There's a black bean hummus on epicurious that is always a hit. Make sure to use less tahini than what the recipe calls for and then add more if you like.

Wow, GHG! So many great ideas (vegetarian, to boot!) Thank you! Note to self: Must get some halloumi soon!

Vegan frittata? Do elaborate, please.

Texas caviar aka cowboy caviar. www.simplyrecipes.com has a yummy recipe. I am not positive about how low carb black eye peas are, but I know that diabetics favor them. Improves as it sits, for sure. The other day I made it, I couldn't find organic peppers, so I subbed celery for crunch. Also subbed lemon juice for lime since that's what I had.

I've used this recipe many times now, TerriL. Always turns out well. Thank you! The only thing I do differently is use freshly ground seeds from 6-7 cardamom pods instead of vanilla.

I remember watching a Daisy Martinez show where she made these. Twice fried, I believe. Also called Tostones in some countries.

Wow! So many new quinoa recipes to try! Great idea - dish of the month, i.e.

In my kitchen, quinoa salad is the staple to pull out when I am short on time, just have basic ingredients but want something healthy and satisfying on the table. Also, no complaints at the table. Here's what I do:

Simmer about 1c quinoa (white) in about 1.75C of boiling salted water. Takes about 15-20 minutes. I uncover towards the end so any extra water evaporates. Spread out cooked quinoa on a platter to cool. Dressing - juice of whatever citrus is on hand, olive oil, ground cumin (about a tsp?), salt, pepper, maybe a drizzle of honey. Vegetables - one finely diced red bell pepper, 2 or 3 scallions sliced (white and green parts), 1 small cucumber, 1 can black beans drained and rinsed, large handful of cilantro leaves (or cilantro and mint). Toss it all together. Done.

> Yay, I'm on-topic for once! Screw you, former schoolteachers!
LOL!

Sorry for the late response TDQ. Yes, I just store the whole spices in jars in the cupboard.

I just wanted to mention for the benefit of others who tend to cook Indian food infrequently: if you think you won't use too much of a spice, buy the whole spice instead of ground and grind as needed. Whole spices keep for ever. I have cloves, cardamom and cinnamon, among others that are years old and they are still good. Second, I'd suggest buying from an Indian grocery store, if you can find a decent one in your neighborhood. I have found that their prices are often way better than the spice aisle of a supermarket or a specialty store.

Ghee is not a staple in Indian cuisine in the sense that all dishes use it. In fact, other than sweets, fasting foods, and some others where its richness is desired, vegetable oil is the default. Comestible, don't get me wrong - this isn't the first I've heard a non-Indian ask this. I am not sure how this misconception about ghee being required for every Indian dish has taken root. I wonder if the Hare Krishna folks are responsible or whether it is the popularity of Mughlai food in restaurants (home cooking is very different from Mughlai) or something else. To answer your question - I doubt that Ms. Jaffrey has swapped out ghee from most of the Indian recipes in this book for a healthier alternative.

Made this for dinner last night. Thanks for pointing it out, L.Nightshade! For a dyed in the wool Indian, I was pleasantly surprised with this dish. In my home growing up, carrots never starred in a vegetable side. They were usually used raw in salads (in koshimbir or kachumber) or cooked with milk and sugar for gajar halwa or a handful of diced thrown into a pulav. I did have frozen methi and used that here. I suspect fresh methi would taste even better. Really liked how the sweet carrots worked with the bitterness from methi and the fragrant spices. Served with Lehson Aur Pyaz ke Tarkay Vali Sookhi Mung Dal (p 78, that I made a soupy version of, not sookhi as in the recipe), a cabbage koshimbir and warm rotis. Tasty and comforting meal.

Got the book. It must have been the recipe for Black Eyed Peas with Swiss Chard (p 20) that I tried last time and liked very much. As for the eggs with harissa in a wrap - that must have been some other book. I can't find it in here. Oops! Sorry!

One of my aunts came visiting recently from India. She said she adds sprouted methi seeds to vegetable sides. Apparently very good for you and sprouts are nowhere as bitter as the seeds. Planning to try this soon.

Heh heh... for the lactating mom, presumably too much milk. Also, from what I understand, many of the ingredients are considered "heat producing" and hence from an ayurvedic stand point too much could cause imbalances in one's body. There were no lactating moms in my home growing up, yet methi laddoo were a standard winter treat (well, for those that liked it. I could never get over the bitterness. Managed to choke some down when my first born was a wee baby.)

Thanks so much! It was a good reminder to *search* Heidi's blog for recipes. I forget sometimes how many she has posted over the years and tend to remember only about 5 most recent.

Aww, thanks Breadcrumbs! When I have such fabulous inspiration and tips from these boards and great local produce from the markets, there's no excuse for blah food.

