Picnic Potato Salad

A healthier tastier potato salad.

Now all you need is a nice picnic location, or an invite to a BBQ.

A nice picnic spot with an old abby.

Someone to carry the picnic supplies?

This is a healthy potato salad made out of a yogurt and mustard dressing. It's refreshing and tangy and nothing like the heavy mayonnaise bland potato salads. Start by bringing some water to boil in a large pot. While the water is warming up, scrub, peel, and quarter the potatoes. While the potatoes cook, prep the rest of the ingredients. 

Picnic Potato Salad

Serves: 4 or more

6-8 medium to large potatoes, washed, peeled and quartered into large chunks

salt, about 1 tsp

1/3 cup yogurt (half mayonnaise and half yogurt is fine too)

2-3 tbsp fine Dijon mustard (may want to add to your taste)

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper (or any other color is fine)

2-3 tbsp parsley, chopped fine

2 spring green onions, chopped with about 4" of the greens chopped into chives

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Lightly salt the water with about 1 tsp of salt (I used coarse salt). Covering the pan will make it boil more quickly.

2. Once the water comes to a simmer, or light bubbles form from the bottom to the top in a steady stream, carefully add in quartered potato chunks and turn heat down to medium. Cook 15-20 minutes or until soft. Don't cook the potatoes so long that they fall apart, you don't want boiling water, a light simmer is fine. Turn the heat off once cooked. They can sit in the water until just ready to use.

3. In a small mixing bowl add yogurt through green onions. Stir to combine. Taste to adjust seasoning. Since the potatoes were cooked in salted water, you may not need to add in any extra salt.

4. Drain potatoes in a colander, but before draining, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, such as in a coffee mug or teacup. Place the large pot on a heat-safe surface or on a pot holder.

5. Add the drained potatoes back to the large pot, and place the dressing on top.

6. Carefully mix the potatoes and dressing together. Take a big spatula, and gradually fold the potatoes from bottom to top. If too thick, thin with some of the reserved water. Serve immediately, or place in fridge until ready to serve. Some water may separate from the yogurt, just stir carefully before serving.

Potatoes with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds

I know that after you saw the bittermelon post you couldn't wait for these potatoes! They are a favorite and can really be served with anything. Super simple to prepare, these are always a hit. If you want them spicier top them with chopped jalapeno and cilantro. Sometimes, shredded coconut is also good. Once again, since Indian foods tend to have crazy long ingredient lists, just omit what you don't have (I have listed these as optional).

Potatoes with Turmeric and Mustard Seeds

(Bataka ni Shak)

Serves: 4

2 cups diced new potatoes (peeled; you may want 6-8 potatoes); baking potatoes, such as russets, will fall apart.

1 tbsp peanut oil, or olive oil

1 tsp mustard seeds

½ tsp cumin seeds (optional)

pinch asafoetida powder or hing (optional)

¾ tsp turmeric powder

salt to taste (probably ½ tsp)

½ cup water

cilantro to garnish

Directions:

1. Heat up the peanut oil or olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat.
2. Once hot, add in mustard seeds, cumin seeds, and asafoetida powder (you'll be making a vaghar). Once mustard seeds start to pop add in potatoes. Stir everything together.
3. Add in turmeric and salt, and stir together. Add in water, and stir.
4. Cover the pan slightly, and cook for 20 minutes. You might need to add in more water. Just keep an eye on it – you don't want the potatoes to stick to the bottom of the pan. Taste for salt. If potatoes pierce easily with a fork, they are cooked. Top with cilantro and serve immediately.  

Alternative: the potatoes can be peeled, cut up and cooked in microwave safe dish along with about 3/4 cup water. You can do the vaghar with the mustard seeds then add cooked potatoes and finish with turmeric and salt. 

Potato, Goat Cheese, and Shittake Mushroom Galette

This savory galette comes together quickly and makes an impressive meal.  The prepping and baking time takes about 2 hours.  We ate this galette to ring in the new year.  Bring a pot of water to boil while you prepare the galette dough. Once the water is boiling parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes.  While the galette dough is resting, chop the herbs and prep the mushrooms.  Any mixture of mushrooms will do, if you don’t have green onions, use leeks, or a mixture of both.  

