Madhu Knits and Cooks

Vegan Pho - Surprisingly Easy and Delicious Complete Meal

We ordered our first pho delivery of the pandemic several weeks ago, which reignited my desire to make vegan pho at home.  I've been quietly planning for this moment for years, with star anise in the pantry and dried rice noodles at the ready.  But whenever I've thought about actually making vegan pho, I've rejected what I thought would be a too-consuming effort to produce a quality meal.

Of course, the punch line is that making top-quality vegan pho at home couldn't be easier.  You don't need to simmer the broth for too long (30 minutes before adding the vegetables and noodles) thanks to charring ginger and onion in broiler beforehand to achieve deep flavor.

The final broth is umami-rich and deeply sweetly spiced, with almost caramel notes, and contrasts nicely with the fresh cilantro, scallions, and chile.  Thanks to two online recipes - Gimme Some Oven and Cookies and Kate - for providing basic guidance and inspiration for my personalized, mushroom-free approach.

Ingredients

(2-3 main course servings)

• 1/2 red onion, halved
• 1.5 inch piece of ginger, cut into 3-4 large chunks
• 1 star anise
• 2 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp. Better than Bouillon No Chicken Base
• 1 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
• Splash of rice vinegar
• ~8-10 Baby bok choy, cleaned and halved, or greens desired
• 1/2 package dried rice noodles, prepared via package directions (I soaked in hot water for 30 minutes while the soup broth simmered)
• Diced scallions, cilantro, green chile, or other toppings (e.g., Thai basil, sprouts) to taste
• Lime wedges for serving

Directions

• Pre-heat broiler on high, and place halved red onion and ginger on baking sheet.  Broil on high for 8 minutes approx. 4 inches from broiler, turning once halfway
• In a soup pot or dutch oven, dry toast the star anise, cloves and cinnamon for 3 minutes on medium-high heat or until fragrant
• Add 6 cupes water, charred onion and ginger, Better than Bouillon, and tamari, and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat to medium and simmer broth for 30 minutes
• Remove the spices, ginger, and onions from the broth, and add a splash of rice vinegar and the halved baby bok choy.  Cook for 3 minutes, then add noodles for another 2 - 4 minutes.
• Served immediately with scallions, cilantro, chile, and lime wedges

The Tik Tok Feta Tomato Pasta Sensation - Via the Washington Post

I don't have Tik Tok, but as the Washington Post recently displayed with their version of the Tik Tok #bakedfetapasta, its reach far surpasses the app.  With some leftover feta in the fridge, why not try this global sensation?

Despite my modifications to fit the amount of feta I had, the result was very good - creamy, spicy, tart, and salty.  A great and easy weeknight pasta!  My modifications were as follows:

• I didn't measure the olive oil, but think I had slightly more than half the amount of sauce with 1.25 pints of grape / cherry tomatoes and 4 oz of feta
• I put may more crushed red pepper than called for, and probably could have reduced to the called-for amount
• Cooked for 40 minutes
• Approx. 8 oz of pasta
• No basil 

My First Quilt - Thank You Purl Soho for a True DIY Experience!

My proudest pandemic project - my first homemade quilt!  This project took ~7 months and during each step, I learned something new. 

I made a lot of mistakes.  So my advice for prospective quilters - slow and steady wins the race.  When you make a mistake, it's fine.  Just learn, undo, and redo (correctly), and you too can have a beautiful quilt through many hours of work.

All thanks for this amazing project go to Purl Soho's Learn How to Sew a Patchwork Quilt pattern.  The directions were fairly clear, and when they weren't, I was able to google advice to get by.  I was amazed that I could get through this project without a class or speaking to an instructor, and it was really due to this pattern and the tremendous quilting advice online.

A few notes for future projects - for some reason, I don't have or misplaced my 1/4 inch sewing foot but thankfully settings 37 and 38 on my Brother machine achieve the same measurements.  Always make sure you are sewing the wrong sides together unless otherwise directed.  Hand-stitching the back of the binding takes longer than expected but results in a beautiful finish. 

I used slightly smaller squares (4 inch v. 4.5) than called for in the pattern because I was using a Liberty of London fabric sampler I bought years ago in London, but the result was still great.  

A Truly Unique and Mouthwatering Saag Paneer - with Feta!

I checked out Priya Krishna's great Indian-ish cookbook from our library ebook reader, and the recipe that immediately caught my eye was the Feta Saag Paneer recipe.  

Feta instead of paneer?  Yes, it works!  And it works really, really well.  The saltiness and brine of the feta melts wonderfully into the cooked spinach to create a creamy, tart, and herby dish, though I think Krishna's liberal use of butter helps enhance the flavor as well :-)

I made a few modifications to this recipe - substituted 1 tsp. of ground coriander for seeds based on the recipe reviews and personal preference, less butter (don't remember how much, but I think just a small amount works), and one Thai red chile.  I also reduced the spices overall because I had only 10 oz of spinach and about 4 oz of feta.  

Yum!  I look forward to making this recipe again.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower in a Gobi Manchurian-ish Style

When I saw Milk Street had a recipe inspired by one of my Indian-Chinese favorite dishes, gobi manchurian, I knew it was a "when" not "if" for my first attempt at this recipe.  

