Channa dhal curry and grilled patty pan squash

No surprise here, another pressure cooker lentil recipe. This time, channa dhal is used (channa is yellow split pea). Channa dhal is highly nutritious. What is channa? Basically, a young version of a garbanzo or chickpea. It's packed with fiber, protein, and carbs; it has a healthy dose of iron and calcium, and it, like many other dried beans, is a great source of folate, biotin, and choline. ¹ The tomatoes in the dish make the iron more bioavailable. Since tomatoes contain Vitamin C they enhance iron absorption. ¹ This dish is just good. It can be used as a base for other beans or lentils, or you can sub in tofu, or chicken, or potatoes. Whatever floats your boat. I served mine with some grilled summer patty pan squash, basmati rice, yogurt, and some sambal olek.

This summer, I've been playing ultimate almost three times a week. Holy smokes, Seattle has an amazeballs ultimate scene. To get to the fields, I started riding my bike. I've been putting over 30 miles on my commuter hybrid a week (I have a 2008 Trek). To get home, I ride up a fairly long incline, and have decided to upgrade to a road bike. So if there are any foodie readers that are also bike riders, what should I be looking for?

I'm not into racing as a sport. I primarily ride on asphalt (did I really just type asphalt?), and I use my bike for most errands within a short distance. The things I like about my current bike set up: it's a workhorse, it has a rack with bike saddle bags that I use all the time. When I lived in AL, and commuted to work, I added fenders. I'd like to keep those elements. What I don't like: my bike is heavy, and slow, and I have a love/hate relationship when riding up hills. I view the uphill climb as a cardio workout, but I would like some efficiency.

On the weekends, when the weather is good, I like going for long bike rides. I've ridden up to Kenmore and Woodinville on my hybrid. The hubs has a road bike so I slow us down a lot. So far, I've been doing some online research, visiting and riding bikes at bike shops, and keeping a spreadsheet of different models, price ranges, and specs. A few weekends ago, I tried out two bikes from the same make (Raleigh Ravenio/Capri 2.0 and 3.0). The difference between my bike and the road bike was astounding. The road bikes were zippy and responsive. I would not use those two terms on my current hybrid. My hybrid is a great bike for occasional rides, that will occur on largely flat surfaces. I love that it got me used to the idea of using a bike for getting around town. Sadly, I think I have outgrown it.

Channa dhal curry with grilled patty pan squash
Yield: 4 generous servings, 1 squash per person

Ingredients
1 cup channa dhal
2 cups water
1 cup rice, such as Basmati or Jasmine rice
2 and 1/4 cups water for the rice
1-2 tbsp oil
1/2 cup onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp finely minced or grated ginger
1 jalapeño, diced (optional)
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 to 1 cup water, keep on the side.

Dry Spices*
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika or red chili powder (use paprika if you want it less spicy)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
lots of cracks of fresh black pepper
*if you don't have all these spices, a commercial curry mix can be subbed in easily instead. Just use 1-2 tbsp, and remember the more you use, the spicier it will be.

Garnishing spices/seasoning*
1 tsp salt (if using a commercially prepared mix, check to see if it has salt)
1 tbsp ground, coriander
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
*if you don't have all of these, I would solely recommend salt and the cilantro.

Directions for the Channa dhal curry 
Step 1. Soak the channa dhal in the 2 cups of water, and set aside while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

Step 2. Prepare the rice. I use a rice cooker with the following amounts: 1 cup long grain white rice to 2 and 1/4 cups water. Turn the rice cooker on and forget it. Come back later, voilá: rice!

Step 3. Measure out the dry spices in a small bowl and set aside.

Step 4. In the small pressure fry pan pressure cooker (PC), heat up 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot, add in onions and stir. Cook 2 minutes.

Step 5. Add in garlic, ginger, and jalapeños. Stir and let cook 1 minute. Add the dry spices and cook until the mixture becomes very dry. Then, add the tomatoes, and stir it together. The tomatoes will release water and everything will come together as the tomatoes cook. Let cook 4 minutes.

Step 6. Rinse the channa dhal, and add it to the PC. Stir in 1 to 1/2 cups of water and close the cooker. The liquid amount should not exceed the 1/2 mark on the PC.

Step 7. Turn the heat to high and bring the PC to low pressure (first red ring), and cook 14 minutes at low pressure. Once pressure is reached, turn the heat to the lowest setting to maintain low pressure (usually low heat). If using a glass range, move the PC off the heat for a minute or so. At the same time, turn the heat to the lowest setting, and then add the PC back on. When the time is up, turn the heat off and move the PC off the burner. Use the natural release method. This just means moving the PC off the burner and letting the pressure release naturally. It should take ~10 minutes. Use this time to prepare the garnishing.

