Vegetable Red Lentil Stew, & 

Palak Paneer (Indian Spinach & Cheese)

I was busy doing summery things recently, including making dinner for special visitors ... Vegetable Red Lentil Stew, and Palak Paneer (Indian Spinach & Cheese). These are the leftovers. 

The Lentil Stew is based on Supper with Michelle's recipe. I say "based on," because 1) I used the Instant Pot (not sponsored ) and so needed to modify the instructions, and 2) I had no zucchini, the carrots weren't good, and after cleaning and tidying the house, I was just too tired to chop onions or cut up potatoes. (Apologies to Michelle. 😐) Instead, I used frozen chopped mirepoix mix (carrot, celery, onion), as well as frozen chopped broccoli. The lentils ended up very creamy. I hope that next time, I'll make it according to the recipe. My visitors and I enjoyed this version, so thanks, Michelle! 😃

The Palak Paneer is from Madhu Gadhia's New Indian Home Cooking, which has a lot of great, simple, healthy recipes. The Paneer (cheese) was also homemade, leftovers from the freezer. I don't actually press the Paneer very thoroughly, so I just broke it up and stirred it into the spinach. The key here seems to be slowly cooking the spinach for at least a half-hour, until it smells less like raw spinach. We also enjoyed this! 

Supper with Michelle Website, Vegetable Red Lentil Stew

Grilled Veggie Pakora Sandwich

Here's a new sandwich, assembled at home of (mostly) bought ingredients. I was inspired by the many Indian toasted sandwiches I've seen on Instagram. The filling is Veggie Pakoras (fried vegetable fritters), cut-up and mixed with instant mashed potato. The inside of each slice of bread is spread with chutney: cilantro on one side, tamarind on the other. The sandwich was fried in a covered pan, with some butter-olive oil mix, and coconut oil, until golden brown and crispy.

I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  My off-recipe experiments sometimes fail dramatically. 😐 However, in this one, the cilantro chutney added freshness, the tamarind chutney added sweetness, the Pakoras added spice and substance, and the mashed potato brought it all together. I'd say this was a success!

Vanilla-Date Swirl Cake

The original recipe was for an easy vanilla-flavored cake, which I've made several times before. I wondered how I could jazz it up this time, and decided to swirl in some date syrup (dibs at-tamar/silan). Although I didn't quite get the swirl I wanted, it looked pretty, and did flavor the cake nicely. 

Broccoli-Cauliflower Kootu

This was based on the Cauliflower Kootu of Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt in Healthy South Indian Cooking. I wanted something quick-ish and tasty, and remembered that I had some frozen homemade cooked masoor dal (red lentils), as well as the remainder of some frozen broccoli-&-cauliflower. I cooked them with some spices for this Kootu. The only thing was, I wasn't sure how much spice to add, and may have added a little too much. Otherwise, it was simple yet excellent. 

Tahini Chocolate Chip Cookies

These were based on The Kitchen Magpie's Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I don't tend to have peanut butter around, but I did have a large jar of tahini (sesame seed paste). I also used coconut oil instead of butter, a little less sugar, and fewer chocolate chips. (Using fewer chips sounds bad, but believe me, there was still plenty of chocolatey goodness. 😃) These were such awesome cookies! I feel certain I'll make them again sometime.

After making enough cookies to fit a baking sheet, I patted the rest into an oven-proof cereal bowl, and baked it in that. It took about the same time to bake as the individual cookies. Just cut up the result however you like. These cookies, in whichever shape, lasted a long time, as long as their container was tightly covered.

The Kitchen Magpie Website, Thick & Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Instant Rava Uttapam 

(Savory Cream of Wheat Pancake), 

with Eggplant Chutney/Kathirikkai Thogayal (Thuvaiyal)

This made a yummy South Indian breakfast. The Rava Uttapam recipe is from Hebbar's Kitchen. Although this Uttapam batter has to rest for 20 minutes before cooking, it's still "instant" compared to other traditional versions. The Thogayal recipe is from Padhu's Kitchen. This was a great way to start the day!

Hebbar's Kitchen Website, Instant Uttapam Recipe

Hebbar's Kitchen YouTube, Instant Rava Uttapa Recipe

Padhu's Kitchen Website, Brinjal [Eggplant] Chutney -- Kathirikkai Thogayal (Thuvaiyal)

Broccoli Poriyal 

(Stir-fried South Indian Broccoli with Coconut)

This was based on Broccoli with Coconut Poriyal from Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alemalu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt. Rather than using chopped broccoli, I thought I'd experiment by using "broccoli slaw," instead. I'd seen it at the supermarket, and it looked handy: shredded broccoli, with some shredded carrot and red cabbage, as well. It did take longer to cook to get to the level of "doneness" I prefer, but in the end, it was awesome!