If you’re not familiar with Indian cooking, there’s a very popular type of dish known as dal (or dahl, daal, dhal). They are nearly always made of some sort of split peas, beans or lentils with Indian spices like turmeric, cumin, chile, and coriander. The combination makes for a really tasty dish that (IMHO) is way better than any American preparation of lentils.

When I started cooking Indian food, I went to YouTube because it was so different that what I was used to cooking and I wanted to see someone do it first. I now have two favorite YouTube Indian chefs that I always go to when I want to make Indian food. Their videos are very easy to follow and their recipes turn out great. One is Manjula (manjulaskitchen). The other is Sanjay (vahchef).

Here’s one of Sanjay’s recipes that I just made tonight. It came out great!  Of couse, I made a batch about four times bigger than in the video so will have many meals from a $0.99 bag of lentils. To go with the dal, I also made Sanjay’s palak paneer recipe except using extra firm tofu instead of the paneer cheese.  It was a great vegetarian meal that was as delicious as it was frugal.

***UPDATE 6/2 ***
I also tried to make the breakfast dish shown in the second half of the video. It’s GREAT!!! It might seem a little strange but turned out to be delicious. I would describe it as the Indian equivalent of corned beef hash. My wife loved it and asked for it for breakfast after tasting mine. My dal was a little mushier than in the video, but it still worked to fry it. I didn’t have a non-stick pan and used a cast iron skillet instead. It worked great and didn’t stick at all! This is definitely worth trying if you’re looking for something interesting for breakfast or looking for a vegetarian/vegan breakfast. (I used a non-dairy spread instead of butter so mine was vegan.)

I’m not going to try to get into all the details of why they’re so good for you, but here are a few of the good things packed into these tiny seeds:

• Copper, which support antiinflammatory and antioxidant enzyme systems to reduce pain and swelling and prevent cancer
• Magnesium, which supports cardiovascular and circulatory systems to reduce asthma symptoms and lower blood pressure
• Calcium and zinc, which supports bone strength and prevents colon cancer
• Phytosterols, which lower cholesterol and blood pressure

Check out this page and this page for more detailed information.

So it’s not like you can just have a big bowl of sesame seeds for dinner.  My two favorite ways to sneak in some sesame seeds are hummus and this Korean BBQ recipe:

Korean BBQ

Almost any kind of meat (or tofu) will do in this recipe.  My favorites are beef short ribs, chicken thighs, tri tip, pork loin and firm tofu.  Make the marinade as much as a week in advance and marinade the meet for at least and hour and as long as 24 hours.  The most important part of this recipe is the toasted and then crushed sesame seeds.  Don’t skip that part!

• Meat
• 1/4 cup sesame seeds
• 4-8 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 4 green onions, finely chopped
• 2T ginger, finely chopped
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup oil
• 2T agave or sugar

Toast sesame seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat until they turn a light brown and are fragrant.  Put them in a blender or food processor and pulse until mostly crushed.  Smell that flavor!!!  Combine the rest of the ingredients and either keep in the fridge until ready to use or pour on your meat to marinade.  Wait as long as you can stand it and then fire up the grill and cook over high heat to get a good char.  Cook until finished and serve with kimchi and rice or whatever else your family likes.  Leftovers are possibly even better!

The formula for potato salad is pretty simple:

• Some cooked starchy vegetable(s)
• Some aromatic vegetable(s)
• Some mayonnaise-like binder
• Some seasoning

I had some cooked quinoa and left over sauteed green beans and mushrooms.  Here is what I came up with:

Summer Quinoa and Vegetable salad

• 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup cooked green beans. chopped
• 1/4 cup cooked mushrooms, chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen peas, defrosted
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 1T fresh parsley, chopped
• 3T mayonnaise
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix it all up.  Makes about 3 servings.

Formula cooking is the idea that behind every recipe there is a formula.  The formula dictates what kinds of things go into a recipe and roughly what’s done with them.  That formula might be the same for literally hundreds or thousands of similar recipes but with each combination of specific ingredients yields something unique.  The easiest way to illustrate is with an example.

