Grilled Pasta Sauce

I call this "grilled pasta sauce" even though its not really saucy. However, I use it the same way I would use sauce out of a jar, which is why I think of it that way.  The "sauce" is basically just grilled sausage and vegetables. I like to cook the ingredients for this while I'm grilling something else for immediate consumption, because there is an extra step or two to prepare it.

Lauki Kofta

Lauki kofta is a fairly uncommon in the US, but it is a delicious, savory vegetarian dish. It is similar to meatballs in gravy, but without the meat. Kofta are generally ground meat kebabs, and the name has also been applied to this combination of besan (chickpea flour) and lauki . The English name is for lauki is "bottlegourd", but not really since no one will know what you're talking about. Its a green squash that is somewhere between a cucumber and a zucchini, but a lot bigger. (I forgot to take a picture of a whole one - you can google for one).

Cucumber, Strawberry, and Basil Salad

A great summer dish just in time for late fall! Cucumbers and strawberries are two wonderful summer foods. They're fresh and in season, and their high water content makes them lighter foods that are agreeable in hot weather. The basil helps bring the flavors of both together. Paired with salad greens and grilled shrimp, it's a nice lunch and can be served on its own as a side dish with other courses.

Quick Mango Pickle

I learned this from Phen, a Cambodian woman who insists I eat every time I visit her house. This dish is made with green mangos, and is very quick and very tasty. Its not a main dish, but more of a condiment that goes with almost everything.

Sweet and Sour Eggplant Curry

Here's another way to do eggplant. This is similar to a vegetable curry, but includes tamarind, which gives it a  sweet and tangy taste.

Yuanyang Grilled Potatoes

This dish is from the great book Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Travels in Other China. Many of the recipes are super simple, including this one.

BBQ Eggplant (Baingan Bharta)

The first time I ever had this dish was in the middle of the woods on a road trip to Amarkantak. We got up early and drove for hours before lunch, going slowly through the mountains on a journey of only 100km. We stopped for lunch at an ashram, where my travelling companions/guides made lunch around a fire. They put the eggplant right into the fire to roast on the coals, and it was one of the first times I really enjoyed eggplant (I learned I like my eggplant well cooked). In an American kitchen, cooking directly with fire is uncommon, but if you have a gas stove you can cook the eggplant directly on the flame.

Sauteed Bok Choy

I got some fresh organic bok choy from the farmers' market, and wanted to cook it in a way that let its flavor come through. I chose to quickly saute it, a cooking method that works well with fresh summer vegatables.

Nimbu Aachar (Lemon/Lime Pickle)

Aachar is the Indian style of pickles. A good aachar is hot, sweet, salty, and sour, adding a little of every taste group to the plate, and letting each person regulate the intensity of their meal.  You can buy aachar in jars at the store, but they are thick like tar, too salty, and loaded with preservatives. So, make your own.

This aachar is made with lemons and limes. Nimbu is the Hindi word for a lemon, though they use a different variety that is a little larger than a golf ball and is often green. As a substitute, we are using lemons and limes. Instead of vingear, the fruits are pickled sugar, salt, spices, and their own juices. After sitting in the sun for a few weeks, the peels become soft, and are eaten with the thick liquid.

Tea Infused Vodka

The last infused vodka used 5 or 6 ingredients and had to sit for weeks. These tea vodkas are much simpler... about as complicated as making tea.

Rosemary Liqueur

Infusing flavors into alcohol seems impressive and difficult, but it is actually super easy. It works along the same principles as making tea - put something flavored in a liquid for a while, and then take it out.

I had this liqueur when my friend Tanya made it, and I had to make some of my own. Its a sweet, herbal liquor that is best served on the rocks or with seltzer. Its so good that guests will skip over high end whiskeys to get a glass!

Shred a Pepper

This style of cutting peppers is going to be used in the dish in the next post, and I wanted to explain it first. It is one way to cut a bell pepper into short, skinny pieces, that I refer to as a "shred". I use this more often for red peppers than for green peppers, because red peppers are more intensely flavored and small pieces spread the flavor around.  This goes great in salads, slaws, soups.

Quick Noodle Soup

Soup is no one's favorite food in 80 degree weather, but this preparation is left over from winter... which only ended two days ago. I'm sure there will be a few more chilly days coming through for this to be useful. The soup is made with buckwheat noodles and topped with some Teriyaki Beef. The key is, as always, homemade broth which keeps well in the fridge or freezer.

Ratatouille : A Guest Post from Eleanor

Seth invited me over for dinner yet again, offering to make burgers on Udi's gluten free buns. On my way to meet him I stopped by CMart, a small Chinese grocery in Boston's Chinatown and looked around for what seemed freshest. Surprisingly, I left the store with the ingredients for, ratatouille.

Asparagus Season

Its great when a vegetable or fruit is in season, because they are usually both fresh and cheap. Its now asparagus season, so you can look forward to a few months of $1.99/lb fresh aspargus.

Potato Leek Soup

I wasn't originally planning on posting this, so there's only one picture. This is a delicious potato leek soup made with asparagus-mushroom broth. Normally a potato leek soup is mixed so that the potatoes give the soup some body, but I took a different approach, and it worked!

Bhindi (Okra)

Some people don't like okra, but they're crazy. Many people who claim not to like okra will like it this way, cooked with Indian spices. The goo that offends some people becomes an integral part of the curry gravy. This is similar to a Nepali preparation of the dish, but I don't remember exactly what went into that (it had tomatoes, turmeric and fenugreek), so I won't claim that this is Nepali.

Urad Dal

Dal is a soupy dish made of lentils and spices, and is a staple of Indian diets. Lentils are high in protein, so dal is served almost everyday as an important part of a vegetarian diet.

Secret Ingredient: Szechwan Pepper

Szechwan pepper is a common ingredient in Chinese and other Asian dishes. It looks like peppercorns, but is from an entirely different family of plants. It isn't hot like black pepper or chilis, and instead gives a tingle like a mild electrical current, enhancing the pleasure of other flavors.

Secret Ingredient: Applewood Smoked Salt

Some ingredients kick a little more ass than others, and the more of them you know how to use, the better your food will taste.  One of these ingredients is applewood smoked salt.