Sambhar Focaccia Sandwich

Both the Sambhar and Focaccia are homemade. This photo is from a couple of weeks ago, after I took some leftover Sambhar from the freezer. (Sambhar is a South Indian soupy dal/legume dish with veggies.) It was thick enough that at first, I thought it would make a nice topping for a Focaccia Pizza. However, when I saw the Focaccia, I saw how thick it was, enough to cut in half to make a sandwich with. A successful venture, I'd say! 

Savory Phyllo Turnovers 

Filled with Hummus

The Phyllo recipe is courtesy of Kouzounas Kitchen. You can see my recent posts for more info on homemade Phyllo and the homemade Hummus. I had leftover Phyllo dough, and didn't want to waste it. I also had leftover Hummus. I thought, What better way to use both, than to combine them in a pastry? These turnovers make a nice snack or light meal.

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Scratch Made Phyllo Dough

Baked Broccoli & Cauliflower Fritters

with Spiced Yogurt 

(Pakore Waali Punjabi Kadhi)

This recipe is from Vegan Richa. First, I made the Kadhi (spiced yogurt). The original recipe is vegan and calls for vegan yogurt for the Kadhi, but I must confess that I'm not a vegan, and so I used regular whole-milk yogurt. The Kadhi was very simple to make, yet smelled so yummy. Due to my own error it was too salty, but I ate it anyway, it was so good. 

Recipes for Kadhi call for mixing chickpea flour with yogurt, and cooking it. Unfortunately, it's too heavy for me to eat that way, and so I haven't made Kadhi in several years. I decided to try Kadhi again, this time adding some leftover Hummus (see recent post) instead of the chickpea flour. (This might help explain how I managed to oversalt the dish.) The smell reminded me of Kadhi from years past, so I think it worked well.

I made the Pakoras (fritters) separately, using frozen broccoli & cauliflower, that I defrosted in the microwave first. Once the Pakoras were baked, I just added some to the Kadhi for the meal. Mmm, I have extra Pakoras! which will make a nice, light meal themselves.

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced Yogurt -- Pakore Waali Vegan Punjabi Kadhi

Hummus bit-Tahini 

(Garbanzo Bean Dip)

This dish is informally known as Hummus, and the version above is from the recipe of Madelain Farah in Lebanese Cuisine.

I learned from Joanne of Fifteen Spatulas in a YouTube video, that to get creamer hummus, you can take the skins off the garbanzo beans/chickpeas. I've long noticed that when I rinse canned chickpeas, the skins come off pretty easily while handling them; I just never knew how to use this valuable info. Now I do! I also heated the chickpeas in a pan with water, as I've heard that heating them helps, and the recipe called for some water. The water was necessary also for using an immersion blender. Anyway, I finally made hummus that was fairly creamy, so I was satisfied.

The recipe, which is very simple, calls for canned garbanzo beans/chickpeas. The only thing I left out was the garlic (what?!), as I can't have raw garlic. (Maybe some time, when I remember, I'll try it with roasted garlic, and see how that is.)

FifteenSpatulas Website, The Secret to *Really* Smooth Hummus

Fifteen Spatulas YouTube, The Secret to *Really* Smooth Hummus (Homemade Hummus Recipe)

Hortopitakia (Greek Savory Turnovers with Spinach & Herbs),

with Homemade Phyllo Dough

Throwback to: these savory spinach turnovers, based on the recipes of Kouzounas Kitchen. For more details, please see my recent post. That pic was taken with my phone, right after baking. This one was taken the next day, with my camera. The spinach filling was so good! I'll have to try these turnovers again.

Kouzounas Kitchen Facebook

Kouzounas Kitchen Website, Hortopitakia: Savory Turnovers with Spinach & Herbs

Hortopitakia (Greek Savory Turnovers with Spinach & Herbs),

with Homemade Phyllo Dough

Both of these recipes are courtesy of Kouzouna's Kitchen. The shape was supposed to be more like half-moons, but at least they didn't fall apart, and were yummy from the filling. I fried them in a pan, with more oil than I would usually use, but not too much.

