Fast things with tofu

I've gone through a cooking slump the last few weeks: It's been disgustingly hot, and I'm very busy getting ready for the new school year to start and for exams.  I have finally started cooking again, but first, here are a few really fast things I've thrown together in lieu of trying new legitimate recipes.

From the game of "which leftovers go together?"  Fried tofu with Panang Curry Paste, cilantro, and avocado, with brown rice.

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Superfast, kindofpadthai: sauteed tofu; then added garlic, ginger, and carrots; then added cabbage and tamari; then added cooked rice noodles and a mixture of peanut butter, garlic-chili paste, and water.  Topped with cilantro.

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In other news, my mom has mailed me all the books I had left at her house and never took with me to LA.  It's quite the selection of reading material!

Umami and Potatoes

This dinner was inspired by the tupperware full of mushroom gravy I found in my freezer, and the fact that a short-lived interest in making martinis at home (seriously, how can it be so tricky?) had landed me with a bottle of vermouth.  The result?  A savory, meat-and-potatoes kind of feast that even this girl's husband (what?!) would probably like.

I cook this kind of food so rarely, it's always a bit like diving into some unfamiliar ethnic cuisine.  "Umm...Thyme?  Sage?  I think that's right... what the fuck is marjoram?"  I've realized I'm some sort of acidity monster, and this meal felt almost cloyingly savory-meaty, redeemed by some lemon juice in the greens and the mushrooms as well as the vermouth.  I wonder what it is that determines these preferences.  Is it genetic?  Something that's happened biologically as a result of earlier dietary/lifestyle choices?  Or is it more aesthetic?  But then, how many factors contribute to one's aesthetic values?  Perhaps my investment in balance, brightness, dryness, and bitterness even have something to do with my personality, or my image of my self?  All I know is, give me the hoppiest IPA you've got, or a gin-and-soda with lime; I'd rather be sober than drink a hefeweizen or a chardonnay.

Overall, though, this was a delicious, easy feast, especially since the gravy was already made.  It tastes like Thanksgiving.

Breaded Tempeh with Sauteed Mushrooms, Roasted New Potatoes with Mushroom Gravy, and Sauteed Collards

 

The tempeh-mushroom combo was somewhat inspired by the tofu piccata I made last spring.  Going off this recipe for breaded tempeh, I steamed the tempeh 10 minutes, then dipped it in soymilk and panko breadcrumbs (successively) and broiled it a few minutes on each side.  For the mushrooms, I sauteed 1/2 chopped onion in olive oil, then added 3 cloves minced garlic, then 8 oz sliced mushrooms, then a pinch each sage, thyme, and black pepper; I deglazed the pot with a lot of vermouth, then let it simmer; added a little stock, and simmered until mushrooms were tender and most of the liquid was gone; then finished with a squeeze of lemon juice.

The collards were sauteed in olive oil with onion and garlic; then I added stock (instead of tamari--for that crazy "European" flavor) and finally lemon juice.

Finally, the potatoes, which were topped with mushroom gravy, were washed and cut into wedges, then boiled 5-10 min in salted water (until slightly pokeable with a fork); tossed with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and black pepper; and broiled several minutes on each side until golden brown and crispy.  I pre-boiled the potatoes so as to have the oven on for as short a time as possible in the heat!

Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

I used to think cold soups were gross, but looking over the posts of the past month, I must have come around in a big way.  I made this tongue-twister of a soup to go with that Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad.  Richly creamy (coconut milk AND cashews!), yet not overly heavy, and brightened up slightly by ginger, this dish was a great complement to the much more acidic noodle salad.

Pureed soups are creamy anyway, like this carrot ginger soup I made last year.  Adding both coconut milk and cashews seemed extravagant, but it's really not too much of either, especially considering how large of a batch this recipe makes.  Simple and delicious, I will definitely be making this soup again (misplaced modifiers be damned).

As we were sitting down to eat this soup, I realized how pretty it would look garnished with additional coconut milk!  But alas, none remained.

Creamy Carrot Soup with Coconut, Cardamom, and Cashews

(from vegalicious)

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil

1 onion, diced

10 carrots, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

1 TB fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp cayenne

4 c of vegetable stock

1 c coconut milk

1 c cashews

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. In a medium to large sauce pan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat and add the onion and carrots.  Cook about 10 minutes.
2. Add garlic, ginger, cardamom, and cayenne.  Cook a few minutes more.
3. Add stock and cashews, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, or until the carrots are very soft.
4. Turn off heat and allow soup to cool, then puree, adding coconut milk, until very smooth.
5. Season to taste with salt and more cayenne, keeping in mind that the stock already had salt in it.  Serve hot or chilled, garnished with additional coconut milk, minced scallions, a few cashews, etc.  Serves 4-6.

Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

It looks as though the heatwave here has finally passed.  Last weekend it was over 100 in my part of town, when it's barely topped 85 all summer.   The desire to cook and to eat both take a hit when it's so hot, but this salad from taste space looked so interesting, refreshing, delicious, and just pretty, I knew I had to try it.  But my neighborhood supermarket, although it has phenomenal produce, bulk goods, and strange imported pickled things, is not the best place to buy tofu.  Nor have they had asparagus for months.  By substituting chickpeas for tofu (inspired by yet another asparagus-fruit recipe), green beans for asparagus, and regular noodles for spiralized zucchini, we were able to make this awesome salad without making a more involved grocery run.

I chose to make this noodle salad and a chilled carrot soup because they were cold and refreshing.  I didn't think about how much heat I'd have to use to create said refreshingness!  Although in the original version Janet grilled the veggies outside, I don't have that option, and roasting in the oven really heated up my apartment.

The finished product, though, was delicious: chewy, salty eggplant and green beans; buttery tangy mango; crisp onions; aromatic basil and cilantro; and zingy vinegar and chili.  The overall product was ever so slightly too vinegary for my tastes, but I also didn't use quite enough noodles.  Anyway, I will definitely make a salad like this again--it would be easy to improvise some fun variations.

Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

(adapted from taste space)

Instructions

1/6-1/4 c rice vinegar

1 TB agave or honey (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1/4 tsp salt (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

zest and juice from 1 lime

1 1/2 c chickpeas

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB toasted sesame oil

3/4 lb Asian eggplant (around 2), sliced lengthwise into 1.5-cm strips

3/4 lb green beans, trimmed

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced or diced, soaked in water for at least 10 minutes, then drained

1 large or 2 small mangoes, cubed

large bunch basil, chopped

small bunch cilantro, chopped

8 oz soba noodles, cooked

Instructions

1. Combine the rice vinegar, agave, salt, garlic, chili flakes, toasted sesame oil, lime zest and juice. Stir and set aside.
2. Marinate your chickpeas with the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil for 5 minutes or so.
3. If you had big eggplants, definitely salt your eggplant for 30 minutes or so. The smaller Asian ones don’t need it. If salting, after salting, rinse off the salt and drain off excess water. Drizzle with a bit of oil and spread out on an oiled baking sheet.  Toss the green beans with a bit of oil, salt and pepper and spread them out on a second baking sheet.
4. Roast both the eggplant and the green beans in the oven at 375.  For me the eggplant took longer: about 30 minutes, flipping midway, and broiling at the very end.  Remove the eggplant when soft and slightly golden; remove the beans when bright green and starting to blister.  Chop the eggplant into chunks when slightly cooled.
5. To assemble the salad, toss together the noodles, chickpeas, grilled eggplant and green beans, onion, mango, basil, cilantro and the dressing.  Serves 4-6.

Beet Coconut Soup

Beets are like the perfect vegetable from outer space, and mixing them with coconut milk only further brightened up their crazy color.

Devon and I made this soup going off a recipe from the ppk, but we used regular ol' beets (not golden ones), omitted the sweetener, added a TON of lime juice, and made a half batch.  Warm or chilled, it's pretty nice.  

Beet-Coconut-Ginger Soup

(from the ppk)

Ingredients

2 lbs beets (about 6-8 beets?), trimmed and scrubbed

1 15 oz can lite coconut milk

3 TB fresh lime juice (more to taste)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 TB fresh minced ginger

1 1/2 to 2 c vegetable broth

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thinly sliced scallions and/or chopped cilantro--you could probably pull off mint, too

Instructions

1. The hardest part of this recipe is roasting the beets, and that’s not even hard, it just takes a while. Look for beets that are somewhere between the size of a golfball and a tennis ball, so that they roast quickly and evenly.
2. Preheat oven to 350 F. Wrap the scrubbed beets individually in tin foil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about an hour, turning once about halfway through. Beets are ready when very easily pierced with a steak knife.
3. Let them cool (still in the tinfoil) for about an hour.  They’ll keep softening as they cool, and that is good! Place in the fridge to cool completely.
4. Once cool, unwrap the beets, slide off the peel, and place in a blender or food processor. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and salt and puree until relatively smooth.
5. Preheat a small pan over medium-low heat, and saute the ginger and garlic for no more than a minute, being careful not to burn. Add 1 1/2 cups vegetable broth to deglaze the pan, and turn off the heat.
6. Transfer the garlic/ginger/veg broth mixture to the food processor, and puree until very smooth and velvetty. Taste for salt and seasonings, and add a tiny bit of agave or maple syrup if you’d like it a tad sweeter.
7. Place in the fridge (while still in the blender) and chill for at least an hour. It should be cold all the way through. If it’s too thick, add up to another 1/2 cup vegetable broth and blend again.
8. Serve topped with scallions and/or cilantro.  Serves 8.

