Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Healthy Options

  • Vegan Noodle Soup – A Madhu Knits and Cooks Original, Revised

    This post will be a short one focused on an oldie, but a goodie Madhu Knits and Cooks improvised recipe.  That recipe – Vegan Noodle Soup – is as great as ever, as a recent attempt proved.

    Vegetable Orzo Soup

    I made just a few slight modifications to my first attempt – notably substituting parsley in for the cilantro, and omitting the thyme as I didn't have any on-hand.  I added in a half cup of orzo, and served the soup with a healthy amount of parmesan, which was a great slightly salty and rich touch, albeit a non-vegan one.

    The other modification I made was to use my newly acquired Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base in place of bouillon cubes.  Now I understand what the great reviews are about – this will definitely be a staple in my kitchen moving forward.  Similarly, this soup is making a comeback in my kitchen as well, and I can't wait to continue to experiment with it (next up – adding beans?).

  • Baked Cauliflower Pakoras – A Healthier Yet Time-Consuming Snack

    Be still my heart – a healthier version of an Indian restaurant favorite? 

    Yes! 

    The Pinterest-fueled rumors are true.  There is a breaded and baked version of cauliflower pakoras that is actually quite good.  The only downsides of these quite crispy and yummy treats is that they take a decent amount of hands-on time to prepare and are only really great when hot.  When the pakoras cool, they lose some of their crispiness making them not an ideal personal snack (too long to prepare) nor a great party snack (too long to prepare + best when out of the oven).  

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Served

    So while I may not be making these pakoras again, I am glad I halved the recipe on a recent weekend day and gave them a try. 

    The most time-consuming part of the preparation is the individual piece dredging in the foamy, club soda-based marinade and then rolling each piece in panko.

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Cut Cauliflower

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Dipping Mixture

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Prep Station

    After completing this process many a time, you are ready to bake these in the oven for approx. 20 – 25 minutes.  

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Ready for Baking

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Baked on Pan

    When they are browned and crispy, they are ready to be served with a healthy amount of salt and pepper to punch up their flavors!

    Baked Cauliflower Pakoras - Close Up

  • The Instant Pot Enters Madhu’s Kitchen – Initial Projects

    The Instant Pot has finally arrived in my kitchen!  After eyeing this pressure cooker slash electric pot slash yogurt maker slash many-other-things for several months, my indecision about what type of Instant Pot to purchase finally lifted.  And lifted not because I did proactively did to end my indecision, but instead a friend gave me his Instant Pot that he tried but wasn't a fan of.

    Well, his loss was certainly my gain as I LOVE my new Instant Pot.  I've only made a few items in it so far, but the results have been fantastic.  Dried chickpeas cooked in 10 minutes; lentil soup in 6 minutes; and my only repeat to date, steel cut oats in 4 minutes.  

    Instant Pot - Steel Cut Oats Timer Set

    The steel cut oats are definitely my favorite because I like making steel cuts oats in bulk for the work week, but it's kind of a pain to watch the pot on the stovetop for 30 – 45 minutes, ensure the oats at the bottom of the pot aren't burning, and then clean up all of the messy oat water that spills out of the pot as the oats cook.  Just that last stove top feature – the clean up – has been enough to dissuade me from making oats as much as I would otherwise like.  

    Instant Pot Steel Cut Oats - Pre-Cooking

    When I first made oats in the Instant Pot, I followed some internet guidance to spray some oil along the bottom of the pot so that the oats wouldn't stick to the cooking bowl.  It led to a slight flavor in the oats that I didn't totally love, but was fine when honey or brown sugar were added to the oats.  The second time I made the oats, I completely forgot about this oil spray first step, and it turned out the oats were totally fine!  So no more oil in the future.

    On my second oats attempt as well, I realized that I didn't quite like my standard 3 – 1 water to oats ratio I use when making oats on the stovetop.  It leads to a slightly watery outcome, so I think I am going to move to a 2.5 – 1 ratio moving forward.  I'll update if that ratio does the trick to produce the hearty, toothy cooked oat texture that I prefer.

    Instant Pot - Steel Cut Oats Timer On

    Finally, another feature of the Instant Pot that I love is that when your item is cooked, you don't need to really do anything right away.  You can just leave the pot sitting there while you go about your other business.  So unlike stove top items that need to be cared for when done (turn off the heat, stir, etc.), you really can just forget about what's in the Instant Pot until you are ready to deal with it.  Another major bonus for my busy kitchen!

