Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Healthy Options

  • My First Ottolenghi Recipe – Spiced Red Lentils with Cucumber Yogurt

    After salivating over Yotam Ottolenghi's many cookbooks, we finally tried an Ottolenghi recipe, courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library's eBook version of Plenty.  The recipe we tried was the spiced red lentils with cucumber yogurt, one of the book's few recipes we could construct with ingredients we largely had at home.

    While the dish was fairly easy to construct using the recipe directions, I was shocked at how many ingredients  (24) were used for this otherwise relatively simple dish.  Preparing that number of ingredients, along with blending some of the spices, made the meal more complicated than what I want in a weeknight meal and I could see why Ottolenghi's at-home recipes have some detractors.

    Ottelenghi Red Lentils

    Ultimately though, the dish was pretty tasty – rich flavor, enhanced by the fresh and dried herbs – but again, maybe not worth the effort.  The lentils, even with the flavored yogurt, were also not complex or interesting enough to stand alone as a one-pot dinner, rather would be better served with several other options.  

    Ottelenghi Red Lentils in Bowl

    On to the next one!

  • Gallo Pinto – Very Tasty, Healthy, and Cheap Black Bean and Rice Dish

    I had gallo pinto, or the Costa Rican "spotted rooster" dish, for the first time at Bogota, a Columbian and pan-Latin American restaurant in Brooklyn.  The dish was so good that I basically licked the plate to finish it, and immediately started searching for recipes as soon as we left the restaurant.  

    I realized fairly quickly that I didn't need to look too far because not surprisingly, my copy of Madhu Jaffrey's World Vegetarian had a simple recipe.  When I finally prepared it, I made a few modifications to fit what I felt that I wanted in the dish – the recipe below incorporates those numerous changes.  

    Ultimately, it was a really satisfying dish – but only when I included some Tapatio hot sauce.  I think the hot sauce helped address what was missing in the dish – a light vinegar and spicy taste.  Without it, the dish just seemed to lack flavor despite no shortage of salt, hot peppers, and vegetables.  But given that all it took was Tapatio to make this a flavorful, spicy and filling dish, I think it can easily turn into a household staple.  And if you make the beans ahead of time – or use a can – it's even an easy post-work, weeknight dish.

    Gallo Pinto

    Gallo Pinto – Adapted from Albertina Brenes de Estrada and Ada Bassey's Recipe in World Vegetarian

    Ingredients:

    • 3/4 cups dried black beans, cooked the night before to make approx. 2 cups
    • Approx. 1 cup of black bean cooking water
    • 3/4 cup long-grain white rice, cooked to make approx. 2 cups of cooked rice
    • 1 onion, finely chopped
    • 3/4 bell pepper, chopped
    • 1 large clove garlic, minced
    • 1/2 tsp dried red chile flakes
    • 1/2 tsp chili powder
    • 3 tbsp. chopped cilantro
    • 3 tbsp. olive oil
    • salt
    • black pepper

    Directions:

    • Heat oil in a large saute pan on medium-high heat, and then add garlic, onion, bell pepper, and chile flakes.  Saute until onions are translucent.
    • Mix in the cilantro, and then add the cooked black beans.
    • When warmed (approx. 3 – 4 minutes), add the cooked rice and stir well to mix the rice and beans together.  
    • Then season the mixture with the chile powder, and salt and pepper to taste, and keep the mixture moistened by adding 1/4 cup of bean cooking liquid at a time as the rice and beans gets hot.  (I put in approx. 3/4 cup of bean cooking liquid).  
    • Serve when hot with Tapatio or other preferred hot sauce.

  • Five-Minute Mexican-Inspired Layer Dip

    I love dips.  I particlarly love bean-based dips, no matter what they are comprised of – white/cannelini beans, chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, etc.  And so for our small Super Bowl get together, I knew I would make a dip – the only question was which one.