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I also recently tried to make this peach jam I saw on akshayapaatram.  Crystallized ginger?!  Lemon zest?!  Why, yes!  But the nectarines I tried to use just weren't up to the task; no amount of sugar or spices was going to fix them.

Zucchini Baba Ganoush

Inspired by Hannah's recipe at Bittersweet, this version of baba ganoush uses summer squash instead of eggplant, and it's amazing how much like the original it tastes!  For me, it's the smoked flavor that really gives baba ganoush its character, but since the skin on squash is so different than on an eggplant, I wasn't sure you could set it on fire and then just peel the skin off.  Using 1/8 tsp of liquid smoke, however, worked perfectly (but use too much, and things just taste weird).  For ultimate smokiness, I also toasted the cumin I used whole before grinding it and adding it to the mix.  I also used more cumin and more lemon juice than Hannah--basically, I did whatever I'd do to make the eggplant version (and I've just realized that I have never actually posted a basic recipe with amounts on this blog; this one with mint leaves everything to taste).  Finally, I skipped the salt and pepper (besides a little salt in the roasting process), relying instead on harissa for all kinds of flavor (like in this hummus).

I also made a few little changes in method:  Instead of zucchini I used those cute little Mexican squashes, which are about half the price of zucchini in my neighborhood.  I peeled the garlic before roasting it, and have since realized that peeling the squash as well would have resulted in a more even and more eggplant-like appearance.  I didn't bother to line the pan with foil, and I had to turn on the broiler at the end to get the veggies that beautiful golden color.

In the end, this was a super-creamy, interesting, and delicious spread.  Since I have some reservations about eggplants--and since these little squashes are SO cheap right now--I'll definitely be making this again.

Zucchini Baba Ganoush

(adapted from bittersweet)
 

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds zucchini or other summer squash (2 large, 3 medium, 4 small?), peeled if you want

6-8 cloves garlic, peeled

1 TB olive oil

pinch salt

3 TB tahini

juice of 1 large lemon

1/4-1/2 tsp whole cumin, toasted and ground

1/8 tsp liquid smoke

large dollop harissa (or black pepper, or cayenne), to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400* and oil a large baking sheet.  Slice the zucchini into 1/4-in thick slices and toss them in oil with a pinch of salt.  Spread them out on the baking sheet, and place the whole cloves of garlic grouped in the center of the sheet so that they don’t burn. Roast for 30 minutes (flipping once), then broil a few minutes, until the zucchini are nicely browned. Let cool.
2. Once the vegetables have come to room temperature, puree the roasted zucchini and the garlic in a blender or food processor. Add in the tahini, lemon juice, cumin, and liquid smoke.  Adjust seasonings to taste, then serve, garnished with a big dollop of harissa.  It will be better if it sits in the fridge for at least a few hours first.

Summer Sweet Corn Soup w/Basil Oil

There's something comforting about the fact that even in Southern California in 2011, when you can really get anything at any time of the year, the end of summer inevitably brings with it a slew of seasonal tastes and recipes.  It's all the more comforting given that they're the same here as they are in the Midwest where I grew up.  August comes, and suddenly tomatoes, basil, squash, sweet corn, and beets are everywhere.  These simple foods taste of weeks and weeks of sunlight and humidity; they come at the most fertile moment of the year... and yet for that very same reason, they're always tinged with a bittersweet belatedness.  This was especially true last August; behind all those tomato squash basil dishes is the fact that two of the most important people in my LA life were moving to the Bay Area and my little brother was moving to Egypt.

August is not the cruellest month, but it is a strange month.

This soup, which takes advantage of fresh sweet corn and basil, can be served hot or cold, depending on what form August is taking where you are.  It paired nicely with the 11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates and some salad greens (at left).  I reduced the amount of carrot and increased that of corn; I also fully pureed the soup to make it prettier.  I did, for the first time in my life, feel that there was too much thyme--start low, and remember you can always add more to taste later.  I was going to call this post "Too much thyme on my hands," but I couldn't figure out how to make it work with the fall/belatedness stuff.

The basil oil recipe that follows is great!  I used it not only on this soup, but also as a salad dressing and on this week's ravioli.  I think it would also be pretty incredible on some really fresh tomatoes.

