Tag: menu

by Veggie Sutra

Pretty in Pink – A Cool Summer Lunch Menu

It has been a scorching, smoky weekend in Northern California leaving me with no desire to cook over a fire.  A simple, cooling lunch that can be put together without turning on the stove or oven is what I was looking for.

My inspiration came from a book I am currently reading called Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller.  It is about the simple, elegant mid day meals that he and his coworkers prepared in the backroom of his book shop without access to an oven or stove.  The trick (I gathered) is to have some precooked foods like rice, lentils and beans available in the fridge, and basic ingredients like olive oil, lemons and dried herbs in the pantry.  Add fresh seasonal produce to this, and a gourmet meal will come together in no time!

Sugar-free “ice cream” with pluot jam topping

And so it came together – a pretty-in-pink healthy, cooling summer lunch complete with dessert!   Here is the menu:

  1. Lunch-sized chopped salad with cooling vegetables
  2. Strawberry-mint shrub sparkler
  3. Sugar-free “ice cream” with pluot jam topping
Strawberry Mint Shrub Sparkler

Before I get to the super-simple recipes, a confession!  The sauerkraut I started 2 weeks back did not turn out well.   There is a guy in our wonderful year-round farmer’s market who sells this amazingly tasty sauerkraut.  Mine was a 2-year old’s doodle compared to his Monet!  I think I know where I went wrong, so I will try again, undaunted!

A summer salad

(1) Recipe for A Chopped Summer Salad with a simple lemon dressing

[Printable Recipe]

Inspired by ideas from Lunch at the Shop by Peter Miller.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 long Persian cucumber or 3-4 small ones, seeded and chopped 
  • 1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in to 2
  • 1 small red onion, chopped
  • 1 cup of chopped red cabbage
  • 1 avocado sliced in to wedges or cubed
  • Dressing:
    • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
    • 4 Tbsp olive oil
    • pinch sea salt
    • pinch black pepper
    • 1 Tbsp finely chopped basil leaves or cilantro leaves
  • Some toasted nuts (almonds, walnuts) or seeds (sunflower, pumpkin) to garnish (optional)
Method:
  • Whisk together all the dressing ingredients except herbs.  Mix in the herbs and set aside
  • Combine in a bowl all the chopped vegetables 
  • Pour the dressing over it and toss to coat evenly, garnish with nuts if desired and serve
Notes:
1) Use any summer vegetables you have at hand and don’t be limited to the ones I used.  Bell pepper (red or green), greens of any kind, cooked (or canned) beans, lentils or chickpeas, grated carrots or beets, cooked wild rice or quinoa, and radishes are some choices.
2) You can use balsamic vinegar instead of lemon juice in the dressing if you wish and also make the dressing more interesting by adding grated ginger or dried oregano.
3) Did you know that both cucumber and red onion are cooling vegetables?  So is lemon juice.

Strawberry Mint Shrub

Back in May, with the advent of an early summer here in California, I made a Ginger-Mint Shrub as part of the Veggie Sutra’s Fermentation Series.  V and I loved it so much that it has become our go-to summer drink.  That was my first attempt at making shrubs and therefore I followed the original recipe by Mary Karlin in Mastering Fermentation by the book, so to speak.   This time I substituted the ginger with strawberries.   After all, what’s more summery than strawberries?  

