Meatless Mondays: Indian Feast (feat. Moong Dal)

I'd like to take a moment to discuss thoughtfulness.


There are so few people who actually care about other people's lives. And this isn't my cynical-advertising-copywriter speaking. I think it's true. Sure, there are people in your life who care about you: your parents, your significant other, your close friends. And then there are those special few people who care about, well, everyone.


People who always remember birthdays - and send cards weeks in advance. People who donate to every charity run/walk/jump/bake sale possible. People who keep a mental catalogue of you, your siblings, your siblings' families, and your pets' health - and remember to ask about all those every time they talk to you.


It's safe to say I'm not one of those people. But I happen to know one - and she happened to send me a large container of mung beans. Not because I've been pestering anyone to buy me mung beans, but because I once - in passing (apparently) - mentioned I'm curious to try them. (Giver of the Mung Beans, you know who you are, and this post is for you!)


What better way to celebrate someone's thoughtfulness than to cook something seasoned with thoughts of them? (Loyal readers: don't fret, this is the most sentimental I'll ever get on this blog.) I did quite a bit of research on cooking mung beans. You can buy them with the skins already off (mine still had theirs on, which I'm convinced is more nutritious), and you can soak them (or not) before cooking. I didn't soak them. I left the skins on. And they were delicious.


Not to too my own horn, but - TOOT TOOT! This was by far the best Indian-inspired meal I've made to date. And it might even be the best Meatless Monday meal I've made. Ross said (and I'm paraphrasing): "UGGGHHHHHH, it's [expletive deleted] Meatless Monday, isn't it?" [ONE HOUR LATER:] "Oh my God, these are some delicious vegetables!...The whole point of cooking is to mask the gross taste of vegetables, and you really did that. This is really good. The rice is the best part. And the chapatis are amazing. I'll have another."

I know this meal has a lot of parts, and quite a few ingredients, but nothing about it is difficult. Even the chapatis are super low maintenance - unless you count the fact that Ross had to stand under the smoke alarm, fanning it with a towel, so I could get the pan hot enough to cook them (the perils of apartment living). If you try this meal at home, invite over someone really thoughtful - or at least be mindful of those who truly care about you. It'll make the food taste even better.

INGREDIENTS

Moong Dal:
1/4 c. olive oil
1 cup mung beans
3 cups water (actually I don't know how much it really was - I think it was more. I just kept adding water until the lentils were done)
1 onion, diced
3 finger peppers, sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 medium tomatoes, in chunks
3 cloves garlic, minced
fresh chopped cilantro
Cumin seeds (about a teaspoon, whole, toasted)
Turmeric
salt

Homemade Chapatis:
I used this recipe, subbing in 2% milk for the water.
I also used a little more than 3/4 c. milk, and I cooked each chapati in a smidgen of butter.


Creamy Spinach:
1 10-oz. bag spinach leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
a few tablespoons water
big spoonfuls sour cream
salt and pepper

Rice Pilaf:
1 cup rinsed white rice
2 cups water
turmeric (a few dashes)
cumin seeds, whole (about 1/2 tsp.)
1 cinnamon stick
a few tablespoons dried currants
a few tablespoons sliced peeled almonds, toasted
salt
olive oil

STEP 1:

In a Dutch oven or large pot, heat the 1/4 c. olive oil. Add the onions and some salt. Cook over medium high heat until translucent. Add the finger peppers, bell pepper, turmeric, bay leaf, and toasted cumin seeds. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add the mung beans and a few cups water. Add the tomatoes and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, for about an hour, adding more water as needed and stirring every few minutes, until mung beans are tender and consistency is a bit thicker than a stew. Stir in chopped cilantro about 10 minutes before it's done. Taste and adjust seasonings. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

STEP 2:

While moong dal is cooking, prepare the chapatis. Cover with a kitchen towel and keep warm until ready to serve. Also prepare the rice: add rice, water, turmeric, cumin, and cinnamon stick to rice cooker (or pot with lid) and simmer until all water is absorbed. Stir in currants and toasted almonds. Fluff with a fork. Keep warm until ready to serve.

STEP 3:

Prepare spinach: in a pot with a lid, place the spinach and all other ingredients. Cook over medium low heat until spinach is wilted. Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve moong dal and spinach over rice pilaf, with chapatis on the side. Enjoy!

Vegetarian Stuffed Poblanos with Avocado Crema

There may not be anything more satisfying than serving tofu to a mixed crowd and having everyone love it.


