easy – Page 22 – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

5-21: Omelette with Herbs

Jamie Martin Group 05: Eggs & Cheese, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 7, 2016October 14, 2020Alton Brown, black pepper, breakfast, butter, chervil, chives, dried herbs, easy, eggs, folded, French, gluten-free, green onions, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, omelette, parsley, salt, Saturday, Sunday, tarragon, untested, vegetarian

A few weekends ago, on a sleepy Saturday morning, I found myself with many eggs, some fresh parsley, and a desire for an omelette. Since I’m now at the point that every time I cook, I consider whether I could use up a Simply Delicious recipe on it, I knew there had to be a true omelette recipe in there, given their heavy reliance on French fine-dining recipes & methods. If you find yourself in a similar predicament, consider making 5-21: Omelette with Herbs.

Simply Delicious shows the half-fold omelette method in their pictures–I’ve always preferred the Alton Brown tri-fold omelette method. This is a truly classic French-style omelette, unlike the last omelette I covered (and messed up), 5-11: Country Omelette.

12-9: Pasta with Salmon and Basil

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses February 29, 2016July 27, 2020al dente, all-purpose flour, basil, black pepper, blanched, boiled, butter, canola oil, creamy, dinner, dried herbs, easy, fairly expensive, fish, fish bouillon, half-and-half, lunch, melted, milk, pan-fried, pasta/noodles, roux, salmon, salt, sautéed, smoked salmon, sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes, untested

Another recipe attempt born of Costco sale inspiration and brought down by too much time between buying stuff and using it up. I did my best with 12-9: Pasta with Salmon and Basil, but I probably didn’t do it justice.

This was the only recipe in Simply Delicious that I could find that used salmon filets, not steaks. I somehow had it in my head that there were several recipes that used salmon, and so was disappointed to find that this was the only one that I was going to knock out, despite now having a few pounds of salmon.

17-17: Banana Bread with Pecans

Jamie Martin Group 17: Baked Goods, Section 3: Desserts & Baked Goods February 17, 2016August 31, 2020all-purpose flour, baked goods, baking powder, baking soda, bananas, breads, breakfast, bundt, cinnamon, cloves, creamed, easy, eggs, fairly inexpensive, honey, nuts, party food, pecans, quick breads, revisited, sifted, snacks, vegetable oil, vegetarian, yogurt

While I’m not a huge fan of bananas themselves, I’m surprisingly a fan of banana bread. 🍌🍞 It’s always good for breakfast or as a snack. This particular recipe for it, 17-17: Banana Bread with Pecans uses honey to sweeten it, which is a nice alternative to using processed sugar.

Simply Delicious gives you a nice blurb here on bananas–for a more in-depth look, check out 19-5: Bananas, part of the Cooking School series featured at the end of the cookbook.

12-13: Tortellini in Creamy Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses February 16, 2016July 27, 2020al dente, bacon, basil, black pepper, boiled, cheese, creamy, dinner, easy, garlic, inexpensive, lunch, mushrooms, nutmeg, pasta/noodles, salt, sautéed, sweet peas, tortellini, untested, vegetarian, whipping cream

I like tortellini. I like creamy sauce. I didn’t really like this take on those items, 12-13: Tortellini in Creamy Sauce.

This creamy sauce needed a LOT of help in the flavor and texture department, and that shouldn’t be the case for the biggest component of the dish. I did use cheese tortellini instead of meat ones, but even then, it was the sauce that needed the most help.

7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce

Jamie Martin Group 07: Pork, Section 2: Main Courses February 15, 2016June 19, 2020black pepper, brandy, butter, chives, coconut milk, curry powder, dairy-free, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, half-and-half, peanut oil, pork, pork tenderloin, salt, seared, soy sauce, spice blends, steak sauce, tenderized, untested, whipping cream

Costco had pork tenderloin on sale, so I’ll use that as an opportunity to work my way through some of those recipes in the book. Here’s 7-36: Pork Tenderloin with Curry Sauce, which I made for dinner a few weeks ago.

True to its claims, I made this one pretty quickly one weeknight for dinner. You could make this with a cheaper cut of pork as well (such as a chop) if you don’t want to pay for the more expensive tenderloin cut.

