Spiced Mixed Pulses Soup

Nov10

I don’t really experiment with dried beans or lentils much, but I saw a little bag of mixed pulses in the store and it was just so colorful and pretty that I bought it. Thus, I had this bag of dried pulses and had to do something. So, I made some soup! Perfect for the lovely 97 degree November days we’ve been having!

Spiced Mixed Pulses Soup

Adapted from Lisa’s Kitchen

1 small bag of mixed pulses (see original recipe for exact amounts; the types and amounts don’t matter toooo much). I had channa (chickpeas), some different beans, and some different daals (lentils).

Mix together in a bowl:

1 small red onion, chopped very finely

1 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste

3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Cayenne if you want some kick (I didn’t… I’m boring)

Remaining ingredients:

2 tablespoons ghee, butter or oil

1 small tomato, seeded and finely chopped

handful of dried curry leaves

1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (hing)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup coconut milk

Fresh cilantro.

Soak the pulses overnight (this is why I don’t deal with dried legume stuff). Drain, and bring to a boil in enough water to cover the pulses with about 2 inches of water to spare. Simmer for about 1 hour.

Mix together what I told you to mix together above.

Heat your fat of choice in a pan and add the mixture in the bowl to it; saute for 5 minutes. Add the tomato, curry leaves, hing, and salt to taste. Cook and stir often for 8-10 minutes. Add this to the beans. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 20 minutes.

Garnish with the cilantro and serve hot. Additional garnish: some extra coconut milk!

Enjoy. Love me some fiber, protein… coconut… yum. This was pretty tasty and went very well with sweet potato parathas. Other accompaniments would be some dahi (yogurt), or rice, or both, and a sweet lime pickle.

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So many dishes, though… I can make such a mess in the kitchen. It’s kind of unavoidable especially with Indian food… or so I’ve found thus far.

So that’s my kitchen, here in our little ground floor flat. Hope you like the soup. I recommend it.

Sweet Potato Masala Parathas

Nov10

Mmm, parathas. Delicious breads fried in ghee and stuffed with stuff, be it aloo (potato), gobi (cauliflower), paneer (cheese), palak (spinach)… Or in my case, leftover sweet potato masala (sweet aloo masala?).

First, the masala I used. This is a rather unorthodox method of making parathas but don’t you worry, it’ll be yummy.

Sweet Potato Masala

Adapted from VahChef

Sweet potatoes: I used 4 and they were all varying in size and length. About 500 grams, peeled and cubed.

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 tablespoon garlic/ginger paste

1/2 tablespoon large black mustard seeds

2 tablespoons urad daal

1 small red onion, chopped

1 tablespoon turmeric

1 handful curry leaves

Salt to taste

Boil the sweet potatoes until fork tender. I accidentally overcooked them, making them mushy, which didn’t bode well for this masala on its own. But as parathas… it’s perfect.

Heat oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. When they sizzle, add the cumin. When that fries, add the urad daal and turmeric. Add the rest of the ingredients and saute until the onion is browned and tender.

Add the sweet potatoes and let it fry for 3 minutes ish, or until the sweet potatoes caramelize a bit.

Serve!

Parathas

I used the techniques used in this recipe from vegrecipesofindia.com

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon oil

pinch of salt

water (< 1/2 cup ish)

Dough: Combine 1 cup of whole wheat flour with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of oil, and add enough water until a dough forms. Knead this dough and then let it ferment for 25 minutes under a dishcloth.

After 25 minutes, divide the dough into balls and roll out into small rounds.

Heap a few tablespoons of the sweet potato mixture into the center, and then take the sides of the round and bring them together on top of the stuffing, to make a little twisted dumpling.

Roll this out again, and make a bigger round.

Spread some ghee over the surface of this and, on a hot tawa, fry until it gets golden brown in places. Spread some ghee on the uncooked side and flip and cook the other side. Ta da!

Bear with me. This was my first attempt and it was a lot of fun. I don’t usually do step-by-step photos but the process was pretty cool (and messy).

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So after you make your dough, roll out a thick round about 3-4 inches in diameter. Spoon some of the prepared filling into the center.

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Do THIS! Make a little dumpling out of it. Take the sides and pinch them together.

