Drifting East

I've been in the mood for all things Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Persian, and Indian lately. Today my body decided it needed protein, so I made red lentil dal inspired by Mark Bittman, but I made changes. That's what I do.

I like my Indian food with toasty spices, even if it's not the preferred method for cooking a particular dish.

Onion and Spice Mixture

2 tsp butter

1 tbsp whole mustard seeds

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 whole cloves

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 large spring onion, chopped (about 1 cup)

8 ounces red lentils

water

fresh cilantro for garnish

chopped tomato for garnish

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and stir in spices. Heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic and saute, stirring occasionally, until onions are caramelized, about 10 minutes. Remove half of mixture from pan and reserve.

Add lentils to the saucepan and cover with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes, adding more water if dal becomes too thick.

When ready to serve, stir in reserved onion and spice mixture, butter and salt to taste. Garnish with fresh cilantro and chopped tomato.

Ceviche Peruano

When it's too hot to cook, why not cook without heat? Ceviche is a wonderful summer recipe; the Peruvian version is one of the simplest to prepare and, in my opinion, the tastiest. This dish is perfect for cooks with low mobility. The most basic traditional version uses a firm white fish and variety of sea creatures marinated in just lime juice and salt, but I elaborated a little while keeping within the Peruvian flavor profile. Using whole bay scallops instead would eliminate some knifework and speed the preparation.

Ceviche Peruano

juice of 3 limes

1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

freshly ground black pepper to taste

10 sprigs cilantro

1/2 serrano or hotter pepper (use an aji amarillo if you can find it)

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 pound sea scallops (quartered) or bay scallops (whole)

1/4 red onion, sliced thinly in a food processor and separated into rings

Combine lime juice, salt, pepper, cilantro, hot pepper, and garlic and pulse in a food processor until finely chopped. Pour marinade over scallops and stir to coat, making sure there is enough liquid to cover fish. Top with sliced red onion. Let marinate/"cook" 2-3 hours in refrigerator until fish is opaque and firm. Serves 2.

Traditional accompaniments for this dish are boiled corn, sweet potatoes, or yucca, but I used a less labor-intensive sliced avocado.

Cripple Cuisine Does Borscht

After another car accident, my neck is once again constrained by a collar and I only have the energy to make really easy dishes that require almost no labor. Boiling is usually good for that. This borscht requires chopping, which I did by indiscriminately hacking away at the items on the cutting board, or you can shred the stuff (except the potato) in a food processor. I didn't peel any of the vegetables (too time-consuming and vitamin-defeating).

I also didn't have my purse, as it was left in the car following the accident, so I had no money or access to it, as banks were closed for the holiday weekend. I made this entirely out of things I already had, which wasn't much since I wasn't around last week and missed my CSA pickup.

Tip: The longer you saute the onions and tomato paste together, the deeper the flavor of the soup. Thanks to the beets, this soup tastes garden fresh despite its dependence on pantry and staple items that have probably been lying around the kitchen for several weeks.

Borscht

1 tbsp cooking oil
1 onion
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes
10 baby carrots, greens removed, chopped (I had these left over from the previous week's CSA)
3 potatoes, cubed
2 medium red beets and 3 small golden beets, cubed (also CSA)
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
4 cans water
1/2 head of cabbage, chopped (CSA again)
salt and pepper to taste
optional:
2 tbsp sour cream or plain yogurt per serving
fresh dill for garnish

Saute onion in oil until translucent. Add tomato paste and saute about
10 minutes (chop the rest of the vegetables while this happens). Add
tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, beets, and garlic and cook 5-10 minutes.
Add water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add cabbage, salt, and
pepper. Bring back to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30
minutes until vegetables are tender. To serve, ladle into bowls and top each with sour cream and dill.

This recipe makes about 8 servings, so you won't have to cook again in the near future.

