Category: Side dish

by Veggie Sutra

Baked samosas

A small treat now and then during these hard times makes us feel so good, doesn’t it? Not that I am complaining when I say “hard times”. I do realize how fortunate we are compared to many others. Sometimes I do feel guilty about enjoying our al fresco lunches in the garden (especially lovely now with all the spring flowers and hummingbirds) and our lazy evening walks.

A beautiful piece of writing titled “It’s okay to be okay during the pandemic” by Sigal Samuel in vox.com put things in perspective for me and I do recommend reading it fully, but the author sums it up with a quote from a mindfulness teacher: “Taking care of ourselves is the first approximation of mindful compassion.”

We have not been eating out obviously but we have been doing takeaways from our favorite vegan Chinese restaurant mainly because it gives us a chance to drive somewhere once a week (the restaurant is a good 20 min drive away), support the business and get some variety in our meals. But I have also been trying to keep it interesting at home.

This baked samosa that I made as a weekend teatime snack turned out to be very addictive and was pretty easy to make. V and I devoured almost all of it over a game of Scrabble and had to forego dinner as we were so full! We used “zhoug sauce” that we got from Trader Joes as a dipping.

Recipe for Easy Baked Samosas

[Printable Recipe]

Inspired by “Baked Pea Samosas” recipe in Vegetarian Dinner Parties by Mark Scarbrough and Bruce Weinstein 

Makes around 12-15

Ingredients:

  • 4-5 medium potatoes
  • 1 cup frozen green peas
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil + approx 1/2 cup for brushing the phyllo sheets
  • 1-2 Thai green chilies chopped fine (optional)
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp salt or more to taste
  • 1 package of Phyllo sheets (you will not use it all for this batch, so double the recipe or save it for later as per the package instructions)

Equipment:

  • 2 rimmed cookie sheets
  • 1 sharp knife

Method:

  • Filling: (You can make the filling ahead of time and store in the refrigerator)
    • Wash and cut the potatoes in to quarters
    • Cook the potatoes till soft, then set aside to cool
    • Soak the frozen peas in boiling water till thawed and wash
    • Peel and coarsely mash the cooled potatoes
    • Heat 1 Tbsp vegetable oil in  a pan and add the minced green chilies if using 
    • Add the mashed potatoes and green peas, garam masala and salt and mix till heated through
  • Pre-heat oven to 375C
  • Remove one phyllo sheet from the package (keep the rest covered to prevent them from drying out.  Follow the instructions on the package).
  • Brush the sheet with some oil, then fold it lengthwise, then into thirds as shown in the picture below brushing the sheet with some oil on each fold
  • Using a sharp knife make vertical slits around 1 inch deep on all 4 sides of the folded sheet as shown
  • Place about one heaping tablespoon of filling in the middle and fold the edges over the filling like a pocket.  Place it on a baking sheet
  • Continue making the pockets until the filling runs out lining them up on the sheets
  •  Place the sheets in the pre-heated oven.  
  • If you have 2 sheets, set a timer for 9 minutes.   The total baking time is 18 minutes but you would want to rotate the trays from top to bottom half way through
  • Remove after 18 minutes and let it cool a bit before enjoying with a dipping of your choice.  We thought the “zhoug” sauce from Trader Joes was excellent but you could use ketchup or sriracha as well.
Steps for making the samosas

by Veggie Sutra

Black Bean Summer Salad with Tomato Basil Dressing

My route at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market is usually the same every week.  I have a few favorite stands I efficiently traverse while deftly dodging the gawking, ambling crowds.  One of the stands I visit carries a lot of greens through the seasons and last weekend you wouldn’t believe what I saw there!   A huge bunch of Moringa leaves.  I crushed them between my fingers and brought it up to my nose to check and yep, it was moringa.  And selling pretty cheap at a couple of dollars a bunch too.   The farmer, of Chinese origin, said they started carrying it this summer.  I didn’t have the time to stay and chat, but I was curious about when they planted it and whether they would have Moringa pods, or drumsticks, soon.  And how on earth did such a big tree grow overnight on his farm.