Step 8. Once the PC is ready, remove the lid, and add the garnishing spices and seasoning. Taste for salt, and add a little more if needed. Serve over rice, and pass yogurt at the table. Top with the grilled patty pan squash (recipe follows below).

Grilled patty pan squash
Yield: 4 servings, 1 squash each

Ingredients:
4 patty pan squash, cut in half (you could also use compact summer or zucchini squash cut in halves)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt to taste (I am loving this flaked sea salt at the moment)
fresh black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions for patty pan squash
Step 1. Heat the grill to medium high heat if using a gas grill.

Step 2. In a large bowl, add halved patty pan squash and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top and toss the patty pan squash until the sides are evenly coated. Add the paprika and repeat.

Step 3. When the grill is hot, place the squash, cut side down on the grill and cook about 5-7 minutes per side. Use tongs to flip them over. Thicker (bigger) squash will require more heat. I like them slightly undercooked because they stay crunchier.

1. Brown J. Nutrition Through the Life Cycle. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning; 2014.

Spaghetti with beluga lentils

This is my version of a healthy marinara sauce with lentils. Lentils cook in no time in the pressure cooker. Surely by now, I've at least convinced you how awesome a pressure cooker is? I won't give up on you!

This recipe comes together quickly if you can think of it in 3 steps. Step 1, prepare the lentils in the pressure cooker. Step 2, prepare the marinara sauce, and Step 3, cook the spaghetti noodles. Most of the time, I start the pasta boiling water first, and then get to my tomato sauce, but you know your own ability to multitask.

This recipe is dedicated to my hubs. See hubs, now you know how I make it!

Spicy tomato sauce or marinara with beluga lentils

Yield: 4 servings, about 1 and 1/4 cup sauce per serving

Ingredients:

1/2 cup dried beluga lentils or regular green lentils

1 and 1/2 to 2 cups water

2 cloves garlic

a generous pour of olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

1 large carrot, or 2 medium carrots, peeled and quarter diced

1/4 to 1/3 cup of white wine, enough to barely cover bottom of pan (I think red would be fine too; honestly, I've used whatever is in the fridge or pantry) - use vegetable broth or water if avoiding wine.

2 T dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

2 T dried parsley 

1 tsp dried red chili flakes

1 and 1/4 tsp salt

1, 28 oz can San Marzano style tomatoes either whole or in chunks * see my note below

1/2 cup water

freshly grated parmesan

basil or parsley to garnish

To boil spaghetti

4 quarts water plus salt to boil

1/2 package or 1/2 lb whole wheat thin spaghetti

Special tools: None besides a good knife, and cutting board. Use the small pressure cooker fry pan for the lentils. For the marinara sauce and the spaghetti, have 2 pots ready. The first should be a large pot to cook pasta, the second should be a wide stir fry pan with a sturdy lid. If you don't have a pressure cooker, cook the lentils in a large pot.

*My cooking note: If using whole peeled canned tomatoes, blend half or 3/4 of the tomatoes in a blender and leave the rest sort of roughly chopped. It is OK with me if you want no chunks, just blend all of it. Do this before you get started. 

Directions:

See my note above indicated with * above.

Step 1: Add the lentils to the small pressure fry pan pressure cooker. Add the water, stir, and set the cooker over high heat on the stove (these are the first two ingredients on the ingredients list). Close the lid to the pressure cooker. Bring to the first red ring (low pressure) and cook 10 minutes on low pressure. Once time is up, remove the cooker from the heat, and set aside to cool down using the natural release method. 

Step 2: Prepare the pasta cooking water. Add the water and salt to a large pot. Depending on your stove, you can begin heating up the water for the pasta. 

Step 3: In a separate wide enough skillet with a lid, heat up a few generous glugs of olive oil over medium heat. Once hot add in the onions and stir, and then add in the garlic and carrots. Cook until the onions begin to just brown slightly. Pour in the wine, and cook until half of the wine is evaporated. 

Step 4: Add in the herbs and spices and stir together. Next, add in the tomato sauce, water, and salt. Turn the heat down to medium low heat,  and cover with a lid so that the sauce doesn't splatter on the cooking range. The water for the pasta should be close to boiling. If not, wait. The sauce will just continue to cook and thicken up a bit. 

Step 5: When the pasta water is ready and boiling, add the spaghetti, or other desired pasta, and cook until ready.  Next, drain the lentils from the pressure cooker, and then add them to the tomato sauce. Stir and taste the tomato sauce for herbs and salt. 

Step 6: When the pasta is done cooking, reserve 1 cup of the hot pasta cooking water and then drain off the pasta in a colander. Toss a little olive oil and a few splashes of the hot remaining pasta cooking water to keep the noodles separate. This is my favorite trick to serving pasta hot.

When ready to serve, add about 1 cup of cooked noodles to a plate and top with 1 and 1/4 cups of sauce. Pass fresh parmesan and chopped parsley at the table. 