For the filling, I used leftover chopped spinach and kale, already cooked with some onion, and later frozen. I cooked another whole chopped onion according to the directions, added the greens, and then some salt, cumin, and Italian seasoning. (Use what you have, they say.)

I made the phyllo dough on Saturday, according to the directions, in a stand-mixer, and put it in the fridge to sit overnight. It ended up that I didn't get a chance to use it until yesterday. Somehow, the dough was very sticky -- but that's what flour is for. The main problem was, it was still fairly elastic. After thinking about it, I wonder if the vinegar used to "relax" the dough, was too old.

Kouzouna's Kitchen Website, Hortopitakia: Savory Turnovers with Spinach & Herbs

Kouzouna's Kitchen Website, Scratch Made Phyllo Dough

Upma

This is a South Indian breakfast dish featuring rava/sooji/like cream of wheat. Cooked this time with a little oil, mustard and cumin seeds, urad and channa dals/legumes, salt, onion powder, mirepoix mix (chopped carrot/onion/celery), and "spring veggies" (zucchini, yellow squash, and carrots). A nice, light meal when served with creamy yogurt. 

Thai Red Curry 

with Zucchini, Yellow Squash, & Carrot

The curry is pictured here over a quinoa-brown rice combination. I made the curry according to the method of Nancie McDermott in Real Vegetarian Thai, and with vegetarian store-bought Thai red curry paste, as well as light coconut milk. As the coconut milk was creamy, so was the curry. Very easy to make, and I really enjoyed it!

Nancie McDermott Facebook

Sambhar Sandwich, with Harissa

So, I had some leftover Sambhar (Indian soupy dal/legume dish with veggies) that I took from the freezer, but didn't have any rice made, and was too tired to make some. What could be better than a sandwich? I spread some Harissa (Moroccan pepper sauce) on toast, and topped it with some thickened Sambhar (warmed up separately). I'd call this, a success!

Egg Pita/Baida Pita

This was inspired by the Egg Parathas of Natasha, known on Instagram as @thegutlessfoodie. I started out with a little oil, and some cumin seeds and chopped carrot/onion/celery. Next, I added in a beaten egg, mixed with some salt, turmeric, and pav bhaji masala. I turned over a pita and added it to the pan upside-down, and pressed it in. I melted a little coconut oil on the side of the pita facing up. When the egg was done enough for me, I turned over the whole thing, and pressed the underside of the pita into the pan. The coconut oil made it somewhat brown and crispy. Very tasty! The one I made a couple of days later looked even better, but I cut it up and ate it before I could take a picture. 

@thegutlessfoodie Instagram, Potato & Egg Para-zone (as an example of Egg Parathas)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Throwback Thursday, back to: January 2015. Chocolate Chip Cookies (with oil, not butter), the entire batch of dough baked in a deep glass pie plate. Afterwards, I cut it into small squares. It was easier, at the time, than baking dozens of single cookies. 

My earliest posts to this blog, last autumn, included photos taken on my current tablet. These were followed by photos taken on both my camera and my phone. Most of my previous tbt (Throwback Thursday) posts have included tablet photos not included originally in my feed, or featured again because I thought you might like to see them. Recently, I remembered photos from my old tablet, which I'd shared on my personal Instagram account, but not here. This is the first of these, and I'm sharing it here today because I thought we could all use some chocolate chip cookies this week!  I only ask that you excuse me, as for many of these photos, I don't have many details on which recipe I used.

Pomegranate Sheera/Rava Kesari (Sooji Halwa)

(Indian pudding)

This is an Indian dessert that's like a thick pudding, cut into squares. This one, from a guest recipe on the blog of Flavors n Colors, is made of sooji/rava/farina (like cream of wheat), and pomegranate juice, as well as sugar, a pinch of salt, cardamom, and coconut oil (in place of ghee). I used store-bought pomegranate juice, in place of fresh. The Sheera is served chilled. It was marvelous! Sweet, but not too sweet, with the flavor of pomegranate. I like it with some spicy Indian snacks.