For those who don’t know Moringa, it is the current “superfood” fad. (Take a backseat, kale and turmeric, I guess!)  The leaves, as well as the drumsticks, are cooked and eaten in Southern India, where the tree grows widely in home gardens.  If you find it at your farmers market, grab a bunch and cook it like you would cook spinach.  Fads aside, the leaves are indeed highly nutritious.

Coming back to the salad series, this week’s salad is made exclusively with ingredients I picked up on Saturday at the farmers market.  It is amazing what a bounty summer produces.

 

 

 

Recipe for Black Bean Summer Salad with Tomato Basil Dressing

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 2 for a light meal or 4 as a side with lunch

Tomato Basil Dressing inspired by a recipe in Savour: Salads for All Seasons by Peter Gordon

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup black beans, washed thoroughly in running water and soaked overnight in warm water
  • For the dressing
    • 3 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
    • 1 large ripe tomato, chopped roughly
    • 2 cups packed basil leaves, chopped roughly
    • 2 cloves garlic
    • 1/2 tsp cayenne or paprika
    • salt to taste
    • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 avocado, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cups cherry tomatoes, sliced
  • 1/2 small red cabbage head, shredded
  • 1 small red onion, sliced thin
  • 1/4 cup toasted walnuts (or any nuts or seeds you have on hand) for garnish
  • Salt and black pepper to taste

Method:

  • Drain the soaked black beans and cook in a pressure cooker.  If you are cooking it in a sauce pan add enough water to cover the beans, add a pinch of salt, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cover.   Cook on low heat and check regularly to make sure the beans do not get overcooked.  They should be well-cooked but firm.  Allow to cool.
  • Place all the ingredients for the dressing except the olive oil in a blender and blend till smooth.  Now, slowly drizzle the olive oil and emulsify.  Check salt and add more if needed.
  • Combine 1 cup of cooked black beans with the other ingredients.  (Save the remaining black beans for later or for a different recipe.)
  • Add enough dressing to taste, toss well.
  • Garnish with toasted nuts or seeds and serve.

 

 

I have never used raw tomato in a dressing but what better complements basil than tomato!   It is a very refreshing dressing for summertime, especially since basil grows so abundantly during this time of the year.

As I am going through the salad series, I am realizing that I am going to end up with a bunch of different dressings in my refrigerator.  I better start labeling them or I will lose track.

by Veggie Sutra

Watermelon Arugula Salad with Jalapeno Dressing

What better way to kick off summer and the salad series than a recipe using watermelon.  Just like I go winter-squash crazy when fall comes around, I go melon crazy once summer rolls around.  It is a great accompaniment for picnic lunches – just remove the rind and cut the melon into cubes, pack in a container with a tight lid in an icebox to enjoy as a dessert after lunch.   Or make a refreshing salad to go with lunch.

 

 

This time I went with a yellow watermelon, which I have seen in the markets before but have never tried.  I thought it tasted just as sweet as regular watermelon, but V remained opposed to what he called “a cantaloupe posing as a watermelon” and strongly suggested I go with a regular watermelon in the future, please.   If you have such reservations as well, feel free to use a regular red watermelon in this recipe.

 

 

Despite the skepticism about the oddly-colored impostor, the salad turned out to be a hit.  The combination came together beautifully – the sweetness of the melon complimented the bite in the arugula and the spiciness of the dressing which in turn was mellowed by the goat cheese.

