Crispy Black Bean Tacos with Feta and Cabbage Slaw

I was beginning to think that my habit of buying food magazines is getting a bit excessive so I pledged to try at least one recipe from each magazine I buy.  I must confess, my record has not been perfect.  I am trying.  I have tried a record-breaking TWO recipes from the February 2009 issue of Bon Appétit.  I was a little skeptical about trying a second vegetarian recipe from this issue since the first one (Panang Tofu Curry) was disappointing.  This recipe was a pleasant surprise and it is definitely a keeper for us.  We used the whole bag of coleslaw mix and double the quantity of dressing and serve it as a side salad.

Prep time: 25 minutes

Total time: 25 minutes

1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

2 cups coleslaw mix

2 green onions, chopped

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

4 white or yellow corn tortillas

1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Bottled chipotle hot sauce or other hot sauce

Place beans and cumin in small bowl; partially mash.  Mix 2 teaspoons olive oil and lime juice in medium bowl; add coleslaw, green onions, and cilantro and toss to coat.  Season slaw to taste with salt and pepper.

Heat 3 teaspoons olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add tortillas in single layer.  Spoon 1/4 of bean mixture onto half of each tortilla; cook 1 minute.  Fold tacos in half.  Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute per side.  Fill tacos with eta and slaw.  Pass hot sauce along side.

Serves 4 (if served with Mexican rice.  Serves 2-3 with extra coleslaw salad, no rice).

Braised Lamb and Lentils

One weekend we were searching for black lentils/black gram to make the Indian dish kali dal but made the error of bringing home French du Puy lentils instead (hey, they are both black... and in the absence of real black lentils at the store, we thought we could substitute with du Puy lentils).  In any case, we later found black lentils proper.  Now, what to do with the du Puy lentils besides making lots of lentil salads... This recipe appeared a couple of weeks later and we are glad to have tried it.  I probably will not make this dish again at the end of August in an apartment kitchen with no air conditioning but now is a perfect time -- snow is falling outside and an icy draft coming in through the windows...

Ingredients:

6 lamb shanks

1 teaspoon each salt and black pepper

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, thinly sliced

2 1/4 cups beef stock

2 cups red wine

1/4 cup tomato paste

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary leaves

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1 1/2 cups du Puy or regular green lentils, rinsed and drained

Rosemary sprigs for garnish

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Pat lamb shanks dry with paper towels, then sprinkle both sides with half of the salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook lamb shanks in batches for 3 to 5 minutes, turning often, until browned on all sides.  Remove shanks to a roasting pan and arranging in a single layer.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion to oil remaining in skillet.  Cook, stirring often, for 4 to 6 minutes, until onion is golden brown.  Stir in 2 cups stock, the wine, tomato paste, garlic rosemary, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, and remaining salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring to scrape any brown bits from bottom of skillet.

Pour contents of skillet over lamb shanks.  Cover roasting pan tightly with foil.  Transfer roasting pan to oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Turn lamb shanks over.  Stir lentils into cooking juices in roasting pan.

Cover roasting pan with foil, and return to oven for 1 hour, until lamb shanks and lentils are very tender.  (Recipe can be refrigerated for up to 24 hours and reheated, covered, in a 350F oven for 45 to 55 minutes, stirring occasionally.)

If the lentil mixture seems to thick, ad a little of the remaining beef stock, heating it before adding to roasting pan.  Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary.

Spoon lamb shanks, lentils and cooking juices into shallow serving dish, garnish with fresh rosemary and serve.

Serve with crusty baguette/bread.

Serves 6.

From The Globe and Mail Weekend Style Section Weekend Menu by Lucy Waverman August 23, 2008.

Cod with Spicy Chickpeas

The spicy chickpeas are good on their own with rice.  I do not have any Indian curry paste so I have been making this recipe with Thai red or green curry paste.  I have also replace the chickpeas with white beans -- works just as well.

Cod:

1 tablespoon Indian curry paste

1 teaspoon grated ginger

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

4 6-ounce black cod fillets

Salt to taste

Chickpea curry:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons grated ginger root

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

1 tablespoon Indian curry paste, or 2 teaspoons curry powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon ground coriander

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 19-ounce (540-mL) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

4 cups baby spinach

Preheat oven to 450F.  Combine curry paste, ginger and oil.  Brush over cod, season with salt.

Heat butter in skillet over medium heat.  Add ginger root, garlic and curry paste and saute for 1 minute or until softened.  Add cumin, coriander and turmeric and saute for 30 seconds.  Add coconut milk and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add chickpeas and spinach and cook together for 5 minutes or until spinach is wilted and chickpeas are heated through.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place chickpea mixture in ovenproof baking dish and nestle cod on top.  Bake for 12 minutes or until fish has white juices and is just cooked through.

Serve with rice.  Serves 4.

From Globe and Mail Saturday Style Section Weekend Menu by Lucy Waterman, November 8, 2008

Aloo Gobi

I have been wanting to make this dish ever since I saw Bend It Like Beckham (especially after watching the director get her hands dirty in the kitchen).  Following our spice investment this weekend and a one-week old cauliflower (it was only 98 cents!) sitting in the fridge, we decided to give this dish a go.