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Then, you’re supposed to squish this and roll them out again, bigger, without actually tearing them. I didn’t really succeed at the no tearing thing.

But: browned sweet potato innards = YUM.

This was my best paratha. Soooo good.

Probably one of my favorite cooking adventures so far. And, a plus, because the sweet potato masala I thought I messed up got a second life as paratha stuffing!

My First Indian Cooking Adventure in India, Unsupervised

Sep27

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Today I’m breaking my food blog hiatus with a little something called Indian Cooking.

After living here for three months (I’ll be here until next summer) and having absolutely NO motivation to cook…

(reasons/excuses why: I live with a South Indian roommate, who loves to cook; food here is very inexpensive [we can get dinner for two for about $3 and be satisfied], the kitchen is different (no oven, different cooking vessels like a tawa, pressure cooker, etc); lack of familiar ingredients (curry leaves? mustard seeds? fenugreek?)

… I have broken the cycle. And no longer will subsist on yogurt (dahi) by the gallon and fruits, or order in, when left to my own devices.

Aside: I went to the veggie man two stores down from us and he was super nice and helped me pick out the fresh veggies, which happened to be okra.

With roomie gone for the day and evening, and doing the best I could to remember her techniques, I made …

Okra Subzi with Chapati

Adapted from Life.

Chapati Ingredients:

Some amount of whole wheat flour (maybe 1.5-2 cups)?

1 teaspoon ghee

pinch or two of salt

1/2 cup of warm water

Subzi Ingredients:

1/4 kg okra (bindhi), chopped into two or three pieces each

1 tomato, chopped in smallish pieces

2 potatoes, chopped in similar sized pieces at the tomato

Optional: 1 green chili, with or without seeds removed, depending on your spice tolerance (I omitted)

1 tablespoon your favorite cooking oil

1 tablespoon unsalted ghee

2 teaspoons mustard seeds

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 handful curry leaves

a few pinches of salt

Directions:

In a bowl, add the flour and mix with the salt and the ghee. Make a little well and add the water, a bit at a time, until you have a workable dough. Knead with your hands. Cover with a cloth and let ferment for 25 minutes or more. Once fermented, make little round balls of dough about 1-1.5 inches in diameter.

Heat oil in a cooking vessel like the one in the pictures, or in a normal pan. Add the potatoes, and allow to cook for a bit and get a little brown and crispy on the edges. Add the okra and cook. Splash some water into the pan to “deglaze”, stir/scrape down, and cover to let everything soften. Add the tomatoes after a bit and mix.

In a separate pan, heat the ghee. Test it out with a small mustard seed; if it sizzles in the pan it’s ready. Add the mustard seeds and immediately take off the heat, allowing to cook a little bit. Add the cumin seeds and curry leaves, stir, let sizzle. Add the turmeric and ground cumin and mix.

Add the above to the okra mixture and combine; continue to let cook until veggies are cooked through.

For the chapati, roll out each dough ball. I don’t know what I did wrong, I think the dough was a bit too dry. You should try to aim for nice and round chapatis. I however decided to go the entertaining route and make all kinds of shapes!

Heat a tawa over medium heat. Once hot, place the chapati and cook halfway through. If you see bubbles forming, great! You can use a dishtowel to push down on these bubbles to try to get them to spread throughout the bread. Flip it and cook the other side.

My first chapati ALL BY MA SELF. *beams*

Once cooked, place on a plate and if desired, spread some ghee on it. The ghee helps with flavor and helps it not dry out. Let’s just say I put a substantial amount of ghee on these.

Continue in this manner until all the chapatis are done. Always cover with a dishcloth or with a lid of some sort to prevent drying out.

To serve, spoon some subzi, two or three chapatis, and a dollop of yogurt onto your South Indian-style thali (plate).

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And dig in.

Below are some fun photos of my first time trying the process.

I got a LOT of bubbles with this one!

Notice the jar of ghee in the back. It did not go un-used.

I was so taken and distracted by the bubbles that I burned it. 😦

Me pointing out my beads of sweat. It’s kinda humid here in good ol’ Mumbai. I can pretend cooking is a workout.

My chapatis were so odd. I decided to nickname them all.

