Polenta & Brussels Sprouts

Such a quick dinner! This was an evening when I was SO HUNGRY, and you know how sometimes when you're really hungry, all you want to eat is a huge bowl of pasta? Well, I wanted to make something that would give me that same full feeling, but just not pasta. Polenta is great because it is still a starch, but it is made from corn instead of wheat.

For the Polenta: See this recipe

For the Brussels Sprouts:

honey

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

sriracha sauce

To Assemble:

Make the polenta first, because it takes time to cook in the oven. While the polenta pieces are crispin, sautee the brussels sprouts in the aforementioned ingredients, playing with amounts until the sauce satisfies your taste buds. Let the sprouts continue to cook for a few minutes, because the vinegar will reduce so it will be less saucy. When both parts of the dish are ready, put the polenta over the sprouts, and dig in! I promise you'll be full.

Coconut Coriander Chutney

I am so excited about this post, because of all the foods I tasted abroad, this is the one that brings back some of the warmest memories. It is a true comfort food in taste and thought.

Chutney definitely has a presence in the US - I've seen it in Indian restaurants as well as in other restaurants that just offer it as a kind of dip. Coconut coriander would probably come off as more exotic or innovate though in the US, while in India, this was the staple kind of chutney. "Plain chutney" basically implied that it was made with coconut and coriander. I ate this for breakfast often with idly, and sometimes if we had leftover I would have it at dinner too. I could expect to see it at every hotel I stayed at in India, as well as at any wedding or group festivity. Everyone eats this stuff, and I totally understand why.

So after learning from the expert (my amma), I took her recipe back to my kitchen in New Jersey and tried to recreate the chutney, I think successfully.

Ingredients:

• one whole coconut, shredded
• whole coriander leaves (lots of them, leave stem on)
• pinch of rock salt (or some variety that is more of a crystal than a powder - I used sea salt)
• 2 small pieces of tamarind (not paste) (I didn't use this in my re-creation)
• 1 green chile, sliced into 3 pieces
• 2 small chunks of fresh ginger
• sprinkle of compounded asafoetida powder*
• water as needed (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 1T olive oil
• 2T black mustard seeds
• 1T yellow dal

1) Crack open the coconut. I read extensively online about how to do this, but none of the methods (back of a knife, hammer) seemed to work for me. I ended up taking it out to my front lawn and throwing it on the sidewalk, which did the trick even though I lost the fresh coconut water inside, which I was looking forward to drinking. I'll try the hammer technique again next time.

2) Shred the coconut. My host parents in India used the shredder you can see in the picture below, and the one after that is my host dad hard at work scraping away at the inside of the coconut. In my world, I used a watermelon scooper and a knife. When you think you've shredded about as much as you can, throw it in the blender.

3) Add the other ingredients to the blender, and blend it all together, stopping to add water as needed.

Look at the fresh green chiles and ginger from my host mom's kitchen...

4) Ok, last step has to be done in a skillet. Heat the olive oil on medium heat, and toss in the black mustard seeds and dal. Let them cook for about 2 minutes, until they get a little toasty and fragrant. Pour the chutney from the blender into a bowl, and stir in the black mustard seeds and dal.

I understand that these are the two ingredients least likely to already be in an American kitchen, but you cannot forgo these when making the recipe. They are the secret ingredient. The mustard seeds add this little crunch, and true Indian chutney is just not the same without it.

For the record, Whole Foods sells whole coconuts. Trader Joe's failed me this time around.

See if you can guess which pictures are from India and which are from the US!

One last anecdote: My host parents from India were in Boston for two months, the first of which overlapped with the end of my trip abroad. They went back this past weekend and I didn't get to see them. I had gotten in contact with them and tentatively planned to go up last Tuesday, but my plans fell through and I was pretty upset that they were going to fly back across the world without getting to see them for a hug and a meal. I know that if I had gone up to Boston, my host mom would have made me this chutney. So instead of being in Boston on Tuesday, I stayed home and made this. Nothing could have made me feel better. I miss India a lot, but all of these flavors brought me right back to the dinner table in Chennai.

