Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Healthy Options

  • Five Minute Summer Bruschetta

    I love summer.  I mean I don't love hot weather or humidity…but I do love the fresh amazing vegetables and fruits.  Kicking off this summer's fresh vegetable season was my first attempt at bruschetta – the Italian fresh tomato dish that could not have been easier to construct.  

    My bruschetta included a slight variant of the traditional recipe in that I used parsley instead of the traditional basil.  This ingredient substitution was inspired by a version I had the day before from a North Fork, Long Island grocery store – the parsley seemed to add an unexpected lightness to the dish.

    Thankfully I was able to recreate this version with great results – tart, sweet and garlicky.  Definitely a recipe repeat that makes for a great make-ahead appetizer and can be prepared in virtually no time.

    Bruschetta

    Five Minute Bruschetta

    Ingredients:

    • 4 ripe tomatoes on the vine, chopped
    • 1 tbsp. red onion, minced
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 tbsp. minced parsley
    • extra virgin olive oil, to taste
    • kosher or sea salt, to taste
    • pepper, to taste

    Directions:

    • Mix ingredients together, adding salt, pepper and olive oil to taste.  
    • Let sit for 15 minutes (or more), adjust seasonings as necessary, and serve with toast, chips or crackers. Can be prepared several hours or a day in advance and kept sealed in the fridge.  

  • Gujarati-Inspired Dal or Mixed Lentil Stew

    This post describes one of my favorite new Indian main courses, a simple dish I have made multiple times over the past few weeks.  What makes this discovery that much more interesting is that I found it in an unlikely place – a cookbook that I had written off a few years ago.  The cookbook in question is Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking, which I had tried five years ago and had declared "simple" and bland."  And so to the bookshelf was the book relegated until I decided to give it a new try this summer.

    The dish I tried with success – though heavily modified – was the Gujarati Dal or "Mixed Lentils and Vegetable Stew."  The features of the recipe that I liked and kept was the mixing of dals or Indian lentils for the base of the dish, as well as lots of ginger, garlic and ghee which added a lot of deep flavors to the dal.  The recipe components that I changed or did away with were to remove a lot of the vegetable ingredients to result in a recipe that would mostly rely on what I had at home, instead of requiring a trip to the store.  Below is my heavily modified recipe and instructions – definitely a new favorite weeknight meal in my house!

    Dal with Cilantro

    Mixed Dal, Based on Julie Sahni's Gujarati Dal

    Ingredients:

    • 3/4 cup of mixed dal, consistently roughly of 1/4 cup of each toor dal, channa dal, and moong dal (simply what I have on hand – the original recipe uses four types of dal: toovar, masar, channa and moong)
    • 1 tomato
    • 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
    • 1 tbsp. fresh ginger
    • 2 tsp. garlic, minced
    • 1 green chile, sliced
    • 2 tbsp. butter (substituted for 4 tbsp. (!) of ghee)
    • 1 tsp. black mustard seeds
    • 1 tsp. cumin
    • Few pinches of asafetida
    • Chopped cilantro, to taste
    • Kosher salt, to taste 

    Directions:

    • Rinse the dal mixture well – you can pre-soak if you would like, but I have omitted this step.

    Dal Mixed Dal

    • Bring rinsed dal and enough water that covers the mixture by approx. 1/2 – 3/4 inch to a boil (use less water if you want a less soup-y dal – you can always add more water during the cooking process).

    Dal with Water

    • While the dal is heating, chop the vegetables to your preference.  Add the turmeric, ginger, garlic and chile to the dal as it gets warm (or when you first heat up the dish – your preference, I like to save time by chopping the vegetables as the dal is coming to a boil).

    Dal Vegetables

    • When the mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to a simmer, partially cover and cook for approx. 45 minutes – 1 hour or until the dal is fully cooked.  Stir every 10 to 15 minutes to ensure the dal is not sticking to the bottom of the pot.

    Dal Boiling with Water and Chiles

    • Remove cooked dal from the heat, and mash with a masher or puree in a blender until your preferred consistency – I prefer slightly chunky, so just hand mash with a potato masher.

    Dal Cooked and Mashed

    • In a separate pan or pot, melt the butter on medium-high heat.  When it is fully melted, add the cumin.  When mustard seeds become hot and start popping (use a splatter screen if you prefer to avoid getting hit by the mustard seeds), add the cumin seeds and asafetida, quickly stirring for 10 – 15 seconds.  Then add the tomato and cook on medium heat for approx. 3 – 4 minutes or until the tomato chunks start to break down.