“Crab claw”

“Actually Decent/Amoebic”

“An Old Woman Looking To the Right” (see the big nose?)

“One of Those Psychology Inkblot Things”

“Mitten for Double-Thumbed Person”

“Budding Yeast”

“Don’t Mess With Deformed Texas”

Sadly, my first chapati attempt came out more like pita chips. Nothing a little ghee can’t fix. But I will hone ma skillz and wow you all in due time. I thoroughly enjoyed my first attempt!

Also, sorry for the horrid quality on the photos. Internet speed/access is a whole diatribe I won’t get started on right now…

I’ve attempted Indian cooking before, at home in the US, and I definitely don’t know what I’m doing. You can check them out anyway:

Aloo Gobi Mattar, take One and Two

Mediterranean Crostini with Lemon Parmesan Kale

Sep2

“Hmm, I think I’ll make tuna salad for dinner.”

– Jenn, Roommate #1.

So much for that! Being two nutrition-/cooking-oriented people (Roomie #2, also nutrition, went away on vaycay, but missed a pretty fantabulous meal), what started out as a simple tuna salad quickly gave way to something a little more… gourmet.

A little bit of chopping, toasting, and sautéing later… and dinner was a REALLY delicious sourdough crostini, topped with red pepper, tomato, olives, feta, and mushrooms, with a little kale salad on the side.

SO. GOOD. And very filling, a perfect veggiecentric entrée, or if in a smaller amount, a satisfying appy.

And kinda ridiculously easy.

Mediterranean Crostini with Lemon Parmesan Kale

Serves four normal people or two hungry roommates

Adapted from Eating Well

1 small tomato or 1/2 medium/large tomato
1/2 cup roasted red pepper, sliced into strips
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped black olives
1/4 cup crumbled feta
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
1-3 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, separated (we used yummy tarragon-flavored EVOO from F. Oliver’s)
10-12 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
4 slices of sourdough bread

Salad:
1/4-1/2 bunch tender summer kale, roughly chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1-2 tablespoons grated parmesan

Mix the tomatoes, olives, feta, roasted red pepper, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, oregano, and red wine vinegar in a small bowl. Set aside.

Mix the garlic and 1-2 tablespoons olive oil in a small bowl. Spread some on each slice of sourdough bread. Use the remaining (and a little extra if necessary) to sauté the mushrooms until tender and cooked. Mix the mushrooms into the tomato mixture.

Whisk together the lemon juice, and olive oil, and parmesan. Toss with the kale (use your hands).

Toast each sourdough piece and top with the mushroom/tomato mixture, try to drain out most of the juice/sauce so the bread doesn’t get too soggy. Serve with the kale salad, and you can drizzle the aforementioned juice onto the kale salad for extra flavor.

Pretty freakin’ delectable.

We were pleasantly surprised at how filling these turned out! This dish was very tangy and flavorful, with just the right amount of saltiness from the cheese, sourness from the vinegar, and bright citrus from the lemon. The sourdough had perfectly crispy crust and soft tender inside for sopping up extra dressing and juice.

The only problem? Oodles of dishes. Good thing we’re all neat freaks over here.

Cheddar Cauliflower Soup with Frizzled Leeks

Aug6

Crispy pan-fried leek greens top this satisfying soup that works for lunch, dinner, or even breakfast… if you’re feeling adventurous. I’d stick with lunch or dinner.

Today, I plated this soup in in the beautiful ceramic bowl that my lovely chica Sarah made for me. Earthy blue glaze coats the inside, with a metallic bronze on the outside. It is absolutely perfect for yogurt, cereal, soup, *cough* ice cream *cough*. Ice cream? Who said that?

Anyway, this girl is seriously multi-talented–cooks, bakes, ceramic-izes, and is going for her Master’s in Nutrition. You go, girl. I love my ceramics dishware and I shall be the envy of all when I go to Ithaca this Fall!

Um… back to the soup. It was deliciously cheesy and had an amazingly creamy, decadent mouth-feel. By not puréeing the cauliflower and leek, the soup still retained some texture and bite. Topped with a garnish of frizzled leeks, all this soup needed was some sourdough bread. Sadly, I had none. But keep that in mind.