Ingredients:

1 recipe for galette dough crust (see here)
4-5 medium potatoes, peeled, partially boiled, and kept whole
2 tbsp olive oil
6 medium shittake mushrooms, wiped clean
2 tbsp olive oil
1 and ½ cups whole white or brown mushrooms, wiped clean
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
1 bunch green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
½ tsp salt and fresh cracked black pepper
4 oz goat cheese (about less than ½ cup)
¼ cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400 F (or do this once you are half way through these directions)
Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat.  Once boiling, add the potatoes and turn heat down to medium.  Simmer for about 10 minutes.  Drain the potatoes in a colander so they can cool down.
2. Prepare the galette dough (see instructions here).  The hand made crust makes the dish feel and taste very rustic. It is worth making from scratch.  Cutting up the butter into small cubes helps the butter integrate with the dough.  Let the dough rest in the fridge while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
3. Heat up 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in the mushrooms.  Turn heat down to medium after 3 minutes.  Continue cooking mushrooms for another 5 minutes.  Add 1-2 tsps white wine vinegar and toss the mushrooms around the pan while everything sizzles.  Cook another 3 minutes and turn off the heat.  
4. Cut up potatoes in ¼” slices and add them to a large mixing bowl.
5. Add chopped green onions, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.  
6. Once mushrooms are cool enough to handle, slice them up, and put them into the mixing bowl with the potatoes.  Stir in goat cheese and extra cream, season with more salt and pepper.

Assemble galette:
Roll out the dough as best you can to make a 14 inch circle. Set a cookie sheet upside down and have it close and ready. When the dough is rolled out, fold it gently into thirds and put it in the middle of the upside down cookie sheet. Unfold the dough, the dough should hang off the edges. Put the filling in the middle of the pastry crust and continue filling and gently speading it out. You should leave 2-3” at the border. Now fold the remaining dough over the filling as pictured above.  Brush with milk, or a little remaining cream and bake for 45 minutes at 400 F, or until golden brown. Serve once cooled.

Potato and Leek Soup with Parsley-Garlic Chutney

Being unemployed means having plenty of spare time to cook and then take dorky cooking pictures of whatever it is that I’m cooking, which then accompanies these intros.

Which brings me to a new outlook: no excuses.

1. Small changes can make big differences. Sounds lame but, por ejemplo, I cook beans from scratch all the time. I let them soak overnight and I cook them in the morning. The difference between being employed and being unemployed is the method in which the beans cook. As a student, or when I was working, I would either cook soaked beans in a crockpot, or soak beans during the day and nuke them in the pressure cooker once I got home (pressure cooking beans takes all of 20 minutes). Now, I can soak them overnight and cook them in the morning, or soak them all day, and cook them along with dinner. Beans are important foods to a vegetarian - they provide protein, and they aren’t processed. I still buy canned beans for those oh crap moments, but I have found my new routine to have less of those moments. These small changes can have excellent benefits. Having cooked beans in the fridge during the week makes throwing last minute meals a reality (as opposed to my new found addiction to the Dr. Oetker’s mushroom pizza).  

2. Cook meals at home and try to do it everyday. Living in a country with limited ethnic food options has improved upon my cooking skills. If I want Indian, I cook it at home (I am not interested in spending my week’s grocery bill on one measly thali).  Craving Mexican? Cook it at home. Thai? At home. Vietnamese? At home.  

3. Plan your weekly meals. I like cooking and eating so I plan meals. This does a number of things, it allows me to plan to use whatever is already in the fridge and pantry. I can cook more of one thing (increase the pot of beans) to be used in multiple dishes, and I can prep vegetables all at once.  It helps me maximize my food dollars. I buy whatever foods I want, but I make sure to use them in dishes that I will cook that week or the next.

4. Get someone in your household to start baking bread everyday.

Today, I had leftover leeks from a week ago (who knew they stored so well), parsley, and some potatoes that were starting to grow. Ew. So, I decided to procrastinate from my CV writing (let’s see how I can translate this “no excuses” mentality into all aspects of my life?), and instead make potato and leek soup. This is good, tasty, hearty, filling, and healthy. 

Leeks are like overgrown green onions, except they are milder and sweeter.  You can cut up the leeks into 4” sections and fan the layers through water. The leek layers tend to be filled with dirt, so if still gritty, place trimmed chopped leeks into a large bowl of water.