Ok, ok, it certainly wasn't the star of the meal - in fact, it was cut into tiny little pieces and scattered amongst beans, rice, and Mexican delights of all varieties. But it was definitely in there! And let me tell you what - these stuffed peppers were freaking good. Ross and my friends Jess (of former roommate fame) and Mike (her boyfriend) agreed. It was a spontaneous Sunday night dinner that I look forward to revisiting tonight in the form of leftovers.

I had been really scared to try roasting peppers on the gas stovetop, for obvious reasons (fear of causing the Great Chicago Fire 2.0 chief among them), but it's actually a mellow process. I made sure there weren't any kitchen towels in sparking range, and just stood and watched the skin char. And the way it enhances the flavor of the poblanos - that's worth a little fear, my friends. In fact, you should only be afraid of not making this recipe - ASAP!

INGREDIENTS

4 large poblano peppers
2 T. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 large green bell pepper, diced
1 serrano chile, thinly sliced
1 can diced tomatoes and green chiles and all juices
1 can tomato paste diluted with equal part water
cumin (start with a few shakes, taste, and add as needed)
Mexican chili powder (start with a few shakes, taste, and add as needed)
dried oregano (start with a few shakes, taste, and add as needed)
salt and pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2/3 block extra-frim tofu, cut into 1/4" cubes and squeezed dry
juice of 1/2 a lime
~1/2 cup chopped cilantro
~3 cups cooked brown rice
~1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
grape tomatoes, in chunks, for garnish

Avocado Crema:
1 very ripe avocado
~1/2 cup light sour cream
juice of 1 lime
1/3 c. chopped cilantro
salt and pepper


STEP 1:

If you have a gas stovetop, turn a burner on medium heat, and place a poblano pepper directly on the flame. Roast on each side until the skin is charred black and bubbly. (You can also just roast them in the oven on high heat or under the broiler, or in a grill pan.) When each poblano is blackened, place in a bowl or a tupperware container with a tight-fitting lid and let rest for about 15 minutes. Peel the skins off and discard.


STEP 2:

With a sharp knife, cut a slice lengthwise down the poblanos and cut circularly around the stem of the pepper. Pull out the stem and seeds and discard. Meanwhile, cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove.

STEP 3:

Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium-high heat. Cook the onions, green pepper, and serrano pepper until beginning to soften. Add some cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and oregano. Stir and cook for a few more minutes. Add the can of diced tomatoes and the watered-down tomato paste. Add more seasonings, cooking and stirring occasionally.

STEP 4:

Add the lime juice, beans and tofu, and add the rice after it's cooked. Stir to combine, taste, and adjust seasonings. Fold in the cilantro.


STEP 5:

Preheat the oven to 375. Place the poblano peppers in a lightly oiled baking dish. Stuff each one with the rice/beans/tofu mixture. Cover each poblano with cheese. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until cheese is melty.


STEP 6:

Meanwhile, in a small pot, heat all the ingredients for the avocado crema over medium-low heat. Use an immersion blender to blend it until smooth. When the peppers are done, top each one with the crema before serving. Garnish with fresh tomato chunks. Serve and enjoy!


I think Ross put it best when he said, "I couldn't even taste the healthy." Really says it all.

Eat well, enjoy life, and more soon!

Meatless Monday: Chinese Tofu Stir-Fry

Meatless Mondays. And no, this is not yet another excuse to employ alliteration (although just about any excuse will do). Meatless Mondays is a nationwide initiative spearheaded by the John Hopkins (never heard of 'em) school of Public Health to try to reduce Americans' meat consumption by 15%.

One day a week without meat? But why?!

*Sccccrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech* [That's the sound of me dragging my soapbox into place.]


You can reduce your risk of heart disease. Reduce our fossil fuel dependency. Save money, water, energy, and - let's call a spade a spade - cute little animals. I could go on. But why take my word for it? Check out all the details on www.meatlessmonday.com.

I let the 3/4 rule guide my diet: I try to make sure 3/4 of my diet is plant-based. So Meatless Mondays aren't a big stretch for me. I look forward to eating meatless meals, not only for all the reasons Johns Hopkins says I should, but simply because I enjoy plant-based foods (although admittedly, I like them best when smothered in cheese). But as for a certain - ahem - live-in boyfriend, Meatless Mondays might as well be called I'm-Still-Hungry-Where's-The-Meat Mondays. Unlike the fine folks working in public health, Ross didn't exactly jump up and down when I told him I'd like to institute MM's in our household.