Summer Sweet Corn Soup w/Basil Oil Drizzle

(from an opera singer in the kitchen)

Ingredients

4 sweet corn ears, husked

2 TB olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, peeled and finely diced

1 c yellow onions, finely diced

3 c vegetable stock

2 bay leaves

fresh thyme leaves (if substituting dried thyme, don't overdo it!--maybe 1/2 tsp?)

salt and pepper

1 recipe fresh basil oil (below)

Instructions

1. Cut the corn from the cobs and discard the cobs. Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the corn, garlic, celery, carrots, and onions and cook until slightly caramelized, 4-5 minutes.
2. Add the broth, bay leaves, and thyme. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until vegetables are tender.
3. Remove the bay leaves and discard. Using an immersion blender, puree 2/3 of the soup. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Serve hot or cold with a drizzle of basil oil.  Serves about 6.

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Basil Oil Drizzle

(from an opera singer in the kitchen)

Ingredients

1/3 c olive oil

3 TB fresh basil, chopped

Instructions

In a small saucepan add the ingredients and cook over low heat for 5 minutes.  Strain basil and drizzle 1-2 teaspoons of oil over each bowl of soup.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

You know how when you get a new computer, even if it's nicer, it just feels awkward and wrong?  The operating system, the keyboard, everything.

["You use a PC?  But you're a vegan!" -- one of my professors...]

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling about my new laptop and the photo editing software on it, and also about the digital camera I got earlier this year.  Growing pains.  #firstworldproblems.

And I think about how someone who didn't use her computer as often as I did probably wouldn't have such of an adjustment to make.  Similarly, the more comfortable you are in your own kitchen, the more that cooking in someone else's kitchen feels so hard--even if they DO have cool new ingredients and gadgets and counter space. 

Anyway, this dish and the tofu caprese salad came out of me bringing whatever in my fridge was going to go bad to a housesitting gig, plus what they had sitting around.  I also made some collards with harissa (YUM--sort of like this kale recipe) for the same reasons.

Despite my awareness of this tendency, I continue to overlook cauliflower.  But when I saw this recipe on taste space, I got excited about finally using up my dukkah, as well as the cauliflower that was left over from making rasa kayi.

 

Janet's dukkah recipe includes coconut, and I really wanted to include that, but I didn't have any on hand.  I also added the dukkah at the beginning rather than the end, with no adverse results.  Finally, at the end the dish really needed a squirt of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from being a lil mealy.  When all was said and done, it was really lovely--starchy/hearty but interesting in terms of taste and texture.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

(from taste space)

Ingredients

2 lb cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces (1 large head)

2 c cooked chickpeas (or a 19-oz can of chickpeas, rinsed well and drained)

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

4 TB dukkah, or the following:
(since the dukkah recipe I use doesn't include coconut, I would add that!)

* 1.5 TB blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped

* 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB cumin seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB sesame seeds, toasted and ground

* 1 TB unsweetened dried shredded coconut, toasted and ground

pinch salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper
lemon juice
additional olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. If making your dukkah, now, separately toast the almonds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and coconut. Grind each individually, then combine all together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Combine cauliflower florets (include all the little bits!) and chickpeas. Toss with olive oil and salt, to taste. Lay in a single layer on two baking trays lined with a silpat.
4. Roast for 20-40 minutes until top edges are golden brown. Check at 20 minutes, if it isn’t done, toss to have them evenly roast. Once out of the oven, top with dukkah. Serve immediately.  Serves 4.

Caprese Salad

Hearkening back to the time of the experimental fruit salads of last summer... I was like, I have tomatoes.  I have basil.  Let's make this work.

Fried tofu stands in here for the traditional caprese's mozzarella.  It's then jazzed up with lemon juice, scallions, red sea salt (a special house-sitting find!), and one last drizzle of olive oil.

Tofu Caprese Salad

Ingredients

oil

tofu, pressed and cut into little pieces

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tomatoes (cherry or otherwise), cut into bite-sized pieces

salt (I used this red sea salt)

lemon juice

olive oil

basil, chiffonade cut

scallions, minced

Instructions

1. Fry tofu pieces until golden brown. Set aside.
2. Combine tofu with remaining ingredients.  Adjust to taste, and place in fridge, allowing flavors to mix before serving.

Rasa Kayi

Besides the eggplant-based Rasa Vangi, the other amazing dish I had at Rasa last month in London was Rasa Kayi, which apparently comes from Karnataka, to the north of Kerala (I think most of the dishes at the restaurant were from Kerala).  I looked around online for a recipe that included cinnamon and cardamom, because they were what really gave the dish its particular flavor, especially paired with the coconut milk.  Yum--I love the possibility of using coconut milk rather than yogurt in a curry.