Spicy Hake with Stir-Fried Mizuna

1 5 oz. filet hake, rinsed and patted dry

1 clove garlic, sliced thinly

1 tsp ginger, peeled and grated

1/2 jalapeno pepper, sliced into thin rings (I didn't remove the seeds)

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp cilantro, minced

For the mizuna

juices from pan

1 tbsp sesame seeds

1/2 bunch mizuna

Heat oil in one half of a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, ginger, and jalapeno, stir frequently until softened. Gather together the ginger, garlic, and pepper and place hake filet, skin side up, on top. Sear for 2-3 minutes, until a golden brown crust forms and garlic and pepper are crispy. Flip and top fish with soy sauce, honey and cilantro. Cook until fish flakes easily with fork, 4-5 minutes more. Meanwhile, toast sesame seeds in dry half of pan. Remove cooked fish and place on a warmed plate. Add mizuna to liquid remaining in pan and stir fry 2-3 minutes until wilted. Toss with toasted sesame seeds and serve with fish.

Serves 1.

What do you do with kohlrabi, anyway?

Well, I roasted one.

Another got cut up into matchstick-sized pieces and went into this fabulous soup:

Not Exactly Asian Soup

For the broth:

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp ginger, peeled and grated

1 tsp canola oil

2 cups beef broth

1 cup water

1 tsp. tamari soy sauce

In a saucepan, heat canola oil on high heat and add ginger and garlic. Saute for 30 seconds, then add beef broth, water, and soy sauce. Heat to a simmer.

For the contents of the soup:

1/4 bunch mizuna, cut in 2" lengths

3 stalks bok choy, sliced crosswise into 1/2" pieces

1 small green onion, white and green parts separated, sliced thinly

1 shiitake mushroom, sliced thinly

1/2 small purple kohlrabi, cut into matchstick-sized pieces

1/2 small asian turnip, cut into matchstick-sized pieces (I wouldn't really call it julienned and shape is approximate since I have shaky hands)

Add mizuna, bok choy and white parts of green onion to simmering broth and heat for about 5 minutes. Divide the mushroom, kohlrabi, turnip, and green parts of the green onion between two dry soup bowls. Pour simmering broth with mizuna and onion over vegetables and serve immediately.

Serves 2.

This recipe is gluten free if your soy sauce does not have any gluten. Make sure to check the label.

Victorious again

Saturday's take at Haymarket:

1 bunch parsley

2 tomatoes

1 mango

1 avocado

4 still-warm whole wheat pitas

1/2 pound kalamata olives

mad garlic, yo

$6.75, but I will admit that about 40% of the olives are a little soft. This will probably not deter me in the future.

I got home and made an adulteration of the jicama-watercress-avocado salad in the Veganomicon cookbook that we tried at my aunt's house a few weeks ago. In addition to forgetting about Google Book Search, I forgot the lime juice and sugar in the dressing, but I made a pretty decent-tasting approximation from memory.

Here's my altered version including some ingredient additions/omissions/substitutions:

Dressing

juice of 1 orange

2 tbsp. soy sauce

3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tsp. cilantro, finely chopped

3 tbsp. canola oil

1 tsp. sesame oil

Salad

1 medium-sized jicama (Mine was $1.12 at $1.99/pound at Whole Foods. It looked medium. You do the math.), peeled and shredded

1/3 bunch watercress, snipped from your nearest windowsill

1/2 ripe avocado, sliced

1/2 mango, cubed

1/4 yellow onion (the red is prettier), sliced thinly

black sesame seeds, for garnish

cashews, toasted and chopped, for garnish

fresh cilantro and mint, chopped, for garnish

Whisk all dressing ingredients together and let sit at room temperature for at least 10 minutes. Pour over shredded jicama in bowl, mix together, and let stand while preparing remaining ingredients. Place watercress on plate and top with jicama-dressing mixture. Arrange avocado, onion, and mango on top of jicama. Sprinkle sesame seeds, cashews, cilantro, and mint on top and serve.

Makes 2 servings.

This is really refreshing--perfect for a summer day, or at least a day that pretends to be summer, which I have to get used to in Boston.

Breakfast? Lunch? Dinner? All three.

