Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Healthy Options

  • Lentil and Vegetable Soup — Excellent for All Seasons!

    Last year, Andy and I went to his co-worker Claudia's condo for a Mexican cooking lesson.  Among the delicious things we ate was a super-yummy and filling lentil soup.  Although Claudia didn't use many vegetables in her version of the soup (potatoes, tomatoes and onion), with the bountiful set of vegetables from my weekly CSA deliveries, I decided to make her recipe into more of a vegetable and lentil soup this year.  I've made the soup about 3 – 4 times this spring, summer, and now fall.  Each time I've used a different set of vegetables and the result has never disappointed, so I would definitely recommend customizing this recipe to incorporate your favorite ingredients, no matter the season!  I would also recommend making this soup over weekends to serve as several weekday take-to-work lunches as well.

    Lentil Soup 

    This recipe makes about 4 meal-size servings.

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups water
    • 1 cup lentils, washed and picked through for stones (though I admit I do a cursory job of this)
    • 1 medium onion, quartered and then 3 of the sections chopped
    • 4 cloves garlic, 2 cloves whole and 2 coarsely chopped
    • 2 hot peppers (serranos, jalapenos and/or poblanos depending on your preference), sliced
    • 1 green bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
    • 2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
    • 1 medium carrot, sliced into 1/2 inch circles
    • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
    • 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
    • 2 tbls. vegetable oil
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Directions

    • Bring water, lentils, the full quarter of the onion, the 2 whole cloves of garlic and 1 tsp. salt to a boil
    • After the soup boils, reduce heat to a simmer for 20 minutes.
    • While the soup is simmering, in a separate medium saucepan, heat vegetable oil on medium heat.
    • Stir into the saucepan the chopped garlic, chopped onion, hot peppers, green peppers, tomatoes and carrot, and saute for 5 minutes.
    • Add in the garlic powder and ground cumin to the saucepan, and saute mixture for another 3 – 5 minutes or until vegetables have just become tender.
    • Stir the saucepan contents into the soup, and simmer the entire mixture for another 15 minutes or until the lentils are cooked to your taste.  Add in additional salt or pepper as necessary (if the soup tastes under-flavored, adding a modest amount of salt can really bring out the flavors).
    • Remove soup from heat and serve immediately.  Adding homemade croutons or crushed tortilla chips helps make this soup into a filling main course.

  • CSA Summer Yellow Squash Casserole

    I recently read that if you plant summer squash in your backyard
    garden, you should plant very little because summer squash can be
    especially fruitful.  That certainly seems to be true based on the TON
    of summer squash we have been getting in our weekly CSA deliveries. 
    I've done a fair share of sauteeing and grilling the squash, and
    finally reached a point when I just had to try something new.  I
    decided to make a summer squash casserole, similar to a mixed
    winter/summer squash casserole I made several years ago, by using some
    ingredients I had sitting around the house.  Directions follow the
    picture of the prepared casserole.

    Summer Squash Casserole

    This recipe makes approximately 6 side servings.

    Ingredients

    • 4 cups chopped yellow squash (approx. 2 medium squash)
    • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
    • 3/4 cup chopped onion
    • 2 tbsp. butter
    • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
    • 3/4 cup shredded parmesan
    • salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper to taste

    Directions

    • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
    • Melt the butter on medium-high heat in a wide saucepan
    • Add the garlic and onion, and saute until the onion softens (approx. 2 – 3 minutes)
    • Add the chopped yellow squash, sauteeing on high heat for
      approximately 10 minutes, or until the squash pieces soften and appear
      semi-cooked (inner parts of the squash have been softened, and appear
      somewhat translucent, but the squash has not browned).  Add salt,
      crushed red pepper and black pepper to taste.
    • Transfer contents to a lightly oiled or buttered 8 x 8 inch baking
      dish.  Sprinkle the panko breadcrumbs on top of the mixture, and then
      add the parmesan to cover the entire dish.
    • Bake uncovered for approximately 20 minutes, or until there is a lightly browned crust.  Serve immediately.

    While I enjoyed eating this casserole, I think that mixing in 1/2 a
    cup of a softer, shredded cheese — perhaps some mozzarella — to the
    squash mixture would be a welcome addition to the dish, both to add
    flavor and make the texture a bit creamier.  I think that this recipe
    would also work well doubled in case you also have to deal with an
    abundance of yellow squash!