In fact, fresh off a trip to the gym, Ross was no doubt fantasizing about animal flesh the entire bus ride home, while I, meanwhile, lovingly drained and pan-fried tofu for our dinner. But he kept a positive attitude and had faith that I could make any meal - even a vegetarian one - pretty tasty. I'd like to think he was right.


INGREDIENTS

1 T. toasted sesame oil
1/2 block extra-firm tofu, cut into thin-ish 1" square slices
1 more T. sesame oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 medium bell peppers, cut into chunks
1/2 head cabbage. sliced thinly
1 bunch broccolini, cut into 1-inch pieces
handful roasted unsalted cashews
splash of wine OR juice of one lime OR 1/4 c. water OR 1/4 c. vegetable broth
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
about 1/3 c. soy sauce
about 3 T. hot sauce (or to taste)
several vigorous shakes of seasoned rice vinegar
a few big drizzles of honey
salt and pepper to taste (season at the end only if needed)
cooked brown rice for serving

STEP ONE:

On paper towels, press the tofu down, squeezing out the water. Meanwhile, heat 1 T. sesame oil in a large pan. When tofu is dry, cook in the oil over medium heat until crisp and golden brown on one side. Flip each piece individually and cook until the other side is crisp and golden brown.

STEP TWO:

Add the rest of the sesame oil to the remaining oil in the pan, then add the onion, cabbage, and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes, until beginning to soften. Add the wine (or alternate acid/liquid). Cook for a few more minutes, until liquid is almost evaporated. Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot sauce, honey, garlic, broccolini, cashews, and tofu. Cover and cook until broccolini is crisp tender. Uncover and let some liquid evaporate.

STEP THREE:

Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve over brown or white rice. Enjoy!


Ross' Comments:
"It tasted delicious even though it had negative calories. I think I lost weight while eating it."

Ha! Negative calories? If I knew how to make delicious food that actually took away calories as you were eating it, I'd already have a Food Network show (not to mention line of stylish cookware), my friends.

I usually don't espouse the nutritousness - or lack therof - of my recipes, mostly because I'm no dietician, and far be it from to guess how many calories, fat grams, etc., are in my dishes. However, just to make you feel even better about trying this meatless meal: the fat in this dish is mostly good fat, from the cashews and sesame oil (fat helps you feel full even if you're not eating animals). The cashews and tofu have a good amount of protein; the bell peppers are little Vitamin C bombs, and broccolini has calcium and iron. The brown rice has fiber (as do all the veggies), and the soy sauce helps to unlock all of rice's nutrients (yes, rice has lots of nutrients!). And that's just the tip of the delicious stir-fry iceberg.

Happy Meatless Mondays, friends! Eat your veggies and live well :-) More soon...

Braised Thai Drumsticks

Chicken Drumsticks: A Haiku

Tender and juicy
So very affordable
Always overlooked


People turn up their noses at dark meat - especially when it's still on the bone. But most of what you're paying for when you shell out $9 for three boneless, skinless, chicken breasts is the labor of the bone and skin removal. And I think dark meat is just so much more flavorful! To be sure, not everyone agrees, but for those of you who appreciate dark meat in all its succulent glory, cooking with chicken drumsticks is a great way to stretch your dinner dollar at the, ahem, end of the month.


I got 6 organic, free range chicken drumsticks for about $2.75 at Trader Joe's, and this meal all in all (counting the meatless leftovers I packed for my lunch tomorrow) made about 4 servings. Drumsticks, besides being an economical choice, are also perfect for a quick braise. When you braise them (as opposed to, say, frying them), you can always be sure they'll be fully cooked - if you've ever bitten into a drumstick that's been fried golden brown on the outside but is raw on the inside, you can understand my paranoia.


The easy, yet exotic, flavors of this easy intro-to-Thai braise might just make you white-meat-only people out there reconsider your poultry preferences. And if you just can't walk away from your precious breast meat, be my guest - chicken breasts would work great in this dish too. So screw takeout! Make a fantastic Thai-inspired dish at home. You can do it :-)

INGREDIENTS

6 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
2-3 T. grapeseed or vegetable oil
1 red bell pepper, in chunks
1/2 large white onion, in chunks
2 large Roma tomatoes, in chunks
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 serrano pepper with all seeds (optional)
1/2 c. chicken broth
pinch of salt
1 head broccoli, in florets
2 T. Sriracha hot sauce (or less, to taste)
2 heaping T. natural (unsweetened) peanut butter
1 T. honey
2 heaping T. brown sugar
juice of one lime
big pinch of salt
1 can light coconut milk
brown rice for serving
fresh chopped cilantro for serving


STEP ONE:

In a large pot with tight-fitting lid or a Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on all sides. Remove from pan and reduce heat to medium. Set chicken aside. Preheat oven to 375.