Here is a recipe for Macaroni and cheese:

• 1lb elbow macaroni, cooked al dente
• 8oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• 1/2cup milk
• 2T flour
• 1t salt
• 1cup seasoned bread crumbs

Mix first 5 ingredients and pour into a small baking dish.  Cover with bread crumbs and bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until bubbly.

This is a simple recipe but specifies exactly what goes into the dish and in what order.  Here is a formula for Macaroni and cheese:

• Some kind of pasta
• Some kind of cheese
• Some kind of sauce
• Some kind of seasoning
• Some kind of topping

Mix in some order and heat until all ingredients are cooked.

With this formula, you can create a practically unlimited number of dishes that could be called macaroni and cheese but are distinctly different from the first recipe.  You already do this when you happen to be out of cheddar cheese and substitute monterey jack instead.  Now, think about every part of a recipe being replaceable and your now using formula cooking.  This flexibility will allow you to create your own variation that might be:

• Healthier
• More suited to the tastes of your family
• Easier to prepare
• More interesting
• Better matched to another dish that this will accompany
• Best of all… Less expensive to make!

Now let’s say that I’m planning to make a Cajun meatloaf for dinner tonight.  The meatloaf is already in the oven and I need to make a quick side dish.  There are some chopped vegetables left from making the meatloaf.  I have some left over rotelli pasta that’s already cooked and some mild cheddar I got on sale because my family doesn’t like sharp cheddar.  Why not make a Cajun macaroni and cheese to go with the Cajun meatloaf?  Here’s what I come up with.

Cajun Stove top Mac & Cheese

• 1lb Rotelli pasta, cooked (pasta)
• 6oz mild cheddar, grated (cheese)
• 2T flour (sauce)
• 2T butter (sauce)
• 1/2 cup milk (sauce)
• 1/2 cup onions, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup celery, chopped (seasoning)
• 1/4 cup andouille sausage, diced (seasoning)
• 2t Cajun seasoning salt (seasoning)
• 5 dashes Tabasco (seasoning)
• 1/2 cup stale goldfish crackers, crushed

Cook the butter and flour over medium heat in a large sauce pan until the flour turns lightly brown.  Add the onions, bell pepper and celery and cook about 5 minutes or until soft.  Add the andouille and seasoning salt.  Add the cheese and milk and stir until it forms a sauce.  Add the pasta and tabasco.  Turn off the heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes for it to thicken.  Sprinkle with the crushed crackers.  Serve with Cajun meatloaf!

I’ve never made the above recipe, but bet it would be good!  It’s just an example to show how when you use the formula you can come up with something completely different that you can be pretty certain will still be recognizable, and probably delicious.  Next time you’re looking at a recipe, see if you can figure out the formula.  If you do that, I bet you’ll immediatly come up with ideas to make your own version that’s probably even better!

I’ve not tried to make the following recipe but the ideas were too good to keep to myself.  I don’t keep a lot of dessert materials on hand so it’s unlikely I’d get around to making this for several months.  I hope someone can try this and report back.  Since I’ve not made it yet, I don’t have any exact measurements or even specific ingredients to recommend.  Maybe someone can make it and post back their recipe…

American Hedgehogs

• Chocolate chips (any kind leftover from something)
• Sweetened condensed milk (or evaporated milk and sugar)
• Nuts (any kind, chopped)
• Cookies (any kind, fresh or stale, crushed into chunks)
• Candies (any kind, chopped into small bits)
• Dried fruit (any kind, chopped)
• Anything else that might taste good in this like marshmallows, pretzels, candied orange peel, etc…

Mix equal parts chocolate and sweetened condensed milk to make a simple fudge.  You could also add some vanilla extract, butter and/or marshmallows.  If you’re really unsure, just follow a fudge recipe.  Then add in any or all of the remaining ingredients to make a lumpy sticky mess.  Pour into a baking pan lined with parchment or foil and refrigerate until firm.  Cut into bars.

