Category: Summer

by Veggie Sutra

Chunky Salad with Garlic Tofu and Sweet Basil Dressing

It has been a summer of intense events, the kind that make you take stock of the life and its meaning and all that.  Things are looking up finally with nothing but a few inconveniences, considering. We had to cancel a few plans, including one to visit Yellowstone with amma.  Some other time!   The moose can wait.

Like the Bard said, all’s well that ends well.   Crisp fall weather has finally arrived and its time for warming soups and stews.  Through the summer, V and I have tried to be faithful about eating more salads.  I have a large repertoire of dressing recipes now but V likes the variations with basil the best.  The abundance of basil in the garden this summer made it pretty easy to whip up a variety of dressings with basil.

 

 

This is a chunky salad which is filling enough to serve on its own for lunch. The garlic tofu slices provide the protein necessary to make it a complete meal.  You could also serve it with a cold gazpacho made with watermelon or strawberries or cucumber, all great summer produce still available in the Farmers Markets.

 

 

Recipe for Chunky Salad with Garlic Tofu and Sweet Basil Dressing

Serves 2 for lunch

[Printable recipe]

Ingredients:

  • Garlic Tofu:
    •  1 14oz block of tofu
    • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
    • 1 tbsp dried garlic flakes or 1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
    • Coarse salt
    • 1 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika
    • 1 tsp sumac
  • Sweet basil dressing
    • A large handful of basil leaves (more the better)
    • 1/2 cup olive oil
    • 1/2 cup lemon juice
    • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
    • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
    • Pinch salt
  • 1 cup shredded cabbage
  • 2 large handfuls of large cut cauliflower florets
  • 1/2 cup red bell pepper cut into strips
  • 1/2 cup green pepper cut into strips
  • 1/2 cup carrots, thinly sliced

Method:

  • Drain and press the tofu between 2 plates and place a weight on top to squeeze out all the water.  Leave it for half an hour or more.  (Keep an eye on it as the tofu tends to wobble causing the weight to fall)
  • Make the Dressing:
    • Blend all the ingredients for the dressing until smooth.   Taste and adjust as desired.
  • Make the Garlic Tofu:
    • Cut the tofu in to 1/2 inch thick strips
    • Heat oil in a wide pan on medium heat, add the minced or dry garlic and saute for a min until fragrant
    • Place the tofu in  a single layer in the pan and lower heat
    • When golden on one side, turn over and cook on other side until golden
    • Sprinkle with salt, sumac and cayenne pepper/paprika and coat on both sides
    • Remove the tofu on to a plate
  • Assemble the salad just before serving
    • Toss the vegetables with the dressing and plate
    • Place the tofu strips on top and serve

 

 

Save the remaining dressing in a bottle in the refrigerator.  It may coagulate a bit, but you can gently warm it up before using again.

I am still surprised at how fast the year has gone by.   Summer has been pretty mild this year and only now the strawberries have turned sweet.  In fact, they are so sweet and fragrant now, that is pretty much all we are serving for dessert when we have friends over.   Let’s live it up in this final hurrah of summer!

by Veggie Sutra

A Very Summery Salad with Basil-Mustard Dressing

Last weekend turned out to one of those weekends when most everything on our menu was backyard-to-table.   We harvested a good crop of eggplant and bell pepper, as well as tomatoes, basil and greens.   Love summertime when there is enough light for me in the evenings for me to putter around in the garden and talk to my plants.  Ha ha, yeah I do that sometimes!

 

 

V is continuing on his salad kick and loved the Basil-Tomato Dressing I had made couple of weeks back, and I still have some of that left in the refrigerator.  I do need to start labeling these dressings!   And before I turned around, there was enough basil for another batch of pesto.  I decided to make yet green dressing using basil, this time from a brand new book called Saladish by Ilene Rosen.  It must be really hard to write a whole book on salads and I really appreciated the creativity that went in to the book.