STEP TWO:

In a large bowl, whisk together the Sriracha, peanut butter, lime juice, salt, honey, and brown sugar. Whisk in the coconut milk.

STEP THREE:

Add the bell peppers, onions, serrano pepper and tomatoes to the oil still in the pan from the chicken - be careful, it will splatter something fierce. Throw in a little salt and stir around, scraping any chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. After a few minutes, add the chicken broth and garlic. Bring to a boil and cook for a couple minutes.

STEP FOUR:

Stir the peanut butter-coconut milk mixture into the veggies in the pan. Add the broccoli. Bring to a simmer, then nestle the chicken down into the sauce and veggie mixture. Cover the pot, turn off the heat, and transfer the whole thing to the oven. Meanwhile, cook the rice in a rice cooker or on the stove.

STEP FIVE:

Remove the chicken from the oven and serve with the sauce and veggies over rice. Top with cilantro and a few lime wedges, if desired. Enjoy!

Snappy Shrimp Dinner & Korean Soba Noodles

Weeknights are hard. Considering the fact my refrigerator is now too small to hold more than a few days' worth of food, planning meals a week in advance isn't so much an option any more. So, while that cuts down on food waste, it also means I find myself stopping at the grocery store on my way home from work quite a bit.


It's nice to have a few meals that are quick and easy to prepare, making the after-work grocery trek not such a big deal time-wise. This shrimp dish is one of those meals. It includes some of my favorite quick-cooking ingredients (most notably, shrimp), with a few things you see me combine all the time: peppers, tomatoes, onions, white wine, and lemon. I love a sauce with a nice, acidic bite ladled over simple white rice. A healthy heap of spinach rounds it out nutritionally.

SNAPPY SHRIMP DINNER

INGREDIENTS

2 T. olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, put though a press or minced
1/2 lb. raw peeled, deveined shrimp
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1 red chile pepper
1 can whole peeled tomatoes and all juices
handful fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 c. white wine
juice of one lemon
salt and pepper to taste
several big handfuls raw baby spinach leaves
cooked white or brown rice

STEP 1: Place the rice in a rice cooker or cook according to package directions. While it's cooking, heat olive oil in pan over medium heat and cook onions and peppers (including hot chile pepper) until tender. Add garlic and cook another minute.


STEP 2: Add lemon juice, wine, about 3/4 of the parsley, and tomatoes. Break up tomatoes with a wooden spoon and stir until well-mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Bring heat up to medium-high and cook, covered, for about 5 minutes.



STEP 3: Add spinach to the pan and stir. Recover and cook for about 2 minutes, until spinach is slightly wilted.


STEP 4: Add shrimp, stir, and recover, and cook until shrimp is pink and cooked through, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat. Taste and adjust seasonings. Spoon shrimp and veggie sauce over rice. Top with remaining chopped parsley. Enjoy!


I got the idea for this easy noodle dish when browsing thekitchn.com, an offshoot of Apartment Therapy, one of my favorite blogs. The original recipe (found here), was actually for Naengmyun, a Korean noodle dish served in cold broth. I thought the combination of pear, cucumber, and typically Asian flavors was interesting, and I thought it could be nicely adapted into a cold noodle dish - sans the broth, making it more portable as a workday lunch. I strayed from the original recipe, pumping it up with crisp green beans for a greater veggie-to-noodle ratio, but I tried to keep the spirit the same.

KOREAN SOBA NOODLES

INGREDIENTS

3 bundles buckwheat soba noodles
1.5 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed and halved
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
3 T. toasted sesame oil
1 one-inch piece ginger, thinly sliced and cut into small pieces
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 T. Sriracha hot sauce
3-4 T. finely chopped green onions
1 ripe Bartlett pear, thinly sliced and cut into small pieces
handful cilantro, roughly chopped
1 fried egg (for serving), optional
thinly sliced cucumber, for serving, optional

STEP 1: Boil soba noodles and green beans together in a large pot of salted water. Drain.