2-26: Corn & Wild Rice Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters February 14, 2016March 14, 2020American, appetizers, black beans, boiled, cilantro, cooked chicken, corn, dairy-free, diced, dinner, easy, egg-free, fairly inexpensive, gluten-free, green bell peppers, green onions, ham, jalapeño peppers, lettuce, lime juice, limes, lunch, marinated, olive oil, party food, red bell peppers, rice, salads, salt, shrimp, side dish, simmered, Southwestern, spicy, untested, vegan, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, wild rice

In the mood for more corn after 3-14: Creamy Corn Chowder? It’s still not quite corn season yet, but if you’ve got some frozen corn hanging out in the freezer, you can feel like it’s summer with 2-26: Corn & Wild Rice Salad.

This would be a great recipe to make for a summer BBQ or picnic–it’s healthy, pretty, and as they say above, easy to make. It feels incredibly out of season now (February), but therein lies the magic of the Internet–you might find this in June or July and it’ll be perfect then.

3-14: Creamy Corn Chowder

Jamie Martin Group 03: Soups, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 28, 2016March 14, 2020all-purpose flour, black pepper, boiled, butter, carrots, celery, chowder, corn, creamy, dinner, easy, egg-free, grated, half-and-half, herbs and spices, inexpensive, lunch, melted, milk, mirepoix, purée, roux, salt, sautéed, simmered, soups, summer, thyme, Tyler Florence, untested, vegetarian, yellow onions

Corn is more of a summer thing, but the recipe for 3-14: Creamy Corn Chowder calls for fresh, canned, or frozen corn, so you can have it anytime you have a hankering for corn chowder. I’m not personally a huge fan of corn chowders, but I know a lot of people are, and my in-house reviewer claimed to like it, so it comes recommended.

I’ve made a variation on Tyler Florence’s corn chowder at my current job, which was also a hit. Both call for thyme, but Simply Delicious chooses to bulk with mirepoix vegetables & milk rather than potatoes, roux, & heavy cream like Tyler Florence. Another example of the lean/health-conscious 80s.

2-36: California Egg Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 27, 2016March 14, 2020bacon, black olives, black pepper, boiled, California, crème fraîche, Dijon mustard, easy, egg salad, eggs, green olives, green onions, hard-boiled, inexpensive, lettuce, lunch, mayonnaise, pan-fried, red wine vinegar, salt, sour cream, Tabasco sauce, tarragon vinegar, tomatoes, turkey, untested, vegetarian

I’m not quite sure what makes 2-36: California Egg Salad “Californian”. I think in the 1980s if you served something on lettuce leaves instead of on bread and used light mayonnaise instead of regular, it was now “healthy” and therefore “Californian“. 🌴☀️🏄🏻‍♀️

I like how their idea of “livening up” egg salad is adding Tabasco and mustard. Really living on the edge there, Simply Delicious.

Side note: The bottle in the back of the shot looks the tarragon vinegar they have you make in 19-7: Fresh and Dried Herbs.

12-8: Penne with Broccoli

Jamie Martin Group 12: Pasta & Rice, Section 2: Main Courses January 26, 2016July 27, 2020all-purpose flour, basil, blanched, boiled, broccoli, butter, Cheddar, cheese sauce, dinner, easy, inexpensive, lunch, milk, mushrooms, oregano, pared, Parmesan, pasta/noodles, penne, roux, salt, sautéed, untested, vegetable oil, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

As you’ve probably figured out, I don’t always write these immediately after I’ve cooked the dish. I usually remember a lot about them though, and I make a lot of mental notes as I go, especially now that I’ve done 80+ of these at this point.

I don’t remember a damned thing about 12-8: Penne with Broccoli. I’m pretty sure the only thing I remember was that it was pretty unmemorable.

My guess is it’s one of those one-pan-skillet-easy-weeknight-dinner kind of things that gets you to eat vegetables by covering them in cheese and noodles. Not that that’s bad, but it’s nothing new.

1-33: Artichoke & Roasted Pepper Dip

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 26, 2016February 5, 2020appetizers, artichoke hearts, cheese, chilled, dips, easy, fairly inexpensive, Glendale apt, gluten-free, green onions, mayonnaise, Mozzarella, Parmesan, parsley, party food, red bell peppers, revisited, roasted, sour cream, vegetarian, Worcestershire sauce

Around the time I started this project (almost 2 years ago at this point), I was distracting myself from real-world stresses by throwing myself into something that always made me happy–cooking. I would make dishes from these and other books and send them to work with my husband or bring them with me to share. 1-33: Artichoke & Roasted Pepper Dip was one of those dishes–in fact, one of the two that inspired me to make the project a reality.

I made it originally for my husband’s work (they loved it) and I made it this time for a get-together I attended (also loved it). It’s SUPER easy and a real crowd pleaser. I mentioned that this was one of two recipes that inspired this project–the other was 1-13: Crusty Toast with Mushrooms.