Greek Artichoke & Potato Stew

Rereading an old travel diary, I came across an entry from Gythio in southern Greece and was reminded of the absolutely wonderful artichoke and potato stew I had there. I felt inspired to try to make it again. Alas, the diary was quite old, and the notes less than exhaustive, but here is an attempt cobbled together from various corners of the internet, and I was very pleased with the results. It feels light and refreshing and makes a good vegetable side, but is hearty enough to have as a main dish. Be sure to serve with bread to mop up the last of the lemony broth.

You can use artichoke hearts for this, but I like the texture of artichoke bottoms, which I find less fibrous.

The Greek name for this dish is αγκινάρεσ αλά πολιτα (Agkinares a la polita), or, roughly, "City-Style Artichokes".

Greek Artichoke & Potato Stew

Serves 4

Adapted from: Akis Petrezikis

45 mL (3 tablespoons) olive oil
120 grams (1 medium) yellow onion
2 thick or 4 thin spring onions
2 cloves of garlic
400 grams (3-4 medium) waxy potatoes
3 small-to-medium carrots
1 400 gram tin (14 oz/398 ml) artichoke bottoms
1 tablespoon vegetable stock concentrate
600 mL water, boiled and still hot
150 mL water, room temperature
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 large, juicy lemon, zest and juice (use juice of 2 lemons if yours isn't very juicy)
1/2 bunch fresh dill
salt to taste
white pepper to taste

Extra olive oil and fresh dill to garnish

You can use a deep skillet or soup pot to make this, but I used my 30cm braising pan.

Heat the olive oil gently in the pan, over low heat, while you prepare your vegetables: Peel the yellow onion and slice (pole-to-pole) into 1 cm wide strips. Slice the spring onions into 1 cm rounds, separating the darker green parts from the lighter green and white parts. Peel and slice the garlic, fairly thinly. Peel or scrub the carrots, and cut in half lengthwise. Slice the halved carrots on the diagonal into .5 cm slices. Peel the potatoes and dice into large (but still spoonable) chunks, about 1.5 cm in size. Drain the artichoke bottoms, trim off any hard or woody looking bits (if any), and cut each one into quarters.

Turn up the heat under the pan to medium-high, and while it is getting hot, heat the 600 ml water separately so it is at the ready.

When the pan is hot, add the yellow onion and the white/light parts of the spring onion slices. Give them a stir and sauté until they just start to turn translucent. A bit of colour is no big deal, but you don't want to brown them, really. Add the carrots and garlic to the pan, and stir through. Add the potato cubes, and stir through. Add a good pinch of coarse or kosher salt, and stir that through, too. I also added a good pinch of white pepper at this stage (optional).

Stir and sauté until the vegetables pick up a hint of golden colour, and then add the artichokes. Continue to cook for 2 minutes, and then add the vegetable stock concentrate, the boiled water, and the lemon zest and juice. While this mixture returns to a simmer, combine the 1 tablespoon of plain flour with the 150 mL room temperature water and shake or whisk together until smooth. Add to the pan, and stir constantly (but gently) until the liquid comes back up to a bubble.

Turn down the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid (or tinfoil/parchment cover if needed), and let simmer for 45 minutes. Check whether the larger pieces of carrot and potato are tender, and if not, cook for another 5 - 10 minutes. If they are tender, remove the lid, and use a clean spoon to taste the broth (being careful, of course, because it's very hot). If it needs more salt, add it now and stir through, giving it a few minutes to integrate into the dish.

When the stew is ready, remove (and discard) the stems from the dill and chop the fronds coarsely. Add half the chopped fronds and the remaining green onion slices to the pot and stir through, and reserve the other half to garnish individual bowls.

Ladle into bowls and serve with bread for mopping up the sauce, and an extra wedge of lemon (if you like).

This recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated for several days, in which case hold off on adding any of the dill until just before serving. Leftovers, with the dill already added, will benefit from an extra bit of fresh dill stirred through.

Tomato, Coconut & Red Lentil Soup

I am a huge fan of soup, as you can probably tell from my collection of soup recipes. Tomato soup has always had a particularly special place in my heart, dating from some of my earliest memories of coming inside for lunch and having a steaming bowl of tomato soup with a toasted cheese sandwich. That combination is still one of my absolute comfort foods.

Much as I continue love classic tomato soup, sometimes I want something a little different. This was the genesis of my popular Fiesta Tomato Soup, which is chock full of veggies and rice, but this time I was craving something both heartier and a little richer. Since I'm a big fan of South Asian flavours, I reached into the cupboard and came up with coconut milk, red lentils, and a spice combination that I felt went with them. This is an absolute new favourite, and another fine reason to always keep coconut milk in the pantry. Remember to remove the bay leaf before blending (cough cough).

Tomato, Coconut, & Red Lentil Soup

Serves 4
Total time, prep & cooking: 1 hour

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 bay leaf
1 small yellow or red onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
30 mL (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon hot or mild curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground mustard seed
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1 400 gram tin crushed or diced tomatoes
60 mL (1/4 cup) dried red lentils (whole or split), washed thoroughly (no need to soak)
250 mL coconut milk
400 mL water or vegetable broth/stock

In a medium soup pot (I use a 2 litre pot), heat the oil and bayleaf over medium heat while you chop the onion and garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the pot and stir about, and let it gently fry until the onions are tender. While the onions are frying, open the tin of crushed tomatoes (do not drain them), open the container of coconut milk and stir if necessary), rinse and drain the red lentils, and measure the water/broth. Measure your spices into a small bowl or plate.

Give the onions a stir, and add the tomato paste. If it starts to really stick and you're worried about burning, add a few tablespoons of water. Stir the tomato paste through, and then add the spices and stir through again. Let the mixture cook, stirring frequently for a couple of minutes or until fragrant and integrated.

Add the tin of crushed tomatoes, the rinsed and drained lentils, the coconut milk, and the water/broth. If you are using water instead of broth, and especially if the tomatoes are not salted, you may wish to add a big pinch of salt at this point, too (about a quarter teaspoon). Give the whole pot a nice stir through, scraping the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing is stuck, and bring the mixture up to a gentle boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

Take the pot from the heat and remove bayleaf. Use an immersion blender (or a regular blender, but in stages so the blender is never too full of hot liquid) to thoroughly blend everything into a smooth soup. Serve at once, or cool and store for up to three days in the fridge or, once cooled up to three months in a sealed container in the freezer.

If you want a garnish, a few drops of coconut milk from the bottom of the container swirled through, with or without a sprinkle of garam masala, is a nice touch. Serve with bread (naan would be especially good) or idli.

Panfried Eggplant with Harissa & Rose

This was supposed to be an Ottolenghi/Tamimi fish dish from the cookbook Jerusalem, but since we're currently staying at home and cooking what we have in the pantry, I decided to use eggplant instead. It turned out beautifully. To make it a one-pan meal (aka Skillet Dinner) I added pearl couscous right into the pan (with extra cooking liquid for the couscous to absorb), which brought the meal together. I also made some other changes and substitutions based on what I had on hand, and the decision to keep the dish from being overly sweet for my tastes.

I get that not everyone has dried rose petals in the pantry, and to be honest, I've been lugging these from place to place over the last year looking for an excuse to use them. You can omit them, if you like, but they're awfully pretty.

A word on eggplant selection - you want one that is a classic bulb shape, not too fat because they'll be quartered lengthwise into "fillets" and all of them need to (eventually) fit into your pan in a single layer.