STEP 2: Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Combine rice vinegar and next 6 ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour over noodles. Add pear and cilantro to pot and toss to combine. Thinly slice cucumber and place on top before serving. Just before serving, fry an egg and place it on top of the noodles. Serve and enjoy!


These noodles are so light and refreshing - perfect for a lunch that won't weigh you down or send you into a midday food coma when you should be pounding out headlines.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Quick Bi Bim Bop Bowl

Ross and I used to live in Uptown, and some days when we'd ride the train home together, we'd get off at the Sheridan red line stop (our stop) and have a quick, healthy Korean dinner at BBop, which is practically underneath the train tracks.


I never quite understood the name BBop until I began to look into making my own Korean food - namely, Bi Bim Bop, a simple rice, egg, meat, and veggie concoction. Then one day it hit me - BBop is a cutesy abbrevation of Bi Bim Bop, one of Korea's most famous and most popular dishes.

I was always struck by how simple the dish is - it's rice, marinated meat (chicken or steak), sprouts, cucumbers, carrots, and spinach, simply placed into a bowl - not mixed up, just placed side-by-side, Salade Nicoise style. You douse it with hot sauce or top it with kimchi, and there you have it: a Korean dinner.


The idea to create my own version of Bi Bim Bop struck me last night, when I found myself with not much more than a few eggs, a couple carrots, and some leftover brown rice in the fridge. Eggs and rice topped with Sriracha is one of my favorite quick-and-lazy meals, but I wanted to punch up the nutritional content. And it hit me - I was only a few veggies away from Bi Bim Bop.

I did change a few things (what did you expect?). I opted for fresh broccolini over spinach; I kept it meatless but added some protein with some shelled, ready-to-eat edamame (sticking with the Asian theme); I left out the sprouts because I'm not a sprouts fan; and I improvised an Asian-flavored sauce that tasted remarkably like the Korean sauce from BBop - a lucky coincidence, believe me.

QUICK BI BIM BOP BOWL

INGREDIENTS

~1 cup cooked brown rice (or you could use white)
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 c. cucumber, sliced into half moons
handful cooked, ready-eat, shelled edamame
1 bunch broccolini, quickly boiled or steamed until crisp-tender, tough stems removed
1 egg
butter for frying the egg, or oil or pan spray

sauce:

1 T. Sriracha (if you don't like things spicy, start with about a tsp.)
2 T. low-sodium soy sauce
a couple dashes rice wine vinegar
drizzle of honey
1 clove garlic, minced


STEP ONE:

Arrange the rice and all the veggies on a plate or in a bowl (traditionally, they are placed side-by-side in little piles, not mixed together). Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and melt the butter. Fry the egg until the whites are cooked and the yolk is still runny.

STEP TWO:

Meanwhile, whisk together the ingredients for the sauce. Place the egg on top of the rice and drizzle the sauce over the rice, egg, and veggies. Enjoy!


Bi Bim Bop is great with chicken; if you wanted to add chicken to this dish, I'd marinate diced chicken breast in the sauce, then just quickly saute it until it's cooked through.

The Bi Bim Bop came out great! I absolutely love how the sauce came out, and I will definitely be making it again for future Asian cooking needs (beware: if you've never used Sriracha, it is very spicy. My mouth was on fire for 10 minutes after I was finished eating). It's so great to be able to cook something in your very own kitchen that people on the other side of the world love to cook in theirs.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Gingery Tofu and Cabbage Stir-Fry

Sometimes, I'm ambivalent about what I want to make, agonizing over every ingredient and flipping through endless magazines for inspiration. And sometimes, like with this stir-fry, inspiration hits me as soon as I see an ingredient.


I knew I would have a ton of leftover cabbage from the fish tacos, and I immediately knew I wanted to make a brown rice and tofu stir-fry. I've been meaning to cook something with an Asian flair lately, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

I had to pick up the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar, but being long-lasting staples, I wasn't worried, especially since I had most of what I needed on hand. The one thing I really wanted was sesame oil, which Dominick's didn't have, but I used olive oil and it still came out tasty.


Cabbage, in my humble opinion, is an under-used and under-appreciated ingredient. The one downside is that, being one person, it's almost impossible to use an entire head of cabbage (I see why it's a staple in the peasant soups of Europe - it's cheap and plentiful!). Unlike spinach and the like, cabbage really stands up to high heat and strong flavors, making it perfect in a spicy and gingery Asian dish. I really used a heavy hand with the ginger in mine, but if you like your ginger subtler, just tone it down a bit.

