Kidney Bean, Sweet Potato, Kale Soup

Soup seem to be the dish of the month. Thick hearty soups, light brothy soups, cheesy creamy soups, chunky filling stews... with a hunk of sourdough or olive bread to mop every last drop up. Of course, these days, the bread is reserved for the kids, the adults are trying not to indulge in dense carbs for a while.

Kidney beans and sweet potatoes already evoke a thick hearty soup; add in some kale and bok choy and chard, plus some onions and tomatoes and garlic for a good measure, and the soup becomes irresistible.

For spices, I went with turmeric powder, paprika, and Madras curry powder, plus some bay leaves and a sprinkling of powdered nutmeg for the warm notes it adds to the dish.

I soaked the kidney beans in hot water while I got the other ingredients ready; and then threw the soaked kidney beans with some sweet potato chunks and vegetable broth in the pressure cooker.

While the kidney beans was soaking, I chopped up some onions, tomatoes, garlic, kale, bok choy, and about 2 cups of diced sweet potatoes for pan-roasting.

When the pressure cooker is going, sauté the veggies -- onions, garlic, tomatoes, bok choy and kale -- with some salt and Madras curry powder. Pan-roast the sweet potatoes with some salt and brown sugar, and keep handy.

Once pressure cooker has finished its cooking, smash some of the kidney beans and sweet potatoes to form the thick base for the soup, add in the sautéed veggies and simmer gently till flavors meld.

Dish up into bowls and add some pan-roasted sweet potatoes just before serving.

Braised Kohlrabi Leaves & Bok Choy with Buckwheat Soba and Okra

I had stashed away some of the smaller, torn-up kohlrabi leaves after using the big ones for the Stuffed Kohlrabi Leaf Dolma Bites. These bits and pieces of kohlrabi leaves along with some bok choy leaves, plus a splash of Zenjiang vinegar and vegetable stock came together for braising.

Simply heat a teaspoon of sesame oil in a pan, add 3 cups of packed leaves and 3 cloves of crushed garlic, turn them around till lightly golden all around, add a teaspoon of Zenjiang vinegar (a little goes a long way!) and a cup of vegetable stock, cover and cook till greens are tender. Fish out the greens and reduce the liquid, if any, to pour over the greens when serving.

Some okra, onions, and tomatoes came together with Braggs Liquid Aminos and Sambal Oelek for the warm okra side.

Served at room temperature with cold soba noodles, this is a wonderful summer dish for a weeknight evening that comes together very quickly.

Baby Bok Choy Bell Pepper Chicken

Half a bag of baby bok choy and  a quarter bag of mini peppers were the last of the veggies in the fridge one weeknight and so they came together with an impromptu combination of spices for a simple meal served with warm brown basmati rice and cool Cucumber Raita: grate cucumbers and stir in some crushed mint leaves, plain yogurt and salt to taste.

Ingredients
1 teaspoon black cumin seeds
1 teaspoon nigella seeds
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
6 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed
1 Tablespoon grated ginger
1 Tablespoon canola oil
2 Tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

1 boneless skinless chicken breast
1 Tablespoon canola oil
baby bok choy leaves, cleaned
mini bell peppers, chopped into chunks
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Toast the nigella, caraway, and black cumin seeds, combine with the rest of the spices and blend to a fine paste
2. Heat a teaspoon of canola oil in a cast iron skillet, add the chopped chunks of chicken, sprinkle some salt, allow to sear for a bit and flip to sear the other side, and par-cook chicken
3. Add the bok choy and mini bell peppers to the skillet, a pinch of salt, the spice paste, cover and cook till chicken and veggies are done, adding a splash water if too dry
4. Serve warm with rice or roti

Bok Choy, Edamame, Opo Squash, Chana Dal Salad

As with most recipes that just pop into existence in my kitchen, this Bok Choy, Edamame, Opo Squash, Chana Dal Salad also happened quite by accident where I open the fridge and stare at the few remaining things that need to be used up before my next trip to the market.

Will they go together? How should I cook them? Should I make it a side or the main course? What flavors will go well with this combination? I don't answer all these questions and plan a dish in great detail. Most simple meals at home just come together because I felt like it and threw things together for a quick meal. Work and kids don't leave me with the luxury of planning elaborate and exotic menus, but, I do manage to take a quick picture of some of the dishes I cook, so I can share it here.

The inspiration for this salad was the simple koottu my mom used to make with Kadala Paruppu, aka Chana Dal. My koottu recipes here have a slightly non-traditional edge.

I had some cooked chana dal in the fridge that needed to be used up. About half an opo squash leftover after using it for my favorite Opo-Squash Mor-Kozhambu, which I drink like a soup rather than have with rice as is done in India.