This was a winnah.

Cheddar Cauliflower Soup with Frizzled Leeks

Adapted from Eating Well

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 small or medium sized leeks, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced and rinsed well [save the greens!]
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets that are bite-sized
2 1/2 cups low-fat milk, divided
3 cups water
1 cup soy milk or milk + 1/2 cup soy milk or milk
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups shredded extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice

In a large nonstick saucepan, sauté the leek in the oil until soft (5 minutes). Add the cauliflower, water, 1 cup milk, bay leaf, salt, pepper. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce and simmer about 8 minutes or until cauliflower is soft and tender. Remove the bay leaf.

In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 1/2 cup milk and flour. Add to cauliflower mixture. Cook about 2 more minutes, until thickened. Remove from heat, and stir in cheese and lemon juice.

Serve with an optional garnish of frizzled leeks:

Frizzled Leeks

Adapted from technique by Vegetable a Month Club

Leek greens, cleaned and thinly julienned
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

In a cold saucepan, add oil, leek greens, and salt and pepper. Use your fingertips to toss the leeks and get them coated evenly in oil. Spread in an even layer, try to not overlap the greens.

Turn on the heat to medium-low and be patient. Once the leeks become golden brown on one side, flip and frizzle on the other side. Continue to stir and cook until they are as golden brown everywhere as possible. Drain on paper towels.

They will be crunchy and delicious! Sprinkle on each serving of soup.

Deeeeelish.

Cooking with Beer: Beer Bread and Vegetarian Chili

Jul27

So we had some nonalcoholic beer in the fridge that I purchased to recreate beer-battered squash flowers and beer-battered avocado fries and so, I used the magic powers of Google to find some uses for it (because just drinking it would be boring).

I found two recipes — a beer bread recipe and a vegetarian chili recipe — that fit the bill. And both are easy as could be–essentially, you just throw everything together, let it cook or bake for a while, and sit back and enjoy an episode of Entourage or two on DVD. Simple.

Lucky for me, the day I made these was uncharacteristically cold (around 75–it felt like a deep freezer after the >95 week we’d had earlier) and so having the oven and stove running was actually comforting instead of sweat-inducing.

The bread came out delicious–subtly sweet from the brown sugar, with a delicious crust and tender inside. The chili was a bit of an experiment, and I’m happy to report it too hit the spot–three bean, tofu, spice-heavy. Just what the doctor ordered.

Chili and homemade bread. Perfecto comfort meal.

Without further ado:

Beer Bread

Adapted from this recipe

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

4 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

12 ounces beer

Oven: 350°F. Grease and flour a 9.5×13″ loaf pan.

Sift the flours and combine with sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add in the beer and stir to combine. Pour into loaf pan, smooth out, bake 55-60 minutes or until toothpick is clean when inserted and removed from the bread.

Optional: before baking, pour 2 tablespoons of melted butter on top.

Vegetarian Chili

Adapted from this recipe

28 ounces of canned tomatoes (or fresh)

1 15-ounce can garbanzos

1 15-ounce can kidney beans

1 15-ounce can chickpeas

1 cup or half a block tofu, crumbled

1 cup tomato sauce

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 tablespoons cumin seed

1 tablespoon turmeric

sprinkle of parsley

spices to your liking (ginger, etc)

1 12-ounce can of beer

plain greek yogurt, for serving

Combine everything but yogurt in large saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20-25 minutes. Serve with a dollop of yogurt.

This was a really, really good meal. Satisfying. Vegan if you omit the yogurt. See the melty butter (er, earth balance)… mm. It’s melty because that bread is still warm from the oven–what a rare luxury to eat homemade crusty bread. No wonder it’s all gone (within two days). The beer bread goes deliciously with the chili… even if it’s not a cold winter night. Summer has some chilly days too. And the chilly days are perfect… for chili. See what I did there…?

Yellow Zucchini Tarte Fine (with yogurt-based, whole wheat crust and yogurt-pesto sauce)

Jul24

I think my favorite way to cook is to…

A) Use up ingredients that are… on their last leg.

B) Use up ingredients that are in major surplus.

C) Cook an ingredient that I have never cooked before… or better yet, seen!

