Madhu Knits and Cooks

Recipe, knitting, and sewing project notes

Tag: Cooking — Vegan Recipes

  • Vegan Miso, Polenta and Kale Soup – Oh My!

    I have to admit I have no idea how I stumbled on this recipe.  Maybe it was from trying to figure out how to use up the stoneground cornmeal in my pantry?  In any case, somewhere, somehow, and at some time, I added the Serious Eats Hearty Vegan Polenta and Kale Soup with Miso and Toasted Sesame Oil recipe to my Pinterest account.  

    Also unclear is why I decided to make this recipe a few weeks ago.  In any case, something inspired me to buy a leek, miso and kale for the task.  Looking at the recipe comments, I opted for low-sodium miso and low-sodium bouillon for the soup base to avoid over-salting the soup.  Other than those modifications though, I largely followed the recipe as is.

    I started by sauteeing the leeks in oil

    Miso Polenta Soup - Leeks Cooking

    Then added the vegetable stock and cornmeal

    Miso Polenta Soup - Cooking without Kale

    As the cornmeal thickened up the soup, I added a quart of ribbed kale leaves

    Miso Polenta Soup - with Kale

    Cooked the kale down for 5 – 10 minutes

    Miso Polenta Soup - Cooking with Kale

    And then added in the miso, (low-sodium) soy sauce, and some scallions

    Miso Polenta Kale Soup - in Pot

    The final result was perhaps not surprisingly a little under salted!  I ended up adding some more salt, and found the dish to be creamy and filling for a winter night.  I also thought the miso had a wonderful effect on the kale, by cutting the bitterness in this really delicious way.  I had no idea I could like kale this much in soup!  

    I ended up making this soup again the next week, and added in some regular sodium bouillon which had the effect of resulting in a perfectly salted soup.  I definitely think this will become a welcome staple to my weeknight winter dinner rotation!

    Miso Polenta Soup - Served

  • Steel-cut Oats Upma – Savory Breakfast for Health

    While I sometimes vary on whether I want a sweet or savory breakfast, savory is usually my preferred option.  And I feel that no one does savory breakfast quite like South Indian cuisine, which has a range of fantastic vegetarian breakfast items, from idli to dosa to upma.

    Upma is a wheat-flour based dish that incorporates many of the standard tempering spices and vegetables used in South Indian food generally.  It can be a great one-pot meal that I wanted to make even healthier by incorporating steel-cut oats – an approach used by some of my cousins.  My thought was that if I get this recipe right, it could be my new weekday breakfast that I could prepare on Sundays for the entire week (taking from a NY Times recommendation to cook a pot of steel-cut oats on Sunday to last until Friday).  

    Oatmeal Upma Prepared

    My first attempt at steel-cut oats upma was pretty good, though not great.  I think I should have added curry leaves to add a bit more complexity of flavor; used maybe 1/2 onion instead of a full one; and perhaps should have shredded the carrot instead of chopping it, for more textural consistency.  I'll report back as I continue to refine the recipe, but in the mean time, I think the following recipe will result in a pretty good, spicy and filling make-ahead breakfast.

    Steel-cut Oats Upma

    Ingredients:

    • 1 carrot diced
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 1 green chile, sliced
    • 1 tomato, chopped
    • 1 tsp ginger, minced
    • 1 cup steel cut oats, roasted
    • 3 cups water
    • 1 tsp salt
    • 1 tsp mustard seed
    • 1.5 tsp urad dal
    • 1.5 tsp channa dal
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric
    • 2 tbsp grapeseed or vegetable oil

    Directions:

    • Heat a small pot on medium heat, and dry roast the oats until fragrant with a nutty smell – approx. 2 – 4 minutes.

    Oatmeal Upma Toasted Oats

    • Place oats in separate bowl to cool, and use same pot to heat oil on medium heat.
    • When hot, add spices and stir mixture periodically.  When mustard seeds begin to pop, add the ginger, chile and onion.  When the onion is translucent (approx. 4 minutes), add the tomato and carrot.  Cook down for 4 – 5 minutes or until tomatoes begin to break down.