    In preparation for our pre-game trip to the grocery store, I decided I would make a Mexican-inspired layer dip (not a surprise for the Super Bowl!).  My usual go-to layer dip recipe is from a many-years-old Cooking Light magazine, and it calls for baking the dip for a warm served result.  I thought a baked dip would be a bit iffy for the Super Bowl though, both because the dip would get cold relatively quickly during this multi-hour event and because the I haven't quite figured out how to bake the sour cream without it getting an unpleasing consistency.  

    I ultimately decided to forge my own way with the dip, and made some game time decisions at the grocery store (pun intended).  I purchased a can of vegetarian refried black beans, jarred organic salsa on sale, light sour cream, scallions, cilantro, and a block of cheddar cheese.  To make the dip itself, I mixed the black beans with a bit of chile powder and minced garlic, and made this mixture the first layer.  I then added some sour cream to make it at least appear as a coherent layer, did the same with the salsa, cheddar cheese, and sprinkled some cilantro on top.  I added the chopped scallions as a side addition to the dish because one of our guests does not like scallions, but that would have otherwise gone on top of the dip as well.

    The dip turned out as one would expect – rich, flavorful and maybe a bit acidic because of the jarred salsa.  In the future, I will probably spend an extra five minutes to make a fresh pico de gallo salsa to reduce both the acidity of the dip and create a more fresh, light taste.  Otherwise though, I think this is the perfect five-minute dip to throw into an otherwise busy party preparation process.

    Mexican Layer Dip Top

  • Simple Preparation and Sadly Simple Flavor – Pasta with Butternut Squash Sauce

    The final dish featuring the 5.5 pound butternut squash was a fettucine with pureed butternut squash sauce, inspired by butternut squash-filled raviolis.  Because I wanted to rely on ingredients I already had on hand, I decided to opt for one of the simpler online recipes I had found – interestingly enough, the "Simply Recipes" version.

    I ended up using about 1/2 of the squash called for in the recipe (what I had on hand), though kept the onion and spices amounts from the original recipe intact.  I also microwaved the squash, covered, for approximately 13 minutes instead of roasting it to both speed up the process and account for my pre-cut squash chunks instead of a whole squash.  

    Ultimately, I found the sauce to have a one-note flavor and thought it could have benefited from more fresh herbs – particularly sage which pairs very well with butternut squash.  In addition, I should have used more water to thin the sauce because as I added the sauce to the pasta, it was a little too thick for my preference.  That being said, my dinner guests really enjoyed the sauce so I think it's a good recipe base from which to make alterations for a quick, healthy weeknight meal.

    Butternut Squash Pasta

  • Roasted Chickpeas – Healthy, Extremely Cheap Snack, Though Perhaps Too Laborious for Party Preparation?

    While searching for Super Bowl and Downton Abbey watch party snack recipes, I came across the James Beard Foundation's website, which I never had realized had so many fantastic recipes (thanks @beardfoundation on Twitter).  I immediately "pinned" the Roasted Chickpeas recipe by Allison Tozzi Liu because of it's apparent ease and use of ingredients I almost always have in my cupboard (dried chickpeas, olive oil, smoked paprika, cayenne, cumin, and salt – yup, that's it!).  

    As I started to prepare the dish though, and began putting thought into how to prepare it simultaneously with the other dishes I was planning on making for the party, I began realizing how much work it was taking for a relatively simple snack.  Not only did I need to cook the dried chickpeas, let them cool down and dry, but I also needed to stir the chickpeas every 10 minutes while they were taking up my oven from other dishes I wanted to bake.  The chickpeas took about 50 minutes – 1 hour to roast in the oven (instead of the 40 minutes called for in the recipe).

    Roasted Chickpeas

    The chickpeas were ultimately a fine party snack – light, crunchy, salty and healthy.  But given the amount of work that went into preparing them, I think I'll probably not make this dish again.

  • Another White Bean Dip and More Lessons Learned

    With a small party coming up, some leftover dried cannelini beans in the cupboard, and lots of fresh herbs in the fridge, I naturally decided to make a white bean dip a few weekends ago.  Instead of defaulting to the white bean dip recipes I have relied on this past though, including the Giada de Laurentiis version and the Cook's Illustrated rosemary white bean spread, I decided to try to find a new version that would make use of those plentiful herbs – fresh cilantro, parsley, chives, thyme AND rosemary – in my fridge.  

