baked feta and butternut squash pasta

 https://grilledcheesesocial.com/2019/10/08/baked-feta-and-butternut-squash-pasta/

I omitted honey when I made this

Potato Curry

Putting it here for reference so I don't lose it.
From http://vegrecipes.livejournal.com/1342699.html

4 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 teaspoons curry powder
4 teaspoons garam masala
1 inch of ginger, grated
2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper maybe start with 1/4 or 1/2 tsp, add more later. 3/4 was too much.
2 teaspoons salt (or to taste)
1 can diced tomatoes (~15oz size)
1 can of coconut milk (~15oz size)
1 can garbanzos, rinsed and drained (~15oz size)
1 can peas (I used 1/2 a package of frozen peas)

Boil potatoes til (just barely) soft. Sautee onions and garlic til soft. Stir in curry powder, garam masala, ginger, cumin, cayenne and salt. Cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring. Mix in potatoes, garbanzos, and peas, then stir in the tomatoes and coconut milk. Simmer 5-10 minutes.

Cauliflower casserole

Currently in the oven, an adaptation of this recipe: http://www.theironyou.com/2013/12/cheesy-cauliflower-souffle-low-carb.html

I used 2lbs of packaged cauliflower florets (thank you Grocery Outlet bargains), which I steamed in water

I ground them with an immersion blender and a bit over a cup of buttermilk. Seasoned with salt, pepper, a clove of garlic run through a press, some nutmeg, some paprika, and about a TBS of prepared mustard. (Couldn't find powdered mustard here where I'm dogsitting.) Then I blended in 3 eggs (I don't really need souffle-type texture and I suspect I'll eat most of this as leftovers) and stirred in maybe a cup and a half of grated cheddar.

Currently baking at 400 degrees in a large cast iron skillet which had been pre-heated in oven with some oil in it, which I spread around the pan and up the sides before dumping in the cauliflower mixture. And now we wait!

Verdict: not great. It never quite firmed up, probably because it was about 2" high in the pan I used. The flavors were good together but I'd do something different with the texture if I do it again. Which, to be honest, is unlikely. It's a lot of effort for something kind of boring - why not just eat steamed cauliflower and a cheese omelet instead? 

mushroom quiche - again.

This recipe - from Moosewood - modified:

1 (9 inch) pie crust - deep dish, still frozen - and despite it being deep dish, I still had extra filling

1 1/2 cups grated cheese  - about two thirds swiss and the rest aged Havarti
1 medium onion, chopped
oil for frying
1/4 lb sliced mushrooms[I would have perhaps used more mushrooms and fewer onions]
salt and pepper
thyme


Egg Custard Ingredients

4 eggs  - i used three and a half jumbo - I doubled the recipe
1 cup milk, 1/2 cup half and half (or all half & half)
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

freshly grated nutmeg

Sautee onions for a bit, then add mushrooms and thyme and salt and pepper and sautee til soft. Meanwhile, make up custard mixture and grate cheese. Preheat oven to 375*

Dump veggies into crust. Mix cheese with custard mixture, stir, and then dump over veggies while cheese is still evenly dispersed. Bake forty to forty-five minutes.

This also totally works without a crust if you use a good amount of oil spray in the pan - it comes out fine and is solid enough to be sliced. 

Dal Makhani / Madras Lentils

I want to try my hand at Dal Makhani--I really like Trader Joe's Madras Lentils which seem to be a version of it. I have no idea if the TJ's stuff is authentic or not, but it's tasty. And I have some black lentils sitting around that I want to use up.

The TJ's stuff contains tomatoes, lentils (pretty sure they are black lentils--they are unlike any red or green or brown lentil I've used), kidney beans, onion, cream, salt, butter, oil, ginger, red chiles, and cumin.

I'm going to play around with this recipe (but without a pressure cooker since I don't have one.) Kasoori methi seems to be fenugreek, but I think I'll leave it out the first time.

Vegetarian chili!

