ZeldaSayre Recipe Reviews (Pg. 1) - Allrecipes.com (1870970)

One Pot Tuna Casserole

Reviewed: Jan. 30, 2012

So many of the reviews for this are lists of things added, ingredients altered, and cooking methods changed. Which is fine, do what you want; but I think those people are kind of missing the point of this recipe. It's not intended to be the Best Tuna Casserole Ever. It's just like the description says: easy and fast. It's something to make when you don't have the time or gumption to make much or shop, but still need to eat, and would like the thing you eat to be as palatable as possible. So that's how I'm going to rate it. On those terms, this recipe is great: it's easy, it's fast, it contains a vegetable, and it tastes pretty good. The next time I make it I imagine I'll use two pots, one for the sauce and one for the noodles, since by the time the water boils and the noodles cook the sauce could be made.

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8 users found this review helpful

Spinach and Rice (Spanakorizo)

Reviewed: Jan. 3, 2012

This is so good - but I definitely agree with the other reviewers: the rice will NOT cook unless you cover the pot. The two pounds of spinach seems like a lot but ends up being perfect. I used fresh dill and skipped the parsley; instead of tomato sauce, I used some pureed tomatoes, around a half a cup, and added some tomato paste. (It seems to me that the tomato aspect of this dish is pretty forgiving.) We were amazed at how good it is for something so simple! This and a loaf of good bread was dinner. Definitely don't skip the feta and lemon. Four stars because of the cooking method listed here; the taste is 5 stars!

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3 users found this review helpful

Refried Beans Without the Refry

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2011

As good as the reviews say! I used 2 tsp of salt and didn't think it was enough, but it's easy to salt later and impossible to unsalt, so I might not add much more in the future. Tasted just like my father's and were very easy. I did drain off quite a bit of the liquid, as suggested, and would drain more next time, because the mashed beans were quite thin and I had to put them in a skillet to reduce. Might try skipping the garlic next time, as the broth was a bit bitter and I think that's the culprit. All in all, though, deserves its five stars!

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1 user found this review helpful

Whole Wheat Refrigerator Rolls

Reviewed: Dec. 26, 2011

These were quite good, but I think they need a bit more salt. They were very, very yeasty, too, which is not necessarily a bad thing, just distinctive. Definitely the best homemade bread I've ever made - I usually find that it tastes flat - and I like that they were whole-wheat, but I think I'm still looking for the totally amazingly perfect dinner roll. Thanks!

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1 user found this review helpful

Chicken and Gnocchi Soup

Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2011

Great! No processed ingredients, easy and relatively quick with a rotisserie chicken and pre-shredded carrot. Husband and toddler both loved it. Beautiful to look at, too, with all the colors from the veggies! I added a red pepper because I had it in the fridge.

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1 user found this review helpful

Blueberry Coffee Cake III

Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2011

Found this pretty flat-tasting despite the addition of 2 tsp of vanilla. I took it to a neighbor's house for a coffee date and her first comment was, "Wow, this tastes healthy." Not what you want to hear! Maybe I did something wrong without realizing it. Thanks anyway, but I probably won't make it again.

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1 user found this review helpful

Blue Cheese Jalapeno Poppers

Reviewed: Aug. 4, 2011

Speaking strictly about the baking temp/time and breading recipe here, since I modified the construction and used a different filling: for non-fried poppers, this works really well! It's true that the breading doesn't stick super-well to the poppers, but I found that if I was very gentle with the unbaked poppers, I was able to keep most of the breading attached. They're not fried, and so you're not going to get a thick fried-popper coating. Next time I might add slightly less milk to see if that helps. I found the panko slightly stale-tasting, but liked the nice crunch it added, so might use a mix of panko and traditional bread crumbs next time. Finally, the construction as written seemed a bit elaborate; I just cut the stem end off each pepper, sliced down one side so I could de-seed, filled with cheese and wrapped the pepper around the filling. (I used Boursin with chive and garlic, which I had left over from something else.) Those modifications aside, this recipe produced a nicely browned and crispy popper, with the pepper itself cooked just right. Thanks for the recipe; our pepper plants are going nuts this year so we'll make these again!

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4 users found this review helpful

Baked Zucchini Chips

Reviewed: Jul. 11, 2011

These are quite good, and better than I expected! I found the seasoned bread-crumbs a little stale tasting (it was a new container), so next time I might use plain and add my own seasoning; I also thought they could use a bit of salt despite the parmesan. Still, though - my two year old voluntarily ate some, so I'm not complaining! Thanks for the recipe!

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2 users found this review helpful

Grilled Marinated Salmon

Reviewed: Jun. 19, 2011

Outstanding! My husband and I aren't nuts about salmon, but it's healthy and (if you buy the right kind) reasonably sustainable, so I've been on the lookout for a recipe that sounds as if we might like it. This one is great. I marinated for seven hours, and the salmon flavor came through without being too strong. My husband actually said, "This salmon is amazing. Why didn't you make more?" Thanks so much for sharing, we'll make this again!

