5 fresh ingredients + 5 minutes of heat = 165 recipes
Ridiculously easy from-scratch recipes to get you in and out of the kitchen in a flash every day of the week—now with sides and holiday dishes, too
The follow-up to the bestselling Michael Symon’s 5 in 5, this new book delivers 165 quick, easy, fresh recipes organized by season with an entire section devoted to making the holidays simpler than ever. Each chapter features inspired main courses as well as recipes for sides and 5 fun ways to celebrate the season, including no-bake summer fruit desserts and spiked drinks to warm up with in winter.
I loved the idea of this—five fresh, seasonal ingredients that can be cooked in five minutes. I work eight hours a day (occasionally 10-12) and don’t want to spend my evening cooking. I’d like to make something healthy and fresh in less than thirty minutes.
So, I picked this up and chose three recipes from the fall/winter categories. I chose one “sketchy” sounding one, one I knew HAD to be good, and one I wasn’t sure on.
Pork & Cranberries
I wasn’t sure on this one, but the thought of Thanksgiving cranberries had me like, yeah. The ingredients were easy to find (oranges, jalapeno, ginger, cranberries). Prep took about fifteen minutes to mince the jalapeno, juice and zest the oranges and grate the ginger. The verdict? 2/5. The cranberries were SO bitter that we couldn’t even eat them….we just ate the pork (which was delish).
Pulled Chicken, Rigatoni & Feta Cheese
I had a 12-hour day, so the husband made this one. He says it was super easy and he liked how easy the directions were. The only thing that was off was the serving size—we made a GIANT pot of pasta using these directions and it easily served 8 rather than 4. It tasted alright, though! I think 3tbsp of salt in the pasta is a little much. I’d rate this one 3/5.
Pork & Gingered Plums
This one sounded sketchy, but I think you have to try the sketchy ones to see if a cookbook is all it’s cracked up to be. Believe it or not, this one was my favorite. Husband also prepped and cooked this one. The pork was great, and the plums were weird in a good way. The cilantro really added the final touch it needed to balance out the sweet.
Overall, I wasn’t that happy with this cookbook. I rated it a 3/5. Maybe my tastes aren’t that refined or something, but I wasn’t a huge fan of what I had.
I received this from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.
lifebetweenreads.com 