I was thrilled that I finally successfully fried tofu to a lovely golden brown - normally I just stir it in and wonder why it doesn't firm up and get some color (the key is frying it in a dry pan before you put it in a dish). It really enhanced the texture and allowed it to hold up through the vigorous stir-fry process.


Overall, this came out really nicely, and it was a great healthy end to a weekend of delicious indulgence at various barbeques and bars. I hope you put your own twist on this stir-fry (chicken, perhaps?) and enjoy it as much as I did.

GINGERY TOFU AND CABBAGE STIR-FRY

INGREDIENTS

1 cup dry brown rice
2 cups water
a little salt

1/2 a large head of green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced in rings
1-2 tsp. freshly grated ginger root
3 cloves of garlic
3 T. olive oil (or you could use vegetable or sesame oil)
a few good shakes of rice wine vinegar
1/4 c. reduced-sodium soy sauce, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste
1/3 of a block of extra-firm tofu, sliced and patted very dry

fresh chopped cilantro for garnishing
raw cashews for garnish (optional: I needed to use some up, but they definitely added a nice crunch. You could also use unsalted peanuts)


STEP ONE:

Cook the brown rice in the water with a little salt, covered, according to package directions. Set aside. When as much of the moisture is squeezed out of the tofu as you can manage (pressing gently between paper towels), heat a large skillet over medium high heat and fry the tofu for a few minutes on each side, not moving it around, until it gets golden brown on each side. Remove from pan and set aside.

STEP TWO:

Using the same pan, add the olive oil and let it heat up for a minute, then add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper. Cook for a few minutes, seasoning with a little salt and pepper and red pepper flakes (I went easy on the salt all the way through this dish because I knew I was going to season it later with the soy sauce).

STEP THREE:

Add the cabbage and add a little more salt/pepper/red pepper flakes. If your stir-fry looks too dry, add a little more oil. Cook for a few minutes, until the cabbage begins to soften. Add the vinegar and stir-fry everything for a few minutes. When the cabbage has gotten even softer, add the ginger and garlic. Stir-fry a little more.


STEP FOUR:

When the garlic and ginger are fragrant, stir in the rice and the soy sauce and stir-fry a little more. Add the tofu at the very end, careful not to break it up too much with the stirring. If it needs a little more soy sauce, add it. Serve, garnishing with the cilantro and cashews, and enjoy!


Thanks for reading! More soon...

Curry Lentils & Spinach with Biryani-Style Rice

My curry obsession might be getting out of hand.


In fact, my the flames of my burning Indiaphilia are stoked to panic levels every time I persuade one of my friends to accompany me to an Indian buffet. But I can't stop. Won't stop. And I won't stop cooking and posting curry-centric recipes unless there's some sort of Indian intervention. Until then, my fellow curry freaks, enjoy.

Namaste.

CURRY LENTILS & SPINACH WITH BIRYANI-STYLE RICE

INGREDIENTS

Rice:

1 c. white basmati rice
2 c. water
1 T. olive oil
salt
handful frozen peas
handful cashews
handful raisins
about 1 and 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger root
a couple dashes cumin
freshly ground black pepper

Lentils:

2-3 T. olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
1 medium carrot, cut into small pieces
2 cloves garlic
1 red chili pepper, finely chopped
1 tsp. freshly ground ginger root
salt and pepper
several good dashes curry powder
1 can vegetable broth
1 c. red lentils
3/4 c. water
1 bunch fresh spinach leaves, chopped
handful fresh cilantro, chopped

STEP ONE:

Start making the rice. Bring the water to a boil, adding the oil and some salt. Add the rice, cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook until the rice has absorbed about 3/4 of the water. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed.

STEP TWO:

Meanwhile, heat the oil for the lentils/spinach in a large saucepan with a lid. Cook the carrots first for a few minutes, until they start to become tender. Add the onions and cook until they too are tender, seasoning with a little salt and pepper.

STEP THREE:

Judging by how dry the carrots and onions are, add a little more oil (start with a teaspoon) if needed. Add the red chili pepper, garlic, and ginger. Cook until fragrant.


STEP FOUR:

Add the vegetable broth and the lentils. Cover, and cook over medium-high heat until the lentils start to absorb the liquid and soften. Add the cumin and cook for a few minutes, covered.