Recipe for Watermelon -Arugula Salad with Spicy Jalapeno Dressing

Inspired by a recipe on pinchandswirl.com

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 6 as a large side salad

Ingredients:

  • For the dressing:
    • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
    • 2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
    • 1/2 cup mint leaves, washed
    • 2 jalapenos, ribs and seeds removed and then diced (use 1 jalapeno if you want it mild)
    • 1/2 red onion, diced
    • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • Pinch salt & pepper
  • 1/2 cup raw almonds
  • 1 Tbsp ghee/butter or coconut oil (if vegan)
  • 1 medium watermelon, around 6 lbs,  washed, peeled and cubed
  • Around 6-8 oz fresh arugula leaves, washed and dried
  • Around 4 oz crumbled goat cheese (skip if vegan)

Method:

  • Make the dressing ahead as this will store well:  Blend all ingredients except olive oil, salt and pepper together in a blender.  Slowly incorporate the olive oil and emulsify.  Add salt and pepper to taste
  • Blanch the almonds and roast:  Soak the almonds in boiling hot water for 30 mins covered, until the skin slips off easily.  Dry on a kitchen towel.  Heat some ghee (use butter if you don’t have ghee) or coconut oil (if you are vegan).  Add the skinned almonds when the liquid is hot and roast in low heat until golden
  • Combine the cubed melon, arugula, goat cheese in a bowl
  • Just before serving drizzle the jalapeno dressing and sprinkle the almonds on top

 

 

Salad series kicked off right!   I have picked up a couple of good salad books from the library including the recently published Saladish by Ilene Rosen.  Hope to find some new exciting ideas for salads to keep the series going.

One last thing.  Save the watermelon rind if you have the patience.  It is kind of painful to remove the skin and save just the white part.  But watermelon rind has a ton of nutrients and tastes wonderful in this Watermelon Rind Curry recipe.

by Veggie Sutra

Mixed Fruit Chutney

Anthony Bourdain’s “Kitchen Confidential” was my very first book written by a chef that did not have recipes.  It was about restaurants and kitchens and all kinds of random culinary advice.  I have a soft spot for the book even though Bourdain comes across as a know-it-all.  He is also someone who harbored a deep disdain for vegetarian food and was very vocal about it, that is, until he traveled to Punjab in India.  Despite all that, I read his book when I did not even own a chef knife.  He taught me that the Japanese make awesome chef knives, although not as well known as the German knives.  I still have my Japanese-made Global chef knife and love it.

I was deeply saddened when I heard the news about his passing away.  I had to make one of his recipes as a tribute.  Needless to say, I struggled to find a vegetarian recipe (!) and finally settled on a mixed fruit chutney from “Appetites”.  This recipe, like its creator is versatile enough to go with any cuisine.

 

 

What I love about this fruit relish is that it has no added sugar.  It is naturally sweetened with dried fruits.  Unlike other holiday fruit chutneys which are heavily spiced, this is pretty light and goes with everything.  You could have it as a relish on the side with your main course or use it as a filling in sandwiches.  It took a very short time to make.  I am seriously considering making a huge batch during the holidays to give friends and family.

 

 

Recipe for Mixed Fruit Chutney (Adapted from Anthony Bourdain’s Appetites)

Makes 2 cups

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 6 dried figs, chopped in to small pieces
  • 8 dried apricots, chopped in to small pieces
  • 5 dates, deseeded and chopped in to small pieces
  • 2 tart apples, peeled, cored and grated
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp lemon zest
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder (skip if you don’t want it spicy)
  • 1/2 tsp paprika

Method:

  • Soak the chopped dried fruits for about an hour in hot water.  Then drain
  • Combine with all the other ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium to low heat until it reaches a thick consistency, about 15 mins.  (Since there is no added sugar, you will not get a jam like consistency, but the mixture will come together)
  • Scoop in to clean bottles and refrigerate
  • Use as a relish or a topping

 

A man who had such a passion for travel and such curiosity about cultures around the world is no longer with us.  RIP Anthony Bourdain!

 

by Veggie Sutra

South Indian Eggplant Chutney / Dip

I don’t understand eggplant haters and there seem to be a lot of them around!  What gives?  Also known as brinjal or aubergine, these purple beauties are one of the most versatile produce around.  Of course, eggplants are not just purple and round, they can be light green or white or sometimes even striated.  Also, they can be long and slim, or short and round, or big, fat globes.

