I love a good hidden veggie pasta, and this dish is no exception. Almost smoky (smoky would be awesome here), a little tart, a little silk – this one is good.
gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan
Burnt Eggplant Pasta
2 small purple eggplants
Salt, pepper, neutral oil
2 Tablespoons neutral oil
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon Thai roasted red chili paste
1.5 Tablespoons tamarind paste
1 Tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1/2 cup shelled unsalted pistachios
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1.5 cups cooked pasta
Lemon or sumac powder
Preheat your oven to 220C/400F and prepare a baking sheet with a silicone mat or tinfoil. Halve your eggplants lengthwise, score, dust with salt & pepper and sprinkle with neutral oil. Bake about 40 minutes, or until blackened but not turned into charcoal.
Pull and let sit to cool.
In a medium saucepan, sautee the onion and garlic (chopped) in 2 Tablespoons of oil until nicely browned. Hit with salt and pepper.
Scoop the eggplant guts into the onions and stir to combine.
Add the red chili paste, tamarind paste and pomegranate molasses. Stir to combine.
Chuck into the bowl of a food processor and whiz until mostly blended. Taste and add a bit more salt and pepper if needed.
Put back into the pan with the cooked pasta.
Chop the pistachios and parsley. Fold into the pasta mixture and serve topped with the lemon or sumac powder.
This dish is based on a half-remembered few bites of absolutely delicious I had in the Souq in an Iraqui? Iranian? Syrian? restaurant awhile back. No idea if the flavors are quite what I tasted, but the theory is based on a popular dish called Tahdig. Tahdig means “bottom of the pot” and from what I’ve heard is a good comfort food. I can definitely see that, and we could all use a little comfort right about now.
gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan
Vaguely Persian Crispy Rice
1.5 cups leftover cooked rice (I used a long grain wild/basmati mix and I heartily suggest something along those lines)
1/2 yellow onion
2 Tablespoons mustard oil
2 teaspoons ground turmeric
1 teaspoon yellow mustard seeds
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons butter or vegan butter substutute
1 small butternut squash, roasted with salt & pepper
1 scallion
Pomegranate molasses
Fresh parsley
Slivered almonds
Optional: leftover chicken sauteed simply with salt, pepper & oregano in a little oil
In a smallish nonstick pan, bring the mustard oil up to temperature over medium-high heat. While that’s working, mince the garlic. Add the turmeric, mustard seeds and garlic to the hot oil. Let bloom, stirring occasionally a few minutes or until the seeds just begin to pop and the air smells great.
While the spices are working, roughly chop the onion.
Add and sautee until softened.
Add the leftover rice, stir well to combine, season with salt & pepper and smash flat onto the bottom of the pan. I smashed mine with a potato masher into as thin and even a layer as possible.
Let cook undisturbed until crisped on the bottom. You will know the rice is done when the brown rice starts to pop, the air smells a bit nutty, and little bits you push from the outside of the pan to the edges look toasty. This is a nerve-wracking prospect.
When your rice is about 2/3 of the way done (or you’re at peak ‘I know it’s burnt’ anxiety), add the butter in pieces all around the pan.
While that’s working, chop and reheat the squash. Chop the scallions. Chop the parsley.
When the rice is ready, top with the squash, scallions, parsley & slivered almonds. Drizzle the pomegranate molasses over top. Serve with the chicken if you need a protein in your meal.
Have I told you guys about my obsession with the food from the Expanse/Leviathan Wakes universe? I love this book series (the show is great too), and it’s rife with enough description of common dishes to get this nerdy brain whirling.
I’m fascinated with how these dishes might taste – whose flavors would have influenced them – what technologies are possible in this universe – and what materials and ingredients would be available.
In the Expanse universe, there are three main societies: Earthers, Martians and Belters (humans who live exclusively in space; not on a planet). I could go on about the sociology, political landscape and happenings of the books – suffice it to say that these are the three main factions of import, and what I’m captivated by is the food available on ships or space stations.
So, the first question is what’s available to cook with? Humans have made farming colonies, so it’s safe to say that things like rice (maybe), peas or pea protein, soy, maybe something like kelp, mushrooms, tomatoes, probably things like bean sprouts, peppers, zucchini – other things you can grow in limited space would be available. I think most common would be soy products in all forms, mushrooms and something to make noodles with – rice or kontjac come to mind. Meat would be very scarce; same with dairy. Coffee is available, though most is terrible and I’m not sure if any is exactly what we mean by good coffee in this world. We know cheese is hella expensive and rare. Some analogues are available – mention is made to the lime and peanuts in Pad Thai, with mention that the speaker has never actually tasted the real version of either.