Asparagus is in season and readily available. The New York Times has a way of knowing... May 5th's Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Egg recipe inspired me, but being made with butter and cream, it didn't really fit into my healthier eating scheme. If I were serving brunch, I would make this dish exactly as they suggest, but it was delicious this way too:

2 tsp. olive oil

10 thin stalks asparagus

1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed

1 egg

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 slice prosciutto (I used Applegate Farms from the deli counter at Whole Foods after balking at the price of the prepackaged brand suggested in the NYT recipe)

1 tsp. grated Parmesan

Kosher or sea salt to taste

freshly ground back pepper

Remove tough ends of asparagus. Heat olive oil in pan and add asparagus and crushed garlic, sauteeing until desired doneness. Remove asparagus from pan and place on plate. Squeeze lemon juice onto asparagus. Crack egg into pan (I used a non-stick pan so I didn't have to add extra oil). Scramble egg and add pepper. Just before egg is finished cooking, place prosciutto in some empty pan real estate and leave undisturbed for about 1 minute. Place prosciutto on top of asparagus and egg on top of prosciutto. Sprinkle with Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper. I didn't add any salt since the salt in the prosciutto was enough for me.

Makes 1 serving.

The garlic clove just kind of hung around the pan, imparting subtle garlic flavor into everything, which I loved.

Today at Whole Foods...

I'm one to go far, far out of my way in pursuit of ingredients, preferring to shop at Indian markets for Indian ingredients, Russian for Russian, Persian for Persian, etc. I don't mind making special trips to special stores for a dish.

But my closest grocery store is Whole Foods, at about three quarters of a block away. Which is not a bad thing, except maybe for my wallet. And sometimes I don't have time or energy to go far afield in search of ingredients. You've heard that before. Food should be simple. Most of the time.

I'll admit I have a suspiciously well-stocked pantry. (If by "pantry" you mean "cabinet in the kitchen that doubles as a hallway in my tiny shared apartment" ...I can dream.) Having spent over a hundred dollars at this particular store in the past week on staples (I know, terrible financial decision, but I can't carry heavy loads very far, more on that later, maybe) and maybe just a few impulse items, I went with a list. I needed one Fresno chile and a piece of fish for a recipe that intrigued me. And some pistachios for general snack consumption.

I had some leftover pseudo-Moroccan vegetable dish and needed something to accompany it and make it enough for a meal, so this recipe from Saveur seemed appropriate. I didn't really modify it except to use less olive oil (as much for thrift as for volume and fat reduction...I know, I don't really associate shopping at Whole Foods with thrift either, but I've actually found some items to be the same price as or cheaper than other stores and I'll figure it out as I go, as I'm new to the neighborhood and the options around me).

Here it is, with my "modifications":

Charmoula

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp. fresh lime juice

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. pimenton dulce

1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

10 sprigs fresh cilantro, minced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 red Fresno chile, stemmed, seeded, and minced

1 shallot, thinly sliced

I put about half of this mixture this over half a pound of fresh haddock, scored so that it wouldn't curl in the oven, left it to marinate for about 30 minutes, then baked it at 400F for 8ish minutes.

Makes 2 servings.

I think the next time I will toast the spices first and use double the lemon and lime juices.

Yes, really, I had everything in my apartment already except for the pepper ($0.30) and the fish ($7.52 for a little over half a pound--not a bargain, but supposedly sustainably harvested).

I served this with leftover pseudo-Moroccan vegetables, the recipe for which changes depending on what vegetables I happen to have, but is based on this basic formula, which I realize might not be exact anyway, as I'm an eyeballer in the kitchen except when I'm baking:

Pseudo-Moroccan Vegetables

Spice Mixture

1 tbsp. turmeric

1 tbsp. ground cumin (I know I should probably buy whole seeds and toast them before grinding)

2 tsp. ground coriander (ditto)

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. pimenton dulce

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

The Rest

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped (I usually use about 1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas instead, but I had to use my $1.00 Haymarket cauliflower)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 medium or large eggplant, cubed

juice of 2 oranges

3 tbsp. golden raisins

3 tbsp. pine nuts, toasted (I usually use almonds, but didn't have any left)

Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add spice mixture and heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add onions, garlic, potatoes, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add cauliflower and continue to cook for 3 minutes, then add pepper and eggplant and cook for 3 minutes more. Add orange juice, raisins, and pine nuts (add chickpeas with this step if using), heat until simmering, and cover, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes until vegetables are tender.

You can add a few handfuls of fresh or frozen chopped spinach 2 minutes before the end if you like.

Makes 6 generous servings.

This is delicious over couscous or bulgur wheat, but it wasn't in the cards today. The bonus is that it's delicious by itself and gluten-free if you don't put it on anything...or, you know, rice.