Vegan Chana dal with kale. 10/6/20

Posted on October 6, 2020 by Beebamom

Chana dal with kale over rice/cauliflower rice mix

Chana dal is an Indian dish using split dried chickpeas cooked in your Instant Pot. Once you have your ingredients prepped the whole dish comes together quickly. Cooking time is 15 minutes under pressure and a 10 minute cool down before you release the pressure. I found split chickpeas at our Walmart Grocery Store and of course they would be stocked in an Indian grocery as well.

This is the recipe I use.

Chana Dal

Ingredients
1 cup Split Chickpeas
2 cups Water for soaking
2 tsp. Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3/4 cup Onion diced
1/2 tbsp Ginger minced
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 can petite diced tomatoes with jalapeños (or plain)
1.5 cups Water for cooking
1 tbsp Lime juice
Spices
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
1/2 tsp Red Chili powder (Mirchi powder)
1 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
Cilantro

Instructions
Soak split chickpeas in the water for soaking for 30 minutes.

Start the instant pot in sauté mode and heat oil in it. Add cumin seeds.
Once the cumin seeds start to change color, add the onions, garlic, ginger and saute for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and spices and stir them well. Drain split chickpeas and add along with water for cooking. Stir it all up. Set to pressure cook for 15 minutes and close the lid with vent in sealing position.

After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then release the pressure. Add lime juice and give a good stir. If you are using greens (spinach, kale, etc,) stir them in now, cover the pot, and wait 5 minutes before serving.

Garnish with cilantro and serve over rice.

Posted in Easy, Indian, Instant Pot, Legumes, Recipes, rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Instant Pot stuffed cabbage rolls. 10/5/20

Posted on October 5, 2020 by Beebamom

Today we made stuffed cabbage rolls which was quite a production. First of all I could not find my mother’s old recipe and emailed by sister to see if she had it but she didn’t get back to me in time so John and I just cobbled together part of a recipe from a Jacques and Julia cookbook, info from the internet and John and my memories of our mother’s making this dish.

Weirdly some recipes such as for stuffed cabbage and chopped liver ended up being part of  my eating lore even though we do not have any Jewish members in our family. John comes by his recipes from his Jewish mom. So we made these ancestral stuffed cabbage rolls in a sweet and sour tomato sauce for the Jewish harvest holiday of Sukkot. As is the custom we ate outside under our trellis and had some decorative branches to decorate our table and also a lemon standing in for an etrog (citron.)

Our daughter made this 4-strand challah with her sour dough starter

Fancy eating outdoors

Stuffed cabbage roll with additional meatball and cabbage

So we had some trouble getting the leaves off the cabbage. I followed directions from someone on the internet that all I had to do was cook the cabbage for a minute under pressure in the Instant Pot and the leaves would come off. But only about the first twelve did so we made twelve cabbage rolls, made meatballs out of the rest of the ground beef and rice stuffing, and chopped up the rest of the cabbage and stuck it in.

The cabbage rolls were supposed to cook 15 minutes under pressure but the first two times we tried to get the Instant Pot up to pressure it did not work. We decided maybe there was not enough liquid so we put some stock in. Problem solved! So glad the Instant Pot did not explode or something.

We ended up having a delicious dinner of some cabbage rolls, some meatballs, some cabbage, a 2000 Chateau St. Jean Merlot, and the lovely bread our daughter made. Perfect!

Posted in American, Beef, Instant Pot, rice, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. October 5 – 11, 2020

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Beebamom

This week’s menu definitely has a Fall feel to it. There are two stew-like Instant Pot meals, oven roasted sea bass, and we will be using a big pot of boiling water for our pasta meal. I hope the weather cooperates and we stop having days in the 90’s!

On Monday we will be celebrating the Jewish holiday of Sukkot in keeping with our plan to celebrate everything this year. It is a harvest festival where you eat outdoors and have Fall sorts of dishes like my sweet and sour stuffed cabbage.

Also in a departure from my previous menus I am leaving Saturdays open from now on for something easy or leftovers. I find that by the end of the week I tend to be cooked out so it will be soup and a sandwich or some leftovers from the week’s cooking. There is no point in kidding myself that I am going to want to make another elaborate meal.

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BFD. 10/4/20

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Beebamom

Scramble omelet (Scramlet) with salad

Tonight’s Breakfast For Dinner is what I call a scramble omelet, or scramlet. Since I cannot fold my myriad fillings into a composed omelet, I scramble the ingredients leaving the eggs fluffy on top while getting a good sear on the bottom so it all comes out in one piece. My fillings are ham, spinach, onions, and mushrooms. I then mirror those ingredients in my spinach salad with ham, onions, mushrooms, and the addition of tomatoes. I much prefer my colorful dinner to John’s composed omelet which although tasty looks a bit forlorn on his plate.

John’s composed omelet

Posted in American, Easy, Eggs, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Vegan/vegetarian chili. 10/2-3/20

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Beebamom

Mushroom, white and black bean chili

Unfortunately this chili looks better than it tastes. I tried a new recipe and the spices turned out gritty. The instructions had me putting them in too late in the cooking. They needed to be added with the oil towards the beginning. I know that. Why didn’t I just follow my instincts instead of the recipe! Dumb.

