• mharriman on September 26, 2019

  So delicious! My husband and I loved the Broccoli and Parmesan Soup recipe (page 53) in this cookbook. Once the broccoli florets and stems were cut, the rest was indeed fast and easy. I used store bought chicken broth and puréed my soup in my blender rather than using an immersion blender and it turned out well. Very creamy.

• mharriman on September 25, 2019

  “Nigella’s Easiest Mirin Salmon” recipe from this cookbook ( page 157) was easy but as not as fast as described. Directions called for pan cooking on medium high heat for a total of five minutes. My coho inch thick salmon was raw in the middle at the end of 5 minutes. The pan searing gives a lovely blackened skin tone but I found I needed to put the fillets in a 500 degree oven for another 5 minutes to get it cooked properly. Unless you like your salmon raw on the inside, the instructions for very brief cooking don’t work. The flavor, however was good, pretty sugary (healthy?) actually. I’ll repeat this with some tweaks.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Mushroom barley soup

  • mharriman on December 23, 2020

    Excellent. I loved this take on mushroom soup. I used dried porcini and dried chanterelle mushrooms and fresh cremini and shiitakes. It’s more broth- based than other mushroom soups I’ve made, and includes mushroom broth, which creates a lighter soup with more depth of flavor. Andrew Weil’s definition of ‘fast’ doesn’t always match mine and it definitely doesn’t with this recipe. It took more than an hour- but it wasn’t an issue today and won’t be unless I’m pressed for time. The fresh cut parsley sprinkled on top at the end adds an extra layer of flavor. Served this with crusty homemade French bread. Wonderful on a cold December night. Serves eight- lots left for leftover meals in our two person household.

• Pan-seared scallops with stir-fried baby bok choy

  • mharriman on December 21, 2020

    A tasty, healthy dish for not a whole lot of effort. Although the recipe is for four, I only halved the amount of scallops (used sea not diver) and made the full amount of vegetables for the two of us, which suited us well. If you prep everything in advance (chopping, slicing, mincing, grating) the actual cook time is less than 15 minutes. Served with jasmine rice and a spinach, almond, and mandarin orange salad with poppyseed dressing.