  • Indian Style Cabbage Stir Fry

    The weekly CSA deliveries continue to make me try new recipes — or at least in this case, a recipe I have never tried despite eating several times.  For two or three weeks, I received a small head of cabbage in my share.  I've never actually cooked with cabbage, but I remembered that my mom made a tasty Indian cabbage dish that I used to eat a decent amount growing up.  So I called her up, and got her recipe — which sure enough, was extremely easy to follow, cooked up incredibly quickly and will definitely be repeated next time I pick up some cabbage!

    And the best part — which I learned at work the next day — is that a whole head of cabbage has less than 300 calories!  That means each serving of this recipe is maybe 75 – 100 calories at most! 

    Cabbage (Indian Style)

    Makes approximately 6 servings

    Ingredients:

    1 small head cabbage, outer green leaves removed and thoroughly washed (approx. 6 cups of cabbage, after chopped)
    1/4 cup peas (can be frozen)
    1/2 cup shredded carrot
    1 thai green chili pepper
    1 tsp. mustard seeds
    2 cloves garlic, sliced
    3 dried red chili peppers (can be found in Indian grocery stores), broken in half
    1 tsp uridahl
    1/2 tsp cumin seeds
    1/4 tsp turmeric powder
    Vegetable oil
    Salt

    Directions:

    1.  Chop the cabbage into small pieces — approximately 1/2 inch wide by 1 – 2 inch long pieces.
    2.  Place cabbage in the microwave for approximately 2 minutes to pre-cook.  Also place peas and carrot in the microwave for approximately 1 minute (if frozen, for 2 minutes).
    3.  At the same time, heat 2 – 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a saucepan on medium-high heat, and add mustard seeds.
    4.  After mustard seeds pop, add garlic, red chili pepers, uridahl and cumin, and quickly saute.  You want to cook until the garlic softens, but before it browns.
    5.  Immediately add the cabbage, peas and carrot; sprinkle on the turmeric and salt to taste; and ensure that the seasonings and oil coat all the vegetables. 
    6.  Saute the mixture for 10 – 15 minutes, stirring regularly until the cabbage reaches the consistency you desire.  Add more salt to taste before removing from the heat. 
    7.  Serve hot with basmati or long-grain rice, or Indian breads.  Think about how something so delicious can be so good for you!

  • Turkish-Style Zucchini Pancakes (Mucver)

    One of my favorite Turkish dishes is mucver, or zucchini pancakes, topped with a Turkish yogurt.  Despite my feeling that one can probably never mess up mucver (I've had it at multiple restaurants with varying levels of overall quality), I hadn't really thought about making it at home until I saw this recipe on the NY Times website a few months ago.  But even after seeing this fairly easy recipe, I didn't actually decide to plow forward and make it myself until I recently a HUGE zucchini from my CSA.  I have tried a few other dishes with the CSA zucchini, including a spicy stir-fried zucchini and sliced zucchini on homemade pizza, but the massive size of the zucchini I received that week meant that it was time to get creative so to the mucver I turned.

    Rather than follow the NY Times recipe which required a lot of ingredients that I didn't have and much more egg than I wanted ( I generally don't eat eggs unless they are in baked goods), I looked up a few other recipes and decided to just freestyle it with the following version:

    Zucchini Pancakes

    This recipe makes approximately 2 large main course servings or 4 appetizer-size servings.

    1 medium large zucchini, shredded
    1 egg, lightly beaten
    1/4 tsp salt
    2 tbls all-purpose flour
    1 tbls panko breadcrumbs
    1 green onion, finely chopped
    crushed red pepper to taste
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1/3 tsp baking soda

    Olive oil for pan-frying (approx 3 tbls)

    Directions

    1.  After shredding the zucchini, squeeze as much of the excess water out of the remains and pat the mixture as dry as possible.

    2.  Heat a heavy pan on high heat with olive oil for light pan-frying.

    3.  Mix all of the remaining ingredients together.

    4.  Place one large tablespoon of the mixture onto the pan, slightly flattening out to a 2 – 3-inch diameter with a spatula.  Repeat, leaving an inch or two between each zucchini pancake round.

    5.  Cook for approximately 3 minutes on each side, until fairly browned.

    6.  Serve immediately with a Greek or Turkish style yogurt or freshed chopped dill, if you desire.

    Although this recipe may not follow the true Turkish style of mucver, I found this recipe to be extremely quick, flexible and very tasty (not too eggy!), and look forward to trying other spices or cheeses with it as I happen to get them in my kitchen. 

  • Madhu Joins a CSA (and Simple Roasted CSA Beets)!