    Dal Tomatoes, Butter and Spices

    • Add this butter/spice/tomato mixture to the cooling dal pot, and bring that pot back to a simmer on medium-low heat.  Add salt to taste and cook for 10 – 15 minutes until hot and the tomatoes reach the consistency you would like.  Garnish with cilantro and serve.  
    • This dish can also be made a day or two ahead of time, or you can just make the dal ahead of time and add the spices day-of.

    Dal Mixed and Cooked

  • Spicy Edamame Dip – Healthy Summer Snack

    For some unknown reason (except, perhaps, search engine optimization), the Food Network appears to be achieving more prominence in my cooking life.  I recently blogged about my first at-home soba sauce attempt, based on a Rachel Ray recipe, and maybe because it just showed up early in Google results, I also made a Trisha Yearwood spicy edamame dip a month or two back.  

    Spicy Edamame Dip Prepared

    The edamame dip is related to the soba dish in the sense that I had leftover frozen edamame after the soba attempt and I wanted to use it before too much time elapsed.  And so to the internet I went.

    I followed the recipe fairly loosely, in that I:

    • substituted frozen for fresh edamame, and the leftovers were not quite 16 oz.
    • used 1 tbsp. of lime juice instead of 4
    • halved the cayenne simply because I ran out, so threw in some red chili flakes instead
    • blended in 1/2 cup of the edamame cooking water instead of 3/4 cup

    Spicy Edamame Dip Ingredients

    My general reaction to this dip is that it was a pretty good dip base, particularly for cool, green summer party dips, but I probably need to add more herbs and citrus juice to really bring out the flavors.  It was slightly bland when I first made it, but I think more experiments could definitely make this better.

    Spicy Edamame Dip Served

  • Starting with Soba – Slowly, and Hopefully Surely

    Soba – the popular buckwheat noodle made in-house at several NYC Japanese restaurants.  Given that I love eating freshly made soba at restaurants, would I like eating boiled dried soba at home with my own sauce?  

    I attempted to answer that question by making my first bowl of soba with an improvised sauce based on a Rachel Ray recipe – not an auspicious start, to be sure.  But, I plugged along and ended up with a decent – though not great or amazing – at-home soba dish.

    Soba Noodles v2

    The recipe consisted of the following whisked ingredients, which were not much measured as guess-timated:

    • 1.5 tsp honey
    • Soy sauce
    • Red wine vinegar
    • Rice cooking wine
    • Sesame oil
    • Jalapeno, diced
    • 1/2 inch piece of ginger, minced
    • 2 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1/2 bunch scallions, chopped
    • 1 cup frozen edamame, microwaved
    • Sesame seeds, as garnish

    What resulted was a fairly bland sauce, on top of otherwise bland soba, but it wasn't a bad combination – just underwhelming.  I did like the texture of the boiled dried soba, and per some other online recipes, I think that tahini would be a great base for soba sauces.  So I'll be giving another soba attempt a go at some point – more to come in the coming months!

  • Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrot Lasagna – Lighter Winter Baked Pasta Option

    In the waning days of this winter, I prepared the NY Times Lasagna with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Carrots recipe, which conveniently used up leftover ricotta and brussels sprouts in the fridge.  

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Baked

    While the recipe took a few hours to prepare because of the pre-roasting of the vegetables, I really enjoyed the simplicity of the lasagna.  The vegetables interestingly added both light flavors and dense textures to the baked pasta, and I added a half-cup of grated mozzarella to the top of the dish before baking, which added some nice moisture to the lasagna as well.

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Served

    I will make several changes to the recipe if/when I make it again though.  First, I will definitely use more vegetables.  I used a 9 by 13-inch baking dish (the recipe did not specify a pan size) and the vegetables seemed a bit sparse in comparison to the pasta and sauce.

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Raw Vegetables

    This seemed to be the case even though I used approximately 1/4 more brussels sprouts and carrots than the recipe called for.  So maybe I'll increase the vegetables by 75%?  Increasing the vegetables by this amount will probably still keep the dish to 6 – 8 entree servings.

    Roasted Veg Lasagna First Layer

    Second, I'll also use more sauce – I used a bottle of roasted red pepper sauce that I purchased at Whole Foods, which seemed like 3 cups, but again, didn't seem like it was enough as the pasta was slightly dry post-baking.

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Layer with Parm

    Finally, I will also repeat one modification I made this time – using ricotta for three layers (including the top layer) instead of just the first two layers.

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Layers Side View

    I'll think about what else might be good modifications to this recipe over the spring, summer and fall – this is definitely a meal to be saved for winter!