  • Mark Bittman’s Savory Oats with Soy Sauce + Scallions – Not as Crazy as It Sounds!

    My husband is not a fan of the sweet steel cut oats I make on occasion.  Whether it's brown sugar, cinnamon, maple syrup, cardamon, or honey, he's never been a fan.  And when my first attempt at steel cut upma, a savory Indian dish adapted to this Western grain staple, didn't turn out as expected, I kind of just resigned myself to being the only oatmeal eater in the house.

    When I came across Mark Bittman's seemingly crazy recipe for savory oats with scallions and soy sauce, I thought this may the solution to my husband's oatmeal aversion.  It was a simple way to dress up oatmeal with ingredients we otherwise use all the time in our dinner time meals.  So what wouldn't there be to love?

    Mark Bittman Savory Oatmeal

    Unfortunately, it seems that some people just aren't a fan of oatmeal.  It doesn't matter if it's less watery or more watery, sweet or savory, it seems my husband just doesn't like oatmeal.  

    For my benefit though, I found yet another way to prepare this healthy and satisfying grain.  I basically just used a package of takeout Chinese soy sauce with some scallions, and viola, a pretty tasty meal.  I encourage those oatmeal-lovers out there to try it!

  • Pati Jinich’s Arroz Rojo – an Oven-Free Method to Perfect Mexican Red Rice

    My go-to Mexican rice recipe of late has been Cook's Illustrated Mexican Rice.  The recipe produces unfailing delicious Mexican red rice – flavorful and great texture.  However, it creates a preparation challenge for me in that it requires cooking the rice in the oven after toasting the rice and adding the seasonings on the stovetop. 

    That oven step adds more complexity in that you need to not only pre-heat an oven and cook it longer than it would take on the stovetop, but also it takes up your oven when you may need to preparing other items like vegetables or enchiladas.  So I'd love to find a stovetop-only good Mexican Rice recipe, but unfortunately my prior experiences trying to find such a recipe have failed.

    Enter Pati Jinich, my new favorite Mexican cuisine TV chef (sorry Rick Bayless!).  Pati has such amazing energy and pride for her food in her show, and I've made some of her great recipes in the past.  On a whim, I tried her Arroz Rojo recipe from her Pati's Mexican Table book to complement some drunken beans and homemade tortillas one weeknight.

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Served

    The rice was fantastic – incredibly flavorful from the pureed onion, garlic, chile, and parsley (I may have subbed cilantro though), and nice texture from the added corn, carrot, and peas.  And the stove-top only prep made it a perfect side dish that didn't take up too much time (or oven space or time) from other dishes.

    To start, saute the rinsed and drained rice with oil until slightly translucent.

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Toasting

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Toasted

    Then add the pureed tomatoes, onion, garlic and salt mixture.

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Tomato Sauce

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Tomato Sauce Cooking

    Cook down for a few minutes, and then add the broth and vegetables.  Cover when it reaches a boil, and simmer until cooked to your taste.

    Pati Jinich - Mexican Rice Cooking

    Then let the rice sit covered for five minutes off heat, then fluff and serve.  Yum!

  • Simple Quinoa Pilaf – or Why Not?

    We eat a fair amount of quinoa, but to say it's something that brings me great joy would be a clear overstatement.  Quinoa is healthy and it can absorb flavor from other ingredients, but it's overwhelming feature is blandness.  It's functionally an inoffensive way to sop up other stuff, or feel less guilt than from eating rice.  

    Enter Cook's Illustrated Quinoa Pilaf with Herbs and Lemon – or a "why not" experiment given this post's introduction.  The end result was pretty good – a deep onion flavor from the onion itself and some chives I added, and a lightness and tartness from the lemon juice.  I'm not sure if it really changes my view of quinoa – a flexible backdrop to other stuff.  But this recipe may be a repeat insofar as it can complement perhaps some stews, soups, and other small party plates (grilled cheeses and the like).

    Herbed Quinoa - Served

    You start by washing and drying out the quinoa on paper towels, which was a bit of a pain, but not an awful first step.

    Herbed Quinoa - Washed Quinoa

    You then toast the quinoa until fragrant and nutty.

    Herbed Quinoa - Toasting

    Herbed Quinoa - Toasting Quinoa

    Then you set aside the toasted quinoa to cook down the onion in some butter before adding back the quinoa and water to complete the cooking.