D) All of the above.

Answer D. But today, we’re having fun with C.

I guess Yellow Zucchini isn’t totally outlandish. But I’d never seen it before. Zucchinis are green! Not only was this yellow, this zucchini was yellow — super bright, golden yellow, even more so than our mainstay summer squashes. I got one from a local farmer’s market, but I didn’t know what I’d do with it. It would have to be something interesting, new, exciting….

So I did a little digging and found this lovely recipe on Chocolate and Zucchini.

Check out that crusssstttt…

But as usual, I did some tweaking.

Yellow Zucchini Tarte Fine (with yogurt based, whole wheat crust and yogurt-pesto sauce)

Adapted from Chocolate and Zucchini

Crust:

180 grams or 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

120 grams or 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup (half a stick) unsalted butter, cold, diced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

Topping:

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1 cup yogurt, mixed with 1/4 cup basil pesto

a dozen fresh basil leaves

1 yellow zucchini, about 10 ounces or two very small zucchinis, mandolined into thin rounds

salt to taste

Place flour in a medium bowl, and make a well in the center. Add yogurt and diced butter and salt. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut the butter (by slicing the knives together) and combine with flour. I eventually used my hands to really get that butter merged with flour–not sure if this is proper, but it worked. Form into a small disc and wrap in plastic wrap; chill for an hour or up to a day.

Allow the dough to come to just below room temperature. Place on parchment paper, add another piece of parchment on top, and roll out thinly. Crimp the edges.

Sprinkle toasted sesame seeds all over, and place parchment paper back on and roll a few times to ingrain them into the dough. Yay sesame-seed-flavored, crunchy crust!

Leave the top piece of parchment on. Put baking beans all over to weigh it down, or dried kidney beans. You can probably leave them off if you don’t have any.

Bake at 360° (not 350!) for 25 minutes.

Beat egg. Brush egg wash on crust. Bake two more minutes.

Allow to cool completely.

Meanwhile, grill zucchini, or leave raw, if fresh enough; I chose to grill.

Next, spread the yogurt mixture thickly all over. Top with zucchini rounds. Sprinkle basil leaves and leftover sesame seeds, if you have them, on top. Cut with a kitchen scissor (my favorite apparatus for pizza and the like) and SERVE!

So good. The crust–flaky, light, delicate yet rustic, which superb flavor from the sesame and butter. The crust held up well, even after a few hours of having been assembled with the topping ingredients. You can’t even tell yogurt is in the crust. Whole wheat pastry flour wins again!

Combination of ingredients–also delicious. The caramelization of the zucchini rounds truly brought out their sweetness and elevated the dish. Just a wonderful play of flavors and textures. Would totally make again.

prebaked / posteggwash / readyformangia

Spaetzle (Whole Grain) with Mustard Cream Sauce and Scorched Garden Veggies

Jul17

So I was watching Chopped last night (surprise, surprise) and on the episode, one of the contestants made Spaetzle.

Spaetzle? What? And everyone seemed to know what it was.

The contestant dropped ribbons of batter into boiling water, drained them, and then pan-fried them as a bed for whatever the secret ingredient was (duck confit, I think).

It looked really cool to attempt… and easy enough to accomplish!

Apparently I have to get out from under my rock, because according to the interwebs, spaetzle is delicious comfort food originating from Germany (I’m part German…) and brings back fond memories of grandmothers making spaetzle for (others, not me) them as youngun’s.

And guess what, you only need three ingredients.

Unless you make the sauce. Please make the sauce. It’s freakin’ amazing. As the Chopped judges always bemoan, you need a sauce to tie elements of the dish together, to make sense on the plate as a cohesive meal.

Well, I’ve learned my lesson from the many episodes I’ve watched over this summer:

Sauce, check.

Dropping things on the floor, thus rendering them inedible, and throwing them away, check.

Using all the secret ingredients… which in this case happened to be things that NEED TO BE USED BEFORE BECOMING SPOILED and included: snowpeas, wax beans, heavy cream, and shallots.

And the crowd (er, me and my lunch companion, madame mamadukes) goes wild!