(2) Recipe for A Strawberry-Mint Shrub Sparkler
Adapted from Mastering Fermentation by Mary Karlin
Makes enough for around 6 people
Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup chopped very ripe strawberries, smashed slightly
  • 1/2 cup packed fresh mint leaves + a couple of sprigs of fresh mint
  • 3/4 cup raw organic apple cider vinegar (use one with live mother cultures like Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar)
  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime/lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup raw unrefined cane sugar
  • 1 bottle of sparkling water
  • A few ice cubes if you like
  • Plus about 2 weeks of patience!
Method:
I am going to be lazy here and ask you to refer to my post on Ginger-Mint Shrub.  It turned out very well, and the original recipe has step-by-step photos as well.  Just substitute strawberries for ginger. Other interesting combinations to try: Apricot-Mint or Apricot-Basil, Peach-Mint, and Mango-Mint (use fresh mango).
Banana-Date Ice Cream with Pluot Jam Topping
This year, the California-grown stone fruits that we get at our farmer’s market have been extra-sweet, apparently a consolation prize for the persisting four-year drought.  I could not resist making a batch of summer fruit jam, even though V and I are abstaining from eating any added sugar these days.  Well, I usually give away most of the jam I make, so I don’t feel so bad!  I used some of the jam to top a sugar-free dessert giving it a pretty pink look as well a sweet and tart finish. 
(3) Recipe for a Sugar-free “ice cream” topped with home-made pluot jam
Makes generous portions for 2
Ingredients:
  • For “Ice Cream” 
    • 2 overripe bananas which have been frozen ahead of time, thawed slightly to peel and chop
    • 1/2 cup pitted and chopped dates
    • Up to 1/4 cup creamy coconut milk as needed
  • For topping
    • Some toasted pine nuts and raisins
    • Home-made pluot (or any summer fruit) jam (I used this recipe, with a slight variation of spices)
Method:
  • In a powerful blender or food processor, add the banana and dates.  Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides every now and then, and adding a little bit of the coconut milk at a time if needed
  • Scrape into a container with a lid, and freeze for around 6 hours
  • Scoop the “ice cream” into serving cups, top with pine nuts, raisins and a spoonful of jam and serve
Here is that pretty Pluot Jam
Summer is my least favorite time of the year, except for the abundant variety of produce that is available.  Which reminds me, I need to get more canning and freezing done before it is too late to save any produce for winter!   What are your favorite summer produce to save for winter and how do you do it?
by Veggie Sutra

Jazzed-Up Idlis (Steamed Rice Cakes) with Sambar and Chutney

The weather in Northern California has truly lost its mind, blowing hot and cold, and overall warmer than usual.  The brilliant golden poppies (our state flower) on the roadsides, daisies and tulips are not as abundant as previous years, what with the severe drought and all.  Still, we are trying to make the best of my favorite time of year.  Drought or not, Northern California is still one of the best places to live.

California Golden Poppies (State flower) on the side walk
Spring in Northern California – Nectarine tree blooming

The fermentation series today goes to our roots in southern India with idli, sambar and coconut chutney.  This is a quintessential breakfast in the state of Tamil Nadu, made in every household and available anywhere you go.  You can get it from a street cart.  Or from a vendor on the train selling it out of a basket (she will serve it to you on a banana leaf – be careful not to spill the sambar)!  You can get it in a simple, no-frills restaurant or a high-end, gourmet restaurant.    And do not for minute assume that the more expensive idli will taste any better.

Idlis with sambar and chutney

The city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu known for the architecturally astounding Meenakshi temple, and its association with one of the oldest classical languages in the world, Tamil, is also famous for its idlis.

Details on one of the several towers of the Meenakshi temple in Madurai

The idlis in Madurai are reputed to be as pristine white and soft as jasmine flowers, which is another beautiful thing the city is famous for.   In fact, two years back when V and I visited family in Madurai, they picked us up from our early morning flight and took us straight to Murugan Idli Kadai so that we could have our fill of idlis with a variety of chutneys!

It was heartening to see that McDonalds and KFC have not yet taken a hold of Madurai unlike other Indian cities where these unhealthy American joints are spreading like a virus.  Wrap your mind around this, you get 2 idlis with sambar and chutney for the equivalent of around 20 cents at a clean, no-frills restaurant.  How is that for fast food that is cheap as well as nutritious?!

Murugan Idli Kadai in Madurai

Idlis are made by steaming a fermented batter of rice and lentils.  The same batter is used to make idli’s more flashy sibling, the dosa.   However, idli has the reputation of being healthier and more gentle on the stomach than dosa.

As it was a Sunday, Amma decided to make a  jazzed-up version of idli called “Kanjivaram/ Kanchipuram Idli”.  Named after another temple town in Tamil Nadu, this spicy variation though not as white and pristine as the Madurai idli is fragrant and filling.

