Queezle_Sister's Reviews
7 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 7Sort by: Title 
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The Sprouted Kitchen: A Tastier Take on Whole Foods
By Sara Forte, Hugh Forte
Ten Speed Press - 2012
Asian Tofu Tacos with Hoisin Slaw : page 93
Very tasty, and a better product by following advice from @kfranzetta. Would have given it a 3 1/2 if that had been an option.
I pressed my firm tofu under the weight of a 2 qt juice bottle (full) for 45 minutes. It gave up a lot of water. Then I cut it into ~1/2 to 3/4 inch squares, and marinated for perhaps 20 minutes (ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, 5-spice powder, and sesame oil). I prepared 1/2 the hoisin-rice vinegar-yogurt dressing for the cabbage, but only used ~2/3 of what I prepared.
I really liked the crunch from the asian pear, the sweet-tart hoisin dressing, and the tofu. Even the tofu dislikers were very pleasantly surprised.
We served this on corn tortillas and in large flour tortillas (burrito-style). Other than tofu pressing time (which could go on in your refrigerator while you are at work), this is a manageable week-night dinner. Served with left-over roasted root vegetables. A light and tasty dinner.
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Two recipes in one! A creamy lemon pudding, and a totally indulgent oat crumble topping!
The pudding itself warranted a 4 - 4 1/2 - it is a silken tofu based pudding with one interesting modification. The recipe calls for addition of finely ground corn meal! The tofu is sweetened with honey, and flavored with lemon juice and lemon zest. We liked this quite a bit, but next time I will use more zest.
The crumble was excellent, and brought the review to a "5". Oats are tossed with coconut oil, sugar, vanilla, almonds, and thyme! While the recipe calls for fresh thyme leaves, I had to substitute dried, nevertheless the result was amazing.
I tasted the pudding several times during its 2 hrs in the refrigerator. In the beginning, the cornmeal was very obvious, but by the 2 hr mark, I really couldn't detect it any more. It must be added to provide additional thickening power. Note that I only had coarse polenta cornmeal, and so I pulverized it in an old coffee grinder (cleaned with white rice, dry).
I prepared this because my CSA again gave me a box of raspberries. I love the raspberry-lemon combination, and by preparing a special dessert, I know that (a) the berries are used while fresh, and (b) they are shared equally.
Whether you have raspberries or not, I highly recommend this dish. Its healthy, luscious, and an interesting combination of flavors.
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Amazing and a perfect flavor combination.
This flatbread uses a home-made pizza dough (I used our usual dough, not the recipe given here). You roll it as thin as you can, and prebake it. Then, a layer of whole grain mustard (weird, I know, but it works), a layer of goat cheese, a layer of caramelized onions, and pears. You cook it till the cheese is melted, and then pile on arugula dressed in a simple vinaigrette.
Crunchy, sweet, salty, this recipe hits all the right notes. Kids and adults were all blown away by this one. So simple, and so perfect. This might be that one recipe that makes the book worth buying (or, in my case, worth getting from the library).
I served this with the smoky red lentil soup and it made an excellent meal.
That said, this is an easy recipe and you could prepare it based on my simple description.
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Mediterranean Baked Feta : page 181
A yummy warm appetizer. I prepared this last summer, when the recipe was posted on smitten kitchen, reviewed here. I loved it in the summer, and I wanted to try it with tomatoes I roasted last summer. It was still quite good, but not as pretty as when prepared with fresh tomatoes.
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Red Grape Salsa on Crostini : page 186
Tasty, beautiful, and relatively healthy!
An interesting combination of diced grapes, cilantrol, anaheim chile, and red onion, with a bit of wine vinegar, cilantro (a lot of cilantro), salt and pepper.
This mixture is to be served on crostini with a smear of watered-down goat cheese.
The bright and light flavors of this, and its beautiful color from using red grapes, make it a natural for holiday parties.
Do be warned that the goat cheese - salsa ratio is off. The 1.5 lbs of grapes makes a lot of salsa, and the 4 oz of goat cheese -even when used very sparingly - was used up before even half the grape salsa was gone.
I served this with premade crostini, and it was an easy appetizer for a Christmas Eve party. Also - it lasts better than one might expect. Almost 24 hrs later, the grapes are still crunchy and the flavors bright.
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A fancied up acorn squash. Slices of squash (1/8th) are rubbed with hazelnut oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted.
I had no creme fraiche, and skipped that ingredient (and its accompanied roast garlic). A balsamic reduction is made, and spread on the squash, along with toasted hazelnuts and some fresh oregano.
The result was very beautiful. I used a white acorn (it came in my CSA), and I suspect it didn't have as much flavor as I expected. A sweeter squash would have been a better accompaniment to the reduction, and of course, the creme fraiche would have further elevated this dish.
I'm a real fan of fall squash, and this was a new way (to me) to prepare it. Very decent.
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Smoky Red Lentil Soup : page 98
A nice well flavored lentil soup! A generous sprinkling of bacon pieces adds a nice crunch. The soup itself, with lentils and sweet potato, has a great flavor from smoked paprika, cumin, and liquid smoke. We also added diced avocado.
My teen age kids generally are opposed to soup as a meal. But this one garnered no complaints! That is saying a lot.
I skipped the cilantro because I didn't have any, and I used a garlic vegetable broth prepared using my pressure cooker.
The instructions say it serves four. The four of us ate only half, but this meal also included this grilled flatbread. The two together made a spectacular meal, albeit a bit ambitious for a weeknight.
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