Eye for a Recipe

This summer favourite from Kitchn has the unbeatable combination of cucumbers, sour cream, red onion and dill, with a bit of vinegar, oil and mustard added. Cook’s note: to reduce the salt in this recipe, rinse the cucumbers after they stand and pat dry.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

No-Name sour cream, Allen’s apple cider vinegar and President’s Choice Old-Fashioned Dijon mustard are all additive-free.

Sour cream and dill cucumber salad

Ingredients:

2 pounds (907 g) cucumbers (about 4 medium), peeled and thinly sliced crosswise

¼ cup (60 ml) sour cream

1 tablespoon (15 ml) apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

1 teaspoon (5 ml) Dijon mustard

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

¼ cup (60 ml) chopped fresh dill

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

Place the cucumbers in a large colander and toss with a couple of large pinches of salt. Set the colander in a large bowl or in the sink and let the cucumbers stand 30 minutes at room temperature to release some of their water. Meanwhile, whisk the sour cream, vinegar, oil, mustard, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of pepper together in a large bowl; set aside.

Gently pat the cucumbers dry with a paper towel. Add the cucumbers, red onion, and dill to the dressing and toss gently to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed. Serves 6.

From Kitchn

Here’s another recipe that uses staples from the pantry and freezer. Brown sliced sausage and garlic, add orzo and cook for a few minutes. Add broth, tomatoes and spices and simmer for about 9 minutes. Scatter shrimp and peas over orzo, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes and serve. Cook’s note: I had some leftover cooked chicken, so I added that to the sausage and heated it through.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I used Free From hot Italian sausages and Imagine Organic chicken stock. Unico or Blue Menu tomatoes are additive-free. Check the spices for colour and anti-caking agents. Look for frozen shrimp with only salt added.

Brown sausage

Add orzo

Add tomatoes, stock and spices

Once orzo has absorbed liquid and is tender, top with shrimp and peas, cook for 5 minutes and then let rest off the heat for 5 minutes before serving

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon (15 ml) olive oil

8 ounces (226 g) cooked hot or sweet Italian chicken sausage, cut into ¼ -inch- (0.6-cm) thick rounds

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ cups dried orzo pasta (10 ounces/285 g)

2 cups (500 ml) low-sodium chicken broth

1 (14.5-ounce/428 ml) can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon (5 ml) smoked paprika

¾ teaspoon (3.75 ml) kosher salt, divided

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) freshly ground black pepper, divided

8 ounces (226 g) uncooked peeled and deveined large shrimp, thawed if frozen (26 to 30 shrimp per pound)

½ cup (125 ml) frozen peas

2 tablespoons (30 ml) chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preparation:

Heat oil in a 9- or 10-inch (23-25 cm) cast iron or straight-sided skillet over medium until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until evenly browned on both sides, 3 to 4 minutes total. Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds more.

Add the orzo and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth, tomatoes and their juices, paprika, ½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) of the salt and ¼ (1.25 ml) teaspoon of the pepper. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, and cook, undisturbed, until the orzo is almost al dente, the liquid has reduced by about half, and there is tight, rapid bubbling, 7 to 9 minutes. Meanwhile, pat the shrimp dry with paper towels and season with remaining ¼ teaspoon (1.25 ml) each salt and pepper.

Scatter the shrimp and peas over the orzo, cover, and cook until the shrimp are pink and opaque, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside to rest, covered, for 5 minutes, allowing any residual liquid in the skillet to be absorbed. Top with the parsley and serve. Serves 4.

From Kitchn

This recipe from Kitchn is an excellent side dish or vegetarian main course. Cook orzo pasta and set it aside, then sauté diced sweet potato, onion, garlic, ginger and mushrooms. Toss with tamari, balsamic vinegar and oil and return the orzo to the pan, cooking until it turns brown and toasty. Add some chopped kale or other hardy green, heat until it wilts and serve.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Look for a balsamic vinegar that contains only naturally occurring sulfites and use tamari instead of soy sauce.