Spaetzle

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

4 eggs

3 tablespoons Silk unsweetened soymilk

Pinch each of nutmeg, pepper, and salt

Combine all the ingredients and chill for 1 hour or overnight. When chilled, bring a pot of water to boil and prepare an ice bath.

I used a colander for the majority of the batter–what you must do is spoonful some of the batter into a colander with large holes and allow the little batter drips to fall into the boiling water, and cook for at least 30 seconds (longer, up to 5 minutes, if you want a softer spaetzle). But either my batter was too thick, the holes too small… because the resulting driblets of batter looked like reminscent of something else instead of typical spaetzle.

Towards the end, however, I switched and simply used a spoon to drip batter into the boiling water directly–a lot easier, more fun, and more pasta-like.

After cooking, immediately chill in the ice bath and then drain. Storing? Toss with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking; it’ll keep for a day or two.

Eating? Try this:

Pan-fried Spaetzle

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Several cups of spaetzle

1 shallot, minced/diced finely

Two tablespoons dried parsley

2 tablespoons butter or earth balance

Heat earth balance in a large skillet. Add spaetzle (you may need to work in batches), let sit for a minute, and then sauté until golden brown on all edges. Add the shallot and parsley, salt and pepper, and cook a bit longer (about a minute or two). Serve immediately.

Unless you make the…

Mustard Cream Sauce

Adapted from Robert Irvine on Food Network

2 tablespoons Earth Balance (or butter)

1/2 a small yellow onion

1/4 cup white wine

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2-3 tablespoons honey dijon mustard

1/3 to 1/2 cup heavy cream

In a small saucepan, sauté the onion in the Earth Balance until it turns brown. Deglaze with white wine; once deglazed, add thyme, mustard, and heavy cream. Stir and lower the heat, cook for 5-6 minutes until thickened. Spoon over spaetzle. Now you can serve.

But don’t forget the…

Scorched Veggies

Pan that you fried the spaetzle in

Boiled/steamed garden veggies such as snowpeas and beans

Simply add the cooked veggies to the pan and toss occasionally until they brown (scorch). Serve with your delicious spaetzle.

I have a thing against ugly food. I’ve cooked a LOT more things this summer than I’ve shown on this blog. This is due to the fact that I only feel like photographing food when it’s pretty, and also due to the fact that I’m hungry and just want food in ma belluh.

I took pictures of this at the last minute, when Mamadukes was like “Did you take pictures yet?” and my blog-guilt set in. But I’m glad I did. Taking pictures of ugly food is probably a good exercise, and makes me get more creative in plating and angles.

That being said, this food tasted anything but ugly. It was SO GOOD!! The spaetzle was delicious and hearty, full of protein (thanks to… whole wheat flour, eggs, and soymilk!) and just screamed comfort food. The sauce… absolutely delicious. It tasted like restaurant sauce… chock-full of FLAVOR. I wish I could have veganized it somehow but I wanted to use up the heavy cream.

I love how simple this dish is (even though it ended up taking me a very long time… but if I make it again, it’ll probably take half the time). Just a few ingredients and you have yourself a meal. I’m building my repertoire of from-scratch grad school eatin’, which currently includes lots of quinoa salads, fried eggs, veggies steamed in the microwave, roasted veggies, and now… spaetzle. Who knew?

I’m also thinking of doing an ancestry series on this blog. I’m German, Irish, Scottish, English and Chinese. Got the German dish down… Next up? If you need me, I’ll be Googling.

Summer Squash Soup

Jul14

When life gives you summer squash…

… Squash upon squash upon summer squash…

You really have no choice but to make soup.

We have four summer squash plants in our garden. Every day I go out and find some ginormous summer squash that I somehow missed the day before.

To make this soup, I used three VERY BIG squash, about four MEDIUM-ISH squash, and 3 very tiny baby squashies.

It worked out well for this soup, a very light and refreshing (and hydrating) soup. I think it would also serve well as gazpacho if you are so inclined (and with temps in the mid-90s this week, I am definitely so inclined).

