Excellent Lentil Recipe

This is one of the better recipes we've tried in quite a while. And no one even claimed that it would be better with sausage!

There are three main components that all come together to make a really fantastic dish. No one component is particularly difficult, it just takes a little planning and a little coordinating on the stove top. One thing that made things more simple, and freed up some space on the stove, was to use the rice cooker for the pilaf. In addition to the pilaf, there is a curried dal-like lentil mixture and caramelized onions. I wasn't sure that caramelized onions belonged in a dish with Indian-inspired flavors, but I was absolutely won over in the end.

Curried Lentils with Caramelized Onions

The pilaf is infused with cardamom pods. I had black cardamom pods on hand and really have no idea how they compare with the more commonly used green, but I can say that they lent a slightly smoky, subtle something extra to the rice that complemented the curried lentils without competing or overwhelming. The only thing that seemed particularly lacking in the curried lentils was perhaps a little heat. The recipe itself actually mentions "spicy red lentils", so I have to wonder if Jack Bishop uses a hot curry powder - mine is of the sweet variety. Nothing that a little chili garlic paste can't fix though.

We oohed and aahed our way through this dish. Something about it just worked really well. I'm also happy to report that it tasted fantastic and actually better the next day, and even the day after that, as I happily brought the leftovers to work for lunch. This dish will most definitely be repeated in our house, especially since we tend to keep all of the ingredients on hand on a regular basis.

Two from Simple Suppers

So it's been a while since I had a real post. I got off track last week because of a house project - I've been painting our bedroom. More on that later.....

On to the recipes. Both of these recipes earned my "it has potential" rating; meaning that while they were not out-of-this-world-fantastic, they were good solid recipes that I think could elevated to a higher status with a little tweaking.

Mexican Polenta-Stuffed Peppers

The first was a polenta-stuffed pepper dish in which bell peppers are lightly roasted and then stuffed with polenta, topped with cheese and placed under the broiler. The peppers are served over a super easy but very tasty warm black bean and salsa mixture. I really liked all the different elements of this dish, but the polenta was underwhelming. I think that part of the problem is that the polenta did not cook fully enough and still had an off/raw taste. The 3 males in the family commented that sausage would make this dish really good. Although I'm trying to eat more vegetarian meals lately, I have to admit that a little sausage would really be good here. :) To elevate the taste without resorting to meat however, I would look to maybe a bit of chipotle and perhaps some black olives. Polenta is certainly versatile enough to tweak as you wish - this dish could be turned into something with a more Italian flare with a bit of Parmesan and served over a white bean mixture. Or with a little feta and black olives, it could turn Greek. The possibilities really are endless.

Southwestern Cheese Soup
(I'm afraid that no amount of photo editing could save this photo!)

I've had a couple of inquiries about the Southwestern Cheese Soup that we had earlier this week. It's a very easy soup to throw together and everyone enjoyed it, but again I think it could use a bit of tweaking. Of course I tweaked it just a tad the first time, but just a little - I made a substitution for the canned green chiles. First of all I didn't have any on hand and second of all, I really don't care for them - they seem to have this off/tinny taste that I can't get past. Looking for something to add a bit of heat and flavor, I stumbled on a jar of picked jalapenos in my refrigerator - these were perfect - they added heat, color and no tinny taste. The soup got very positive reviews from the males at the table. I thought it was very good considering how quick and easy it is to make, but I thought it could be kicked up a notch - maybe some black beans, replacing some of the cheddar with a bit of light cream cheese. And yes devoted carnivores - a little sausage would ramp things up a bit too.

So, two solid recipes that could be really good with a little tweaking. Again, I tend to value recipes as much for the overall ideas they give me for future meals as I do for the overall end result.

Weekly Recap 1/27/08

Better late than never???

Sunday

*Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Mascarpone (new)
*roasted asparagus with olive, salt and pepper

Monday
*Curried Red Lentils with Caramelized Onions (new)
*spinach and arugula salad

Tuesday
leftovers!

Wednesday
*Southwestern Cheese Soup (new)
*Salad

Thursday
leftovers again!

Friday
*Paninis on ciabatta with fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers,
pesto, spinach and arugula
*sliced pear

Saturday
pizza takeout

Easy Vegeterian Recipes and Fun Cooking!

I started this blog quite a while back. I can trace back the first post here. I blogged many recipes so far, gained me a few pounds from eating all those stuff that blogged. Most of the recipes were found to be interesting by quite a number of visitors. I do have a list of the recipes that I blogged on the side bar, but I will make it more easier by posting some of the good recipes blogged so far. Feel free to browse them, cook them and share how it come out if you happen to cook them :)Let us start with some of the Vegetarian Recipes:

Paneer Mattar Masala curry

This was a simple paneer recipe that can never go wrong. Nothing fancy, just a good Paneer Curry. But the real winner in this recipe is How I prepared the paneer or cottage cheese from scratch. yes, you can quite easily make paneer at home.