Flavors n Colors Facebook

Flavors n Colors Website, Pomegranate Sheera

Khanfaroosh (Semolina Muffins)

These were made with semolina flour. The recipe is from Classic Vegetarian Cooking from the Middle East and North Africa, by Habeeb Salloum. He describes this as "a traditional dish in the Gulf region of the Arabian Peninsula," gives directions for making muffins from the batter, and notes that they are actually better when deep-fried. I decided to compromise, and make them in an æbelskiver pan. I knew each batch (of 4) was done when I could smell the rosewater. After I took the first bite, I decided that a few of these would be my dinner (with a little applesauce). And they were!

Paniyaram-Papadum Upma Bread Pizza

This is the last in what has apparently become a series, "How to Use Up Leftover Paniyaram." (You can check out recent posts for details about Paniyaram, if you like.) Yesterday's post showed Paniyaram and Papadum, broken up and cooked with spices to make an Upma. The day after that photo, I decided to go a step further: I spread some store-bought pasta sauce on toast, before topping it with the Upma, and popping it all in the microwave. Then, I sprinkled over it, some Bhujia Sev (crispy fried noodles made from legume flour). Afterwards, I cut it into bite-size pieces. Another odd experiment, that turned out fairly tasty. It's amazing how many kinds of leftovers can be turned into sandwiches and pizza!

Paniyaram-Papadum Upma Sandwich, 

with Harissa (Moroccan chili sauce)

This is another way to use leftover Paniyaram (South Indian dumplings). (For more information on how I made the Paniyaram, you can see my post from the end of May, if you like.)

I know that people make Idli Upma, with crumbled leftover Idlis (another kind of South Indian dumplings), and decided I would do something similar. Except, when I went to add the Paniyaram to the oil and spices in the pan, I realized that I had far fewer than I thought. What to do? I decided to add some Papadum. These are store-bought legume wafers that are usually puffed in oil, but I puffed them in the microwave, instead, and broke them up, before adding them in.

The other ingredients were mustard seeds, urad and channa dals (legumes), a little onion powder, frozen chopped onion/carrot/celery, and salt. After mixing everything together, I added a little water as needed, and cooked the mixture on low, covered, until I felt it was done. Afterwards, I used it to top some toast spread with Harissa. As you may have noticed by now, I like to use all kinds of leftovers to top sandwiches!

Cheeseless Pizza

Throwback to: Cheeseless Pizza from last October. The dough was homemade, most likely focaccia/pizza dough from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. As I can't eat much cheese, sometimes I'll make such a pizza. This is good for a light meal or snack. That's why there are only 3 pieces pictured: I ate one first!

Open-faced Paniyaram-Bhujia Sev-Harissa Sandwich

This was made with some of the leftover Paniyaram (South Indian dumplings, made of moong dal/yellow split mung beans), from a recent post. I wanted a little extra flavor, so I first spread some store-bought Harissa (Moroccan pepper sauce) on toasted bread. Next, I added some Paniyaram that I sort-of cut in half. I thought, why not some crunch, too? And so I sprinkled some bhujia sev (crispy Indian noodles made of chickpea flour) over everything. I warmed it in the microwave just a little, and there was dinner, with some yogurt (not pictured). I thought the combination might seem a little unusual, but decided to share it, anyway. Sometimes it's nice to have something a little different! 

Kolokithokeftedes (Greek Baked Squash Fritters)

These are from the recipe of Mia Kouppa. I'd been wondering what to do with the frozen squash, and then I saw this recipe, and knew. I figured it would be less squash than specified in the recipe, so I adjusted the amount of ingredients as best I could. I used some frozen homemade paneer (Indian cheese) instead of feta, which I didn't have. I got 18 fritters from what seemed a small amount of squash, which was nice. I didn't think of this as being healthy, just yummy and homey.

