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The many ways to eat lentils in India…

Lentils are one of the staples in Indian cooking. Dal, as it is known in India, is the definitely the pulse of choice.

The most traditional way of eating lentils are in a stew format to eat over rice, very much like we eat rice and beans in Latin countries. The difference when we cook lentils, is that you can still see the lentils in the dish.

Indians tend to cook their lentils until they become mush, where the lentils just disappear and just look like a very soft puree. I will share with you a recipe given to me by a friend in which you cook yellow/orange lentils until they become this creamy consistency. They’re delicious…

A new way I discovered having lentils is in Moong Dal. The best way I can describe this is a lentil krispy… imagine a rice krispy, but with lentils. Get it now??

Moong Dal is crispy and salty… they pop in your mouth and they’re a real treat to eat. We discovered them in a store at an airport and enjoyed them on the road as a snack often. We even got to bring some home to enjoy. But remember they’re still lentils, filled with protein, so they can be heavy on your stomach if you eat too much at a time. So be careful not to overdo them… ok??

And my favorite way to eat lentils… papadams!!!! These are crispy wafers, like a tortilla meets a chip, made usually from lentils or chickpea flour. They’re served as a snack or as an accompaniment to some main dish. I got them served to complement Yogurt Rice, a favorite in South India. More about the Yogurt Rice in an upcoming post…

These papadams are addictive… I would eat mine, my mom’s and my friend’s papadams, if they were not interested in them. They are like the best Indian chip you will ever find. This is a very delicious way to get your protein on.

What is YOUR favorite way to eat a lentil?? I want to know…

Tags: dal, food, india, lentil, moong dal, papadam, rice, stewed lentils, travel, vegetarian

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Categories MY EDITORIAL, Travel

Apologies from a vegetarian professional jet-setter…

24 Jun

I want to apologize if you feel I have not been able to share as many recipes as I usually do… I just have been very busy traveling the world in the first half of 2013. I have told you before… be careful what you wish for. I have wished to become a professional jet-setter and the Universe has heard me loud and clear. And even when I may have been inspired to cook and create recipes for you, sometimes the schedule of a traveler, without having a kitchen of my own presents its own set of challenges.

This is why in many upcoming posts you’ll get to see the result of some of the traveling I’ve done in the last few months… As you already know a little bit, I went to India in February/March. I’ve been to Florida a few times as well…. For the birth of my little niece, the Miami ½ Marathon and my brother’s in law birthday. Now, I just returned from a trip in Panama and Peru, where I got the chance to fulfill a life-long dream to visit Machu Picchu.

Now that I am planted at home for the next few weeks, you’ll get the chance to do a little virtual travel thru my pictures and posts. A big part of my travels is the flavors of the places I visit. So you’ll get to see some of what I got to enjoy and some recipes I’ve developed inspired by those wonderful dishes. I also will be sharing some of what I brought back with me to remember the trip and to recreate those flavors I enjoyed while visiting.

I hope you get to enjoy it as much as I did… and inspire you to travel the world as well.

Bon voyage and Bon appétit…

Tags: florida, food, india, jet-setter, Machu Picchu, miami, Panama, Peru, travel, vegetarian

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Categories MY EDITORIAL, Travel

Orzotto with Mushroom and Spinach

21 Jun

Orzotto… to be honest I do not know if this is an official Italian term or not. But I decided to use the term to refer to this orzo pasta made to resemble a risotto. Makes sense now, no??

I have been playing for a few weeks not with dried mushrooms to give added flavor to my dishes. This is one of my better experiments lately… I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

The beauty of this dish is that it cooks almost by itself; no need to be over the stove stirring rice to get a creamy consistency. The creaminess so characteristic of risottos comes from the cheeses blended into the orzo pasta. I used my trusted Sargento 6-cheese Italian cheese blend, Sargento Parmesan and a newfound favorite, crème fraiche.

This is one of the recipes I’ve developed to fuel myself up before training for the half marathons I’ve been doing the last few months. It’s easy, it’s filling and it’s nice enough to make even for a romantic dinner.