Panfried Eggplant with Harissa & Rose

Adapted from Panfried Sea Bream with Harissa & Rose
by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi
from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Serves 4

2 medium slender Italian eggplants, topped and quartered lengthwise
2 tablespoons kosher salt plus water for brining (details below)
3 tablespoons harissa paste, divided (I used rose harissa)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
a little plain flour, about 2 tablespoons
4 tablespoons olive or canola oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1.5 cups)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
125 mL condimento bianco**
.5 teaspoon ground white pepper
700 mL water
250 grams moghrabieh (giant pearl couscous) (or substitute orzo)
1 tablespoon rose water
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (or parsley)
2 teaspoons dried rose petals

A couple of hours before you want to start cooking, brine the eggplants. Dissolve the 2 tablespoons of kosher salt in a little hot water, and then dilute it with a litre of cold water. Remove the green tops from the eggplants, and quarter them lengthwise into wedge-shaped fillets. Submerge them in the salted water with a plate or bowl to keep them under the water, and let them sit at room temperature for a couple of hours. When you are ready to cook, drain and rinse the eggplant fillets, and gently squeeze them on clean kitchen towel (or paper towels) to remove excess liquid.

Preheat a 30 cm (12 inch) skillet or braising pan on a large burner over low heat.

Prepare a paste by mixing half of the harissa paste (1.5 tablespoons) with the cumin and half the kosher salt (.5 teaspoon). Use the back of a spoon to smear it over the cut surfaces of the eggplant, laying each fillet skin-side down/cut sides up on your work surface to rest while you prepare and measure out the rest of your ingredients.

Peel and finely chop the onion, and set aside.

Combine the remaining 1.5 tablespoons of harissa paste with the teaspoon of cinnamon, the half teaspoon of white pepper, and the half cup of condimento bianco/white wine vinegar in a small bowl and set aside.

Using a small sieve, dust the eggplant fillets lightly with flour.

Increase the heat under the skillet to medium, and add 2 tablespoons of oil. When the pan is up to temperature and the oil is hot, carefully add four of the eggplant fillets, cut-side down, to the pan, and fry for a couple of minutes. Turn the fillets to fry on the second cut side for another couple of minutes, and when both sides are golden, remove to a clean plate. Add 1 tablespoon of oil, and repeat the frying steps with the other four fillets. The flour and spice paste mixture may stick a little, but as long as nothing is burning, don't worry too much about it. Fond is good, and it will help flavour the dish. If you're worried about burning, turn the heat down a little.

When all the eggplant is golden, add the final tablespoon of oil to the (emptied) skillet, and add the chopped onions. Stir and fry the onions until tender and translucent. They will pick up a bit of colour from the fond in the pan, which is fine. If they are really starting to stick, you can add a couple of tablespoons of water or vermouth to loosen them back up, but be careful to let any added liquid boil off.

Once the onions are tender, add the seasoning mixture of harissa, cinnamon, white pepper and condimento bianco to the pan and stir through, scraping up any stuck-on bits with a spatula or pan-safe scraper. Next, add the pearl couscous and water, and stir through again. Bring up to a gentle simmer, and turn the heat to medium-low. Lay the eggplant fillets, skin-side down, in a single layer on top of the couscous/onion mixture. They might be partially submerged to start, which is fine.



Let the pan simmer gently, on the lowest setting that keeps it bubbling gently, and let cook uncovered for 20 minutes. I used a spatula to carefully scrape the bottom of the pan a couple of times, to keep the couscous from welding itself to the pan. At the end of 20 minutes, test the couscous, and if they are tender, remove the pan from the heat (if not quite tender, try another five minutes). Drizzle the eggplant with the rose water, and sprinkle with cilantro and rose petals. Use a big serving spoon to lift 2 eggplant fillets (and however much couscous is clinging to them) onto each plate, and divide up the remaining couscous amongst servings.



**Condimento Bianco is a white balsamic-style wine vinegar with added grape must. It's a little sweet, and also very useful for adding a bit of brightness to soups and stews, and making salad dressings and switchel. You can substitue white wine vinegar with a little sweetener added. For the amount in this recipe, half a cup, I would add a half tablespoon of agave syrup or honey (for non-vegans) orother mild sweetener of your choice.

Silky Butternut Squash Soup

I love soup. This is an easy-to-make, one-pot, puréed vegetable soup that is so satisfying, you'll look forward to the next bowl even while you're finishing the first one.

The curry powder is optional, but does not give a pronounced flavour and complements the soup very nicely. You could substitue a Thai red curry paste, if you wish, for a different character.

If you don't want any potato in the soup (for whatever reason), you can simply use more squash instead. I note that the potato does contribute to the silky texture of the soup.

The croutons made from a toasted cheese sandwich are of course also optional, but such a good idea!

Note about butternut squash: butternut squash has an enzyme just beneath its skin that has a peculiar effect on the skin of your hands when you handle it, leaving your hands feeling very tight and dry afterward. This feeling is not solved by simply washing and moisturizing; to avoid this unpleasantness, I recommend that you wear rubber gloves (such as for washing dishes) while you peel. I use a sturdy Y-peeler, which has no difficulty tearing through the tough skin.

Butternut Squash Soup

Serves 4

15 mL (1 tablespoon) canola oil
1 small onion, chopped (about a cup/250 mL)
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 small dried bay leaves (or 1 large)
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, or two sprigs of fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon curry powder (optional)
500 grams peeled butternut squash, diced
150 grams waxy potato, peeled and diced
750 mL (3 cups) vegetable broth/stock or water
250 mL (1 cup) coconut milk
salt if needed (1/2 teaspoon coarse salt if using water)

Start by peeling and chopping the onion, garlic, butternut squash, and potato. You don't need to worry much about the size of the chopped vegetables, because it will all be pureed in the end. Prepare the broth - I used a bouillon concentrate - (or measure out the water), and open/measure out the coconut milk.

In a good-sized soup pot (a 2 litre pot works great), heat the canola oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, and stir. Cook the onions and garlic for about three minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onions are tender and translucent. If they start to turn brown, lower the heat slightly. Add the bay leaves, white pepper, thyme, and curry powder, and stir through. If you are using water instead of stock or broth, add the salt now. Add the chopped butternut squash and potato, and stir around to coat them with the seasoned onion mixture. Add the coconut milk right away, and stir again. Add the vegetable broth (or water), and stir through to make sure nothing is stuck to the bottom of the pot. Everything should now be in the pot.

Turn up the heat and bring the proto-soup to an almost-boil, and then reduce the heat and cook at a gentle simmer (with the lid off) for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure nothing gets stuck to the bottom. Adjust the heat as you go, if necessary, to keep the liquid bubbling gently. Test the potato and the squash to make sure they are soft. Remove the soup pot from the heat.

Use a ladle to remove at least half of the liquid (no chunks!) to a separate bowl, and reserve. Remove the bay leaves from the pot entirely, and discard - their work is done. There should be just enough liquid left in the pot with the vegetables to help purée everything to luscious smoothness. You can use an immersion blender right in the pot itself, or you can transfer the vegetables and remaining liquid to a blender or food processor. Blend/process until very smooth. Return to the pot (if necessary), and add back in the reserved liquid, stirring to integrate. Taste the soup, and add salt if needed. If the puréeing process has cooled the soup down too much, return the pot to a medium-hot burner, and reheat gently until ready. This would be an excellent time to toast some sandwiches or cut some slices of crusty bread.

Serve immediately, or remove from the heat and allow to cool, before storing in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze in an appropriatee container for up to 2 months.

Zucchini Mustard Relish (Small Batch)

Sometimes I just want to make a single jar of relish without committing to an entire pantry full, and this great-tasting tangy little number does just the trick. If the ratios look familiar, it's because I based the recipe on my Jamaican Tomato Relish, but swapping out the tomato for zucchini and changing up the seasonings. That's it! It's just as quick, and just as delicious, but with a completely different flavour profile. Want it hot? Simply add a finely chopped fresh chile pepper of your choice along with the bell pepper, or a half-teaspoon of chile flakes with the other seasonings.

Best of all, it's not too sweet, so you can enjoy it on sandwiches (or sausages/hotdogs), as part of a ploughman's lunch, or alongside Sunday dinner.