Black bean galette with smoked sun-dried tomatoes and chipotle

The ever so agreeable Two Hearted

I have an unhealthy obsession with galette dough. It has all but five ingredients, and it just never fails. It's got bite, it's flaky without compromise, and it is remarkably forgiving when it's rolled out. It takes a bit of patience to get the technique down. I prefer hand mashing the ice cold butter in with my hand and a fork, but a stand mixer or hand mixer would make this convenient dough, ready much faster. If you make this and live in a hot climate, ice the counter down with ice or ice packs, before you roll it out. It'll help keep the butter in solid form.

This galette has black beans, smoked sun-dried tomatoes, and queso quesadilla, but you can also just follow the fast and furious black beans empanada post for another version of this exact recipe. The smoked sun-dried tomatoes taste like bacon! I kid you not! They are so delicious! The queso quesadilla is similar to a medium white cheddar (or an oude gouda) and a mont jack or light cheddar could be used instead. Serve with a smoky hot salsa, and salad. Leftovers can last up to a week in the fridge.


Black bean galette with smoked sun-dried tomatoes and chipotle.  
Yield: 6 servings, large-ish wedges, but more likely to serve 4 hungry people.
Ingredients:
1 recipe galette dough
2-3 tbsp tomato chunks, or pizza sauce
2 cups cooked black beans, or 1 14 oz can black beans rinsed and drained
1 green onion, 2-3 green onions if small, chopped fine
handful cilantro chopped
zest of a lime
1 chipotle pepper, chopped fine plus 1 and 1/2 tbsp adobo sauce
1-2 tsp cumin
1-2 tbsp smoked sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 oz quesadilla cheese (queso quesadilla or mont jack and cheddar blend), sliced thinly or grated.


Directions:
If you have an hour or so, prep the galette dough and store it in the fridge until you've assembled the pie ingredients. It should take less than an hour to prep. This step can be assembled ahead of time.

Preheat the oven to 375º F/190º C. For the filling, place all ingredients, except the cheese, in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Adjust the seasonings for taste.

When ready, roll out the galette dough on the counter up to 14" in diameter, about 1/4" thick. Once rolled out, fold into quarters and place on the back of a baking sheet. Unfold the quarters, you want the edges to hang off the baking sheet. Spoon a few tomato chunks onto the rolled out galette dough, and make a circle about 10" wide. This should be a very thin layer. Spoon the black bean mixture on top, top with the cheese, and fold the galette onto itself making pleats as you fold up. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown. Let stand a few minutes before cutting and serving.

Thank you Sara: A Bell's Two Hearted accompanies this quite well. I could nerd out on the acidity and the complimentary mouth feel of light hop presence matching the spiciness of the chipotle, but I had this along with a Victory Prima Pils, and while they were both delicious, the Two Hearted felt like it held up to the galette. Mmm Two Hearted. Mmmm.

Yellow split pea and calabash squash curry

Split yellow peas.

Calabash squash, a type of young bottle gourd.

Onions, ginger, and garlic sauteing along with fenugreek, udad dhal, and mustard seeds. 

Prepping the calabash squash.

A thicker consistency before adding the split yellow peas.

Thin the dish with enough water to let everything fill out.

Squash chunks get added.

June 14, 2012 update: Laura, of the ever-spectacular Hip Pressure Cooking, was kind enough to share my (mom's) recipe in her Reader Recipes. I've been a fan of pressure cooking for a long time, and her cooker reviews and lessons can be transformational to anyone that cooks. Her approach is to bring this method of cooking to about any cuisine, and after scanning her pics, she pretty much nails them. My personal favorites (those I have bookmarked until I get my own pressure cooker) of Laura's are: tamales, eggs, crema Catalana, and artichokes.

If you're new to pressure cooking, but are intrigued and curious, check out the July 2012 Pressure Cooker Challenge. Join a community of support, build up skills, and share your recipes and techniques.

Mom's dudhi channa shak or yellow split pea and squash curry. One of a dozen recipes I have carefully gleaned on my trip home. 

In getting the Gujarati term for this squash/gourd correct, I did a few web searches, and asked each parent to spell it before settling on a spelling. Dudhi. Doothi. Doodhi. In Hindi, lauki.  Calabash squash is a type of bottle gourd which is used when it's young and green. If you can find it (usually at an Asian or south Asian market) peel the skin off and remove the seeds. It's mild, and it holds its shape well in curries or soups which are simmered. However, don't let it scare you off - yellow summer squash or zucchini squash can be used instead of the calabash squash.

Although the recipe ingredient list looks long you can omit many of the spices you don't have, or add spices such as increasing the heat with extra jalapenos or red chili powder. First read the recipe all the way through. Soak the lentils first, then prep the ingredients. This soaking time will help reduce the total cooking time of the lentils. This dish can be cooked in a pressure cooker which can cut cooking time in half, or can be cooked in a pot on the stove. A pressure cooker is high on my wish list of solid kitchen tools. 

