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Get saucy: Good sauces don't have to be complicated. A simple lemon vinaigrette. Yogurt with parsley or cilantro. Or a bright sauce green with chopped herbs mixed with olive oil. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune) |
Throwing another chicken breast in the skillet? Slipping a plain fish fillet under the broiler for the thousandth time? After repeated servings of pan-fried, broiled or roasted meats, fish or poultry, you may be looking for anything to change them up. One way to give them sass: Sauce 'em.
No need to marinate, rub or brine those cuts. Just season them with salt and pepper, cook, arrange on a platter and drizzle with a sauce loaded with flavor.
The sauce doesn't have to be complicated. A simple lemon vinaigrette. Yogurt with parsley or cilantro. Or a sauce bright green with chopped herbs mixed with olive oil.
Chef Hugh Acheson uses a green sauce for his rib-eye with morel mushrooms recipe in "A New Turn in the South" (Clarkson Potter, $35), his 2011 cookbook that won a James Beard Book Award this year.
"I love fresh herbs," he writes. He uses basil, parsley and mint in the green sauce, which stores well in the refrigerator for about three days. "You could freeze it in ice trays as well, just like you did back in the 1980s with all that basil pesto."
A yogurt sauce is even simpler to make. Common in Greek and Indian cuisines, yogurt sauces are flavored with herbs and garlic and often served with lamb or chicken. Well-known cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey makes a simple yogurt sauce with mint leaves.
"It's cool and refreshing," she writes in "At Home with Madhur Jaffrey" (Knopf, $35). Cilantro is another good choice for a yogurt sauce for any type of meat or poultry. A tip: For a thicker, richer sauce, use plain Greek yogurt.
Easy vinaigrettes also turn meat into a special entree. You can vary these sauces by changing the type of herbs and seasonings. One of our favorites is a French mustard vinaigrette that gets a double dose of lemon in the form of juice and zest. It's perfect for those chicken breasts you find yourself cooking over and over again.
Green sauce
Prep: 20 minutes Makes: 2 cups
Note: Serve this tangy sauce (aka salsa verde) with grilled steaks, chicken or fish. Adapted from Hugh Acheson's "A New Turn in the South."
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 tablespoon each: chopped fresh basil, mint
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, chopped
1 tablespoon rinsed, minced anchovy fillets, optional
Pinch red pepper flakes
No need to marinate, rub or brine those cuts. Just season them with salt and pepper, cook, arrange on a platter and drizzle with a sauce loaded with flavor.
The sauce doesn't have to be complicated. A simple lemon vinaigrette. Yogurt with parsley or cilantro. Or a sauce bright green with chopped herbs mixed with olive oil.
Chef Hugh Acheson uses a green sauce for his rib-eye with morel mushrooms recipe in "A New Turn in the South" (Clarkson Potter, $35), his 2011 cookbook that won a James Beard Book Award this year.
"I love fresh herbs," he writes. He uses basil, parsley and mint in the green sauce, which stores well in the refrigerator for about three days. "You could freeze it in ice trays as well, just like you did back in the 1980s with all that basil pesto."
A yogurt sauce is even simpler to make. Common in Greek and Indian cuisines, yogurt sauces are flavored with herbs and garlic and often served with lamb or chicken. Well-known cookbook author and actress Madhur Jaffrey makes a simple yogurt sauce with mint leaves.
"It's cool and refreshing," she writes in "At Home with Madhur Jaffrey" (Knopf, $35). Cilantro is another good choice for a yogurt sauce for any type of meat or poultry. A tip: For a thicker, richer sauce, use plain Greek yogurt.
Easy vinaigrettes also turn meat into a special entree. You can vary these sauces by changing the type of herbs and seasonings. One of our favorites is a French mustard vinaigrette that gets a double dose of lemon in the form of juice and zest. It's perfect for those chicken breasts you find yourself cooking over and over again.
Green sauce
Prep: 20 minutes Makes: 2 cups
Note: Serve this tangy sauce (aka salsa verde) with grilled steaks, chicken or fish. Adapted from Hugh Acheson's "A New Turn in the South."
Ingredients:
1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves
1 tablespoon each: chopped fresh basil, mint
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed, chopped
1 tablespoon rinsed, minced anchovy fillets, optional
Pinch red pepper flakes