Now, the flavors: who likely had enough people to launch into space to populate the skies? China/Asia, India, ships are involved so Greece, mention is made of some Arabic peoples, I believe someone looking Irish is mentioned (though it could just be a character in the television show I’m thinking of), some generic Anglo Saxon people are seen – I think on the show at least I saw a blonde or two, an Islander of some description, African people of some descent (American or otherwise). The odd Russian. Pretty much everyone, but I’m thinking the majority at least at first were Asian and Indian.
What I’ve seen as the predominant food influences are a mix of those two cultures with some other comfort (lasagna for instance) thrown in for good measure, and I’m imagining the dishes including mushrooms & noodles lean vaguely Italian (at least in my mind).
There is a strong noodle culture in this universe, and hawker stalls which I’m imagining use woks. Microwaves and/or toaster ovens seem to be available on ships. Reconstituted food is also popular, though doesn’t seem at least to be preferred – especially not on space stations, where bars and restaurants are also available.
I could go on and on, but I’ll leave it at that. Suffice it to say, I’ve do men a lot of pondering on the subject 😁
A warning here for my texture issues people. Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP) is bouncy, chewy and a bit rubbery. If that bothers you as much as it does my DH, this dish is not for you. Though, from what I’ve heard, finer bits of the stuff make a nice substitution for beef when making a vegetarian version of Taco Bell’s meat.
This recipe is based off the one from the Fan site The Slow Zone. I upped the spice quantity quite a bit from their original suggestion. I may also go back and rework the TVP some day, substituting in red bean paste if I can figure out how to get that to fry up how I need it to (this dish is supposed to look like dog food – kibble is a derogatory term). I went with TVP because it was used in this recipe and I believe it would be available in the universe.
gluten-free (if you use gf flour), vegetarian, vegan
Kibble:
8 ounces textured vegetable protein or soya chunks (TVP)
1 Tablespoon flour (gf or all purpose)
1 Tablespoon oat milk (the original recipe called for yogurt, but I didn’t have a good nondairy substitute available – you could probably omit)
1 Tablespoon curry powder
1 Tablespoon cumin powder
2 teaspoons salt
3 Tablespoons neutral oil
Sauce:
14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 Tablespoon granulated garlic
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons cumin powder
Put a medium saucepan of water on to boil. Once it’s boiling, cut the heat and add the TVP and salt and let soak 30 minutes to rehydrate. Once plump, drain well and press as much water out as possible.
Toss in a large bowl with the rest of the Kibble ingredients but the oil.
Put the clean saucepan back over medium heat. Add the sauce ingredients, bring up to a boil, reduce heat and let simmer 15 – 20 minutes, adding salt and pepper as needed. More heat if you want that, too.
In your largest frying pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the drained and squeezed TVP and fry, moving frequently so it doesn’t stick, until browned.
Toss the fried kibble with the sauce and serve – I prefer mine with some super al dente rice pasta.
This pantry-friendly fried rice is quick enough for a weeknight meal (for when the world gets back to working outside the home), and makes a great lunch the next day if there are leftovers.
Gluten-free, pescatarian
Chili Tuna Fried Rice
1.5 cups leftover cooked rice (I used sushi rice)
1/3 cup frozen shelled edamame
1/3 cup frozen cut green beans
2 Tbsp. neutral oil
2 eggs
1/4 cup coconut aminos
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
1 Tbsp. sambal olek
1 green onion, sliced
1/2 can chili tuna in oil, drained
Add your neutral oil to a large pan over high heat. When it shimmers, add the frozen veggies and green onion. Stir fry until no longer frozen and starting to look cooked.
Add the rice and tuna. Continue to stir fry until the veggies begin to brown.
Make a well in the center of the rice mixture and crack the eggs in. Let sit until the bottom is firm, then scrape up, folding into the rice mix.
Add the coconut aminos, fish sauce and sambal. Stir quickly to combine.
Sorry I’ve been AWOL from recipe posting lately – I’ve put my pantry cleanse on hold (or actually have restocked it even fuller in recent weeks), and have been making nothing terribly new or inspiring. Tasty things from staples, but not exactly balanced Internet-friendly dishes.
When it was in theaters, DH and I saw Parasite – which was fantastic – and were just as curious as to what the mixed ramen noodle dish with steak was. We heard it was delicious, and were having friends over for game night – so we decided to make a whole Korean-themed meal.
For sides, we had 4 banchan (vegetable side dishes): spicy cucumbers, sauteed spinach, lightly blanched and seasoned bean sprouts and kimchi. This dish was our main, and the recipe is only slightly augmented from the official recipe(s) listed here. When I made this a second time for just the two of us, I couldn’t help but add a little seasoning to the steak and some green veg.
While the water is working, add the neutral oil to a pan over medium-high heat. Add the steak bits, hit with salt, pepper & garlic powder and sautee until your desired doneness is reached.
