Tracey Awad, Recipe Tester

A list of all the recipes Tracey Awad has tested.

A person holding a skillet with jazmaz, or Syrian shakshuka - eggs cooked in a tomato and chile sauce.

Jazmaz ~ Syrian Shakshuka

You may know eggs and tomatoes as shakshuka, although this cousin includes the smooth heat from chiles as well as briny black olives. This approach from Anas Atassi is in our rotation.

A silver bowl of mujadara -- cooked rice and lentils, topped with caramelized onions with a silver spoon on the side.

Mujadara

Comfort food at its finest and, perhaps, easiest. Made with rice, lentils, and caramelized onions, it’s as good room temp as it is warm and goes with almost anything. Full of flavor yet also frugal.

A pot of stovetop mac and cheese on a wooden board with a rubber spatula resting inside.

Stovetop Mac and Cheese

Creamy, cheesy, and no processed ingredients like in the boxed stuff? Yes please. America’s Test Kitchen’s mac and cheese delivers all of that.

A ceramic bowl filled with mashed kabocha with a spoon resting in it.

Mashed Kabocha Squash

Wait until you give Bryant Terry’s squash a try. Creamy and packed with flavor, this vegan recipe is also healthy as heck without tasting like it.

A white oval platter topped with roast winter squash and shallots.

Roasted Winter Squash and Shallots

Jaw-droppingly delicious roasted winter squash makes a restaurant-worthy side that comes together with just a handful of ingredients and a few minutes of barely any effort.

A white bowl filled with tikka masala lentil, garnished with cilantro, with a wooden spoon resting inside.

Tikka Masala Lentils

Given the dozen enthusiastic reviews we receivved from our testers, these Instant Pot tikka masala lentils are your answer to a quick and healthy weeknight dinner.

A piece of silken tofu with pine nuts and pickled chiles topped with cilantro in a blue ceramic bowl.

Silken Tofu with Pine Nuts and Pickled Chiles

“To call this silken tofu ‘magical’ would be an understatement.” and “Umami party for sure in your mouth!” and “My boyfriend, who dislikes tofu, ate most of it.” That’s what we’re hearing about this stunner.

A ceramic bowl filled with greens with tomatoes, or sukuma wiki.

Greens with Tomatoes ~ Sukuma Wiki

Sukuma wiki means “to stretch the week”—in other words, using affordable and readily available greens spiffed up with spices to help stretch any meal a little further.

A fork scooping strands of roasted spaghetti squash from the center of a halved squash.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash

“This technique really did produce those long lovely strands allowing this squash to live up to its name!” We keep hearing this about this perfectly easy and healthy spaghetti squash.

An apple tea cake on a wire rack with three slices cut from it and one on a blue and white plate.

Apple Tea Cake

Not as dense or as sweet as a pound cake, this lovely tea cake is rich and buttery and subtly infused with layers of apple and cinnamon with a tart lemon drizzle as a finishing flourish.