STEP FIVE:

Stir in the spinach and cilantro, and add the water and a little more curry, salt, and pepper. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Serve over a bed of the biryani rice and enjoy!



Much to my Indian craving's delight, this came out delicious. Hearty yet not heavy, flavorful and fiery, so healthy I couldn't help but stand over the leftovers and shovel some more in in the name of nutrients. The rice, especially, was delicious. There's just something about fluffy white basmati rice that's so irresistible.

And since I'm bragging, let me just throw in that I got the ingredients for this dish AND most of the ingredients for my next blog post (coming soon, my little chickadees) at Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck) for a measly $20 (!). I have - no joke - spent almost that much just loading up my bowl at the hot bar.

How did I perform such a magical feat, you ask? The Whole Foods bulk bins - these babies alone are worth the trip down to North & Sheffield. Rather than buy a GIANT bag of cashews for $12 and watch them go rancid, I got just enough to make the rice, for about $2.50 (with some left over for snacking). I also got the raisins, rice, and lentils from the bulk bins too. And not only do they save you money and prevent food waste, they're better for the environment because they use so much less packaging (you just scoop whatever it is into those thin plastic bags that you use for produce). And sampling small amounts of grains, nuts, or dried fruits from the bins means you can try new and interesting things without having to commit to 16 oz. of them.

Definitely pay the bins a visit. And give the biryani-style rice a try! If you need me, I'll be elbow-deep at the buffet.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Recession: Party of One - Ropa Vieja and Saffron Rice

I have a feeling that my Ropa Vieja on a budget will have Cuban abuelas rolling over in their graves from here to Havana. It's certainly not what you'd call traditional. But after a little research on what exactly ropa vieja entails (it's not much more than beef roast, tomato paste, and a little olive oil), I realized I had on hand some form of all the key ingredients.


Ropa Vieja, to the uninitialted, means "old clothes" in Spanish, and it's a traditional Cuban dish made with slow-roasted beef, served most of the time over rice. I FINALLY found my precious jar of saffron hiding in the back corners of my spice cabinet, so I made some savory saffron rice to go with it.

I can't wait to give you the Party of One Price Index breakdown!

INGREDIENTS (note: this is how I made it; if you want a traditional recipe, head to Google)

1 chunk very lean roasting beef (I'm guessing mine was about 1/2 pound); I used top round roast
1 can stewed tomatoes (that means cooked with onions and green peppers)
1 glug olive oil
a couple hefty shakes of oregano
3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled, but left whole
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper to taste (you could use red pepper flakes or even Tabasco)

1/2 c. dry wild rice blend
1 c. chicken broth
pinch saffron
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper
pat of butter

fresh or frozen broccoli florets
minced orange bell pepper (optional; for garnish)

STEP ONE

Put the beef, tomatoes (with all the juice), olive oil, oregano, cayenne pepper, and garlic into a CrockPot. Set on low, and cook for 6-8 hours. After the beef has been cooking for about 4 hours, remove it from the liquid and cut it into smaller chunks. After it has cooked for about another hour and a half after that, remove the pieces again and pull apart (going with the grain of the meat) with two forks (see photo). Return to CrockPot. With a wooden spoon or whatever you have on hand, smash the tomatoes that have remained in larger pieces, until the meat is basically in a chunky tomato sauce. Cook for about another half hour. Fish out the larger garlic chunks before serving.


STEP TWO

Bring the chicken broth to a boil and add the rice. Stir in the saffron, cover, and bring it down to a simmer. Simmer, covered, until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. When done, stir in salt, pepper, butter, and lime juice. Keep warm until ready to serve.

STEP THREE:

Boil broccoli for a few minutes, just until tender-crisp. Drain. Serve the ropa vieja over the rice with the broccoli on the side. Garnish with bell pepper if desired.

PARTY OF ONE PRICE INDEX:

BEEF: $2.23
TOMATOES: 55 cents
BROCCOLI: 54 cents
CHICKEN BROTH: 40 cents

Everything else was basically a pantry staple, and therefore I'm not counting the cost. It's worth noting, however, that saffron is THE most expensive spice, but I got my jar at Trader Joe's for $6. I'm not counting the small piece of bell pepper I used as garnish, either, mostly because I would've much preferred some fresh cilantro (which I just ran out of, unfortunately).