Mia Kouppa Facebook

Mia Kouppa Website, Baked Squash Fritters (Κολοκυθοκεφτέδες)

Not-Quite-Sour-Cream Cornbread 

(with some honey)

This is based on the Sour Cream Corn Muffin recipe in Lauren Chattman's Mom's Big Book of Baking. Instead of sour cream, I used an equal amount of whey (liquid) leftover from making paneer (Indian cheese).

As I'd used up all the stone-ground yellow cornmeal, I decided to try Masa Harina, instead. It's Latin American corn flour that's specially meant for tortillas, pupusas, and empanadas. It worked just fine here, combined with the all-purpose flour also specified in the recipe.

Lastly, instead of 12 muffins, I just poured the batter into an 8x8 pan, for a cornbread that I cut into 12 pieces. The result was a light, somewhat sweet, cornbread, that I've been enjoying the last few days. Finally, I managed to get a good photo with my camera before it was all gone! 

Oven-roasted Potatoes & Vegetables,

 with Herbes de Provence

This is from the recipe of Eye Candy Popper. Several potatoes, along with a leftover zucchini and a carrot, were mixed with some olive oil and Kouzouna's Kitchen herbes de Provence, and baked on a parchment-lined baking sheet. I almost forgot to salt them, but remembered before it was too late. They go well with eggs in the morning, or with anything else at any other time!

Eye Candy Popper Website, Oven Roasted Potatoes & Vegetables with Herbes de Provence

Veggie Lasagna

Throwback to: my recent Veggie Lasagna. (See quote below from my previous post, for all the details!) This pic was taken with my camera, the next day. The other one, was taken by my phone, right after the lasagna finished baking. Yummy, either way, just presented differently. 

"Ingredients: no-boil noodles; paneer (Indian cheese) seasoned with salt and dried Italian herbs and basil; frozen "spring blend" veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and yellow squash), defrosted and par-cooked in the microwave; mozzarella cheese; and jarred pasta sauce from the store. After I bought the jar of sauce, I found myself thinking about making lasagna. Once I had made the paneer, it was a done deal!  

I made this similar to the style of my mom's lasagna, but vegetarian, and with the kind of no-boil noodles I discovered several years ago, as well as paneer in place of cottage cheese. It's very simple: oil the pan, place a layer of sauce so nothing sticks/burns, place noodles to cover the pan, then a layer of paneer and some veggies, more noodles and sauce, and continue layering until it's as you like. Finish off with a layer of noodles, more sauce, and then some cheese. Cover with foil -- I like to put the dish on a baking sheet -- and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about an hour or until bubbly. Remove from oven, and let sit for 15 minutes. Then enjoy!

You can use cottage cheese or ricotta or paneer (or maybe even tofu?), any kind of veggies and sauce, and more mozzarella cheese than I did."

Paniyaram (South Indian dumplings)

These dumplings were made in a Nordic Ware æbelskiver pan (which is similar enough to the Indian pan used for this). They were made from leftover Moong Dal Cheela batter. (You can see my recent post for more details.) I used just a few drops of oil for each one. The trick is, to wait until each dumpling is "done" and ready to turn over. Then, when you use a wooden utensil, such as chopsticks, it will easily turn over, without a struggle. Here, they are accompanied by some store-bought Harissa (a North African pepper sauce). 

Veg Recipes of India, Moong Dal Chilla Recipe

Moong Dal Cheela (Indian Savory "Crepe")

These thin crispy Indian "crepes" are made of yellow split mung beans. The moong dal/mung beans are soaked and ground, and mixed with seasonings. I based these on the recipe of Veg Recipes of India. After the batter was ready, I let it sit on the counter for an hour or so, to ferment (and hopefully become lighter). The cheelas were light, and crispy (with not too much oil). I was glad it was a success!

Veg Recipes of India Website, Moong Dal Chilla Recipe