The Defined Dish – by Alex Snodgrass
It is immediately apparent that Alex not only puts together lots of incredible recipes, she also has a ton of fun doing it. Her chapters are titled things like Mom-bo Italian, Soups For The Soul, Date-Night Dinners, and Cleaned-Up Kid Food. This book contains not only beautiful food pictures but also a few personal pics of her enjoying time with family. It’s also a Whole30 endorsed book which means there are modifications in her book to make the recipes gluten-free, dairy-free, and Paleo. I’ve made several and plan on making many more. I could eat every one of the dishes featured in her Better Than Takeout chapter.
My absolute FAVORITE recipe is the Hibachi-Style Chicken with Magic Mustard Sauce. I am the only person in my family that doesn’t eat sushi so when we go out for Japanese food, I usually order Hibachi. The meat and vegetables are simply prepared on a griddle with oil, butter, salt and pepper, but somehow, something magical happens on that griddle so they come out AMAZING. This recipe tastes like you ordered it at a restaurant and the sauce…let’s just say I understand why she uses the word “Magic” in the title. The carrots and zucchini are cut into long thick sticks which allows them to brown on all sides and prevents them from getting too mushy. The total time spent on this recipe is listed as 30 minutes – worth EVERY minute of the preparation. You could also add cooked rice which would score even more points with the kids
The Pan Roasted Blackened Cajun Chicken With Oven Frites is juicy and flavorful. It adds life to the boring roast chicken, and honestly, I could eat this EVERY week (which is saying A LOT because I eat more untested original recipes per week than anyone I know and rarely make something twice unless I LOVE IT!)
Sour Cream Chicken Taquitos are a great make-ahead recipe for snacks, kid lunches or it can also be frozen for future use. Basically, this is a fried tortilla stuffed with rotisserie chicken, green chilis, and cheese (with an option to add spinach if you like.)
I am in the early stages of getting to know, and love, this cookbook. I am confident that Alex has MANY MORE great meals on these pages just waiting to appear on my dinner table.
1 Comment
These recipes look easy and fabulous. Thanks for your review!