Some fresh green chilies from the garden, a few heads of baby bok choy after the Luffa, Snake Beans, Baby Bok Choy dish the other day, plus about half a bag of frozen edamame came together for this simple steamed vegetable salad.

Ingredients
Opo Squash, cut into chunks
Carrots, cut into chunks or rounds
Baby Bok Choy leaves separated and cleaned
Edamame par-cooked frozen (as it cooks faster)
1 cup cooked chana dal
2 or 3 fresh mild green chilies from the garden

Flavor with mild curry powder and salt, or simply use a favorite vinaigrette.

Preparation

1. Steam the vegetables (flavored with a pinch of salt) to desired doneness
2. Flavor as desired and serve warm or cold

Luffa, Snake Beans, Baby Bok Choy

When D brought home Cee Gwa or Chinese Sponge Gourd from the Asian store nearby, I was excited about pairing it with some other favorites and cooking it.

Luffa aka Cee Gwa is much like Ridge Gourd except with no ridged skin, but just smooth greenish skin that can be bitter, and spongy insides which cook up fast.

Snake beans or Long Green Beans has been a favorite since childhood when my mom used to make paruppusili with it.

Some fresh green baby Bok Choy, Luffa, and Snake Beans came together for this simple dish, served with rice.

Ingredients
1 large Luffa/Cee Gwa, skinned and cut into chunks on a bias
20 or so Long Green Beans (more if preferred), trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
a few heads of baby bok choy, cleaned and leaves separated
green bell pepper (optional)
a few cloves of garlic
1 Tbsp grated ginger

1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1 Tbsp Mongolian Hot Chili Oil
Salt to taste
Black pepper

Preparation

1. Heat the Sesame oil in a pan or wok, add the garlic and ginger, add the long green beans, some water or stock and salt, cover and simmer till beans are almost cooked
2. Add the Luffa and Baby Bok Choy, Chili oil, a few turns of black pepper from the pepper mill and allow to cook till Luffa turns translucent (which only takes a few minutes)
3. Adjust flavors and serve warm with jasmine or basmati rice

Bibimbap

A fairly authentic version of bibimbap came into my life about 12 years ago when a Korean fellow student introduced Bulgogi and Bibimbap to me. Bulgogi (bool-go-gi) apparently roughly translates to fired meat or fire-cooked meat, and, by default the meat is beef in Korea. Since I don't eat red meat, I skipped trying Bulgogi that she ordered that day.

However, she talked to the waitress and assured me that they serve Bibimbap (bee-bim-baab) without any meat. So, I ordered it with slight apprehension and figured I could always have some rice-and-yogurt when I get home if I couldn't eat this strange sounding new dish. But, when it arrived, with visually stimulating presentation and aroma, I was excited. And, I loved it instantly! Loved the hot sauce Gochujang that came with it as well.

As far as I understood then, Bibimbap is a good way to clear out the fridge - it is simply rice served with an assortment of vegetables, accompanied by Korean hot sauce Gochujang. Typically, seasoned bok choy, seasoned spinach, cool cucumber salad to clear the palate, some julienned blanched/steamed vegetables like carrots, zucchini, and maybe some form of eggs - either fried or boiled, all of it served over rice that is piled on crisp lettuce leaves to balance out the flavors.

This recipe here is just a version of Bibimbap that I have adapted to suit my tastes over the years. Gochujang was not handy, so, I made up a version of it as well. I usually have a huge jar of Sambal Oelek in my pantry, seems like it has become just as indispensable as salt or black pepper in my kitchen.


Ingredients
Seasoned Bok Choy or Spinach or Swiss chard
Pan-fried Tofu (optional)
Boiled Egs
Cucumber Salad
Toasted Sesame Seeds
Finely chopped Spring Onions
Sauteed eggplant
Steamed Asparagus
Julienned fresh baby tender kohlrabi
Shredded purple cabbage marinated in apple cider vinegar and some strong Dijon mustard
Bean Sprouts, Baby Corn, Roasted Red Pepper, Zucchini, Carrots or other vegetables of your choice


For Gochujang: Either buy it from the store, or, use a substitute recipe as given by Madhur Jaffrey in her World Vegetarian cookbook, adapted here:

2 Tbsp red miso
2 Tbsp sambal oelek
1 Tbsp cayenne pepper or red chili powder (optional, for extra heat)
1 tsp brown sugar
toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbsp sesame oil

Combine the above ingredients, add some rice wine vinegar if preferred to get the sauce more runny. Also, can double the amount and prepare this ahead of time and save in an air-tight container for a couple of weeks in the fridge.