A few notes before we get to amma’s recipe.  Making idlis requires planning, special equipment and some fine-tuning, but once you have it down, it is super easy:

  • Plan ahead to allow time for soaking and fermenting the rice and lentils.  As with my notes on tempeh, the process of rinsing, soaking and fermenting reduces the phytic acid present in rice and lentils and allows nutrients to be more readily available.
  • You need an idli cooker, a steamer with idli plates, which is available online or in an Indian grocery store.
  • Recipe proportions are not set in stone.  You have to play with the proportion of rice to lentils (anywhere from 3:1 to 4:1) as everything from the weather to the quality of the ingredients has an effect.  Below recipe is just a guide.
  • You can buy all the ingredients (such as black gram daal /urad daal and fenugreek seeds) in Indian grocery stores or online.
Idli plates filled with batter

Recipe for Jazzed-up Idlis with Sambar and Coconut Chutney
[Printable Recipe]

1) Recipe for Jazzed-up Idlis:
Ingredients:

  • 3 cups white rice + 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup whole skinned black matpe beans /black gram daal/ black lentils (urad daal in Hindi, ulundu in Tamil)
  • 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (methi in Hindi, vendhayam in Tamil)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 Tbsp crushed black pepper
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp powdered dried ginger
  • A pinch asafoetida (optional)
  • 1/4 cup roasted cashews broken in to small pieces
  • 2 Tbsp raw sesame oil
  • 2 Tbsp ghee
  • About 1 Tbsp vegetable oil for coating the idli plates
Method:
Make the batter:
  • Wash thoroughly by kneading with your hands the rice and lentils separately and soak for 5-6 hours.  Wash fenugreek seeds and soak
  • Grind or blend the lentils first until it is as smooth as butter adding only as much water as you need and not a drop more
  • Then add the soaked rice, fenugreek seeds and salt and grind in to a smooth batter
  • Scoop with your hands (it will ferment better if you use your hands) in to a large container with a lot of headroom for the batter to rise
  • Place in a warm spot (I place it inside the oven with the light on) overnight to rise
  • After the batter has fermented, add the crushed black pepper, dried ginger powder, asafoetida (if using), cashews, sesame oil and ghee and mix
Fermented Idli Batter
Make the idlis:
  • Coat the depressions on the idli plate with a smidge of oil
  • Scoop the batter into them
  • Steam for around 15 minutes
  • Allow to cool a bit, and remove with a sharp spoon on to a plate
  • Serve with sambar and chutney
2) A Simple Coconut Chutney Recipe
Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup yellow lentils/split chickpeas (chana daal in Hindi, kadalai paruppu in Tamil)
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut (found in the frozen section in Indian grocery stores)
  • 4 green Thai or Indian chilies (or more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp split black lentils/split matpe beans (urad dal in Hindi, uluththam paruppu in Tamil)
  • A sprig of curry leaves
  • Salt to taste
  • Chopped cilantro for garnish
Method:
  • Roast the chana daal on low heat until golden brown and grind to a powder in a food processor
  • Add the grated coconut, green chilies and about 1/4 cup water and blend in to a thick consistency
  • Heat oil in a small pan.  Add the mustard seeds.  When the mustard seeds start to pop, add the urad dal.  When golden brown, add the curry leaves and switch off the heat
  • Dump the oil seasoning in to the chutney, add salt to taste and mix
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro if desired before serving with idli
3) A Simple Sambar Recipe
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup split pigeon peas/red gram lentils/ red gram daal (toor daal in Hindi, thuvaram paruppu in Tamil)
  • 1 small ping pong ball size of tamarind (or 1 Tbsp tamarind paste)
  • 2 cups chopped vegetables like potatoes, beans, egg plant, bell pepper, carrots
  • A pinch turmeric
  • 2 Tbsp sambar powder (available in Indian stores)
  • 2 Tbsp grated coconut (found in the frozen section in Indian grocery stores)
  • 2 green Thai or Indian chilies
  • 1 Tbsp raw sesame oil
  • 1 tsp mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds (jeera in Hindi, jeeragam in Tamil)
  • 1 red chili, halved
  • A sprig of curry leaves
  • 1 Tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish
  • Salt to taste
Method:
  • Wash and soak the lentils overnight.  Drain and cook the lentils with 2 cups of water until soft and mushy.  (Add more water if necessary)
  • Rinse and soak the tamarind in warm water to cover for an hour.  Squeeze out the pulp and discard the skin, seeds and fibers.  Set aside (Skip this step if you are using the paste)
  • Grind together the coconut and chilies with about 1/4th cup of water and set aside
  • In a large pot, bring the tamarind pulp (or the paste) and 2 cups of water to a boil and add the chopped vegetables, turmeric and sambar powder.  Bring to a boil again and then lower heat and close with a lid and cook until the vegetables are soft.  Add the ground coconut and chilies and cook for a few more minutes and switch off heat
  • Heat the oil in a small pan and add the mustard seeds.  When they pop, add the cumin seeds and red chili.  When golden brown, add the curry leaves and switch off the heat
  • Dump the oil seasoning in to the pot, add salt to taste and mix
  • Garnish with chopped cilantro before serving the sambar with idli and chutney
Idlis with sambar and chutney

