The holidays are a time of opportunity in the culinary realm.
A chance to make any number of over-the-top, complex, and more often than not fattening dishes from a plethora of incredible sources. But the holidays also bring a ton of extra work in other departments, so sometimes a dish that is simple and to the point is just so needed.
Enter Vampire Bat Wings. ::squeek squeek!:: They serve as a complete dinner, or a party dish; and yes, can even be made and eaten year round! Festive, a little spooky, and on the table in under an hour.

Making this video was one of the less stressful video making experiences I’ve had so far. As far as I can remember (unless I’ve blocked things out), The whole thing went pretty smoothly. Post-production, syncing the music was super annoying and I never want to hear Dans Macabre ever ever ever again.
One downfall of the video I think is that there is just so much mixing of things in bowls involved. I hope it isn’t too boring. Just know it all tastes really really good, okay??

Making baked chicken wings has become one of my weeknight go-tos,

not only because of the super simple order of operations, but also because the results yielded are so freakin delicious. I have an insatiable love for salty, crispy chicken skin that rivals even my love for french fries (GASP!) and a chicken wing probably has the highest skin to meat ratio. We’re a match made in heaven.
The spice mixture is something that I use frequently on everything from tilapia for fish tacos to pork chops and steak. I LOVE spicy food, so if you don’t, feel free to cut down on the cayenne or leave it out altogether.

The ‘Salad for Spooks’,

which is a name I came up with after everything with the word ‘slaw’ in it sounded irreparably unappetizing, is something I first made while cleaning out the fridge on grocery day. I always, always have leftover red cabbage. ALWAYS. It’s so annoying!! This salad is a great way to use it up.
I used a mandoline with a shredding attachment to cut everything up, which helped increase my cooking speed. If you haven’t tried using a mandoline, I highly recommend it. I have so much fun using it that I look for dishes I can use it for. Just don’t zone out while you’re slicing- those blades don’t play!
The combination of red cabbage, carrots, and green apple is just delectable, and the colors of orange, purple, and green fit so nicely with the holiday. It’s fresh, sweet, and crunchy, and the uniform shredded texture makes it easy to casually nibble on as you chow down on those wings. You may not even realize you’re eating something healthy.
The dressing for the salad is another one of my go-to combos. I never get tired of the flavor of dijon mustard. MM! Back when I did my cooking stream on Twitch, I got called out on my repetitive use of this dressing, making several versions with little tweaks to fit the dish. No shame. Try it with a salad of citrus and endives with seared scallops, or toss with watercress and serve alongside a juicy steak.

The ranch dip– oh my FREAKING god it is so good.

This was my first experience making ranch from scratch and it is incomparable to any other ranch I’ve had. I would make it constantly if I had fresh herbs at my beck and call. Unfortunately, (and fortunately, cause DAMN, a whole cup of mayo), my apartment has no successful place to grow herbs. Not a sunny window sill, not a fire escape, and as you may have read about in my Halloween Decor Tour, not a roof. BUT, this was well worth buying a bunch of herbs for. Even while editing the recipe video, I just wanted to reach into the screen and grab that dip, ugh!! So good.

So, this recipe is actually four recipes in one!

AND, there are endless year-round combinations to be made with each component. Try the wings with yellow rice and lime, the salad in a wrap with grilled chicken, and the ranch on literally anything.

YUM! I hope you will give these treasures a try, on their own or together, at Halloween or any time. Enjoy!