ORZOTTO WITH MUSHROOM AND SPINACH

½ cup whole-wheat orzo pasta

1 cup water

1 ounce of dried mushrooms – porcini or your favorite kind will do fine here…

1 tsp Knorr vegetable stock or ½ vegetable bouillon cube

½ onion, chopped

2 tbs of olive oil

5-6 white button mushrooms, chopped

1 sprig of fresh thyme

3-4 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

3 tbs crème fraiche

3/4 cup Sargento shredded 6-cheese Italian cheese blend

¼ cup Sargento shredded Parmesan cheese

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small sauce pan. Turn off the heat and rehydrate the ounce of dried mushrooms in this water. Cover and let the mushrooms soak for about 30 mins.
After that time has elapsed, strain the mushrooms, reserving the broth you have now created. Cut the mushrooms up in little pieces and set aside.
In a medium saucepan over medium to high heat, bring back to boil the cup of water that now has become mushroom broth. Make sure you have 1 cup of broth before you start boiling again, if not, just complete the amount with some water. Add the vegetable stock gel or bouillon cube to this broth while it’s coming up to temperature.
While the broth comes to a boil, in a medium sauté pan over medium high heat, add the olive oil and sauté the onions for a few minutes. Add the chopped fresh mushrooms and allow them to cook and brown on all sides. For this, you need to leave them alone for a few minutes at a time for the mushrooms to get some color. Add the reconstituted mushrooms and cook them with the browned fresh mushrooms. Strip the leaves from the fresh thyme sprig and add to the pan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
When the broth is boiling, add the orzo pasta and mix in well to avoid the pasta sticking together. I partially cover the pot to maintain the level of boiling but be able to reduce the heat of the stove to medium.
While the pasta is almost done, add the baby spinach to the pasta saucepot. Cover the pot and turn off the heat from the stove. Allow the heat from the pot and the stove finish cooking the pasta and spinach. After about 5-6 minutes, the pasta should be done and the water should be almost completely absorbed by the pasta. If you find there’s still too much liquid left, you can certainly strain it. But it does not need to be super strained because this broth will help us create the creamy sauce…
Uncover the pot and stir in the cooked mushrooms, the crème fraiche, the shredded cheese blend and the Parmesan. Mix well to combine everything very well. I allow the pasta to stand cover for about 3-4 minutes while I prepare a salad or any other side dish. I find this helps the sauce to get creamy and all the flavors to fully combine.

The result is a creamy rice-like pasta… easy to make and even easier to eat. It is full of flavor because the pasta absorbed the mushroom broth we created.

Hope you are inspired to make this orzotto at home as well…

This post was inspired by products from Sargento Cheese. They did provide me with their cheese for use and review but the recipe, comments and opinions are all my own.

Tags: baby spinach, cheese, dehydrated mushrooms, food, Italian, orzo, parmesan cheese, pasta, risotto, Sargento Cheeses, stock in gel, vegetable stock, vegetarian, white mushrooms, whole wheat pasta

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Categories MY EDITORIAL

Mushroom Bolognese

18 Jun

A few months ago I was issued a challenge… as a Facebook group, the Serious Eats Water Cooler, we love to challenge ourselves and someone suggested Sunday Sauce. Sunday Sauce is what my Italian-American friends call the rich, tomato sauce made by a nonna slaving over a stove during a whole day for her whole family to enjoy around her dinner table on Sunday evening.

I am not a nonna, I am not Italian and I am not slaving over a stove to cook anything for a Facebook group challenge… but I am fascinated with mushrooms and I have been trying to find a recipe to use dehydrated mushrooms since that lasagna I made for my nephew’s birthday. I bought dried porcini mushrooms to add to the recipe and I completely forgot.

It occurred to me I could make a version of the traditional meat sauce, bolognese, but using mushrooms instead. A vegetarian Bolognese!!!! I am sure there must be at least 1 vegetarian in Bologna that would approve of this recipe!!!

In a completely unrelated Facebook group story… I learned that Sclafani Tomatoes are some of the best, if not THE BEST, canned tomatoes available. I am not too fond of eating anything canned, but these tomatoes were supposed to be brought in from Italy, in cans lined so the metals are not absorbed by the tomatoes. And there they were!!!! At my sister’s farmer’s market… Sclafani tomatoes on sale!!!! I thought it was a notice from The Universe that I was meant to make this mushroom Bolognese, or else!! And I do not like to go against the flow of The Universe…

I wish I had better pictures, but I just could not keep this recipe for myself any longer…

MUSHROOM BOLOGNESE

1 small carrot, peeled and chopped finely

2 celery ribs, chopped finely

½ large onion, diced

Salt and Pepper

2 tbs olive oil

3 garlic cloves, grated or minced

¾ cup white wine vinegar

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

1 lb white button mushrooms, chopped

1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms

1 Knorr vegetable stock gel

1 can of Scalfani whole tomatoes, crushed by hand

2 bay leaves

2 teaspoons of brown sugar

2 tsps dried oregano

3-4 sprigs of fresh thyme

Soak the dried porcini mushrooms in 1 cup of very warm water and let sit for 20 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve or a coffee filter. In a pinch, I have also used a paper towel to separate the liquid from the solids left behind.
Reserve the liquid. Measure the reserved porcini mushroom stock and add some water to complete 1½ cups of liquid all together. Set aside, we’ll use it in the recipe later on. Chop the reconstituted porcini mushrooms and set aside.
In a large pot over medium high heat, add the olive oil, onion, carrot and celery and season liberally with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Sauté for about 5 minutes and lower the heat to medium. Add the garlic and cook for about one minute.
While the large pot is cooking the vegetables… In a separate pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and the white mushrooms. Let them cook without touching them to allow them to brown a bit. After they’ve acquired some color to them, add the reconstituted porcini mushrooms. Deglaze the pan using the white wine vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the cooked mushrooms to the large pot. Add the rest of the ingredients, including the reserved porcini mushroom liquid. Simmer, uncovered, for about an hour and a half, until the sauce has reduced down and a lot of the liquid has cooked off – cook until you like the thickness of the sauce. Taste for salt and adjust seasoning.
Take out the stems of thyme before serving. Serve with your favorite pasta…

This recipe makes A LOT of sauce… more than I would normally make just for myself. There were 4 of us adults and we were eating pasta for a few days!!!!! So feel free to halve this recipe if you want to or just use as much sauce as you’d need for one meal and refrigerate or freeze the rest for later on.

The flavor is intense!!!! Very rich and very satisfying. One of the best tomato sauces I’ve ever made… by far. I am guessing it’s all the umami from the mushrooms… this is a recipe to keep!!!!