    I found the David Lebovitz version online, and both the ease and flexibility of the recipe appealed to me.  However, in loosely following the recipe instructions, I failed to heed the first, and most important, piece of advice Lebovitz had for his readers – use good beans!  The leftover cannelini beans in my cupboard have been there for…I don't remember how long.  That should have been sign number one to go buy some fresh beans.  Sign number two was when the beans took at least 3 – 4 hours to cook, and still didn't have the right consistency. 

    "Oh well," I thought to myself as I drained the beans and added them to the food processor with parsley, chives, rosemary and other accompaniments.  I also added 1/4 – 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid to the food processor without first trying to process the beans a bit to see how much liquid the dip would need for a good, dipping consistency.  Sign number three I had a problem was when after giving the ingredients a whirl in the processor, it was clear the dip was too watery.  

    Throwing caution to the wind, I decided to still serve the bean dish with store-bought pita chips.  The dip was actually pretty tasty in terms of flavor, but the texture was too watery for my preference and the beans didn't quite taste right, even pureed.  My guests also enjoyed the dip flavor, and somehow didn't seem to mind the texture issues that I had with the dish, which I guess could be considered an inadvertent success?

    I have learned my lesson though – use good beans and puree the beans first before adding more liquid!

    White Bean Dip Liebovitz

  • Butternut Squash Pulusu – An Andhra Pradash Speciality Perfect for Winter

    When confronted with a massive 5.5 pound butternut squash that Andy bought from the farmers market, I knew I would have to get creative.  

    In addition to making the Butternut Squash Soup that the squash purchase was intended for, I decided that I would have enough leftover squash for two more dishes.  As I was thinking about potential recipes, my mind almost immediately went to trying a pulusu, or Andhra Pradash stew that incorporates a variety of flavoring ingredients, notably tamarind to achieve a signature sweet and sour flavor.  I have never made a pulusu – which my mother has described correctly as an advanced form of cooking – and I thought that given that I basically had the ingredients at home, why not try?

    Thankfully, this first attempt was a complete success.  I seemed to use just the right combination of tamarind, brown sugar and other flavoring ingredients to produce a sweet, yet slightly sour and spicy dish that was perfect for a simple dinner party one night.  I put together the recipe using my mother's suggestions, a Cook's Illustrated technique, and Saranya Mandava's ubiquitous cookbooks (this time, the newer Millenium Mixture book).  The recipe follows the picture of the completed picture below.

      Butternut Squash Pulusu

    Butternut Squash Pulusu (or Gummadikai Pulus)

    Ingredients:

    • One small butternut squash, or approx. 1 pound butternut squash, skin and seeds removed, cut into 3/4 inch to 1/2 inch square pieces
    • 2 onions, roughly chopped
    • 5 – 7 dried fenugreek seeds
    • 2 tbsp. tamarind paste
    • 2 tsp. chili powder (to taste though)
    • 1 tsp. mustard seeds
    • 3 cloves garlic
    • 2 tbsp. brown sugar
    • 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
    • salt
    • water

    Directions:

    • Place butternut squash pieces into microwave-safe dish with a few tablespoons of water, cover, and microwave for 5 minutes.  Stir, and then microwave another 5 – 8 minutes or until the butternut squash can be easily pierced with a knife.
    • As the butternut squash is cooking, heat vegetable oil in a small pot on medium heat.  When hot, add the mustard seeds and fenugreek seeds.  After they become fragrant, add the garlic and saute until garlic is softened (approximately 1 minute).
    • Add the onion and cook until translucent.
    • Add the butternut squash, approx. 1 tsp. salt, 1 cup of water, and chili powder (starting with 1 tsp.), and stir mixture such that the butternut squash gets coated with the spices.
    • After a 4 – 5 minutes, add the tamarind paste, brown sugar, and water as necessary to keep the mixture as more of a stew than dry curry.
    • Cook for approximately 7 – 10 minutes or until the butternut squash is completely cooked, and the flavors have absorbed.  Add more salt and chili pepper to taste.

