Queezle_Sister's Reviews
4 recipe(s) reviewed. Showing 1 to 4Sort by: Title 
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The Flexitarian Table: Inspired, Flexible Meals for Vegetarians, Meat Lovers, and Everyone inBetween
By Peter Berley, Zoe Singer
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - 2007
No fresh corn used (I'm trying to drive less), but still, this was excellent. Granted I've got excellent fresh cherry tomatoes, and lots of fresh herbs in my garden, but really, it was an excellent combination.
My only complaint (there had to be one, right?) was that there was not enough water called for. The recipe is 3C water to 1C polenta, and I added at least another 1/2C water.
Instead of fresh scallion tops (mine were not so nice), I added chives and the greens from some wild onions growing in my garden.
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Grilled Shrimp in Harissa : page 112
A nice way to prepare shrimp. I used bottled harissa, diluted with some additional lemon juice. I also used the broiler so as not to loose shrimp to the bottom of the grill. These turned out perfectly cooked (3min high each side), and with a nice hit of spice from the harissa. Note that I dialed down the spice by diluting my harissa 1:1 with lemon juice, and this aspect of the recipe is easily modified to fit one's taste.
These shrimp were served with this polenta and cherry tomatoes (same book). A superb combination.
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Grilled Zucchini with Mint Oil : page 116
Grilled zucchini elevated!
Zucchini is cut into long strips, about 1/2 inch wide, and grilled. Before hitting the grill, they are salted, which draws out some of the water and made the final product a bit firmer. Grilled is our usual cooking mode for zucchini, and this trick alone was a nice one to learn.
The second way this is elevated is by using a special oil. Olive oil is heated, garlic and red pepper flakes added, and cooked. After this, chopped mint is thrown into the mix, and the oil is cooled. The zucchini are brushed with this oil both before cooking and after. A final touch is a bit of red wine vinegar, sprinkled on top.
The only reason I didn't give this five stars is that it seemed like too much oil. The mintiness of the oil was very mild, and if I repeat, I'll double the mint and use my muddler to more effectively extract its flavor.
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Zucchini-Rice Soup with Basil and Parmesan : page 134
A simple and humble soup, with fresh ingredients. The soup's mildness in part comes from using water (called for in the recipe), but if I repeated I would substitute a broth. If your ingredients are truly fresh (other than the rice and cheese, all came directly from the garden), its very nice. Its fine for a light family dinner, with toast, or would be OK as a first course. It used most of an over-grown zucchini.
I was leafing through the cookbooks at the library, and this book opened directly to this page. Not having to go buy anything is a huge bonus. It seemed as if I were meant to prepare this. Unfortunately, my quick trip to the apple store (my son's phone ended up being replaced by a new one) took longer than expected, and lucky me, my DH prepared it for us.
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