Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Side Dishes

  • Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger – Earthy, Simple Indian Cauliflower Preparation

    Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India has become my new favorite cookbook with yet another solid, simple recipe. 

    Jaffrey's Ajwainwali Gobi or Cauliflower with Ajowan and Ginger is based on the recipe from Aurobindo Ashram, a place we have visited before in India.  It was quite a surprise to find that connection in this cookbook, let alone a recipe that makes use of ajowan / ajwain, a spice I bought long ago to prepare Ethiopian food and have had yet to use!

    Cauliflower Ajawain Served

    I found the prepared cauliflower, which was just lightly steamed on the stovetop, very earthy and flavorful.  The ajowan had a lighter and slightly more herby flavor than cumin, and my husband got some caraway flavor notes (though I did not).  I would make this simple cauliflower again and again, similar to the great kalonji greens which have become a frequent homemade staple.  

    Cauliflower Ajawain in Pot

  • Deceptively Delicious Capers, Parsley, and Breadcrumb Pasta

    I had long bookmarked the Milk Street's Fried Capers and Toasted Breadcrumbs Pasta, because I always have capers and panko around.  However, holding me back has been my perpetual lack of fresh marjoram, which I don't think I have ever bought. 

    Finally desiring a new pasta dish this winter, I decided to seek out fresh marjoram to make this pasta, and barring securing fresh marjoram, I resolved to substitute their recommended fresh oregano.

    Milk Street Capers Parsley Pasta

    I'm glad I finally took the plunge because this delightfully salty, herby, and crunchy simple pasta was a delight.  I really liked how much the strong flavors came out in the topping, which was a nice contrast to cream or tomato-based pasta sauces.  I do hope to try this recipe with marjoram though at some point as I did find the oregano a bit astringent, per the recipe designer's note.

    A few notes – I halved the recipe, and I used a bucatini pasta, which worked perfectly with topping.  The panko cooked much more quickly than the recipe called for – in 2 minutes v. 5, so I'd definitely carefully watch the panko once it's on heat.  

    I look forward to making this simple and lighter feeling pasta treat again in the future!

    Milk Street Capers Parsley Pasta Close Up

  • Broccoli Quinoa “Spoon Salad” – Great Lunchtime Meal

    We now receive the physical New York Times on the weekends, and one of the benefits of this subscription is being able to rip out appealing recipes from the paper.  For some reason, I get significantly more joy out of carefully tearing out a paper recipe to leave to taunt me on my dining table for weeks or months than just Internet bookmarking a website recipe.  

    One of the first recipes I've made from this recent round of ragged-edge tear-outs is the Quinoa and Broccoli Spoon Salad.  With bright hues from the broccoli and dried cranberries, and the addition of quinoa, this felt like a solution to my protein-light weekday salad routine.  

    Broccoli Spoon Salad - Served

    Thankfully, this dish lived up to my expectations!  In fact, as I type this post, I think I should make it today.  The dish has a diversity of flavors from the dijon mustard adding a tart sharpness, apple chunks providing sweet notes, broccoli contributing a grassy earthiness, and the cheddar nice salty and fatty flavors.  

    The preparation time is basically the time it takes for the quinoa to cook on the stovetop (~15 minutes?), as you use that time to prep the rest of the ingredients.  I did make a few modifications to the recipe, none of which though affected the preparation time:

    • No pecans because of my nut allergy
    • Steamed the chopped broccoli in the Instant Pot on 0 minutes, high pressure to make it easier to digest + eat

    Moving forward, I may omit the dried cranberries as well because the dish was already sweet enough for my tastebuds with the apples and dijon.

    Broccoli Spoon Salad - Close Up

    In a sign of how much I liked this dish, I ate the leftovers throughout a few days with nothing leftover throw away upon spoilage.  This is a great Sunday or mid-week meal prep dish!

    Broccoli Spoon Salad- in Mixing Bowl

  • Solid Classic Egg Salad

    Egg salad, egg salad – how you have entered our lives!  Building on the success of my first homemade egg salad, I decided to try a more traditional, mayonnaise-based egg salad from the Cook's Illustrated team.   

    Classic Egg Salad Served

    This egg salad was pretty good – the eggs cooked better this time (less dry) and the inclusion of mayonnaise didn't result in too bland of a flavor.  Instead, the herb, red onion, and celery flavors came through pretty well.  I added some leftover tarragon to this recipe as well. 

    And while the dijon mustard added a nice tang, I think a slash of champagne vinegar would have also helped add more diversity of flavors to this otherwise tasty egg salad.  I look forward to making this recipe again! 

  • Herby Irish Ale Bread – Full of Flavor, But Likely Not a Recipe Repeat

    I'm not sure what drew me to this Milk Street Irish Ale Bread with Caraway and Herbs, but perhaps it was my recent bounty of dill? 

    This recipe otherwise wouldn't be a draw unless perhaps I was preparing a brunch in which an entire flavored loaf would be likely to be consumed.  Generally our bread loaves get recycled into multiple uses – grilled cheese, toast, croutons – into which a highly flavored loaf won't easily convert.  

    Ale Bread Whole

    Unfortunately, this recipe didn't in turn convert me to a flavored bread enthusiast.  There were a lot of sweet, salty, and fresh flavors from the herbs, caraway seeds, honey, and beer, but I don't really know if they really came together into a compelling way.  Combined with a slightly stodgy texture,  this recipe will go into the "tried it" category. 

  • My First Chili! Instant Pot Mixed Bean and Sweet Potato Chili – Filling and Slightly Sweet

    With an embarrassing amount of Rancho Gordo beans in our pantry, I finally decided it was time to make my first chili.  I turned to Cook's Illustrated to find just the recipe, which their Instant Pot Bean and Sweet Potato Chili turned out to be.  Slightly sweet from the sweet potato, onions, and tomatoes; great depth of additional spice and flavors from the medley of dried spices; and a varied texture from the different beans and creamy sweet potato.  The flavor was almost like baked beans.  

    Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

    I halved the recipe, and ended up cooking the beans for 4 minutes more than called for – I think because I used some of the Rancho Gordo Chiapas beans which require a much longer cook time than most black beans.  Some of the beans were still not cooked.

    I also used fire roasted tomatoes (14.5 oz. can) because it's what I had on hand, fresh ground ancho chile powder, and no coriander.  I would make this again for a cold week.

  • Eggs, Eggs, Eggs! Herbed Deviled Eggs – Likely Not a Recipe Repeat

    Inspired by my deliciously herby egg salad, I decided to try some Herbed Deviled Eggs.  Unfortunately, as it turns out, chopped herbs aren't as wonderful in deviled eggs.

    Herbed Deviled Eggs - Front

    I found their texture to be displeasing in the otherwise smooth filling.  And unfortunately, I also found the mayonnaise in this recipe to be too overwhelming, and it also washed out the flavor of the herbs.  So not great texture and not great flavor. 

    Granted, I didn't have sour cream on hand to cut the mayonnaise flavor, and I also didn't bring the eggs to a boil on high enough heat, so the yolks were also overcooked.  Combination of user error and a recipe that didn't match my tastes.  On to the next!

    Herbed Deviled Eggs - Close Up

  • Madhur Jaffrey Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop – Bengali Kale / Collard Greens + Punjabi-Spiced Roasted Cauliflower

    I recently checked out Madhur Jaffrey's Vegetarian India from the library, and after making these two recipes, I went ahead and bought it.  The book seems full of simple recipes, but unique and canonical, that I look forward to mainstreaming in our kitchen. 

    I made these first two dishes the same night -  a Roasted Cauliflower with Punjabi Seasonings and Stir-Fried Baby Kale Cooked in a Bengali Village Style.  

    Madhur Jaffrey Cauliflower + Collard Greens

    I largely followed the marinated cauliflower recipe as is, though I omitted the ground coriander to meet my personal preferences.  I really liked the tart lemon and ginger marinated cauliflower.  It was a savory and spicy dish with a pleasing mouth pucker.  And because it's a largely hands off prep via oven roasting, it's a good side dish to add into any meal.  

    Madhur Jaffrey Collard Greens - Cooked in Pot

    The kale – in which I've twice substituted collard greens, and once curly kale – was nothing short of outstanding.  I would make this with every meal if I could.  The kalonji adds a nice herby flavor to the greens, and the chile adds a wonderful fresh spice flavor.  I really like the approach of steamed the greens in the pot with some water after sautéing with the flavored oil. 

    No need to use Bengali mustard oil – though I recently bought some – and the slightest bit of sugar seems to do wonders as well to reduce the inherent bitterness in these dark greens.  Perfect, simple greens for any meal!

    Madhur Jaffrey Collard Greens - Close Up

  • My First Egg Salad – Sans Mayonnaise, Slightly Tart, and Full of Herbs

    I don't know if I had ever consumed egg salad prior to a few years ago.  Why?  I wasn't a big fan of cooked eggs growing up (hence 2018 for my first hard boiled eggs attempt), and I also have similarly never been a huge fan of mayonnaise.  So you can tell why egg salad hasn't been that appealing.

    How did that change?  Well, ever so slowly, I have been trying egg salad sandwiches, largely because vegetarian sandwich options can sometimes be very limited.  This includes during a driving trip we took to Nova Scotia last summer.  As it turns out, limited options can lead to great discoveries, including a truly marvelous, herby egg salad sandwich at the Bread Gallery in West Hants, Nova Scotia.

    While tasting that remarkable egg salad, not heavy on mayonnaise and very heavy on fresh herbs, I thought I was a full egg salad convert.  Sadly, in the months that followed, I largely ate mushy, bland, and too mayonnaise-filled egg salads.  So when I finally decided to make an egg salad at home, I searched for recipes that would be heavier on the herbs and light on the mayonnaise.

    I was quite surprised to ultimately find an entirely mayonnaise-less, herb-heavy recipe on Milk Street.  Thankfully, the result was great – not quite what I remembered from the Bread Gallery, but very good with tarragon, chives, parsley, red onions, and ground turmeric.  And the best part – some light tartness from some champagne vinegar.  

    Herbed Egg Salad

    Halving the recipe was great for 3 – 4 servings. The only modifications I would make moving forward are to chop the eggs a bit smaller than the recipe calls for and perhaps experiment with a bit of vegenaise for slightly more creaminess.  Otherwise, I loved that the eggs weren't pulverized into a mushy, dry paste like too many egg salad sandwiches and that the fresh herb flavors came through.

  • A Simple, Excellent Weeknight Salt and Pepper Tofu

    Tofu, tofu, tofu.  How you have come back into favor, especially via quick recipes suited for a work night.  My latest attempt – Milk Street's Salt and Pepper Tofu.  This recipe required a cornstarch and five spice coating on the tofu, to get a nice crisp texture, and then a simple tossing with the recipe flavorings.

    Milk Street Salt and Pepper Tofu

    This recipe is so good that even with my multiple modifications, due to my limited pantry, it turned out wonderfully. 

    I halved the recipe; eyeballed the cornstarch, black pepper, and five spice measurements; and substituted garlic powder and crushed red pepper for the fresh garlic and chiles.  I also pressed the cut block of firm tofu for more than an hour, with a change of paper towels, for a fairly dry tofu pre-cornstarch.

    Yum!  A perfect weeknight meal with savory, spicy, tangy, and lightly sweet elements.