I made a big pot of vegetarian chili for my anti-Superbowl party (beer, classic snacks, the company of friends, but no annoying game to sit through)yesterday and I'm really happy with how it came out. I think part of the trick is that I didn't really add any water--all the liquid came from the tomato products and maybe a tad from not-perfectly-drained reconstituted TVP.  I was especially happy that it was flavorful enough since the TVP was totally unseasoned. (You can buy beef or chicken flavored TVP and I think I've used that in the past.)

To the best of my memory, this is what I did (in a humongous 11-qt stockpot, which was useful because it's thick and can kind of splash if it bubbles when it's cooking--but this doesn't make anywhere close to 11 quarts of chili, as eyeballing the recipe should reveal):

-2 onions, chopped relatively fine, sauteed in a healthy (haha) amount of oil with some (1 TBS each?) cumin and chili powder (mine was labelled "mild". Can't remember where I got it.)

Added after a while:
-2 smallish red peppers, diced relatively fine (more so than the onions)
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-about 1-1.5 (dry) cups of unflavored TVP, the sort with a texture approximating ground beef/turkey, reconstituted with boiling water (but I mostly tried to squeeze the water out again before adding to the pot)
-1 jalapeno pepper, diced (including seeds)

I stirred that around for awhile, then added:
-3 (small-14-16oz) cans of fire-roasted diced tomatoes, 1 of which was pulverized in the food processor)
-about the equivalent of 1 more can of not-fire-roasted tomatoes, also pulverized
-about 1/4 cup (maybe less? maybe 2 TBS?) of cocoa powder
-a bunch more cumin, a bunch more chili powder, some dried oregano (ground between my palms, which I believe makes it more potent somehow), a bunch of paprika, maybe 1/4-1/2 tsp of liquid smoke
-2 cans of low-sodium dark red kidney beans (drained)
-2 cans of low-sodium pinto beans (drained)
-3 more cloves of garlic, minced

 I let it cook on a pretty low flame for a good long while. It needed a little bit of salt.

simple vegetarian chili

1 (14oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes (Trader Joe's)
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cans of beans (1 black, 1 garbanzo), rinsed
oregano
cumin
chili powder

Run the tomatoes through the blender to pulverize. This seems to help the consistency and flavor of the chili--it spreads the tomato taste through the chili better than individual chunks do. Saute onions in oil until browned on the edges. Add tomatoes. Cook a little. Add beans and spices to taste. Add a little water if needed. Cook on medium for a while, until you get bored. This tastes better with more cooking/the second day, and tastes oddly good with broccoli.

UPDATE: I often double this recipe and use a finely chopped green bell pepper (sauteed with the onion - generally added after it has sauteed a bit already) . Also I add a few cloves of garlic. Sometimes paprika. It's pretty good and pretty easy.

bok choy/tofu stir-fry

This isn't super special but I like how it came out, so...notes!

Trader Joe's High Protein Tofu--super dense, doesn't need to have the water pressed out

Cube tofu, make a marinade of 2 cloves of garlic (put in garlic press), healthy splashes of soy sauce, lemon pepper, coriander, a little celery salt (I dunno, it was there) and a splash of sriracha. (This was a new ingredient to me, particularly.) Also add a few chopped mushrooms
Stir it around, let it sit while you cut up:

1 head of bok choy.

Heat up a wok, very hot. Splash some oil in the bottom. Add the tofu and any marinade that's left, cook for a while. I think my mushrooms would have burned before the tofu got especially brown. When I started to get worried it'd burn, I added the bok choy stalks and stirred, lowered the heat a little, covered it for a bit, and basically just tried to soften the stalks a tad. Then I dumped in the leaves/green part and threw the cover on for a bit to just wilt them--maybe a minute. Then I took the cover off, stirred, and ate it.

Main takeaways from this:
-TJ's high protein tofu = awesome
-Sriracha sauce in stir fry = interesting, good, (it's definitely kind of hot though, even with the bok choy cutting it)
-letting bok choy stalks stay crunchy in stir fry = nice.

