salt – Page 19 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

3-15: Quick Mexican Soup

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters September 5, 2016March 14, 2020appetizers, avocados, boiled, carrots, celery, Cheddar, cheese, chili powder, creamy, crema, crushed tomatoes, cumin, dinner, easy, egg-free, gluten-free, ground beef, ground meat, ground pork, guacamole, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lemon juice, lunch, meatballs, Mexican, mirepoix, Monterey Jack, peeled, salsa, salt, simmered, sliced, soups, sour cream, Tex-Mex, tomatoes, tortilla chips, untested, vegetables, white onions, yellow onions

Simply Delicious has a lot of different kinds of recipes–intricate & laborious French-inspired cuisine as well as simple, weeknight-friendly fare. 3-15: Quick Mexican Soup is obviously (given the name) one of the latter types. Of course, I’ve yet to find a recipe that I don’t make some sort of tweak/edit to, and this recipe will be no different. 🌶

Most Simply Delicious recipes that claim to be Mexican tend to be more “Tex-Mex” than authentically Mexican. I grew up in Los Angeles–real Mexican food is a BIG part of life there. I’m not saying I’m anywhere close to an expert on the subject, but I feel like I’ve got some sense of the cuisine. Simply Delicious has an idea of where they were going with this soup–I’m just going to help it along a bit. 🇲🇽

13-16: Arabian Moussaka

Adam Martin Group 13: Vegetarian Dishes, Section 2: Main Courses September 3, 2016October 28, 2020appetizers, black pepper, blanched, boiled, casserole, chickpeas, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, egg-free, eggplant, fairly hard, garbanzo beans, gluten-free, inexpensive, Italian parsley, Lebanese, lemons, lunch, Middle Eastern, moussaka, olive oil, peeled, pita bread, salt, sautéed, side dish, snacks, soaked, tomatoes, untested, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

The first of a few eggplant dishes, 13-16: Arabian Moussaka is the lightest preparation of eggplant that Simply Delicious presents. 🍆

As the card suggests, this recipe is perfect for lunch or supper.

14-16: Chocolate Nut Pudding

Adam Martin Group 14: Hot Desserts, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods September 2, 2016October 29, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, butter, chocolate, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, coffee, dark chocolate, dessert, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, granulated sugar, hot desserts, melted, milk, nuts, pecans, pudding, salt, semisweet, unsweetened, untested, vanilla extract, vegetarian

We really enjoyed this dessert. 14-16: Chocolate Nut Pudding is a fancy version of “cake in a coffee mug” with additional toppings. ☕

This dessert was awesome while still warm, still great while cold.

Editor’s note: “If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding, how can you have any pudding if you don’t eat your meat!” 🎸🇬🇧

17-1: Croissants

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods August 28, 2016August 23, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, breakfast, brushed, butter, chilled, croissants, dough, egg wash, eggs, fairly inexpensive, flaky, folded, French, gift ideas, granulated sugar, hard, kneaded, lukewarm, pastry, poppy seeds, proofed, salt, snacks, untested, vegetarian, yeast

Croissants are a culinary item that have been around for well…a really long time. Crescent-shaped rolls are a part of several cuisines–one example would be the kifli from Eastern Europe, versus the well-known Western European version, like 17-1: Croissants. 🌙

Wikipedia mentions that frozen pre-formed croissants are pretty readily available these days (and have been since the 1970s), so making this recipe’s truly a labor of love–it takes a good amount of effort, as noted above.

9-14: Chili Con Carne

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses August 27, 2016October 20, 2020American, beef bouillon, beef broth, black pepper, canola oil, chili peppers, chili powder, cloves, crushed tomatoes, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, garlic, gluten-free, green bell peppers, ground beef, ground meat, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, minced, oregano, paprika, pared, peeled, pinto beans, red bell peppers, salt, sautéed, simmered, Tex-Mex, untested, vegetables, white beans, yellow onions

This recipe card gave me an excuse to cook up a big ol’ batch of 9-14: Chili Con Carne, not that I needed an excuse. I’ve made a few pots of chili in my day, but not one quite like this. My favorite episode of the Simpsons, entitled El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer), features a chili cook-off as a vital plot point. The infamous space coyote scene still cracks me up to this day. 😹

With the peppers featured prominently on the front of the recipe card, Simply Delicious has pointed out the one major issue I had with this dish. WHO PUTS BELL PEPPER IN CHILI? 🌶 Jamie and I enjoy a little spice in our chili. I’ve always wanted to try adding a pepper akin to the “Merciless Pepper of Quetzalacatenango … grown deep in the jungle primeval by the inmates of a Guatemalan insane asylum.” 🌶

5-13: Italian Easter Pie

Adam Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 26, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, asparagus, baked goods, boiled, breakfast, broccoli, butter, carrots, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chilled, creamy, cut in, diced, dinner, Easter, egg wash, egg yolks, eggs, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, flute, food processor, grated, half-and-half, Italian, lattice, lunch, milk, Parmesan, pastry wheel, pie crust, pies, quiches, salt, sautéed, smoked ham, snow peas, spring, tart pan, tender-crisp, untested, vegetables

🐰 The Easter Bunny has come early this year and he’s brought 5-13: Italian Easter Pie! I prefer the Cadbury Bunny to the Easter Bunny, but I’ll eat this pie any day.