Unlike the eggplant recipe, this recipe was very specific about amounts and cooking times, and it worked out great: the veggies were all cooked to perfection, tender but not mushy.  And the flavors are an extravaganza: the warmth of coconut milk, cinnamon, cardamom, and fennel are balanced out by the brighter flavors of tomato and ginger.  Definitely a keeper.

Rasa Kayi (Karnataka Curry)

(from chef2chef)

Ingredients

3 tomatoes

1 whole green chile, seeded and finely chopped

1 piece fresh ginger (1-inch), chopped

1 tsp fennel seeds, toasted

3 TB vegetable oil

2 whole green chiles; trimmed, halved lengthwise

1 cinnamon stick

contents of 2 cardamom pods

2 bay leaves

pinch salt

3 medium onions; finely chopped

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chile powder (I omitted this because I was worried about it being too spicy for my guest; you can always add it to taste later)

2 tsp ground coriander

1 lg carrot; cut into 2in batons

1 sm potato; cut into 2in batons

2 oz cauliflower florets; small

2 oz fine green beans; trimmed

1/3 c  coconut milk; more or less

salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Put the tomatoes, chopped chile, ginger and fennel seeds into a food processor or blender and process until smooth.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the halved chiles, cinnamon, cardamom and bay leaves for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onions and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and caramelized. Stir in the turmeric, chile powder and coriander and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the carrot, potato and 5 tablespoons water, cover and cook over a low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the cauliflower florets, green beans and tomato mixture. Cover and cook over a low heat for a further 10 minutes until all the vegetables are tender and the sauce has thickened.
4. Stir in the coconut milk and cook over a low heat for 1-2 minutes to heat through. Serve immediately.  Serves 4.

Rasa Vangi

It always gets me when people talk about "curry" as if it were a dish, a spice, or a food group.  Insofar as it is anything--stretching from Japan to Thailand to Pakistan to India--curry is a method of cooking, which may involve frying spices in oil or ghee before turning them into a sauce.  To talk about "curry" as if it meant "Indian food" is like talking about French food by using the word "bake."  "Oh, we went out to this darling little ethnic restaurant last night and we had some bake."  Never mind that even French food differs depending on the part of the country you're in; never mind that "bake" could refer to many different dishes; never mind that "bake" excludes a large part of the cuisine of the country with which it's being somewhat awkwardly associated.   And, never mind that the word also suggests the cuisine of one nation, when in reality many nations make those type of dishes.  Anyway.

Did you know that in Britain all the Asians who aren't "South Asian" (i.e., Pakistani, Indian, Sri Lankan, or Bangladeshi) have to check "Chinese or other" on their census forms?  It's nice to know that Americans aren't the only ones whose census has some issues.

So on to the really awesome stuff.

This was the second-most-life-changing curry we had at Rasa.  I think it ended up better than the version we had at the restaurant, but I'm not sure why.  I found this recipe online, and I kindof loved how it didn't have ANY measurements!  Let's just think about the hegemony of the measurement.  Sometimes I make up measurements to make my recipes sound legit.  But I felt liberated and delighted by a recipe that was like, "add some of this; then add some of this."  And you know what?  It turned out really awesome.

Then again, I recorded my own measurements for you.  So the measurement rears its head again.

I find it interesting how similar, and yet how different, this recipe is to the baingan bharta that I adore.  Here there be sesame seeds, coconut, tamarind, and mustard seeds!

It was so delicious.  The eggplant was tender, with the consistency of a poached pear, and the spices were exquisite.  Sarah said that it was "restaurant quality," which I'm gonna take as a compliment.

Rasa Vangi

(adapted from this blog)

Ingredients

3 small eggplants, sliced

masala

1 stick cinnamon

1 tsp sesame seeds

2 tsp coriander seeds

1 red chile, dried

1 TB coconut

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gravy

1 large onion, chopped

2 small tomatoes, chopped

1-2 green chillis

tamarind (the recipe calls for a "lemon sized" chunk of tamarind; I used 1 tsp of the concentrated paste)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

cayenne to taste

seasoning

canola oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

Instructions

1. Cut the eggplants in to quarters and fry them golden brown in oil.
2. Extract tamarind pulp and add two glasses of water to it and keep aside.
3. In the meanwhile grind all the ingredients for the masala to a fine powder (I toasted them first, individually, to bring out the flavors).
4. Now in a wok add some oil and fry mustard seeds.  Now add finely chopped onions and green chillis and saute well. Add chopped tomatoes to it and cook it well. Add coriander powder, chilli powder and salt and stir. Now add the tamarind water and the ground masala powder.
5. Now bring the mix to a boil and add the fried eggplants to it.
6. Let it cook till the gravy thickens.Add chopped cilantro leaves before closing the lid.   Serves about 4.

