Madhu Knits and Cooks

Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup

I have had a hankering for a good vegetarian noodle soup for some time, but surprisingly, it can be really hard to find a restaurant that will serve a vegetarian noodle soup (as opposed to chicken noodle soup).  And most prepared soup mixes at the grocery store have MSG or other equally undesirable ingredients.  Because I still had a good amount of celery and carrots in the fridge from the Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice attempt, I finally decided to give this idea a go.  I ultimately put together a recipe based on my personal tastes, the Food & Wine Emeril Lagasse Vegetable Noodle Soup, and the Food Network Kitchen's version.

The final product was pretty solid -- not great, but definitely good.  It was noticeably better (even great) the day after (perhaps as the water evaporated a bit more in the microwave?), but I'll probably continue to tweak it to get a richer flavor (which unfortunately, does not seen to be found with adding bouillon cubes).  One alteration though that I would not suggest though - or at least the way I approached the alteration - is substituting arborio rice for the pasta.  I made this soup a second time, and substituted nearly 3/4 cup of dry arborio rice for the pasta.  I definitely used WAY too much rice -- it definitely sucked up much more liquid than I thought it would, and the rice was also just bland (definitely did not absorb the soup flavors).  So at least for now, my future experiments with this recipe will involve pasta instead of rice.

Homemade Vegan Noodle Soup

For approximately 4 servings.

Ingredients:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots, peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup pasta (I may increase to 1 cup the next time)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (or a few garlic cloves minced - I didn't have any at the time though, so substituted powder)
• 2 cubes vegan bouillon (I may reduce to one cube the next time)
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro or other fresh herbs
• 3 tsp. lemon juice (to taste)
• 1 tsbp. olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Water

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large pot on medium-high heat, and add onion, celery and carrot and saute for 3 - 5 minutes until vegetables are softened.
• Add the thyme and garlic (powder), and saute for one minute or until the garlic is fragrant.
• Add 5 cups water, bouillon cubes, bay leaf, and maybe 1 tsp. salt.  Bring mixture to a boil.
• Once boiling, add pasta.  Cook until the pasta is tender.
• Lower heat, add the herbs, lemon juice, and salt to taste.  Remove from heat and serve.

Vegetarian Times Horseradish Smashed Potatoes -- Really Easy and Flavorful Alternative to Standard Mashed Potatoes

I recently went to a get-together where I was requested to bring a side dish if possible.  I wanted to use the opportunity to try something new, so I flipped through some of my winter editions of the Vegetarian Times and Cooks Illustrated to find a good, holiday/winter side dish recommendation.  The Dec. 2011 Vegetarian Times had what seemed like a few good options, including what I ultimately settled on, the Horseradish Smashed Potatoes.  The recipe required all of four ingredients, and for the seemingly most difficult to obtain -- fresh horseradish root -- there was a simple substitute of prepared horseradish, which can be found almost anywhere.  Not only was this dish a hit at the get-together I went to, it was also so good that I used the leftover creme fraiche and prepared horseradish from the first go-round to make the potatoes again this past week with scallions serving as an excellent substitute for chives.  The dish takes maybe 5 minutes of active time to prepare (the longest non-active time is waiting for the potatoes to boil and cook for a few minutes), so I definitely recommend it as an incredibly easy, and flavorful side dish for any get-together. 

Chinni's Brussel Sprouts -- A Surprising Seasonal Delight

I admit that I have retained my childhood fear/dislike of brussel sprouts well into adulthood.  But just as I have been trying to accomplish with other food groups (a post on that topic is forthcoming), I recently bought some brussel sprouts at the farmer's market to try to finally enjoy these healthy vegetables.  Initially, I thought I would make use of my new CooksIllustrated.com online membership, but instead I happened to bring up brussel sprouts when I saw my cousin Chinni.  She and her husband swore by a roasting recipe that she had tested to perfection (the analogy to the resulting roasted brussel sprouts was popcorn), and so I decided to try this approach. 

