Meatless Monday #6: Hard-boiled Egg Masala

Taz came home last night for his "summer vacation" and I wanted to welcome him back with a home-cooked meal. Even though I'm married to an Indian guy, I still haven't managed to learn to cook very many Indian dishes. Lately, I've been trying to change that, and Madhur Jaffrey's Quick and Easy Indian Cooking has been an absolute godsend. This Hard-boiled Egg Masala (which we just call "unda curry" around the house) is one of the first dishes I learned to make, and it seems to improve a bit every time. I can't share the recipe on my blog--you'll have to get the book for that--but here are some modifications I've found helpful:

• Don't drain the tomatoes. In fact, rinse out the can with water, and add that too. Things can get too dried out after the recommended amount of simmering, so be prepared to add even more water after that stage.


• It's ok to supplement the canned tomatoes with fresh, if you have some you need to get rid of, or if you don't have a big enough can.


• Use more cilantro than you think you'll need, and set some aside for garnish.


• You'll probably need more liquid in the spice paste than called for, too.


• Save prep time by boiling (and even peeling) the eggs ahead of time.


• Put out a dish of plain yogurt on the table for those with a lower spice tolerance to quench the flames.

Most Indian food, I've found, ages just fine, and a stay in the refrigerator overnight or even for a couple days will not hurt the flavor of this dish at all. I often cook this on a weekend, leaving only the rice cooking for the night I plan to serve it. I doubled the recipe this time, and that was enough for a dinner for two, plus two lunches for me.

My other Meatless Monday fare was much less impressive this week: raisin bran with soy milk for breakfast, overpriced organic grapes for a snack, and really awful leathery veggie gyoza-style dumplings from the gourmet-ish market around the corner from work. We also had red wine with dinner, but managed to open not one but two corked bottles before we found one that was good. Looks like it might be time to replenish the wine supply...

Meatless Monday #5: Salad with Candied Pecans and Blueberries

This is one of my favorite I-made-it-up-one-evening-with-what-was-in-the-fridge salads, and it's not as time-consuming as you might think. The dressing is homemade too, and that's waaay less time consuming than you might think.

Salad

- lettuce or mixed greens, washed and dried

- a handful of blueberries

- a handful of pecans

- white granulated sugar

- a couple tablespoons of crumbled gorgonzola cheese

Throw the pecans in a cold frying pan and cover them with a generous sprinkling of sugar. Turn on the heat to a low to medium level, and stir as the sugar melts and begins to caramelize. If you have a silicone spatula, that's the ideal implement because it's both non-stick and heatproof. Make sure neither the pecans nor the sugar burn, and once the sugar is melted and has started to brown, turn off the heat. Spread the pecans out to cool on some wax paper. While they're cooling, put the lettuce/greens, blueberries, and gorgonzola in a salad bowl. Then make the dressing.

Dressing

- one clove of garlic

- 6 or so black peppercorns

- a pinch or two of salt

- 1 teaspoon dried basil

- balsamic vinegar

- wine vinegar

- extra virgin olive oil

With a mortar and pestle, crush the garlic, peppercorns, basil and salt together. Then add about a quarter cup of balsamic vinegar. Pour the mixture into a jar or other container with some extra room (and a lid). Add a dash of wine vinegar (mainly to dilute the intensity of the balsamic), and top it off with a quarter cup of olive oil. Put on the lid and shake vigorously. Pour a few tablespoons of the dressing over the salad, add the now-cool pecans, toss, and serve. A nice big bowl of this is more than enough for dinner for me, no "main dish" required!

Meatless Monday #4: Zucchini Tofu Stir-fry

I've mentioned this in past posts, but here you finally have a photo. It seems almost silly to write down the recipe, since this is one of those things I tend to make with whatever is on hand, but it came out especially yummy this time, so here you have it:

Ingredients:
- one medium zucchini, sliced
- half a pint of mushrooms, white or baby Bella, sliced
- half a container of firm tofu, cubed
- three tablespoons of cabbage, shredded or thinly sliced
- one large clove of garlic, minced or pressed
- 3/4 teaspoon of fresh ginger, minced
- a dash of sherry
- a few drops of rice vinegar
- soy sauce
- black pepper to taste
- olive oil

Heat up the olive oil in a wok or frying pan, toss in the mushrooms and zucchini. While they begin to brown, put the tofu cubes in a bowl with some soy sauce. Once the mushrooms and zucchini have begun to soften, toss in the cabbage, then use a garlic press to add the garlic (or mince it very finely if you don't have a press) and add the ginger too. Let cook for a minute or two, then add the rest of the ingredients and cook for a minute or two more. Stir gently to make sure all the flavors are well blended and all the veggies are cooked. Serve with rice.

Or you could be like me and skip the rice. I like the texture it adds, and the way it soaks up the extra sauce, but I just don't need the extra carbs (and I had forgotten to put any rice on before starting the stir-fry). This makes enough for two portions, so for me that means a dinner and a lunch. Yummmmm!

Meatless Monday: first report

This isn't actually the first time I've done a meatless Monday, but I think if I report back about it every week, it will encourage me to be better with it. So how did I do today?

Let's work backwards. Just before I left work, I was taken with a craving for Chinese-style scallion pancakes. But I knew I didn't have any scallions in the house, so I started to reconsider. Then I saw the comment from yesterday's food post which had a link to this zucchini pancake recipe. Not exactly Chinese-style, but I thought I might be able to adapt it.

When I got home, I immediately set about grating the zucchini, summer squash, and onion. I ended up making the pancakes almost exactly as the recipe said, except that I used cheddar instead of Parmesan, and I was very generous with the basil. Instead of topping the fritters with diced tomatoes, however, I decided to give it an Asian twist by using one of my favorite made-up sauces, which is almost equal parts sriracha, rice vinegar, and light soy sauce, with a sprinkle of sugar and a bit of water. I had to go light on the sauce, though, because it almost overpowered the flavors of the veggies in the fritters. I had enough fritters leftover for breakfast or lunch tomorrow, too!

For breakfast today I had Kashi puffed grain cereal with dried currants and soy milk. Pretty boring, but definitely meatless. My midmorning snack was an oatmeal cookie. Lunch was a homemade potato salad, which is really the only kind I will eat. Not to be a snob about one of the Great American Summer Side Dishes, but I find typical supermarket potato salad to be too dry, too starchy, and waaaay too sweet. Here's how my mom taught me to make potato salad (with some adaptations from me):

1. Boil up some new potatoes* (cut into at least halves, or smaller if they're on the big side), but don't overdo it with the boiling. Cook them just until you can easily skewer them with a fork or paring knife.

2. Immediately after draining them, put the potatoes in a bowl and get them soaking in several tablespoons of cider vinegar.

3. While the taters are soaking up the yummy vinegar, chop up some fresh dill, a bit of onion, and some celery. If you have some parsley lying around, chop that up too.

4. If the potatoes seem to have way too much vinegar still pooled around them, you can drain some off, but otherwise, just dump your chopped herbs and veggies in with the taters.

5. Add a few tablespoons of mayo, and stir.

6. Salt and pepper to taste, and voila!

I wish I had taken a picture of the potato salad too, but I had already eaten it all by the time I thought of it. So, all that yummy food, and I still have two tomatoes and several potatoes left over from my Sunday at the farmers' market.

*My mom says russets are better because they absorb more flavor, but I really enjoy the smooth texture of new potatoes, and I like the color added by leaving the skin on, which you can't really do with russets.