    Herbed Quinoa - Quinoa in Water

    After the quinoa is cooked fully, you then let it sit (covered) for ten minutes before fluffing the cooked quinoa with a fork, adding the lemon juice and other herbs as you go.  

    Herbed Quinoa - Cooked Quinoa

  • Vegetarian Drunken Beans – New Sunday Bean Pot Staple

    As followers of my Instagram account (@madhuknitsandcooks) know, Sundays are often bean night in Casa Madhu Knits and Cooks.  I like to soak dried beans on Saturday night, and then on a lazy Sunday afternoon, boil beans for an hour or two until they are perfect for dinner.  The added benefit of cooking a big pot of beans on Sunday is that I have a protein base for meals for the first half of the work week as well.

    I mostly cook chickpeas, red kidney beans, and black beans, and for some reason, pinto beans have never really been on my Sunday bean pot rotation.  In fact, I am not sure if I have ever really cooked pinto beans from dried as opposed to using canned whole or refried pinto beans from the store.  

    Well, that gap in my bean repertoire changed when I got an America's Test Kitchen email about Tex Mex / Mexican favorites, including Drunken Beans.  While their recipe calls for cooking the beans and vegetable / herb seasonings in bacon fat, I decided to try the recipe with olive oil.  To my pleasant surprise, the recipe turned out so amazingly well such that my husband and I made this recipe our Sunday bean pot recipe for three consecutive weeks!

    Drunken Beans - Served

    The beans this recipe produces are simply fantastic – perfectly creamy yet whole, tart from tomato paste, spicy from peppers, and nicely acidic and slightly sweet from the cooked down beer and tequila.  I have halved this recipe to date, but moving forward, I will be going to the full 1 pound bean recipe.  

    To get started, you soak the beans overnight in salt water.  You'll definitely notice that they get rehydrated and nicely plump by the time you wake up.

    Drunken Beans - Beans Soaking

    To make this modified vegetarian version, you then cook down the onion, poblanos, and garlic in olive oil.  

    Drunken Beans - Chopped Seasonings

    Drunken Beans - Vegetables Cooking

    Then to the pot goes the tequila until it largely evaporates.

    Drunken Beans - Tequila

    Then add the beans and remaining seasonings to the pot, bring to a boil, and then put the pot in a pre-heated oven.  Our friends at Cook's Illustrated reports that cooking beans in the oven allows for more even cooking and less blowouts, and in practice, that certainly seemed to be the case.

    Drunken Beans - Beans Added to Flavorings Pot

    After the beans come out of the oven, you add the final ingredients – beer and tomato paste – and periodically stir for 30 minutes or until the flavors meld.  Given the time in the oven and 30 minutes of stovetop cooking after, this is sadly not a weeknight recipe, but a much richer and satisfying ~2 hour cooking effort.

    Drunken Beans - Out of the Oven

    (beans out of the oven)

    Drunken Beans - Cooking Down with Beer

    (beans cooking down with beer and tomato paste)

    Serve the beans immediately with cilantro, and if desired, Cotija cheese.  We've also put the cooked beans in corn tortillas for bean tacos, which is also a satisfying meal for days.

  • Mint Raita – Simple Accompaniment to Many a Meal (or a Snack on Its Own)

    I've been making different types of raita, a refreshing Indian yogurt accompaniment, for years, but only recently did I realize that I have never blogged about this simple, protein-rich side dish.  

    What finally inspired this long overdue post was that I used a new ingredient for my latest raita – fresh mint from my mother's garden.  I usually use cilantro as my standard herb, but the mint added a nice freshness, and made this type of raita a great stand-alone breakfast or side to spicy Indian curries.  Look forward to continuing to experiment with more ingredients and will report back with any new findings!

    Mint Raita - Mixed in ContainerMint Raita

    Ingredients:

    • Approx. 1.5 cups of 0% Fage Greek Yogurt
    • 1 seedless cucumber, diced into 1/4 inch square pieces
    • 2 tbsp. scallions, divided
    • 2 tsp. minced mint, divided
    • 1 tsp. minced jalapeno, divided
    • Pinch of cumin, or to taste
    • Pinch of coriander, or to taste
    • Salt, to taste 
    • Lemon juice, to taste

    Directions:

    • Divide the ingredients in half, and place each Fage serving in a separate bowl.

