Tag Archives: vegetarian

Tunisian Chickpea Stew

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This is my version of Tunisian chickpea stew but what do I know- I’ve never been to Tunisia nor do I have any Tunisian friends. But the flavors are from the region and it’s quick and delicious.

1 cup chickpeas (soaked overnight and pressure cooked for 15 minutes)

1 14 oz can tomatoes (whole tomatoes puréed)

Aromatics- half an onion and half a red pepper chopped into inch cubes, 1/2 preserved lemon, 8 or so olives, parsley, 2 garlic cloves

Spices: 1 tbsp Harissa paste (I have the Trader Joe’s version) , 1 tsp cumin seeds and 1 tsp cumin powder

Heat 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, add 1 tsp of cumin seeds, let them sputter, add onions and peppers. Cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes till they brown slightly. Add 1 tbsp of harissa paste and the cumin powder, cook for a minute. Add chickpeas and salt.

While the onions are cooking, blitz the tomatoes, olives, preserved lemons and garlic in a blender. Add to chickpeas in pan.

Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Add parsley- serve with any grain or couscous or pasta.

Bean Broth

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Bean Broth: My recipe for the best bean broth. Use it for minestrone, a fantastic gravy base and everywhere you would use stock. It’s great plain with just rice or any other grain as the base for a brothy grain bowl. This has the mouthfeel of a meat stock, it’s the garlic and the bean liquid that make it thick. For the gravy- just add a roux.

1 cup soaked red kidney beans

2.5 cups water with 1 tsp better than bouillon vegetable base (or 2.5 cups vegetable stock) and 1 tsp salt (less if your stock has salt)

1 tbsp olive oil

4-5 cloves of garlic crushed

Heat oil, add garlic, after 1 minute, add beans and stock. Pressure cook on high for 15 min (I use my cuisinart). If you don’t have a pressure cooker, it will take 45 minutes on the stove top.

Green Garlic Rice and Eggs

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Raw garlic is spicy and acrid in a very pleasant way. The trick to this dish is mixing the greens, raw garlic and jalapeños with the hot rice directly from the rice cooker. The steaming rice gently cooks the garlic and the greens. The flavors are surprisingly delicate and go extremely well with the unctuousness of the egg.

Inspired by this NYT recipe

Rice: cook 1.5 cups of basmati rice

Greens: finely chop 5 oz of spinach (about 2-3 cups), 1 cup of cilantro and 1 cup of parsley. I used my food processor, the measures are for the unchopped greens

Finely dice 4 cloves of garlic and 2 jalapeños (add some salt to the jalapeños for a half hour before using to draw out the painful bite of the chilli pepper)

Just after the rice is cooked, add 2 tbsp of ghee or butter and all the greens. Start slow with the garlic and jalapeño and add to taste (I used all of it). Squeeze some lemon on the rice.

I served this with a fried egg and roasted carrots (roast at 400 F for 30 min with salt,pepper, olive oil and coriander powder)

My husband said he could eat this rice everyday

Artichoke and Chickpea Tagine

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This is a recipe modified from Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. All vegetarians should have a copy of this book- it is foolproof!!.

I love artichokes but I hate fiddling with the spiky fibrous vegetable to get at the delicious heart in the center. I find these fresh artichoke hearts (Montrerey farms) at Whole Foods occasionally and when I do- I always buy 5-6 packets and freeze the rest. The flavor is exactly the same as a freshly steamed and cleaned artichoke- never watery, always delicious. I used green olives rather than the oil cured black olives Deborah Madison recommends- I’d suggest using the black olives if you have them, they add so much more flavor in these stewed dishes.

Tagine is a Moroccon dish of slowly stewed covered meat- this vegetarian version cooks much quicker and the artichokes absorb all the flavors beautifully

Ingredients:

1 packet  herbal artichoke hearts (6oz)

1 large onion- and 2 large bell peppers- 1/2 inch diced

15 oz of chickpeas (either canned or pressure cooked for 15 minutes after an overnight soak)

3 tbsp olive oil

Flavorings: 12 olives finely chopped, 1 preserved lemon finely chopped, 1 tbsp parsley, 1 tbsp cilantro

Spices: 1 tbsp Harissa paste  (1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, 1/4 tsp caraway seeds, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 11/2 tsp ground red chilli powder, 1 tbsp tomato paste) and 1 pinch saffron threads (ground into a powder).