 

 

And what’s more, there is a unique recipe for each eggplant variety.  Veggie Sutra has featured a number of eggplant recipes and when I look back, they are all from very different cuisines:

1. Stuffed Eggplant with Potatoes, Red Bell Pepper and Greens

Small baby eggplants are great for stuffing.  The recipe I had published earlier was from Mildreds, a very popular vegetarian restaurant in London which had a modern take on stuffed eggplant.   Traditionally in Indian cuisine, eggplant is stuffed with a mix of spices (and sometimes peanuts, coconut or tamarind) and cooked in oil.  Middle-eastern cuisines seem to have similar recipes for stuffed eggplant as well.

2. Chinese-style Spicy Eggplant Basil Stir-fry

The long thin-skinned Japanese eggplants are ideal for Asian stir-fries.   In the recipe above, I provide a nifty way to make sure the eggplant does not soak up too much oil.  Look it up, it’s a lifesaver technique!

3. Baba Ghanoush – Middle Eastern Eggplant Dip

This uses the large fat purple eggplants.  The roasting lends a smoky flavor to the eggplant which makes this one of my favorite dips!

In addition, there is eggplant lasagna and ratatouille from Italy, eggplant rice and eggplant curry from South India, sabich from the Middle East, and eggplant fritters from pretty much everywhere!   Hope to cover a few of these in Veggie Sutra eventually.

Today’s recipe from South India uses roasted eggplant a la Baba Ghanoush.  In fact, I used the same method as I used in the Baba Ghanoush recipe for roasting the eggplant in the oven.   Roasting directly over a flame or a grill lends an additional smokiness to the taste.

 

 

Recipe for South Indian Eggplant Chutney/Dip

[Printable Recipe]

Serves around 5 as a side dish

Usually served with white rice topped with a bit of ghee or raw sesame oil, with a side of crisps or pappadum

Ingredients:

  • 2 large round eggplants of medium size (around 3 lbs), washed and dried
  • 1 Tbsp Vegetable oil, plus some more to rub on the eggplant
  • 2 Tbsp split black lentils (known as split urad daal, can be found in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
  • 4-5 dried red chilies
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 2 tsp tamarind paste mixed with 1/4 cup hot water (or made from 2 small marble-sized pieces of tamarind soaked in 1/4 cup hot water and squeezed)
  • Pinch turmeric
  • Optional: 1/4 tsp asafoetida (known as hing, can be found in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
  • salt to taste

 

 

Method:

  • Roast the eggplant:
    • Pierce the washed and dried eggplant a few times with a fork (some cooks say this step can be skipped, but I am afraid the eggplant will explode)
    • Rub lightly with vegetable oil and place on an baking sheet covered with aluminum foil under a broiler.
    • Broil on high for around 45 mins or so, turning the eggplant around every 10-15 mins or so.  You know it is done when the skin shrivels and caves in.
    • Cover lightly and let sit until cooled
  • While the eggplant is cooling, heat the vegetable oil in a pan.  When the oil is hot, reduce the flame and add the mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds pop, remove into a small cup, leaving the oil behind
  • Add the split black lentils and red chilies in to the same pan with the oil and saute until the lentils turn golden brown.  Switch off the heat and let cool.  When cool, grind the black lentils and red chilies in to a coarse powder and set aside
  • Uncover the cooled eggplant, place on a plate to catch the liquids and peel the skin. If there is flesh sticking to the skin, gently scrape it off on to the plate.   Coarsely mash the eggplant pulp with a spoon or fork.
  • Heat the tamarind water with a pinch of turmeric and asafoetida (if using) in the same pan until it boils well and reduces to half the amount and the smell of raw tamarind is gone.   Switch off the heat
  • Add the powdered lentils and red chilies, mashed eggplant, mustard seeds and salt to taste and mix well
  • Serve at room temperature with white rice

 

V and I have had a busy spring so far with two weddings in a row these past two weekends and other travel.  I hope to get more regular with posting.  Also am excited about the garden – waiting for the tomatoes, green beans, eggplant and bell pepper to start producing!  V wants me to do a salad series for the summer, and I am seriously considering it!