Sauté the yam and onion

Add the garlic and ginger and continue to cook

Add mushrooms, cook to soften them and then add cooked orzo

Add chopped kale or other hardy greens and heat until wilted

Ingredients:

Salt

8 ounces (227 g) orzo pasta

Grapeseed, peanut, or vegetable oil

1 large sweet potato (about 12 ounces/340 g), diced

2 medium onions (about 1 pound/454 g total), finely diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon (15 ml) peeled and grated fresh ginger

6 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps diced

1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons (30 ml) soy sauce

3 big leaves Swiss chard or kale, stalks removed and leaves finely chopped (about 2 cups/500 ml)

Freshly ground black pepper

Shaved Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation:

Heat a large pot of water to boiling and salt it generously. Cook the orzo until barely al dente, about 6 to 7 minutes. Drain and toss with a generous drizzle of oil so that the grains of orzo are lightly coated with oil; set aside.

Heat a large sauté or frying pan (the largest you have — you want plenty of room and hot surface) over high heat. Drizzle in a little grapeseed or vegetable oil (not olive oil — you want an oil with a high smoke point) and heat until very hot. Add the sweet potatoes and arrange them in a single layer. Cook over high heat until they begin to caramelize and turn brown, about 4 minutes. Flip the sweet potatoes and cook for 3 minutes more.

Turn the heat down to medium and push the sweet potatoes up in a pile against one side of the pan. Add the onions to the center of the pan and season lightly with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are beginning to turn brown. Add the garlic and ginger and stir them into the onions. Push the onions off to the side of the pan, next to the sweet potatoes, where they will continue to caramelize.

Add the mushrooms to the hot center of the pan and cook for 4 minutes without turning them. Stir the mushrooms and cook for 4 minutes. At this point everything should be getting well-cooked; the onions should be quite dark brown and the garlic should be golden and soft. The potatoes should be softening.

Whisk together the vinegar, soy sauce, and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) of oil. Pour this into the pan with the vegetables and mix everything together, scraping the bottom as you go. Cook for 3 minutes.

Turn the heat up to high, as high as it will go. Add the orzo gradually, shaking in a cup at a time, and stirring and scraping constantly. Cook, letting the orzo get browned on the bottom of the pan, then scraping it up, for about 5 minutes. You are developing a little more color and flavor on the pasta, and helping all the flavors combine.

Add the greens and cook until they’re barely wilted, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat, taste, and season as needed. Serve hot, with shavings of Parmesan if desired. Serves 4-6.

From Kitchn

This recipe from Kitchn tastes as good as it looks. Toss thinly sliced potatoes in garlic, salt and pepper and arrange them into overlapping rows to create four rectangles. Roast the potato “rafts” for a half hour, then top with the fish, butter, lemon, thyme and capers. Roast until the fish is cooked through and then serve. Healthy (about 330 calories per serving) and delicious!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Use a brand of butter than contains only cream and has no colour added. I use Unico capers, which are additive-free.

Arrange potato slices into rectangles and roast

Place fish, butter, lemon, capers and thyme on top of potatoes and cook until fish is done

The fish is flavoured by the butter, thyme, capers and lemon as it cooks

Lemon-herb sole on crispy potato rafts

Ingredients:

1½ pounds (680 g) russet potatoes (about 2 medium), unpeeled and scrubbed, sliced into ¼-inch-thick (0.64 cm) rounds

2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced (roughly 1 tablespoon/15 ml)

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) kosher salt

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) freshly ground black pepper

4 skinless sole fillets or other firm white fish (5 ounces/142 g each and 1 to 1½ inches/2.5 cm to 3.8 cm thick)

4 tablespoons/60 ml unsalted butter

1 lemon, thinly sliced

8 sprigs fresh thyme

2 tablespoons (30 ml) capers, drained

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 425°F (218°C) with a rack in the center position. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper until thoroughly coated.

Assemble 4 potato rafts by overlapping potato slices on the prepared pan in rectangular mounds. Each raft should consist of 3 or 4 shingled rows and be roughly 4 x 6 inches (10 x 15 cm); use 3 or 4 slices of potato per row.

Roast the potatoes, rotating the pan halfway through, until golden brown and beginning to crisp, about 30 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.

Blot the fish fillets dry with a paper towel. Place one, skin-side down, centered on top of each potato raft. Top each piece of fish with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) butter, 2 lemon slices, and 2 sprigs thyme. Scatter the capers atop the fish and around the pan.

Return the pan to the oven and roast until the fish is flaky and opaque, about 15 minutes.

Transfer the potato rafts and accompanying fillets to individual plates, ideally with a big spatula. Serve hot. Serves 4.

From Kitchn