Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Vegan Recipes

  • Vegan Thai Green Curry – Third Time’s Almost the Charm

    I seem to be on an 5-year cycle of attempting vegan Thai green curry, based on my last posts on the topic.  This latest attempt was inspired by Nancie McDermott's Simply Vegetarian Thai Cooking cookbook which I picked up from the library pre-pandemic. 

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Ready to Serve

    McDermott's curry approach is to first boil a small amount of coconut milk and then add the curry paste to allow the curry and coconut flavors to bloom and better influence the final dish.

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Pre-Boiling Coconut Milk

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Coconut Milk and Curry Paste Blooming

    It's been so long since I last made Thai curry that I can't tell if this approach made a difference to the final flavors, which I still found a little bland for my tastes.  I've made this recipe twice in the past few weeks.  The second time, I quadrupled the curry paste (~4 tbsp.) and added some diced green chile which did make a noticeable, but not complete, flavor improvement.  

    I also tried to ensure the tofu took on more of the curry flavor by layering the cut tofu with paper towels and placing a can on top for as much water to press out as possible.  I placed the can on the tofu for approx. 30 minutes.

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Tofu Draining Top

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Cut Tofu Draining

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Can on Tofu Draining

    The tofu did seem to retain its shape better using this approach, and it may have also absorbed the flavors of the dish more than if the tofu was more watery.  Unfortunately, my lack of traditional tofu prep in recent years is fogging my memory on how much of a difference this approach made!

    I decided to improvise my own vegetable add-ins, and selected red bell pepper, onion, and carrots.  I added the carrots in when I added in the tofu and coconut milk, and I added the bell pepper and onion after the curry had been boiling for about 10 minutes.

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Vegetables

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Bloomed Curry Paste with Tofu

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Coconut Milk and Carrot

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Bell Pepper and Onion Added

    Thai Tofu Green Curry - Veg Final Cook

    I added another dash of soy sauce at the end to add more flavor to the dish, so I think moving forward I will probably double the amount of soy sauce to 2 tsp.  Finally, I also think that the carrots were a bit overcooked, so moving forward I will probably cook the tofu in the boiling curry for 5 minutes, then add the carrots for another 5 minutes, then the bell pepper and onion for the final ~5 minutes of cooking to make sure each cooks the appropriate amount.  

    I still need to figure out how to nail a green curry flavor and not coconut milk-forward Thai green curry.  Stay posted for my next attempt in 5 years!

  • Simple Weeknight Black Beans in the Instant Pot – A Tasty, No Pre-Soak Approach

    I generally pre-soak dried beans before cooking them, even with the Instant Pot, because I find it leads to a more evenly cooked set of beans.  Milk Street though recently posted a Instant Pot Black Beans recipe that does not require a pre-soak, so I decided to try it to see if it would result in a good, weeknight-only bean dish.

    Milk Street Black Beans - Served

    I've made a modified, quartered amount recipe twice so far, and have been pretty satisfied with the result.  The beans are nicely salted, and have a mildly acidic tang from the tomato and onion that cooked down into the bean broth.  

    Milk Street Black Beans - Vegs

    The modifications I have made to the recipe are to use a regular tomato in place of the cherry / grape tomatoes, and rather than use a head of garlic with the top third severed, I've used the peeled, whole cloves of approx. 1/4 a head.  

    Milk Street Black Beans - in Instant Pot

    Milk Street Black Beans - Vegs Included

    The one modification I do not recommend you make is reducing the cooking time, even if you are halving or quartering the recipe as I did.  The beans need a full 35 minutes to cook, as I learned from my first effort to cook at 32 minutes.  You can serve these beans as a standalone side or incorporate into meals how you desire.  Below is how I used these beans in loaded vegetable tostadas.  Enjoy!

    Milk Street Black Beans - on Tostadas

  • Broccolini Pasta with Garlicky Breadcrumbs – Satisfying, Multi-Textured Dinner

    While I have a go-to broccoli rabe with pasta recipe, as readers of this blog know, I get bored easily and always want to try new approaches.  

    Enter Milk Street's Orecchiette with Broccolini.  While I didn't have orecchiette, I was intrigued by their garlic-infused panko breadcrumbs and cooking the broccolini, which I was able to procure instead of broccoli rabe, separately from the pasta for presumptively deeper flavor.

    Broccolini Pasta - Served

    The result was fantastic.  In contrast to our standard approach, the garlickly breadcrumbs added a great flavor and texture to the pasta and the sautéed broccolini remained crunchy.  The final dish was also less oily than our standard approach, which I appreciated because it made the pasta seem healthier and less heavy / fatty.  I also omitted a shaved parmesan topping because the dish was so good on it's own!

