So it turns out a bunch of the recipes I've pinned since I started pinning about a year ago were from, or adapted from, Cooking Light. That's great! Who doesn't need to eat healthier?
Eating a little healthier is one of the things that had me inspired to do more "real" cooking in the first place!
And this is SO worth a little time spent chopping. Even if the shallots made me cry a little. (OK, like a baby.)
I love prepping ahead and using little prep bowls. It makes me feel like I'm on TV.
Aside from my trips to fantasy land, where there's a modern day Julia Child just BURSTING FREE when I cook, there's also a more practical side benefit. Having everything pre-chopped keeps me far less frazzled while cooking, which makes me a lot more willing to do it. And the Julia Child thing. Win-win!
This turned out so well that even my husband, who is innately suspicious of green things that find their way onto his plate, ate everything! Everything! Even the veggies!
He didn't even ask what those funky green leaves in his dinner were. I was so proud.
I admit I was nervous about this recipe. I've never used fresh herbs before. Really, never. But the fresh basil absolutely made this dish! It smelled so good when I was chopping it too! I am not completely sure I could have told you what basil smelled like before.
I know. You can shake your head in sad disappointment. I'll join you. I'm very disappointed in me too. And I thought I was well-rounded.
My only alteration turkey recipe was to substitute turkey breast tenderloin for the chicken breast called for in the original. We just like it better at our house, and it's pretty available here. Original recipe here. I'm sure it's great with chicken too.
I also made (sort of) the suggested vegetable side dish, Sauteed Snow Peas and Peppers. Except not really, because I didn't have any sesame oil, and that seems like kind of a major component of their dish.
So really I just stir fried some red peppers and snow peas in a teeny bit of vegetable oil, and then tossed with salt and pepper instead.
Are these fancy oils a thing in real life? Do I sound fresh off the turnip truck when I call them fancy oils?
Is it just me who doesn't have the cupboard space to keep 10 kinds of supercalifragalisticexpialidocious oils on hand? I mean, sesame oil, grape seed oil, truffle oil, olive oil (virgin AND extra virgin) all that sounds absolutely wonderful... but my cupboard is pretty full already, and I just have standard vegetable oil and some olive oil. And it seems a little wasteful to pick them up for a specific recipe. If I started to see a lot of recipes in the queue where a specific oil was a major thing, that might be different. I could be talked into investing.
Hey! Maybe I could drink a lot of mojitos and use up all the mojito mix so I have cupboard space to spare. Now we're talking!
