The Match-Day Recipe Contest Winner!!!

The food has been cooked and the votes have been counted. We have a winner for the Match-Day Recipe Contest!

Let’s look at the recipes one more time. First we had Martha’s recipe for Rainbow Quinoa Salad. I made it, and it was everything it was cracked up to be. Colorful, healthful, flavorful. I can see why this dish is a crowd-pleaser. But as Martha herself pointed out, it wasn’t exactly easy to make. I’m not throwing this together the morning of a match.

Plus, the ingredients include pomegranate molasses, which I’ve decided is automatically disqualifying. It’s true the contest rules didn’t explicitly state “No hoity-toity ingredients,” but if you read the fine print in the original posting, you’ll see the following legal disclaimer: “Contest rules are subject to change on whim and without notice.”

(It’s very fine print. You have to zoom in a lot.)

So Martha’s recipe is a no-go for me, but definitely a keeper for those of you looking to use up that bottle of pomegranate molasses.

Next up was Cecile’s quiche recipe. Not a lot of ingredients (a plus) and not a lot of steps (another plus). But the recipe uses the metric system. You know…grams and centiliters. When I pointed out to Cecile that Americans have a tenuous grasp of the metric system, she shrugged.

“Your food scale probably can measure in grams,” she said.

Ah, yes. My food scale. Which I keep in the cabinet next to my alphabetized collection of fruit-based molasses. (Molasseses? Molassi?)

People, I dispense cheese from a can. What are the odds I own a food scale?

I almost disqualified this recipe, but I’ve beaten up on the French a couple of times already in this blog. I decided to take pity on Cecile and her fancy-pants continental measuring system.

I googled the conversion from centiliters to cups, and grams to ounces. According to the internet, 20 centiliters equals about .85 cups. I rounded down to 3/4 cup for both the milk and the heavy cream. And 200 grams works out to about 7 ounces of cheese. And 2 eggs converts to 2 eggs—well, I didn’t need the internet for that part.

Somewhere along the line I screwed up. Although my quiche smelled wonderful, it refused to cook. Way too liquidy, even after I doubled the cooking time. Which just goes to show that A) I can’t cook, and B) I’m not ready for the metric system. No doubt a normal person would have had no trouble.

(Transcript of the post-quiche conversation:
Me: How come I screw up all my recipes?
Husband: You don’t screw up ALL of them. Sometimes they’re okay.)

Our third entry was Jill’s homemade hummus. Definitely quick and easy and healthy. And tasty—much better than my usual store-bought tub. But does hummus and veggies qualify as a “main course”? Well, if I’m making a meal for myself it does, just like my bowl of Raisin Bran counts as dinner. But if I’m providing a main course for a team lunch…hmm, no. So I needed to disqualify this otherwise excellent recipe.

Jean submitted recipe #4, caprese sandwiches. Now this is the kind of recipe for me, especially the part where you buy the pesto instead of making it. The whole thing took me about 5 minutes to assemble—the mozzarella I bought even turned out to be pre-sliced!

My husband and daughter wolfed down these sandwiches. I left one out for two hours to see if the baguette would turn soggy from the pesto, but it didn’t. This recipe’s a contender.

Finally, we have Kara’s Ramen Noodle Salad. You know I’m going to like any recipe that involves smashing ramen noodles with a big spoon. Vegetables that come from a pre-mix bag? Yup, this recipe’s definitely checking my boxes. The dressing came together quickly, as well.

I didn’t like the uncooked ramen noodles until after they had a chance to soften in the dressing for a couple of hours, but that timing works out perfectly for match day. Crunchy and tangy, this salad is another contender.

So after making all five recipes and getting the husband’s input, we arrive at our winner…

Jean’s caprese sandwiches!

Here’s Jean’s so-simple-even-Deb-can’t-screw-it-up recipe:

• Slice a baguette lengthwise.
• Slather both sides with pesto you bought at the store. (Yes!)
• Between the baguette halves, layer slices of decent quality mozzarella and tomato.
• Cut into several individual sandwiches and voila! Caprese sandwiches! (Slice them on the diagonal and they look a little bit fancier.)

Congratulations to Jean, who wins a brand-new can of tennis balls! Jean, shoot me an email with your address, and your prize will be on its way. (Be advised that you may be required to report the fair market value of this prize on your tax returns. Seek advice from a qualified accountant.)

Thanks to everyone for participating in the contest! My husband appreciated eating some good food for a change.

See all the excellent recipes in the comments section of the original contest post.