    I modified the proportions of the dish to accommodate the 10 oz. of pasta I had and slightly less than one pound of broccolini.  I used 3 cloves of minced garlic and 3 cloves of sliced garlic, and reduced the pasta cooking / sauce water to 4.25 cups, which may have been too much (more on that below).  I also omitted the anchovies because I am vegetarian, and didn't notice it's omission at all.

    You start by preparing the garlicky panko breadcrumbs.  Simply cook the garlic in olive oil in a medium pot, and then stir in the breadcrumbs until they are fragrant and lightly browned.

    Broccolini Pasta - Garlic Cut

    Broccolini Pasta - Panko Breadcrumbs in Pot

    Broccolini Pasta - Panko Browned in Pot

    Broccolini Pasta - Panko Breadcrumbs Done

    Then cook the chopped broccolini in the same pot.  Despite the multiple cooking steps for this dish, it's use of only one cooking pot and relatively short cook times makes this a weeknight appropriate meal.

    Broccolini Pasta - Broccolini Cooked in Pot

    Broccolini Pasta - Broccolini Cooked in Bowl

    And then yes, in the same pot used for the panko and the broccolini, bring a relatively small amount of water to boil before adding the pasta.  As stated above, I reduced the 5 cups called for in the recipe to 4.25 cups for my 10 oz of pasta.  I should have reduced the water further to 4 cups because I ultimately had to cook the pasta and sauce for longer at the back-end to evaporate additional water, leaving my pasta slightly overcooked.

    Broccolini Pasta - Pasta in Water

    Broccolini Pasta - Pasta Cooking

    Broccolini Pasta - Pasta Almost Cooked

    Broccolini Pasta - Pasta Cooked

    Then toss with the breadcrumbs and serve.  Yum!

    Broccolini Pasta - In Pot with Breadcrumbs

  • Parsley, Arugula and Scallion Salad – Interesting Way to Liven Up a Salad Side Dish

    Lots of arugula in the fridge with no idea what to do?  Surprisingly, my first stop wasn't CooksIllustrated.com, but instead Chris Kimball's post-CI venture, Milk Street.  I am not sure what drew me to the recipe I chose – Parsley and Arugula Salad with Lemon and Sesame – but the result was interesting enough to replicate again.

    Arugula Scallion Salad - Served

    That being said, I didn't exactly follow the recipe.  I omitted the lemon zest entirely, reduced the juice to that which comes from ~2/3 of a medium lemon, and substituted cebolla for the scallions.  Finally, I didn't want a salad that was mostly parsley, so I reduced the parsley to about 1 cup from the 3 called for in the recipe.

    Arugula Scallion Salad - Scallions Oil and Lemon

    Arugula Scallion Salad - Sesame Seeds Toasting

    Arugula Scallion Salad - Arugula Greens

    This recipe proved itself to be a great guide though in that my improvised result was quite tasty.  A sharpness of flavors from the lemon juice; a nutty crunch from the toasted sesame seeds; and an unexpected freshness from the parsley.  The pepper flavor of the arugula was also muted nicely by the lemon juice and olive oil.  This salad would be a great, healthy summer side for a party so I can see myself improvising it again!

  • Madhur Jaffrey’s Quinoa Upma – Similar to Steel Cut Oats Upma, Not as Good as the Original

    Similar to Madhur Jaffrey's Instant Pot Mung Dal with Spinach, I learned a lot about the Instant Pot itself when I made her Quinoa Upma or Quinoa with Tomatoes recipe.  I had never used the "rice" setting before, nor had I cooked quinoa in the Instant Pot before.  

    Madhur Jaffrey Quinoa Upma - Served

    Both turned out really well, so those are lessons that I will carry into the future (along with the 1.5 water to quinoa ratio for the Instant Pot rice setting).  

    However, the final dish itself felt like it had some elements missing – similar to the Steel Cut Oats Upma I made a few years ago.  In both, I didn't include curry leaves, which may have been the key omission, and Jaffrey's recipe also called for the inclusion of mint as well, which I didn't have on hand.  

    Madhur Jaffrey - Quinoa Upma Tomatoes and Onion

    Madhur Jaffrey Quinoa Upma - Tadka

    Madhur Jaffrey Quinoa Upma - Tomatoes Onions Cilantro Cooking

    Madhur Jaffrey - Quinoa Upma Boiling
    The recipe could have also benefited from more salt and a more thorough washing of the quinoa.  I definitely did not wash the quinoa sufficiently to remove the bitterness from the grains.

    Madhur Jaffrey Quinoa Upma - Instant Pot Set

    In short, this recipe is good for a decent breakfast or brunch side with a slight spiced tomato flavor coming through and the grains cooked perfectly, but it lacks the depth of flavors to really carry a meal on its own.  I'll report back if I find the modifications that can make this dish the star it should be!