 

 

by Veggie Sutra

Potatoes with Greens Curry

Today is a backyard-to-table kind of day, that is, I harvested whatever I could from the garden and put it together as a simple dish.  With both of us traveling, we haven’t had a chance to visit the Farmer’s Market  of late.  I am sure with the recent high temps, summer produce has started to appear and I can’t wait to go next week.

 

 

Personally, I am not a fan of hot weather, but I hope my peppers are happy and do well.  I usually do not have much luck with growing peppers  in containers as I lack enough space to put them in the ground.   Yet, I desperately try every year, because peppers notoriously appear on the Dirty Dozen list almost every single year.

 

 

Today when I went out in to the backyard I was able to dig up quite a few potatoes that were hiding just below the surface and I also harvested a bunch of greens.  As a bonus, potatoes and spinach also appear on the Dirty Dozen list consistently.  Which means, growing them in the backyard sans any pesticides makes a whole lot of sense!

I have talked about the greens that I harvested in detail in an earlier post which contained a recipe for Leafy Greens with Lentils.  The greens are called sessile joyweed.  Having survived this past winter in a pot outdoors, beautiful new shoots with bright green leaves have appeared at the onset of warm weather.  Again, similar to the recipe for Leafy Greens with Lentils, spinach or chard can be substituted for joyweed in the below recipe as well.

Recipe for Potatoes with Greens Curry

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 3-4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1/2 tsp carom seeds / ajwain (you can find this in an ethnic Indian grocery store.  If you don’t have carom seeds, feel free to use cumin seeds).
  • 5-6 medium potatoes, washed well and cut in to bite-sized pieces
  • 3 cups leafy greens, thoroughly washed, drained and chopped  (I used sessile joyweed but spinach or chard or amaranth leaves would work wonderfully as well)
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chili powder (depending on whether you want it spicy or not)
  • 1/4 tsp coriander powder
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Heat oil in a pan.  When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds start to sputter, lower the heat and add the carom or cumin seeds.
  • Add the potatoes, turmeric and salt to taste.  Pan fry on low to medium heat until golden brown and cooked (pierce with a knife to check)
  • Add the washed leafy greens on top of the potatoes, close with a lid, lower the heat and let it cook.  The moisture from washing the greens should be sufficient and there is no need to add water.

 

 

  • After around 10 mins, check if the greens are cooked otherwise let it cook for 5-10 mins more
  • When the greens have wilted and cooked down, add the chili powder and coriander powder, and more salt if needed for taste and mix
  • Serve as a side dish with white rice or rotis

 

A simple homemade meal with produce from the backyard on a lazy Sunday morning was just what we needed after all the travel and erratic eating.

 

by Veggie Sutra

Punjabi-style Turnip curry

Happy new year 2018, all!  Hope this year brings peace to all beings on earth.  Maybe it is just me, but things seemed a bit frenetic in 2017.   Well, hope we put all that behind us and live more mindfully in 2018.

As always, V and I sat down and wrote our new year goals and habits.  As far as food and health goes, the goal is to minimize sugar and processed foods, which is not very different from previous years.  Our goal this year is to be more mindful, and eat simple, healthy, and fresh meals for dinner every night before 8 pm.   I will try to post the pictures of our dinner as often as I can on Instagram and Facebook.

 

 

This year V and I did not travel far over the holidays but stayed local and visited our state capital, Sacramento.  Sacramento is given a step-sisterly treatment compared to San Francisco, but in reality, it’s an awesome laid back, small city to spend a few fun days.  There are good restaurants, great local theaters and dessert places that stay open till midnight!   What more could one want?