Leeks

Peeled potatoes

Leeks ready to be chopped 

Leeks and carrots

These will make a great chutney to top the soup

Potato and leek soup

Potato and Leek Soup

Yield: 4-6 servings
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
3-4 cups chopped leeks, from 1-2 large leeks Use up to 2” of the green parts on the leeks
1 medium carrot, chopped into 1/4” dice
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp oregano, dried
1 tsp dried onion flakes
1 tsp dill, dried
4 medium to large potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 cups (1 quart) vegetable broth plus 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup soymilk, you could also use 1/2 cup of either cream or milk



Directions:

1. In a large soup stockpot (one that can hold 4 quarts) heat up olive oil and butter over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in leeks and saute 5 minutes.
2. Add in bay leaf and carrots and continue to cook 5 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add in oregano, onion flakes, and dill. Stir to combine.
4. Add in potatoes and vegetable broth plus water.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low, cover slightly and let simmer 20 minutes.
6. After 20 minutes, the potatoes should be cooked through.  Take a potato masher and lightly mash the potatoes until you have a chunky soup. You could also puree half of the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender. The potato masher method is the most convenient requiring far less cleaning than using the blender or immersion blender.
7. Stir in soymilk, cream if using, or milk, and continue to heat 10 minutes until thickened.
8. Garnish with parsley or serve along with parlsey-garlic chutney (see recipe below).

Parsley-garlic chutney
This is more like a tapenade than a chutney; it is delicious and brightens up the soup.



Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tbsp shredded parmesan cheese (choose a regular, shreddable kind, it can be basic, nothing fancy see note below.)
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup parsley, finely minced to yield 1/4 cup parsley
salt and pepper to taste



Directions:

1. Combine everything together and season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Spoon a teaspoon over the soup before serving.

Note: there is a cheese shop, called The Cottage, in town that I really enjoy purchasing cheeses from. The owner and I were chatting and he was telling me how he cannot tell the difference between the regular parmesan and the fancier parmesan reggiano, except for the price between the two. He said they both are salty enough, but the parmesan reggiano is drier and aged longer. This works for me.

Truffled White Beans with Chard and Tomatoes

I am in love with truffle oil. This is a simple healthy dish that uses swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, and white beans to show off the truffle oil.  Serve over rice or with these gruyere scalloped potatoes from Cooking Light.

I was lazy with photos today, so I'll leave you with some of my favorite parts of NC:




Truffled White Beans with Chard and Tomatoes
Serves: 4
1/2 tsp olive oil
1 small red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3-4 cups chard, chopped. If the stems are small enough (from garden chard, like Bright Lights chard) chop them fine and set aside.
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes or 1 tomato chopped,
1 14 oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper to taste
2 T truffle oil
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 c water

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add in red onions, chard stems, and garlic.  Cook for 4 minutes.
2. Once the onions and garlic mixture begins to brown, add in swiss chard. Stir every 2-3 minutes. Once the chard begins to wilt and reduce in size, move the chard around to expose the inside of the skillet. Add tomatoes.
3. Cook for 4 minutes.
4. Add in white beans, and cook until the beans are heated through, about 2 minutes.
5. Season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with truffle oil and smoked paprika. Add water if the chard begins to look dry.
6. Serve immediately.

Week of Meals

I started off last week with food on the mind.  On Sunday, I put together a week of meals (five meals). 

It didn't take too much time, maybe an hour or so, and I was able to reward myself for the effort with a nice home brew. I tend to get sick of planning, but I was motivated this week, and so I'd like to share. First here's the list of meals, and I'll post recipes below. 

Day 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta

Day 2: Spaghetti with zucchini and basil

Day 3: Taco salad

Day 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach-bibb lettuce salad

Day 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes with Cajun oven potatoes

On Sunday evening, Allison and Nico, came over for some dinner. We had gone on a bike ride to Mechelen along the canal or Vaartkom just north of the city. It was warm and sunny and was a break from how cold it has been in August.  During dinner, Nico and Allison talked about their 25 favorite meals. It was pretty hilarious because I think they have a shared Google Doc to plan meals. Nico is a fabulous cook (see here).  I loved their idea of a fondue-TV-movie dinner night and was inspired by their list of favorites, especially fried brie.

Here are the recipes:

Meal 1: Mixed beans with tomato bruschetta on homemade bread (Karl baked the bread).  

