panko-crusted fish sticks with herb dipping sauce and sauteed beets and greens

I managed to make two Everyday Food recipes for dinner last night. Panko-Crusted Fish Sticks with Herb Dipping Sauce and Sauteed Beets & Greens. In order to make dinner work out I had to make them both simultaneously, which was a little bit of a challenge, but they came together very well and in perfect timing.

So a little bit about these two recipes. These fish sticks are absolutely delicious! I'll never buy the frozen kind (I don't think I ever have), but these are so great there isn't any need to buy processed and boxed. I was super excited to have the seasoning addition of Old Bay! I don't come across too many recipes that ask for it and to get some use out of my stash I've been adding it to popcorn. The herbed mayonnaise sauce on the side is fantastic as well. It calls for horseradish and I've become a huge fan of the flavour added to fish and red meat. I mean, tartar sauce and wasabi both include a horseradish flavour so it makes perfect sense. I can imagine Owen will also enjoy these (maybe not the horseradish sauce) but at least the fish sticks in a few years.

The sauteed beets & greens were actually a little time consuming only because you need to clean, trim, discard parts and eventually roast for 45 minutes (and that's just the prep work!). But to make things go smoother I did the prep first thing in the morning so I could enjoy a day of shopping to return to minimal tasks. An obvious tip, but I'll state it anyway, wear rubber gloves when handling beets. Also be careful not to be too messy because they stain clothes and are a pain to clean off counters. The recipe is seasoned with rosemary, which can be a very strong herb - almost overpowering, but it was a perfect choice with beets because the two flavours go so well together.

I don't know, I'm consistently impressed with the results in Everyday Food. I have to commend this book for creating recipes that work out so well. I've been feeling like a real success while cooking through it because I haven't encountered many problems. Every night Nuno and I are very happy with the dinner results and feel as though our diet has never been full of such variety and balance.