    Mint Raita - Ingredients

    Mint Raita - Yogurt Containers

    • Add equal amounts of vegetables and seasonings to each bowl, and mix together.

    Mint Raita - Scallions in Yogurt

    Mint Raita - Mint and Scallions Close Up

    Mint Raita - Cucumber in Yogurt

    • Let ingredients sit for 15 – 20 minutes, and then serve.  Store any leftovers in the fridge – will keep for ~3 days.

    Mint Raita - Mixed Together

     

  • Baked Zucchini Sticks – Great Late Summer Party Snack

    With zucchini and yellow squash overwhelming the farmers markets by late summer, I decided to get creative with my summertime cooking.  I attempted a fun snack – baked zucchini sticks – that also had the benefit of using up some leftover panko in my cupboard.  

    The recipe was fairly easy to construct, though more time-consuming than I expected.  Dredging the zucchini sticks one by one and then rolling in the parmesan/panko mixture was quite laborious, but thankfully the results were very good.  

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Close Up Baked

    When hot, the sticks were crisp and tasty.  When cool, the sticks developed more of an eggy flavor, which wasn't as pleasing for my tastebuds.  

    These snacks would be a great summer appetizer with a marinara sauce or the KAF recommended sweet onion dip (linked in the recipe above).  Given how much time it took to make them, I think they would be particularly good for a tapas-style party.

    You start this recipe was cutting the zucchini pieces into equally sized sticks.

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - whole squash

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Cut Zucchini

    You then put the sticks in a colander, sprinkle with salt, and then let the water from the zucchini drain out for approx. for an hour or two.

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Water Soaking Out

    As the zucchini exudes its water, you can prepare the seasoned parmesan / panko mixture.  I didn't use the full amount of parmesan, salt, and seasonings called for in the recipe, and it showed up in the blander results so make sure to use the recipe amounts (if not a bit more).  This may also help reduce the eggy flavor that results when the sticks are cooled.

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Seasoned Panko

    After the zucchini is done draining, rinse the sticks and pat them dry.  Then dredge the sticks in the egg mixture, roll in the prepared panko mixture, and place on a lined baking tray.

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Water Soaking Out

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Post Water Soaking Out

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Ready for Oven

    Pop the full tray into the preheated oven, turn once or twice to get even browning and serve!  Yum!

     

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Out of Oven Full Tray

    KAF Zucchini Sticks - Baked Full Tray Round Two

  • Weeknight Black Beans – Simple Protein-Packed Side Dish

    To complement some weeknight cheese enchiladas recently, I wanted to make a simple protein-heavy side dish.  Looking in my cabinets, the most obvious candidate became an aging can of black beans.  

    I didn't want to default to my favorite refried black bean side as I wanted the texture of whole, creamy beans.  So I decided to quickly improvise a recipe, using a few online sources including All Recipes, Spicy Spoonful, and the New York Times.  

    Weeknight Black Beans - Cooking on Pot

    The recipe I put together turned out pretty well, and it was definitely an easy side that can be replicated during any quick weeknight meal.  I think the critical step was something that I've used in the refried black beans recipe – a splash of citrus juice, whether lemon or lime at the end.  The citrus definitely brightens up the beans, and makes them almost good enough to eat on their own.

    Full recipe details below!

    Weeknight Black Beans

    Ingredients:

     

    • 1 tbsp. olive oil
    • 1/2 – 1 small onion, diced (I originally used 1 small onion, but will likely use 1/2 in the future)
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 tsp. oregano, adjusted to your personal preferences
    • 1/2 tsp. cumin, adjusted to your personal preferences
    • 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
    • 1/2 cup water or vegetable broth (I use water plus a bit of bouillon)
    • 3/4 tsp. hot sauce such as Tapatio
    • 1 tsp. lemon or lime juice
    • salt to taste

    Directions:

    • In a medium pot, heat 1 tbsp olive oil on medium-high heat.  

    Weeknight Black Beans - Onions Cooking

    • When hot, add onion and saute for 3 – 4 minutes or until translucent.

    Weeknight Black Beans - Onions with Spices

    • Then add garlic, oregano, and cumin.  Cook for approx. 1 minutes or until the garlic is fragrant.
    • Add in black beans, water or broth, and hot sauce.
    • Cook down on medium-high heat for approx. 15 minutes or until the beans are cooked to your preference and the water has mostly evaporated.
    • Add citrus juice and salt to taste, and serve immediately.