The beans are a simple recipe from my Deborah Madison cookbook.  It's a good way to use the small quantities of leftover dried beans. 

For the beans:

1 cup mixed beans, soaked and drained (any variety of beans will do, I used adzuki, chickpeas, white beans, and kidney beans)
6 cups water
1 bay leaf
few sprigs parsley and thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp olive oil

Directions
1. Bring the beans, water, oil and aromatics to a simmer. Cover the beans slightly and simmer for 1 hour or until tender.
2. Season with salt, and serve with shredded parmesan, black pepper and fresh chopped parsley or other herbs.

Meal 2:  Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil

This also came out of my Deborah Madison cookbook. I've made it a few times because the zucchini just melts in your mouth and the fresh basil is very tasty.

Spaghetti with Zucchini and Basil 

2 medium zucchini, cut lengthwise, then in bits across

1/3 cup olive oil (use much less on a non-stick skillet, 3 T is fine)

2 garlic cloves, sliced

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 cup milk or half and half (I used milk)

1 lb of spaghetti (or enough for 4-6 persons)

fresh parmesan

1/2 cup of basil, torn into chunks

1. Heat up olive oil  in a wide skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Start heating up the water for the pasta

3. When olive oil is hot, add in garlic. When garlic is fragrant add in zucchini. Cook over medium heat until the squash is soft and brown (about 20 minutes)

4. When pasta water is boiling, cook pasta.

5. When squash is done cooking, stir in milk, salt and pepper. Adjust for seasoning. 

6. Combine the spaghetti with the squash and top with basil and parmesan

Meal 3: Taco salad with chips

I substituted lentils for the smart grounds featured in the recipe.

Meal 4: Mushroom and wild rice soup with peach butter lettuce salad

The soup comes out of my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals. It's a pretty good collection, although I found many recipes to be very meat heavy. 

Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

1 T olive oil

2 cups mushrooms, sliced (any mix of mushrooms will do)

1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped fine

1/2 cup red onion, chopped fine

1 package boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend

1/2 cup ricotta cheese

2 T basil

2 T parsley

1 tsp dried garlic

salt and pepper to taste

2 cups milk (I used 1 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, and 1/2 cup milk)

1. In a soup stockpot heat olive oil and add bell pepper and onion.

2. In a separate sauce pan heat up 2 cups water. 

3. Mix together ricotta, dried garlic, herbs, and salt and pepper in a bowl and set aside. 

4. Add mushrooms to soup stockpot and cook 7 minutes. 

5. When the saucepan full of water boils, add in a boil-in-the-bag wild rice blend, and cook according to package directions. 

6. When mushrooms have cooked down, stir in cheese and milk. Add more salt if needed. Bring to a boil until the soup thickens a bit. 

7. Stir in wild rice and heat through. 

For the salad (serves 2)

1-2 cups washed Bibb lettuce

1 peach, sliced

2 T pumpkin seeds

Dressing:

1.5 T fig or other flavored vinegar

1 T olive oil

1 T water

salt and pepper to taste

Mix together dressing and toss with the salad. 

Meal 5: Quinoa stuffed tomatoes and Cajun oven potatoes

I made this when Nico and Allison came over. It looks like a lot of work, but if you prep things in order everything comes together in about an hour.

For the potatoes:

8 small-medium waxy potatoes, washed and scrubbed

3 T olive oil

For the tomatoes:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained

2 and 1/2 cups water

1 T olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1-2 cups chard, chopped

6 ripe medium-large Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and pulp removed in a bowl

1/2 cup ricotta

1/4 cup basil

1/4 cup parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 tsp red chili powder

1/2 (or more) mixed beans (leftovers from earlier this week), omit if you don't have

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Quarter the potatoes in wedges and toss with 3 T olive oil. Set in a casserole dish and place in oven once hot. Ignore the potatoes while you prep everything else. These will take the longest to cook so get to them first. 

3. In a small sauce pan combine 1 cup quinoa and 2 and 1/2 cups water over medium-high heat.  Stir every 10 minutes. Quinoa will take 15-20 minutes to cook.  The quinoa is done when the water is evaporated and the quinoa looks light and fluffy. While the quinoa cooks you can prep the tomatoes and stuffing. 