Summer Squash Soup

Adapted from a recipe on Taste of Home

Two large onions, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

6-10 garlic cloves, minced or thinly sliced

A lot of summer squash, cubed (the original calls for 6. I used the amount I said above. I think you can go with pretty much any number, as the recipe is forgiving, so long as it’s a decent number. Also, you can leave the seeds in; it’ll all be puréed anyway, and who doesn’t like a little extra fiber and nutrients from the seeds?)

4 cups of water

2 bay leaves

2 tablespoons dried thyme

A few sprinkles of sea salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice (1/2 a lemon)

Grated or shredded Parmesan or Pecorino romano cheese

Lemon zest from 1 lemon

Two fistfuls of basil, sliced (chiffonade-d)

In a large, nonstick pot, sauté the onions until tender and nearly translucent (about 5-7 minutes). Add the garlic and sauté a minute or two longer. Add the squash and cook for 5 minutes. Add the water, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, covered, until tender.

Remove some of the liquid and reserve; you can add it back in if the soup is too thick.

Using your handy immersion blender (or in batches, in the food processor), purée the soup until smooth as can be. If too thick for your liking, add some of the reserved liquid back.

Stir in the lemon juice and basil. Taste-test and add salt, pepper, etc. if necessary.

To serve, top with a pinch of lemon zest and cheese.

This soup is homegrown, in the sense that the squash and basil both came from our garden–and so delicious. The lemon is surprising but adds some needed brightness and tang, and the cheese complements with its saltiness. This is a perfect light lunch or dinner.

I can’t wait to try it cold!

Risotto-Style Farro with Cauliflower and Runny Egg

May20

Oh, anticipation…

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Farro is a grain similar to barley, but a larger and chewier–I like it better than most other “grains” like bulghur, barley, rice, and quinoa due to its more substantial texture. This was my first experiment in cooking farro, a bag of which I got as a gift from my friend Athena, fellow food connoisseur and cook. I prepared it similar to risotto in that broth was added bit by bit until it was fully absorbed.

This dish is, according to the original author, inspired by a Moroccan porridge called herbel, which is sweet as it uses cinnamon and milk.

The dish below is definitely savory and a perfect light lunch.

Risotto-Style Farro with Cauliflower and Runny Egg
Serves four

Adapted from Food and Wine

5 tablespoons unsalted butter or Earth Balance

4 scallions, sliced (a kitchen scissor is a great tool for this)

8 ounces uncooked farro

Salt and pepper to taste

1 quart vegetable stock

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 cups 1-inch cauliflower florets

1 tablespoon sherry or red wine vinegar (I did not have sherry)

4-8 large eggs (one or two per person, your choice)

1 tablespon white vinegar

In a large nonstick saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Add the sliced scallions and cook on medium heat until softened (2 minutes). Add the farro, season with salt and pepper (omit salt if using high-sodium broth) and cook the farro in the butter/scallion mixture for 1 minute (to toast it). Add the broth, half-cup by half-cup, slowly, allowing the farro to absorb it all before adding the next aliquot of broth; stir frequently but not constantly. This will take about 30 minutes. Remove from heat.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and then add cauliflower; season with salt and pepper. Cook over high heat until tender and browned in spots (about 5 minutes). Add the cauliflower to the farro mixture and toss, as well as the vinegar and the remaining butter. Divvy into four bowls.

Poach the eggs: Crack the eggs into small bowls. Bring a shallow pan of water to a rolling boil. Add white vinegar to the water; vinegar keeps the egg whites from spreading too much. Add each egg into the pan carefully and cook for three minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, and place directly on top of the farro in each bowl. Garnish with fresh scallions.

This was pretty easy to make and very satisfying. I used the 10-minute farro, which may have changed the texture of the resulting product; I think risotto is supposed to be creamier. I would like to try cooking regular farro and see if there is a difference. The red wine vinegar cuts through the buttery farro and rich egg yolk, and the sweetness of the browned cauliflower offsets the savory scallions.

I really love eggs with a runny yolk… something about them, it just tastes like the elixir of life (which, it kind of is). This meal is super protein-packed and a great post-workout dish. The dish is vegan besides the egg, and can stand up without the egg if necessary.

If I make this again, though, I’ll definitely add some more veggies such as broccoli and/or peas for color and flavor.

What will I cook today?

When time, ingredients, and motivation are all on the same page

Tag Archives: dinner