Unfortunately, while the flavors were slightly reminiscent of the sweet-spicy gobi manchurian I know and love, I overall found this roasted cauliflower too overspiced for my preferences.  It was similar to the last whole roasted Milk Street cauliflower recipe I made, but without the additional herbs, tomatoes, etc. to cut the very strong deep dried spice flavor.  So I think this will not be a recipe repeat.  

Fettuccine with Kale, Parmesan, Olive Oil, and Garlic - A Simple Weeknight Dinner

With leftover homemade fettuccine in the freezer, and leftover kale in the fridge, I decided to put the two together.  But how?  Enter Bon Appetit.  I modified their recipe by using my homemade fettuccine instead of spaghetti, about 3/4 of a bunch of dinosaur kale, 2 cloves of garlic, less olive oil (maybe 2-3 tbsp. instead of a quarter cup), and a sprinkling of shaved parmesan on top.  

The result was very good, though slightly more on the bland end.  A bit more salt, kale, olive oil, and parmesan to taste would have helped, so in the future, I will not reduce the original recipe amounts.

Updated Favorite Homemade Vegetable Noodle Soup - with Potatoes and Kale

With some leftover potatoes and kale in the fridge, I decided to do the easiest thing I could think of - throw them in a soup!  

I used my favorite vegetarian noodle soup recipe, and added the cubed potatoes in for 9 minutes to fully cook while the ripped kale only took a few minutes.  Both were fantastic additions to the soup, with the kale in particular really adding to satisfying meal.  Look forward to adding these again to my future soups!

Field of Wildflowers - My First Instagram-Inspired Hat!

A few years ago, I saw a breathtaking picture of a completed Field of Wildflowers hat on Malabrigo's Instagram account.  I loved everything about this hat - the pattern, the yarn, and how they both worked so well together to create a bright, but not-too-bright winter hat.  I not only bookmarked this hat, but also immediately ordered the Malabrigo Rios yarn that the hat featured.  

Years later, during a global pandemic no less, I finally saw the need to make this hat - with increasingly long winter walks outside and no concerns about "hat hair" during work or social events.  

While the hat knit up fairly quickly, and the squishy Malabrigo Rios was a true pleasure to work with, the initial hat I produced was too long for my tastes.  The length meant that the hat had a fair amount of "slouch" at the top, which is not a style I like.  So I frogged the top part of the hat and remade it to only have 4 pattern repeats.  I also skipped decrease rows 13-15 and 17-19.  If I make this hat again, I will probably just concentrate the length cutting on the border rows to have more of the pattern appear across the length of the hat.

Here are some pictures of the original, longer hat, including compared to a previously knit hat that fits me quite well.

Field of Wildflowers - for Me!

Pattern:  Field of Wildflowers by Joji Locatelli, size small

Yarn:  Malabrigo Rios, maybe 2/3 skein, in Arco Iris

Needles:  Two US3 and two US 4 circulars

Measurements:  Pre-blocking measurements of 8 inches tall by 8.5 inches wide at the bottom; post-blocking measurements of 7.75 inches tall by 9.25 inches wide at its widest point at the brim

Baked Spinach and Ricotta Manicotti - An Adaptable Recipe that Produces a Hearty Dinner

With leftover spinach ricotta filling from my first stuffed pasta, I decided to attempt the Cook's Illustrated Baked Manicotti.  I thought the manicotti would be less time consuming than making and stuffing fresh pasta again, and while I was correct, the multiple steps required also make this more of a weekend than weeknight meal.

I first sautéed leftover spinach, red onion, and garlic, and combined it with leftover ricotta to supplement the pre-made spinach and ricotta filling.  I then soaked the Wegmans no-boil lasagna noodles as directed, and then filled and rolled the shells with the filling.  The approx. half leftover spinach ricotta filling was enough to fill 4 rolls and then newly sautéed spinach mixture enough for 2.  I then decided to use jarred tomato sauce - Wegmans Diavolo - instead of fresh, grated some parmesan on top, and baked the manicotti for 34 minutes.  As directed, I then broiled the dish before serving.

Many steps, but for a great result - tangy from the tomato sauce, fatty and rich from the ricotta, and fresh herb-y flavors jumping out from the spinach.  The recipe took very well to my adaptations (jarred sauce, leftover filling with different ingredients, an improvised new filling of leftovers), such that I think this will be a well used recipe in the future.

An Improvised Chickpea Salad Sandwich - Bland, but Different Meal

I recently went on a vegetarian sandwich googling kick, after feeling a bit exhausted from my lunch salad routine.  One of those searches resulted in an unexpected discovery - vegetarian/vegan chickpea salad sandwiches!  Who would have thought?

When I got to actually making the sandwich filling, I improvised significantly from the recipes linked above, simply to accommodate what I had in my fridge and pantry.  So I eyeballed some cooked chickpeas, dijon mustard, mayonnaise, chopped red onion and scallion, herbes de provence, salt, and pepper into a bowl, and then lightly mashed the chickpeas as I stirred these ingredients together.

I then spooned the filling into some toasted bread, added some thin sliced tomatoes, and sat down to eat.

The result was somewhat bland, but still pretty tasty to eat smashed, flavored chickpeas in bread.  I think the key changes to make in the future are to include fresh celery for a textural contrast, some lemon juice for a more sharp tartness, and some herbs (as called for by the ATK recipe) would have definitely helped as well.  So a work in progress!