4. In a wide skillet, heat up olive oil over medium heat. When oil is shimmering, add in garlic and onion and saute for 3 minutes, or until onion is soft. Add in chard and continue to cook until chard is wilted. Turn off heat and set aside. 

5. In a greased oven casserole dish set tomato halves up.  Break apart the tomato pulp by chopping it up. You can mix it in with the stuffing or stir it with the chard-onion mixture

6. Mix ricotta, herbs, quinoa, salt and pepper and red chili powder together, stir in beans if you have them. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Fill the tomatoes with the mixture and then set them in the oven.  The tomatoes will cook for about 30 minutes.  Turn the potatoes to ensure they are getting nice and roasted. 

You can serve the roasted potatoes in any way, these are my 2 faves:

Rosemary with coarse salt and fresh pepper

Cajun seasoning

Just sprinkle over the potatoes once done and serve. 

Baked Samosas

It was torture. First, the smell of these baking, then you pull them out of the oven (at least 5 minutes went in taking some pics), then within 30 minutes nearly all of them (well, 6 out of 8), gone. Devoured. I will probably never try and find another samosa recipe after this.  It was that good.  It's also a lot healthier than fried samosas, so you can feel entitled to eat nearly all of them.  It takes about 2 hours start to finish.

I blame (I think, I mean thank) Sara. While she was visiting we found a market here that sells prepared samosas. So we went there twice, and also bought some frozen ones from another market.  The prepared samosas look on and off.  The first time, they looked appetizing, the next, they looked stale and oily.  I knew I had to find a fix. Today, after sending off a job application, I settled in for some samosa searching.

I found an absolutely fantastic recipe with instructions from Aarti Paarti
(she is also a contestant on the Next Food Network Star)
Her video instructions were really easy to follow, illustrating how to make the dough and put together all the ingredients.

2 quirks: For the dough, I wanted a whole-grain or whole-wheat crust, so I used a whole-wheat flour instead. I didn't have buttermilk on hand, so I used yogurt.   Next, I don't cook meat so I tried my best to use the ingredients I had on hand to match her deliciously awesome recipe.

Samosa Dough:
Follow her directions but with 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour instead of all-purpose. I kept the pastry flour, because I'm convinced it makes the dough supple.

Samosa stuffing:
Now this is where I am deviating, but I think it's a nice adaptation. The spicy filling holds up well to the nutty dough.

1 large baking potato, scrubbed and washed (I left it unpeeled)
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tsp cumin
1 T smoked Spanish paprika
1 T Thai chili sauce
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1/2 of a lime
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 cup peas, frozen
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1. Boil the potato while you make the dough.
2. While the dough is resting you can smash the potato and add in the other ingredients, stirring in the 1/2 cup of peas and cilantro last.
3. Set aside and start rolling out the dough (back to her directions).

Greek Zucchini Fritters

Recipe is from the New York Times' health and wellness section, Recipes for Health

It feels odd cooking with zucchini in the dead of (what seems like) endless winter, but these reminded me of gardening, which then reminded me of squash borers. Ugh. Then I sighed, and started shredding the zucchini, and learned the Flemish word for them courgette. This is pretty much my train of thought whenever I cook.

Beware that while this dish is delicious and will be devoured immediately (and probably without leftovers) it takes a while (2 hours) to prep. First you have to drain and squeeze all the water out of the squash, and then refrigerate the mixture. It's a fried dish. Mmmm, but with healthy ingredients, so it makes you feel better. Of course I thought it was too much olive oil and reduced the amount - only to be left with gooey-undercooked insides. Use the recommended amount - they'll cook faster and absorb less oil.  Serve with yogurt or tzatziki sauce.

To make a proper meal, I served with some roasted potatoes:

Roasted potatoes:
5-6 small to medium organic potatoes, quartered
1 onion, sliced
1 T fruity olive oil
1/4 cup chopped green beans
1/4 cup mixed green olives (mine contained roasted peppers and pearl onions)
salt and pepper to taste
2 medium skinny chili peppers (like Thai chili peppers)
1/2 of one lemon to be used at the end

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Put the potatoes and onions in a roasting dish and drizzle olive oil on top. Mix well and roast for 20 minutes until either soft or just barely golden.
3. Fold in green beans, olives, and chili peppers and season with salt and pepper. Continue roasting for another 15 minutes. When golden and cooked, remove and squeeze in lemon juice. Adjust salt and pepper if needed.

