February Cookbook: No Crumbs Left by Teri Turner
Well, I made a decision that is against all odds…I will be participating in Whole30 this month. That means NO sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol or even legumes (???) and YES to meat, seafood, fruits and veggies, eggs and spices. I would have done it in January, along with everyone else trying to start 2021 off right, but I had already committed to this cookbook idea and a book called “Dessert Person” just doesn’t quite fit in with the criteria.
There’s no shortage of free Whole30 recipe ideas on the internet but I swear if I go on Pinterest and a suburban white mom tries to suggest turkey rollups to me I’m gonna jump out my window. Instead, I went out and bought No Crumbs Left by Teri Turner. This cookbook comes very highly rated among Whole30-ers and is filled with unique and delicious-sounding recipes that I could see myself making over and over again.
Week One
Okay, so as it turns out…Whole30 is actually hard???? It’s only been a couple of days and I’m already pissed at myself for publically declaring that I am participating. But whatever, here we are. (Heads up to people I interact with IRL, I’m gonna be cranky for the next few weeks.)
All of that being said, I am excited to dive into this cookbook because these recipes look good as hell! The first one I was excited to try was the citrusy cod with sauteéd spinach (pg. 203). Now, I’ve never really been one to make sauteéd spinach (read: never made it in my life) and I continued to be skeptical as scooped the sloppy, wet greens on my plate…but honey, alert the media because it was so good!! Further proving my theory that lemon juice and capers make everything taste better.
I also tend to find myself in a seafood rut when it comes to making dinner, basically alternating between salmon and shrimp. I guess because I have perfected these recipes and sometimes trying to figure out how to make a Patagonian toothfish taste good just isn’t on the agenda for a Tuesday evening. That’s why this cod recipe caught my eye. It was simple but full of fresh flavor! The almond meal coating gave the illusion of breading while still being Whole30 approved. God, I love a loophole.
As many of you know, I’ve been a vegetarian/pescatarian for the last 13 years – but the events of 2020 just really wiped me out emotionally (I am unique in that way). During the first six months of the year, I moved to a new city where I didn’t have any friends, I couldn’t easily make friends due to, ya know, the virus, and I was falling asleep to the sounds of civil unrest outside my window. A bitch needed a chicken strip! So anyway, here we are. It’s the year 2021 and I’m cooking chicken.
So I made the pistachio pesto chicken (pg. 143) and you already know they had me at “pesto.” Do you really need me to tell you it was good? It’s pesto on chicken. Of course, it was good. I used some of the leftover pistachio pesto (pg. 51) later in the week to make a chicken salad with shredded rotisserie chicken, walnuts and golden raisins. It made a nice little lunch for the next few days!
Week Two
Despite everything I said last week, I started the week with a salmon recipe. The cocoa salmon (pg. 206) isn’t technically Whole30 due to the sugar buuuut it sounded really interesting and in general, I’m okay with bending diet-based rules. (And if I’m being completely honest here, I already went completely off the rails over the weekend lololol.) Putting cocoa powder on salmon may seem weird, but it actually tasted a lot like barbecue! It was something unique for sure, but since I’m not a huge fan of barbecue, it probably won’t be a go-to of mine.
Still on a seafood kick, I made the scallops with orange tarragon (pg. 218) next. I’ve tried to make scallops a handful of times in the past but I’ve never been able to get it quite right. They seem simple, but I never seem to be able to get the texture right. However, these turned out pretty great! As it turns out, the trick to getting a good sear is to make sure the scallops are completely dry before dropping them in the skillet. Which thinking about it now…#duh.
I also made these little smoky pepitas (pg. 44) to snack on throughout the week. So addicting!
Week Three
I started the week with another chicken recipe with the greek lemon chicken (pg. 134)! I did make some adjustments because I was in no mood to break down a whole chicken. I ended up using chicken breasts and sliced baby potatoes instead. I overcooked the chicken slightly and it didn’t have the beautiful crisp skin that the book’s photo did, but the flavor was great. Next time, I’ll probably just use the same mixture to pour over roasted vegetables instead!
