Rice pilaf mixes used to be a crutch for me before we started our year of only eating unprocessed food. I would open the little bag with rice and seasonings, dump it into a bowl, add water and microwave it for 17 minutes. I thought it was a pretty elegant side dish, so I would make it once or twice a week, because it was a simple thing to make after work. And truthfully, I made it so much because it tasted good and it was easy.

Once we started cooking everything from scratch I learned (surprise!) that it's incredibly easy and much more delicious from scratch. And the best thing is that you can dress it up with spices or herbs in the kitchen, so it's not the same thing every time. So, for this batch I used a pinch of saffron from the container that Jedd's mother gave us recently.

A gratin doesn't have to be just potatoes and cream, it can also be filled with delicious turnip slices too. Some friends of ours recently gave us some itty-bitty turnips, that were the size of radishes. At first, because they were so small, I thought I might showcase them by roasting them. But, then I decided that they could hold their own in a lovely gratin of potatoes, cheddar, onions, thyme and bacon. Amazingly, the turnip helped to make the velvety dish even more creamy. Pure deliciousness.