Potato and Black Bean Burritos with Fresh Salsa

Belgian Burritos! So not really, but I'm really missing Mexican and Tex-Mex foods. I even bought a casserole dish just for this. Well the casserole was advertised as being on sale, but I couldn't understand the Dutch well enough to read that I needed to have 8 Carrefour (the local grocery chain) stamp/tickets to get the "sale" price. Sara - You would LOVE this dish. Miss you lots.  Make the salsa first so the flavors can steep.

Ingredients:

For the burritos

1 large baking potato (or 2 medium sized ones, or 4-6 small ones), diced and cooked. Sweet potatoes are even better in this dish than regular potatoes.
2 cups black beans cooked, or 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 package 8" tortillas (this made enough for 8 burritos)
1 cup shredded cheddar, you can use more or less if cheese is your thing (use monterey jack or whatever yummy US mexican cheese blend you can find)
1/2 cup onion, chopped (you can use the other half in the salsa)
2 cloves garlic, chopped and divided (1 clove in the potatoes, the other in the black beans)
2 tsp cumin, divided (1 tsp in the potatoes and the other in the black beans)
1 tsp ancho chili powder or regular chili powder, divided (yep, same as above)
pinch cayenne
salt to taste
1/2 of a lime (probably one of the halves used to make salsa)

Ingredients for the salsa

3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1 large green bell pepper, finely chopped
2 T chopped onion
1 large garlic clove chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and deveined, and chopped
juice of 2 limes
salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 F, and oil a casserole dish.
2. Cook potatoes either in microwave or boil them. Once done cooking, add in 1 tsp cumin, salt, pinch cayenne, 1/2 tsp of ancho chili powder, and 1 garlic clove. Mash together and set aside. Adjust seasonings if necessary. You can reserve some of the cooking water to make the mashing easier. 
3. In a saucepan, heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat and add onion and the other garlic clove. After 5 minutes, add in cumin, salt, and ancho chili powder. 
4. Next, add in black beans and stir to combine, adding water if it gets too dry. Squeeze 1/2 a lime over the black beans, stir and set aside. Adjust with salt and pepper if necessary.
5. Meanwhile, set out tortillas to warm in the oven to soften them up. Once warm, like a burrito, layer the tortilla with potatoes, cheddar cheese, and black beans. Roll up and place in casserole dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes. 

For the Salsa

1. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, lime juice and salt. Mix well. You may need more or less lime juice, so squeeze in 1 lime, then taste and adjust. 
2. Stir in cilantro and avocado. Adjust seasoning with salt if needed.
3. Serve with burritos.

And one last pica:

Luggage Duds:

Samosa Puffs

Samosa inside, but phyllo outside. The puffs are made up of layers of phyllo dough, which are cut into squares and placed inside a muffin pan, filled with samosa stuffing, and then baked. Prepare the samosa stuffing first, and then the phyllo dough. It should take you about 2 hours from start to finish. Pre-boil the potatoes to reduce prep time.


You'll need a muffin pan, a pizza cutter, cooking spray or a pastry brush, and various pots and pans. Make sure the phyllo has been thawed in the fridge.

Ingredients:

Samosa stuffing:
4 baking potatoes, scrubbed, and cut into large chunks
1 liter water
1 T vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 white onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped (about 2 T ginger)
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
few cracks black pepper (1/4 tsp)
3 T cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup cashews, toasted
1/2 tsp chili pepper
juice from 1 lime (or lemon if you have)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300.
2. Roast cashews for about 10 minutes, until golden.
   
3. Boil the potatoes and water, for about 30 minutes, or until soft. Drain all but 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and mash the potatoes while still hot. Add in small amounts of the cooking water if the potatoes are too dry.
   
4. Heat the oil in a large pot, and add the cumin seeds, fry until aromatic.
5. Add in onion, garlic, ginger, and jalapenos and cook 8 minutes. Add in salt, cumin, garam masala, turmeric, and chili pepper.
   
6. Add in peas and saute.
7. Add in mashed potatoes, cracked black pepper, lime juice and combine well. If the potatoes are too sticky add in a little water and mix.
   
8. Taste to adjust for seasoning, and add in cashews. Turn off the heat once combined and set aside if prepping the phyllo.