We thoroughly enjoyed it, and even though we have been there several times before, there were new places that we found, such as Preservation&Co in Midtown which sells preserved and fermented foods made on location.  My only complaint is that they changed the slogan of Sacramento from “City of Trees” to “America’s Farm to Fork Capital” last year, which seems very marketing-oriented to me, as opposed to the prior apt descriptor of the city.

 

Iconic Tower Bridge in Sacramento on a cloudy, cold winter day

 

Here are our top tips for visiting Sacramento:

  • Go in spring.  Sacramento is also called the Camelia Capital for good reason.  February and March are great times to visit and walk around the Capitol building and midtown and enjoy the gorgeous camelias and magnolias.  Bonus, there are stunning Victorians scattered all around midtown.
  • Walk everywhere.  Walk around the Capitol and take in the trees.  Walk from the Capitol to Old Sacramento and visit the Railroad Museum there.  From there, walk across the iconic Tower bridge and back and go on to the Crocker Art Museum.  In the evening, walk up and down J street in midtown to check out restaurants and other happening places.
  • Catch a play in a local theater like B street theater, where I have enjoyed innumerable locally written plays.  V and I caught the last play in the old cozy location on B street.  In 2018 this Sacramento jewel is moving to a midtown location for more space.
  • Grab lunch and dinner in midtown.  This is the hip restaurant area and there are a lot of cuisines to choose from.  Maybe grab brunch at Magpie Cafe where the Dalai Lama himself is said to have polished off a few yummy cookies!  If you like to stay at Airbnbs and cook your own meals, then go grocery shopping at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op which carries all the seasonal produce from the farm regions around Sacramento.
  • Sacramento also has great coffee places to rest your feet in the midst of all the walking – Temple Coffee, Insight Coffee Roasters and of course, Chocolate Fish, which we absolutely love.  We first tasted Chocolate Fish a couple of years back at the very same Magpie Cafe (where the Dalai Lama enjoyed the cookies), but this time we went to the Chocolate Fish coffee shop in East Sacramento.  They will be opening one soon in midtown as well, I believe.

Enough about Sacramento.

Here in the Bay Area, V and I try to visit the local Sunnyvale Farmers Market on Saturdays to get our hands on fresh produce.  Right now, the market is full of root vegetables like radishes, turnips, beets and so on.   Did you know that turnips are also from the brassica family?

 

 

Recipe for Punjabi-style Turnip Curry

[Printable Recipe]

Inspired by several online youtube videos by Indian bloggers

Serves around 5 as a side dish with rotis or chapatis

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp canola oil (or other cooking oil)
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 green chilies, chopped fine (optional, skip if you don’t want heat)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped fine
  • 1 inch piece ginger, peeled and grated
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp red chili powder (reduce if you don’t like too much heat)
  • 2 tsp garam masala
  • 1/2 can of tomatoes (I had some stewed tomatoes that I had frozen from our summer crop, but you can use store-bought can in the winter or 2 large fresh juicy tomatoes in the summer)
  • Around 3 medium-sized turnips, washed, peeled and cut in to bite-sized pieces
  • Around 4 medium-sized potatoes, washed, peeled and cut in to bite-sized pieces
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Heat the oil in a saucepan and when the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and reduce heat to low
  • When the cumin seeds start changing color, and becoming fragrant, add the minced garlic and green chilies
  • After a minute or two, add the onions and saute until the onion is cooked (5-10 mins). Increase the heat to medium if needed
  • Add the grated ginger, saute for a minute
  • Then add the spices – turmeric, red chili powder, and garam masala and saute for a few minutes
  • Finally add the tomatoes, stir and cook for around 5 minutes on medium to low heat until the tomatoes are well assimilated
  • Now add the chopped potatoes and turnips, salt to taste and some water if needed, close with a lid and cook on low heat until the potatoes and turnips are soft, checking from time to time
  • Serve hot with rotis, chapatis or naan

 

 

Here wishing every one of you good food, good cooking adventures, great travel and meals with friends and family in 2018!