We got it tasting pretty good by adding more oil, more soy sauce, lime juice, and hot sauce. And the second day it was better. I made a half recipe but used all the mushrooms and onion called for in the total recipe. Also omitted the corn and added a chopped bell pepper and a jalapeño, chopped.

Vegetarian chili with mushrooms and beans

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 bell peppers diced (any color)
1 large yellow onion diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeño, chopped
4 cloves garlic chopped
16 oz. mushrooms roughly chopped
6 cups cooked beans such as kidney, black, and/or pinto beans, washed and drained (four 15-oz cans)
28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes preferably fire roasted
2 cups corn frozen or fresh
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more if needed
2 cups vegetable stock or water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro optional

Sauté peppers and onion in olive oil (2 tablespoons) until softened and starting to brown over medium-high heat in a large pot (approximately 5 minutes).

Add garlic; sauté for 30 seconds, or until fragrant.

(I think here is where you should add the spices and a little more oil. Cook for a minute or two.)

Add chopped mushrooms and a pinch of kosher salt; sauté until softened and liquid has evaporated, stirring only occasionally.

Add remaining ingredients except cilantro; stir to combine. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for at least 20 minutes and up to 1 hour.

Add cilantro during last five minutes of cooking.

Taste and adjust seasonings, acid, and lipid levels.

Note: My picture shows a garnish of yogurt. Omit for vegan preparation.

Posted in American, Legumes, Mexican, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chilean sea bass, glazed carrots, rice. 10/1/20

Posted on October 2, 2020 by Beebamom

Chilean sea bass with a parsley tartar sauce, glazed carrots, and rice/caulirice mixture

Wow, was this delicious! John cooked these thick chunks of fish for fourteen minutes in a 400F oven topped with a little olive oil, salt, garlic powder, paprika, and bay leaf. They came out perfectly! To accompany the fish I made the parsley tartar sauce which is basically my usual tartar sauce with the addition of parsley, Greek yogurt, jalapeño, and water to thin it out.

The carrots, not quite submerged in water, were cooked with a few thyme sprigs for about 12 minutes When the water boiled away (you may need to add more during the cook time) I added a teaspoon of sugar, a teaspoon of olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of finely chopped onion. A couple of minutes rolling them around in the pan and they were glazed. The rice was my usual lower carb side of rice and cauliflower rice combined.

This dish is worthy of company and only takes about one half hour to make!

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Vegetables | Tagged | 3 Comments

Tuna and white bean gratin. 9/30/20

Posted on September 30, 2020 by Beebamom
Tuna and white bean gratin with a tossed green salad

Another new dinner entree tonight. This is a mixture of canned tuna, white beans, refried beans, garlic, Gruyere, and panko breadcrumbs. The original recipe calls for cream and milk and for purée-ing the beans. We were able to get by with a little liquid from the beans and melting the refried beans into the dish for a creamy consistency. We also added mushrooms to help with umami. It worked pretty well but we felt it was still missing that low note you want in a dish. Maybe more cheese or olive oil would have helped. I think we will make this again but keep experimenting with the dish.

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A hamburger. 9/29/20

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Beebamom

A hamburger on rye with sliced red onion and basil

On Tuesday night while I was watching the debacle that was the “Presidential” “Debate” I lost my will to cook and threw my diet out the window. John is always a willing co-conspirator in these rare moments. He quickly defrosted a couple of hamburgers and opened a bottle of wine. So instead of the vegan chili that we had planned on we sat in front of the TV trying to be comforted by a hamburger on rye bread with red onion and basil washed down by red wine. Seriously a person can only take so much stress.

So I am eliminating the curried lentils and shaking up the order of our menu for the rest of the week. Hopefully I will get back on track.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, omnivore | Tagged | 1 Comment

New dish! Spiced ginger shrimp. 9/28/20

Posted on September 29, 2020 by Beebamom

Spiced ginger shrimp over cauliflower rice with broccoli

The shrimp we made was spiced with curry powder and ginger in this dish from Melissa Clark. The recipe as written gives you options for the main spice, garam masala, Baharat, five-spice, chili powder, etc. We were in a curry mood. You cook your spices, garlic, and fresh ginger in a little oil and then add cherry tomatoes which will burst giving you a sauce that you enhance with some butter after you cook the shrimp. We found that there wasn’t enough sauce so we added a little stock.

As usual we cut down on the fat which surely impacts the dish. I would buy some clam juice to use next time to help with the lack of sauce. Also we ended up putting on some sriracha to give it some bite. Spiced does not mean spicy! With some tweaks we will make this again. The recipe can be found in the original at the NYTimes Cooking site.

Posted in American, Easy, Indian, pescatarian, rice, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. September 28 – October 4, 2020

Posted on September 27, 2020 by Beebamom

Anybody else tired of cooking? I would love to get back to going out to dinner occasionally. To keep things fresh we are trying a couple of new recipes this week and dusting off a meal we have not made in quite a while. In the new category are Monday’s meal of spiced ginger shrimp and Friday’s tuna-white bean gratin. A recipe that is ready for a replay is shredded tofu and mushrooms. As usual I will be posting daily with the details.

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