Go ahead, give dosa’s humble sibling a shot and do let me know if you have any questions!   I have an expert at hand (hi amma)!

by Veggie Sutra

Vegetarian Mezze recipes – Baked Pita Bread, Baba Ghanoush, Za’atar Dip and Beetroot with Yogurt

As promised, here are the recipes for the vegetarian mezze items from the Vegetarian Middle Eastern dinner party that V & I hosted last weekend for two of my cousins and their families.  The leftover Baba Ghanoush kept pretty well in the refrigerator for a few days and so did the Za’atar Dip.  We did not have any of the Beetroot Dip left over.   Of course it was pretty easy to bake some more pita bread quickly in the oven to enjoy the leftover dips with.

As I mentioned in my previous post, mezze consists of several small dishes that serve as appetizers or tasters before the main meal.  My mezze table is pretty modest compared to what we have seen in our travels in Egypt.  Here is what my mezze table consisted of; recipes below:

  • Baked Pita Chips
  • Baba Ghanoush
  • Beetroot Dip with Yogurt
  • Za’atar Dip
  • Stuffed Olives (store bought)
Mezze for a vegetarian middle-eastern party

Baked Pita Chips (Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa)
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Generous amount of extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
Salt
Black Pepper
Za’atar (optional)

  1. Brush both sides of the pita bread with olive oil
  2. Sprinkle salt, pepper and za’atar to taste on one side evenly
  3. Cut the pita bread in to 8 wedges
  4. Bake for 10 mins at 350 deg F turning it over once
Baked Pita Chips & Baba Ghanoush
Baba Ghanoush (Recipe adapted from various food blogs)

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
2 large eggplants (~3 lbs)
1/3 cup tahini
3 garlic cloves (optional)
2 Tbsp lemon juice 
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch chili powder
2 Tbsp parsley chopped fine
Extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil for drizzle
  1. Prepare the eggplant:
    1. Brush the eggplant with olive oil and place it on a baking tray lined with Aluminum foil
    2. Set the oven to Broil on High and place the tray directly under the coils (you do not need to pierce the eggplant as I was advised by one blogger)
    3. Check every 15 mins and turn the eggplant once or twice.
    4. It will take not more than 45 mins for the skin to split and the eggplant to become nice and gooey inside so that a knife slides in all the way super easily 
    5. Let the eggplant cool, peel off the skin and scoop the insides in to a food processor
  2. Prepare the Garlic:
    1. Wrap the garlic with skin tightly in Aluminum foil and place it in the baking tray with the eggplant 
    2. Remove after 30 mins and let it cool 
    3. Peel and throw in to food processor
  3. Combine tahini, lemon juice, cumin powder, salt and chili powder in the food processor and pulse until smooth
  4. Garnish with chopped parsley
  5. Drizzle olive oil on top of the eggplant before serving
Beetroot Dip with Yogurt
Beetroot Dip with Yogurt (Recipe adapted from various food blogs)

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
2 medium-sized beet root
1 cup yogurt
salt to taste
paprika to taste
1 clove minced garlic (optional)
ground black pepper to taste
chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