    After years of thinking about joining a CSA, I finally decided this winter that I no longer have any reasonable excuses (moving, working too much, etc.) for not doing it.  My friend Mike and I started to do a fair amount of research about the types of CSAs in the D.C. area, and about CSAs generally to get a better sense of what we would want to start with.  The first CSA we attempted to join was Clagett Farm — but unfortunately, it appears that everyone else in the D.C. metro area also wanted to join Clagett so we did not make it in through their process.  After regrouping, we decided on Karl's Farm, a farm located in Pisgah, MD.  The sign-up was relatively easy, and the location/philosophy and reviews seemed to match what we were looking for. 

    So almost three months later, our first delivery arrived about two weeks ago (Karl's Farm delivers to your home, which is also a big plus).  The first two weeks' deliveries included broccoli rabe (the first week I sauteed it in a skillet, and threw it on a pizza I was making), green onions, sage, oregano, mint, lemon balm, Daikon radish, a few varieties of turnips, and beets — lots and lots of delicious beets. 

    Roasted Beets

    Besides using some items like the broccoli rabe, oregano and green onions in some standard dishes that I usually make, I have been taking the time to learn more about roots like beets, radishes and turnips.  My most recent attempt to use these items included buying a handheld mandoline and baking homemade root chips — unfortunately though, the attempt was not successful as it seems I baked the very thinly sliced chips at too high of a temperature (375 degrees).  The "chips" seemed to both burn and undercook, so I would recommend cooking them at a lower temperature (maybe 300 degrees) for a longer period of time. 

    My first, and most successful, attempt to use these items though including the simple stand-by of just roasting the root vegetables in the oven.   After scrubbing and peeling them, I cut up the Daikon radish and turnips into 1/4 inch by 1/2 sticks, and threw up some mustard seeds and cumin on top of them.  I baked them at 375 for maybe 45 minutes, and they turned out wonderfully.  I also wrapped the individual beets in foil and baked them until tender — about an hour at the 375 temperature as well.  I quickly then sliced them (burning myself in the process, but I was so hungry, it didn't matter) and ate them without any garnish as they were just so delicious on their own.   They were so good that I am actually still upset with myself for messing with such a good, simple way to prepare beets and attempting my poorly-conceived vision (meaning burnt) of beet chips.  

    Definitely looking forward to what's going to come this week!

  • Back to Soups! Rachel Ray’s Corn and Salsa Soup

    Apparently there is hope that I will use the cookbooks and cooking magazines in my apartment, and not just rely on the internet and cookbooks from the library for my cooking and baking experiments.  I make this statement as the other day, I pulled out the one and only "Everyday with Rachel Ray" magazine I bought last year and made my first recipe from it.  I settled on the "Corn and Salsa Soup" recipe both because I thought it would be a filling soup for my friends who I were expecting for dinner, but also because it seemed that it would be a quick main course that would allow me to spend time on the two desserts I planned on making that evening. 

    Rachel Ray Corn and Salsa Soup Close Up

    I basically followed the recipe step-by-step, though I ended up using a can of plain diced tomatoes because I couldn't find fire-roasted tomatoes at a small grocery store nearby.  I found the soup incredibly easy to make  and despite my concerns that it would not have enough flavor, the poblano peppers definitely added a lot more spice than I thought.  I definitely look forward to preparing it again, especially because it had both a light consistency and somehow ended up being incredibly filling and healthy.  The recipe can be found online at:  http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/30-minute-meals/corn-and-salsa-tortilla-soup/article.html.

    Rachel Ray Corn and Salsa Soup   

  • Broccolini and Popovers — A Simple, Light and Very Garlic-Heavy Meal!

    About a week or two ago, I found some very good-looking broccolini at the local grocery store and decided to pick some up even though I had no idea what I should make with the bunch.  I ended up looking in my cookbooks (including the ones from the library) and couldn't find anything that seemed good so to the Internet I went!  I found this simple "Garlicky Broccolini" recipe from Rachel Ray:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/garlicky-broccolini-recipe/index.html.  I ended up making it one night, and decided to pair it with some Garlic Parmesan Popovers from my Gourmet cookbook — my first attempt at Popovers.   The Gourmet recipe is also online at:  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Garlic-Parmesan-Popovers-11444.  My thoughts on the recipes follow the pictures below.

    Garlicky Broccolini and Garlic Parmesan Popovers

    I thought the broccolini turned out well though I admit that I probably won't use this recipe again — it was just a little too simple, and I think there are probably other dishes I can throw broccolini in to make a more flavorful and memorable meal.  My first attempt at popovers also turned out well — I used my silicon baking cups and pre-heated them in the oven per a tip I found online.    They rose uncontrollably (as they should!) and had a great consistency when we took them out of the oven.   The only complaint I have is that they tasty pretty "egg-y", and as someone who is not really a fan egg-flavored foods, I could only eat one popover.  Andy enjoyed them though, and ate all of the leftovers so if you are looking for a popover recipe, it seems this would be a good one to start with!