The cooking times and directions have been written for stove-top and pressure cooker cooking methods. Serve the finished dish alongside some buttered hot pita bread, or over rice. Since it's close to Thanksgiving, it would make an excellent vegetarian/vegan main course, or perhaps even a one-pot meal for the weekend. With days of steady rain projected for the Pacific Northwest weather, this dish really hits the spot. 

Yellow split pea and calabash squash curry

(Dudhi channa ni shak)

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow split peas; soaked in water in a bowl, set aside.

1 tbsp peanut oil

1/4 tsp udad dhal, optional

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds, optional

1/2 tsp mustard seeds, optional

pinch asafoetida, or hing, optional

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, chopped fine

1/2 cup onion, chopped fine

water as needed

2 cups calabash squash, peeled and cut into 1" chunks. Remove the seeds (ok to substitute unpeeled yellow summer squash or zucchini squash)

1/3 cup tomato chunks, thinned with about 2 tbsp of water

1/2 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin, ground

1 tsp coriander, ground

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, divided, safe half for garnish

1-2 tsps garam masala, to add just before serving

red chili flakes to be passed when served

Directions for stove-top method:

Approx. cooking time: 40 minutes

1. Wash the yellow split peas well. Place them in a medium size bowl and cover them with water.

2. Add the oil to a medium-sized pot, and heat up over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add in the udad dhal, fenugreek and mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds begin to pop (about 1 minute) add in the asafoetida powder. Stir everything together and then add the onions, garlic, and ginger. Continue to saute, turning the heat down to medium. If omitting the optional ingredients, add the onions, garlic, and ginger to the oil and saute until golden. 

3. Add the yellow split peas (along with the water they are soaking in) to the pot along with 1-2 cups of water. Add the tomato chunks thinned with a bit of water, turmeric, salt, cumin and coriander. 

4. Add the calabash squash chunks (see note below about subbing squashes), and half of the chopped cilantro. Stir everything together and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let cook 30-35 minutes. Stir it often, and check to see how the lentils and squash are cooking. The dish is done when the lentils are cooked, the squash is easily pierced with a fork, and the dish can be served over rice without being too soupy.  

5. Stir in garam masala and the chopped cilantro and serve. 

(Note: if subbing in summer squash or zucchini, let the lentils cook for 30-35 minutes before adding the squash in. The curry can be cooked an additional 10 minutes. This will prevent the squash from over cooking and falling apart. 

Directions for a pressure cooker:

Approx. cooking time: 25 minutes

Follow steps 1-4 in the directions above, but only add 1 cup of water. Because the pressure cooker cooks everything super fast the extra water is not necessary to accommodate the water that boils off on the stove top. Once you bring the curry to a nice simmer as in step 4, set the pressure cooker to 3 whistles on medium-high heat. 

If using summer squash or yellow squash, increase the soaking time of the lentils to 1 hour, and cook the mixture to a max of 2 whistles. It may take some adjustment, but it will prevent the squash from turning into a soggy mess, and should cook the lentils. Finish the dish by stirring in garam masala and chopped cilantro. 

Ubiquitous Lentils

Ubiquitous spicy lentils

I make this dish when I remember to cook lentils, because the recipe makes a lot of lentils, and the dish can go in everything. These ubiquitous lentils were used to top a salad, as a side dish to enchiladas, they were stuffed inside calzones, and were consumed after Friday happy hour. I've been cooking up plain lentils and beans lately to have on hand to add to many other dishes. Pre-cooked plain beans and lentils can be added to soups, pastas, salads, top pizzas, thrown into burritos or quesadillas, or put on toast. Canned varieties are a fine substitute, but home-cooking them is easier and cheaper. I must have been thinking about Herbivoracious's Mexican cowboy beans when I made this, so I'm dedicating these lentils to that delicious blog.

I just got done reading Mark Bittman's essay Cooking Solves Everything: How Time in the Kitchen Can Save Your Health, Your Budget, and Even the Planet. If your familiar with Bittman, you'll know he writes about food and cooking with a real food real ingredients mentality. As a cook, it was inspirational and reminded me how important it is to share cooking, in whatever fashion, with others because home-cooked meals made from largely unprocessed foods are rare. If you cook simple healthy foods on a daily basis you have the ability to impact behaviors of others around you because cooking and feeding people involves people to react to what you are putting in front of them whether it tastes good or bad.

Cooking and sharing meals changes the perceptions of the how and what of cooking meals. Cooking impacts health because by cooking on a daily basis you have the ability to cook healthy foods and serve yourself normal portions of food, and avoid prepared foods that derive the majority of their flavor from salt (either as sodium or MSG), fat, sugar, and other flavor enhancers. These foods, the bulk of which are highly processed, or restaurant and fast foods, are bad for health. Bad. Bad. Bad.