*My host mom used this ingredient (asafoetida powder) in everything and I bought some at an Indian food market in New York, but I still can't figure out exactly what it is. If anyone knows, please enlighten me!

South African Baked Beans

My host mom in South Africa made this dish for me and my homestay partner, both vegetarians, a few times while we were there, and it was our favorite. So much flavor and kick, yet still familiar and easy to make!

Ingredients:

• Onion
• Peas
• Carrots
• Corn (I didn't have any, but they should be used!)
• Baked Beans, with sauce
• Chili Powder
• BBQ Spices
• (Or if you don't have a bbq spice mix like me, some variation):
• paprika
• onion powder
• salt and black pepper
• cayenne pepper

How to Make It:

In a pot, put a little bit of olive oil just to keep onions from sticking, and sauté onions until almost cooked. Add in carrots and let them cook, then add peas and corn. I used frozen peas, so I let them defrost in the pot. When the onions are cooked and carrots have softened, add the baked beans. Add the spices and stir. Let cook until heated throughout. Taste and adjust spices accordingly.

Frozen Mint Lemonade

Nothing better on a hot summer day than a delicious frozen drink that matches the greenery blooming outside. I got the idea for this from Aroma, one of my favorite cafes. This summer they are featuring what they call the "Limonana" - basically lemonade blended with ice and fresh mint. I thought - I can do that! So I bought some Simply Lemonade, picked some mint leaves from my backyard and put them together with ice in the magic bullet. Simple as that! I want to make this again when I'm going to have a long afternoon sitting in the backyard, reading a book.

Lentil Burgers

Yeah I just made this one up. I had a few too many lentils in my fridge that were going to go bad, and they were pretty soft so I knew I could smash them to make burgers.

Ingredients:

• Cooked lentils, about 1.5 cups
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1-2 scallions, minced
• 2T dijon mustard
• 2T lemon juice
• 1/4t cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil for frying

ummm I think that's it.

How to Make It:

Mash it all together in a bowl. How you want to do that is up to you - I used my hands, but if you're not into getting messy, then mashing with the back of a spoon or fork and then stirring would probably work just as well. You could also probably put it all in a blender, the only difference is that there wouldn't be whole lentils in the patties.

When you're ready, form the mixture in small patties and add them to a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Flip once, and cook until they are hot and a little crispy on both sides.


Inspired by this recipe.

Eggplant from India

I'm home!! It's been over four months, but I have finished my study abroad semester and am back in the US of A. My time abroad was incredible, mostly because of the wonderful students I was traveling with and the people I met along the way.

One of the things I missed most while abroad was cooking in my own kitchen. At first, it was definitely  nice to have my host parents to always cook for me - it felt kindof like I was back in high school when I would come home to my mom's home cooked meals every night. But by mid-semester there were dishes I craved that I knew I could only make for myself, and so I have been very entertained cooking up new fun dishes and old classics since I've been back.

While abroad, one of my goals was to learn how to make at least one dish in each country and homestay. I was successful (except that I lost one of my notebooks so I'm missing one of the recipes!). On my quest to now recreate all of the dishes at home, I started by making this simple eggplant dish that I learned in India. I made it here for myself for lunch one day, as a test try before I make it for my family to taste. I used a different kind of eggplant than my host mom in India used (she used little eggplants, definitely will be looking out for them at farmers markets). There are also certain ingredients that Indians use in every dish (black mustard seeds and dal), that I don't have in my kitchen yet, but I'm going to stop by an Indian food store in New York or Iselin so that when I make this recipe again it will be really authentic!

I was also super excited about this recipe because I always fail at making eggplant, and so maybe I've learned the secret!

This picture is of the version I made with my host mom in India (and a picture of my Indian kitchen - so many spices!):

And then this is the version that I made back home:

Ingredients:
(This is what I used in my American version. I'll put up the Indian version ingredients next time I make it).