Zucchini Mustard Relish
Small/Micro Batch

Makes approximately 500 mL/ 2 cups

300 grams zucchini
125 grams yellow onion
100 grams red bell pepper
60 mL (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
125 mL apple cider vinegar
7.5 mL (1/2 tablespoon) coarse salt
5 mL (1 teaspoon) ground mustard seed
2.5 mL (1/2 teaspoon) ground turmeric
.75 mL (1/8 teaspoon) allspice
2.5 (1/2 teaspoon) cornstarch
15 mL (1 tablespoon) cold water

Finely dice the vegetables, and place them in a medium sauce pan with the sugar. Bring up to a simmer (don't add water - the sugar and the juices from the vegetables will provide ample cooking liquid), and let simmer, covered, over a low temperature for 20 minutes. Add the vinegar, salt and spices, and simmer another 20 minutes (uncovered) over medium heat. Combine the cornstarch and water and simmer two minutes more, to thicken. Allow to cool slightly, and store in a sterilized, sealable glass jar. Let cool completely at room temperature, and then store in the fridge. Use within 6 weeks.

Note: The first cooking stage smells kind of off-putting, because green peppers cooking in sugar is not the nicest smell in the world. Wait it out, it gets better. Also, try not to breathe in the vinegar when you pour it into the dish - the fumes are choke-inducing. Use your kitchen fan, if you have one, and open a window during and after the process, if you can. The smell of zucchini boiling in sugar is not a good one.

⚠ SAFETY NOTE⚠ This recipe is NOT intended for canning, but rather for immediate consumption. The proportions of ingredients have not been calculated for preserving purposes, and it may not be safe to do so. Additionally, the recipe calls for cornstarch, which is considered a problematic ingredient in canning safety. Please do not attempt to use this recipe for canning.

Halloumi Stroganoff

This is, unexpectedly, a Swedish dish. Sweden has a long history of trade with the eastern mediterranean, and it is no surprise that, lovers of cheese as they are, Swedes have embraced not only the salty feta of that region but also the (also salty) halloumi. Halloumi is available everywhere -- huge in salads and sandwiches, particularly wraps, and it's the standard vegetarian option for burgers. Even the big American chains have a halloumi burger option.

So when I opened up the weekly flyer of recipe suggestions from my local ICA supermarket and saw Halloumistroganoff (no space), I thought why not? A quick scour of google suggested that this is indeed a uniquely Swedish concept, as every recipe I could find online was in Swedish. The search results turned up some significantly different versions, too. Although the red lentils featured here were also an ingredient in a number of other versions I found online, some looked closer to a stir fry than a stroganoff. And I confess, that this does look very much like a stroganoff in the traditional sense of the word at all. If anything, it looks like something that was developed by a well-meaning cook who had seen a picture of shahi paneer, but had no idea what it was made of and skewed mediterranean instead.

But that doesn't tell you how good it is! And let me tell you, this is good enough to go into rotation.

Halloumi Stroganoff

Adapted from ICA

Serves 6 (over rice)

2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
400 grams halloumi cheese
1 yellow onion
1 long red chili (mild to moderate)
2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary (optional)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried, crumbled oregano
2 tablespoons tomato paste
400 grams tinned crushed tomatoes
4 cups water, approximately
200 mL uncooked red lentils
100 grams lacinato kale
2 roasted, peeled red peppers (from a jar is fine)
125 mL heavy cream (such as whipping cream)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste

Set your rice to cook. You can use whatever rice you like - we used basmati, which was just fine.

Peel and finely dice the yellow onion. Mince (or crush) the garlic, and de-seed and mince the red chili. These will all go into the pan together, so you can set them aside together. If you are using the rosemary, strip the needles from the stems. Chop or mince the needles as you please. Add to the onion mixture.

Drain the peppers in a sieve, splitting them open with your fingers to remove any seeds or strings. Set them aside to finish prep later.

Open the tinned crushed tomatoes.

Rinse the red lentils well, to remove any grit, and let drain in a sieve.

Remove the thick stems from the kale and chop the leaves into thumb-sized pieces.

Open the halloumi package(s) and drain away any brine. Blot the cheese dry with paper towels, and then dice into bite-sized pieces. They will retain their size when cooked, so keep that in mind when dicing. Blot dry again.

In a large skillet (nonstick is easiest), preheated for a few minutes on low heat, raise the temperature to medium and add one tablespoon of the oil. Tilt the pan to coat the bottom with the oil, and let the oil heat up for about 30 seconds before adding the halloumi cubes in a single layer without crowding. Let them fry gently just long enough to get a bit of colour, turning with tongs or stirring carefully with a wooden spatula as needed, and then remove the cheese to a clean plate. Repeat until all the cheese has been fried and is a bit golden on at least two sides.

Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the now-emptied skillet, and let it heat for a few seconds before adding the onion/garlic/chili. Stir, sprinkle with about a 1/4 teaspoon of coarse salt, and let fry until the onion is translucent and tender. Add the oregano and stir through.

Stir in the tomato paste, and add a tablespoon or so of water to help loosen it up. Stir and fry the tomato paste for about a minute, and then add the crushed tomatoes (with their juices) and stir again.

Add the drained red lentils and two cups of water to the skillet, and stir through. Bring everything up to a gentle simmer and reduce the temperature to medium-low. Let it simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, and adding more water as needed to get a nicely saucy texture. I used the whole four cups, but your mileage may vary.

While the lentils simmer, blot dry the roasted red peppers and slice lengthwise into thin strips, and then crosswise once or twice to give nice short strips of pepper.

After the lentils are tender, add the roasted red peppers, the kale, and the halloumi to the skillet and stir well. Bring back to a gentle simmer, and let cook for another five to ten minutes.

Add the cream and stir it through the lentils until the colour has become a uniformly paler version of itself. Taste, and add more salt and pepper if you like.

Leftovers freeze beautifully



***

If you follow the link above, and either read Swedish or plug it into an online translator and slog through, you will note that my recipe diverges quite a bit from the original. This is because the original recipe, as written, was kind of terrible. Right off the bat, there is an item (mangold, AKA the type of chard that is not Swiss) in the ingredient list, which appears nowhere in the actual directions. I've replaced the chard with lacinato kale, but you could use any sturdy green from beet greens to cabbage to collards. I chose to add it midway through the cooking process, to give it time to cook without necessarily robbing it of all texture.

The discerning eye might also notice that the amount of water suggested as necessary to cook 200 mL of raw red lentils is a mere 300 mL. Anyone who has made a red lentil dal knows that is not nearly enough, but I optimistically started with that amount the first time I made it, and was forced to add quite a bit more, in order to make something other than a thick paste. Now, in the original recipe, there is a full cup of Half-and-half (or coffee cream or whatever you have that is about 15%). I've switched to heavy (whipping) cream, which integrates better into cooking food, and reduced the amount by half. However much cream you want to use, or which kind, I note that the picture shown alongside the recipe does not appear to have had any cream of any kind added at all, based on the colour.

And finally, speaking off cream of any kind, the following are the suggested swap-outs to Veganize the dish: exchange the halloumi for extra firm tofu, and switch the cream for a plant-friendly version, such as oat cream. Otherwise, continue as written, although I would suggest tossing the diced tofu with a bit of cornstarch before frying, for best results.

Cracked Barley Spring Salad with Asparagus

Springtime in Europe means asparagus season is upon us. When we lived in Germany, it was 90% white asparagus (also delicious, but needs to be handled a bit differently), but here in Sweden I've seen mostly green. Green asparagus makes a terrific salad ingredient - blanched and shocked to stop the cooking, it retains its fresh flavour and tender-crisp texture beautifully.

I accidentally bought cracked barley (aka barley grits) instead of pearl barley, whilst navigating the aisles of a Swedish supermarket. Relatively undaunted, I carried on with using it in different ways, from plain side dish to jambalaya, to salad. Salad was the clear winner here. You could use whole pearl barley instead, or even couscous or quinoa or bulgur, if that's what you've got on hand. Similarly, you could swap out the chickpeas for white beans, if the fancy takes you.

