lemon balm – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

19-6: Fresh Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 19: Basic Ingredients, Section 4: Cooking School August 3, 2022August 17, 2022basil, bouquet garni, chives, cooking school, fines herbes, garnish, herb salt, herb-roasted, herbes de Provence, herbs and spices, lavender, lemon balm, mint, new book, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, summer, tarragon, Thai basil, thyme, watercress

Since it’s summer, I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to share my summer garden with you, courtesy of 19-6: Fresh Herbs. This one came from the new book, and is the prequel (of sorts) to 19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs. I had lamented not being able to easily find fresh tarragon back when I wrote that one–well, now I grow it myself in my own backyard.

Growing my own herbs in my own garden for use in cooking was one of the top reasons I wanted to buy my own place, and the garden situation outside was one of my main factors when selecting a house (back when you could have preferences about things like that and didn’t just have to overpay for whatever was available).

I use my homegrown herbs for cooking all year round, and it’s quite the pleasure to be able to use just the amount needed fresh from my own backyard rather than buy overpriced herbs at the grocery store and then watch them wilt and die in my fridge.

16-42: Easy Lime Pie

Jamie Martin Group 16: Pies & Cakes, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods May 6, 2020July 2, 2020butter, cottage cheese, creamed, crushed, dessert, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, food processor, fruit, garnish, gift ideas, graham crackers, granulated sugar, grapes, grated, juiced, lemon balm, lime juice, limes, melted, mint, peeled, pie crust, pies, twice-baked, untested

If you were around in the 1980s-1990s, you may remember the obsession with low-fat everything, and finding ways to make “sinful indulgences” into something “guilt-free“. Note the deliberate choice of words, and that we still use that type of psychological framing around food today (and have been for a long time, even prior to the era in question).

The “low-calorie swap” in 16-42: Easy Lime Pie is cottage cheese, which was all the rage in the 1970s as a “healthy” option, but could still be found in a lot of recipes throughout the 80s and 90s.

I feel like even Simply Delicious didn’t really know how to make this pie sound appealing–do you think halved grapes as a garnish can be considered something notable? You can definitely tell this particular recipe was aimed at the dieting/low-calorie crowd.

15-45: Strawberries with Cottage Cheese

Jamie Martin Group 15: Cold Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 27, 2020February 25, 2020cheese, cold desserts, cottage cheese, dessert, easy, fruit, Grand Marnier, grated, healthy, inexpensive, juiced, lemon balm, liqueur, marinated, mint, nuts, orange peel, oranges, pistachios, powdered sugar, strawberries, summer, toasted, untested, zested

I had extra strawberries left over from 14-22: Strawberry-Peach Cobbler, so I tried to reuse them into 15-45: Strawberries with Cottage Cheese. Simply Delicious is big on using cottage cheese in an effort to be “low-fat” (all the rage in the 1980s when this book was published) and healthy, but they’re not usually very successful.

Don’t be deceived by their pretty picture here. It’s not ice cream. It’s cottage cheese. Just keep that in mind going in.

5-14: Thai Chicken Omelette

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 12, 2017October 13, 2020Asian, bean sprouts, boneless, breakfast, canola oil, chicken, chopped, cilantro, cooked chicken, cubed, curry paste, curry powder, dairy-free, diced, dinner, easy, eggs, filling, French, healthy, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lemon balm, lemongrass, lunch, omelette, Oriental, parsley, pasta/noodles, peanut oil, rice, rice noodles, sautéed, sesame oil, sliced, soy sauce, sriracha, steamed, tamari, Thai, tomatoes, untested, vegetable oil

Looking for a way to use up some leftover chicken for breakfast or lunch? 5-14: Thai Chicken Omelette doesn’t require a ton of ingredients, but makes for a light yet hearty meal. Omelettes are something Simply Delicious does quite a bit of (5-33: Omelette Stacks with Rice, 5-21: Omelette with Herbs, or 5-9: Swiss Cheese and Crouton Omelette are just a few examples), but this one’s definitely a decent take on it.

Simply Delicious mentions the Thai cuisine featuring lots of fruits and vegetables, but this recipe doesn’t have much in the way of produce, other than maybe the bean sprouts. Try substituting sautéed squash or carrots for a vegetarian alternative to the chicken.