  • Super Simple and Flavorful Weeknight Meal – Mexican Rice Soup

    I love making soups, but they can often be a fairly time consuming affair with prepping a broth, cooking lentils or beans, and then of course cutting and cooking any vegetables or other add-ins.  Thus, when I first prepared the Vegetarian Times Mexican Rice Soup a week or two back, I was shocked at not only it's great flavor, but also the 30 – 40 minutes it took to prepare the soup.  

    Mexican Rice Soup

    I made a few modifications to fit the ingredients I had at home.  Instead of vegetable broth, I used two vegan boullion cubes; used one tomato instead of two; added 1/2 of a serrano chile; used maybe 1/2 cup of frozen corn; omitted the avocado; and used 3/8 of a cup of arborio rice.  

    I brought the broth and water to a boil and cooked the soup at high simmer through the entire process, instead of straining the broth of the solid flavoring vegetables and returning it back to the pot to re-heat.  Because I added more rice than called for in the recipe, I ultimately added another cup of water to the pot which seemed prudent because after the soup cooled, the rice soaked up a bunch of the broth.

    The result was fantastic – the lime juice, onions, and large helping of oregano flavored the soup wonderfully well, so it was both a complex flavor while still being a light, healthy-feeling soup.  I definitely look forward to making this again, and will experiment with different kinds of rice and pasta in the future as well.

  • Yes, I Turned to Cook’s Illustrated for an Indian Recipe. And, Yes, It Was Great, and a Really Wonderful Way to Eat Kale

    Not sure how I stumbled on this recipe, but I recently found the Cook's Illustrated Indian-Spiced Lentils with Kale recipe.  Given that I have been wanting to a) find better ways to eat kale and b) eat more protein-rich lentils, this seemed like the perfect winter recipe to try.  

    (And it uses some of the tin of dry mustard I purchased for the Classic Mac and Cheese, which is another bonus).

    The recipe was incredibly easy to make, though I had a few modifications and recommendations for future attempts.  First, I used masoor dal, which is a reddish lentil.  It appears that masoor dal is probably not the "red lentils" called for in the recipe though, because the lentils were incredibly mushy after only boiling for 5 minutes (instead of the 5 minutes of boiling, followed by 20 – 25 minutes of simmering called for in this recipe).  Second, I modified the recipe slightly for the amount of lentils I had on hand – 3/4 cup with 5 cups of water, instead of 1 cup of lentils to 6 cups of water.  Finally, I reduced the coriander by half and doubled the crushed red pepper to accomodate personal preferences.  (FYI for future attempts, I used curly green kale.)

    Indian Kale

    The resulting dish was really a great, one-pot, incredibly healthy meal.  The greens were very ginger-y which reduced their bitterness, and also had a lot of flavor from the spices.  This is definitely a must-try kale meal, especially for those (like me) who have trouble with the bitterness of this green superfood.

  • Ultimate Hummus – Homemade Hummus is Now a Household Must

    Hummus seems to have become a party staple over the past decade, and to make sure our first holiday party conformed appropriately ( 🙂 ), I decided to make some homemade hummus for the occasion.  Like almost everything else I prepared for the party, I turned to Cook's Illustrated for a recipe.  I settled on their Ultimate Hummus recipe for hopefully a flexible hummus that would appeal to everyone at the party.

    Cooks Illustrated Ultimate Hummus

    The result was FANTASTIC as in the best hummus I think I have ever consumed.  Perfect blend of flavors, creamy texture and just a really perfect complement to the carrots, pita chips and bread that we had served it with.  

    The recipe was so good that I recently made another run at it this weekend – though this time preparing one batch instead of doubling the ingredients.  This second time (following the recipe as is), the hummus was  much more dense and harder-to-stir so I added in a fair amount of extra olive oil.  The flavors were still great and balanced though, and I think I'll be eating it through the week on top of bagels.  

    The only additional note that I'll add with this recipe is that I used the recommended Jovya brand of tahini, but did not follow the chickpea recommendation.  Instead, I just used the dried chickpeas I had on hand from the bulk section of a grocery store.