Simple Pleasures: Incredibly Craveable Recipes for Everyday Cooking, a Review

Jodi Moreno’s Simple Pleasures: Incredibly Craveable Recipes for Everyday Cooking is a refreshing departure from the often lackluster cookbooks flooding today’s market. As a James Beard–nominated chef, Moreno brings a vibrant, indulgent, yet approachable energy to her collection of comfort recipes that celebrate life’s simple pleasures. From the moment you open the book, its beautifully designed pages and comprehensive index—a rarity in modern cookbooks—draw you in. Every recipe is accompanied by a stunning photograph, making it as much a visual feast as a culinary one.

 

What sets this book apart is Moreno’s knack for reinventing familiar dishes with unexpected twists. The pickle-brine sheet pan chicken with capers, red onion, and dill is a standout, its bold flavor combination will no doubt provide a “toothsome” experience that lives up to its intriguing title. Similarly, the broccoli with feta, almonds, and lemon, inspired by her boss’s obsession, is a simple yet sophisticated dish that delivers on both taste and ease. As a broccoli enthusiast, I found this recipe to be a delightful addition to my repertoire.The shrimp scampi with tomato rice is another gem—elegant enough for company, yet straightforward for novice cooks. Moreno’s Golden Salmorejo, a yellow tomato gazpacho, is a must-try for summer, especially for those growing their own yellow tomatoes, like me. Her take on potato leek soup, enhanced with crispy potatoes and leeks, challenges even the most confident home cooks to rethink a classic. The book’s variety ensures there’s something for every taste, budget, and skill level, from indulgent butter-laden dishes to lighter, feel-good options. 

 

Moreno’s playful organization, with sections like “Pasta Parties” and “Long Leisurely Gatherings,” invites readers to embrace cooking as a joyful, communal experience. Her love for bold ingredients—crème fraîche, juicy tomatoes, mounds of parmesan—shines through, creating recipes that balance decadence and nourishment. Simple Pleasures is a cookbook that feels personal, thoughtful, and inspiring, making it a must-have for anyone who cherishes quality, creativity, and the art of cooking.Get your copy here.

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Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms

 

 Are you ready for something new and exciting for Meatless Monday? Well then, you have come to the right place. Not only is this recipe super simple to make, but also extremely versatile. It can be used as a sumptuous side dish, ladled over a sizzling steak, or, to get a magnificent main dish, toss it with the hot cooked pasta of your choice. It is amazingly good, and tastes as though it’s much more difficult and time-consuming to make.Garlic Parmesan Mushrooms

Adapted from dailyviral.net

 2 T. butter

1 T. extra virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz, whole baby bella mushrooms

⅓ c. heavy cream

2 T. cream cheese, room temperature

⅓ c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

¼ t. onion powder

¾ t. Italian seasoning

Salt and pepper, to taste

Fresh parsley, to garnish

Rinse and clean the mushrooms and pat dry.

Melt butter and olive oil in a 10" skillet over medium heat

Add mushrooms and cook until browned, around 5 – 7 minutes.

 Add garlic, cream, cream cheese, Parmesan, onion powder, and Italian seasoning, and cook for 5 – 10 minutes, until sauce is thick and creamy. Salt and pepper to taste.

 Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

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Mac and Cheese Soup

 

 Last week I saw this picture going around on social media. It, more than anything else, has summed up 2024 for me thus far. I don’t think I have ever experienced such consistently dismal weather, or such a lengthy, personal funk as I have this past month. I don’t know how it’s been for the rest of you, but I am really looking forward to spring, or, at the very least, putting January behind me.

 

The other day I was embracing my funk, spending most of it just wandering aimlessly around the house, stopping occasionally to stare out a window. I had no idea what I was going to fix for dinner, and frankly I didn’t care. What I did know was that I needed to eat, and I wanted something that was the absolute apex of comfort. I happened to be scrolling through Facebook and came upon a posting by Kevin from Closet Kitchen that featured this recipe. I had never heard of macaroni and cheese soup, but I was 100% on board.

 

 With a rerun of Midsomer Murders playing in the background, I put this together and enjoyed it for a late supper. I have to tell you that this improved my entire day.

Mac and Cheese Soup

As seen on closetcooking.com

 ¼ c. butter

1 c. diced onions

1 c. diced carrots

1 c. diced celery

3 cloves garlic, minced

½ t. ground mustard

¼ c. flour

6 c. chicken broth

2 c. elbow macaroni

1 pinch freshly grated nutmeg

½ c. heavy cream

3 c. cheddar cheese, shredded

 

Cayenne, salt, and pepper to taste

Steps

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add the onions, carrots, and celery, and cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes.

 Add the garlic and mustard, sprinkle on the flour, mix, and cook for 2 minutes.

 Add the broth, macaroni and nutmeg, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the macaroni is tender, about 10 minutes.

 Add the cream and cheese, mix, and let the cheese melt into the sauce.

Season with cayenne, salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

 Option: Add 1 diced jalapeno with the onions, celery, carrots.