Phyllo ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
8 phyllo sheets

Directions:

1. Heat butter in a small saucepan, until melted.
2. 
3. Heat oven to 350.
   
4. Lightly grease a muffin pan and set aside.
   
5. Arrange phyllo on a large jelly roll pan and cover with a damp towel to avoid drying out. You will be arranging 4 layers on top of each other. Phyllo is gentle and can break easily, so just be gentle with the moving. As long as the phyllo stays damp it will not dry out and will be easy to work with.
6. On a clean kitchen counter, lay out a single sheet of phyllo dough, and with a pastry brush lightly coat the surface with butter. Repeat with remaining 3 sheets.
7. 
8. Next, take a pizza cutter and score lengthwise about 4 times, creating columns that are about 2-3" wide. Next score widthwise, about 3 times, creating rows that are 2-3" wide. This will leave you with about 12 squares.
9. 
10. Arrange squares in the muffin pan so that a nice mold is created, until all 12 are arranged.
    
11. 
12. 
13. Next fill each with about 2 T of stuffing.
14. 
15. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until golden.
    
16. Serve right from the oven with some cilantro chutney or mango chutney.
    

Pav Bhaji

I'm going to tell you about the best dish ever. But first, some reflection.




This dish, pav bhaji, takes me back to the day...
Growing up our family ate Gujarati food everyday. Of course Indian food wasn't cool back then, with all of our hand-eating and what not. We ate roti, that I had to constantly explain was like a tortilla, but not; then we had mixed vegetable dishes (shak-bhaji), rice (bath), and dhal (a rotating variety of about 3 kinds, tuver, mung, and channa), then we'd eat yogurt, which my sister and brother would substitute with Cool Whip (haha shak-bhaji with Cool Whip) oh a Seestah classic. We'd have a small salad consisting of radish, carrots, cucumbers and lime juice with cumin and red chili, then pickled mangoes, and sometimes pickled turmeric root that would stain your hands and teeth. And yeah we ate all of this with our hands. It was an embarrassing time to be the only brown kids in your neighborhood (and town). At every chance, my best friend neighborino Christie and I would sneak and trade dinners at least 3 nights a week. I hated the atrocious food my mom would force us to eat, and Christie loved it. While she could eat shak bhaji and roti, I would get her lovely turkey lasagna. She got chutney cucumber sandwiches, I got 3-bean pasta salad, she'd get kitchari, I'd get spaghetti. You'd have to get there early because it was sure to run out (with her 6 brothers and sisters). Oh Christie, you remember those days. Melissa, you too. At least 1 or 2 days out of the week, we'd have leftovers, and we kids would be forced to eat it. Oh. THE ATROCITIES! That was mom, cooking every meal, then re-serving them later in the week.

Then when I was 12, I spent an entire summer in India, eating only Indian foods (we tried pizza once, but the pizza had ketchup for sauce, and shredded Amul cheese on top). I didn't have an epiphany, I just got to experience why my parents loved it so much. Being there, every meal was cooked fresh, and came with 5-6 different dishes. And instead of complaining about the food, my cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents just ate it. No big deal. It was like the best damn Indian buffet you had every gone to. I think this (and later living in Houston for 8 years) set me straight.

My parents now live 3000 miles away from me, and I don't ever get to eat their yummus food, but I do make sure and call to see what meals their eating and cooking and mostly to get mom to tell me how to make this or that. This last time she was making Pav Bhaji, I had to make it, and then write about it. It's really simple, and everything comes together, and the best part is you can host a lot of hungry people with this dish.

Getting her (or really any Indian auntie) to tell me how to prepare something goes somewhat like this: :

Neeli: Mom so how do I make the pav bhaji?
Mom: beta, it is so simple, just put cauliflower and few potatoes in cooker and set for only 1 whistle. Then save that water, you can use it to thicken it later. You've never made? I packed you the pav bhaji spice, it is so simple.
Neeli: OK, but my cooker is broken.
Mom: Oh. boil it!
Neeli: OK, then what?
Mom: Just put in mixed vegetable bag with some tomatoes and just 1-2 spoonfuls of pav bhaji and you can add whatever other spices by smelling and tasting it. Make sure you use enough potatoes.
Neeli: how important are the potatoes?
Mom: Very! you must have potatoes in this dish. So how many you have? Oh and remember to put masalu (this is code for the holy trinity, chili, ginger, garlic). You can add onion too.


