On A Cooking Kick
For the couple of weeks, I’ve been in the mood to try out some new recipes. And, you know, every time I cook something new, I’m reminded how much I love cooking! It can be so easy just to cook up something from my usual repertoire ((my current staples are Spinach/Tofu/Chickpea Curry, wraps with refried beans and veggies, oven fries (or perogies) with soy “chicken” breast and some kind of veg, grilled cheese sandwiches)) – I know exactly what ingredients to buy and can whip up dinner in no time flat – so I’ve sort of fallen into that trap lately. But breaking out some of my cookbooks to look for new things to cook has got me all excited! Here’s a sampling of things I’ve made recently:
Pizza
I already blogged about this pizza I made – pesto, veggies and goat cheese! Recipe courtesy of my sister and her bf. My friend Alicia gave me a recipe for homemade dough, so that’s on the list of things to try out!
Dal
I’m generally not very good at making Indian food and so I usually just rely on the Tikka Masala sauce in a jar from Superstore when I want to make Indian ((it’s freaking delicious!)). But a long, long time ago some friends gave me this Indian cookbook:
and so I figured I’d try something simple from it. I made a dal and it actually turned out pretty tasty:
But hot. Probably not hot to an Indian person, but definitely white person hot. Fortunately, while the dal was cooking I had tried my hand at making raita:
This raita is chunkier than any raita I’ve ever seen before. That might just be my fault. It doesn’t look all that appetizing in this photo, but it tasted pretty good.
I was waiting for the dal to cook and realized that I happened to yogurt, cucumber and mint in the fridge, so I got a recipe for raita on the intertubes. And it was a good thing I did, because that dal freaking needed it to cool it down!
Spinach and Cilantro Rice
My sister mentioned to me one day that she’s madesomething from the Rebar cookbook, which I just so happened to have in my possession:
and I remembered this tasty spinach and cilantro rice that Tod and I made from that book a long, long time ago. So I made it again:
This is the blenderized spinach, cilantro and parsley that you use to cook the rice. Mmm, blenderized.
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Bars:
Also from the Rebar cookbook:
I took these to work last Friday. They were something of a hit at work, if I do say so myself!
Stuffed Poblano Pepper:
I didn’t actually take a photo of this one and I kind of made up the recipe as I went along. Basically, I cut the top of the pepper off, took out the seeds and membranes and filled it with a mixture of cooked rice (brown & wild), black beans, diced fresh tomatoes and cheese. And then I cooked it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Delish!
Chocolate Mousse:
Since I had leftover whipping cream from the aforementioned PB&C bars, I had to figure out what to do with it. I mean, I couldn’t let perfectly good whipped cream go to waste, could I? And what better to make than freaking chocolate mousse?? I just followed this recipe and it was to die for! Thought next time I would definitely use a high quality chocolate – like, say, Callebaut. I just used Chipits dark chocolate chips, which is what I had on hand and it was pretty spectacular, but just the thought of a Callebaut chocolate mousse makes my head explode! I think I’m going to declare chocolate mousse my signature dessert! ((for the record, my signature meal is blue cheese risotto and my signature appy is bean & salsa phyllo triangles)).
OK, so that’s what I’ve been up to lately! Anyone have any suggestions for other (vegetarian) recipes I could try out?
I should send you the recipe for apricot and lentil soup, which is delish! Also, I have a chicken and rasin curry dish that I’ve substituted tofu in successfully a bunch of times. It’s not at all hot, just spicy.
Wait, what’s the difference between “hot” and “spicy”? I use those words interchangeably!
It’s more of a personal opinion that a real definition 🙂 In this particular dish, even though you use 2 tbsp of green curry paste, it’s not going to be hot. Rather, you taste the cinnamon, ginger and garlic which have a pleasant, piquant taste but won’t burn your tongue off.
Ah! “Spicy” as in you can taste the “spices.”
hey – how about posting the daal recipe! I am always on the lookout for a good one. It is the one Indian dish that eludes me!
I have to know – what is the Rebar cookbook? In only partially related news, that is the knickname that Dave is using in utero for baby #2.
@Chris – Will do once I get home.
@Sarah – Baby #2 is being referred to as Rebar? lol! Rebar is a vegetarian restaurant in Victoria. I haven’t actual been there, but it’s supposed to be amazing. Got the cookbook from Tod’s mom, who was getting rid of stuff when she moved, including this book.