by Veggie Sutra

Roasted Potato and Brussels Sprouts with Wilted Spinach

Lo and behold, winter is upon us here in Northern California.  And with it, the hectic holiday season.  It is probably not very PC of me to say this, but I am not a big fan of this time of the year just because it gets so crazy.  There is a lot of shopping madness and social calendars get too jam packed to be enjoyable.   Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy some aspects of it….  like lighting up the porch and walking around the neighborhood to gaze at the lovely Christmas lighting.   I love turning on the oven to bake cookies….  in fact, bake anything.  I love the smell of pies and mulled cider and poached pears wafting through the house and all the great food.  Indeed the holiday season is the time of entertaining and I am always on the lookout for easy-to-make crowd-pleasers to serve at dinner parties.

 

 

Potatoes are certainly up there when it comes to being crowd pleasers.   They are very versatile, and ubiquitous throughout the year, served cold as potato salads at summer picnics and served warm as mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving tables.    I may not have met anyone so far who doesn’t like potatoes.  Alas, as discussed before in our Dirty Dozen series, the humble spud is up there when it comes to pesticide residue and is currently at #12 on EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.

In the Dirty Dozen roundup post, I talked about several measures one can take to avoid pesticides in the food we eat everyday.   One of them is to grow the offending produce ourselves.   Surprisingly, potatoes are really easy to grow even in a pot!   I learnt this while volunteering at a local community farm and the farmer taught me that if you cover the top of the soil with hay, the potatoes just appear in the hay and do not even need to be washed.  I haven’t been successful in growing it that way, but I can vouch that nothing is more satisfying than to plunge one’s hand in to the mud and pull out an enormous potato!   So go ahead and give it a try!   If not, try to buy organic or at least wash the potato and peel before cooking it.

 

 

Today’s recipe features a couple of my favorite ingredients to roast – potatoes and brussels sprouts.  As with all vegetables, brussels sprouts lose their bitterness when roasted and take on a super smooth caramelized flavor, as in this other Caramelized Brussels Sprouts recipe.   This super-simple side dish is a great hit on holiday tables.

 

Recipe for Roasted Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Wilted Spinach

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups brussels sprouts, washed and halved or quartered in to bite-sized cubes
  • 2 cups organic baby potatoes (red and white) washed and cut in to bite-sized cubes
  • 4 tablespoons white truffle flavored olive oil
  • A couple of generous pinches of salt
  • A couple of generous pinches of pepper
  • A couple of generous shakes of dried garlic or garlic powder (you can use freshly minced garlic if you wish)
  • 1 cup spinach leaves, washed and chopped
  • A squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 425F
  • You will need 2 cookie sheets, one for the sprouts and one for the potatoes
  • In a large bowl, combine the brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, pepper and a dash of garlic.  Spread on a cookie sheet and place it on the top shelf of the oven
  • In the same bowl, combine the potatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, pepper and a dash of garlic.  Spread on a cookie sheet and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven
  • Set the cook time to 45 mins
  • After 20 mins, check the potatoes by piercing with a knife.  If it pierces easily, remove from the oven and move the brussels sprouts to the bottom shelf.  If not wait another 10 mins and do the same
  • Check if the brussels sprouts have charred slightly and caramelized after 45 mins
  • Remove the potatoes and brussels sprouts to a serving bowl.  Add the spinach while warm so the spinach wilts immediately
  • Adjust salt and pepper, squeeze some lemon juice to taste
  • Serve warm

 

 

The holiday season should be about friends and family and of course good food and not about stress.  Keep your cooking as simple and hands off as possible by serving dishes like this!

by Veggie Sutra

Leafy Greens with Lentils

This is the first of the Dirty Dozen series focusing on produce that have the most pesticide traces.  Greens like spinach are notoriously on the top of the list always.  Luckily, some greens just grow like weeds even in containers.