The recipe turned out really well -- the brussel sprouts were both caramelized and crisp.  I think the next time I make this recipe, I will try to cut the pieces more uniformly in size so they roast more evenly (some of the larger pieces weren't as tasty as the smaller halves) and also tinker with the baking time a bit (not sure if that means more or less time yet!).  I will probably also season the sprouts more generously because I think I was a little too hesitant to do so during this first go-round.  The details on my brussel sprouts attempt follows the picture of the roasted sprouts.

Chinni's Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients:

• Approx. 3 cups brussel sprouts, washed and halved
• 2 tbsps. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• sea salt to taste
• Pecorino or Parmesan cheese, finely shredded or grated (optional)

Directions:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees, and line large roasting pan with foil.
• Place the halved brussel sprouts in a medium-size mixing bowl, and pour the olive oil over the sprouts.  Sprinkle with the chopped garlic and sea salt, perhaps 1 tsp. to start.  
• Place the seasoned brussel sprouts on the pan in a single layer with the cut sides down.
• Bake for 17 minutes or until browned, and flip the sprouts over.  I baked the sprouts cut size up for approx. 3 - 5 minutes before then sprinkling grated Pecorino lightly over each of the tops.
• Bake for another 3 - 5 minutes, or until uniformly browned.  
• Remove from oven, add additional salt as necessary and serve! 

Best Butternut Squash Soup Ever -- Not Surprisingly, from Cook's Illustrated (and Roasted Butternut Squash Seeds)

The ongoing issue of what to do with leftover leeks continues to inspire new recipe experimentation.  The latest in the series of efforts to use up remaining leeks is the Cook's Illustrated Sept. 2011 Butternut Squash Soup recipe.  The soup is easily the best butternut squash soup I have ever had -- unsurprising given its source.  Very simple to prepare, rich and extremely deep flavor, and incredibly healthy.  The key to developing the flavor appears to be pre-cooking the squash in the microwave, and developing a brown fond while further cooking down the squash on the stovetop.  And to add even more rich flavor - and an interesting contrasting texture to the soup -- I followed the recipe's recommendation to pair the soup with some fried leeks as a garnish.  Additional modifications follow the picture of the prepared soup.

I used slightly less squash than called for in the original recipe -- 5 cups instead of 7 cups, and correspondingly decreased the amount of liquid in the soup to 4 cups of water with 2 vegan bouillon cubes (instead of vegetable broth).  I used slightly more chopped leeks -- perhaps 2 cups -- and used the remaining chopped leeks for the fried leeks, to use in total, just under one leek total for the recipe.  The only modification I would make the next time I prepare the soup is to either add more plain water as called for by the original recipe, or reduce the amount of bouillon used because the soup was a bit salty, despite using only one bouillon cube with sea salt (the other had no salt added).

In addition, instead of throwing away the butternut squash seeds, I ended up washing them, patting them dry, and roasting them in the oven.  I haven't roasted winter squash seeds in years, and ended up following a recipe from AllRecipes.com, though of course, I used far fewer seeds because I only prepared one squash for the soup.  Roasting the seeds was a good reminder to me to be more wary of throwing away the "leftover" parts of vegetables -- every part can have a role!

Kale Chips -- Amazingly Good! And Not Just a Qualified Kale-Good, Rather Standalone Good!

I have recently discovered homemade kale chips, and they have completely changed my eating routine this fall!  I have to admit that I previously found eating kale to be a bit of a chore.  No matter the kale type, the strong flavor and tough texture just overwhelms any positives of the dish.  This experience shifted when I decided to forgo making a kale pappu -- which did feel like a chore -- and instead try a NYTimes.com recipe for Crispy Kale Chips with Chili and Lime.  Except, I didn't really use the NYTimes.com embellishments on the standard kale chip, and just consulted the recipe, as well as others on the internet, to guide the preparation of this snack, which can be prepared while the oven is heating up.  I have made this recipe a few different times, with both curly and dinosaur kale, kosher salt and sea salt, and different oven temperatures, and it is surprisingly flexible.  