If anyone gives this a go or has a good hedgehog recipe, feel free to post a comment.  Wow, just typing up this post is making me want to run to the store…

Incredible shrinking curry

• 1T oil
• 1t turmeric
• 1t curry powder
• 1t mustard seeds
• 1/2 onion, chopped finely
• 1 tomato, chopped finely
• 1/2 can coconut milk (about 1 cup)
• 1t chicken bouillon
• 1 cup water
• 1 chicken breast, sliced thinly

Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan over medium heat and add the three spices.  Fry for 1 minute and then add the onion.  Fry another 5 minutes until onion starts to soften.  Add tomato and cook until tomato is soft.  Add coconut milk, bouillon and water and simmer for 5 minutes until smooth and creamy.  Add the chicken and stir until just cooked.  This makes enough for 1 or 2 depending on your appetite.

This recipe is super flexible.  There are a ton of vegetables that could go into this.  It could easily be made all vegetarian or vegan as well by omitting the chicken and bouillon and substituting tofu, tempeh or seitan.  Great vegetable additions would be peas, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower.  A quick and easy thing would be to use frozen or canned vegetables.  If you’re not watching carbs, serve this with basmati rice to stretch it out further.

After creating the cauliflower leek soup last week, I realized that not only did the cauliflower add thickness to the soup, it also added a silky creaminess that you normally only get with lots of fat.  This gave me the idea to make a cream of asparagus soup with no cream.

Asparagus has been good at the farmer’s market, so I bought a few bunches last week.  We ate the tender parts roasted on the grill but I saved the tough stems to use for the soup.  How’s that for frugal!!!  Here is my simple recipe that was super healthy and quite delicious.  I will definitely make this again.

Cauliflower asparagus soup

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• End from 2-3 bunches of asparagus
• 4 cups of water (or chicken or vegetable stock)
• 2t chicken bouillon (omit if using stock above)
• white pepper and salt to taste

Put the cauliflower and asparagus in a large pot with the water (or stock) and bouillon.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.  Let cool to at least room temperature and then blend until very smooth.  The stems are fibery so you’ll need to strain it with a coarse strainer.  I didn’t have a suitable strainer and actually strained this through a mesh bag that onions came in.  It totally worked!!!  Season with white pepper and salt.  If you don’t have white pepper you can use regular pepper.  White pepper really is perfect for this, though.

I have more cauliflower and vegetables lined up to try more variations on this.  I can’t wait to try this cauliflower soup with:

• brocolli
• roasted peppers
• pumpkin
• bacon and onion
• bacon, onion and clams (like chowder)

I better cut this post off now because I keep thinking of new variations.  I hope this gives you ideas of your own.

This recipe came from a Romanian friend of my sister whom she met while living in Montreal, Canada  Apparently, in Romania, a party just isn’t a party without this traditional salad.  I’m told that it’s common for Romanian women to roast many, many eggplants when they’re in season and then freeze them for use all year round.  I can definitely vouch for the fact that roasted eggplant freezed beautifully and is nearly as good in this recipe as freshly roasted eggplant.

In addition to this salad, she also passed along some additional Romanian dishes like a cabbage salad with bacon and caraway, and deviled eggs with a sour cream and pate sauce.  YUM!  I’ll post them soon.  Now for the recipe:

Romanian Eggplant Salad

• 2 globe eggplants, roasted
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

Roast eggplants in a 450F oven or on an outdoor barbecue until the insides are very soft.  Let them cool in a strainer to drain well.  When cool, remove the skin and mash the pulp by hand.  (Using a food processor for the eggplant makes it too airy.)  Puree the onion in a food processor until it starts getting soupy.  I sometimes add some water to help it along.  Squeeze out most of the moisture from the onion using a paper towel.  Add the onion and mayo to the eggplant and mix well.  Add salt to taste.