It is simple and cooks quite quickly.  I think we put more vegetables (especially potatoes) than the recipe suggested, could have ramped up the spices a bit but it is delicious just the way it is.  I think it will even be better the next day, giving the potatoes a bit more time to soak up the flavours.

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds (we used brown mustard seeds)

1/2 onion, finely chopped

200 g (7 oz) potatoes, cut into cubes

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 1/2 teaspoon garam masala

4 ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 large cauliflower, cut into florets

2 cm (3/4 in) piece of ginger

1 teaspoon sugar

Heat the oil in  a deep, heavy-based frying pan over low heat.  Add the mustard seeds, cover the pan and wait for the seeds to pop.  Add the onion and potato and fry until lightly browned.

Add the turmeric, cumin, coriander and garam masala to the pan and fry for a couple of seconds.  Add the tomato and stir until the spices are well mixed.  Add the cauliflower florets and stir until well mixed.  Stir in the ginger, sugar and 125 mL (1/2 cup) water, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.  Season with salt to taste.

Uncover the pan and if the sauce is too runny, simmer for 1-2 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

From A Little Taste of India

Pan Bagnat

Who wants to cook in this weekend's heat and humidity???  We certainly did not.  So we had our favourite sandwiches for Sunday dinner -- Pan Bagnat.  It's like a salade nicoise sandwich.

The first time we made it, we made it from a recipe we found on Epicurious.  We have since adapted it to our taste and the ingredients we have on hand.  Artichoke hearts is one of our favourite additions.  This time, we have no artichoke hearts nor anchovies, but added the leftover asparagus.

Parippu

There is a first time for everything.  This weekend, we made Indian food from scratch, for the first time.  Not with sauce from a package or jar.  I am so proud.

This is also part of our effort to eat at least one vegetarian meal a week.  Not just a meal with no meat, like a green salad or steamed broccoli , but something that is tasty, nutritious and somewhat balanced.

I have had this little Indian cooking book for quite some time but I am daunted by the myriad of spices and ingredients unknown to me.  Someday, I say, someday I will try this.  That someday arrived this past weekend and we made a small investment in a great number of spices.  We even managed to find fresh curry leaves but not black mustard seeds.  We just substituted with brown mustard seeds.  The black ones are supposed to be a bit more pungent but the brown ones worked just as well.  We chose red lentils because it cooks quickly and there is no prerequisite soaking.  We ate it with basmati.

225 g (1 cup) masoor dal (red lentils)

1 onion, roughly chopped

1 ripe tomato, roughly chopped

50g (2 oz) creamed coconut, mixed with 250mL (1 cup) water, or 250mL coconut milk

2 green chillies, chopped

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 tablespoons oil

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon black mustard seeds

1 onion, very finely chopped

10 curry leaves

Put the lentils in a heavy-based saucepan with 500mL (2 cups) water.  Add the roughly chopped onion, tomato, creamed coconut or coconut milk, chillies, turmeric cumin and coriander, and bring to a boil.  Simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until the lentils are cooked to a soft mush (masoor dal does not hold its shape when it cooks), about 25 minutes.  If all the water has evaporated before the lentils are cooked, add an extra 125mL (1/2 cup) of boiling water.

For the final seasoning (tarka), heat the oil in a small saucepan over low heat.  Add the cumin seeds and mustard seeds, cover and allow the seeds to pop.  Add the finely chopped onion and curry leaves and fry over low heat until the onion is golden brown.  Pour the seasoned onions into the simmering lentils.  Season with salt, to taste, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4

From A Little Taste of India

Chao Phraya

Only one recipe this weekend since we went out for dinner last night.

It's been almost 2 years since we went to Chao Phraya.  It serves some of the best Thai food in Montreal.  We just could not bring ourselves to go for Thai food in Montreal since returning from the Far East last winter.  You just can't get better Thai food than in Thailand wether you are eating in a fancy restaurant that only mostly farangs can afford or on the street praying that you will not spending the next three days in the bathroom.

The menu at Chao Phraya is extensive.  Looks daunting at first but basically there are a number of flavors that are repeated for different types of meat/seafood.

Not that it makes deciding any easier.

We started with Kampoo Swan (fried crab claws), Peek Gai Kha Pao (spicy fried chicken wing with crispy basil leaves) and Yam Mumuang (green mango salad).  The salad was sweet and sour with the right amount of heat.  (Just be careful not to eat a raw chili pepper by mistake!)  The other two appetizers are deep fried but neither one tasted greasy.

For the main dishes, we finally settled on Neua Kha Pao (sauteed beef with chili and basil leaves) and Mou Pad Khing (sauteed pork with ginger, shallots and onions).  The beef was sweet and spicy.  The pork was fragrant but a little on the salty side for my taste.

Then, there was dessert.  It's been over a year since we had mango and sticky rice and although the portion is a little smaller than we had hoped, it certainly hit the spot.  The fried banana was crispy on the outside and soft and gooey on the inside.  Unlike the last time I had this dessert at Chao Phraya, it did not taste greasy this time.

It is no Baan Khanitha or Celadon, nonetheless, Chao Phraya serves up some satisfying Thai food that brings back many delicious memories.