Egg Roll Tacos, Caramelized Beef & Peanut Noodles, Goat Kathi Rolls & Homemade Naan, Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Carrot Cake Cupcakes & More!

I absolutely love to cook and I’m always trying new versions of foods I know we like. So in general, every time I write a What’s Cooking round up, it’s meals we really loved to eat.

This one, however, somehow includes back-to-back favorites of the entire year so far, it was just one outstanding meal after another and really, really good carrot cake cupcakes, too!

Smashed Egg Roll Tacos

Wow wow wow, these were so delicious that I made something like four or five rounds of them in the span of a week.

The recipe is based on one from one of my favorite blogs, Pinch of Yum. The main thing I changed is since we haven’t had cabbage from any of our growers in awhile, I used a mix of grated carrot, kohlrabi and purple daikon as the veggie slaw element. And I think it worked really well — all the veggie elements were uniform and small since you mix some of the slaw right into the raw meat. You get the cabbage-y flavor from the kohlrabi and the daikon, too.

I used our primal blend of ground chicken from the roosters we’ve been raising, but regular ground chicken or pork would be great here, too.

Like all the trendy smashed tacos going around the internet lately, the method is to press a thin layer of raw meat into the tortilla and cook meat side down first and then flip to get the other side of the tortilla toasty, too.

The recipe tops the tacos with more slaw, spicy mayo and cilantro or green onion, or both.

The first time I made these, we had some extra lion’s mane mushrooms, so I sautéed those with black garlic and mushroom seasoning and sesame oil and added them as a topping along with the slaw, cilantro and spicy mayo.

The next day we made a version with fried eggs, too, which was also really good.

And then we were out of the batch of spicy mayo by the last time I made them, but a combination of plain kewpie mayo and chili crisp was delicious, too.

I have tried some other smash tacos and this flavor profile has been the best, just so delicious! I already can’t wait to make them again.

Caramelized Beef with Peanut Noodles and Carrot Daikon Slaw

I used a similar slaw situation from the egg roll tacos to top these caramelized beef and peanut noodle bowls.

For the beef, you start by browning it a little and then break it up with a wooden spoon and add in the cornstarch, then teriyaki sauce and grated garlic. The cornstarch helps it get really sticky and caramelized. Depending on salt content of the teriyaki sauce, adjust for salt, too.

I made a basic peanut sauce to toss with some buckwheat noodles and combined everything with the bright slaw and cilantro. It was quick and easy and great to reheat for lunches for the week!

Homemade Naan

There’s just something about homemade dough, right? I love to watch the big transformation that happens when it goes through its initial rise.

This version of the naan had milk, yogurt, egg and butter, so the final dough was very easy to roll out. As such, it came out a little crispier than doughy, so I took notes to make adjustments for next time. I’m still seeking my perfect at home version of naan.

I made them the first night for the goat Kathi rolls (below), but since the dough was so easy to roll out and we had eight dough balls total, we made some naan pizzas the second night and froze a couple dough balls for future quick naan or pizzas.

One pizza had slices of the Indian seasoned goat, with cilantro mint chutney as the sauce and we did a simple tomato sauce, bacon and green onion version for the second pizza.

Goat Kathi Rolls with Mint Cilantro Chutney & Beet Salad

I used my gyro meatloaf method with Indian seasonings to make some really tasty kathi rolls on homemade naan and man, were they good!

By the gyro meatloaf, I mean this process I discovered a few years ago where you pulse ground meat in a food processor with onion and seasonings and/or herbs and bake in dense meatloaves. If you were eating as meatloaf, the texture would be too dense as there’s no binders like egg or breadcrumbs to bind but also keep the meatloaf fluffier. The point is to let the meatloaves cool slightly and then slice thin and sear.

It’s not the same as slicing meat off a spit like a real gyro, but it comes close enough for the home kitchen!

For the seasonings, I used fresh mint, garlic, ginger, onions, red chili flakes, coriander, cumin, turmeric and black pepper.

I also made a mint and cilantro chutney and like almost every week, a version of my almond-cashew sauce, often seasoned with the herbs that are in season, this time cilantro and garlic chives. (It’s a great way to use up cilantro or parsley stems, too!).

I also roasted some potatoes and steamed beets and made a marinated salad for the beets, with the two sauces as dressings.

The kathi rolls had the slices of seared goat, potatoes and sauces and came out so delicious! The leftovers were delicious even without the naan, too.

Creamy Chicken & Gnocchi Soup with Mushrooms

If there weren’t so many other awesome meals lately, this soup certainly would have gotten top billing!

It started with browning bacon ends and then cooking chicken breasts in some of the remaining bacon fat.

Then I sautéed onions, celery and rainbow carrots, eventually adding garlic, thyme, nutritional yeast and mushroom seasoning. I think somehow I forgot to add in the mushrooms to the veggie mix, so I sautéed them separately and added them in later!

I used both a light roux and a cornstarch slurry to thicken the soup and added in gnocchi and kale towards the end of cooking. I also added some half and half and parmesan for umami and creaminess. It was really good and like all soups, just got better as leftovers in the fridge.

Beet Deviled Eggs

These weren’t true beet pickled eggs, but they were pretty and they were delicious.

I saved the liquid from steaming beets in the Instant Pot, boiled some eggs and then soaked the peeled eggs in the beet juice overnight.

I had some brine left from rosemary honey mustard fermented pickles, so I used that along with mustard, garlic and onion powders and mayo to season the yolk mixture. They were really delicious and so fun with the pink edges!

Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Maple Cream Cheese Icing

I made these for a potluck and only kept a few home for Grant and me. And they were so good that I immediately had to make a quick bread version after the cupcakes ran out (since all were devoured at the party).

I loosely followed Sally’s Baking Addiction recipe and where she calls for unsweetened applesauce, sour cream or yogurt, I used mostly pureed persimmon I had in my freezer, along with a little yogurt. I’ve regularly substituted pureed persimmon for applesauce in various quick breads and muffins spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg and I think that really adds an amazing depth of flavor.

And as I’ve been baking a lot over the past year or so, I’ve noticed how much fresh stone-milled flour and making sure eggs and butter come to room temperature really make the difference between good and great cakes and muffins.

Maple syrup infused cream cheese icing really brought them to the next level, as well! Carrot season will not be too much longer, so I think I’ll have to make at least one more time and I recommend you do, too!