The salad I made for our lunch consisted of lots of greens (I used arugula), tomatoes, and avocados.   The protein came from the pan-fried tofu sprinkled with salt and pepper.   As I final step, I topped the salad with some micro-greens but delicate herbs like dill or chives would work as well.  Topping with some crunchy nuts makes it a filling and complete mid-day meal.

One tip for dressings left in the refrigerator.  It does tend to thicken and coagulate and so before using it, I gently warm it up in some warm water or by placing it in the microwave for around 30 seconds.

 

 

Recipe for a A Very Summery Salad with Basil-Mustard Dressing

Serves 2 for a light lunch

Dressing inspired by a recipe in Saladish by Ilene Rosen

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
  • 1 14oz block of extra-firm tofu
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil (or extra virgin olive oil)
  • 2 large handfuls of arugula or spinach, washed and drained
  • 2 large ripe tomatoes, washed and cut in to wedges
  • 2 avocados, washed and cut in to wedges
  • About 1/4 cup of microgreens or chopped herbs to sprinkle on top
  • 1/4 cup walnuts or macadamia nuts
  • For the dressing (enough to save for a couple more meals):
    • 2 cups packed basil leaves, washed
    • 4 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
    • 1 Tbsp dijon mustard
    • 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
    • A generous pinch of white sugar
    • sea salt to taste
    • freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method:
  • Prepare the dressing:
    • Pulse all the dressing ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.  If the dressing is too thick, use more oil or a little bit of water and mix
  • Prepare the tofu strips:
    • Drain the tofu of all water by placing the block of tofu on dish and placing something heavy on top for a couple of hours
    • Slice the tofu in to 1/4″ thick slices
    • Place a wide pan on the stove and add a tablespoon of oil
    • When the oil is hot, place the tofu slices and turn the heat to medium or low
    • Flip the tofu after 5-7 mins to the other side until it is evenly golden on both sides
    • Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and slice further into thin strips
  • Assemble the salad:
    • On two salad plates, place a large handful of arugula each
    • Place half the sliced tomato, sliced avocado and as much tofu strips as you want on each plate.  (Save the remaining tofu strips for another meal)
    • Sprinkle microgreens and nuts on top
    • Drizzle with the green dressing and enjoy

We sat outside in the garden to enjoy this very summery salad as the smell of basil, gardenia and roses wafted by.   I do love mild Bay Area summers like this but at the same time, I sent a silent prayer to people all over the state affected by the nasty wildfires.

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

Summer recipe roundup – Tomatoes, Peppers and Herbs

Summer’s here and a heat wave is waiting on the wings here in Northern California!   Here’s a round up of recipes with our favorite summer ingredients – Juicy tomatoes, spicy bell peppers and fragrant herbs!

For the tomatoes & peppers, make sure they are organic (or grow them yourself) as both notoriously appear on the Dirty Dozen list every single year.  I must confess that I don’t have much luck growing peppers myself, but tomatoes grow well.   Mint and basil are pretty easy to grow as well, without even trying a whole lot, but again cilantro is another story!   It either bolts or stays unproductive.  In any case, it is easy to find huge bunches of herbs in the market for less than a dollar!  That’s what I love about this time of year!

Here are bunch of unique accompaniments – spreads, chutneys and salsa and a couple of thirst quenching beverages:

1. Spicy Fermented Tomato Salsa – You can use this salsa in a variety of ways – as a dip or a topping

2. Very Spicy Chili Relish – Use sparingly as a side, as this is really, really hot!   Don’t say I didn’t warn you!

3. Cilantro Hummus – A great way to get all the benefits of herbs, use as a spread for your sandwiches

4. Basil Pesto with Habanero Peppers – Skip the habanero for a milder version, but you cannot go wrong with pesto.

5. Mint Chutney  – This chutney bursts with the fresh taste of summer

6.  A cleansing juice with peppers and tomatoes – If you are like me, you get overenthusiastic in the markets and buy too much of that lovely summer produce. And if you are like me, you hate throwing food away.  So here’s the perfect way to use your produce in a cleansing juice. Throw in herbs as well or any other veggies you may have on hand.