Pesto! (Arugula & Walnut)

I used this recipe:
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/arugula_pesto/

2 cups of packed arugula leaves, stems removed
1/2 cup of shelled walnuts
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, unpeeled
1/2 garlic clove peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 Brown 6 garlic cloves with their peels on in a skillet over medium high heat until the garlic is lightly browned in places, about 10 minutes. Remove the garlic from the pan, cool, and remove the skins.

2 Toast the nuts in a pan over medium heat until lightly brown, or heat in a microwave on high heat for a minute or two until you get that roasted flavor. In our microwave it takes 2 minutes.

3a Food processor method (the fast way): Combine the arugula, salt, walnuts, roasted and raw garlic into a food processor. Pulse while drizzling the olive oil into the processor. Remove the mixture from the processor and put it into a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan cheese.

NOTES: Browning garlic and walnuts on the stove is weird. I think next time I'll do both in the oven.
Too much garlic (!) Not sure if that was because my stovetop-browned garlic wasn't as cooked as it should be--it was almost burnt in places but it wasn't soft like roasted garlic is--or just a matter of amount. I'd say 4 cloves would be about right.
I added about 3/4 of a small lemon's worth of juice, and probably used a bit more Parmesan than called for. I also added it in in hte food processor instead of stirring it in the bowl.
I did not remove stems from the (packaged, Trader Joe's) arugula. I think removing the stems is more for less tender stuff.

Overall--very tasty and good.

[Spicy, Indian-food-inspired] garbanzos + kale

1 can of chickpeas
half an onion, chopped relatively small
6ish leaves of kale, sliced fine
splotches of marinara sauce (1/2 cup?)
shitload of paprika
salt
powdered ginger
garam masala
cumin
curry powder
yogurt

Sauteed onion in oil for a bit, added chickpeas and spices and fried a bit, dumped in marinara sauce and cooked a bit more,then dumped in kale and a little bit of water and stirred a bit and then put the lid on and cooked til the kale was wilted. Stirred a few spoonfuls of yogurt into my bowl before eating.

I do variations on this all the time, and I always forget what I do. (Tomatoes? No tomatoes? Garlic? Etc.) I usually do fresh ginger, but I think the powdered ginger might be even better. This has a nice hotness to it and it's evenly dispersed through the dish.

Moroccan roasted tomato and chickpea stew

Haven't used this recipe yet, but I want to:
http://vegrecipes.livejournal.com/1746376.html

chicken and sage and onions and stuff

This was really tasty:

3 frozen chicken tenders, mostly defrosted, sliced into small pieces
marinated in:
juice of half a lemon
soy sauce
ground sage

then,
most of an onion, sliced
one carrot, sliced
maybe 5 mushrooms (which had been frozen, just thrown loosely into a plastic container and left for 3-4 months!), sliced
one small potato, microwaved to pre-cook it, sliced
and the chicken,
sauteed in some oil with some added paprika, with a lid on the pan

I added a bit of water at one point after the natural juices seemed to be drying up.
At the end I added this roux-ish thing I made out of a TBS of butter and some flour, which was a bit...odd, since I don't really know my way around roux.

But damn, the whole thing was super tasty. I think sage is my new favorite herb. And next time I'd like to try it without the roux. I'm curious how much the butter added. I hope it'd be tasty without it.
ETA: I made it again and it was fine without the butter mixture. I added an extra potato, also pre-cooked, which broke apart a bit and added some thickness. It doesn't look glamorous, but it's gooooood.

Kale/cheese/quinoa

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 of a large bunch of kale, shredded into thin ribbons (I include the stems, especially if they're not too tough.)
grated cheese (maybe 3 oz?) I used Havarti but anything would probably be tasty

Put quinoa and water in a pot; bring to a boil. Cover and lower the heat. After 15 minutes, turn off the heat. Dump in the shredded cheese and stir a little bit with a fork. Add the shredded kale and stir a bit too. Put the lid back on and let sit for about 5 more minutes to lightly cook the kale and melt the cheese. Stir again and eat/serve.