    Oatmeal Upma Spices and Vegetables Cooking

    • Then add oats, coating oats in vegetable and spice mixture.  Add water, salt and turmeric and bring to a boil.

    Oatmeal Upma Oats and Vegetables Cooking

    Oatmeal Upma Water Cooking

    • When boiling, turn down heat to low and cover the pot.  
    • Cook for approx. 40 minutes, stirring every ten minutes or so, or until the oats are cooked down to your liking.  
    • Add additional salt and pepper to taste before serving.

  • NY Times Red Lentil Soup with Lemon – Quick Weeknight Meal

    The revamped NY Times Cooking Section continues to displace my ambitions to use more of my stack of dust-collecting cookbooks.  In addition to the Times easy-to-navigate website, they also send out lovely, picture-rich emails daily which always have some tantalizing seasonal vegetarian recipe.  

    The latest recipe to catch my eye was the Red Lentil Soup with Lemon recipe by Melissa Clark.  The recipe seemed like a great way to cook through the new bag of masoor dal (Indian red lentils) that I bought, and also a great way to get some weeknight protein.  

    Red Lentil Soup Served v2

    True to the description, using red lentils and a healthy amount of lemon juice produced a much lighter version of lentil soup that one gets with brown or green lentils.  It felt almost refreshing, not a description one often writes for pulse-based soups.  

    Red Lentil Soup Finished

    The best part of the recipe is that you only have to cook the masoor dal for fifteen minutes before the lentils are tender and can be blended – amazing!  

    Red Lentil Soup Blending

    The only critique I have of the recipe is that it so closely resembles an Indian lentil meal that it didn't necessarily feel like a unique dish. But for a quick, healthy weeknight meal, it definitely fits the bill.

    The only modifications I made to the recipe were to use one tomato in place of the tomato pasta; slightly less than half of a lemon's juice; and one cup less water (so one qt. broth and one cup water).  

  • First Attempt at Indian Brussels Sprouts – Not Quite There

    I have had some great brussels sprouts curries in India, but unfortunately my first attempt to make such a dish in the U.S. was a bit of a mess.  The brussels sprouts were a bit too tough and undercooked, and the seasonings didn't fully come together with the vegetables.  

    That being said, I think I have a decent base from which to improve on.  I probably just need to figure out how best to cook the brussels sprouts down, and may need a longer, lower-heat cooking period which will help the spices incorporate as well.  As I continue to refine the recipe, please find the first-attempt steps below.

    Brussels Sprouts Curry for Lunch

    (Portioned for a work week lunch with paneer)

    Indian Brussels Sprouts Stir-Fry

    Ingredients:

    • 2 – 3 cups of halved, small brussels sprouts
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tsp urad dal
    • 1 tsp mustard seeds
    • pinch of hing
    • 1/4 cup chopped onion
    • 1 tsp ginger
    • 1/2 jalapeno, sliced 
    • 1/2 tsp turmeric
    • 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
    • 1/2 cup water

    Brussels Sprouts for Curry

    Brussels Sprouts Curry Ingredients

    Directions:

    • Heat oil on medium heat in a skillet, when hot, add spices.
    • When mustard seeds start to pop, add onion, ginger and jalapeno.  Cook until onions are translucent.

    Brussels Sprouts Curry Spices Tempering

    • Add brussels sprouts and turmeric to the pan, and increase heat.  Add 1/4 cup of water and cook until water evaporates, periodically stirring.  Continue to stir, adding water as necessary to ingredients do not stick to the pan.  
    • Cook until the brussels sprouts are to your liking, and add salt to taste before serving.  Covering the sprouts while cooking may also help them reach your preferred consistency.

    Brussels Sprouts Curry

  • Pati Jinich’s Cooked Tomatillo Salsa

    While I have a pretty good tomatillo salsa recipe that I've used for years, I recently decided to try Pati Jinich's cooked version of this simple salsa.  I have never heard of cooking tomatillo salsa before, but I think I am a convert to this new approach.  

    Pati Jinich Cooked Tomatillo Salsa Ingredients

    The main difference with this version and my standard version is that cooking down the salsa results in a thicker salsa immediately instead of waiting a few days for the mixture to thicken in the fridge.  In addition, the vegetable oil used to cook the salsa down adds a nice richness to the salsa.  