Seasoned Bok Choy or Spinach:
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 Tbsp grated ginger
2-3 dry red chilies
Bok Choy or Spinach, cleaned and cut to bite-size pieces
some water or broth
1 tsp sesame oil or canola oil

Heat the oil in a wok or pan, sauté the garlic and ginger, add the dry red chilies, then add the greens, some broth/water, cover and cook till tender but not mushy. Adjust salt to taste with light soy sauce or just table salt.



Cucumber Salad
Any simple cucumber salad is fine, but, I like to peel, core and dice the cucumber and red onions, add a simple vinaigrette of sesame oil, lemon juice, salt and red chili powder or cayenne pepper powder.

To Serve: Prepare a bed of lettuce leaves or blanched Napa Cabbage leaves. Add a scoop of cooked rice (I prefer Jasmine rice for this recipe). Arrange the toppings separately over the rice - seasoned greens, sliced boiled eggs, pan-fried tofu, cucumber salad, julienned vegetables - place some gochujang in the center, sprinkle some chopped spring onions and toasted sesame seeds. Let the guest mix it all up as they eat.

Also, I like to serve some extra gochujang, spring onions and other toppings on the side for extra helpings with rice :)

Bok Choy Bites

Many of the cookbooks I have are presents from D, to inspire me as well as to subtly hint at what he'd like to eat:) One such book is The Traditions, Techniques, Ingredients and Recipes of Japanese Cooking by Emi Kazuko (recipes by Yasuko Fukuoka). I have a few popular favorites from this book that I make often like Teriyaki Chicken, Fried Aubergine in Miso Sauce, Cucumber Broccoli Miso Pickle.

Whenever D is in the mood for sushi, he likes these bok choy bites as well, so I just make them on request. It is an acquired taste for me and am not terribly fond of it. But it is growing on me.

Ingredients

1 bunch Shanghai bok choy (not baby bok choy), stalks cut off, whole leaves washed - about 8 large leaves

flavoring for bok choy bites:
1 Tbsp low sodium/light soy sauce
1 Tbsp sake (optional)
1 tsp sushi vinegar
1 tsp sherry or cider vinegar
1 tsp mirin
½ tsp cayenne pepper powder or red pepper flakes

Preparation

1. Bok choy bites:bring a big pot of water to boil, add the whole bok choy leaves (don't tear them or chop them); cover and cook till leaves are soft and change color and are cooked; drain, run under cold water, drain well
2. combine the flavoring for bok choy bites, stir well, keep handy
3. in a shallow dish, layer one cooked bok choy leaf at the bottom, add some flavoring sauce, another leaf, more flavoring sauce and so on till all the leaves are stacked on top of each other and drenched in the flavoring sauce; set aside for 10 minutes or so till chicken is done
4. then, carefully gather the layered leaves, squeeze out excess liquid, and roll them into longish "logs"
5. trim ends if they are uneven, and cut into 2" pieces, top with toasted sesame seeds

Pepper Chicken

Boneless skinless chicken breasts marinated and cooked with spices, along with veggies, seems to be D's favorite meals. While I don't care much for chicken (or beef, or pork or seafood), I do try to cook just chicken breast for him on and off.

This pepper chicken recipe surprisingly came out pretty close to Chettinad flavor that D seems to enjoy a lot. A side of bok choy bites, inspired by the recipe in Emi Kazuko's book is an interesting accompaniment.

Instead of chicken, substitute chopped veggies and cook them in the black pepper sauce to keep the meal free of meat.
for the pepper sauce:
2 Tbsp whole black pepper
4-5 dry red chilies
1 Tbsp coriander seeds
1 bay leaf
1 1"-piece Indian cinnamon (dalchini)
---------------
2-3 Tbsp light soy sauce
2-3 Tbsp lime juice
2-3 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
1 medium shallot, diced finely
1 tsp brown sugar
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, thawed, diced


Preparation

1. Black pepper chicken: toast the dry ingredients for the pepper sauce, then, combine all the ingredients for black pepper sauce (except lime juice) in a blender and grind to a fine paste
2. marinate the chicken breast pieces in some of the black pepper sauce for about 10-15 minutes; reserve the remaining sauce for cooking
3. heat oil in a pan, drain the marinated chicken and throw them into the hot pan, toss them around till all sides brown a little; add the black pepper sauce, some water, cover and cook till chicken is done (about 170 °F or so in the middle of the thickest piece); adjust flavor if needed

Alternately, use veggies like eggplant, bell pepper, squash etc., - even the stalks left over from making bok choy bites can be cleaned and used here - cook as above in pepper sauce and serve hot with sticky rice.