Cooking, while not as obvious as it seems, supports local food economies. Bittman argues that cooks, that cook a lot get selective about ingredients, and are tuned into the cost of the food they are buying; they purchase seasonally, not because they are dedicated locavores, or trendy foodies, but because cooks purchase and select the foods they cook with. Most grocery stores, while they stock huge varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables, run the best deals on seasonal produce. The best part about this, is that it's usually right in front of you as you go into any grocery store.

I have been following the Food Day events that have been going around nationally. My friend, Alyse, helped organize the NC Food Day where they organized over 1060 lbs of fresh fruits and veg for needy families. The Food Day campaign aims to raise awareness and action on local foods policies to support local food economies, promote sustainable agriculture, protect the environment by exposing big agribusiness marketing and manufacturing, and improve nutrition and chronic disease knowledge. It fits closely with the Bittman's essay because cooking is a one-step action to supporting better health and stronger food economies.

Ubiquitous Lentils

Ingredients:

olive or peanut oil for sauteing

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

a tad bit of beer to reduce (optional)

2 tomatoes, chopped, or diced plain canned tomatoes

salt to taste

1 chipotle pepper, chopped

1 tsp herbs (optional, such as oregano or thyme)

1 tbsp cumin

2-3 cups cooked lentils, more or less, or 2 cans of lentils, rinsed and drained.

water to bring everything together, or broth

Fresh squeeze of lime

Directions:

1. In a wide and deep saute pan, cook onions and garlic together in olive oil over medium-high heat. After they start looking golden, reduce them a bit with a splash or two of beer. You can use any variety you like. You don't have beer? No worries, just skip. Cooking and quaffing a beer are side by side activities in my book. I tend to drink a lot of Belgian strong golden ales (such as Duvel), so I used a few splashes just to see what it would taste like, it was good.

2. It will sound fancy and smell good. Stir in the tomatoes, salt, chopped chipotle peppers, herbs and cumin. Stir it all around, and then add the cooked lentils.

3. Add in the broth or water and cook until combined and reduced down a bit. Should take about 20 minutes, or less. Squeeze with lime and serve. Can store up to a week in the fridge.  

5-bean chili with Leffe brown beer and chipotle peppers

I try to cook beans from scratch because I like that they aren't too processed, but I use canned beans too. To make it easier to use dried beans, I'll share how I normally prep them. I either soak the beans, in a huge bowl filled with lots of water, first thing in the morning, or I soak them overnight. If you soak them in the morning, you can cook the beans when you prep dinner; if you soak overnight, you can cook them first thing in the morning. They can cook, mostly ignored, in a large soup stockpot, or pressure cooker, or crock-pot (see this post on cooking beans and lentils). Once done cooking, you can store the cooled beans and broth in the fridge until ready to use. If you start doing this 2 days per week, you'll have lots of healthy beans to throw into random dishes. For example, stirring in a cup of mixed beans into a pasta dish, topping a salad, filling a burrito with them, or beans on toast. Or perhaps some spicy chili for a cool fall day?

I've used the Belgian Leffe brown beer for this because it has a balanced subtle sweetness, and I like the malty notes it left in the chili. Use any brown or amber beers (or really any beer you feel like dumping into a soup pot) with a nice body and aroma. Plus it's always cool to cook with beer. 

5-bean chili with Leffe brown beer and chipotle peppers

Ingredients: listed in order of use

Yield: 4 servings, about 1 and 1/2 cups

1 and 1/4 cup dried beans, (any mixture of dried black beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, pinto beans, white beans) soaked and cooked; Canned beans are totally fine too. Use 2 or 3, 14 oz cans of different canned beans.

1 tsp olive oil

1 red onion

1 bay leaf

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 cup Leffe dark beer, slightly more if foamy at first (let it reduce by half), 

1 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 Tbsp chili powder (recipe below)

1 small canned chipotle pepper, about 1 tbsp chopped pepper, add more for extra heat

remainder of beer

1 cup canned diced tomatoes

1 cup corn, frozen or canned

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

cilantro to garnish

1/2 tsp salt (to taste if not enough)

yogurt and shredded cheese (optional for garnish)

Chili powder:

1 T of smoked paprika

1 T cumin

1 T oregano (or other mixed herbs such as thyme, mint,)

1/8 tsp cayenne powder

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

This is a variation that can be adjusted to your taste and preference. The smoked paprika is very delicious in this dish. I'd recommend adding a tsp to the chili just before serving. Mix all the spices together in a small bowl and set aside until ready to use.