Basically, take the amount of kale you have, rip it into 1-inch pieces, wash the pieces in a bath of cold water, and spin dry in a salad spinner or pat dry.  Even when I use my salad spinner, there is still some remaining water, so I usually just do a quick pat dry with a clean dishcloth, even though I can never get the kale fully dry.  That lingering water hasn't made a noticeable difference yet with the baking process.

Finally, toss the kale pieces with a small pour of olive oil, kosher or sea salt, and lay the pieces in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.  I have baked the chips at temperatures ranging from 275 - 350, and the cooking time has varied from 10 - 20 minutes.  Remove the kale from the oven when it is just crisp.  Even if the chips are browned, I find they still have a good flavor, but folks on the internet seem more squeamish than me on this point.  You can serve immediately or let the kale cool.  

It's SO easy.  Pick up some kale next time you are at the farmer's market -- I promise eating healthy will not feel like a chore!  And don't just take my word for it -- when I first made them, Andy remarked that we never need to eat potato chips again!

 

Scallion Pancakes at Home -- Couldn't Be Easier!

Among my favorite menu items at Chinese restaurants are scallion pancakes.  I really love the simple flavors of the pancakes, and particularly when I am at a restaurant where the vegetarian options are slim, I can definitely make a full meal out of this one dish.  I have never made them at home before, and following a recent farmers market, I found that I had a glut of scallions in the fridge (ok, glut may be a little much, but it seemed like a lot).  After I couldn't find suitable reciple ideas in my cookbooks and cooking magazines (yes, I have it a good faith effort), I decided to search the internet for recipe ideas and somehow realized that I should try to make scallion pancakes.  I did a new search, and came across several recipes.  The easiest, which also seemed to have the simplest set of ingredients, was Ming Tsai's recipe.  

I quartered the recipe to make just enough scallion pancakes for one (me!), but decided to use 1/2 the amount of scallions called for in the original recipe.  The pancakes were very easy to construct and cook, and I'll definitely be making them again.  The only downside of this recipe was that the pancakes were a little flavorless, so I may substitute multigrain pancake mix for the flour, which is what a former co-worker's mother had previously recommended.  I also used a simple dipping sauce of soy sauce and chili garlic sauce mixed together instead of the Tsai's ginger dipping sauce, and I may try to construct that sauce the next time around.

Mexicali Chopped Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

I cannot stop eating this salad.  I have made the dressing three times in the past three weeks.  I have experimented with multiple ingredient mixes for this salad, and none to date has disappointed.  I even ordered a salad spinner last week because I know have renewed faith that I can make quick and filling delicious salads at home.  

So what is this salad you ask?  It's based on the Mexicali Chop salad from the July/August 2010 issue of the Vegetarian Times.  I altered the actual salad recipe to include the ingredients I most like when I get Mexican-inspired salads at restaurants, omitted the homemade crunchy tortilla strips, and modified the dressing recipe slightly to fit the ingredients I had at home.  The salad is really wonderful -- and given that I have made it with so many variations, it is really the salad dressing that brings this salad together and makes it continually interesting to eat.  The salad can be vegan or vegetarian, and both taste equally delicious -- lots of different vegetable textures and generally flavorful, but not too spicy.  My recipe modifications follow the picture of the first salad I prepared with this dressing.  

Mexicali Chop Salad -- My First, and Probably Best, Version

Mix the following ingredients together to make two servings of the salad:

• 2 hearts of romaine, chopped 
• 1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped
• 2/3 can of black beans, rinsed
• kernels from 1 ear of fresh corn, boiled or prepared to one's liking
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
• 1 ripe avocado, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/4 of shredded cheddar
• 1/2 cucumber, seeded and chopped
• crushed tortilla chips
• Salad Dressing to taste, with the juice of one lime (approx. 1/4 cup lime juice instead of 1/3 called for in the recipe).  I've found this dressing can last 4 - 6 individual servings.

This salad can really be customized how you like -- one can use the ingredients called for in the original recipe on VegetarianTimes.com, or really just pick what ingredients you most like in salads, like I did to prepare your "ideal" personal salad.  The dressing can be refridgerated for a week or slightly longer, though I guarantee it won't last long after you try it!