  • One of My Top Winter Favorites — Roasted Cauliflower with Herbs

    A few years ago, I borrowed one of my roommate's Cooking Light magazines and found a recipe that I have made at least a dozen times since that day.  The recipe, for Roasted Cauliflower with Fresh Herbs and Parmesan, was something I was recently reminded of by seeing the "Giada's Kitchen" Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes recipe.  The difference between two dishes became apparent as soon as I tried the zucchini potato recipe the first time:  the roasted cauliflower recipe is just SO GOOD that I wish I had doubled it every time I make it.  The lemon, parmesan and fresh herbs (no matter which herb combination you use) complement the rich flavor of the roasted cauliflower SO well that it just blows away all other similar recipes I've tried in the past.  I only slightly modify the recipe whenever I make it by adding more garlic (not surprising to anyone who knows me or reads this blog!), adding more parmesan and just using whatever herbs I can find in the store. 

    Its a dish so good that it'll make you wish it was winter all the time! Please be sure to check it out:  http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1120275.  

    Roasted Cauliflower with Fresh Herbs

  • Giada Kitchen Week Continues — Lemon Ricotta Cookies

    As I blogged about earlier on the site, I recently checked out Giada De Lauretiis' "Giada's Kitchen" from the local public library.  The second recipe I decided to take up in the book was the Lemon Ricotta Cookies with Lemon Glaze, which is also available on the Food Network website at:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/lemon-ricotta-cookies-with-lemon-glaze-recipe/index.html. 

    Giada Lemon Meringue Cookies

    I decided to make them for a co-worker whose birthday was coming and has been trying a new low-fat, healthier lifestyle.  To make the cookies you see above, I omitted the lemon glaze both for health and taste reasons (I don't like overly-lemony sweets, which also led me to reduce the amount of fresh lemon juice used by 1 tablespoon), and I substituted low-fat ricotta.  I also reduced the baking time by about 3 – 5 minutes to make sure the bottoms didn't get too brown. 

    The cookies were definitely a hit in the office — I ended up emailing the Food Network link to no less than 5 co-workers (one of whom remarked to me last week that she was hoping to make them this weekend).  No one could tell that I had used low-fat ricotta, and some were surprised that the original recipe called for a sweet topping as well.  I think that these cookies are going to get added into the baked goods rotation at work given the overwhelmingly positive reaction!

  • A New Way to Avoid Cookbooks, and Giada’s Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Parmesan Crust

    A few weekends ago, I went to the public library and decided to browse the stacks instead of just making a beeline for the books I had already looked up or placed on reserve.  Not surprisingly, I found myself in the small cooking section of the library, flipping through a good number of the books.  I ended up checking out two cookbooks — Giada De Laurentiis' "Giada's Kitchen:  New Italian Favorites" and Carole Bloom's "The Essential Baker".  And of course, as soon as I got home, I started flipping through these books for recipe ideas instead of opening the cookbooks that I actually own and haven't used yet (I am too embarrassed to give the names of those highly-regarded, never-used cookbooks I passed up for the ones I picked up at the library). 

    I have to admit though, I've gotten a few good items out of "Giada's Kitchen" ("The Essential Baker" remains untouched, something that I think will change this week).  The first recipe I used was the Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Parmesan Crust, which is also online at:  http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/broiled-zucchini-and-potatoes-with-parmesan-crust-recipe/index.html. 

    Giada Broiled Zucchini Potato with Parmesan Crust

    I followed the directions in making the dish, though I did make a few ingredient substitutios.  Of course, I used slightly more garlic and perhaps 1/4 cup more freshly-shredded Parmesan.  I also ended up using 3 white new potatoes instead of the 4 1.5 inch-diameter new potatoes called for in the recipe because of what was available in the store.  I boiled the potatoes for maybe 5 minutes longer to compensate for their larger size, but clearly needed to add even more time to boil them because the centers remained a bit hard and undercooked. 

    The vegetables turned out pretty well — especially the well-cooked zucchini — but I have to admit that the dish lacked the amount of interesting flavors that I had experienced in other broiled/roasted vegetable dishes.  It could be that I needed to add just a little bit more salt, but I just don't know if that would have made the difference.  So, the bottom line is that I may make this recipe again if I am looking for something to do with zucchini and potatoes in the house, but otherwise I probably won't go out of my way to buy ingredients to make this dish.

    Giada Broiled Zucchini Potato with Parmesan Crust Close Up