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6 users found this review helpful

Catfish Saint James

Reviewed: Jun. 8, 2011

The flavors of the breading here were great, but - I don't know, my oven is insane, but my fish was cooked through after 10 minutes and never got brown at all. The coating remained soggy and wet. My filets were also a bit smaller than recommended, so that might have made a difference. We liked the flavors well enough to try and make it work, though. (I halved the breading recipe and used about 1/4 of the butter.)

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1 user found this review helpful

Slow Cooker Latin Chicken

Reviewed: Jun. 5, 2011

This was great, and so easy. My husband thinks he doesn't like sweet potatoes, but ate them happily here; the cilantro adds a nice freshness. We ate over rice one night and leftover in tacos for several days' worth of lunches.

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1 user found this review helpful

Spinach Tomato Tortellini

Reviewed: May 17, 2011

This is quite good, and lovely to look at! I thought it was a little odd to just boil the garlic in the tomato juice without sauteeing it, but tried it as written. I used fat-free evaporated milk -- just that, no cream or half and half -- as an experiment, but I doubled the cheese and then some. Worked out well; the sauce was thick and creamy, if not as rich as it could have been. Added fresh basil at the end. A hint: when mixing the milk and flour, add the milk a bit at a time at first, until the mixture is fairly liquid. This will keep lumps out of your sauce and might solve some of the problems some reviewers have been having with thin sauce. Also, I used baby spinach and frozen minced garlic, and it was on the table in the time it took to cook the tortellini. Four stars because I still think the cooking method is a bit strange, but good and fast nonetheless!

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1 user found this review helpful

Lentils and Rice with Fried Onions (Mujadarrah)

Reviewed: Apr. 28, 2011

Very good, but I agree that it could use just a touch more seasoning - next time will add a pinch of allspice. Super ridiculously easy, though.

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1 user found this review helpful

Braised Balsamic Chicken

Reviewed: Feb. 3, 2011

Amazing. The flavor of the balsamic is strong, so if you don't love balsamic, this probably won't be up your alley; we LOVED it. The sauce reduced to such a nice thickness that I'd be reluctant to add stock, as some reviewers have done; more liquid seems like a bad idea. I couldn't stop dipping bread in the sauce as I was putting away the sole leftover breast! Bonus prize: go easy on the garlic salt, and it's low-sodium. You won't miss it because of the acid.

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3 users found this review helpful

Sour Cream Chicken Quiche

Reviewed: Feb. 3, 2011

This was good, and fairly easy. It fit perfectly in my pan and set up exactly right, which is rare in my oven. I felt like the gruyere got a bit lost, but maybe that was the cheese's fault; I also found myself not entirely crazy about the chicken. Most of the flavor here comes from the sour cream and cheese, which is not a terrible thing, but I was sort of hoping for more. Thanks anyway!

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3 users found this review helpful

Simple Taco Soup

Reviewed: Jan. 23, 2011

This is good, and quick - we used bison, frozen corn, and diced tomatoes instead of stewed. Sort of like a not-particularly-spicy chili. We'll probably make it again, but next time I might try to make my own spice mixes to cut down on at least a little bit of the sodium. Served it with cornbread.

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3 users found this review helpful

Boston Baked Beans

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2010

This is the first baked bean recipe I've ever found that didn't include a can of baked beans, and it's also the first I've ever made that worked! I thought I would be able to cheat by using canned beans, and cut some time off the baking; nope. You need the full 4 hours (or more) for the sauce to reduce to the appropriate thickness. I served this with cornbread and for us, it didn't quite make a meal, but it might have if I'd served a few veggie dishes along with it. Thanks!

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4 users found this review helpful

Peanut Butter Noodles

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2010

Very good! I make this exactly as written, but I sometimes add some marinated baked tofu and/or edamame for protein (and because they're delicious). Just throw the (frozen, shelled) edamame in with the noodles for the last 5 minutes of cooking time. The toddler loves this and so do the grownups. I've used fettuccine instead of udon and it works well.

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5 users found this review helpful

Puttanesca I

Reviewed: Dec. 18, 2010

Loved this - really good and spicy, and not hard! I used Pom chopped tomatoes and didn't bother sieving them, just tossed them in, sauce and all; worked out fine. Don't be scared of the olive oil. Makes the finished sauce nice and lush. Next time, I might try adding the whole can of anchovies, so it doesn't go to waste, but all in all - we'll definitely make this again, thanks so much!

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7 users found this review helpful

Marrakesh Vegetable Curry

Reviewed: Nov. 17, 2010

A lot of flavor for a vegetable curry! We used orange juice, but I'll definitely try the carrot-ginger if my health food store carries it. I used frozen peppers, added a few minutes before the spinach, and frozen spinach; both worked well.

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3 users found this review helpful