Nappa cabbage soup from chicken stock with mushrooms (button and crimini), tomatoes, and seitan
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TURMERIC-DILL RICE & CHICKPEAS p. 193
My family and I went out of town for the holiday, so I’m a bit jetlagged, but still managed to get this dish (plus what turned out to be an unnecessary roasted chicken also from the book - see next post) made for dinner without too much fuss. The flavors are reminiscent of the yellow rice from the halal street chicken recipes I like (from Smitten and Serious Eats), but with added chickpeas and a different sauce.
The basic technique involves boiling rice and chickpeas together until the rice is al dente. Meanwhile, you fry onion in olive oil until soft and sweet, add spices (turmeric, then cumin or coriander - I used 1/2 and 1/2), then the cooked rice mixture and cook undisturbed in a nonstick pan until there’s a crust on the bottom of the rice. Sprinkle chopped dill on top and drizzle with a tahini dressing that I thought was too sharp at first, but turned out to be a nice contrast to the rich dish. All in all, a very good veg dish that I will def make again.
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ALL THE TIME CHICKEN THIGHS p. 268
I worried that I would wish for more protein alongside my rice and chickpea dish (I didn’t), so I also made these simple chicken thighs to go with. They involve a marinade of olive oil, salt & pepper, lemon zest, garlic, smoked paprika, coriander, and cumin. I marinated them for probably an hour or two, though the recipe says you can use them right away if you wish. Then you have your option of how to cook them - I roasted them in the oven. I found them deeply boring (perhaps grilling would give them more taste?) and neglected them in favor of the rice dish. If you are looking for a super basic chicken recipe, this is fine, though I think there are probably better ones (I’ve heard the one from Small Victories is good…)
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I liked this a good bit–was somewhat surprised, as although I like capers, I was unsure how I would like them in this but found it really worked. The dude, who is usually indifferent on most things dairy, liked the feta. I am sure I adjusted down on the garlic and harissa, but for god’s sake don’t add any salt!
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MIGHTY MEATBALLS p. 333
I made this recipe as written other than the serving suggestion - she recommends serving these meatballs with toasts rubbed with garlic and slathered with ricotta. Instead, I just served them on linguine. Overall, I found them pretty easy to put together - you just mix ground beef, pork, ricotta, parmesan, salt, pepper, and torn up basil together. Form meatballs and fry them in a Dutch oven (the worst part, but I sucked it up), pull them out, make a simple sauce out of crushed tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and more basil, then simmer it all together for a while. The meatballs aren’t the best I’ve had, but in the scheme of things, they are pretty simple and overall tasty, and the recipe makes a lot (so now I have lots frozen!). I do think the browning step is important for the flavor of the sauce, though, and I really hate frying meatballs, so I doubt I will make these much in the future. Still, all in all, not a bad recipe and one I would certainly make again if I had ricotta to use up.
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SKILLET BROCCOLI SPAGHETTI - p. 154
Super simple, as is the norm for this book. I used a mix of broccoli and cauliflower for this, as I didn’t have enough broccoli alone to make it, but there was cauliflower in the CSA box as well. You start by sautéing some thinly sliced garlic, peeled and chopped broccoli stems, and anchovies in butter. I used my homemade vegan anchovy paste for this recipe (been getting plenty of mileage out of that stuff). You then add spaghetti, the broccoli florets, salt, red pepper flakes, and water, and cook, tossing the spaghetti as it softens, until the pasta is done. Serve with grated parm. This is really simple, but we enjoyed it. I might add some extras - I think sun-dried tomatoes would be nice. Would repeat when I have broccoli (or cauliflower) to use up and want a quick and very easy meal.
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FRENCH ONION WHITE BEAN BAKE - p. 103
Not the prettiest dish, but it has the same warm, gloppy comfort as refried beans do. Except with a Euro twist. To make this, you sauté onions in butter until soft, add some thyme, and continue to sauté until onions are brown and jammy, which takes a heckuva lot longer than the 10-15 minutes the recipe says. So this isn’t a super quick dish, but it is still very easy. When you have the onions done to your liking, deglaze with some cider vinegar, and add white beans and stock. Sprinkle cheese on top, then pop in the oven. The recipe suggests cooking 5-10 minutes, until cheese is melted and browned. Well, with the amount of liquid in the pan, nothing was going to be browning. I cooked a little longer, then popped under the broiler for a bit, then decided I didn’t care about browning and pulled it out. We liked these fairly well. I’d make them again as a part of a meal, but maybe not as a feature.
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I’ve had my eye on these - they sound so good. Glad to hear you enjoyed them (and yeah, no way are the onions going to be ready in 10-15 minutes).
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GOCHUJANG GRAVY - p. 336
A fusion ragù of sorts. I used Impossible instead of ground beef. I also reversed the cooking order a bit. The author has you start with browning the meat and then add aromatics, which cook in the fat given off by the meat. I started by sautéing the aromatics (onion, garlic, and ginger) in a bit of oil, because I didn’t think the Impossible with render enough fat. You mix in some brown sugar, gochujang, and tomato paste, and then add water and soy sauce and simmer. I did end up adding a bit more water because I thought my sauce was getting too dry. You are to serve this over any starch. I chose gluten-free ramen noodles (rice and millet). I threw a bunch of fresh basil on top. We really liked this, far more than expected. The flavor is definitely more Asian than Italian, though not particularly Korean. The basil, which is not called for, makes it seem almost Thai. It’s a very umami-packed sauce. Will repeat.
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Where do you typically buy tempeh? Regular grocer or Asian?
I also liked this one a lot (made it before the COTM month), though I found it much improved on day two compared with day one. The flavors took a while to really meld. I served it on udon (which was a great combo ) - I think the basil sounds like a delicious addition.
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I usually just buy it at the supermarket, or at a natural foods store. Lightlife brand is the most common.
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Intriguing. A hybrid dan dan / jajangmyun dish? I must try this. I have soy ground beef in the fridge. I will need to spice it up a bit.
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I planned on making this but just didn’t remember to pick up missing ingredient. I read quite a few positive reviews on this recipe. Quite a few used spaghetti.
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TURMERIC-DILL RICE & CHICKPEAS (p. 193)
Thanks to hirsheys for her review. This is another recipe that, without a review, I could easily have passed over. When she said it was like what you get at a streetcart, I was sold. Plus: beans! LLD is away, so Lulu and I have been having lots of old favorite beanapalooza meals, but I wanted to be sure to get this one in this time, and I’m so glad I did. I absolutely loved it. I love the dill in this so much. I did go somewhat off recipe with the tahini sauce. I added much less water, and much more lemon, and I grated in a clove of garlic. This made it perfect for my tastes. I especially loved the crunchy bottom. This was enough food for maybe 3 people with nothing else served. I think I probably should have served a salad on the side. I can’t wait to have this again
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Yay! So glad you liked it, too! Yours looks delicious!
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The French Onion White bean Bake is the first recipe I made from this book and we really enjoyed it! Pure comfort food. It definitely benefits from being served with something crisp and fresh. I was tempted to add sherry in addition to the vinegar called for since I put sherry in my FO soup. It didn’t need it, though I still may try that next time. Aldi sells a bag of shredded gruyere/swiss, so I used that for ease. Will definitely repeat.
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