    Pati Jinich Tomatillo Salsa Ingredients v2

    I think this will be a great salsa not only for serving, but also for enchiladas and other baked dishes because of its thickness.  Look forward to making it more and more!

    Pati Jinich Tomatillo Salsa Blended

  • Madhur Jaffrey’s Mung Beans with Browned Garlic and Onions

    Trying to diversify my Indian protein mixes, I sampled a Madhur Jaffrey World Vegetarian recipe last year for "'Dry' Hulled and Split Mung Beans with Browned Garlic and Onions."  

    Mung Beans with Browned Onions

    It's a quick weeknight preparation – basically boiling yellow split mung beans and then adding some tempered seasonings with browned garlic and onions.  

    Mung Beans with Browned Onions - Dal

    Mung Beans with Browned Onion - Onions

    The result is equally simple – a dal with Indian spices and deep onion flavor.  I'm not sure if it stands a lot on it's own, but it's a nice, sweet onion-y alternative to other simple dals and can well complement a larger selection of Indian food.

    Mung Beans with Browned Onions and Green Beans

  • Successful Soba Sauce!

    Several months back, I blogged about my first attempt to make soba and an accompanying sauce at home.  That attempt was unfortunately unsuccessful, with a result lacking in both flavor and consistency.  

    Following that result though, I was not deterred – I bought more dried soba a few weeks later, and went back to the internet to determine a v2.  I quickly settled on a Mark Bittman recipe that would also make use of the leftover tahini in my fridge.  

    Bittman Soba Served

    I followed the preparation directions pretty closely – which were quite easy to follow – but I modified the ingredients to what I had at home, to what flavors I thought I would like (more spice), and to the different soba quantity in my packet (8 oz. v the 12 oz. called for in the recipe).  The ingredients I ended up using for approximately 3 main course servings were:

    • 1 tbsp. sesame oil
    • 2 tbsp. soy sauce
    • 1 tbsp. rice vinegar
    • 1 tbsp. sugar
    • 1/2 cup well-stirred tahini
    • 8 oz. soba 
    • 1 serrano chile, chopped and seeded 
    • A few shakes of tabasco sauce
    • salt and black pepper
    • 1 medium cucumber
    • Scallions for garnish

    I think this quantity of sauce probably could work for 12 oz. of noodles, and I also really liked the tabasco addition, so might use more of that in the future.  I also may add tofu to this dish in the future as well to make it more substantial.

    Otherwise, this recipe is definitely a keeper – you can actually put together the sauce in the time that the soba boils, and it has rich, complex flavors with the tahini, vinegar, soy sauce and scallions – yum!

    Bittman Soba Ingredients

    Bittman Soba Boiling

    Bittman Soba Sauce with Chiles

    Bittman Soba Sauce without Being Thinned

    Bittman Soba Thinned Sauce

    Bittman Soba Sauce with Cucumbers

    Bittman Soba Mixed Together

  • Super Smooth Hummus at Home – The Ultimate Technique

    Hummus texture isn't really that big of a deal for me.  I like chunky hummus, smooth hummus, and thick or thin hummus.  But recognizing that some of you are in fact texture-focused when it comes to your hummus, I thought I'd pass along a great tip that comes from Cook's Illustrated via Yotam Ottelenghi.  

    The technique is to add a bit of baking soda to chickpeas either before they boil if using dried chickpeas for your hummus base or to rinsed, canned chickpeas.  

    If doing the latter, put the rinsed, drained chickpeas into a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle with 1.5 tsp. baking soda and microwave for a minute or two until hot.  Then rinse the chickpeas under running cold water while loosely rubbing the chickpeas with your hand(s) so that the skins detach and float away.

    Cook's Illustrated Baking Soda Hummus

    The result is super smooth hummus without the chickpea skins that can otherwise add a course texture to the dip.  My co-workers loved this new hummus approach so much that I thought it might be worth passing along.  Hope you will find this useful!