Spicy Red Lentil and Chickpea Stew

adapted slightly from http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/10/recipe-for-spicy-red-lentil-and.html

1 large onion, finely chopped (I think I used slightly less with no problem)
1 T canola oil
1 T finely grated fresh ginger
1 T finely minced garlic
1 tsp. ground turmeric
3/4 cup celery, finely diced (I used half of this because I didn't have enough around)
1 tsp. Garam Masala
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
6 cups chicken, beef, or vegetable stock (I used 6 c water + bulk vegetarian bouillon powder)
1 1/2 cups red lentils
~2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 can, rinsed
1 can (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes, undrained

Heat oil in a heavy, big pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add onions, ginger, garlic, and turmeric and gently saute, stirring often, for about 7 minutes, or until onions are quite soft but not browned. Add diced celery, garam masala, ground cardamom, cayenne pepper, and ground cumin and saute 3-4 minutes more, until celery barely starts to soften.

Add the stock, red lentils, canned tomatoes, and chickpeas and bring mixture to a gentle boil. When it starts to bubble, reduce heat to the barest simmer and cover pan with lid. Let mixture simmer, stirring a few times, until lentils are dissolved enough that mixture has thickened into a chunky stew (about an hour.)

Spiced Lentils

This is from the original (not new) edition of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest. (The new edition has a lower-fat version called Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Apples, which omits the coconut.) I haven't made it in ages because I didn't have the recipe around, but I finally found it after figuring out I needed to google "spiced lentils" rather than "lentil curry." I'm pretty sure I usually increase the amounts of spices, and I've always used sweetened coconut 'cause that's what's been available. It's good with yogurt raita, served over brown rice.

Spiced Lentils

11/2 cups raw lentils
2 Tbs. butter
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1 cup minced onion
1 large stalk celery – chopped
1 tsp. salt
1 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. powdered ginger
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
a few Tbs. of water, as needed
freshly-grated black pepper to taste
juice from 1 large lemon
2 cups chopped tart apple (approx. 2 large ones)
cayenne pepper, to taste

Cook the lentils in 2 1/4 cups water. Bring to boil, then cover and lower heat to simmer 30-40 minutes, or until tender.

While the lentils are cooking, cook everything else (except the apples) until tender (use a deep, heavy skillet), adding water, if necessary, to avoid sticking.

Add the chopped apples to the saute, cook 10 minutes more (covered), and then combine this mixture with the lentils in a casserole.

African Chickpea Stew

I made this recently with my aunt. Recipe archived from here. We used just a fork to mix it, added some tapatio for a kick, and served it over quinoa. It's amazing how sweet it is. It almost tastes like it has added sugar.

Ingredients
1 can chick peas
1 1/2 lbs uncooked sweet potato diced
1 can diced tomatoes (low sodium or no salt added)(I used a 14-16 oz can, or 28oz for a doubled recipe.)
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup carrots, sliced
Spice paste (recipe below)
Spice Paste Ingredients
4 8 cloves garlic (always increase teh garlic!)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Spice Paste Directions
Blend all spice paste ingredients in a blender or mini food processor until a thick paste forms.
Add water one teaspoon at a time if necessary.
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large skillet and simmer until vegetables are tender.
Serve with brown rice or quinoa.

this was edible*

EDIT:  Over a year later, I need to go back and give myself credit for this. It's a reliably tasty dish that I make often.

[*oh how the standards for this blog have fallen!]

Cook about 3 cups (dry) red lentils until soft. A 2 qt pot is not quite big enough for this.

