Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

A lot has happened in the last year or so to alter our lives and our routines. The biggest and most important, our now 7 month old son! Since, the doting grandparents, and aunts, and uncles have left and we've finally started to get some sort of routine back, I've started to try new recipes again. My parents and in-laws did a lot of cooking while they were here which sort of left me on auto-pilot. But the freezer meals they made are done and I’m dying to try some new stuff in the kitchen.

To stay awake during the late night feeding sessions, I’d browse the internet for anything I could think of. In one of those corners of the internet, I discovered a whole group of busy moms who make freezer to crock-pot meals. We've just started experimenting with some of them, and while we find a lot of them very bland for our Indian palate, they have opened my eyes to even easier cooking. I haven’t started to freeze them yet, I’m still making them fresh everyday but I do plan of freezing a couple.

This Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup is one such recipe. Here is a link to the original recipe and below you’ll find my additions and tweaks.

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

1 small onion, diced
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 box baby kale
1 can Great Northern Beans, washed and drained
3 tablespoons Italian seasonings
1 pound ground turkey
6 cups chicken broth or water (I had to use half of both because I didn’t have enough chicken broth
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Make sure the turkey is broken up. Give it a good stir to mix in the herbs. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve hot.

Spicy Khichdi with Vegetables

I've already posted a recipe for Masala Khichdi on here. And while the basic concept might be the same, I've added some ingredients to this recipe and changed it around for the better. I like the idea of adding vegetables to it, making it a more balanced meal. It’s perfect for a cold winter evening. This recipe has been pulled together from several different online recipes I was browsing through for ideas.

Spicy Khichdi with Vegetables

2 ½ cups khichdi mix, soaked in water for 30 minutes
2 onions, finely chopped
2 green chilies, slit
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp garlic paste
¼ tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
½ tsp garam masala powder
1 medium potato, peeled and cut into cubes
½ packet frozen green beans, thawed
½ packet frozen peas and carrots, thawed
Salt to taste
About 1 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
7-10 whole black peppercorns
About 1/8 tsp asafetida
A few curry leaves

For the Vagar

1 tbsp ghee
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 whole dried red chilies
3 – 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Chop the onions and the potatoes and keep ready. In a pressure cooker, heat some oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add the peppercorns, asafetida and curry leaves. Stir for a few seconds, and before the cumin seeds start to burn add the chopped onion. Cook till the onion is soft and translucent; add the turmeric, chili, coriander powders and the garam masala and salt. Cook for a minute or so, until it starts to smell less pungent. Now add the potatoes and vegetables, give it a thorough stir and add the drained khichdi mix. Mix everything together, add enough water to cover the mixture and put on the lid and whistle. Cook on medium heat for three whistles, then switch off the stove and allow the pressure to reduce. When you open the cooker, the khichidi should look moist and soft, like a hot pot rice dish. Give it a good stir and taste for salt.

In a small saucepan, heat the ghee, then add the cumin seeds. As soon as it starts to sizzle, add the garlic and the red chilies. Cook till the garlic starts to brown, then pour over the khichdi. Serve immediately.  

Notes:

*IF YOU ARE USING A PRESSURE COOKER, PLEASE FOLLOW ALL INSTRUCTIONS THAT COME WITH THE COOKER. IT CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS IF NOT USED PROPERLY! My recipe instructions are written with the assumption that you know how to use one and this blog is not responsible for your use of a pressure cooker. Every cooker has a slightly different cooking time, and water absorption rate. If there isn't enough water in the cooker, your food will burn and cleaning that cooker is a pain in the backside!

*If you don't get a readymade khichdi mix then mix together ½ cup moong dal and ½ cup toor dal to every ¾ cup of rice.

* You can add any vegetables you like, including cauliflower and/ or eggplant.

Thai-Style Tuna Burgers

This is an interesting recipe I found in a Better Home and Garden. It’s been sitting in my file of recipes-to-try for a while and we finally tried it a couple of days ago.

Thai-Style Tuna Burgers

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tsp grated ginger

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup panko

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp Asian chili sauce (Sriracha)

2 5oz cans wild albacore tuna (drain if in water or oil)

¼ cup celery, very thinly sliced

¼ cup chopped green onion

4 ciabatta buns, halved and toasted

1/3 cup micro greens

4 miniature sweet peppers, thinly sliced

Preheat the oven to 450F. In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise and ginger; transfer 2 tbsp to a large bowl. Cover remaining mayonnaise mixture and chill. To the same large bowl add eggs, panko, fish sauce, and Sriracha. Flake tuna and add to the bowl. Add celery and green onions and stir. Let stand for 10 minutes. With wet hands, shape tuna mixture into four ¾ inch thick patties.

Place tuna on a greased baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until done.

To serve, spread ciabatta halves with remaining mayonnaise mixture. Add tuna patty to the bottom half of each bun, bottom side up. Top with micro greens, thinly sliced peppers, and top buns. Serve with a salad and baked sweet potato fries.

Notes:

*I didn't have any micro greens, so I used baby spinach instead.

* I found the burgers rather bland and would recommend doubling the quantities of fish sauce and sriracha.

* I made the leftover tuna burgers on onion buns, after running out of ciabatta, and thought it tasted much better. 

