Vegetarian

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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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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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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Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Coconut Milk

July 9, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

It probably seems crazy to most Americans to down a hot bowl of soup right now. This soup makes more sense to me because temperatures on the central coast just haven’t risen much at all. Next time it hits lower temperatures this soup would be perfect to enjoy on a cooler day. Better yet, you could wait until late summer or Fall when the squash actually comes into season. If you are craving roasted butternut squash like me, there’s no time like the present for a good soup.

I chose to make this soup with a few of the great flavors from Thai cooking–coconut milk, red chili paste, and a mixture of fragrant spices. I roasted the butternut squash first in the oven and threw all the ingredients into a big soup pot to simmer. The soup had a lot of wonderful flavors. I loved the flavor of the roasted squash with the creamy coconut milk, spicy chilies, and thai spices. It was pretty simple to throw together and I couldn’t be more happy with how it turned out! I served it with a side of jasmine rice and ended up mixing a few tablespoons of the rice into the soup. It turned out to be a great combination!
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Kaha Bath (Sri Lankan Yellow Rice)

July 1, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Kaha Bath is a simple Sri Lankan rice dish made with turmeric and coconut milk. The dish isn’t sweet, but savory with flavors of turmeric, cardamom, and cloves. The coconut milk provides a nice creaminess to the rice and I loved how the turmeric dyed the rice bright yellow. The great thing about this rice is that the flavors of curry aren’t overpowering and you can serve it alongside another curry dish. It would also work as the main course if you mixed a protein like egg, chicken or tofu into the rice.

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Cashew Butter Dipping Sauce

June 1, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

I came across a recipe for this Vietnamese-style cashew dipping sauce over at Steamy Kitchen. It looked awesome so I knew I had to give it a try. I ended up doing a few things differently from the original recipe but it turned out really well! You could easily change the sauce’s flavor by using peanut butter to use with other recipes. I used chili oil and sriracha to change things up a bit and I thought it tasted great! My favorite part was the combination of the garlic and hoisin sauce with the cashew butter. It was a match made in heaven!

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Grilled Eggplant Panini with Roasted Tomatoes and Olive Tapenade

May 27, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

Eggplant has become a recent favorite food over the last 2 years. Before that I just never gave it a second thought. It’s an under rated vegetable and that might be due to the trickiness of cooking it. There’s acid in eggplant so it’s good to press some of the juice out to remove the bitterness. Grilling eggplant is one of the best ways to cook it just because it chars the eggplant and gives it a smokier flavor. I chose some roasted tomato slices to compliment the eggplant along with fresh mozzarella and olive tapenade. The roasted tomatoes were especially good because they are in between fresh and sun-dried. The tomato is concentrated like a sun-dried tomato but it remains just juicy enough to eat on a sandwich. It was so good! I really liked all the flavors together and I will definitely make this again.

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Chickpea and Coconut Curry Dosas

May 23, 2012 by The Partial Ingredients

When I first heard about these thin little pancakes stuffed with a curry filling I was pretty intrigued. I had never made anything like these pancakes before and they really are more like crepes. It took a couple tries (and throwaways) to perfect the thin pancake. The cake uses spelt flour which is kind of a unique grain so it’s harder to find at grocery stores. If you have a non-stick pan definitely use it on these for easier flipping. The curry filling was the easiest part to make and the flavors were great–a little spicy and a little sweet. Since the curry filling is enough for 4 meals, I made 1 batch of dosa batter each day. You can’t go wrong with coconut curry and wrapped up in the thin pancakes made it all the better!

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