Heat oil- add onion and peppers and cook till translucent and slightly browned. Add spices or harissa. Add artichokes and saffron and cook for another 2 minutes. Add chickpeas, olives, lemon, cilantro, parsley and 2 cups of water. Simmer for 15-25 minutes till all veggies are completely tender.

Serve over couscous with chermoula sauce (4 coarsely chopped garlic cloves. 2/3 c cilantro finely chopped, 1/3 cup parsley finely chopped, zest of 1 lemon and juice of 2 lemons, 1/2 tsp cumin, pinch of cayenne pepper, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1/3 cup olive oil). The chermoula keeps well in the refrigerator for 1-2 weeks.

Vegetarian pot pie

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I love pot pie or rather I love the concept of pot pie, the actual pot pie often disappoints . The base of the crust base is often soggy and a little under baked.

My solution is to bake the crust separately. Here I used store bought puff pastry (all butter) and baked according to the instructions.

I make a lot of different potpie fillings, some are traditional (mostly bechamel based) and others like this malai paneer one are curry based. I used cranberries in place of my regular raisins today and I use less cream to make the sauce thicker.

Assemble just before serving, the pastry is crisp and buttery and the filling is creamy and full of veggies. A perfect Christmas lunch.

Roasted pepper soup

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This is my vegetarian version of chicken noodle soup. I make it when someone is sick. It’s got lots of garlic and black pepper and it’s warm and comforting.

Ingredients:

1 red pepper, 1 medium red onion, 1 14 oz can of tomatoes, 10 large cloves of garlic, 2 cups vegetable broth, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1-2 tbsp butter, 3-4 tbsp heavy whipping cream, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 tsp oregano

Chop the onions and peppers into 3 inch pieces, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast either on a grill or in a 450F oven for 20-30 min till soft and charred

Heat butter, add the garlic and fry till lightly golden brown. Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, roasted onions, peppers and tomatoes and the spices. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.

Blend. Garnish with a tbsp of cream and a drizzle of olive oil

Serve over spaghetti

    Note about vegetable stock- I’ve been using Better than Bouillon lately and the flavor of their vegetable base is extremely good. I suspect it’s the MSG or whatever equivalent they’ve called it. It’s delicious

Ragi noodles – 2 ways

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I was introduced to Ragi vermicelli by a Tamilian friend of mine in the USA. Ragi is a millet, rich in calcium and gluten free (but don’t quote me on that). It is also easily available as flour and vermicelli in the Indian store and is delicious. It is important to prepare the ragi noodles according to the instructions on the packet to avoid the vermicelli clump from hell. This particular brand wanted me to soak the noodles for 3 minutes in salted water and steam for 5 minutes.

I prepare these 2 ways:

Coconut and ghee- For my American non-spice loving kid, I roast some frozen coconut in ghee and add some frozen corn and 1-2 tsp of sugar. Add the ragi noodles, cover and steam on low heat for 3-4 minutes. Serve.

Spiced ragi noodles: Start as you would with a poha recipe- for me that is 2 tbsp of oil, 1/2 tsp of mustard seeds- heat till they sputter, add a pinch of asafetida, 1/2 tsp of turmeric, 1 dried chilly, 3-4 chopped curry leaves, 1/2 a chopped preserved lemon (can be omitted) and 2-3 crushed stuffed dried chillies (also found in Indian store but can also be omitted). Add one onion finely chopped and cook till golden brown with some salt, pepper and a tsp of sugar. Add frozen corn, frozen coconut and the cooked ragi noodles. Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes till everything is heated through and the corn is cooked. Add chopped cilantro. Serve with a squeeze of lime.

Yorkshire pudding / popovers with malai paneer

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Yorkshire puddings with paneer curry

Yorkshire pudding with malai paneer

While doing the stream of consciousness internet browsing thing, I came across Jamie Oliver’s video on Yorkshire pudding. I have no idea why I haven’t made this before. Hot oil, batter that puffs up, crisp outside, doughy interior – sounds so beautiful. Jamie paired his with salmon and creme fraiche. I’ve paired mine with a paneer curry, mint chutney and raw onions

Yorkshire pudding

I’ve linked to Jamie’s video below. Whisk 4 eggs, 200 ml milk and 200 g all purpose flour together with a pinch of salt. Heat oven to 425F. Pour a cm of vegetable oil in 12 muffin tins. Heat the oil for 15 min. Pour the batter in cups 2/3 full (I overfilled mine and had only 9 puddings). Shut the door and do not open till 20-25 min have passed and the puddings have puffed up gloriously

Malai paneer: my easy go-to paneer recipe

Heat 2 tbsp butter or ghee, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 2 dried chillies and half a cup of sliced onions till onions are pale gold.

