Recipe Review 6/25/07

Well, I’ve finally segued from a panty reduction project into all new recipes again. Partly because I’ve grown tired of focusing solely on the items in my freezer and pantry and partly because it was taking so very long. I’m still going to continue to use items I have around, but I’m going to allow myself a bit more liberty in the recipes that I choose.

With that lengthy explanation out of the way, here’s what I made last week:

Couscous and Garbanzo Bean Salad (Ckng Lght, June 07, pg 182) 8
This was very good. I subbed Israeli couscous for the regular but that was the only substitution I did. I made this for lunches, serving it (can it be called serving when I’m feeding just myself?) with Trisket rye crackers (my new favorite!), cheese and fruit. The recipe calls for a vinaigrette dressing to be tossed just before serving. I stored the dressing separately and drizzled it on after making up my small tupperware dish for that day’s lunch. I also boiled up some eggs, and sliced one to have on top as a little extra protein. This made a nicely filling and easily transportable dish for the week.

The Folks were staying with me last week, and I was in the mood for Mexican, and the following meal just sort of came together: Fiesta Rice, Cedar Planked Copper River Salmon, Black Bean
and Avocado Salsa, homemade corn chips, and a slushy sangria. Yum! Yum!

Fiesta Rice (Ckng Lght, May 07, pg 194) 8
Very easy to make: brown rice, canned diced tomatoes, onions, black beans, corn and seasonings. Most of the work in this one was the chopping. The corn, onions and seasonings (cumin) are toasted until just starting to turn brown. Then I added chicken broth, tomatoes and the rice and bring every thing to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes. Add beans and cilantro and let stand. It was a great dish that I could walk away from. This was even better a few days later as leftovers.

Black Bean Salsa with Avocado (Ckng Lght, May 07, pg 198) 8
Combine 2 chopped seeded tomatoes, 1 chopped avocado, 1 can rinsed and drained black beans with lime juice, red onion and cilantro. Serve with chips. Loved the simplicity and the flavors.

Homemade Corn Chips
I’ve done these once before and they turned out really good. I had a bit more difficulty this time and accidentally overcooked them. Still, most satisfactory.

Sangria Slush (Ckng Lght Complete, pg 55) 9
Oh my oh my! A bit lengthy in the prep (you have to be planning a good hour out) but well worth all the chopping. Pineapple and some other tasty fruit (for the life of me I can’t remember what the other fruit was!) are chopped and frozen for an hour. Then combine with red wine in the blender till nicely slushy-chunky. Add club soda and ice and serve. No leftovers.

Cedar Planked Salmon (my own devising) 7
My intent was to grill shrimp for this meal, but the meat market was out and claiming they wouldn’t be getting another shipment until the next day...maybe...they weren’t completely certain...it could be two days...you never know...

So, I decided instead of waiting I would just buy some Copper River Salmon and plank it. Do you realize how difficult it is to soak a 1 ½ foot board? Anyway, board got soaked albeit not as good as should have been. I then used fresh oregano sprigs (from the garden) and topped the salmon with olive oil, salt, pepper and a Mexican seasoning I had in the cupboard. The fragrance of the Cedar was just lovely as it cooked and the fish turned out almost perfect. The Folks claim it was perfect, but I felt it was a tich on the dry side - but that could have been because I had the tail part.

Anyway, one perfect Mexican feast!

Ingredients used up:
Israeli couscous
brown rice
bottle of red wine