Last night in LA

Well, this pretty much brings me up to when I left LA.  I flew United, and got some really bizarre but totally passable special vegan meals: dinner was a mild and tasty curry with chickpeas and sweet potatoes... topped by a slice of peach (!?) and served with Israeli couscous (?!).  It was accompanied by several slices of German rye bread (!?), Earth Balance, and a green salad with fat-free balsamic vinaigrette.  Huh?  Oh, and to top it off, some sugar-free pecan "shortbread" cookies (more like Nilla Wafers, really), that had xylitol in them.  I am a little creeped out by the xylitol, which I had to look up upon arrival.

Breakfast on board was a (quite tasty, albeit weird considering it felt like the middle of the night) pita pocket with hummus, tabouleh, and lettuce in it.  Accompanied by... more of the sugar-free cookies?!  Everyone else was served yogurt, bananas, and a pastry.  So random, but it's really nice that airlines are so willing to accommodate.

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My last dinner in LA was of the clean-out-the-fridge sort.  Sarah had brought me over a bunch of squashes from someone's garden (at Wattles, actually!), and I had some other veggies lying around as well.  Most excitingly, I finally fried up that tube of polenta that had been sitting on my counter for weeks.

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We made the squash along the same lines that my family often made it when I was growing up (minus the parmesan).  I parboiled the carrots ahead of time so that they'd cook evenly with the softer squash, and I used the old Western-style herbs, plus whatever was on hand.  Some sesame seeds added crunch and nuttiness.

Summer Squash and Carrots with Herbs

Ingredients

carrots, sliced

olive oil

garlic, minced

scallions, chopped

salt

summer squash/zucchini/etc, sliced or quartered

thyme

oregano

fresh parsley, minced

red pepper flakes

sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Parboil the carrots so that they're about the same softness as the squashes.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet.  Add garlic, scallions, and salt, and cook until fragrant.  Then add squash and carrots and cook a few minutes.  Add herbs and red pepper flakes, and cook until veggies are tender and slightly browned, adding water as necessary.
3. Adjust salt to taste and sprinkle with sesame seeds before serving hot.  A sprinkle of nutritional yeast would also be nice.

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Polenta was the real exciting discovery.  A random buy from Trader Joe's one day, this inexpensive, shelf-stable golden tube had been sitting around for weeks.  I sliced it, browned it in olive oil, and then served the crispy and succulent slices with some of the leftover enchilada sauce I'd found in my freezer.  I'd forgotten how amazing this sauce was--cumin, marjoram, and, most of all, smoky chipotles en adobo give this sauce incredible depth of flavor.  Here, that flavor was really well complemented by the textures and the mild sweetness of the polenta.  We ate it all.

 
Pan-Fried Polenta with Spicy Chipotle Enchilada Sauce

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In other news, Devon has been practicing her wave.

Squash Kootu

I'm in London this month, so I'm just finishing up some backlogged posts before taking some time off this blog.  Check out my colleague Alex's hilarious blog, alex the american, for some tales of our time here in England.

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I was cleaning out my fridge before I left town, and I had a zucchini, so I made this recipe from holy cow.  Vaishali is right: I'd never heard of a Kootu.  But it's a great vegetarian dish: featuring vegetables in a sauce made of lentils, it's sort of sneakily high in protein while focusing on the veggies.

It's also easy!  You grind up a paste of fried spices and coconut, you cook some split peas until they're totally mushy, and you lightly saute some veggies.  Then everything just goes together!  It's also super healthy: it doesn't use that much oil, and the split peas add fiber and protein.  Actually, so does the coconut.

I used zucchini instead of patty pan squash, and I omitted the curry leaves and the small amounts of dals in the masala paste.  Using the specified amounts of black peppercorns and red chilies made the dish very hot.

Zucchini Kootu

(from holy cow!)

Ingredients

3/4 c yellow split peas

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masala: 

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 dry red chilies (or less--see above notes)

1 TB black peppercorns (or less--see above notes)

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1/2 c shredded coconut

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1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB mustard seeds

2 medium squash (zucchini, summer squash, patty pan, etc), diced into very small cubes (about 1 cm)

salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the split yellow peas until mashably soft.  (I added a pinch each of salt and turmeric)
2. Fry masala ingredients in a teaspoon of oil.  Remove, let cool, then grind into a smooth paste along with coconut.
3. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves, if using.
4. Add the squash and stir-fry for about five minutes or until it starts to get tender.  (Don't cook it fully--you'll continue to simmer it in later steps)
5. Add the ground masala and the cooked split peas and stir well.
6. Add more water if the kootu is too thick and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the flavors have blended together and the squash is very tender.  Add salt to taste.  Serve hot.  Serves about 3.