This dish is certainly elegant and delicious, I’ve never made a Torta Pasqualina before. Now I can check it off the list. ✅

12-27: Chicken Broccoli Lasagna

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses August 24, 2016July 28, 2020at work, basil, boiled, broccoli, canola oil, casserole, cheese, chicken, chopped, creamy, crushed tomatoes, diced, dinner, dried herbs, egg-free, fairly easy, frozen, garlic, grated, ground chicken, ground meat, ground turkey, healthy, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lasagna, lunch, melted, minced, Mozzarella, oregano, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, Ricotta, salt, shredded, tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomatoes, untested, vegetables, yellow onions

Here’s something a bit different…and I’m not talking about the recipe. In fact, 12-27: Chicken Broccoli Lasagna itself is pretty boring. But here’s what’s interesting: I made this recipe at work, for work. This one will be a bit of a glance into what I do all day–my other kitchen, if you will.

I usually use ground turkey for ground meat recipes (there’s a few kids with special dietary preferences) and I’ve made lasagna before for work, so this one seemed like a perfect recipe to try to scale up for the amount I need for a daily meal. “Healthy” is what parents are looking for these days when it comes to school lunches–another way this recipe is a good fit. 🍴

EDIT: Full disclosure–this was written in 2016, and I now have a career in a completely non-culinary related field. However, this still serves as a fun reminder of a previous “life”. Enjoy!

3-21: Broccoli-Celery Soup

Adam Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters August 23, 2016August 26, 2022black pepper, boiled, broccoli, butter, celery, Cheddar, cheese, chicken bouillon, chicken broth, chilled, crushed red pepper, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, garlic, Glendale apt, gluten-free, herbs and spices, inexpensive, leeks, lunch, melted, milk, minced, potatoes, purée, revisited, salt, shredded, simmered, soups, vegetables, whipping cream

Jamie made this recipe, 3-21: Broccoli-Celery Soup, for me before on a mild Christmas Eve. 🎅🏽 We were living in Glendale at the time, it doesn’t exactly get cold there. ❄

(Editor’s note: I didn’t make this on Christmas Eve–my mom did. I don’t know which Christmas Eve, but that’s definitely her writing. I did however, make this when we lived in Glendale, CA, and he’s right about that–it doesn’t get that cold there.)

I really enjoyed the soup the first time around, so I took my own shot at cooking this recipe.

9-5: Modern-Style Hamburger

Adam Martin Group 09: Ground Meat & Sausage, Section 2: Main Courses August 21, 2016October 20, 2020beef bouillon, black pepper, burgers, butter, chili sauce, chilled, chives, condiments, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, fried, green onions, griddle, grill pan, grilled, ground beef, ground meat, iceberg lettuce, lettuce, modern, pan-fried, parsley, pearl onions, salt, sautéed, sirloin, untested, whipping cream, white bread, whole wheat bread, yellow onions

Simply Delicious has provided a plethora of burger recipes for me to try, like 9-15: Peppercorn Beef Burgers and this recipe, 9-5: Modern-Style Hamburger. I like to cook these on the electric griddle because I can cook the entire batch off at once and they all cook evenly.

I tend to prefer burgers that are dinner sized. These burgers are more like sliders or a thin lunch style burger. 🍔

6-2: Fiery Chicken Casserole

Adam Martin Group 06: Poultry & Game, Section 2: Main Courses August 18, 2016October 14, 2020all-purpose flour, bone-in, boneless, braised, breasts, butter, canola oil, casserole, chicken, chili peppers, chili powder, chives, creamy, crème fraîche, diced, dinner, drumsticks, Dutch oven, fairly easy, fairly inexpensive, green chiles, lactose-free, paprika, salt, sautéed, sliced, sour cream, spicy, thighs, untested, yellow onions

The whole time I was making 6-2: Fiery Chicken Casserole, I had this image in my head because I thought my sauce came out wrong. My sauce was light colored and the chicken in the photo shows a crispy, golden skin. If you look hard at the bowl in the upper left corner, you can see the white sauce that the authors described.

My version of the casserole came out a lot differently than the image shown on the card and didn’t taste very “fiery”. This dish would need a lot more heat to be considered “fiery”. 🔥