  • Improvised (Simplified) Curtido – A Salvadoran Coleslaw

    Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian continues to be my go-to cookbook for leftover vegetable and beans, so I immediately knew where to turn for some leftover green cabbage from an Indian stir fry.  

    I settled on the book's curtido recipe, a Salvadoran-style coleslaw that I thought could work despite my lack of iceberg lettuce and carrots, which were included in Jaffrey's version.  A good approximation of Jaffrey's recipe can be found on Serious Eats.

    Curtido - Ingredients

    Given that the cabbage I had on hand didn't fit Jaffrey's proportions, I didn't bother to measure the remaining ingredients.  I just added them to taste – red wine vinegar, oregano, cayenne, and olive oil.  

    Curtido - Served

    I then immediately started eating the curtido before letting the remainder rest in the fridge for another hour or so. 

    While the freshness of the cabbage, combined with the sharpness of the vinegar, made it a tasty, crunchy snack, the oregano and other flavors weren't that compelling to have us keep returning to it.  Instead, we quickly lost interest in the curtido after the first day and ended up throwing away the leftovers :-(  So this might be a good vegan side to a larger summertime meal, but not a dish to stand on it's own.

  • A More Substantive and Comforting Vegetable Noodle Soup

    I recently blanched and froze a lot of celery to use in soups, red beans and rice, and other stew-type dishes.  My first use of this frozen celery was in an updated version of the homemade vegan noodle soup that I've been perfecting over the years.  The key updates I made were adding in some Instant Pot-cooked chickpeas and a bit of turmeric, inspired by a Cookies and Kate recipe.  

    This revised recipe was really fantastic – the light carrot, celery, and parsley flavors that one expects in a vegetable or chicken noodle soup, with a lot more substance from the added chickpeas.  This really was a great, comforting one-pot meal, though I couldn't help but serve it with some homemade bread as well :-)  Recipe follows the pictures of the final products.

    KAF Baked Bread - Out of Oven

    Better Vegetable Soup - Served

    Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup, v3

    Approximately 3 – 4 main course servings

    Ingredients:

    • 2 tbsp olive oil
    • 1/2 onion, diced
    • 3 carrots, chopped into 1/4 inch cubes
    • 1/2 cup – 3/4 cup chopped (frozen) celery
    • 2 cloves garlic, sliced
    • 1/4 tsp salt, more to taste
    • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas, cooked (or 1 can of cooked chickpeas)
    • 1 dried bay leaf
    • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
    • 6 cups water
    • 4 tbsp. Better than Bouillon, any flavor you prefer
    • 3 tbsp. parsley, minced
    • 1/4 – 1/2 cup tiny pasta
    • Fresh lemon juice, to taste
    • Black pepper, to taste
    • Parmesan, grated to taste

    Directions:

    • Heat oil in a soup pot on medium-high heat, and when hot, add the vegetables and salt.  Cook down for approximately 10 minutes or until the vegetables just start to brown
    • Add chickpeas, bay leaf, turmeric, water, and Better than Bouillon, and raise heat to high to bring contents to a boil
    • When the soup is boiling, add in the pasta and cook according to package directions
    • Finish by seasoning with parsley, salt, pepper, and lemon juice to taste.  Add grated parmesan cheese if desired
    • Serve immediately

  • The Delicious Book of Dhal – New Approaches to an Indian Staple

    On a recent trip to the library, I decided to browse the cookbook and craft sections before checking out the books I had intended to pick up.  As I was looking through the stacks, I found a cookbook that I was truly not expecting.  The Delicious Book of Dhal, by Nitisha Patel, promised new approaches to a staple of every Indian meal that usually doesn't require formal recipes.  

    Curious to see if there could truly be new ways to spice up Indian pulses, I added the book to my check out stack.  

    Dahl Tadka - Served

    Funnily enough, while the intention to try something new convinced me to check out the book, I ended up making only the book's simplest dal recipe – Patel's version of Dal Tadka, or just a simple cooked dal to which bloomed spices are added.

    I cooked the dal in my Instant Pot, and the toor dal required only 6 minutes on high pressure before it was cooked.  Similar to other Instant Pot experiences I've had, using approx. 1.5 liters of water was a bit too much for the amount of dal so I had to drain some of it before proceeding.

    Dahl Tadka - Dahl After Initial Pressure Cooker

    Dahl Tadka - Close Up Post Pressure Cooker

    I then prepared the tadka, or the stovetop pan with the spices that would ultimately flavor the dal.  The spices heating in oil definitely made our apartment – and entire apartment floor (sorry neighbors!) – smell like Indian food for several hours, but the results were very good.

    Dahl Tadka - Tadka Seasonings in Pan

    Dahl Tadka - Tomatoes and Seasonings in Pan

    Dahl Tadka - Tomatoes and Seasonings Cooked Down

    I particularly liked the addition of lemon juice and brown sugar to add a tamarind-like sweet-and-sour flavors to the finished dal, reminding me that I have tamarind pulp in my freezer that I should be using more often!

