Vegetarian

Corn Esquites Salad with Avocado (Mexican Roasted Corn Salad)

September 13, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

When I came across the recipe for corn esquites salad I took one look at it and knew I had to give it a try. This salad is basically Mexican elote which is roasted corn on the cob seasoned with cayenne, butter, mayonnaise, and cotija cheese. The corn in this recipe is cut off the cob and pan roasted until the kernels char and caramelize. Then the corn is mixed with the elote ingredients, garlic, lime, jalapeno, and cilantro. I decided to kick it up a notch and add sliced tomatoes and avocado to the salad. It was so tasty! The combination of ingredients was sweet and spicy from the corn and jalapenos yet creamy and tangy from the lime juice and cotija cheese. It ended up being the perfect topping for tacos!

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Tabouleh

September 9, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Tabouleh is a Mediterranean salad made with fresh herbs, tomatoes, lemon juice and Bulgur wheat. It’s a traditional side dish in Lebanese cooking and it makes a perfect partner for hummus and pita. Lebanese recipes don’t use a lot of the bulgur wheat, so I didn’t really make it in the most traditional way as I wanted a more hearty side dish. If you want to make it more traditional, just use half of the bulgur wheat and think of it more as a garnish than as a main part of the salad. I loved the flavor of the fresh herbs, tomatoes, garlic and lemon juice all mixed together. It tasted great with the hummus, so I will definitely make these again sometime!

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Hummus

September 6, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Hummus is one of those foods that is easy to pick up at a grocery store and not really give it a second thought. That’s what I did for a long time until I decided to explore Lebanese food a little more. Years ago, my family would get take-out from a local Lebanese deli and since then I have loved that food. Since I had been craving Lebanese food I decided to make my own version of the deli’s menu.

Hummus is so simple; I couldn’t believe I had never made it before! All you need is a blender or food processor, 2 cans of chickpeas, tahini, garlic and lemon juice. Tahini is just a paste of ground sesame seeds and can be found at asian stores or whole foods. Now that I have made hummus it would be tough to go back to store-bought!

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Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad with Curry Lemongrass Tofu

September 1, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Ever since I made a version of a Vietnamese Noodle Salad I have been taken with this dish and all its variations. This time I decided to try it with sauteed tofu in a curry lemongrass sauce. The sauce was sweet and spicy and tasted great mixed into the rice noodles. My favorite part about Vietnamese food is all the tasty condiments that go along with the dishes. I chose sliced carrots, persian cucumbers and bean sprouts for the veggie garnishes and mint leaves, basil, green onion, and cilantro for the herb garnishes. All of these condiments came together really well. The last garnishes included a tablespoon of spicy Sambal Oelek I made the night before and a few tablespoons of crushed and toasted peanuts–two delicious final touches!

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Rye and Spelt Injera (Ethiopian Flat Bread)

August 25, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

This post was a long time in the making as I have been thinking about and craving this Ethiopian flat bread for years, but never got around to making it until now! Injera is similar to Indian Dosas as it is cooked on a flat pan like a crepe. The bread is very sour and spongey, making it an accompaniment for all sorts of curries and stews. The bread is usually made with teff flour but I chose this recipe that uses a mixture of rye and spelt flours. Making sourdough is a neat process since you’re basically supporting a little cosmos in a bowl–full of fermenting bacteria and yeast. It does take several days to make the starter so as with most sourdough recipes it will require some patience. It sounds gross, but there is definitely a method to the madness because sourdough is amazing in all forms. This bread was the perfect vehicle for the two Ethiopian dishes I planned for it, and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out!

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Ethiopian Chickpea and Cauliflower Stew with Preserved Lemons

August 24, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

To go along my Ethiopian Lentil Curry I chose another Ethiopian-style curry with chickpeas and cauliflower. One of my favorite things about curry is that both of these dishes can be called a “curry” yet they are both so different and complimentary at the same time. This stew is a yellow curry seasoned with turmeric, cumin, cardamom, coriander and paprika. It is more loosely based on Ethiopian chickpea and vegetable stews because I thought it would be fun to embellish it a bit. I don’t think preserved lemons are found too much in Ethiopian food but they really added amazing flavor to this dish. The preparation was easy and the result was so tasty! It tasted great with the lentils as well as the Injera bread.
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Ethiopian Red Lentil and Sweet Potato Curry

August 18, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

A few years ago I went to an Ethiopian restaurant and was completely taken with the food. I couldn’t remember all of the curries that I tried but I do remember the bread they served with the main course: injera. I wanted to recreate that meal at home so I set out researching Ethiopian curries. It turns out that the injera is served as the “plate” to place a variety of tasty curries. I settled on this red lentil and yam curry which I thought would go nicely on top of the injera. A spice blend of cumin, cinnamon, ginger, paprika and allspice flavor the curry. The sweet potato and lentils went together so well and provided an element of sweetness that balanced the spices. It was a really simple dish that tasted great with the injera.
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Caprese Grilled Cheese Sandwich with Balsamic Roasted Tomatoes

August 12, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

One of my favorite summer dishes is caprese salad. Sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves and balsamic vinegar offer the perfect combination of flavors. It also turns out these ingredients are a perfect grilled cheese in the making! The one issue was the balsamic vinegar–how to incorporate a liquid ingredient on a sandwich that isn’t a dressing? My solution was to simply roast the tomatoes in balsamic vinegar in the oven which infused the flavor of the balsamic into the tomato. I chose sourdough for the bread which worked nicely with the other ingredients. The sandwich was really tasty and not hard to make at all. It was a great way to turn a caprese salad appetizer into the main course!

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Korean Ramen with Kimchi and Sauteed Mushrooms

July 19, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Just a disclaimer to twenty somethings: this is not your college ramen experience! Korea has its own version of Japanese Ramen and you can eat it with all sorts of different toppings. I loaded the soup with a hard boiled egg, peas, green onions, sauteed mushrooms, cilantro and of course kimchi. Korea has had a long love affair with kimchi and I have had my own mini infatuation going on here in California for a while now. The kimchi spices mixes in with the broth and blanches a bit in the hot soup. I used the ‘Hakubaku’ brand of ramen noodles which had a really nice consistency and thickness. I wouldn’t recommend using the ‘top ramen’ noodles but it would probably do in a pinch if you can’t find the hakubaku brand in stores. I really liked how all the condiments mixed together with the noodles and broth. It was definitely the best ramen I have ever eaten!

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Achiote Black Bean Tacos with Grilled Avocado and Goat Cheese

July 13, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Who knew you could grill avocados? I had no idea until I read the recipe for these tacos. I loved the idea of tangy goat cheese coupled with the avocado slices and honey lime dressing. It sounded like the perfect quick summer meal so I knew I had to give it a try! I thought a good spice blend of black beans seasoned with achiote seed, cumin, coriander and smoked paprika would be a great addition to these tacos. The avocados had a slightly different flavor after grilling that was unique and hard to describe. I guess the flavor became a little more smokey with a stronger avocado smell. The tacos were really good! I especially liked the simple honey lime dressing to give the filling some brightness.

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