Option: Use your favorite mac and cheese cheese(s): cheddar, Monterey jack, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, etc.

Option: Add crumbled blue cheese.

Option: Add 1 t. Worcestershire sauce.

Option: Add hot sauce to taste.

Option: Add sliced green onion.

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Walnut Mushroom Bolognese

I found it ironic that this recipe came from a magazine called Real Simple. This recipe is anything but simple. It’s not difficult, mind you, but between toasting the walnuts, and being in need of a food processor, it cannot be made by everyone. On the plus side, it is unique and flavorful, can be adapted to suit your needs (as I did with the inclusion of fresh garlic, as well as swapping out the half-and-half for heavy cream), makes a lot, and freezes beautifully. It is wonderfully sophisticated, complex, and perfect for a cold winter evening.

Walnut Mushroom Bolognese

Adapted from Real Simple

 1 lb. cremini mushrooms

1 c. toasted walnuts

1 yellow onion, quartered

1 medium carrot, chopped

1 medium stalk celery, chopped

1 clove garlic

6 T. olive oil, divided

1¼ t. kosher salt, divided

½ c. dry white wine

1/3 c. tomato paste

2 c. vegetable stock

¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

½ c. heavy cream

1 lb. fettuccine, prepared according to package direction

Grated Parmesan, for serving

 Working in 2 batches, pulse mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl. Add walnuts to food processor; pulse until finely chopped. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic to food processor; process until very finely chopped.

Heat ¼ cup oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add mushrooms in an even layer; cook, undisturbed, until browned in spots, about 8 minutes. Season with ½ teaspoon salt, toss, and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with walnuts. Reduce heat to medium. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet. Stir in onion mixture and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring often, until mixture is golden and almost dry, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and walnuts. Add wine; cook until absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes. Add tomato paste; cook, stirring, until combined, about 5 minutes. Add stock; simmer over low, stirring once or twice, until sauce is very thick, 35 to 40 minutes. Add pepper, remaining ½ teaspoon salt, and heavy cream; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.

 

Toss pasta with desired amount of sauce. Serve with cheese. 

 Place any remaining sauce in an airtight container; refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

 

Copycat Costco Mac and Cheese

I am not a member of Costco, ergo I didn’t realize that they had their own signature mac and cheese that, indisputably, everyone seems to enjoy. The copycat recipe has been making the rounds on the Web lately and, as I never turn down mac and cheese, was eager to give this a try. I must say that it sold me with the inclusion of five different cheeses, resulting in a complex flavor along with a rich and creamy texture. I think this is the best mac and cheese that I have ever tasted. It will go swimmingly with Christmas ham.

Copycat Costco Mac and Cheese

1 lb. cavatappi pasta

1 T. olive oil

1/2 c. butter

1/2 c. flour

1 c. heavy cream

3 c. whole milk

3-1/2 c. grated white cheddar cheese 

2 c.  Gruyere cheese

3/4 c. Romano cheese

1/2 c. Parmesan cheese

1/2 c. medium cheddar cheese

1/2 T. kosher salt

1/2 t. freshly ground black pepper

¼ t. paprika

¼ t. garlic powder

1/8 t. freshly ground nutmeg

½ c. panko

2 T. butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

 Drizzle oil into a large pot of boiling salted water. Add the cavatappi and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

 In a large saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup butter over medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and whisk well, cooking for 1-2 minutes.

Slowly add the cream and milk, whisking continuously, until smooth and completely combined.  Remove from heat and stir in all cheeses as well as the salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder, and nutmeg. Once the cheese has melted, fold in cavatappi.

Pour into a 9” x 13” baking dish. Stir together panko and melted butter, and sprinkle over the top. Bake, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately.

 NOTE: The original recipe did not call for a panko topping, but I tend to like that sort of thing on top of baked mac and cheese. Use it or don’t.

I cut the recipe in half and it turned put beautifully.

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Ina Made Easy: Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

 

Who doesn’t love Ina? She makes some of the most delicious food, her cookbooks are wonderful, and recipes simple to follow. Never has she let me down. That said, there are ways to make her recipes easier and less time consuming by taking a few shortcuts.

 One of my favorite things is Ina’s Portobello Mushroom Lasagna, but I rarely make it because it’s a bit of work. I decided that I wanted the lasagna without the trouble, so I made it without cooking the noodles, and instead used No Boil. In my experience, you can use these noodles in every lasagna recipe that you prepare. The thing that you have to remember is that it needs to be refrigerated for 24 to 48 hours to allow the noodles to soften. What this means is that you can make a dinner a couple of days ahead of time and then just pop it into the oven when you get home from school, work, or however you spend your busy days. Another thing I did here, because I like thicker lasagna, was to make this in an 8” x 8” pan. Yes, you’re not going to have as many servings, but the servings that you will have can be cut smaller because of the thickness of the lasagna, and make for a lovely presentation. I found the amount of sauce worked far better in an 8” x 8” pan than it did in a 9” x 13” pan. Trust me on this. I have made this lasagna using the bigger pan, and the noodles that I had to cook ahead of time, and this version is so much easier.