Potato Tortilla

Hi everyone!   I'm in London for the next three weeks, so blogging's probably going to drop off dramatically after I finish off the backlog of posts I still have from the last week.

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Of all cuisines, Spanish food is among the most mysterious, and seemingly least-vegan-friendly, to me (and I mostly know about it from my friend Christina, who had a [vegetarian] food blog while she was there... bring it back!).  But, I saw this recipe for Spanish tortilla and was like, hey, if I can make an omelette out of chickpea flour, what can possibly stop me now?

So.... I made this, and it was pretty good.  It's a nice breakfast dish because it stretches one potato a long way and adds some protein while you're at it.  A few changes to consider: since I don't have a microwave, I peeled and sliced the potato first, then boiled it briefly until slightly soft.  I also added some black salt at the end for a slightly eggy taste.  If I make this again, I would also use less lemon and nutmeg and more garlic and onion.  I'd also add some turmeric for a little more yellow color.

Spanish Potato Tortilla

(from recipes.xgfx)

Ingredients

1 large yukon gold potato, about 12 ounces

1/4 c chickpea flour

1 TB cornstarch

1 TB nutritional yeast, optional

1/4 tsp onion powder (or more)

1/8 tsp garlic powder (or more)

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (or less)

turmeric

1/4 tsp salt (including black salt)

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c water

1 TB fresh lemon juice (or less)

1 heaping TB minced parsley

1 TB olive oil for frying

Instructions

1. Peel onion and slice into 1/4-in slices.  Boil in salted water until just pokeable with a fork (5-10 min).  Transfer the hot potato to a bowl filled with cold water to stop it from cooking.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the chickpea flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, turmeric, salt, and black pepper. Gradually add the water while whisking to avoid lumps. Stir in the lemon juice and the parsley.
3. At this point your potato should be cool enough to handle.  Add the potato to the chickpea mixture and gently stir to coat all the pieces.
4. Heat the oil in a 9 inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Test the oil temperature with a drop of the chickpea mixture, the oil will be hot and ready when the drop sizzles. Carefully pour in the chickpea/potato mixture and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Here comes the fun part! Shake the frying pan to loosen the tortilla. If it’s stuck somewhere, use a spatula to gently lift the area of the tortilla that is not coming off. When the whole tortilla is sliding with ease, slide it onto a plate. Flip the tortilla onto the frying pan, raw side down. Cook for 5 more minutes and slide the tortilla back onto the plate. Serve hot.  Serves 1-3.

Moroccan Carrot Salad, Take Two

How the hell do you spell Moroccan?  The question of whether to double your consonants or not becomes doubly tricky with the addition of "carrot" to Moroccan ... since in French it's "carotte."  What a mess.  As if British spellings weren't enough to mess up one's spelling.

When Helen sent me the link to this carrot salad in the LA Times, I was a bit like, ho hum, I've already made a Moroccan carrot salad, and it had harissa in it.  But this new one was WAY better!  Sauteeing the garlic, onions, and spices evened out the flavors.  Also, lightly cooked, larger chunks of carrot had a more pleasant texture than raw grated carrot.  Overall, this was a delicious, balanced dish: lemon, vinegar, chili, and cayenne all add zing, while sugar and cloves, ginger, cinnamon, etc. add warmth.  And of course, cilantro's off doing its own thing.  :)

I made a half recipe and it easily served three.

Spicy Moroccan Carrot Salad

(from the LA times)

Ingredients

2 pounds carrots

1/3 c olive oil, plus extra to finish

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tsp sugar

3 garlic cloves, crushed

1 serrano chile, finely chopped (and seeded, if you want less heat)

1 green onion, finely chopped

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground coriander

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp ground cumin

1 TB white red wine vinegar

1 TB chopped preserved lemon lemon juice

salt, to taste

2 1/2 c cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, plus extra to garnish

1/2 cup Greek yogurt, chilled

Instructions

1. Peel the carrots and cut them, depending on their size, into cylinders or semicircles one-half-inch thick; all the pieces should end up roughly the same size. Place in a large saucepan and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer until tender but still crunchy, about 10 minutes. Drain in a colander and leave to dry out.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion over medium heat until soft and slightly brown, about 12 minutes. Add the cooked carrots to the onion, followed by the sugar, garlic, chile, onion, cloves, ground ginger, coriander, cinnamon, paprika, cumin, and vinegar.
3. Remove from the heat. Season with salt and lemon juice, stir well and leave to cool.
4. Before serving, stir in the cilantro, taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve in individual bowls with a dollop of yogurt, a drizzle of oil and a garnish of the extra cilantro.  Serves about 6.

