Notes about Recipes in this book

• Black beans and rice with chicken and apple salsa

  • sarahalley on August 28, 2012

    This was good, but it would use less dishes/be more practical to make as a 1-pot meal. Will try next time and see how it goes.

• Creamy polenta with sausages and roasted grapes

  • dinnermints on August 18, 2022

    Excellent combo. I hadn't made microwave polenta before, but now I'm a convert. I used already-cooked chicken sausage, so after browning that I took it out of the pan and didn't put it back until the grapes and shallots had five minutes remaining. Also added some thinly sliced garlic to the grapes and shallots before roasting.

• Broccolini with spicy sesame vinaigrette

  • TastingKauai on January 10, 2012

    Try a splash of lemon juice.

• Chicken and sausage gumbo

  • imaluckyducky on January 06, 2014

    This is a positively delicious gumbo that made my friend who hails from New Orlean happy. This has become a mainstay in my kitchen, but if the 3-5 hours of prep and cook time makee you cringe, it's easily arapted for a slow cooker! I adapted this recipe for crock pot/slow cooker goodness by following the first three steps of browning the chicken thighs and andouille sausage, then making a roux with the drippings. Prepped the veggies the night before and threw in a large bowl with all seasonings except the filé. Dumped everything, including the roux and broth, into the largest crock pot I have in the AM, turned the sucker to low, and let it cook for 8-9 hours. Added filé when I got home after unplugging and letting it cool while I got the rice going in the rice cooker.

• Chicken with kale and freekeh-lentil pilaf

  • Jane on April 25, 2012

    This would be a quick weeknight dinner if you happened to have a cup of cooked freekah and a cup of cooked lentils lying around. Oddly I had neither, so dinner prep time involved cooking both first and there was more washing up than I like on a weeknight. This was nice though not fabulous. I did like the cumin/mustard dressing and had a lot left over so that will be useful for future grains dishes.

• Quinoa, fennel, and pomegranate salad

  • TastingKauai on January 10, 2012

    Use 1/2 cup less water for the quinoa, otherwise, it's too mushy.

• Skillet-baked eggs with spinach, yogurt, and chili oil

  • twoyolks on March 27, 2012

    I used aleppo pepper. For aleppo pepper, more than 1/4 tsp would be appropriate.

• Spiced eggplant with bulgur salad

  • TastingKauai on January 10, 2012

    Brown rice makes a nice bulgur replacement.

• Maple syrup-soaked doughnut holes

  • twoyolks on January 27, 2016

    The maple syrup overpowered any other flavor in the doughnut holes. I think I would've preferred them with a dusting of sugar.

• Linguine with crab, lemon, chile, and mint

  • dinnermints on February 16, 2017

    Good! Made for a nice Valentine's Day din. Used homemade fettuccine colored with tomato paste (see Serious Eats), and maybe used less butter - not quite sure, since I asked my husband to take over. The flavor is a bit mild as written, but you can really taste the crab. More chiles can be added on top for those who like more spice.

• Orange and soy-glazed baby back ribs

  • TastingKauai on January 10, 2012

    Reduce te sauce for at least 30 minutes to get something thick. It never turned into a glaze for me.

• Blood orange, beet, and fennel salad

  • michalow on December 03, 2014

    Nice bright contrast to sweeter and heavier foods at a Thanksgiving meal. Blood oranges were unavailable so I used navels, but added a splash orange blossom water which gave the salad a subtle and intriguing note.

  • milgwimper on January 20, 2020

    This was an easy and delicious recipe. It was nice to have something bright and earthy. One day I didn't have blood oranges and the recipe is still delicious. I will make this again. Everyone loved it.

• Coconut rice

  • peaceoutdesign on September 29, 2022

    Easy and good for rice to use with a curry but it is not a sticky coconut rice for sliced mango.