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. 

Aloo Gobhi 

(Potatoes & Cauliflower)

This popular North Indian dish is from a recipe of Madhu Gadia in New Indian Home Cooking. It contains a whole bag of frozen cauliflower, 3-4 potatoes, onion, fresh ginger, spices, and lemon juice. (I like to only add the lemon juice when I'm actually eating it; then, I add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to that portion.) Here, it's featured with basmati rice. Very yummy. 

This cookbook is good because the recipes are designed (by a dietician) to be quick and easy. Many call for frozen veggies. One of my favorite tips from here: use ready-made tortillas for samosas, if you don't have time to make the pastry.

Punjabi Dal Fry, 

with Masoor Dal (Red Lentils), 

Tomatoes, Broccoli, & Cauliflower

This recipe was from Vegan Richa, and made in the Instant Pot (not sponsored). The tomatoes were leftover from a can, and the broccoli and cauliflower were frozen and defrosted, before I added them. Everything went together in the IP, which I set to cook extra (longer than the recipe) (to make sure the lentils were very well-cooked). The end result would have fit nicely into a 7-cup container, but I also put some in 2 smaller containers for the freezer. Instead of adding lemon juice directly, I squeezed fresh lemon juice over the portion of dal I was eating. This dal was good with toast (including as a sandwich), as well as over cooked potatoes. Yummy! 

Vegan Richa, Punjabi Dal Fry Recipe

Baked Broccoli & Cauliflower Fritters or Pakora Sandwich

This is a Throwback to June. The fritters/pakore were made to go along with Punjabi Kadhi. I finished the Kadhi, but still had some pakore left. What to do? Make a sandwich! I put some Harissa (Moroccan chili sauce) on toast, followed by the pakore, with sev (crunchy chickpea noodles) sprinkled on. Yogurt and sorbet (not pictured) accompanied the sandwich. 

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

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

Oven-roasted Cauliflower

I partly defrosted frozen cauliflower, just enough to unfreeze them. I then tossed them with some oil and salt, and roasted them on a parchment-lined baking sheet, until they seemed "done." They were very yummy right afterwards, when I ate them with my meal. I didn't like them so much, plain, the next day, though. When I'd make them again, I'd make sure to add them to a soup, sauce, or stir-fry the next day. 

Baked Cauliflower Pakore (Pakoras/Fritters/Dumplings)

These were made according to Vegan Richa's recipe for Baked Broccoli Fritters. I don't think I got them exactly right, so I guess I'll just have to make them again. I really liked them, and had to stop myself from eating all of them at once!

The veggies were cut up small and mixed with a thick batter of chickpea/garbanzo bean flour/besan, before being baked; I also sprayed them with oil. I used slightly defrosted frozen cauliflower, as that's what I had to work with. Maybe I'll have broccoli to try it with, next time.

Vegan Richa Website, Baked Broccoli Fritters with Spiced [Vegan] Yogurt

Gobhi Matar Mini Samosas 

(baked turnovers, with a filling of cauliflower and green peas) 

These samosas are from an Archana's Kitchen recipe. I took one bite, and decided these are awesome! The filling, which I made the day before, is sweet and spicy at the same time. The pastry is very flaky, but the dough didn't require much work at all. I think I need more practice making this small size samosa with this method. Next time, I might make twice as much pastry, and make larger samosas. That should help with the shape. No help is needed with the flavor or texture, both of which are awesome! 

I left the garam masala out of the filling, as it looked to be seasoned very well without it (and I have to be careful not to get too much spice). I can't have butter, so there's no ghee in the pastry. However, I've been experimenting recently with coconut oil, and that's what I used here, instead.

Archana's Kitchen Website, Gobi Matar Mini Samosa Recipe

Thai Red Curry with Cauliflower & Broccoli

I don't know much about Thai cooking (except how to eat the finished product), so I decided to start out by using a vegetarian red curry paste from the supermarket. Instead of putting the curry together using the method on the jar, I followed instructions from similar recipes in Nancie McDermott's Real Vegetarian Thai. It worked out very well, and I enjoyed it with rice. Since I have to be careful what I eat, I hadn't eaten Thai food in years until recently, and I missed it. Now I don't have to miss it anymore, yay!

Cauliflower-Egg Sandwich, on toast

The toast has pizza sauce spread on it, for extra flavor. The scrambled egg is a bit hidden beneath the veg. I decided I wanted roasted cauliflower, so I tried the easiest way I could think of, as an experiment. I took an entire 12-oz bag of frozen cauliflower, emptied it onto a baking tray, and mixed it with some oil and salt. In a 425 F oven, it took about 40 minutes to get it where I wanted it. Others may prefer less time. I thought the experiment was a success, as I eagerly made this sandwich for myself.

Potato, Cauliflower, & Onion Soup

This dish is based on a Supper with Michelle recipe for Potato, Cauliflower, & Leek Soup, of Jan. 26. (Accompanying the soup here, is some of the pizza topped with fresh tomato slices, from my photo of a couple days ago. Another time, it was some of the Veggie Bites pictured yesterday.) It was another fabulous recipe! The soup was warm and very comforting, during the cold weather. 

I usually have to be careful what I eat, and so I often have to modify recipes. In this case, I used some onions instead of leeks, and less oil, and left out the garlic and half-&-half. I wasn't sure that flour would work so well with so little oil, so I used some potato flour to thicken the soup. I mixed in some creamy whole-milk yogurt to the soup while eating. I would rather have had the original, but I really enjoyed this version (especially with the pizza). Yummy! 

Supper with Michelle Website, Potato, Cauliflower, & Leek Soup