While the salad is a complete vegan meal in itself, we had some eggs to use up, so I made devilled eggs with feta as a topper. You could also add crumbled feta into the salad itself, if you wanted the extra protein without the extra effort.

Double the recipe if you like - it will keep well in the fridge, and make a terrific work/school lunch.

Cracked Barley Spring Salad with Asparagus

Serves 2

1/2 cup cracked barley
115 grams drained, cooked chickpeas (about half a 400 gram can)
1 scallion
10 spears green asparagus
8 cm English cucumber
2 - 4 tablespoons lightly chopped dill

Dressing

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse or kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, pressed

Lemon wedges for squeezing (optional)

Cook the cracked barley according to directions. I used 2:1 (water:barley), bringing the mixture to a full boil and then covered tightly and reduced the temperature to low heat to cook for 35 minutes, followed by 10 minutes resting off the heat before opening the lid.

While the barley cooks, you have plenty of time to drain and rinse the chickpeas and prepare the vegetables and dressing. If you find tinned chickpeas have a metallic flavour, try rinsing them with boiling water, and then draining thoroughly.

For the asparagus, trim the woody end from the stalk and slice them on the diagonal into bite-sized pieces. Bring a pot of water to the boil, and blanche the asparagus pieces for no longer than 2 minutes, or until just tender when pierced with a fork. Drain immediately and plunge into cold or iced water to stop the cooking process. Leave them in the cold water (replace the water if it gets warm) while you make the dressing.

For the dressing, combine all of the ingredients and beat vigorously with a fork or whisk until you have a smooth emulsion. Set aside until ready to use.

You can also add the dill into the dressing, but for some reason I usually add them separately. Either way, remove the heavy stalks from the dill and give it a rough chop. Slice the scallion finely on the diagonal and set aside.

Slice the chunk of cucumber into quarters, lengthwise. Stand each piece on its end to easily trim away the seeds with your knife, before dicing the cucumber flesh into small pieces. If you have a field cucumber, you will need to remove the skin as well, which you should do first off.

Once the cracked barley has finished cooking and resting, remove the lid and stir through with a rice paddle or fork to fluff up the texture and keep it from clumping. Then, add the dressing to the still-hot barley, and stir through. The hot barley will soak up the dressing very quickly, and it will help separate the grains a bit more. Drain the cooled asparagus, and add to the barley, along with the chickpeas, cucumber, scallion, and dill.

Gently mix everything together, and turn out of the cooking pot into bowls or a fridge-friendly sealable container. (You can serve it still slightly warm, or chill first.) Serve with extra lemon wedges for squeezing over individual portions.



This keeps beautifully in the refrigerator for a few days, and makes an excellent packed lunch or light supper.

Black Bean Soup

This is based on a Mayan recipe for a very simple black bean soup with big, striking flavours. It is easy to cook the beans the day before, and start from there. It is quite filling as a main dish, but half-sized portions make a terrific starter. The soup shown in the picture above includes finely diced ham, which is a purely optional add-in to a recipe that is otherwise completely plant-based.

Black Bean Soup

Serves 4

1 cup dried black beans (no need to soak)
water to cover beans
5 cups water (extra) or stock of your choice
2 tablespoons canola or corn oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped or pressed
1 teaspoon dried pequin (aka piquín) chiles, crushed
1 medium or large tomato, peeled, seeded & diced
1/2 teaspoon dried epazote
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 cup dry sherry
salt
Freshly ground black pepper
cilantro to garnish

Part 1 - Cook the beans

Rinse the beans well - you don't want grit or dust in your finished dish. Also give them a quick look-over to make sure there aren't any cunningly disguised little rocks in there - sometimes you find little tiny stones or other debris in dried beans.

Cover the rinsed beans with fresh water, up to about 5 centimetres above the beans. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the beans are quite tender, stirring occasionally. This can take as little as an hour or as long as two or two and a half hours, depending on how old your beans are. Play it by ear, but don't let the beans boil hard, or they will split and turn quite mushy. Most of the time, I find that dried black beans are ready in just one hour. Once the beans are tender, you can add a little salt - if you will be using stock in the second part, make sure you don't over-salt at this stage. You can also skip salt entirely until Part 2 and then adjust to taste. Note that if you have hard water (or beans of dubious age), a scant pinch of baking soda added to the water when you begin to cook the beans will help soften them more quickly. You can make the beans a day ahead, and then proceed from this point when you want to serve them. If you will be making the soup at a later date, allow the beans to cool and then refrigerate in their cooking liquid. Once they are completely cold, you can freeze them if you like.

Part 2 - Make the soup

If you are making the soup straight away after cooking the beans, you can prepare and sauté the vegetables while the beans simmer in Part 1 above. 

Remove two thirds of the beans to a blender or food processor and puree. If you have an immersion blender, you can certainly use it right in the pot, but in that case you will want to remove about a third of the whole beans before pureeing (they will be stirred back in later, after the vegetables are added).

In a medium frying pan, preheated over medium heat, heat the oil and sauté the finely chopped onion, chopped garlic, and the pequin chiles until the onion is soft. Add the prepared diced tomato, epazote and cumin and stir until well blended. Add the onion mixture to the black bean purée and purée the mixture again until as smooth as possible. Combine the whole beans and the puréed mixture in the soup pot and add the five cups of extra water (or stock) and simmer gently, stirring frequently until the soup thickens and its components integrate. This takes only about five to ten minutes, in my experience.

If you want an even heartier soup, you could at this point add smoked tofu, diced ham, or diced chicken, as you wish, and simmer gently to heat the new additions through, stirring frequently. Remove any thick stems from the epazote that might have escaped the food processor. Add the sherry and stir through. Taste the soup and add more salt if needed, and it's ready to serve. Add cilantro to individual servings, or substitute finely sliced green onion if preferred.

I like to serve this with crispy baked flour tortilla-crackers, and sometimes a drizzle of contrasting hot sauce to add brightness. You can also top the soup with a scoop of salsa (preferably not cold from the fridge).

The soup also freezes very well, as do the cooked beans from Part 1.

Tiger Balls

This was one of our family's favourite snacks when I was a child, and boy did we go through a lot of them! Much like many of today's "energy bites" or protein bars, it's based largely on nuts and seeds, is lightly sweet, and can actually quell a rumbling tummy between meals. It's extremely versatile, so you can feel free to substitute ingredients as you please: sun butter or almond butter for the peanut butter, for example, in addition to the suggested alternative ingredients below. The first ingredient in each case shown was the original we used back in the day.

If you like your treats to be sweeter and more candy-like, double the honey (in which case you will probably need all of the powdered milk as indicated.

Tiger Balls

Adapted from "Tiger's Candy" from Diet for a Small Planet
by Adele Davis

1 cup / 250 mL natural-type peanut butter
1/2 cup / 125 mL fine shredded coconut, plus extra for rolling
2 tablespoons / 30 mL toasted sesame seeds, flax meal, chia meal, or hemp hearts
2 tablespoons / 30 mL rolled oats or chopped sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons / 30 mL honey, agave, or date syrup
1 tablespoon brewers yeast (optional)
6 - 8 tablespoons / 95 - 125 mL non-instant skim milk powder, as needed

In a mixing bowl, layer all of the ingredients except for the skim milk powder, in order shown above. Use a fork to thoroughly combine everything, making sure there are no dry spots in the dough, and then add half the milk powder. Stir that in with a fork, and gradually add enough of the remaining milk powder that you get a stiff dough that you can roll into smooth balls without breaking and falling apart.

Using a cookie-disher or spoon, form small balls, rolling them between your palms until smooth, and then roll them gently in the extra shredded coconut. Place them in a sealable container in the fridge until needed. I note that we never refrigerated these, they just sat in a cookie tin for their (very short) lifespan, as we gobbled them up mighty quickly. These days, I refrigerate them for safety and freshness.