7. Soda with Ginger Mint Shrub  – You can use fresh mint in pretty much any drink and it would brighten it up, but this shrub is special as it is fermented for added benefits.

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

Sun-dried tomato hummus

Last month, I had kicked off the Dirty Dozen series with a recipe for lentils with leafy greens like spinach.  Spinach has consistently stayed around the top of the Dirty Dozen list at least for the past 5 years.  However, tomatoes appeared on the list just this year.  I was dismayed to see staples like tomatoes and potatoes on the list now at #10 and #12 respectively.   What’s a girl supposed to eat if tomatoes and potatoes are now “dirty”?

 

 

In the Dirty Dozen Recipe Roundup, I had listed a few of my strategies for dealing with the dirty list. One of them is to try and grow some of the offending produce in my own backyard to ensure it is totally chemical free.  While this may not be feasible for everyone, if you even have space for potted plants, tomatoes can be grown.   Since we have a very small vegetable patch, we typically plant 1-2 tomato saplings around March.    After a long, patient wait, we start getting ripe tomatoes around July.   In a good year, we get enough for our immediate cooking needs as well as to save for later. During years when we don’t have abundant produce at home, we simply buy organic tomatoes in the farmers market in peak summer when it is super cheap and save for later.

To save tomatoes for those wonderful soups and stews in winter, simply cut them in to small pieces and place in a saucepan at low heat and let it cook with a lid on.  I typically add a bit of turmeric to the tomatoes.  Once it has released all the liquid and cooked well, allow it to cook completely.  Scoop in to small bottles and store them in the freezer. Then during those cold dreary months, you can just pull out one bottle at a time as needed. You could also make sun-dried tomatoes to save for later. Thinly slice the tomatoes and place it in a single layer on large plates or cookie sheets.  Place in direct sun until the liquids have evaporated and the tomato shrivels up.

 

 

The hummus I made today uses sun-dried tomatoes but they came from a huge jar that I bought in Costco.  You can buy sun-dried tomatoes preserved in olive oil in regular stores as well, but look for organic.

Recipe for Sun-dried Tomato Hummus

[Printable Recipe]

Makes a little more than 1 cup

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas (If you are using canned chickpeas, use one 15 oz can)
  • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes with a little of the preserve oil
  • 2 Tbsp tahini paste (I buy organic Kevala tahini paste from Whole Foods)
  • 1-2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic (optional)
  • A handful of basil leaves, washed and roughly chopped
  • Pinch cumin powder
  • Pinch paprika
  • salt to taste

Method:

  • Cook the chickpeas (skip this step if you are using canned chickpeas):
    • Rinse the chickpeas and soak in tepid water at least overnight, for up to 2 days occasionally changing the water.   The longer you soak it, the easier it is to cook.  Also if they start to sprout, that’s a good thing as sprouted chickpeas are super healthy
    • Throw away the soaking water before cooking
    • Cook the chickpeas in a pressure cooker or slow cooker with enough water to submerge the soaked chickpeas.   Allow 4-5 whistles in the pressure cooker and wait a while before opening.  If cooking in a saucepan, use more water and cover and cook on low heat until the chickpeas become mushy
    • Reserve some of the cooking liquid
  • Blend the hummus:
    • Throw in the drained chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes with oil, tahini paste, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, basil leaves, and spices in a high-speed blender or food processor
    • Blend until super smooth using as much of the cooking liquid as and when you need it
    • The consistency should be that of peanut butter or maybe just a tad more liquidy but not much
  • Scoop in to an airtight container and refrigerate if you are not using it right away

 

 

This hummus will be a great hit as an appetizer at parties.  Serve it with vegetables like celery, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, or with dinner crackers.

However at our place, we use hummus for breakfast.    The very first post on Veggie Sutra featured a Cilantro Hummus recipe, and as mentioned in that post, hummus is a staple in our household for breakfast.  I love to dress up the hummus with whatever herbs I have on hand or in the garden.  This time, I used basil from the garden in addition to the sun-dried tomatoes.   A healthy, wholesome spread on top of crackers or rice cakes or bread makes for a very satisfying breakfast in the morning!

