Spicy Turkey Sausage w/Black-Eyed Peas & Spinach (dinner)

by Irene Lindvall

Why-oh-why did I plan this meal for the hottest night ever? Admittedly, I have an extremely hard time deviating from my meal calendar and once I decide we're having something on a given night we're having it. Mostly because I already have the groceries, but also, I like sticking to the plan. In this plan I'm having a hard time deciding if it was the weather that was making the dish not that desirable or if the dish really wasn't that special. We both were not really in the mood to eat rice and overall, the dish really lacked any flavor other than what was coming from the sausage. 

Things I learned from this recipe:

Black-eyed peas do not look like regular peas nor do they taste like them. They really taste like any other canned bean.

Would I make this recipe again?:

No

The recipe

Darlene's Healthy Salad (dinner salad)

by Irene Lindvall

The best thing about this recipe was the idea of pepper specially being added to the avocado. I didn't see the importance of this until I tried a bite along with the rest of the salad and it was great. There was something about that little hint of spice on the the creamy avocado that made it that much better. I'm sad I forgot the sesame seeds because I think it would've made the salad even better, but as it was, the salad was perfect for a hot summer night.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Thank you Darlene for the go-to three ingredient salad dressing that I need to make whenever I don't have anything on hand.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Definitely

The recipe

Apple & Carrot Slaw (dinner salad)

by Irene Lindvall

I wanted a quick salad to accompany the shrimp pasta main dish, and while it wasn't the best combo, the salad was a very fresh summer-y dish. I apologize for the lack of photos, but the act of making two dishes tonight and being famished meant I was in a serious hurry to get both of them done. This salad would make a great snack or picnic salad as well.

Things I learned from this recipe:

I originally only put two cups of shredded carrots in because three just seemed like too much, but after tasting it with only the two the sugar/salt/olive oil was overwhelming. I realized the extra cup of carrots provided absorption of the the seasonings and quickly added the extra cup.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Sure

The recipe

Shrimp, Lemon, and Parsley Quinoa-Corn Linguine (dinner)

by Irene Lindvall

The only reason I kept this recipe was the idea of quinoa-corn linguine. Quinoa grain wore out its welcome awhile ago in our house so I was intrigued by the idea of it in pasta form. The box says "Taste and texture of traditional pasta" - of course it does. I was fully expecting it to have that health food flavor, but really it tasted great. It really did taste like regular pasta, and Eric wasn't even fazed by it. The rest of the dish was like any other simple pasta recipe - tasty and quick to make.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Quinoa-corn linguine - yum!

Would I make this recipe again?

Yes

The recipe

Fish Cakes & Tartar Sauce (dinner)

by Irene Lindvall

This is a fairly simple recipe with a lot of steps. First off, the tartar sauce. It called for light mayonnaise, and as I've mentioned before, that grosses me out, so I ended up going for a vegan mayonnaise and it worked just fine. I also chose to omit the capers because neither of us care for them. All-in-all, a pretty great tasting tartar sauce that I will be making again to use with salmon.

The fish cakes were incredibly simple to make and I liked that they could be chilled anywhere from 30 minutes up to 24 hours. I made them after we ate lunch and it was nice to feel like dinner was easy to prepare. I made one error in reading the cooking time. I must've re-read the cook time five or six times and read the same thing every time. I took their wording to mean total cook time and not cook time on one side. One of the cakes turned out fine and the other a little more crispy, but the middle still tasted great. The cakes didn't want to stay together too well, and I can't really decide what went wrong in the cooking, but I like the idea and will probably give it another try.

Things I learned from this recipe:

Is there a difference in how something will turn out based on whether you use a non-stick pan vs. not? I have never given it a second thought until tonight. The Test Kitchen's write-up on this dish was that non-stick was the best. I gave up non-stick many many years ago, before I actually learned how to cook, so I will need to do some reading on pans.

Would I make this recipe again?:

Maybe

The recipe:

Please see yesterday's post and my urging at purchasing the America's Test Kitchen cookbook.