It’s traditional to serve this salad with sliced tomatoes and bread.  You can also use this as a spread on crackers or on a sandwich.  While I’d love to share a photo showing an amazing arrangement of tomatoes and bread with this salad, I usually just grab a spoon and go to town.  After you taste this salad, you might just do the same thing.  Enjoy!

There are certain vegetables that go with practically anything, like potatoes.  Potatoes taste great, are inexpensive and easy to cook.  Unfortunately, they aren’t the most nutritious vegetable.  Considering what they’re made of (pretty much just water and starch) they’re as much a vegetable as wheat and oats are.  Because of this, I don’t buy potatoes often (except for sweet potatoes, which are incredibly nutritious.)

You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this.  I’m actually asking myself the same thing.  So to cut to the chase, I had cauliflower and leeks from the farmer’s market that I needed to use and thought I might be able to make a potato leek soup, without the potatoes.  It was so simple and came out so well that I’m posting the recipe so I can make it again.

Cauliflower leek soup

• 1 head of cauliflower, chopped in 1 inch pieces
• 3 small leeks (or 1 big one), chopped then cleaned well
• 1T olive oil
• 4 cups of water
• 2t chicken bouillon mix
• salt and pepper, to taste

Saute the leeks in olive oil until starting to soften.  Add the cauliflower, water and bouillon and cook for an hour or until everything is very soft.  Let cool and then puree in a blender until very smooth.  Heat and serve.

This soup has the most amazing thick and creamy texture with a very mild flavor.  You’d almost think it was full of cream or butter.  The cauliflower makes a great base that doesn’t add any strong flavors.  I’m going to try this same formula but substituting the leeks for asparagus or celery.  You could also add some cream, butter and/or cheese.  I tried the above recipe plain and then added some parmesan cheese.  I actually think it was better plain.  Maybe a drizzle of a nice fruity olive oil just before serving would be nice.

I used to avoid buying fresh herbs because even though they were cheap, I still felt bad about throwing away half a bunch.   To fix this, I came up with lots of ways to use up fresh herbs so I can enjoy them regularly without feeling guilty.  Below are some of my favorite ways to use up fresh curly or flat-leaf parsley.

• Sprinkle on everything! Parsley has a strong flavor that holds it’s own against heavy meats and strong spices.  I love parsley chopped and added to meaty soups and stews.  I sprinkle it on everything from chicken and dumplings to sauted squash.  I usually chop about 1/3 of the bunch and store it in a container in the fridge (for up to a week) so it’s ready to use at a moments notice.
• Add to leafy salads! Fresh parsley goes great in salads.  You can chop it and add it directly with the lettuce or try blending it with your salad dressing.  Either way it adds a very nice flavor.
• Add to picnic salads! Add fresh parsley to tuna, chicken, potato and macaroni salads to turn them into something amazing.  Use your regular recipe but add just enough at the end to leave some small bits of green.  It’s also delicious in cole slaw.
• Pesto! Fresh parsley can be added to traditional pesto along with, or instead of, basil.  You can also make your own pesto variations.  Instead of the traditional basil and pine nuts with olive oil, try parsley and walnuts with walnut oil.
• Parsleyed vegetables! Fried potatoes are made even better with some fresh parsley added near the end.  This works for many kinds of sauteed and fried vegetables.
• Blend with olive oil! Try blending fresh parsley with olive oil and then drizzling over grilled or sauted vegetables.
• Chimichurri! This traditional Argentinian marinade and sauce for grilled meat is full of flavor.  Serve this on the side with your next barbeque.  For a real South American barbeque, baste the meat with nothing but salt water while grilling.  You won’t believe the flavor!
• Freeze it! If there’s any left after all the above, chop it and freeze it.  It won’t be as good for sprinkling on just before serving, but will still add great flavor when added near the end and stirred into a dish.

I hope these ideas inspire you to pick up a bunch of fresh parsley on your next trip to the market.  Let us know if you have an idea of your own to share!