• Olive oil or sunflower oil (that's up to you how much you want to use)
• 1 large eggplant or several small eggplants, sliced into small pieces
• salt
• 3 tsp coriander powder
• 2 tsp chili powder

How to Make It:

Soak the eggplant slices in a bowl of water. While they are soaking: In a pan that's large enough so that all eggplant can fit in one layer, heat the oil on medium to high heat. You want a good bit of oil, and you want that pan to be HOT. When the pan is really hot, drain the eggplant and sauté/fry it on the pan. Let them cook for a really long time. (Remember when I mentioned the secret to making eggplant? Well this is it - hot pan, long cook time). When they start to brown/look cooked maybe after 5-10 minutes, add in the salt, coriander powder, and chili powder. Stir, and add water or more oil as needed. Let them brown and cook even more. The eggplant should be a little mushy. Enjoy with rice or naan!

Asparagus, Corn, Quinoa

This is the last recipe I have pictures of from the fall semester. It's pretty obvious - I mean I could basically retitle this, "quinoa mixed with random stuff in Danielle's freezer." All this is is cooked up frozen asparagus and frozen corn, some sauteed onions (those were not frozen!), and red quinoa! I don't remember what I used as a dressing for this - probably just olive oil and lemon juice. I like how colorful it is though. Yellow and green suit each other well.

The most exciting part of making this though - I got to cook my quinoa with a rice cooker!! One of my suitemates brought a rice cooker which I never usually have any reason to use. But then when I bought this quinoa, one of the options written on the back for cooking was "rice cooker." I got so excited to make non-asian food in the rice cooker! I did it purely for entertainment, but it actually ended up being some of the fluffiest and most delicious quinoa I've ever made. So I'm sticking to this method. (H please bring the rice cooker again next year, okay?)

Shrimp Fried Rice

Hmm okay so this one was pretty easy. So it all started with the rice. I had leftover brown rice from chinese takeout, and I wanted to do something with it. Then I was like, okay, well what goes in fried rice? And these ingredients came to mind: oil, onion, egg. I was about to make this, but didn't think it had enough protein to count as dinner. And that was when it hit me - I had frozen shrimp in the freezer! Duhhh. And that was when this dish transformed from simply fried rice, to the much more fantastical, shrimp fried rice.

What You Need:

rice (brown or white)

1 tbs olive oil or vegetable oil I guess would work. or sesame oil??? so many things to try in the future!

1/2 onion, chopped

1 egg

frozen shrimp (as many as you want)

The best thing about this is that it's all made in one pan. I sauteed the onions in the oil first, added the rice to heat it, scrambled the egg right into the rice, and then tossed the shrimp in until they were defrosted! Practically easier than using a rice cooker (cough cough and that is a foreshadow for Tuesday's post...)

Sweet Kale Salad

I was sauteeing some kale in butter for lunch. I love kale and butter. Actually, I love all dark leafy greens and butter. The greens kindof have a sweet side that comes out, that doesn't work as well and just stays bitter when cooking in oil. Anyway, I realized that eating kale alone doesn't count as lunch, and that in order to call it a "salad," it needed a few more components. Playing off the sweetness, I added in more light and fruity flavors - chopped pear and dried cranberries. They were all very nice compliments.

**This is tagged as vegan - the butter I used was earth balance vegan buttery spread.

Suite Dinners: Sushi!

Usually in my suite, the person who's week it is to cook suite dinner will put a little menu up on the fridge over the weekend to say what dinner will be. This week no menu was put up, so I had no idea what to expect. I was late to dinner anyway because I was coming back from a meeting, and I could not tell you how thrilled I was to walk into a kitchen table covered with some of my favorite ingredients: seaweed, avocado, cucumber... it was sushi night.