While the steak and water are working, thinly slice your green onions.
About halfway through cooking, add the sliced green onions and hit a second time with seasoning.
Add the butter and toss until melted. Set aside.
Add the noodles and dehydrated veggies from both packages to the boiling water.
Boil 4:30, adding the frozen spinach in the last minute or so.
Strain, keeping enough water so the mixture is nice and wet still – not swimming, but not dry. The directions say to keep 150ml, but my American non-metric self had no idea what this looked like with noodles so I guessed.
Turn off the heat and add the strained noodles back to the pot. Add the seasoning packet from the green package (the green packet that looks like beef bouillon). Add the oil from the green package and half the spicy looking seasoning (all if you like spicy) from the red package. Stir to combine.
Divide between 2 bowls (can easily stretch to 3 or even 4 if you serve with banchan), and top with steak.
As you can see from my last post (see pantry clearing post #1), my pantry is all over the map – but the bulk of the ingredients center on Southeast Asia, specifically Japan.
Japanese is a cuisine my DH and I both love and both crave when we either need a little comfort (among other cuisines, tbh) but feel like we need to be a little nice to our bodies and digestive systems.
This dinner is quick, easy, and feels like a healthy hug. If raw egg yolk freaks you out, omit.
Gluten-free
Chili Tuna Rice
1 cup premade sushi rice (1/2 cup short grain rice cooked in 2 cups water + 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil, and a few grinds salt)
1/2 can chili spiced tuna, drained
2 Tbsp. dried wakame
1 tsp. powder-style chicken bouillon
1/2 cup hot water
1 egg
1/2 tsp. ginger garlic paste
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos
1 tsp. butter
Generous sprinkle toasted sesame seeds
1 green onion, thinly sliced
Set the sushi rice on to cook however you cook rice. While the rice is cooking, boil the 1/2 cup water.
Add the wakame and chicken bouillon to a small bowl and add the boiling water over top. Stir to combine and let sit until the seaweed is reconstituted. Drain loosely when you’re ready to serve and add back into the bowl.
Add the butter, rice, coconut aminos, ginger garlic paste, tuna, and egg yolk. Stir well to combine.
Top with the sesame seeds and green onions and serve.
I set out to make a chimichurri-based salad, and ended up taking a trip to India instead when at the last minute I discovered my herbs had betrayed me. And it works.
Bombay chutney is a condiment used in a popular Indian street food sandwich and is kiiiiinda akin to the green mint chutney sauce served alongside a number of dishes alongside tamarind sauce. My version is a beautiful shade of emerald and has a nice spicy kick. It’s addictive, and I can’t wait to try making something akin to the actual sandwich, because I can only imagine how Bomb it would be with potato.
Like mashed potatoes. In a patty …. 🤤 But I digress.
This base recipe is great for lunch or dinner – I served it hash-style when fresh with some leftover Beyond Meat bratwurst & egg and again the next day for lunch with my favorite tuna and some bright crunch. Both ways were fantastic, but I think day 3’s lunch was actually my favorite.
gluten-free, vegetarian base, vegan base, paleo base
Lunch-To-Dinner Bombay Chimi
Base
1 head cauliflower
1 small red onion
4 cloves garlic
1/4 cup Bombay Chutney
1/4 cup neutral oil
Preheat the oven to 200C/375F and prep a baking sheet.
Break the cauliflower up into bite-sized pieces and spread out over the prepped pan. Halve and thinly slice the onion; add. Thinly slice the garlic; add.
Sprinkle liberally with salt & pepper.
In a small bowl, combine the chutney and oil. Pour over the veggies on the pan and toss well to combine, making sure to hit each piece.
Roast 25 minutes or until deeply browned.
Dinner Hash
1 leftover and cooked Beyond Meat bratwurst per person, sliced into rounds
1 – 2 eggs per person (optional)
1 handful chopped green beans
2 tsp. neutral oil
1 tsp. butter (vegan or otherwise)
In a large skillet over medium high heat, stir-fry the green beans in the oil until browned. Season with salt & pepper and add the bratwurst. Stir-fry until warmed through. Push to the side, add the butter and an egg per person to the pan. Fry until your desired doneness is reached. Serve with about 1/4 of the cauliflower per person.
Lunch Salad
1 medium cucumber, chopped
250g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 can chili (red pepper) tuna, drained (optional)
To your leftover cauliflower, add the rest of the ingredients and toss. Warm to room temp if desired by zapping for :30/:45 or so and tossing.
Serves 2 if you’ve got half the cauliflower left; 3 if you only fed 1 the night before.
This is a great little choose-your-own-adventure dinner that’s perfect for batch cooking – or a party.