    Roasted Veg Lasagna Pre-Baking

  • Saag (Spinach) Paneer – Easily a Recipe Repeat

    I have been making a decent amount of paneer-based dishes of late, most with a tomato base.  With some leftover store-bought paneer in the fridge, I decided to mix things up a bit and try a different sauce.  Given my past success with palak makai, an Indian spinach and corn dish, I settled on a saag (spinach) paneer recipe I found on the Food Network website.

    Saag Paneer Served

    (paneer pictured on left)

    I made a number of modifications to the recipe, and was generally happy with the results – it was creamy (maybe a little too creamy?), flavorful and a great meal on a cold night.  I look forward to adding this dish into my dinner rotation!

    Saag Paneer

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 block of store-bought paneer, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
    • 10 oz frozen chopped spinach
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 1 thai green chile, coarsely chopped
    • 1 tbsp. minced ginger
    • 4 cloves garlic, minced
    • 1 tsp. ground cumin
    • 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
    • 1/2 tsp. paprika
    • 1/2 tsp. garam masala
    • 1 – 2 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
    • 1/3 cup sour cream, or to taste (I may have used too much – recommend reducing to 2 – 3 tablespoons)
    • salt, to taste

    Directions:

    • Microwave the spinach to package instructions, and drain.
    • At the same time, heat oil in a saute pan on medium heat.  When hot, add onion, chile, ginger and garlic.  Cook for 8 – 10 minutes, or until onion becomes translucent and slightly browned.
    • Add the spices, and cook for 1 – 2 minutes or until spices are fragrant.
    • Add the spinach and cook for 5 – 7 minutes.  
    • Stir in the sour cream and cook until mixture is boiling. 

    Saag Paneer Spinach Cooking

    • Then add the paneer and cook for another 5 – 7 minutes, or until the paneer is warmed through.  Season with salt to taste and serve.

    Saag Paneer Cooking with Paneer

  • First Attempt as Hash Browns – My Technique Needs a Lot of Work!

    For a recent weekend breakfast we had at home, I tried my hand at making hash browns for the first time.  While I selected a Cook's Illustrated recipe, and therefore thought I was set up for success, I committed the fatal flaw of not perfectly following the recipe and ended up with a bit of a gummy mess.  

    Hashbrown Raw Potatoes Whole

    I think the problems started when I didn't squeeze enough water out of the grated potato shreds (see below).  I think the extra moisture helped turn the potatoes red/purple during cooking and forced me to increase the cooking time significantly because there was simply too much moisture and starch in the dish.

    Hashbrowns Raw Shredded

    In addition, I probably let the shredded potatoes sit too long before cooking, with CI warned could lead to browning.

    Hashbrowns Partially Cooked

    And so the potatoes cooked, cooked and cooked – the cooking time was probably double to triple what the recipe originally called for.

    Hashbrowns Cooking Flipped

    (flipped hash browns)

    I'll admit one more flaw evident from the pictures – I used a nonstick skillet instead of a cast-iron, which would have improved the cooking time dramatically as well.

    Hashbrowns Cooked

    So next time, a few modifications will be made.  First, the pan will become a cast-iron skillet.  Second, I will actually squeeze out ALL of the water from the potatoes with a kitchen towel instead of paper towels.  Third, I will probably also soak the potatoes in a bit of salt water before squeezing the water, to get rid of excess starch that can discolor the raw, starchy potatoes.  I use this final technique with the Indian potatoes I make, and have read online that that step can make a major difference.

  • Indian Roasted Cauliflower – Not as Great as My First Attempt!

    Some of you, even my most loyal of readers, may not be aware of the origination story of this blog.  

    A little over ten years ago, a move to a much more expensive city, coupled with a pay cut, necessitated that I really learn how to cook.  Around the same time that I started to get into cooking at home, I realized that after only 5 years of knitting, I had already started to forgot techniques that I had learned, new modifications I had taught myself, and whether I liked certain pattern/yarns/etc.  I decided to create a blog both to help me keep track of my successes, failures, and lessons learned and to share that information with others.  

    While this project has been largely successful for the 9 years I have been blogging – I regularly consult my blog for ideas and to jog my memory of certain projects – I recently failed to adhere to this founding principle.  Perhaps not surprisingly, I attempted to create a recipe that I had already tried, but with less great results than my initial attempt.