  1. Pressure cook the beetroot after slicing in to two or whole.  Alternately boil until soft.  Remove skin
  2. Coarsely grate the beetroot
  3. Whip yogurt in a bowl with salt, pepper, paprika and garlic
  4. Add the grated beetroot and mix
  5. Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve
Mezze table: Pita Chips, Stuffed Olives, Baba Ghanoush, Beetroot dip with Yogurt and Za’atar
Za’atar Dip (Recipe adapted from saveur.com)
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:
For the Za’atar:
4 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black pepper whole
2 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp salt
For the dip:
3 Tbsp Za’atar
1/2 cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic minced (optional)
1 bunch cilantro
1/2 tsp salt or to taste
  1. Za’atar:
    1. Toast in a skillet (or in an oven if you prefer) the sesame seeds, cumin seeds and black pepper until fragrant
    2. Grind to a fine powder all the ingredients
  2. Dip:
    1. Stem the cilantro taking out most of the hardy stems
    2. In a food processor, pulse together all the ingredients until smooth
Mezze table: Pita Chips, Stuffed Olives, Baba Ghanoush, Beetroot Dip with Yogurt, Za’atar Dip
Would love to go back to this theme again for a dinner party someday and extend my mezze repertoire to include more items, especially Muhammara.  Any other suggestions to enhance my vegetarian mezze table?
by Veggie Sutra

A Vegetarian Middle-Eastern Dinner Party Menu

Fall and winter are when V and I tend to have people over to our place for dinner.  In the spring and summer time, it always seems like a good idea to go out to eat and enjoy the beautiful California outdoors as a bonus.

Yesterday we had two of my cousins over with their families and since both of them cook great Indian food, I decided to make it a middle-eastern themed dinner.   I think it went well, even not withstanding some taste restrictions with olives, and eggplant!  Amma, who is visiting us now, was a big help in her role as a chief adviser and sous chef!

I found a couple of good books in the library where I got some of the inspiration for the recipes and menu, but I found most of it online in some lovely cooking blogs.

Here is the full menu and my recipe notes:

Mezze:
Baked Pita Chips
Turkish beetroot with yogurt
Almond-stuffed Olives (store-bought)
Za’atar dip (with freshly ground home-made za’atar)
Baba Ghanoush (Iraqi-style)

V and I were first introduced to “mezze” on our trip to Egypt.  Such a delicious idea to have little “nibbles” before the main meal.  The Egyptian mezze, if I remember, had small dishes with olives, potatoes (cold), blanched carrots (cold), hummus, tabbolueh, red bell pepper dip, baba ghanoush and a few others.   My mezze is very humble by comparison.

I used the Barefoot Contessa recipe for making pita chips from store-bought whole-wheat pita bread. Sometimes the simplest recipes are the easiest to screw up and I didn’t want over-baked pita bread and this recipe was perfect.  I sprinkled salt, black pepper and some home-made za’atar before slicing in to wedges and baking.

The baba ghanoush recipe and beetroot yogurt recipe were gleaned from various places.  I read that the smokiness of the eggplant in the baba ghanoush is particularly Iraqi in flavor.  I kept both the recipes fairly simple with minimal ingredients.

I did not take as many pictures as I should have, as I was busy having fun with my little niece. However I will post some of the recipes and pictures soon.

Mezze for a Middle-Eastern Dinner Party

Main course:
Egytian-style Falafel with yellow fava beans and chickpeas
Turkish stuffed bell peppers
A stew with Winter squash, potatoes and green fava beans

The recipe for falafel came from this excellent article on falafel on ToriAvey.com.  I used the Egyptian method and used both fava beans and chickpeas rather than just chickpeas like the Israelis do. I also used a bunch of parsley and cilantro in the dough.

The Turkish Stuffed Peppers was inspired by a book I borrowed from the library called Fresh Pantry by Amy Pennington  which has other great recipes on using seasonal produce in interesting ways.  I changed the recipe quite a bit and stuffed my peppers with brown rice, onions, shallots, carrots, celery, pecans and lots of fresh herbs.

Dessert:
Pistachio-Cardamom cookies
Poached pears served with store-bought cardamom ice cream

Pears poached in red wine, orange juice, lemon juice and spices

I don’t think the poached pears turned out well this time; still dessert was a hit, primarily due to the choice of ice cream.  V and I had tasted an amazing cardamom-flavored ice cream on one of our trips to Napa Valley a few years back and I was thrilled to see that it is now available in some grocery stores. Three Twins ice cream is made right here in our neighborhood in Petaluma in Northern California!  The Dad’s Cardamom flavor fit well with our dinner theme and was delicious over the poached pears.

I also made pistachio-cardamom cookies using a great recipe I found online at Baked by Joanna.  The cookies were a big hit too.

Pistachio-Cardamom Cookies with Turkish coffee

All in all, I think it was pretty cozy evening with family and the menu did not let me down!