  • Another Attempt at Vegan Thai Green Curry – Closer, But Still Not Perfected

    Six (!) years after my first Thai green curry attempt, I finally determined myself ready to take on this recipe again.  The result was much better than my flavorless first attempt, but the flavors and texture didn't quite come together the way green curry can taste at my favorite Thai restaurants.  I think it'll probably take a few more attempts for me to perfect my technique.  So, based on my track record, maybe check back in 12 – 18 years when I may have made more progress?  :-)

    In the mean time, below is my latest effort for Thai green curry, which resulted in a spicy, hearty and somewhat tangy curry, but without the subtlety of complementary spicy, sweet, and sour flavors.  In addition, the tofu became slightly crumbly during the cooking, so I might pre-cook or steam the tofu before using in the future.

    The notable changes from my first attempt were to use canned green curry paste, instead of homemade; to use the entire can of green curry instead of just 1 – 2 tbsp.; add in rice vinegar; and to use the vegetables I wanted instead of those prescribed by the Nancie McDermott recipe.

    Thai Green Curry v2 Cooked

    Vegan Thai Green Curry v.2

    For 4 – 6 main course servings

    Ingredients:

    • Entire 4 tbsp. tin of green curry (vegetarian)
    • 1/2 cup water
    • 14 oz. light coconut milk
    • 1 tbsp ginger, minced
    • 1 tbsp garlic, minced
    • 1/2 onion diced
    • 1 can chopped baby corn
    • 1 cup green beans, cut into 1/2 inch segments
    • 1 carrot, coarsley chopped
    • 1 tbsp. olive oil
    • 1 tsp. brown sugar
    • 1 tsp. rice vinegar 
    • 1 tsp. soy sauce 
    • 1 package extra firm tofu, drained and squeezed of excess liquid and cut into 3/4 inch cubes.

    Thai Green Curry v2 Ingredients

    Directions:

    1. In a large pot, add olive oil and bring heat to medium.  When oil is hot, add ginger, garlic, and onion and saute until onion is softened, approx. 4 – 5 minutes.
    2. Then add the vegetables, cooking for 4 – 5 minutes or until partially cooked.  Then add the tofu, periodically stirring until tofu is warmed through. 
    3. Add the curry paste, stirring to coat the vegetables and tofu.  Cook for approx. 1 – 2 minutes or until the curry is fragrant.  
    4. Mix in the coconut milk and water, and bring pot contents to a boil.  
    5. Then turn down heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes, periodically stirring.
    6. Finally, add the brown sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce, and simmer for an additional 3 – 4 minutes.  
    7. Season with any additional salt or pepper, and serve with cooked rice.

  • Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley – Decent Way to Spice up Quinoa

    I am swimming in quinoa – I have containers upon containers of the "super grain" from some aggressive bulk quinoa purchasing several months ago.  I haven't really gotten that creative with utilizing all of this quinoa – rather, I just boil it and serve it on the side of Indian dishes or stews.  

    To break this quinoa monotony, I turned to the internet to find some recommendations on combining quinoa with scallions and parsley (two herbs that I happened to have on hand).  Not surprisingly, I found several recipes for "Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley" as well as similar types of quinoa salad.  

    I decided to keep it simple and largely follow a Food & Wine Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley recipe.  I halved the recipe, and cooked the quinoa as I usually do (2x water to quinoa ratio, bring to a boil, and simmer until tender).  As I was cooking the quinoa, I quickly chopped the herbs.

    Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley - Cut Herbs

    And then quickly sautéed the garlic and scallions until tender and fragrant:

    Quinoa Scallions and Parsley - Scallions Cooking

    When the quinoa was done cooking, I simply put it in a serving dish:

    Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley Cooked Quinoa

    Then stirred in the scallion mixture and parsley:

    Quinoa with Scallions and Parsley Cooked

    When I garnished the dish with salt and pepper, I went a little nuts with the salt so ended up adding some lemon to break up the saltiness.  The lemon juice (approx. 1/2 tsp.) definitely helped lighten up the dish.

    I think this would be a good side to a Middle Eastern dish because the parsley adds a nicely complementary flavor.  I would not make this as more than a side dish though because the flavors aren't that interesting or complex enough to carry a main dish.  So back to the drawing board on new quinoa recipes!