    Roasted Indian Cauliflower - For Serving

    (2015 roasted cauliflower, ready for serving)

    This project was an Indian-spiced, roasted cauliflower, which I initially made in 2010.  That initial 2010 attempt was fairly simple – just a few ingredients, and I sauteed the spices with the cauliflower before roasting the dish.  The 2015 version by contrast had far more ingredients, a little much oil, and I did not pre-cook the spices to get them fragrant, rather just threw everything in oven.  I'll consider this a lesson learned, and probably default to the original recipe in the future, instead of using the below attempt as my guidepost.

    Roasted Indian Caulifower - on Cooking Sheet

    (pre-roasted cauliflower with spices)

    2015 Indian Roasted Cauliflower

    Ingredients

    • 1 head cauliflower
    • 1 tsp turmeric (this was too much!)
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
    • 1/2 tsp minced garlic
    • 1 – 2 tbsp. olive oil (also too much!)
    • salt, to taste
    • pepper, to taste

    Directions:

    • Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees, and line a baking sheet with foil.
    • Chop cauliflower into bite sized pieces, discard outer leaves, and toss pieces in a large bowl with the other ingredients.
    • Place the cauliflower on the baking sheet, and spread out evenly.
    • Roast for 10 minutes, and then toss the cauliflower a bit to re-adjust placing across the baking sheet.  Place back in the oven for 5 minutes or until cauliflower is roasted to your preference.

    Roasted Indian Cauliflower - Raw

    (Raw cauliflower, tossed with spices and oil)

  • Stir-Fried Tofu with Green Beans, Chiles and Scallions

    I haven't been making as much tofu as I have in years past, but in an effort to get more protein into my diet, I've been looking into new ways to this vegetarian protein staple besides sauteing tofu cubes in a simple soy-chile sauce.  

    In the course of those searches, I found a NY Times online series about weeknight stir-frys and saved a copy of the version that included green beans, chiles and scallions.  I finally made the ripe when I was able to purchase Shaoxing rice wine, the one ingredient that wasn't in my pantry and that I couldn't find at local grocery stores.  My husband was able to pick up a bottle in Chinatown, and so away I went with preparing the recipe!

    Tofu with Green Beans and Chiles Cut Veggies

    The dish itself was very easy to construct, and definitely is the perfect amount of prep/cooking time for a weeknight meal, but there are a few tips I have for making it again.  First, I would use a nonstick pan or wok to cook the dish because when I used a cast-iron skillet, some of the tofu sides touching the pan stuck to the pan and weren't easily removable.  Second, I skipped the pre-cooking of the drained tofu slices, and I think next time, it would make sense to add that step in (perhaps while chopping the vegetables) because otherwise, even the drained and squeezed tofu slices added a lot of water to the sauce so the dish was more broth-y than I would like.  

    Tofu with Green Beans and Chiles Tofu Slices

    Finally, I added some extra soy sauce and chile-garlic sauce to the final dish because it otherwise was slightly bland (think the ratio of ginger/garlic/herbs/sauce may be slightly low for the amount of main ingredients – also the water from the tofu probably also diluted the flavors).

    Tofu with Green Beans and Chiles Cooking

    Welcome back to my diet, tofu!

  • Chickpeas with Scallions and Cilantro – Healthy but not Flavorful

    Given my obsession with making homemade hummus for parties, our kitchen has become flush with dried chickpeas.  To try something new beyond hummus and chole, I was attracted to a recently promoted New York Times recipe for Chickpeas with Mint, Scallions and Cilantro.  

    I ended up not following the recipe to a T, but rather modified it to make enough for 2 – 3 servings.  Unfortunately, even though I probably used heavier seasonings than the original recipe, I found the dish to be pretty bland.  Basically, "chickpeas with scallions and cilantro" sums up the flavors.  Maybe the mint would have made the dish interesting enough to stand on its own, but I think this probably won't be a recipe repeat in the future.

    Chickpeas with Cilantro and Scallions

    Chickpeas with Scallions and Cilantro

    Ingredients:

    • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
    • 1 medium yellow onion, halved with 2 cloves stuck into either end
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1.5 tbsp. olive oil
    • 2 scallions, chopped into 1/4 inch segments
    • 1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
    • pinch of saffron threads

    Directions:

    • Drain chickpeas, and place in a medium pot.  Cover the chickpeas in water, with water line going one inch above the chickpeas.  Add the halved onions, bay leaves, and 1/2 tsp. salt, and bring to a boil.
    • Lower to a simmer, removing any foam that appears, and cook for 45 minutes – 1 hour, or until tender.
    • Drain chickpeas, throw away spices, and and then add olive oil and saffron to the pot, coating chickpeas in the oil.  Add scallions, cilantro, and toss to combine.  Add salt as necessary and serve while warm.

    Chickpeas with Parsley and Scallions Plated