    So hat's off to Ms. Patel, though I still need to try her more complicated recipes to fully assess whether a cookbook adds much to this Indian staple.

  • Cauliflower with Scallions and Black Mustard Seeds – Cauliflower for a Crowd

    In what appears to be a 4 – 5 year trend, I picked up Julie Sahni's Classic Indian Cooking off the bookshelf thinking that it's been some time since I last tried this cookbook, maybe I should give it another try? 

    This after an initial recipe attempt in 2010 – Potatoes Smothered in Shallots – which I declared "incredibly bland" and "fairly," and a more encouraging 2015 attempt of Gujarati-Inspired Dal, which has since become a kitchen staple (albeit with several modifications). 

    Sahni Cauliflower - Cooked
    Sadly, this latest 2019 effort more approximated the 2010 Sahni experience than the 2015 one. Perhaps because I again followed the directions fairly closely or maybe because this cookbook just isn't my cup of tea. 

    In any case, the recipe I settled on – Cauliflower with Scallions and Black Mustard Seeds – was both a little too long to cook and a little too boring to ever really want to make again. 

    Sahni Cauliflower - Ingredient Prep Starting

    It took longer than I expected to cook in that it took not only a long time for the cauliflower to become tender on the stove-top, but also for the water to evaporate in the dish to produce a non-soupy consistency (approx. 15 minutes after removing the cover from the steamed cauliflower). This after I tried to drain some of the cooking water out to expedite the process. And then the final result was a slightly too-mushy cauliflower from overcooking. 

    Sahni Cauliflower - Chopped Cauliflower Close Up

    Sahni Cauliflower - Oil Heating in the Pan

    Sahni Cauliflower - Cauliflower in Pot Stirred with Spices

    The flavors of the dish were also just…fine. The curry leave flavor didn't come out until I reheated leftovers. The mustard seeds, turmeric and scallion flavors all did come through, but they didn't really wow me. If anything, it was too much mustard seed and turmeric – slight bitterness mixed with each of their distinctive aromas – and not enough other balancing flavors. 

    Sahni Cauliflower - Cauliflower Post Boiling in Pot
    So while this didn't require a lot of hands on time, I don't think this will be a recipe repeat unless I am looking for something relatively benign for a crowd.

  • Black Eyed Pea Tacos – A New Mexican-Inspired Side or Tortilla Filling

    I've had a can of black eyed peas in my cupboard for some time (so much time that I think this can was part of an apartment move last year).  And while the can hadn't yet reached it's 2020 expiration date, I decided that enough was enough and I should finally remove it from its perch on the cupboard shelf high above.

    Black Eyed Peas Tacos - Served

    The resulting improvised sauteed black eyed peas were a perfect filling for tacos, and I think they would also be good as an enchilada filling or one their own as a side dish.  They had a nice kick from the spices, a hearty yet soft texture, and a nice tartness from the tomato and onion.  And while the spices initially seemed to overwhelm the flavor of the black eyed peas, as the mixture cooled a bit, you couldn't mistake the unique flavor of the peas in this dish.

    Black Eyed Peas Taco - Filling Cooked on Stovetop

    And of course, this recipe also met a critical criteria for me – it was incredibly easy to prepare.  Took just 15 – 20 minutes to get a great filling meal for two on the table.  

    I will definitely be making this again and again.  In fact, I just bought a 2-lb. bag of dried black eyed peas because I was so happy with this recipe.

    Mexican-Inspired Black Eyed Peas

    Ingredients

    • 1 14-oz. can black eyed peas (or equivalent cooked beans from dry)
    • 1.5 tbsp. olive oil 
    • 1/4 cup chopped white onion
    • 1 plum tomato, chopped
    • 2 tbsp chopped fresh jalapeno
    • 1 pinch of garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic, minced)
    • 1 pinch of dried oregano
    • 1/4 cup water
    • 2 tbsp. minced cilantro
    • Salt and pepper, to taste

    Directions:

    • In a medium saucepan, heat olive oil on medium-high heat
    • When hot, stir in onion and jalapeno, and saute until the onion becomes translucent (approx. 4 minutes)
    • Stir in the chopped tomato, oregano, and garlic powder / minced garlic, and cook down for 2 – 3 minutes or until tomato is heated through and starts to break down
    • Add in the black eyed peas and 1/4 cup of water.  Cook on medium-high heat until the beans are heated through (approx. 5 – 7 minutes) and the water mostly evaporates. 
    • Garnish with cilantro, and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste
    • Serve immediately on it's own, or place a desired amount into heated tortillas for tacos or enchiladas

    Black Eyed Peas Taco - Filling Up Close