Super Fast Indian

I would never say that this compares to fragrant, homemade Indian food, the kind that simmers all afternoon and drives you crazy with the smell. But it is good and, sometimes even more important, it is fast and easy.
About a year ago I bought two jars of Indian sauces at Trader Joe's. There has never been a time I wanted to use them, guess I just thought they couldn't be that good. Finally, because we had some other leftover Indian, I decided to try one to round out the meal. It's really tasty! I took a pound of tofu, cubed it like paneer, and browned the pieces in a little oil. I poured the sauce over and let it simmer a few minutes then served it over rice. Tasty! This jar was Trader Joe's Masala sauce. I also have a jar of TJ's Korma sauce, which I'm now eager to try. Seems like these might be good shelf staples for last-minute meals.

Caramelized Onion Pizza

Some food is so good that if you don't get a photo the second it comes from the oven...
...you don't get a photo at all. We had this pizza as an appetizer for company a couple weeks ago and everyone just snarfed it down. Even Otto, only 11 months old, dove into his mom's piece.
We had it again tonight. Easy peasy. Here's how to do it:

Caramelize 4 medium onions. I used 3 yellow and 1 red, but you can use whatever. (To caramelize, slice the onions and cook in a tablespoon or two of oil over medium low heat, stirring from time to time, until they get soft and yummy. It takes about half an hour, but you can do other things while they cook.)

Roll out refrigerated pizza dough onto a baking sheet or pizza pan. Spread Trader Joe's Artichoke Antipasto over it (or use pesto or even just a thin coating of garlicy olive oil). Sprinkle on some herbs and, if you wish, a bit of crumbled feta. Top with the onions and bake according to the directions on the pizza dough package. (425 for 16 minutes worked for me) So good!!

Veganizing Passover

Happy Passover!  (I'm not sure that's what you are supposed to say.... someone please educate me if there is a more appropriate greeting!)  J and I did our own little mini seder yesterday.  Here is what we had:

Vegan Matzoh Ball Soup w/flaxseeds--these were great!  J and I like denser and chewy matzoh balls, so this was a great recipe for that.  We even used w.w. matzoh meal for the first time without any detrimental effect.

Last year, I tried a matzoh ball recipe with tofu, and they were the opposite--very light and fluffy. Also, since tofu is technically not so kosher for passover, so the flax seed recipe is nice to have in the repertoire...

 Latkes from a mix--J prefers these to homemade latkes, and it is a million times less work, so that's how we roll...  We used flaxseed to replace the egg, and it worked really well.  (1 tbsp ground flax + 3 tbsp water for each egg) We were both impressed.  

Cauliflower leek kugel with almond herb crust (has tofu) was a favorite from last year.  I boil the cauliflower instead of steaming it.  I'm sure it works either way.  For us, it's a keeper.

If anyone wants one of the vegan matzoh ball soup recipes, let me know.  They are both from the folks at the PPK and can be found on that website with a little hunting.  I also use their vegetable broth recipe when I make it, which is a fantastic complement.

As you can see, our version of passover includes soy products.  It makes my life A LOT easier, since I don't like to cook with eggs or dairy at home.  J is lactose intolerant too, so it works for both of us :).

sushi, bokchoy,enchiladas

Again, I'm falling far behind on both cooking and eating. But, for once, it's because I'm catching up on school! so, yay.

Let's see, recent successes decidedly worth repeating:

I made the v-con sushi and it was, as Jasmine said of it, the hit of the party. I wouldn't have thought to try it (doesn't sound that special to me) if not for your comments on it, so thanks a lot! I didn't have seitan, so just replaced that with the broiled tofu. I also left out the mayo, which I feel made it a little too dry, but nobody complained.

I made the baby bok-choy from v-con and my test subject looked thoroughly surprised and said "wow, this is better than any boy choy i've ever made!" (he loves bok choy). His surprise was lessened when I admitted to using a recipe, and "exotic ingredients like mirin", but I was still happy.

Recent failures:
I made the vcon enchiladas. These were kind of cute, and certainly not unpleasant, but I didn't really care for them. Luckly Guy ate most of them (there was a huge amount) and seemed to like them. It may just be because I don't like any of the ingredients (except for the roasted peppers) that much. But, I was kind of turned off of cooking for a while after making these. It took me over a week to recover and make the two things above. Maybe I ought to stop making huge quantities of things... but it *was* worthwhile with the moussaka.

I made the "muffin donuts" from vcon and didn't like them that much. They weren't really bad enough to classify as failures, but I prefer plain muffins. Some people did seem like them, but I won't be making these again.

Your reviews are so helpful. Next in the lineup (and some have sat there for a while) are the roasted cauliflower soup, the spinach paratha, and the irish soda bread. I know I really ought to be making lentils, but I just don't have the enthusiasm for them.