The ones shown here are rather large - a full tablespoon disher was used to portion them, but a half-tablespoon size is a more perfectly sized snack for me (and comes in at around 90 calories). Fortunately, you can also cut them in half later if you make them too large.

Calypso Potato Salad

Years ago, there used to be a tiny Trini restaurant called Roti Bistro on West 4th Avenue in Vancouver. It was there I was first introduced to soursop punch and peanut punch, and Caribbean lamb and goat curries. One of the things I particularly enjoyed was that they didn't adjust the food to accommodate the northern palate, so everything that was supposed to be hot was indeed fiery hot. Including, unexpectedly, the potato salad. Now, I have a pretty heat-resistant palate myself, and enjoy habaneros and other hot chiles without reserve, but on this particular day the curry was extremely hot, even for my tastes. No problem, I told myself, I'll just have a bit of this creamy-looking potato salad and OH MY GOD! IT'S HOTTER THAN THE CURRY! Thank goodness for that soursop punch.

The restaurant is long gone, sadly, but I was inspired by their blistering potato salad to make a version of it myself. It's not quite as intense as the original, but I think you'll find it to be very tasty indeed.

The potato salad is named after one of the key ingredients, Matouk's Calypso Sauce (which is made in Trinidad & Tobago), but you can substitute that with a fruity habanero sauce and a touch of curry powder. Please note that this is not a sponsored post. The rest of the seasoning for the salad is loosely based on jerk seasoning.

Calypso Potato Salad

Serves 6

3 pounds red skinned nugget potatoes
1/2 cup (125 ml) mayonnaise
1 tablespoon (15 ml) dry mustard
1–2 tablespoons (15-30 ml) fresh chopped thyme
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml) turmeric
Pinch of cayenne pepper
3 hard boiled eggs, peeled, halved
6 cornichons, chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 green onions, finely chopped
2 habanero or scotch bonnet chiles, minced (seeds removed)
1/4 cup (60 ml) Matouk’s Calypso Sauce
Black pepper

Cut the potatoes in halves, or into bite-sized chunks if you have larger potatoes, and steam or simmer gently in lightly salted water until just tender. Drain potatoes and allow them to cool slightly in the colander.

In a large bowl, combine mayonnaise, dry mustard, chopped thyme, allspice, turmeric, cayenne pepper, and Calypso sauce in a medium bowl.

Separately, in a medium bowl, combine celery, cornichons, habaneros, and green onion. Separate the egg yolks and whites. Mash or sieve yolks finely, and mince the egg whites. Add both to the chopped vegetables.

Add the warm-but-not-hot potatoes to the spiced mayonnaise and immediately add the chopped vegetables and egg mixture on top of that. Fold gently with a spatula until the potatoes and vegetables are evenly coated. Garnish liberally with freshly ground black pepper, and extra green onion, if you like. A sprinkle of paprika or cayenne makes a pretty finish.

Allow the salad to rest in the refrigerator for an hour or two before serving, to give the flavours a chance to meld.


Black Pepper Tofu

There are an awful lot of recipes out there for Black Pepper Tofu, it turns out. So why not one more? This version is adapted from a variety of internet sources, but primarily from Lazy Cat Kitchen. It is intense and delicious, with wonderful textures. Serve over rice or noodles, maybe with a nice bright green on the side (gai lan would be an excellent choice).

Black Pepper Tofu

Serves 4
Total Prep & Cooking Time: 45-60 minutes

For the fried tofu cubes
600 grams firm tofu, diced and pressed
2 tablespoons less-sodium soy sauce
Cornstarch, as needed for dusting
4 tablespoons peanut oil or canola oil, divided

Sauce & Assembly
1 tablespoon less-sodium soy sauce, plus extra to make 3 tablespoons (including the leftover from the tofu stage above)
1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar (depending how tart you want the sauce)
2 tablespoons honey (brown rice syrup or coconut sugar for vegan)
125 mL (1/2 cup) water
2 level teaspoons cornstarch
4 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, peeled and minced (about 2 tablespoons of minced ginger)
1-2 hot chili peppers, sliced thinly
4 small green onions, sliced thinly
1 rounded tablespoon ground black pepper
Sesame seeds, to garnish (optional)

The following instructions are for frying the tofu cubes, but you can bake them instead if you prefer.

Cut the tofu into large or medium dice – bite sized – and press between paper towels under a weighted cutting board for 15 minutes. Pour off and discard any liquid, and place tofu in a shallow bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons soy sauce over the tofu and very gently stir to coat. Drain the excess soy sauce and set aside to use in the sauce.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. While the oil heats, quickly and carefully roll about a quarter of the tofu cubes in cornstarch, shaking off any excess. Place them in the hot oil, well spaced out, and fry gently, turning each piece with tongs as needed to get a crisp golden brown crust on all sides. As each piece is done, (they basically finish in the order they were placed in the pan, remove it to a paper towel-lined plate. Repeat (in the same oil) with the remaining tofu cubes, in batches, until they are all done. Remove the pan from the heat, pour off any remaining oil, and wipe the pan clean (carefully, because it’s hot) with a paper towel. Put the pan aside while you prepare the other ingredients.

If you are using whole peppercorns, grind them now (grinder or mortar and pestle), because it takes too long to get the amount you need at the point where you need to add it. Put the tablespoon of ground black pepper in a small dish and set aside.

Mix in a separate bowl or 500ml/2 cup measuring cup: soy sauce, dark soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and 125 mL (½ cup) of cool or room temperature water. Add the 2 teaspoons of cornstarch and stir until smooth. Prepare, in separate piles on your cutting board, the garlic, ginger, chilies, spring onions, and black pepper, and have them ready to go.

Return your skillet to medium-high heat, and add a tablespoon of oil along with the white parts of the spring onions, the ginger, and sliced chilies. Lower the heat to medium and fry for 2-3 minutes, until slightly softened. Add the garlic and stir through for about 20 seconds.

Carefully stir the sauce bowl, because the cornstarch will drop to the bottom and you want it integrated. Once it is smooth, add the cornstarch slurry to the the vegetables in the skillet, and let it come to a gentle boil, stirring constantly. A flat-bottomed wooden spoon or wok tool is really good for this It will thicken almost immediately. Add the black pepper and then the fried tofu cubes and stir them through until the tofu cubes are coated in the sauce. Add the green parts of the spring onion and stir through quickly to integrate. Serve over rice or noodles, garnishing with sesame seeds if you like.

Z-Balls - Zucchini Polpette

These delicious veggie-packed Z-Balls can be everything from a pakora-like appy (pass the chutney), to a sandwich filling, to a stand-in for traditional meatballs on a big plate of spaghetti (or spaghetti squash, if that's how you roll).

This recipe was developed from my classic Zucchini Fritters recipe, but has a bit more body to better withstand the round(ish) shape without getting doughy. I'm using classic Italian flavours for these ones, since they'll be topping spaghetti, but you can of course customize the seasoning profile to your taste (Old Bay-type seasoning would be awesome for sandwich-filling Z-Balls, for example).

It's zucchini season! What are you waiting for?

Z-Balls (Zucchini Polpette)

Makes 24 Z-Balls
Total prep and cooking time: 45 minutes

5 cups grated zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 1/2 cups fluffy breadcrumbs ~ such as panko
1/3 cup finely minced onion
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon chile flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher/coarse sea salt
1/4 cup flour
oil for shallow-frying

Make sure that the strands of grated zucchini are not too long - cut a slice into the zucchini lengthwise (stopping before you hit the stem) before grating, and then position the zucchini against the grater so that the grated strands will be short. You could also grate the zucchini normally, and then give it a quick chop-through with a knife. Either way, Squeeze the grated zucchini by the handful (over a colander in the sink, to catch escaped strands) to release extra liquid. Place the shreds in a medium mixing bowl.

