Sauces!

One of the key elements of menu planning the way I do is having a variety of sauces, dressings and marinades on hand. I tend to make a dish or two every evening or morning with the intention of mixing it with other ingredients or even other dishes. For example, this week, I made a whole chicken on Sunday, Meatballs on Monday morning, stir fry with chopped chicken on Tuesday, Tuna salad and a green salad on Wednesday morning, barbecue chicken and grilled zucchini on Thursday. The thing that kept all those dishes interesting was the sauces I made: barbecue for the chicken, green apple dressing for the salad, balsamic vinaigrette for the salad and for the zucchini, 'sunshine sauce' for the stir fry and homemade mayo for the tuna salad. I can use almost identical ingredients for two different dishes, but the sauces add the final flair that give each meal a distinct flavour that keeps the usual 'meat and veg' meal interesting.

I posted the barbecue sauce I made a few days ago. I used it to season the whole crockpotted chicken. I also used it to sauce the meatballs over fettuccini zucchini noodles, instead of marinara. I also used it to marinade the barbecue chicken this evening. Mixed with mayonnaise, the barbecue sauce would make a GREAT dipping sauce for sweet potato fries, but sadly, I ran out of sweet potatoes last night.

 The green apple dressing has been a favourite for a couple years: Since my first foray into elimination diets and cleaner eating. Tom and Ali of 'Nourishing Meals' local fame have a fantastic blog and two treasured cookbooks that have a special place on my bookshelf. You can find their green apple dressing on their blog: here. I have a hard time getting mine creamy enough, but I don't have a Blendtec or a Vitamix. I may cook/steam the apple next time to see if that helps. I use the green apple dressing for salads, but I have also put it on top of  'burgers' of various persuasions.

The barbecued zucchini was marinaded in homemade balsamic vinaigrette, which can also be a salad dressing, or a marinade for chicken breasts going on the barbecue.

I used the mayonnaise recipe from the Whole 30 quick start guide, but if you've ever made mayonnaise, it is the usual: an egg, some mustard, some lemon juice and extra light olive oil. There's a technique to making it - patience is the name of the game with this recipe. Once made, I used it for the tuna salad.

The sunshine sauce is also from the Whole 30 and although I like it, I feel like it's missing something, so I'm going to play with it next time. It's got a great nutty-spicy base but I think it needs something like coconut milk and/or curry with it.

I also have pesto sauce that I make throughout the year. I make it in big batches (1 c. at a time) when I can find cheap basil. I then scoop it into ziplock bags, squeeze all the air out of the bags and seal them, and then lay the bags flat and squish the pesto out evenly, so it's a nice flat 1/4 inch thick block of pesto. I then freeze the bags, so that when I need pesto, I just break off a chunk (it breaks easily and cleanly when it's frozen). I either put it directly on the hot food and mix it in, or if it's going into a cold dish, I put it in a small bowl and then put that bowl into a larger bowl of hot water (like a double boiler, but no direct heat, just hot water). The pesto melts within minutes and I can mix it into whatever I am making.

Although taking the time to make a sauce seems like a chore, especially when you have other meals to make, but as you can see, sauces are so versatile and they can keep your meals interesting. You may be tempted to just buy sauces, but if you are willing to put in just 15 - 20 minutes to make a sauce, not only will you be getting a fresh sauce made just to your specifications, but you will know what's going into them. Sauces are easy to pollute with chemical preservatives and added salt and sugar. But one taste of homemade mayo made with farm fresh eggs and fresh squeezed lemon juice, and you'll know the effort is worth it!