One of my suite-mates is half Japanese, and so making sushi is something she does often at home, and she wanted to teach us how to make it too! It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It basically involved putting down the sheet of seaweed, pressing down rice, putting in the filling (avocado, cucumber, and imitation crab meat), and then rolling and slicing! Kindof like a Japanese burrito, except chopped up.

My california roll was super yummy and making it was definitely a cultural experience!

Rocket Salad

Quinoa is no doubt a superfood, but sometimes I get sick of eating it as the main ingredient in a dish (i.e. quinoa with something mixed in). So with this salad, quinoa is the mix-in!

What's Inside:

Arugula

Red Quinoa

Pecans

Dried Cranberries

Something else - I can't remember if I put in sauteed red onions, cheese, or both.

Dressing: Olive oil, lemon juice, and freshly ground sea salt (TJ's).

Obviously this is super easy to throw together - other than cooking the quinoa and sautéing the onions, just put all of the ingredients in a bowl, mix, and eat!

Red Quinoa

I went to stock up on quinoa at Trader Joe's and for the first time had a decision to make: regular white quinoa, or red? I honestly don't know what the difference is (I should probably do my research), but I wanted to change up my food choices a bit so I went with the red. It was really good, and didn't taste much different than regular quinoa! Maybe it was a little nuttier.

Anyway, I mixed it with avocado, pine nuts, and goat cheese. To give it some moisture I drizzled olive oil and lemon juice. I feel like I always do this with my quinoa, like here and here, kindof just mixing in whatever I have around. But so far it seems to work!

Guac-a-holé-molé

I'm kindof shocked that this is the first time I've ever posted guacamole on this blog. It's one of my "specialty" things to make. In fact, my brother and I have this secret plan that if all fails for us in life, we will open up a guacamole shack. Ok, so maybe we made this plan like 6 years ago, but hey, there's still a chance that my life will fail, so I'm going to keep the option open.

This is a pretty simple guac. Sometimes I make fun variations. This is not one of them.

What's Inside:

• 1 avocado, mashed but leaving some chunks (I like it chunky)
• Splash of lemon juice
• Splash of orange juice (who said lemon juice is the only acidic liquid that can be used in guacamole?)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped raw onions
• Basil

Just mix it all together! Don't mash too much! Eat with tortilla chips, in a quesadilla, or I guess if you want to get really crazy, just eat it by the spoonful. Maybe you can even find a bowl that matches with the guac better than mine does!

Avocado and an Egg

My roommate in DC suggested that it would be a great idea to take an avocado, cut in in half, take out the pit, scoop out a little of the avocado, and then plop an egg right in the middle, and bake the whole thing. I tried it, obviously. I mean, how could I resist? I love avocados. I love eggs. This was a foolproof plan. I even sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top, because everything is better with cheese.

Let's just say it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm not a huge fan of warm avocado, and I don't love yolk that's not runny, and so I kindof just ate the egg white and some of the avocado part. But I mean, it was interesting. And so I posted it here. Now you know you can do this. And if you like warm avocado and egg yolk a little more than me, try it! If you dare...

Farmers Market Salad

This is just a salad that I threw together from lots of fresh ingredients from the farmers market! The lettuce is both mixed greens and fresh frisé. Then it's topped with avocado, chopped cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, sliced mozzarella cheese, and ground black pepper. I enjoyed it with an oil and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Israeli Salad

After going to Trader Joe's, the next foodie thing I did in DC was go to the farmers market! (I'm so predictable). I bought cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions, and realized I had just bought the ingredients for the most perfect summer dinner - Israeli salad! Typically, Israeli salad is chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, tossed with lemon juice, a tad of olive oil, salt and pepper. I also added chickpeas into this version, for some protein.

I was really surprised when I checked my archives that I'd never made this before and posted it - Israeli salad is literally one of my favorite dishes. It is so light and refreshing and always a pleasure. My favorite is from Hummus Place in New York. It has become absolutely mandatory that I get at least a side of it every time I eat there. My own salad needs some more practice before it can be as good as theirs!