Add the flour and stir with a fork to thoroughly distribute the flour throughout the zucchini strands. Add the eggs, melted butter, bread crumbs, minced onion, salt and herbs. Mix well with a fork, so that all ingredients are evenly distributed. The batter will be quite wet, so you will need a scoop to shape the balls. A disher with a release mechanism works best. The one I use a no. 18-8 disher, which has a tablespoon capacity, which makes a nice sized ball, whether it's a meatball or z-ball. Without a scoop, I would use two tablespoons, and the quenelle method.

Pour frying oil into a skillet to make about 5mm deep. Heat the oil over medium heat, and be patient until it gets hot enough to fry, about 190°C/375°F. You don't want it too hot, or the balls will burn before they cook through. Also, if you overheat the oil, it will begin to break down and smell fishy (especially canola oil), so never let it get so hot it smokes. You can test the oil by putting a strand of zucchini in the pan. If it starts to sizzle immediately, the oil is ready. If it browns immediately, remove the oil from the heat, because it's too hot. Let it cool off the heat and try again. You can also use other methods to test the oil temperature if you don't have the right kind of thermometer.

When you're ready to start frying, use the scoop/disher to shape the ball, and release it directly into the hot oil in the skillet. Add a few more balls, well spaced to avoid over-crowding the pan, and fry for a few minutes on each "side", until dark golden brown. These are pretty soft, so you may need to gently re-shape them as you turn them - tongs are the best tool for the job, but two forks works well, too. Or you could learn to love the slightly irregular, rustic shapes they form naturally, like the ones shown here.

Finished balls can be kept warm in a warm oven. Continue to cook the z-balls in batches until you've used up all the batter.

Top a bowl of pasta and tomato sauce with these crisp, flavourful nuggets for Spaghetti & Z-Balls - sure to make anyone smile from their sheer deliciousness!



Leftover Z-Balls can be reheated very nicely on an ungreased baking sheet (or pizza pan) in a hot oven (200°C/400°F) for 10-15 minutes (flip halfway through) to restore the crisp exterior. Perfect for wraps!

Çılbır: Turkish Poached Eggs in Yoghurt with Spiced Butter

I love a good breakfast, and Turkish culture really knows how to do it up as a feast. Menamen (scrambled eggs in pepper sauce) might be the best known (internationally) egg-based breakfast dish from Turkey, but by golly cilbir should be on everyone's list, too. Cilbir (anglicized somewhat from Çılbır) is pronounced, roughly, as CHILL-ber (like Wilbur, but, you know, chill).

What is it? Well, the beauty-base-zero version is poached eggs in garlicky yoghurt, drizzled with browned butter infused with chile flakes. There are a LOT of variations to be had, though - most of which appear to be placing the basic version on top of an additional element - kıyma, for example (fried seasoned ground meat), or sautéed spinach (like a Turkish version of eggs Florentine). This versatility explains why cilbir is eaten not only for breakfast, but for any other meal of the day.

Between the above description and the pictures, you probably don't need a recipe, but I'm going to give you one anyway:

Çılbır: Turkish Poached Eggs in Yoghurt

Serves 2

Yoghurt base

300 grams plain thick yoghurt
1-2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (or dill, or mint)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon kosher or coarse sea salt

2 - 4 Poached eggs

I'm going to assume you know how to poach eggs, and have a preferred method. If not, go ahead and google it, or even just fry your eggs sunny side up, or soft boil them (I won't tell)

Spiced Butter

2 tablespoons salted butter
1/2 teaspoon - 2 teaspoons Turkish pepper flakes (eg. Aleppo) or paprika, adjusting for the level of heat as desired


Assembly

Prepare the yoghurt base first, because you want it more room-temperature than fridge-cold. I take the yoghurt out of the fridge as soon as I get up, before I shower or make coffee, to let it warm up a bit. When you're ready to get cooking, combine the yoghurt base ingredients in a small bowl, and beat until everything is well integrated. Set aside for the flavours to mingle while you prepare the rest.

Warm a couple of bowls by filling them with hot water and letting them stand. You probably don't need to do this in the summer.

Prepare the spiced butter next. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. If you are using unsalted butter, add a tiny pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let the butter boil and seethe until the water evaporates and the milk solids start to brown (alternatively, you can use ghee). Remove the butter from the heat, and add the chile flakes. I was using extra-hot oiled Pul Biber (Turkish chile flakes), so I didn't add a lot, but with a milder chile you can add quite a bit more (which does look very pretty). Let the butter and chile flakes infuse together while you prepare the eggs.

Prepare the eggs as you like - I poached mine in a skillet of bubbling water for 5 minutes, but your mileage may vary.

Just before the eggs are ready, take your warmed bowls (drained and dried) and add a generous spoonful of yoghurt base into the bottom of each. Use the spoon to swirl it out to cover the bottom of the bowl. When the eggs are ready, use a skimmer to lift them from the water, and place them in the bowls. Use a teaspoon to drizzle the desired amount of spiced butter over and around the egg(s). Serve at once with warm flatbread, and maybe some nice sliced vegetables and hummus.

Garlic Naan

Naan is so delicious when one has it in a restaurant, I always thought it would be difficult to make. It turns out, however, that it's quite straight forward to make at home. If you can make pizza dough, you can make naan. Just a little tweak of the ingredients, and a change in cooking method, and boom! Naan at home, no tandoor oven required. I made mine in my cast iron skillet, popping each one into a warm oven as it came off the skillet while I finished cooking the rest.

Garlic Naan

Makes 8 small naan

175 mL warm (not hot) water
7 grams active dry yeast
2.5 cups flour (plus extra for shaping)
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
160 mL plain thick yoghurt
3 tablespoons butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed
canola oil
Nigella seed and/or dried fenugreek leaves (methi) to garnish

Melt the butter and add the crushed garlic. Set aside. Have a pastry brush at the ready for the final stage of cooking.

In a large (2 Litre) mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, and let it activate - that is, come alive and start forming foamy islands on the surface of the water. Add about a cup of flour and the salt, and stir thoroughly with a wooden spoon until smooth.

Add the yoghurt and half the garlic-butter, and beat again until smooth. Start adding the rest of the flour and stirring it in until a soft dough forms. Turn the dough out onto the counter, and knead until smooth. You might need a little less or a little more flour than indicated here, depending on your baking conditions. The dough should be soft, but not too sticky.

Clean the mixing bowl and lightly oil the inside. Form the dough into a ball, and place it in the bowl, turning it to oil all surfaces of the dough. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and set in a warmed oven (with the light on is perfect) for about 45 minutes, or until doubled.

Start preheating a big, heavy skillet (preferably not non-stick - I used my cast iron skillet) over medium high heat. Place a baking sheet or pizza pan in the oven and turn it on to the lowest heat-setting to keep warm.

Turn the dough out onto the counter, and press the air out of it. Divide into 8 equal pieces, and shape each one into a loose ball.

Add a pinch of methi to the remaining garlic butter, if you wish.

Sprinkle a bit of nigella seed on one side of the work surface.

Sprinkle a bit of flour on the non-nigella side of your work area, and use your fingers to press the first ball into a thinnish round (not too thin, or it will tear) on the floured surface. Gently place the pressed-out dough over the nigella seed, and gently press down so that some of the seeds adhere to the surface of the dough. Lift the round of dough carefully, and transfer it seed-side-up to your hot skillet. Cook for a couple of minutes, and then carefully flip to its other side. I used tongs, which is a bit tricky in that the top part isn't really cooked yet. Cook for another minute or two, watching closely, and when brown patches show, flip it again. Brush a little garlic butter on the side with the seeds, and transfer it to the sheet in the oven to rest while you cook the remaining 7 naan in exactly the same way.

That's it. You're done. Serve with a nice wet curry, maybe something like Bengali Dal or Kali Dal.

Khichdi and Kheema

Khichdi (aka Khichri, and a number of other variations, खिचड़ी in Hindi) is a rice-and-pulse dish from India that is not only a vegetarian (vegan, in fact) staple, but also very likely the ur recipe for Kedgeree and possibly even Middle Eastern Koshary. It's been around for a long, long time, and is considered to be a very balanced meal on its own - even better, if you can serve it with condiments such as yoghurt or raita, chutney, or go all out for the famous Hyderabadi combination of khichdi, kheema, and khatta.