In separate pot, saute 1.5 onions, chopped, maybe until they start to get brownish, then add a bunch of curry powder, some cumin, some chili powder, some berbere (I think it actually needs the berbere, even though I only used it the first time because I ran out of curry powder), some garam masala, some salt. If you have not randomly begun cooking at 8:30 pm with whatever you have in the house, you might wish to buy some fresh ginger and mince it and throw that in. Cook some more. Dump in 28 oz pureed tomatoes (or a can of whole peeled tomatoes with basil, whirred in the blender. See above re randomly cooking with what's on hand) and 3 cloves of garlic, chopped. Cook for a bit.

Dump lentils into the curry mixture. Add a can of coconut milk. (Coconut milk covers a multitude of sins.) Adjust seasonings. Heat through and eat. Becomes more awesome if you put a few spoonfuls of yogurt into it.

lentil/pea/potato curry

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 onions—finely chopped

2 cloves garlic—minced (crushed)

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon chili powder

1 large potato—peeled and cut into bite-size cubes

½ cup red lentils

14 oz (420g) canned tomatoes—chopped

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

1 teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 cup basmati rice

1 cup green peas

2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

HEAT the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat and cook the onions for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. ADD the garlic, ginger, ground coriander, cumin, turmeric and chili and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. ADD the potato and lentils and stir to coat with the spice mixture. ADD the tomatoes, coconut milk, stock, garam masala, salt and sugar, bring to the boil and cover with a lid. REDUCE the heat to medium and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. WHILE the curry simmers, cook the rice. ADD the peas to the curry and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. REMOVE from the heat and stir in the cilantro and lemon juice. SERVE on a bed of rice.
I made this tonight, but
a) omitted cilantro because it's icky
b) definitely started the rice before I made everything else (because brown is the way to go)
c) used extra ginger and garlic
d) accidentally spilled a bit of the canned coconut milk I was using

http://www.mediterrasian.com/delicious_recipes_lentil_curry.htm

lentil spaghetti sauce

I found it here but it's a recipe I'd used before and lost. I used to eat it over pasta or rice but lately I just eat it plain like a stew, which is also good.  I'm adjusting it to what I've actually been doing:

1 bag (16oz) dried lentils 
oil
3/4 cup chopped onion (or more)
5 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
1 tablespoon white vinegar
2 bouillon cubes
1/2 teaspoon dried whole basil (or more)
1/2 teaspoon dried whole oregano (or more)
**I do not add any salt while cooking and rarely end up needing it, because most bouillon and most canned tomatoes have salt. 

Sort/pick over lentils to remove any debris or stones. Rinse them if you're feeling ambitious. Put them in a 3 quart pot with a few extra inches of water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, put lid on, cook til soft-ish (anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes.) If they're getting dry add more water. It's not rocket science but I try not to end up with a huge amount of water when they're done, just enough that they stay covered.

Meanwhile: Chop onions and garlic. Put a few tsp of oil in a heavy pot (mine is 4 1/2 quarts), turn on heat to medium, let it heat up. Add onion and garlic and red pepper and oregano; saute until tender.  Add tomatoes, vinegar, and bouillon and simmer over low heat. Once lentils are mostly soft, dump them into the pot, add dried basil, stir well, and let it cook on a very low flame for a bit to help the flavors meld. (It can burn/stick more easily at this stage so watch out.) This tends to taste better after it's sat for a few hours or the next day - it's good as leftovers and good to freeze.

variation on lentil-rice casserole

I made a modified version of "Herbed Lentils and Rice" yesterday that turned out OK. I made it on the stovetop, in a probably 6-quart pot, using close to two cups of brown rice, two cups of lentils, and one large onion (which I did not sautee first.) I'm not sure how much water I used--probably close to 8 cups. I cooked it on the stove with the cover on until the rice was done - probably at least 45 minutes - and I didn't put the cheese in at all. Instead, I've been microwaving individual bowls of it with slices of cheese on top, and mixing the melted cheese into the rice and lentils before eating. And I subbed Mozzarella for Swiss because that's what I had. It's not great without cheese, but with the cheese, it's pretty tasty. And the whole thing made about 12 cups' worth.