They'll never tell you all the spices or all the steps. Pretty much every dish she has every told me goes a lot like that. Getting food to taste right means tasting it, looking at it, and smelling it. I've never gotten exact measurements, but when she explains it this way, something in me gets it, and the dishes that come out when I think of her, would amaze her. I hope you'll try this, and let me know how it turns out

Pav Bhaji or Indian-style veggie burgers

Ingredients:
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed (russets or baking potatoes are best because of their fancy starch content)
1 large head cauliflower, cut into big chunks
1 or 2 small bell peppers, diced fine
jalapeno, seeds and veins removed, chopped
garlic, smashed
ginger, grated or minced fine
tomatoes (1 can, diced)
carrot, diced fine
1-2 T pav bhaji masala mix
1-2 t salt
1/2 t turmeric
1 T cumin
2 limes or lemons. Squeeze one of them, and slice the other in wedges for garnish
2 medium sized onions, chopped fine. Set aside 1 cup for garnish
2-3 T butter (more or less)
water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
good quality hearty hamburger buns, or some hearty crusty bread
butter for the bread

(Note: if you don't have bell peppers or carrots, just toss in a frozen bag of peas and carrots or mixed vegetables. You can buy the Pav Bhaji masala mix at a South Asian grocery store, just read the label to make sure it has no added salt)

Directions:

1. Option 1: put potatoes and cauliflower in a pressure cooker and set for 1 whistle.
   
2. Option 2: Heat a large stockpot with water, and boil potatoes and cauliflower together until soft enough to mash. Reserve the water from either method above. Mash when still warm - watch out for spurts, they'll burn.
3. In another stockpot, melt the butter, and add onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. Saute about 5 minutes. Next add in carrots and tomatoes. Add pav bhaji mix through cumin. Taste and adjust seasonings if you need more salt, or pav bhaji mix (if you want it spicier) It may taste bland at this point.
4. Add in mashed potato and cauliflower mixture, lime or lemon juice, and more water if the mixture is too dry. Bring to a simmer, continue cooking 10-15 minutes
5. Meanwhile, butter the bread rolls and assemble garnishes in bowls or on a platter. Bake the rolls until crispy and soft.
6. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. You may want to stir in a little bit more butter, some lime juice, or salt. Garnish with the chopped cilantro and serve in bowls along with the bread, onions and lime.
7. They are best open-faced and topped with onions and squeeze of lime.
   

Potato Pancakes with Mint Raitu

It's heading into fall in central NC, and the garden is still a growing. Cukes, carrots, and lots of mint and basil got used in this. A food processor makes shredding the potatoes easy, but if you don't have one, just shred them with a wide handle box grater. These cook up nicely on a cast-iron skillet. Serve fresh with some raitu.


Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:
yield: 8 cakes
3-4 medium potatoes (I had yukon on hand)
1 onion, quartered
2 T red opal basil (if you have, makes for nice color), chopped
2 T green basil, chopped
1 t salt
1/2 t lemon pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, mixed
1/4 cup oil, divided

(basically any herbs you want to add will probably taste good)

Directions:

1. Shred potatoes and onion together and place in a mixing bowl.
2. 
3. Add in basil through eggs and stir together well. Be liberal with the breadcrumbs.
4. 
5. Heat half of the vegetable oil in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Put a oven-safe plate in the oven, and turn to 200.
   
6. When skillet is hot, form patties with your hand and place in skillet. You should be able to cook 4 on a 12" skillet. Cook until golden, usually 8 minutes per side.
7. 
8. Meanwhile begin assembling raitu.
9. Cook until golden on both sides. Add in additional oil if needed for preparing the rest of the cakes. To keep warm, place on oven-safe dish, and cover until ready to serve.
10. 

Mint Raitu

Ingredients:
1 cup whole-milk yogurt (you can use the low-fat variety if that is your thing)
1/4 cup shredded cucumber
2 T shredded carrot (1/2 carrot)
1/2 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1/2 t salt
1/8 t lemon pepper
2 T mint, chiffoned

Directions

1. Mix together, taste, and adjust seasoning if needed.
2. Thin with water if necessary.