Kheema (aka keema, कीमा in Hindi) is essentially a simple, loose, ground meat gravy seasoned with accent vegetables and vigorous application of spices as pleases the cook. My kheema tends to vary quite wildly depending on what I have on hand, but is usually at least a bit spicy. Kheema is not generally by nature a vegetarian dish, but one could make it so by using the ground-meat substitute of your choice, or even simply finely minced vegetables. This one has a mixture of ground lamb and beef, as prepared by our local Turkish butcher. The recipe is below the recipe for the khichdi.

I didn't have the necessary sour ingredients on hand to make khatta, but we enjoyed the khichdi and kheema together.

There are different styles of Khichdi, ranging from the dry, pilau-like separate grains you see here to a more risotto-like dish, more of an extremely thick soup or congee than its drier pilau cousin. Because I was using a lentil that holds its shape very tenaciously, I decided to go with the drier style.

Khichdi can be made with any lentil, but this one is made with whole black urad dal - the same pulse that I use to make Kali Dal (black dal), and this dish is therefore Kali dal ki khichdi. Because the lentils give off a lot of dark colour when boiled, I discard the water used to boil the lentils, but if you don't mind a grey dish, you can certainly use the cooking water to also cook the rice.

Kali Dal Ki Khichdi

Serves 4

150 - 180 mL whole black urad dal, picked over and rinsed well
approximately 6 cups cooking water for the dal
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons oil or butter or ghee
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
1-3 dried red chilies, left whole OR 1 long fresh chili, seeded and chopped.
200 grams basmati rice
310 mL water for the rice, rinsed well

You don't need to soak the dal, but you can if you want to. You do need to wash them well, or your dish will be gritty.

In a moderately large pot, bring six cups (or so) of water to a boil. Add the well-rinsed dal, the cumin seeds, the chilies and the minced ginger, and let simmer gently for about 45 minutes, stirring from time to time. The water will be very dark and murky looking. If your dal is a bit old, or you're not convinced of its freshness (mine was rescued from the back of the cupboard), a small pinch of baking soda can be added to the water to encourage the dal to soften nicely as it cooks.

When the dal is tender, drain through a colander, and set briefly aside while you get the rice going: in a medium pot, bring the rice-cooking water and the well-rinsed rice to the barest of bubbles rising to the surface. Add the oil or butter or ghee, the salt, and the drained dal, stir through, and cover with a tight-fitting lid. Turn the heat immediately to the lowest setting, and cook undisturbed (no peeking!) for 15 minutes. Transfer the pot to a cold burner (or pot holder) without lifting the lid, and set the timer again for 15 minutes. When the timer goes, you may open the pot and fluff up your rice with a fork or rice paddle.



You'll notice that the dal have congregated in the top third of the dish, so give it a nice fold with a paddle or spatula to disperse them throughout the rice. If you want to serve it in a tidy shape, you can pack it into a small bowl or measuring cup and upend onto the plate or bowl. Otherwise, just spoon it into a bowl and enjoy - with or without accompaniments.



Plain yoghurt is a very common side, and if the khichdi is being eaten on its own, you may want to consider a tempering made from heating a little mustard oil (or butter or ghee) in a small pan, and adding some chili flakes, swirling them about until fragrant, before pouring over the khichdi. Because we were serving this with kheema, we didn't do that extra step.

* * * * *

A note on kheema vegetables: One of the most popular and traditional vegetables to add to kheema is green peas. If you're not using the peppers and/or tomatoes.


Simple Kheema

Serves 4

500 grams ground beef and lamb (both or either)
1 tablespoon butter or oil
1 tablespoon finely minced ginger
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (about a cup's worth)
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt
3-4 roma-type tomatoes, cored and seeded, sliced into strips
1-3 red or green hot peppers, cored and seeded, sliced into strips
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
Water, as needed
1 teaspoon cornstarch or 1 tablespoon flour as a thickener (optional)
Cilantro to garnish (optional)

In a large skillet, heat the butter (or oil) over medium-high heat, and when it has melted and foamed out, add the ground meat. Stir and cook the meat, breaking it up with your spoon as you go (it can be as fine or coarsely broken up as you like) until it is thoroughly browned (not just no-longer-pink, you want some golden, flavourful searing on about half of it). Add the salt and the spices (except the garam masala) and stir through again. Add the onions, garlic, and ginger, and continue to stir and fry until the onions are translucent.

If you want a thicker gravy, choose either the cornstarch or wheat flour option (see instructions below) add it now and simmer for about 15 minutes. If you want a thinner gravy, simply add an extra half cup of water now simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the hot peppers and the tomatoes (if it looks like it needs more water to be a nice gravy texture, go ahead and add a little more), and cook a few minutes longer, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are just tender. Garnish with cilantro if you like.

Thickener Options:

Cornstarch: mix the teaspoon of cornstarch with a half-cup of room temperature or cold water, stir until smooth, and then add to the pan. Stir throughout, and watch it thicken the gravy as it comes up to a simmer.

Wheat flour: mix the tablespoon of flour with a cup of room temperature or cold water by shaking together in a tightly lidded cup. Pour the liquid into the pan and stir throughout, and watch it thicken the gravy as it comes up to a simmer.

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

Pumpkin puree brings a wonderful tenderness (not to mention some vitamins) to this loaf. Glaze it if you must, but it really is perfect just on its own. Great for lunch boxes or as a deluxe side to a cup of tea or coffee. Or brandy.

While I'm a big fan of pumpkin spice, and there are some components of that in this loaf, the chocolate is the main star here.

Chocolate Pumpkin Loaf

Makes one 9x5x3" loaf pan (23x13x8 cm)
Total Prep & Cooking time: approximately 60-70 minutes

2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup (125 mL) canola oil
1/2 cup (125 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) milk
1 cup (250 mL) mashed pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) cake flour (dip and sweep method)
1/2 cup (125 mL) dutch processed cocoa powder, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon kosher or other coarse salt

Preheat the oven to 175°C/ 350°F with a rack in the middle (or lower middle) slot. Prepare your loaf pan - either lightly oil (or spritz) or line with parchment paper. I oil the ends, and create a parchment "sling" that covers the long sides of the loaf pan, and helps me easily remove the loaf from the pan once it's cooked. The parchment can then be peeled off (or used to help keep the loaf moist, once it's cooled and put away).

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beaten eggs, canola oil, sugar, and milk, and stir well with a whisk or mixing spoon. Stir in the mashed pumpkin and vanilla extract and stir again, until smooth.

In a second, smaller bowl, combine the cake flour, sifted cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt. Whisk to thoroughly mix these dry items.

Add half of the dry mixture into the wet mixture, and stir gently but thoroughly with a fork or large whisk. Add the rest of the dry mixture and stir through just until there are no more dry spots streaking the batter. Handle gently, so as to not overmix and toughen the batter.

Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf tin, and smooth the top with the back of a spoon. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (or with a couple of crumbs). Test it at 50 minutes, and then monitor if it needs more time. The top may form a craggy surface, like the one you can see here, or it may rise smoothly, depending on whether your oven has hot spots.



Let the loaf stand in its pan on a cooling rack for ten minutes after you take it from the oven, and then remove the pan and let the loaf finish cooling on the rack. If you are using parchment, leave the parchment on the loaf until it has completely cooled enough. Wrap well once completely cooled, and store in the fridge after a few days (if you still have any left!).

Fiesta Tomato Soup

This is my take on tomato-rice soup, packing it with more vegetables, Mexican seasonings, and a couple of chile peppers for extra oomph, not to mention the added bonus of sinus-clearing properties. The name "Fiesta" comes from the finely diced colourful vegetables looking a bit like confetti. It's not actually a Mexican recipe, although it would probably work very well with a garnish of diced avocado and a squeeze of lime juice.