Add 3 chopped garlic cloves and 100 gm of chopped paneer. Sauté for 2-3 min. Add frozen corn, green beans, raisins, cashews (I added pine nuts today). Add half a cup of cream and 1 tsp cumin powder and 1 tsp coriander powder. Cook for 10 min. Adjust consistency with more cream if needed, add ½ tsp of garam masala powder and ½ tsp of crushed kasoori methi.

Mint chutney: blend ½ cup of yogurt with ½ cup mint leaves, ½ cup cilantro and 2 jalapeños and salt

Assemble: tear open popover, add paneer, top with sliced raw onions and chutney. Find your happy place !

Vegetarian puttanesca with homemade pasta

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Fresh pasta at home with vegetarian puttanesca

Fresh Homemade Pasta with Vegetarian puttanesca

 

It’s easier than it sounds and tremendous fun! You do need a pasta maker. I make it enough that I have a kitchen aid attachment but a hand cranked pasta maker is available for less than a $100. My kid did well in her piano recital and I asked her what she wanted for dinner and the answer is always “let’s make pasta”

 

Recipe: I use Michael Ruhlman’s recipe – 3 parts flour to 2 parts egg. It’s easy – I crack the eggs required (1 for each portion of pasta), weigh them and add 1.5 times the amount of all purpose flour and a tsp of salt. A large egg is approximately 50 g.

I use the dough hook of my stand mixer to knead – it will look tacky but have faith in the recipe and keep at it for 5 min- it will come together. Now let it rest for at least 30 min ! This is vital- I’ve skipped this step once to my great regret and never done it again.

 

Divide the dough into manageable quarters or eights. Start at the largest setting on your pasta machine- pass the dough through. I flour the dough frequently. Fold into thirds, turn it and pass through it again. Do this 3 times and then consecutively pass through thinner settings. For fettuccine, which I made today – the 2nd or 3rd last setting is good. For ravioli, I go to the thinnest. Switch the attachments for the cutting attachment – cut the sheets to manageable lengths and pass the pass through. Flour liberally – you have a nest of pasta. Cook in salted boiling water for 3 min !

 

Puttanesca

My daughter is reading Lemony Snicket and wanted a vegetarian puttanesca. Here is my version

3 tbsp butter, add 5 chopped garlic cloves, about ¼ cup chopped olives, 2-3 tbsp capers. Cook for a minute. Add 2 small cans of crushed San Marzano tomatoes (28 oz) and 1 tbsp of gochuang (to replace the umami of the anchovies). Simmer for the 30 minutes you are making the pasta.

 

Toss pasta with warm sauce, top with some good olive oil and Parmesan. Well worthy of a 9 year old piano maestro 🙂

Grits and butternut squash

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Grits with butternut squash

Grits and butternut squash with sausage and onions

It’s fall and butternut squash time. I saw this recipe by Melissa Clark and “vegetarianized” it. Substitute the butter and it’s vegan. Also grating butternut squash seems to be an awful lot of effort – I roasted it separately and added it to the grits.

Garlic Grits: I modified Alton Brown’s recipe. I love grits and make them often. Boil 2 cups water and 2 cups milk in a heavy pan with 1 tsp salt and 2 crushed garlic cloves. Add 1 cup stone ground grits while whisking continuously. Simmer on very low heat for 20 minutes while stirring every 4-5 minutes so the grits don’t stick to the bottom. Add 4 tbsp of butter

Butternut squash-peel, chop into 1 inch squares, toss with some oil and salt and roast (or air fry) at 450 F for 15-20 min till soft and brown

Add butternut squash to grits and mix well.

Heat 1 tsp of oil and 1 tbsp of butter. Add 2 tbsp chopped rosemary and 1 tbsp fennel seeds. Add chopped vegan hot dogs and one red onion. Cook till caramelized

The rosemary and fennel were delicious with echoes of Italian sausage flavor. The grits and butternut squash also go beautifully together! This one is a keeper

https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1016103-butternut-squash-polenta-with-sausage-and-onion