St. Patrick's Day Meal

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, J and I had shepherd's pie and Irish soda bread tonight (both Veganomicon recipes).   They are both excellent.  I don't know that shepherd's pie is traditionally Irish, but it involved mashed potatoes, so that was close enough for me.  The Irish soda bread recipe from V-con is my favorite ever, even if it s not very authentic.  The millet gives it a wonderful chew, and it has just the right sweet/salty balance.

Other recent culinary experiments included punjabi chola and spinach paratha.  Both were delicious, and I'd recommend them if you feel like branching out with Indian cooking.  If Indian cooking is new to you, I'd recommend starting with chana masala and chapati, because the recipes are more streamlined and closer to popular restaurant cuisine.

As a side note, Manjula's dosa recipe with aloo masala is also awesome and does not require a multi-day fermentation, which is a major plus in the world of dosa making.  Pair it with sambar (I always just do it from a mix) and some coconut chutney and you'll be in South Indian heaven.

Two good meals

Doesn't this photo look like a smiling, googly-eyed dinner? :)
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile -- I was out in California eating good food with J, and then there was one thing and another when I returned home. A couple days after I got back, I decided to try out the French Lentil Soup from Veganomicon that everyone has been talking about. Yum! It was quite tasty, not noticeably different from other basic lentil soups, but easy and good. The leftovers, which I served over rice left from another meal (below), were even better. We made a salad with leftover roasted veggies, included roasted paprika potatoes that V had made the night before (no recipe, just tossed salt and paprika with the chopped potatoes before baking). Since there's paprika in the soup, it was perfect. And we used Trader Joe's artichoke and hearts of palm topping with sliced red onion and a crumble of feta over multigrain bread to go with it. We were happy campers!
I was tearing recipes from some old cooking magazines so I could toss the rest in the recycling and came across a recipe for Saag Tofu in Eating Well (such a great magazine -- not vegetarian, but so much plant-food based stuff that I use many of their recipes). It was super! As you can see by comparing my photo to the one shown if you follow the link, mine looks less creamy. That's because the yogurt, which I had brought to room temp and stirred in over very low heat, separated. It's really hard to keep yogurt from separating. I think next time I'll just leave it out. This was such a good dish, I will definitely be making it again. Also, the sauteed tofu (cooked more slowly than I usually do) was really tasty with just a sprinkle of salt. I was thinking it would be fun to cut it into thin sticks and cook it like that, then serve it with some dipping sauces (kind of like the tofu fries at Zao's in Palo Alto, for those of you that have been there).
V made our usual cauliflower and potato dish (alu gobhi) to accompany this. SO GOOD! I think it was even better than usual -- I may just turn all the cooking over to V! The recipe comes from Lite and Luscious Cuisine of India by Madhu Gadia, who is a dietitian from India. Many of our favorites come from that book. In looking up the link on amazon, I see she has an Indian vegan cookbook coming out in October -- though this one is pretty much vegan. I'll have to get the new one anyhow! I couldn't find this recipe anywhere on the web, so I'll post it here:

Alu Gobhi (Potatoes with Cauliflower)

Heat in nonstick frying pan (that has a lid) over medium heat:
2 tsp oil

Add and cook for a few seconds:
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Stir in:
4 cups cauliflower flowerets
2 medium potatoes, peeled and
cut into 3/4” cubes

Add and stir well to coat:
1-1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
4 shakes cayenne pepper

Heat through, then cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for about 10 min, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender but still firm. Remove lid, increase heat, and stir in:
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp lemon juice

Drizzle around inside edge of pan and stir fry for a few more minutes:
2 tsp olive or canola oil

Before serving, top with (optional):
chopped fresh coriander

Dinner Theme: Caramelized Onions

So, these recipes weren't on the list, but for dinner on Saturday I decided to make two dishes built around one of my favorite things: deeply, deliciously sauteed onions. The menu was:

-- Potato and Smothered Onion Soup (Marcella Hazan's "The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking")
-- Fresh Pear, Blackened Onion, Roast Beet Salad (no recipe, just awesomeness) with Cranberry-Mustard Vinaigrette (Heidi Swanson's "Cook 1.0").



The soup was really easy to make; aside from some labor intensive onion chopping and some (very fun) mashing of the potatoes once they're boiled, it pretty much takes care of itself. The onions provide a lot of flavor, and a little parmesan and parsley tossed in at the end are a good touch. (The soup could easily be made vegan; I already substituted oil for butter and veggie broth for meat with no deleterious effects, and I'm sure something similar could be done for the cheese.) As you can see in the picture, we also crumbled up some soy bacon to put on top--mmm.

The salad is one I put together this fall and really like: mixed greens, blackened onions, roasted beets, fresh pear, slivered almonds, and crumbled bleu cheese. The cranberry-mustard vinaigrette was a perfect compliment, tangy but sweet.

If you'd like the recipes, I'll happily post or send them!