Our visit to the Farmers Market in Sunnyvale yesterday was rather interesting.  It has been a warm summer (apparently the warmest on record) and the market still has an abundance of summer vegetables like peppers, beans, eggplant and tomatoes.  We were a bit late yesterday and the greens at our favorite farmer had been picked clean.

But I noticed just one type of greens still piled high.  It seemed like it hadn’t moved at all.  The long vines had beautiful maple-shaped leaves and yellow flowers and delicate tendrils grew on the stems.   Upon a bit of querying it turned out they were bitter melon leaves.  For those of you who have not eaten a bitter melon or even seen one, it looks a squash with ridges and tastes… bitter!   It is used widely in China and India and is somewhat of an acquired taste.  Fortunately both V and I love the taste of it!   But, I did not know that the leaves can be cooked.  The farmer said that her Chinese grand parents make a soup with it.  Although, we do have a bitter melon vine growing in our garden now, I haven’t dared to cook with it… yet!

 

Leafy greens are an essential nutritional component of many old world cuisines.  I remember learning about cooking with borage leaves from a Greek friend when I was volunteering at an urban farm in San Jose.  Dandelion greens are another example of a weed consumed widely. However, there was not much fanfare to these greens.  They were certainly not called “super foods” and they were not sold triple-washed in plastic clamshell boxes.   Most often they were just weeds foraged from the wild or from the swamp at the edge of the backyard or picked off the vine growing on the neighbor’s fence.

 

 

The greens that amma made today, called “sessile joyweed“, is one such weed that grows profusely in swamps in Southern India, spreading low to the ground.  It is called “ponnangani keerai” in Tamil.  In our garden, we have it growing in a couple of pots and as it is a perennial plant, we do not bother bringing it in during the winters.

 

 

This recipe would be considered a rather quotidian one in a South Indian household, and the version I am posting below comes courtesy of amma.  At least once a week, if not more often than that, some type of leafy greens are prepared, perhaps in this simple fashion with or without the lentils.  You can substitute almost any type of edible leafy greens, like spinach or amaranth leaves or swiss chard, in lieu of sessile joyweed.

 

 

Recipe for Leafy Greens with Lentils

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 3-4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup split yellow -mung daal (yellow lentils) (you can find it in an ethnic Indian grocery store called moong daal)
  • 3 cups leafy greens, thoroughly washed and chopped  (I used “sessile joyweed”/Ponnangani keerai but spinach or chard or amaranth leaves would work wonderfully as well)
  • 1/4th tsp turmeric powder
  • To grind with very little water:
    • 2 Tbsp grated coconut (you can find frozen grated coconut in ethnic Indian grocery stores)
    • 2 dried red chilies
    • 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
  • To temper in hot oil:
    • About 2 tsp oil (you can use coconut oil or just regular vegetable oil)
    • 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
    • 1/2 tsp split black lentils (you can find it an ethnic Indian grocery store called urad daal
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Rinse the lentils in running water.  In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the lentils.  Once the water comes to a boil again, switch to lowest heat setting and let the lentils simmer.  Keep an eye on it to make sure the water does not dry out and add some hot water if needed.  Moong dal tends to cook faster than other types of lentils, so after about 30 mins, check if it mashes easily which means it is done
  • Once the lentils are cooked add the chopped greens, and turmeric and cook covered on low for 5-10 mins
  • While the greens are cooking, grind the grated coconut, dried red chilies and cumin seeds in to a smooth paste in a mini food processor
  • After the greens have wilted, add in the grated coconut mixture to the saucepan and mix.  Add salt to taste
  • Cook on low heat for another 5 mins and switch off
  • Heat oil in a small pan.  When the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds sputter, lower the heat and add the lentils and fry until golden brown.
  • Add the tempering to the saucepan, mix and serve

 

 

This is comfort food at its best when served over steamed white rice with a dollop of ghee!  What a simple, wholesome way to have your greens and enjoy it too!   You can also add more water and serve it as a hearty soup with a side of crusty bread.