More reviews are here! Oh man, since defending my masters thesis on friday, I do not know what has gotten into me, I do not feel inspired by anything and all I want to do is sleep. I guess you can only burn the candles at both ends for so long! Well thank you so much for being patient while I wrap up the My New Roots 21 day challenge! For those of you who haven’t been following on Instagram, I have posted my latest challenge – the Minimalist Baker 21 day challenge! It will be starting on July 4th, so stay tuned for some meal plans, grocery lists and some fun challenges ahead!
I am going to move forward and review three more recipes from my challenge: the Thai Style Coconut Soup (p. 101), the Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge, and the Grilled Zucchini and Green Onions with Baby Spinach and Hazelnuts (p. 88). First up, the soup. I warn those who don’t live in big cities, you may have time finding the ingredients. There are items such as lemongrass, galangal root (I just subbed ginger), kaffir lime leaves, thai chile peppers and coconut sugar that took me some time to find. I think they are all crucial to the overall authenticity of the recipe, so be prepared to hunt! Also, the zucchini noodles really make it, so a vegetable spiralizer would be helpful. Once the ingredients are ready, the preparation is very straightforward, and quick! I was really happy with this. The overall taste and texture of this soup was delightful, however it was super unique so there may be some tastebuds that do not appreciate it as much as I do. I found that this soup was not good frozen and defrosted, so make sure eat it up quickly! I threw in some salmon to add some extra protein, but it is a perfect meal for summer time, fresh, light and filling with a nice rich coconut milk base.
Once the ingredients are ready, the preparation is very straightforward, and quick! I was really happy with this. The overall taste and texture of this soup was delightful, however it was super unique so there may be some tastebuds that do not appreciate it as much as I do. I found that this soup was not good frozen and defrosted, so make sure eat it up quickly! I threw in some salmon to add some extra protein, but it is a perfect meal for summer time, fresh, light and filling with a nice rich coconut milk base.
I gave this recipe 30.5 out of 40, which had a higher score for taste, appearance, and time. Lower scores were given to the longevity and the ingredients. Still super yummy and a great crowd pleaser for those who love thai flavours!Next up is the Raspberry Ripple Buckwheat Porridge – another tasty and unique recipe. One thing to note about this recipe, you should probably prepare this the night before, at least the raspberry ripple, so that you don’t wake up the neighbours! This recipe keeps really well in the fridge overnight, and make enough for a couple days worth of it. The flavours in this recipe are super fresh and for some reason i absolutely crave raspberries during this time of year. They can be substituted for any berries really, but there is something so refreshing about raspberries! It is suggest to top it off with bee pollen, but I had none on hand so I put on some hemp hearts which were lovely. The swirl really ups the presentation, but on day 2 I just mixed it all together and it was just as dandy! It lost a bit of a score on presentation as by day two, the colour wasn’t as pleasing so keep that as a note!
Overall, 34 points out of 40 for a great overall breakfast, or even split it in half for a nice snack!
Last but not least, the Grilled Zucchini and Green Onions with Baby Spinach and Hazelnuts – this was a surprising hit on the flavour and texture, even my meat loving boyfriend ate the whole plate of leftover zucchini! What really nails this one on the head is the added lemon zest, juice and hot pepper. Holy trinity of flavours is very present here (see book for details). It was super easy to prepare too, especially if you have a grill at home. I could also imagine it working quite well baked, or in a frying pan on high heat. I didn’t have onions on hand but did have quite a bit of leftover bok choy so I used that instead. My was that decadent! However, it doesn’t work very well as leftovers, so plan to make just enough for the night. And also, I had a hard time with the presentation on this one. Perhaps with the proper ingredients (I also subbed pecans for hazelnuts) it would look more appealing. I see this as a very light meal, with only 337 calories per serving, and 7.2 grams of protein (7% of the meal), it really is meant to fill you up with greens and healthy carbohydrates. I think this is great as a side with some grilled tofu, lentils, chickpeas, salmon, chicken (or whatever protein you fancy) on top!
I rated this one a 31.5 out of 40, overall great score but lost the most marks for longevity.
There you have it friends! Let me know if you have tried any of these lovely recipes 🙂
xox
Hannah