Simple Palak Paneer

This is another Paneer recipe. A real easy palak paneer. Again, nothing fancy, and it doesn't really look like the palak paneer you get at restaurants. I have simplified this so that anyone one can cook it in less than half an hour. Enjoy!I also have some kick ass Halwa Recipes. Halwa is an Indian Sweet dish, that can be had as a dessert, or breakfast, or even a snack. Indians do love sweet snacks.

Gajjar ka Halwa

This is an easy way of making Gajjar ka Halwa. Gajjas or Carrot is grated and cooked in Milk and butter, with dried fruits to add that special thing.

Beet ka Halwa

Quite similar to the carrot halwa, but with Beet and this also taste just awesome.

White Peas Cooked with baking soda

Ootti ver 2.0

I actually blogged the above recipe twice. It is a Manipuri delicacy called "Ootti". A real wonning recipe that tastes awesome with rice or Khichdi, and even Puri.

Rice Kheer

This is something like Rice Porridge, again an Indian Sweet dish that is had as dessert or even breakfast. Rice cooked in milk and flavored with raisins and what not.

Peanut Palak Saag

This is a simple spinach or palak recipe. A unique combination of spinach and peanuts. I am sure you haven't had this before. Try it and tell me if you liked it.

Gobi Pakoda

This is a simple recipe of Cauliflower Fritters, cauliflower dipped in a spicy batter of gram flour and deep fried. Great as a beer snack or just something to snack on on a rainy afternoon.Similar fritters that I blogged:

Veg Pakoda

Potato Fritters

Excuse the prawn recipe in between the veg recipes. I blogged the recipe for both vegeterians and non vegeterians. Same batter, different dips!

Pakoda Kadhi

And curry made out of the fritters.

Gobi Manchurian

This is a faux Chinese recipe that is very popular in India. This is a vegeterian chicken manchurian, only with cauliflowers in place of the Chicken.

Chole Masala

Chole masala cooked in a very simple way. the recipe is very easy to follow. Don't write it down, just remember the steps and try it. Chole is type of chick peas white in color and bigger than the usual chick pea.

Mashed Potato

Who said Indians don't eat mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes are very popular in the eastern part of Indian, and is a very popular cuisine. Here is an easy recipe of the Indian mashed potato.

Easy Daal Recipes

Eating daals or boiled grams with every meal, daal can become quite a bore. But spice it up, and it is an awesome dish. Check out my daal recipes.

French Beans cooked with Coconuts

If you have been to Bangalore, you must have come across the French beans side dish that is cooked with grated coconut. Truth be told, that is the only way I like my beans, other the steamed beans served with steaks.

Sarson Da Saag

Now, what is this? Well, as a food blog, that mostly cooks Indian Recipes, passing over Sarsong ka saag would have been a sacrilege. Well, this is the famous Sarsong ka saag. I have simplified the recipe without diluting the flavour. You could call it stir fried mustard greens.

Aloo Karela

Bitter Gourd or karela as the name suggests is bitter, Kaput! Slow fry it with some onions and potatoes, and it becomes a very elegant bitter sweet side dish that is extremely healthy, trust me.

Loki Masala

I don't quite like the usual curry of loki or water gourd, but I have a simple recipe that I sometimes cook and I don't actually mind.

Veg Korma

A list of vegeterian recipes will be incomplete with the Vegetable Korma recipe eh! This is a mixed Vegeterian curry.

Coconutty Cabbage

This is a fry cooked cabbage recipe flavored with grated coconut. Quite light on the stomach!

Cabbage and peas

A quickie side dish you can cook in 10 minutes from peas and cabbage

Aloo Gobi

I love aloo gobi subzee, the dish made by slow cooking potatoes and cauliflower in vegetable oil. Try adding some chick peas, and you get a distinctly different Aloo Gobi.

Gobi Curry

One more cauliflower recipe!

Aloo Jeera

The ubiquitous Aloo Jeera, or potatoes fried with cumin seed. This is a real quickie dish that I can whip up in 10 minutes.Below is a list of Khichdi Recipes that I blogged:

Green Moong Khichdi

Many people tried and loved this actually!

Simple Khichdi recipe with ghee

Simple Khichdis that I cooked when I was sick.

Low fat, low spice!

Rajma Masala

Rajma Chawal is the favorite of most Indians, a comfort food, a food that many Indians living away from home misses the most. Chawal is easy, but you can also easily make a great Rajma Dish. Now don't put too much onions please. Half an onion fried till golden brown for a pound of Rajma.

Stuffed Capsicum

Have you not tried my stuffed capsicum yet? You will love it!

Capsicum Zhunka

Another capsicum recipe I learnt when in Mumbai. Great Maharashtrian recipe.Veg Biryani A simple and quick vegeterian Biryani!

Dum Aloo

A quick and simple Dum Aloo recipe.

Palak Daal

And this is another daal recipe. Toor daal with spinach!