This made 3 generous servings of ropa vieja, and two full-meal servings (including rice and broccoli). I'll count that as 2.5 servings. Which makes our GRAND TOTAL per serving...

$1.49 ! ! !

Dios Mio! That's a deal if I've ever seen one.

This was a really tasty dish, too. I can see, with a few recipe modifications, this being a great party dish - you could just throw some beef in the slow cooker in the morning, make some rice and maybe some roasted bell or poblano peppers, and have everyone serve themselves. Get the mojito bar going, and voila! Instant Cuban-themed fiesta.

Thanks for reading! More soon...

Fearless Asian Shrimp and Wine-Steamed Bok Choy

I think my favorite Fearless blogs are the ones that happen spontaneously. Like when my friend Andrea and I decided around lunchtime today that we should get together for dinner (probably motivated by the caloric disaster that was our free agency lunch of greasy deep-dish pizza).

Andrea is by and large a vegetarian, but she eats seafood, and I was eager to cook some of my CostCo shrimp. I wanted it to be a really healthy meal, since we had both ingested a cheese brick at noon. This Fearless meal is: Asian-Spiced Shrimp with Wine-Steamed Bok Choy and Cilantro-Lime Rice.


FEARLESS FACTOR: 5. Andrea is a good friend, so I knew it would be low-stress evening. However, she is a vegetarian, and I didn't want to offend her palate! In fact, I wanted to show off my cooking skills on more than just typical carnivorous fare.

The best part about the dinner was finding out that Andrea has an amazing knowledge of wine, which of course I pressed her to share. I, on the other hand, know which wines I like, but I don't really know why. After the basic knowledge of white-wine-with-fish, red-wine-with-beef, I'm hard-pressed to name anything useful about specific varietals. I served Cono Sur Sauvignon Blanc with meal, which was nice, but Andrea pointed out that crisper wine (maybe a Pinot Grigio) could also be a nice complement to the spicy and citrus elements.

Read on to see how it came together.

INGREDIENTS

About 14 frozen (or fresh) peeled, deveined shrimp, tails on
3/4 c. sweet Asian chile sauce
1 T. Sriracha (or to taste)
1 c. dry white rice
1/4 chopped fresh cilantro
juice of one lime
handful of whole cashews
salt and pepper
splash of white wine
1 T. olive oil
2 c. chopped fresh bok choy
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
nonstick spray

STEP ONE:

Cook rice according to package directions. Season with a little salt and pepper. Stir in the lime juice, chopped cilantro, and cashews. Cover, set aside, and keep warm.



STEP TWO:

Thaw shrimp (if frozen) by running them under warm water. Drain. In a deep bowl, toss them in the Asian sauce to marinate. Meanwhile, heat a grill pan (or skillet) over medium heat, coating with a little Pam spray. Cook about 3 minutes on each side, spooning extra sauce over each one as they cook, until pink and cooked through.




STEP THREE:

While the shrimp are cooking, heat olive oil in a medium pot with a lid. Add peppers and bok choy. Season with salt and pepper. Add a splash of white wine, stir, and cover, cooking over medium-high heat. The bok choy should be tender within a few minutes of steaming (5-6 minutes).




STEP FOUR:

Place 6-7 shrimp over rice, serve with steamed veggies, and enjoy!



JUDGES' VERDICTS:

ANDREA: The shrimp has some kick! My sinuses were stuffed up before...but not anymore! I love the sauce, I want to lick it up. It's spicy, but the cilantro in the rice cools it down. The lime flavor is a nice complement to the shrimp. I think it might be a little heavy on the black pepper, but the shrimp are cooked perfectly, and the bok choy is crispy but tender in all the right places. It came together nice and quick, too, which is good since I was really hungry.

MY VOTE ON MY DISH: 7 stars. I agree with Andrea that the black pepper was a little heavy. I liked the spice level, but then again I really like spicy things. The shrimp were nicely cooked. I think the veggies could ahve used maybe a tad more seasoning, but I agree that they were cooked well. Not the most adventurous dish I've ever made, but considering that I only like shrimp about 50% of the time that I eat it, I consider this a success.

Andrea also had some amazing "builds" (as we say in agency lingo) on the meal:

"Next time, I might serve a coconut sorbet for dessert...with lavender shortbread. And for an appetizer, some dried figs and some really good cheese."

I am definitely making Andrea a part of my future party planning! I think the next step is to combine forces and get BOTH of us in the kitchen.

Thanks for reading! More soon...