Beginner's Palate

More Indian Food!

This is another one out of Yamuna's Table. It's quick and easy and it'll make you feel a little better about eating fries. Spices play such an important role in Indian cooking and this recipe really demonstrates that. I tend to forget that spices can be just as good for you as food itself, and for this reason it's really best to buy spices from the bulk section of the grocery store in small amounts so they don't end up sitting in your cabinet forever. This way the flavors stay fresh and they maintain all of the healing properties that they have so long been prized for.

The recipe for the fries was taken directly out of the book, but we came up with the dipping sauce, and Cody's actually the one who brought it all together with his idea to add peanut butter. Genius! The recipe makes more sauce then you'll likely need, but it's kind of a mix between a sauce and a spread so it can definitely be used for other things. So cut it in half if you want, but if not I'm sure you'll find use for it and it won't go to waste.

Bengali-Style Oven-Fried Potatoes with Spicy Peanut Tomato Dipping Sauce

Fries:

• About 1 Tbs olive oil
• 2 russet potatoes
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice potatoes lengthwise into sticks 1/2 inch thick. Transfer them to a bowl and add olive oil and seasonings and toss to coat. Place potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until slightly crispy with a golden-brown crust. About 20-25 minutes.

Sauce:

• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Tbs ketchup
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbs peanut butter
• squeeze of lime juice
• 1/8 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp cayenne
• salt and pepper to taste

Throw all ingredients into a blender and mix until you have a smooth puree. Serve with the fries and you're ready to go!

Brussels Sprouts with Roasted Red Pepper in Cumin and Mustard Butter

I just found this awesome cookbook called Yamuna's Table. It's Indian food and it's completely vegetarian, and I can't wait to try out most of the recipes in this book. I know I've been talking about making more meat, and I will, but vegetarian recipes are what really attract me. I respect the work it takes to make vegetables and grains appealing to the masses. I love it when a die hard meat eater can sit down to one of my simple vegetarian meals and be completely satisfied. It doesn't always work, but what can I say, I like a challenge.  The recipes in this book are simple but they are also full of flavors I haven't had a lot of experience with. I love Indian food, but when cooking it at home I typically don't get much more adventurous than curry, so I'm pretty excited about this book. Our dinner tonight was inspired by a recipe in this book, but we didn't have a lot of the ingredients needed, (in fact the only ingredients that are the same are the red pepper and butter) so I ended up making enough changes that I feel pretty comfortable in calling it my own. This was really delicious, really simple, and really pretty. We used frozen Brussels sprouts. Fresh would obviously be better, but frozen is obviously more economical, and honestly we eat a lot or frozen Brussels sprouts and they always turn out pretty damn good. So here is the first of, I'm guessing, many recipes inspired by this cookbook.

• About 1/2 lb Brussels sprouts, halved (sorry, I really should start paying more attention to my measurements)
• 1 large red bell pepper, roasted and cut into thin strips
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 tsp dried dill (if you have fresh use that and sprinkle it on at the end. Unfortunately for us, ours totally died, so dry is all we have)
• 3 tsp butter, divided
• salt and pepper to taste

Heat 1 tsp butter in a large skillet, add Brussels sprouts and cook until tender. Remove from skillet and set aside.

Add the cumin seeds and ground mustard to the skillet and cook until the ground mustard begins to brown. Add the remaining butter to the pan, and when it begins to froth and turn brown stir in the Brussels sprouts and red pepper and saute over high heat until heated through. This will only take about a minute. Season with salt and pepper. Serves 2.

Asparagus in lemon herb sauce

When our grocery store gets local asparagus in it sells out in about 5 minutes, but today I was lucky enough to get my hands on some. I wanted to make something really light and fresh and this is what I came up with. Not a whole lot to say here, local, fresh asparagus, it kinda sells itself.

•  3 cups vegetable or chicken broth
•  12-15 stalks asparagus
•  2 Tbs olive oil
•  1/4 cup diced shallot
•  1/2 cup chopped green onions
•  1 tsp sugar
•  1 clove garlic, minced
•  1 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
•  1 Tbs fresh squeezed lemon juice
•  1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs, I used chives, parsley, and dill
•  1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half

Bring broth to a boil in large pot, add asparagus and cook until crisp, tender, about 4 minutes. Using tongs, transfer asparagus to large bowl of ice water. Reserve 1-cup broth. Drain asparagus and pat dry.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; add shallot, green onion, and sugar. Sauté until tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Next, add reserved broth, Dijon, lemon juice, and herbs. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Arrange asparagus on platter, spoon sauce over, and sprinkle with tomatoes.

My love affair with a vegetable

I used to hate Brussels sprouts. The way they looked, the way they smelled, their texture, and most of all their taste. I always thought they were just mushy, green balls of blandness that were often covered with some sort of fake cheese sauce. Even once I grew up a bit, and started actually liking and cooking with vegetables, I just never gave these guys a chance. But I have realized the error of my ways. Obviously, I had just never had a properly cooked Brussels sprout. I can't blame this on my parents, because I don't remember them ever making them when I was growing up. So the small number of encounters I have had with Brussels sprouts were always with friends, and they always seemed to be from a frozen package, warmed up in the microwave and slathered in "cheese sauce". No wonder I didn't like them! My epiphany came, probably about a year or so ago when I walked into my sister's house and my brother-in-law had sauteed some Brussels sprouts in a skillet with balsamic vinegar. So simple but oh so good, and I knew then and there that I had gone far too long without these delicious little veggies in my life. So, since then I have been making up for all of those years. Any Brussels sprout recipe I come across, I try. And, one of the things I really love about them is that, although fresh is of course better than frozen, I still think that frozen can be substituted in most recipes with little harm done to the dish, and at a much cheaper cost. This recipe comes from Vegetarian Times magazine. They did a special healing foods addition, which is pretty awesome, and I'm sure I'll be posting more recipes from it very soon. I tweaked it a bit substituting what I had on hand, but for the most part I followed the recipe pretty closely.

Brussels Sprouts with Pecans and Tart Cherries

• 1/2 cup toasted and coarsely chopped pecans
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb. Brussels sprouts, halved
• 2 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup dried tart cherries
• 1 T honey
• 3/4 cup water

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add Brussels sprouts and cook until browned, a couple minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shallots and garlic, stirring constantly and cook until fragrant.

Stir in cherries, honey, and water. Partially cover and let simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and Brussels sprouts are tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. 

Transfer to serving bowl, add salt and pepper to taste, and toss with pecans. Serves about 6.

An excess of cabbage

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

Neither of us were very hungry tonight and we currently have an excess of cabbage (thanks to our local grocer's member day's sale). So this is what we came up with...

Sweet and Sour Cabbage

• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 2 T butter
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 head of red cabbage thinly sliced
• 3 T honey
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small apple, thinly sliced

Toast sesame seeds in an ungreased skillet over medium heat. Remove seeds to a plate and set aside.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, then add garlic and crushed red pepper and stir until fragrant. Stir in cabbage and cook until slightly wilted. Pour in honey, stir to coat, then add balsamic vinegar. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until cabbage is tender, about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and stir in sesame seeds and apple.