Directions:

1. Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil. Once the onions turn a bit golden, add in 1 cup or more of the beer. It will foam and settle down, releasing a delicious smell. Let it reduce by half, then add in the green bell peppers.
2. Add in 2 T of the spice mixture and the chipotle peppers (a chopped chipotle pepper should be about 2 tbsp).
3. Add the cooked beans to the pot along with the about 1 cup of the bean broth. If using canned beans, rinse and drain them (it removes the salty brine taste), and use 1 cup water instead. Pour the rest of the beer into the chili, along with 1 cup of chopped tomatoes. Stir to combine, turn up heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Before serving add in 1 cup of canned corn (if using frozen corn add it in 10 minutes before the chili is done). Stir in rest of beer and 1tbsp of lime juice.

Top with a dollop of plain yogurt, shredded cheese and garlic bread.

Fast and Furious Black Bean Empanadas

Just when I was beginning to think chipotle peppers were so two years ago, I pulled some out of the freezer. Once opened, canned chipotle peppers can be frozen. When ready to use, just remove them and chop them into the dish you're preparing. These are spicy empanadas, use 1 pepper or 1/2 if you don't like spicy foods. The chipotle lends a subtle smokiness. Ready-made pastry dough and canned black beans make this a fast dish. These are easy to put together once you have all the ingredients ready.

Fast and Furious Black Bean Empanadas

Serves: 4 Yield: 1 large empanada

1 ready-made refrigerated pastry dough

1 cup dried black beans, soaked and cooked, or 1, 14 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained

4 spring onions, chopped

1/2 cup or more cream cheese

2 chipotle peppers, chopped. Handle peppers with gloves.

1/3 cup tomato chunks, from canned tomato chunks

1/2 cup shredded cheese or queso quesadilla

Preheat oven to 400 °F on the broiler setting. Move the racks to the lowest setting. You will broil for the first 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350 °F and bake for another 30 minutes.

Directions:

1. Add chopped green onions to a large mixing bowl. Add in cream cheese and chopped chipotle peppers. Stir to combine.

2. Add in black beans and continue to stir together until combined. The beans should be coated. Adjust for taste. I didn't add any salt, and found that the chipotle gave it enough smoke and salt.

3. Roll out the pastry on a large baking sheet or cold pizza stone. You should be able to unroll the pastry directly onto the baking sheet or stone. Add half of the prepared filling to one-half of the pastry. You'll fold it over on one side like a calzone, or the way you'd fold a sheet of paper in half. Spread the black beans in an even layer. Leave a 3/4" border.

4. Fold the pastry on top of the black bean mixture and fold up the edges slightly. Take the tines of a fork and push the rolled edges down to seal in the stuffing.

5. Bake at 400 °F on broil for the first 8-10 minutes. Turn heat down to 350 °F and bake another 30 minutes.  

Chipotle Salsa

Salsa ingredients + lazy Friday afternoon + bad photography = chipotle salsa!

orange bell peppers getting diced

green bell peppers getting prepped

After hand-chopping almost a dozen of these guys, I realized I needed a picture. Tomato love.

Jars of chipotle salsa

and since it's a lazy Friday:

Duds' shows off his stretching

Not sure if salsa is kitty appropriate

This is a delicious, hearty, spicy, tasty, slightly smoky fresh salsa and I can't wait to share it on here. I've been eating it this entire past month. The recipe comes from my family in NC, I can't remember when I copied it down, but I've held onto it for a few years. It's easy to prepare and freezes well. You can chop all ingredients by hand – it'll take about an hour; a food processor will certainly speed things up, and can be used as well.

S and K's Chipotle Salsa

2 and ½ lbs ripe tomatoes, chopped fine

1 onion, chopped fine

1-2 bell peppers (green, red, or yellow), chopped fine

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small can, 7.5 oz chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped fine

2 tsp of adobo sauce

1-2 tbsp lime juice

1-2 tbsp vinegar (e.g. white-wine vinegar is fine)

1-2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp cumin

1-2 tsp oregano (dried is fine)

½ cup cilantro, chopped fine

For a super hot salsa, count 1-2 chipotle peppers per tomato; for a medium salsa use 4-5 chipotle peppers for the batch, and for a mild salsa use 2-3 chipotle peppers for the batch. Use gloves to handle peppers. Start off adding half the chipotle amount, taste and adjust, and add extra as needed. The salsa can get spicy quickly.

If using a food processor you'll whip this up in no time. Attach the chopping blades and mince whole garlic first. Add in onions (prepped as quarters) and chop to combine. Chop until desired consistency is reached. Remove to a bowl, or a large soup stockpot. Add in bell peppers (prepped as quarters), chop then remove. Finally, add in tomatoes (prepped as quarters) with chipotle peppers (kept whole) and chop until desired consistency is reached. Add all chopped ingredients to a large mixing bowl, or a large soup stockpot. Stir in adobo sauce, lime juice through cilantro and combine. If adding additional chipotle peppers, just chop them in the food processor and add to the pot.