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan
Crispy Miso Tofu Bowl
1 block extra firm tofu
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder
2 tsp. honey or agave
2 tsp. date molasses
2 Tbsp. sriracha
3 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
2 tsp. white miso
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, minced
3-4 big handfuls baby spinach
2 c. sautéed green beans, chopped
1 green onion, sliced into thin rounds
1 Tbsp. pickled ginger, minced
Nori, snipped into small strips
Furikake
Toasted sesame seeds
Togarishi spice or red pepper flakes
Sushi rice (short grain rice cooked with 1 Tbsp. rice vinegar, 1 Tbsp. sesame oil and salt)
First, place paper towels or a tea towel over your tofu and press with a plate or something heavy about 30 minutes to remove all the water.
Prepare your oven to 200C/375F. Line a baking sheet with paper or a silicone pad.
Make a sauce by whisking the sweetener, molasses, soy, sriracha and miso.
Slice the tofu into small squares, and fold 2 Tbsp. sauce into the tofu carefully – making sure not to break the squares up. Dust with pepper & cornstarch and toss.
Dump out into the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake 10 mins, flip, and bake an additional 10 to crisp.
Sautée the spinach with the garlic and ginger and add the green beans to warm through. Add the rest of the sauce and toss to coat.
To assemble, place rice in a bowl, add the tofu and veggie mix. Top with furikake, nori, sesame seeds, togarishi, pickled ginger and green onion.
Ooh, this is a good one. Not *quite* like the katsu from my regular takeout spot, but not far off. Add a dash of pumpkin purée and some white pepper, and it’s there. Delicious.
Chicken Katsu Curry
Chicken Katsu
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
40 grinds salt
Generous amount black pepper
1/4 cup flour
2 eggs
2 cups panko
Curry
1/4 cup neutral oil
1 yellow onion
1 medium carrot
1 inch ginger
4 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. flour
2 Tbsp. curry powder
1 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 Tbsp. honey
Katsu Sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. honey
Preheat your oven to 375F/200C. Add a silicone liner or tinfoil to a baking tray and set aside.
Lay your chicken breasts in a single layer between 2 sheets of baking paper and pound to 1/2 inch thick.
Set up a breading station by placing shallow bowls or plates of flour seasoned with salt & pepper, beaten egg, and panko in a row. Coat the chicken with the flour mix, then dunk in the egg, and dredge in panko. Put on the prepared baking sheet and let stand 10 mins to rest.
Bake 10 mins, flip and bake an additional 10 mins.
While the chicken is cooking, chop the onion and carrot. Add the oil to a large pan and set over medium-high. When the oil comes up to temperature, add the onion and carrot and sautée, stirring frequently, until softened.
While that is working, chop the ginger and garlic. Add to the pan and sautée another few minutes.
Whisk in the flour and curry powder to combine.
Whisk in the chicken stock, soy sauce and honey.
Simmer, stirring frequently, 15 – 20 minutes or until reduced by about half.
Let cool and blend.
For the Katsu sauce, whisk together the ketchup, oyster sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and 1 Tbsp. honey.
Serve with a bowl of sushi rice. Makes enough for 4.
Oooooh, this is a good one. Velvety, unctuous, vegan – and delicious.
If you’ve got it, some quickly fried tempeh would be fantastic – and location-appropriate- here. I used crisped tofu, which is also great.
Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan
Indonesian Coconut Curry
3 cloves garlic
2 small shallots
2 red chilis
1 Tbsp. turmeric powder
1.5 inches fresh ginger
4 macadamia nuts
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. black pepper
Few grinds salt
4 Tbsp. coconut oil
6 small white potatoes
1 can light coconut cream
3-4 kaffir lime leaves
1 pkg. extra form tofu
1 Tbsp. neutral oil
1 Tbsp. coconut aminos or soy sauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
First, preheat the oven to 200C (375F).
Prep the tofu by slicing into bite-sized squares, covering with paper towels or a tea cloth and pressing with something heavy. Let sit half an hour.
Delicately place in a large bowl. Add the oil, coconut aminos and cornstarch – lightly fold to combine without breaking.
Turn the tofu out onto a prepared baking sheet in a single layer, ideally with a little space between the pieces. Bake 10 minutes, flip, and bake an additional 10 minutes or until crisped up and browned. Remove and set aside.
Make a curry paste by whizzing everything above the coconut oil in a food processor until a paste forms, adding a little water if necessary.
Chop the potatoes into bite-sized pieces.
In a large pan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the curry paste and fry until very fragrant and just beginning to brown.
Add the potatoes, coconut cream and kaffir leaves and stir to combine. Sautée 15 – 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are softened and the sauce reduces down to a velvety smoothness.
In the last 5 minutes of cooking, fold in the crisped tofu.
Gastography 