Other breakfast spread variations from our kitchen:

 

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.

 

by Veggie Sutra

Cold asparagus soup with pan-fried asparagus heads

I read about Bea Johnson’s Zero Waste Home a while back in the New York Times and I am ashamed to admit that while I was super inspired by her waste free living, I did not follow through with it for more than a week or two perhaps.  It is hard when our lives and schedules are dictated by packaged conveniences in every walk.  This week, the Sunnyvale City invited Bea over for a talk and seeing her in person inspired me once again to try to follow her principles of waste-free living.  Bea brought the entirely of her family’s trash in a small flip-top bottle and I was blown away!

V and I are pretty good about not wasting food.  But then if that food comes in any kind of packaging it is still pretty wasteful.  We buy our staples like rice and lentils in plastic packaging, as well as other stuff like crackers, snacks, nuts and so on.  We buy some drinks like club soda in plastic bottles.  Sometimes we buy washed salad greens in clamshell plastic boxes or plastic bags.  It is really amazing to just note how much plastic we throw away each week apart from what we obsessively recycle.  We definitely will make a conscious effort to reduce our footprint and buy stuff in bulk.   And for those interested in tips and ways to live a zero waste living, do follow Bea on zerowastehome.com.

Speaking of using packaged stuff, we had a 2.2lb bag of asparagus that we got from Costco a week or so back.  Well, no point throwing it away just because we got it in plastic packaging.  Usually my go-to recipe for asparagus is to simply roast it in the oven with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper.  But the last couple of days in the Bay Area were a true anomaly with temps reaching in the high 100s.   And it did not cool off even in the evening as it typically does.  Uff!!  With climate change, I wonder if this is the new normal we need to get adjusted to.   I was loathe to turn on the oven, so I quickly prepared a cold soup early in the day and put it in the refrigerator.

 

 

Recipe for Cold Asparagus Soup with Pan-fried Asparagus Tips

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 6 for dinner with a side

Ingredients:

  • Approx. 1 kg / 2.2 lbs of asparagus spears
  • 2-3 medium potatoes
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2-3 cloves garlic
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 4-5 basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • salt and pepper as needed
  • 4 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
  • water as needed

Method:

  • Wash the asparagus.  Trim the tough ends of the asparagus and discard.  Save the heads from about half the asparagus and cut the rest in to bite-sized pieces
  • Wash and cube the potatoes
  • Bring water to a boil in a large pot (enough the submerge the potatoes and asparagus).  Add some salt.
  • Put the potatoes in first for about 8 mins until the potatoes can be pierced with a knife
  • Then throw in the asparagus pieces except the saved heads for about 8 mins until asparagus is soft.  Switch off the heat.  Drain the asparagus and potatoes and cool
  • While the potatoes and asparagus are cooking, peel and chop the onion roughly.  Smash the garlic, peel and chop.
  • Add about 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and when it is hot, add the saved asparagus heads and fry until slightly browned.  Remove with a slotted spoon and save
  • Add the onion to the same pan and saute until golden brown.  Let it cool.
  • In a powerful blender, blend together the cooked potatoes and asparagus, sauted onions, raw garlic and basil leaves with milk.  Add water if needed and add salt and pepper to taste
  • Pour the soup in to serving bowl and mix in the shredded Parmesan cheese and refrigerate
  • After it has cooled, serve in bowls topped with a few of the reserved asparagus heads

 

 

On a warm day, this cold soup can be served with a side of oven-toasted crusty bread or a nice bruschetta.  Yesterday, as the mercury refused to budge even in the evening, I just prepared a simple raw radish salad with pesto dressing to supplement the soup.  As we sat outside in the backyard trying to cool off on this unusually warm Bay Area evening, climate change and resource waste definitely came up in the dinner table conversation topics.  Perhaps if we all lived a zero-waste life, we would not be feeling climate change to this extent in our life time.