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients together in a large soup stockpot. Stir to combine and adjust for taste.
2. Heat up salsa over medium heat and simmer 10-15 minutes. Once cool, ladle into jars and set in fridge. You can freeze extras, thaw overnight in the fridge and it's ready to eat.

Channa Masala

I love the smaller denser heartier black chickpeas or kala channa, but if you can't find them, regular chickpeas or garbanzo beans are fine. The term chickpeas and garbanzo beans can be used interchangeably, while black chickpeas are actually much smaller and darker. 

Since Indian foods tend to have longer ingredient lists with some hard to find spices (and who wants to buy a spice you'll use once?) try this: omit the things you don't have, and add the ones you do. Harder to find ingredients are marked as optional. This dish freezes well. Channa masala is usually served with rice or chappati (or naan), some yogurt, and salad. Try serving it on top of couscous. Couscous cooks in 5 minutes, and is a timesaver.

Channa Masala or Black Chickpeas Curry

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 tsp cumin seeds (optional)

1/2 tsp udad dhal, (optional)

pinch asafoetida (hing), (optional)

1/2 cup onions, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp ginger, minced fine

1 small jalapeno, seeded, deveined and minced (optional)

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp paprika

2, 14 oz cans chickpeas/garbanzo beans or 1 and ½ cups black chickpeas or regular chickpeas prepared by soaking and cooking.

1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes (or 1-2 chopped tomatoes)

1 tsp fenugreek powder, if using seeds, toasted and ground (optional)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp garam masala (optional)

cilantro and green onions, optional for garnish

salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat up oil in a large soup stockpot. Once hot add in cumin seeds, udad dhal, and hing. Fry until fragrant.
2. Add in onions, garlic, ginger, and jalapeno. Stir-fry.
3. Add in turmeric, cumin powder, and paprika. Stir everything together. 
4. Stir in chickpeas, tomatoes, fenugreek powder, and water. Add more water if too thick. Stir everything together. 
5. Partially cover and bring to a simmer. Cook 20 minutes.
6. Stir in garam masala, taste to adjust for salt, and top with cilantro and green onions.

Gujarati Bittermelon or karela ni shak

Bittermelons, also called karela

Cut in half, then remove the seeds

bittermelons waiting to be stir-fried

Karela with garlic, ginger, onions, and mustard seeds.

Served with some black chickpeas and couscous, and potatoes 

When was the last time you tried a totally new food? I recently retried eating bittermelon, or in Gujarati, karela (kha-reh-la). Bittermelons are a type of really bitter squash with a spicy, slightly pungent taste, that works to clear the palette. I think bittermelons taste very good with lentils and dhal. 

Up for a bitter treat? 

Growing up, bitter flavors were loved by my parents (fenugreek leaves called methi, bittermelon, unripe mangoes, pani-puri pani, vhal – a type of broad bean similar to limas, and even cilantro). Bittermelon is not exactly kid-friendly food. As kids, we'd explain how awful the bitter taste was, and how nothing could mask (we'd dip our veggies in ketchup, Cool Whip, drown it in yogurt, dhal, whatever) that awful mouth puckering bitter flavor. My parents, having a strict no food-waste policy, would force us to finish our plates. Begrudgingly, we'd finish the food, complaining all the while, and taking dollops of Cool Whip out (somehow this was allowed). All those years of forcing us to clean our plates did not create a terrible relationship with the foods we grew up eating, my siblings and I love food (sweet, sour, bitter and salty!) Now we force those foods on our friends and families.

Today, bitter foods do not bother me. I love methi theplas (a type of tortilla made with fenugreek leaves – and btw, mom, if you're reading this I need that recipe), and I have tried lambic guezes and other wild ales which are both sour and bitter. So why not try bittermelon again? Most Asian or South Asian stores carry them. Look for warty green spiky cucumber-like squash with no obvious bruising or wilting. Asians and South Asians LOVE bittermelon. This is a simple way to prepare them, and is my mom's way of prepping them. I served this with some black chickpeas, potatoes, and couscous.

Indians believe that bittermelon, and many bitter fruits and vegetables, helps to reduce or improve the symptoms of type 2 diabetes - and that their consumption can also work to prevent type 2 diabetes. They also believe that bitter foods help thin the blood, which results in less cardiovascular diseases. 