Hearty Sausage and Lentil Soup

Hearty indeed. This soup in flavorful, chock-full of all sorts of goodies and it's delicious. Any soup that gets my family to eat spinach without complaint gets a big old gold star in my book.

Hearty Sausage and Lentil Soup

This recipe was recommended by a member of the CLBB on the October Soup thread. It sounded like the perfect way to sneak some lentils and spinach past the wary and the skeptical - namely anybody in this family who is not me. At first glance the list of ingredients looks a bit long, but it really does go together pretty quickly, especially considering that everything you need for a complete meal is included in this soup: carrots, onion, celery, mushrooms, lentils, tomatoes, sausage. Truly a meal in one; just add some fresh fruit, some fresh bread and you're set.

This soup went over very well. Chopping the spinach was definitely key - the smaller the pieces, the smaller the objections. With so many different ingredients, this soup was a feast for the mouth (so many tastes and textures) and the eyes (lots of color). A great, hearty soup for a wintry day.

Wild Rice with Pecans & Dried Blueberries

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Oh peaches, my heart broke into a zillion itsy bitsy bits of bits of shards of bits yesterday, as my darling camera took it's swan song picture, whimpered, whirled and - alas - ceased to work.

It's death, well, it was a truly sad moment. Let's all take a micro-second of head-bowing silence in its memory, shall we? Just a micro-second though. The true trials of the world deserve our real head bowing.

Much like my fancy-pants cell phone that was unceremoniously murdered last week by a fast approaching hardwood floor - the cameras passing was a bit of a bother. And just like in the instance of the phone, I learned that in this disposable age, digital camera repair doesn’t actually exist. Can you believe? And to add insult to injury, the darned thing is barely recyclable. Oy. (And for my readers who speak the Queen's English, that isn't a salutatory "oy," that's a lamenting "oy.")

But enough of my whinging (and for my Non-British readers, that’s a synonym for whining – I’m just here to help.) on with the show…which may be on temporary halt until I figure out this situation, do some research and figure out the best route to take. Wish me luck.

This concoction was thrown together last week, in an effort to cast a bit of summery fun into the rain-soaked Los Angeles I inhabit of late. And it’s mission was indeed accomplished.

Try it my peaches, and taste the joy.

½ cup olive oil
¼ cup blueberry or raspberry vinegar
2 T. port wine jelly (omit if you don’t have)
Pinch of salt and pepper
1 cup cooked wild rice
3 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons flax seed
¼ cup green onion
¼ cup dried blueberries and/or cranberries
1 cup pecan halves as garnish

Whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, jelly, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.

Toss ¾ of the dressing with the wild rice, brown rice, onion and dried berries. Let the dressing absorb for 15 minutes or until ready to serve. When ready to serve, re-toss with the remaining dressing, garnish with pecans and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings.


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The good folks at Lipton Tea want you to get outdoors~

North American Blueberry growers ship more than 100 metric tons of fresh blueberries each year to Iceland, and more than 500 metric tons to Japan. - Foodreference.com

People who eat two or more servings of red meat a day are much more likely to develop conditions leading to heart disease and diabetes, University of Minnesota researchers have found. The study in a study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute also found that diet soda consumption was linked to these elevated risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, echoing the findings of a study published in July. - Daily Mail.Co.UK

Stuffed Chicken and Roasted Cauliflower

Still getting caught up on recipes around here. I'm going to sneak this one in really quickly before I head off to bed.

We had these two dishes for dinner the other night. Both were delicious, but I served them with a whole grain rice mixture and it made for a rather bland-looking, but very tasty meal.

Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Madeira Sauce

This is another stuffed chicken breast recipe from Cooking Light. This recipes calls for creminie or button mushrooms, but I chose to use shiitake - hands down they are my favorite mushroom. I accidentally purchased far more than I needed for stuffing the chicken breasts, so I used put them in the sauce which I doubled since we are usually of the opinion that you can never have too much sauce.

This dish was very good, but I'm a little frustrated with the process. Technically, stuffed chicken breasts are really pretty easy, but I'm struggling a bit with the stuffing process; I often end up slicing through in the wrong spot, and even without the holes, the stuffing tends to ooze and leak out the sides during the cooking process. I noticed the other day that the stuffed chicken breasts that Wegmans sells are slit at the top, stuffed, and then baked - this would help eliminate a lot of the oozing problems and is something I will consider doing the next time.

Roasted Cauliflower

We've tried roasted cauliflower before with Indian spices, but I wanted to try a pure and simple version. There's not a whole lot to say about the cauliflower recipe - cauliflower, olive oil, salt and pepper - except that my son turned up his nose, took a bite, and then proceeded to beg some off of my plate. Now honestly I really didn't want to share because I was really enjoying it myself, but when your child asks for more vegetables, you DO NOT refuse him/her! Next time, I'll roast 2 heads - one just wasn't enough. I love simplicity!

Time for bed................