Well here we are....week 1 of my adventure. Each week I will prepare 3 recipes from one of my cookbooks and report on the results (good or bad) here. If any recipe sounds like something you might want, let me know and I will pass it on. This week I made 3 recipes from 'The Food You Crave' by Ellie Krieger. Ellie is a nutritionist and has a show on the Food Network. Her recipes focus on health as well as taste. That's debatable!?
The first one is: Beet Salad with Watercress Drizzle
The beets are cut in medium cubes,(wear rubber gloves unless you want to look like an ax murder) cooked until just soft and placed on a bed of greens. The dressing is made of watercress, goat cheese, buttermilk, vinegar and salt and pepper. This is processed in a blender until light green. Drizzled over the beets and topped with lightly toasted almonds.
I love beets so this was a good choice. However, the drizzle left me a little flat. I like goat cheese and this was a waste of it's unique flavor. I expect I will doctor the leftover dressing (perhaps some salsa?) and use is as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables perhaps?
The second recipe is: Poached Salmon with Lemon-Mint Tzatziki
No more poaching for me!! My beautiful piece of salmon looked pretty sad after only 5 minutes in the simmering poaching liquid. The rich salmon flavor was pretty much gone. A terrible waste of salmon and the white wine in the poaching liquid. However, covered with the Tzatziki sauce is was OK. I like Tzatziki sauce and the mint added a nice fresh flavor. I used leftover salmon and the sauce in pita for lunch today. Better than the original dish. I will prepare it again but will grill or roast the fish
The third recipe was a big hit: Peaches with Balsamic Cherries
Very simple and very good. Bing cherries simmered in one tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. When they are softened sliced peaches are folded in and cooked just until heated through. The recipe called for adding sugar, but both the cherries and peaches are in season and were plenty sweet. I could see this served over ice cream or pound cake....or both.
Guess that does it for this week. Since next weekend is Labor day, I will have 3 days to fill. Wonder what I will do? Stay tuned!!
Sounds like a great way to start off your culinary adventure. I could see how the dressing for the beets was a disappointment. Because beets have such a mild flavor, the need a dressing with a bolder presence. Every time I have seen salmon poached, it did seem to come out looking rather bland. I too think it would be better off grilled or maybe broiled, The fruit dessert sounds very interesting, especially over a good vanilla ice cream. Looking forward to your next post.
ReplyDeleteHi, Marilyn,
ReplyDeleteMmmm. Hungry now. :)
I like how you did this -- just the basics about the recipe and then a review on the results. I bet grilled salmon with that sauce would be amazing. I wondered when the cookbook was published and thought maybe it was older -- cuz who would poach salmon when you can grill it?!? But I saw on Amazon that it's from 2008. Huh. Is poaching more nutritious than grilling, perhaps? I have no clue. (As if you couldn't tell!)
At any rate, I'll be back!
Joyce