Gujarati-style Bittermelon

(Karela ni shak)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

2 small-medium bittermelons (4-6” long)

1 tsp olive oil

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 tsp, ginger, chopped fine

½ tsp mustard seeds

pinch of asafoetida or hing

½ cup onion, diced

½ cup water

1-2 tomatoes, diced (helps to cut down on bitterness)

salt to taste

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp cumin

cilantro to garnish

Directions:

1. Wash and cut the bittermelons in half. Cut the halves lengthwise and remove the seeds. You can also cut it into 1/2” segments and remove the seeds and white pith.
2. Make a vaghar. A vaghar is when you heat up oil and add seeds and some spices to release their flavors. Vaghars are the lifeline of Guju cooking. Heat up the olive oil over medium heat. Add in mustard seeds and hing. When the mustard seeds begin to pop, add in ginger, garlic, and onions. Stir and cook.
3. Add in bittermelon and stir fry for about 10 minutes. Add in water and add in salt, turmeric, and tomatoes. Continue cooking another 10 minutes.
4. Add in cumin powder, stir to combine and garnish with cilantro. Serve.   

Turkish Pide with Eggplant and Feta

What do Turkish pide's and Nirvana have in common? Nothing, except that I'm writing up this post while listening to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. Pide's make me want to thrash my head around. Forget it, pide's are like reaching a pizza nirvana. You can see that I should just stick to writing about food and forget about everything else (but quick side note, if you want to channel your teenage years, don't miss the 90's show from NPR's All Songs Considered. It'll take you straight to 1994).

Pides are like pizza canoes stuffed with savory fillings. Making them will take some time because the dough takes longer to knead than regular pizza dough. Enlist help, and divide up tasks. Someone can prep the fillings, while someone else makes the dough. Karl made the dough, and I prepped two stuffings: feta and dill, and eggplant. The recipes below have been adapted from a fantastic Turkish cookbook, Ayla Algar's Classical Turkish Cooking.

With so many fast-foodish Turkish owned restaurants in Belgium, I wish real Turkish food was as widely available as the fast-foodified kebabs and durums. Mostly, I wish they had pide's available everywhere. So utterly good.

Pide dough - Yield: 8 individual pides

Ingredients

4 tsp yeast

½ tsp sugar

½ cup warm water

½ cup all-purpose flour

3 and ½ cups flour (bread flour if you have it)

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

1 cup water

1 egg beaten (for egg wash)

Directions:

1. You'll make a sponge out of the first 4 ingredients. Combine the yeast, sugar, and warm water in a large bowl. This should eventually bubble or look scummy (the yeast is active). Stir in the flour, cover the mixture, and let it rise in a warm location (such as your oven) for 30 minutes.
2. Put the flour in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle, and pour in the sponge, salt, olive oil, and the warm water. Gradually stir in the flour until it gets shaggy. It will be heavy. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for 15 minutes. The dough will be slightly damp and very heavy. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise 1 hour.
3. Once ready, turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll it into a log and divide it into 8 pieces. Roll these into balls, and set them on a lightly floured surface. Cover with a damp towel and let rest at least 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to it's hottest setting. If you have a pizza stone, stick it in the oven while it preheats.
4. To prepare the pide, roll each ball into an oval (~6” by 12”). A slight dusting of flour will keep it from sticking. Put 2-3 tbsp of the stuffing in the middle and spread it out leaving a half-inch border.
5. Fold the layers lengthwise slightly over the filling. The layers may overlap. You'll have smaller points on the end. You can pinch them together or flatten them to finish the canoe. If desired, brush them carefully with some eggwash.
6. Carefully lay the pides on the hot stone; with a round-12” pizza stone, 2 pides were able to get cooked at a time. Cook until golden, 10-15 minutes.

Rolling out the pide dough (above)

Pide with eggplant filling

Feta and Dill filling

Yield: Enough stuffing for 4 individual pide. Double recipe if you want to use one stuffing.

Ingredients:

8 oz feta cheese (or 200 g, which is more like 7 ounces)

1 egg lightly beaten

2 tbsp butter

1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped (I used parsley instead)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside.

Eggplant filling

Yield: Enough stuffing for 4 individual pide. Double recipe if you want to use one stuffing. Filling can be prepared ahead of time.

Ingredients:

2 medium eggplants, about 1 lb (use 3-4 Japanese ones, or 2 medium globe eggplants)

salt

2 tbsp olive oil

½ cup tomatoes, chopped

1 bell pepper chopped, any variety of peppers will do

1 chili chopped, seeded and de-veined

2 cloves garlic, chopped

½ tsp red chili flakes

½ cup parsley, chopped

½ cup cilantro or basil, chopped

Directions:

1. Wash and slice eggplant lengthwise and then cut it into thin slices. Salt the slices generously and set in a colander to drain for an hour. Rinse the eggplant to remove the salt, and then squeeze the eggplant dry.
2. Heat up olive oil over medium-high heat, add the eggplant and cook until golden. Once golden, remove from pan and set aside. Chop them when cool enough to handle.
3. Add the tomatoes, peppers and chilies to the pan. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in eggplant and garlic, heat through. Add in red pepper flakes, herbs, and adjust for salt.