Pork and Poblano Stew

This is an excellent  stew recipe, rich in flavor and textures. It’s from a Better Home and Garden Magazine. I had torn out the page (don’t panic, it was from my own copy) ages ago to keep the recipe, and try it someday. Lately, I’ve been on a mission to try to cook at least one dish, from my stack of magazine papers, a week.

The Pork and Poblano Stew turns out quite spicy, so cut back on the chili powder if you like. As the magazine suggest, the orange zest really adds to the flavor of the stew so don’t skimp out on it. I did not like that the stew was a very thin consistency, so I added a teaspoon of flour to it at the very end and made it a little thicker.

Pork and Poblano Stew

1¼ lbs pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp olive oil

2 fresh poblano chilies, seeded and cut into strips, about 1 inch in length

1 large red sweet pepper, cut the same size as poblano chilies

1 medium onion, slice thin

1 14oz can fire roasted tomatoes with garlic, un-drained

1 can chicken broth

1 3inch stick cinnamon

¼ cup orange juice

2 tsps lemon zest

Toss the pork with chili powder to coat. In a large saucepan heat 1 tbsp oil over medium heat. Cook pork about 4 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Use a slotted spoon and remove pieces; set aside.

Add remaining oil to the saucepan. Add the poblano peppers, sweet peppers, and onion; cook over medium heat until the vegetables are just tender, about 5 minutes.

Add tomatoes, broth, and cinnamon stick. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add pork and orange juice and cook, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. Then add the orange zest and switch of the heat. Serve hot with a crusty bread.

Notes:

*To thicken the stew, in a bowl mix together one teaspoon of flour with about a tablespoon of water. Mix until there are no lumps, then stir into the stew and cook for a couple of minutes or until the desired consistency.

Shawarma Lamb with Couscous Salad

Sunset Magazine seems to have a lot of interesting recipes and this Shawarma Lamb with Couscous Salad is just another new and interesting flavor we had for dinner. It was pretty easy to cook, but you need to get the meat from a butcher as I've never seen it in an isle of a grocery store.

Shawarma Lamb with Couscous Salad
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup couscous
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup olive oil, divided
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
1 large onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 1/2 lbs top round lamb steak, thinly sliced
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan, Add the couscous, cover tightly, remove from heat, and let sit for 5 minutes. Uncover, fluff, and add carrots and parsley, 2 tbsp oil, zest and juice of one lemon (I found this too be too much lemon so I suggest you add to taste).

Cook the onions in remaining 2 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan over high heat until edges are charred, 10 to 12 minutes. Add garlic, lamb, cumin, stirring, until lamb is cooked through and browned, about 10 more minutes.

Divide couscous among 4 plates and top with lamb mixture. Mix yogurt with remaining lemon juice (to taste) and serve with lamb.

Notes:
* Instead of adding the cumin, salt and pepper later, I marinated the meat in it.
* I did not add oil to the couscous, and used 1 tbsp to fry the onions.

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches

This is another recipe I found while browsing through Sunset Magazine. We decided to make them at home and take them out for a little picnic dinner in the park. They were very tasty, and I used the broiler instead of the outdoor grill. I also substituted most of the mayonnaise for yogurt to make it a little more fat free. This is a recipe we are going to make pretty often this summer.

Grilled Mediterranean Vegetable Sandwiches

¼ cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

½ tsp lemon juice

About ½ cup crumbled feta cheese, softened

2 small zucchini, thinly sliced length-wise

2 portabella mushrooms, sliced ¼ inch thick

1 eggplant, sliced ¼ inch thick

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large ciabatta loaf, cut horizontally

2 medium tomatoes, sliced

2 cups baby arugula

Heat grill to high (450 to 550 degrees Fahrenheit). Brush the zucchini, eggplant, and mushrooms with oil and sprinkle with salt. Grill, turning once, until softened and grill marks appear. Mix together the mayonnaise, garlic, and lemon juice and set aside. Cut the ciabatta loaf into four and grill, cut side down, for about 2 minutes, or until grill marks appear. Spread the tops with the feta cheese and the bottom with the garlic mayonnaise. Assemble all the vegetables and serve. 

Masala Khichdi

This was one of those throw-together recipes that turned out a lot nicer than I expected. It's heavy on the spices, so go easy if you don't eat spicy food. The Khichdi mix is basically a mix of rice, toor and moong dals; that I bought at the Indian store as a pre-mixed package. If you don't have something like this at home, you can mix them up yourself. We usually make this without most of these spices as an accompaniment to a particular fish-in-white-sauce dish, but yesterday, I wanted to try a slow cooker recipe that we could eat plain. The results were surprising. I would have added a little chopped cilantro to the pot, just before serving, but I didn't have any at home, and i recommend you do so. 

Masala Khichdi

1 onion, chopped
3 cups khichdi mix, soaked for at least 10 mins
1/2 tsp ginger paste
1/2 tsp garlic paste
1 heaped tsp garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
Salt to taste
3-4 whole dried cardamom
3-4 whole cloves
8-10 peppercorns
2 bay leaves

Place all the ingredients into the slow cooker and stir together well. Cover with water, give it one more stir, and set the slow cooker on high for four hours. Add more salt if needed, sprinkle liberally with chopped cilantro, and serve hot.