Vegetarian Times Farmers' Market Chowder -- Great Way to Celebrate the End of Fresh Summer Corn

I am definitely in denial that the delicious sweet corn that has heavily populated this summer's markets is about to leave us for the year.  I have been stockpiling corn of late, even eating some boiled corn for breakfast on occasion.  After deciding to do something more exciting with my stack of corn, I didn't need to look far for inspiration -- the cover of the September 2011 Vegetarian Times issue has a beautiful picture of the magazine's Farmers' Market Chowder.  

I made the soup -- which has only a shocking 280 calories per serving -- last week, and could not have been more pleased with the result.  The mixture of vegetables was perfect -- smooth chunks of sweet potato, fresh corn, green beans, and leeks, and the rich flavor from the corn-steeped milk, paprika, and sherry made every bite really wonderful.  The only alteration I would make to the recipe is adding a poblano pepper to provide a subtle kick to the soup.  I plan on making the soup again in the coming weeks before the corn leaves us for the year, and I encourage you to purchase this Vegetarian Times issue and do the same!

Parmesan Chive Scones...A Bit of a Disaster

I recently had leftover frozen chives and parmesan from the Cook's Illustrated Almost No-Stir Risotto, and after failing to find a parmesan chive biscuit recipe that I was convinced I had somewhere, I turned to the internet to figure out what kind of savory dish I could make with the limited quantities of those ingredients that I had.  I found a Parmesan Chive Scone recipe online, and decided to give it a go, with a few modifications.  I think some of the modifications -- reducing the amount of chives to what I had on hand (about 1/2 of what the original recipe called for), adding a tablespoon of chopped parsley, and substituting 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour simply because I ran out of all-purpose -- would have been fine on their own, but fatefully, I decided to freeze and grate the butter, a la the Cook's Illustrated Blueberry Scones recipe, to achieve light and buttery scones.  

Although this recipe cautioned against working the butter too much and ensuring that the scones just held together without too much mixing, the frozen, grated butter and heavy cream seemed to not bind the dough together enough.  I decided to plow forward though with the loose dough thinking that the baking would solve the texture issue, but the resulting scones unfortunately fell apart while handling them.  The flavor was fine (perhaps though the whole wheat flour I would omit in the future), but the overly crumbly texture really made these scones unenjoyable to consume.  In hindsight, I would perhaps freeze only half of the butter, and maybe add some additional heavy cream to achieve the right texture.  Ugh.  On to the next one.

White Bean Dip -- Flavorful and Healthy Enough That You Won't Regret Eating the Whole Bowl!

Although I am generally skeptical of celebrity tv chefs who don't operate their own restaurants, as you know from reading this blog, almost everything I make from one of Giada de Laurentiis's cookbooks turns out so well that I end up making it more than one time (notably the Pecorino Crackers, Quick Rise Pizza Dough, and Lemon Ricotta Cookies).  My recent attempt at her White Bean Dip followed this trend, with me making it twice in one week!  

I initially googled for a simply white bean dip recipe that would dispose of the can of cannellini beans that I initially purchased for the Alice Waters Minestrone.  I think the Giada recipe was the first to pop up, and I ended up settling on it because it called for parsley, which I have in abundance in the freezer, and fresh lemon juice, which I also had in the fridge.  Per the recommendations in the comments on the recipe page, I ended up decreasing the amount of olive oil to a few tablespoons, decreasing the amount of lemon juice and just seasoning to taste, and adding in several shakes of red pepper flakes to boost the flavor.  I also increased the amount of fresh garlic in my first run to 4 cloves, but the result was definitely too powerful -- the second time, I used the original amount called for in the recipe.  I think I may end up roasting the garlic on the stovetop before I next make the dip because I think the flavor may be even more balanced that way (even with the reduced garlic the second time, the raw flavor definitely lingered a little too unpleasantly -- and I love garlic!).  If you are looking for a healthy dip for your next home movie night or even summer barbecue, definitely give this recipe a try!  Also, did I mention that it takes only 5 minutes to prepare?