, but I feel I should be honest. To my taste, there has never been a wine as good as a fine strawberry Kool-Aid. That said, strawberry Kool-Aid SUCKS in soup. Wine adds a great flavor when cooked into many dishes.

You’re about to learn a magic trick. This is not one of those, “Is this your card?” loser, fake, dumb stuff, tricks. This is REAL MAGIC. You’re going to roast garlic and if you’ve never roasted garlic before, this is one of the most wonderful things you can do with an oven. Your home is about to smell SO GREAT that soon, people will be banging on your door shouting, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE?” If your door opens inward, open slowly so they don’t fall into your home. If it opens out, you still want to open slowly so you don’t break any of the noses that will be pushed up against your door.

It’s time to settle the sweet potato/yam conundrum. Which is which? We’ve all seen them labeled both ways in grocery stores. Is it a conspiracy? What do I want for my soup? Which should I melt miniature marshmallows on? Which is sweet potato and which is a yam?

This salad has an almost nacho feel to it. Need to get the family back on board with the salad thing? This is a pretty good trick. It’s got a walnut and carrot mixture that ends up a little like a ground beef substitute. Not in that, “close your eyes and pretend it’s meat” thing, but a texture you might enjoy with a new taste that doesn’t make you feel like you’re cheating on your veggie love.

Let’s pretend one morning you wake up miles from civilization. You somehow find yourself in a tiny cabin in the middle of a snowy wilderness. There’s a fire burning and a big pot of soup that is magically always full. That sounds great, except it’s this soup right here.

Once upon a time, there was a leafy green so unpalatable that when it appeared on a dinner plate, it was relegated to being a green blanket under the real food. It was served on plates with the sole intention of ending up in the trash. It wasn’t even a food! One day a magical health scientist waved his refractometer at the leaf and –poof– Kale arrived, fully dressed and ready to party! Today we know that lame, old, “thrown onto your plate as a decoration” leaf is super nutritious, and when given the love and attention it deserves, it’s delicious.

Breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day, right? Wrong! Gotcha! You thought this would be a recipe, not a test. That's fine. Even if you failed the test part, this breakfast hash is delicious.

Tacos! Bravo! Delicioso! Fantastico! I cannot overstate the importance of tacos. Why? They’re crazy fast and easy to make. They’re over the top delicious. They’re low in calories. They’re inexpensive. Am I making myself clear? You should have some tacos and think about what I’ve said here. It must be Cinco de Mayo somewhere, right? Ole’!

This is an amazing chili, because it has so much flavor to it. The two types of beans make this extra hearty and the quinoa adds a nice "meaty" texture to it. Serve this to your family and they will hardly notice it's plant based and "healthy!"

Did you know you could cut asparagus with a vegetable peeler or a mandolin? It’s easy and so danged fancy! The texture is great. It changes that every day salad into an evening at the Metropolitan Mouth Ballet. This recipe’s not crazy enough for you? Add some baby spinach, mixed greens, fresh basil, maybe red onion, maybe all of them! Raw asparagus is delicious!