Green Pea Soup

This soup is so easy and simple, but it's also very delicious and refreshing.  I could almost see myself eating it cold (and I really am not into cold savory soups).  Ginger, lemon juice, and mint all "cool down" this ever-so-slightly-spicy soup.  If you wanted a more intense version, I think this soup would also be a great vehicle for harissa, in the style of that split pea harissa soup.

Green extravaganza!  Salad with avocado, pea soup with mint

Green Pea Soup Recipe

(from 101 cookbooks)

 

Ingredients

3 TB fresh ginger, well chopped

10 sm-med cloves garlic, smashed and peeled

2 serrano chiles, stemmed and chopped

1/4 tsp ground cumin, plus more to serve

3 TB veg oil

2 bay leaves

1 medium onion, chopped

4 1/2 cups good-tasting vegetable stock or water

3 1/2 cups shelled fresh or frozen peas

1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

a squeeze of fresh lemon juice

8 fresh mint leaves

pan-fried paneed, queso fresco, or haloumi, cut into tiny cubes - optional

harissa (optional)

Instructions

1. Use a food processor to puree the ginger, garlic, chiles, cumin and three tablespoons of water into a paste. You could also use a mortar and pestle. Set aside.
2. Place a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the oil. When hot, add the bay leaves and saute for 30 seconds. Stir in the onion and cook for a few minutes, until it begins to take on a bit of color. At this point, stir in the garlic-ginger paste, and cook for another minute. Carefully add the stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Then add the peas. Simmer just until the peas are bright, and cooked through - just a couple minutes.
3. Remove from heat, fish out the bay leaves, add the salt, and puree well with a hand blender. Taste, and add more salt if needed. Also, if you need to thin out the soup at all, you can add more stock at this point. Serve hot (or chilled?) topped with a bit of lemon juice, a pinch of cumin, mint leaves, and perhaps harissa? pan-fried paneer or cheese.  Serves 4-6.

Italian-Inspired Rotelle with Sausage, Spinach, and Sundried Tomatoes

One evening I got home and needed to eat quickly before going to a concert.  I threw this pasta dish together.  It was balanced, filling, and fast, and the flavors went together excellently.

It was also, however, a huge gluten bomb in the stomach.  I've already written about how these Field Roast sausages are delicious, minimally processed, and yet strangely difficult to digest.  Since I bought them, I intend on using them!  Perhaps in smaller amounts.

Italian-Inspired Rotelle with Sausage, Spinach, and Sundried Tomatoes

Ingredients

2 servings of pasta, cooked as directed (I used whole wheat rotelle)

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oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 sausage (I used Field Roast Italian), sliced

lots of spinach

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juice and zest of 1 lemon

3 sundried tomatoes (from a jar), chopped

oil from tomatoes

red pepper flakes

salt, if needed

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. In a frying pan, heat oil, then saute garlic a few minutes.  Add sausage and cook until browned, then add spinach and cook briefly.

3. Toss pasta with saute mixture and remaining ingredients.  Add lemon and salt to taste.  Serves 2.

Spicy Noodles with Basil

Intrigued by a recipe that uses ketchup (as well as other premade sauces I didn't have), I made this noodle dish.  Basil, citrus, cucumber, and ginger freshened up the heavier flavors of sugar, peanut butter, and ketchup.  I found myself wishing for a greater variety and overall amount of veggies, but otherwise this was interesting and satisfying, and I think it could withstand a ton of tweaking based on your tastes and what you have lying around.  I also think rice stick noodles might be better, given that the flavors--insofar as they were anything--seemed more Thai than Japanese.

Spicy Noodles with Basil

(adapted from get sconed)

Ingredients

1 package tempeh, cut into pieces

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2-3 servings noodles (I used soba, but rice noodles might be better)

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2 TB tamari

1 TB wocerstershire

3 TB water

2 TB peanut butter

1 tsp ketchup

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp garlic chili paste

sesame oil

turmeric

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5 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 in piece ginger, minced

1-2 chilies, minced

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carrots, sliced

other vegetables

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juice of one lime

1 small cuke, peeled, diced, and divided

scallions, chopped and divided

basil, chopped and divided

Instructions

1. Steam tempeh, and then save water. Combine marinade/sauce ingredients (tamari through turmeric).
2. Marinate tempeh and cook noodles as directed.
3. In a frying pan or a wok, fry garlic, ginger, and chilies.
4. Pick the tempeh out of the marinade (reserving marinade), add said tempeh into the frying pan along with carrots and other veggies.
5. When tempeh is browned and veggies are slightly cooked, stir in noodles, leftover sauce/marinade, lime juice, and some each of cucumber, scallions, and basil.  Serve warm and top with additional cucumber, scallions, and basil.  Serves about 3.