Ina Made Easy: Portobello Mushroom Lasagna

Adapted from Ina Garten

Good olive oil

12 No Boil lasagna noodles

4 c. whole milk

12 T. (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, divided

½ c. flour

1 t. freshly ground black pepper

1 t. freshly ground nutmeg

1½ lbs. Melissa’s portobello mushrooms

1 c. freshly ground Parmesan

 Separate the mushroom stems from the caps and discard the stems; remove the gills using a spoon (I find a grapefruit spoon works wonderfully). Slice the caps ¼” thick. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter in a 12” sauté pan. When the butter melts, add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt, and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender and they release some of their juices.

 For the white sauce, bring the milk to a simmer in a saucepan;* set aside. Melt 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute over medium heat, whisking constantly. Pour the hot milk into the butter-flour mixture all at once. Add ½ tablespoon salt, the pepper, and nutmeg, and continue whisking until mixture, thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

 To assemble the lasagna, spread some of the sauce in the bottom of an 8” by 8” by 2-inch baking dish. Arrange a layer of noodles on top, then more sauce, then 1/3 of the mushrooms, and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Repeat 2 more times, layering noodles, sauce, mushrooms, and Parmesan. Top with a final layer of noodles and sauce, and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan.

 Covered with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours. This will allow the noodles to soften from the sauce and taking a day or two heads.

Bake the lasagna in a preheated 375° oven for 45-55 minutes, or until the top is browned the sauce is bubbly and hot. Allow to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes and serve hot.

 *Doing this makes the process go faster. Do you need to warm the milk? No. If time is less important to you and the number of dishes that you’re going to have to wash, then use milk right out of the fridge.

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Black Olive Fettuccine Alfredo

 

Fettuccine Alfredo, made properly, is not something that you want to have all of the time because it is so rich. It is also delicious, so occasionally it is fine to indulge. I have been doing a bit of experimentation with black olives this past week, having discovered quite a few cans in the pantry when I started my annual pre-fall cleaning and organizing. (Don’t be impressed. It only lasts a couple of days because I bore easily.) On a whim, I decided to add chopped black olives to Fettuccine Alfredo. It’s visually more interesting, and exceptionally good. It’s a 30-minute meal that serves two, so it’s easy enough for a weeknight; very romantic with a nice bottle of wine.

Black Olive Fettuccine Alfredo
¼ c. butter
2 oz. cream cheese
1 c. heavy cream
½ t. garlic powder
1 2.25-oz. can sliced black olives*
15-20 gratings freshly ground black pepper
Salt, if you think you need it, I didn’t
6 to 8 gratings whole nutmeg
1/3 c. grated Parmesan
6 oz. fettuccine noodles, prepared as directed

In a medium saucepan over low heat melt butter. When butter is melted add cream cheese, stirring until combined. Add heavy cream, garlic powder, salt (if desired), and pepper. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly until sauce thickens, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in black olives, Parmesan, and nutmeg. Toss with cooked and drained fettuccine. Serve immediately.

Serves two as a main dish, four as a side

*You can use chopped or sliced here. I just grabbed a handful and threw them into a food processor. Whatever does the job.

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Noodles & Company Pesto Cavatappi Copycat

 

I’m going to be honest with you, I have never eaten at Noodles & Company. Truth be told, I thought it was some sort of Americanized lo mein place. Friend and fellow blogger, Alycia Nichols, with whom I discuss many recipes, told me how wonderful she found a copycat recipe for their pesto cavatappi. Considering that I had been making pesto the past week as well as harvesting cherry tomatoes like crazy, this seemed well worth trying.

The advantage that I had having never been to Noodles & Company is that I didn’t know what this was supposed to taste like. At Alicia’s suggestion, I added chopped rotisserie chicken, and let me say this is deceptively delicious! When I turned it out of the skillet onto a plate, I didn’t think it really looked like much. One bite, and I knew that this was going to be gobble-it-up delicious. Whether you have tried Noodles & Company or not, this is a recipe that you really need to try.

Noodles & Company Pesto Cavatappi Copycat

8 oz. cavatappi pasta

1 c. fresh mushrooms, thickly sliced

1 T. olive oil

1 c. halved cherry tomatoes

½ t. garlic salt

½ c. pesto sauce

½ c. heavy cream

½ c. freshly shredded Parmesan cheese

¼ - ½ c. reserved pasta water

Cook noodles according to package directions.

While the noodles are cooking, sauté mushrooms with olive oil over medium/high heat. I like to get a good sear on mushrooms to bring out that meaty taste, so I let them cook for about a minute before shaking the pan. Cook mushrooms for three minutes, add cherry tomatoes and garlic salt, and cook the tomatoes for one minute without disturbing, then lower heat to medium and continue cooking for seven minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat on tomatoes and mushrooms to low, and add the cooked and drained cavatappi to the pan. Stir, and then add pesto sauce to the mixture. Stir to coat noodles completely then add heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, and pasta water. Stir until creamy and serve. 

Top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

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