This is a moderately light soup, without any significant source of protein, but perfect for a light meal. If you wanted a slightly heartier version, I recommend adding a cup of cooked pinto beans. You could round out the meal with a toasted sandwich, but if you're wanting a lighter affair it's perfect with just a couple of crackers or hunk of bread (or tortilla) on the side.

You could add still more vegetables if you like - finely diced zucchini would be a good choice - and if you simply can't picture a vegetable soup without carrots, they'd be good here, too.

Fiesta Tomato Soup

Makes about 8 cups

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 stalks celery, finely diced
1 cup frozen corn kernels (or kernels cut from one fresh ear of corn)
1/2 bell pepper (red, orange, or yellow), diced
2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and finely diced
2 tablespoons dry vermouth
400 mL (1 1/2 cups) canned crushed tomatoes
500 mL (2 cups) vegetable stock or broth
500 mL (2 cups) water
1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
100 grams (1/2 cup) parboiled rice, rinsed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Mexican oregano (or marjoram)
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
parsley or cilantro (optional)

There's nothing surprising about the method here - standard soup-making business. In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat, and add the bay leaves. Add the onion and celery, and cook, stirring periodically, for about five or ten minutes until they vegetables become translucent. Add the garlic and the corn, and stir through again. When it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the vermouth and stir through again, scraping up any stuck bits. Right away you can add the crushed tomatoes, the cumin, oregano, and white pepper, and stir through.

Add the stock or broth and the water, and bring it up to a simmer. Stir in the bell pepper and jalapeño peppers. Taste the soup to see if you need to add any salt - I didn't add any, because my stock cube was quite salty, but add some if you think it needs it. The soup won't taste great yet, because it hasn't had time for the flavours to come together, so if it's a little thin at this point don't be disappointed.

Finally, add the well-rinsed rice. Parboiled is the best rice to use for this, because it doesn't turn to mush in longer cooking times. That characteristic makes parboiled rice a poor choice for congee, but an excellent choice for this soup, because the grains stay whole even after a spell in the freezer, if you make enough for leftovers. Stir the rice through, and turn the heat to low. Cook the soup for 15 minutes on the lowest setting, without lifting the lid, and then turn the heat off completely and leave it (still without lifting the lid) for another fifteen minutes. Don't worry, it's still going to be plenty hot. When the timer goes off, your soup is ready. Stir in a little parsley or cilantro, and start ladling it into bowls. The rice and the corn should be perfectly cooked but not mushy, and the soup will have thickened a bit.

If you're going to freeze the soup, cool it completely before putting in the fridge overnight, and then transfer to the freezer the next day.

Amethyst Perogies

Okay, this is kind of cheating, because it's not really a new recipe. I just wanted to share with you all the amazing thing that is these Amethyst perogies I made recently from purple potatoes from my local farmers' market.

The dough recipe that I used is essentially the same as for the Šaltinosiai, although made with warm water instead of cold, which coincidentally happens to be exactly the same as the pierogi dough recipe in my Polish cookbook. You could, of course, use whichever perogy dough you like (including this potato-dough recipe from my friend Sandi's family).

Once you have a good dough, you need to make the filling. Whole books have been written on the endless possibilities of fillings for perogies (not that you'd guess from Canada, where potato, onion, and cheese appear to reign supreme, with or without bacon).

These ones, of course, are potato. Specifically, they are a purple sort of potato varietal called "quartz" - probably from the veins of white that run through the potato in its raw state. Once cooked, however, the dark purple overwhelms the paler parts of the flesh for a consistent, deep violet colour. The ones for this recipe were steamed in their skins, which were peeled off after the potatoes had finished cooking and allowed to cool. You could use any purple potato, of course, but the colour will depend on both the type and any additional ingredients you use for the filling. To keep the filling as vivid as possible, I used red onions - sautéed in a little butter, and just a whisper of parmesan cheese. The ratios you will use is completely up to you, but think along the lines of fancy mashed potatoes or twice-baked potatoes.

Cook the fresh perogies in plenty of simmering water (salted, as you would for pasta) for about ten to twelve minutes, then use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer them to a hot skillet with melted butter (bacon and/or onions optional), and fry them until lightly coloured on each side. Serve plain or with sour cream. They look quite typical, before you cut them open!



Since this recipe actually made quite a few, I had a big dinner from them and then froze the rest. To freeze them, spread them out in a single layer on a cutting board, plate or baking sheet, if you can fit one in your freezer, and freeze for a few hours until hard. Then bag them up in thick freezer-bags, and store frozen until needed. To cook, add the frozen perogies directly into simmering water, and give them an extra few minutes of cooking time.

Pajeon: Korean Scallion Pancake

Pajeon (파전) is the green onion version of the Korean pancake family -- a rich family indeed, with many variations from kimchi to seafood, to combinations thereof. There are quite a few different techniques, as well - some mix the egg into the batter, some mix an assortment of vegetables right into the batter, and some use more advanced layering techniques than the one below. This is a somewhat plain version, but it is no less delicious for its simplicity.

Pajeon can be eaten all by itself --it makes a great lunch-- or as a side dish (banchan) for a more elaborate meal. Apparently enjoying pajeon is particularly associated with rainy days in Korea.

If you have access to a Korean grocery store, you can buy the pancake mix ready to go - just follow the instructions on the package to make the batter. If you can get Korean scallions, they are much less thick than the western type, and do not need to be sliced vertically in the recipe below.

Pajeon (Korean Scallion Pancake: 파전)

Makes 1 large pancake
Serves 1-2 (more if served as banchan)

2-3 whole scallions (or other green onions)
50 grams cake flour (low-protein flour)
20 grams rice flour (or rice dumpling flour blend)
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
125 mL (1/2 cup) water
1/2 to 1 tablespoon peanut oil (1 tablespoon = crispier)
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 egg, beaten

Dipping sauce

Stir together:

1 tablespoon less sodium soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar
pinch of sugar (optional)
pinch of pepper flakes (Korean ideally, but Turkish are also good)
toasted sesame seeds
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed (optional)

Prepare your green onions by cutting them into 6cm lengths, and then slicing them vertically to make medium-fine strips.

Combine the flours, salt, and water in a mixing bowl, and whisk lightly until smooth. You don't want to whisk it more than that, or you might toughen the batter. You could also use a food processor with a cutting blade, which reduces gluten-strand formation. The batter should be a bit thinner than regular pancake batter, but a bit thicker than crêpe batter. It should pour easily.

In a 28cm nonstick skillet (or equivalent), heat the peanut oil over moderately high heat until very hot. Add the green onion, and stir fry lightly for about 30 seconds or so. Use the spatula to spread the onion out evenly in the pan - there needs to be lots of gaps for the batter to flow into, to hold it all together.

Pour the batter evenly over the onions, and let the pancake cook for a few minutes. Then, when the edges are starting to get a bit dry-looking, gently pour the egg over the top of the pancake. It doesn't have to cover it completely, just pour it around and it will be fine. Let the pancake continue to cook (if you can smell it browning too fast, turn your heat down to medium, but it should be fine) until the egg mixture is thickened a bit, and not as runny, and the edges are looking dry and a bit golden. While it cooks, you can easily stir together the dipping sauce ingredients.

Use a large spatula to slide under the pancake to flip it over, as quickly and smoothly as you can. If you can do the one-handed pancake flip, bless you and go right ahead. Let the pancake cook for a few more minutes, letting the egg start to turn golden. While it cooks, brush the sesame oil over the pancake, and then just before serving, flip it again to give it a final quick blast on the other side, because you want the edges to be a little crispy. Slide the finished pancake onto a cutting board (egg-side up), and use a knife or pizza wheel to cut it into squares. Serve with dipping sauce.

While I like the stark simplicity of scallions alone in this dish, I think next time I might sneak a few slices of hot chile pepper in, too, just for fun. And I'm definitely looking forward to making Haemul Pajeon, which adds a layer of seafood, too.