By the way, I am totally sucking at Whole30. I seriously cannot go two weeks without making a dessert. I just had to try making these caramelly poached pears (pg. 255). I feel like pears are a very oft-forgotten fruit, one I can admittedly say that I have never purchased before this week. I’ve always liked pears if placed in front of me, but they just never come to mind when I’m shopping! Maybe it’s because there’s a lack of pear dishes? Anyway, I think we need #JusticeForPears! These were extremely simple and quite impressive, if I may say so myself. I ate a couple that night and later in the week topped the rest with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Literal heaven!
So if it isn’t obvious at this point, I have completely quit Whole30 (LOL). My downfall came over the weekend when my friends and I started taking shots to Family Tradition by Hank Williams Jr…But hey, two weeks of healthy eating wasn’t a complete waste of time! Plus, I still have some delicious Whole30-friendly dishes planned for the rest of the month.
The tuna, watermelon and jicama bites (pg. 219) with avocado crema (pg. 221) was a recipe that caught my eye when I first flipped through the book. It’s unique and something I would have never made on my own. This reminded me a lot of ceviche, with the crunchy jicama mimicking a tortilla chip. I believe this is intended to be an appetizer for a party but I ate the whole plate as a weeknight dinner. I can see my future self making this for a glamourous summer dinner party that I will host in the gorgeous backyard I will inevitably have.
For a mid-week dinner, I made the green bean almondine (pg. 154) and chicken fingers (pg. 315) because sometimes I like to revert back to a toddler’s palate. I’ve tried making green bean almondine before and struggled to get the green beans fully cooked without burning the slivered almonds. And this time was no exception! The green beans weren’t quite cooked enough but they actually tasted great the next day when I warmed them up for lunch. And the chicken fingers were, of course, chicken fingers. It was kind of fun to make them from scratch but I think I’ll just leave it to Cane’s next time.
The last recipe I made this week was the garlic confit (pg. 33) blended with the cashew crema (pg. 65). I couldn’t get it as smooth as it seemed in the photos (maybe because I was using my mini food processor) but I was surprised how much I liked this! I wasn’t completely convinced that blending wet cashews with water would make a satisfying sauce but wow. I’m looking forward to tossing this on some veggies next week!
Week Four
I kicked off my last week of the month with the sizzlin’ spicy butter chicken (pg. 137)! I’ve only recently dipped my toes into the spicy pool but I’m growing more and more into it, so I was actually surprised how much I loved this. It may even be a dark horse favorite this month! This recipe calls for you to use your own favorite hot sauce and emulsify it with butter to create the sauce, so I used the truffle hot sauce from Trader Joe’s. It was delish!
Next, I wanted an easy side to go with my salmon and the grilled zucchini strips with ginger marinade (pg. 264) fit the bill! I kind of go back and forth with ginger flavor. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it comes on too strong. This marinade had a great, subtle ginger flavor and with the addition of the garlic, it smelled up the kitchen in the most delicious way. This zucchini and marinade would be so delicious sliced up and tossed in a salad!
Pancakes are really not my thing. They’re too heavy and dry and every time I eat one I’m thinking, “I wish this was french toast.” But look, I needed one more recipe to end this month with a bang and this is the only one in here with chocolate. The gluten-free chocolate chip oatcakes (pg. 74) aren’t that pretty so I see why they chose not to include a picture on this one – but at least they taste good! The batter was pretty flimsy so I ended up burning a few because I was worried about flipping. Maybe next time I just need to reduce the heat and be more patient. And there will be a next time since this made a fuck-ton of batter! The oats gave this a nice texture, which is probably why I enjoyed these more than traditional pancakes. This probably won’t be my go-to breakfast any time soon but it was a nice switch-up.
Okay, so Whole30 didn’t exactly work out for the full 30 days – but whatever! I still got to try a bunch of recipes I may not have considered before. I really appreciated that this book had a mixture of simple classics and unique dishes, especially since I just started dipping my toe into cooking meat after a little over a decade. For the most part, these meals were filling and tasty enough that I really didn’t miss the grains like I thought I would.
My one gripe about this book was the lack of recipe photos. I find the photos to be the best part of a cookbook! Not to mention that they’re extremely helpful when executing a recipe. I’m curious how they decided which recipes should have photos. Like, I know what “perfect oven bacon” and chicken fingers should look like but a photo of the tuna watermelon jicama bites would have been helpful!
You should buy this cookbook if…
You want to try Whole30 (duh).
You’re curious about eliminating gluten or dairy from your diet but don't want to be subjected to boiled chicken and broccoli.
You don’t know how to make bacon in an oven.