Hah! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for the tip, dkennedy!

Interesting that you like ground fenugreek. I am sure that is why you have it in your spice cabinet! Duh! :-) Then you might like methi laddoo. A confection that is made for new mothers to ensure steady milk supply. Ground fenugreek is soaked in ghee for a day and then whipped (not sure what whipping does). Then ground dates, nuts and jaggery/sugar are added and the mixture formed into balls. Keeps for months and you're supposed to eat no more than one a day.

Yes, you should be able to grow your own fenugreek leaves. My mother used to do this when she lived in the US 40 years ago and a trip to the Indian grocery store was an excursion. You can find seeds in an Indian grocery store. You may be able to find bunches of fresh leaves in Chinese or Indian grocery stores. My Indian grocer carries it fresh from time to time, and always has it in the frozen section and in the dried spices section (as kasuri methi).

As for kohlrabi - yes I've found it to be hit or miss too. When I can select each one, I make sure to pick the smallest bulbs with the freshest looking foliage. But if it is a bunch, I may end up with some that is tough/woody and not sweet and juicy at all. For this reason, I don't buy it very often. Your CSA should be able to provide you with better quality though!

Re: World Vegetarian - I vaguely remember a lobia/lobhia recipe (black eyed peas) that was simple and good and a (north?) African recipe for wraps with harissa, and eggs and possibly some potatoes and onions. Sorry, that's all I remember. I will pick up this book from the library in a few days and let you know more specifically.

It was probably bitter due to ground fenugreek which is quite potent. Fenugreek leaves are generally not as bitter, especially when young and tender and that is precisely the stage at which they are used in Indian cooking. I need to borrow this book again. There were quite a few hits when I cooked from it last time!

Would you mind sharing a recipe for your zucchini potato gratin, please?

Having fun with summer bounty here in SoCal. Recipes from cookbooks, internet, cooking shows, or just using what needs to be used up. On our table this past few weeks -
Corn - puddings and spoonbreads, griddle cakes (thanks for the Jack Bishop book rec, Breadcrumbs! These were a hit with guests), succotash
zuchhini - pancakes, pasta, rice gratin
heirloom spinach - quesadillas
green/yellow wax beans - sabji with roti, salad with corn and basil, salade nicoise without tuna
poblano/pasilla/ancho chiles - pureed for enchilada suizas sauce, in corn pudding, rajas tacos coming up soon
bell peppers - paneer jalfrezi with roti, roasted in sandwiches with pesto, in pastas
eggplant - sadly not much of this from organic/sustainable stands this season. A pretty good Eggplant Deva knock off (a la Bombay Cafe) last night. A fairly meh gratin with tomatoes on a bed of onion jam. Bunch more oil would've fixed it imo.
Summer fruit - Arugula salads with these and pistachios and goat cheese. Peach Kuchen.
Other - soup a pistou. Cucumber-mint-lime agua fresca from simplyrecipes.com

Recipe, please?

Well, I've also run into this bitter onion problem and the bitterness does not cook away. I've encountered it making onion gravies for Indian curries, so the onion gets sauteed a good long time on low heat, with lots of oil (it is not burnt onion). It happens to me when I run raw onion through a blender, but not when I saute chopped onion first and then blend. Also, it does not happen all the time. Perhaps I need to pay attention to the type of onion, when this happens next and when it doesn't. I do sometimes use grated onion and this hasn't happened to me with grated - but perhaps because I grate rarely. Don't like dealing with the slipperiness and a sharp grater.

How about classic Indian dessert flavors such as cardamom, saffron or nutmeg - separately or all together in one batch? I would steep these in milk before culturing it into yogurt, rather that trying to add to yogurt after it has set. Also, how about herb syrups - this I have not done. But should work.

Heh, heh.. yeah, I was certainly being nit picky about the crust. Once it was baked, the crust was hardly in focus - the gorgeous looking peaches stole the show. Rainey, did the recipe you used call for fresh peaches or canned? Mine called for canned but I used fresh. They tasted great when I was slicing them, but I was underwhelmed by their performance in the tart. There was hardly any competing sweetness from custard or crust, so dunno why peaches almost tasted too tart. I switched out the cinnamon in the recipe for cardamom (Mr. Sweettooth hates cinnamon) and loved it. I plan to try again if I come by sweeter peaches in the next few weeks.
In other news, baked a Chard tart from Joy Of Cooking and Ina Garten's Brownie pudding for dinner tonight. The latter was yummy if a tad too rich and sweet. Will cut sugar by 1/2 cup and butter by 1/2 stick next time. The tart was ho hum.. I had high hopes. I must've kneaded the crust dough too much - it was tough. Didn't think I was in danger of overworking it, given the amount of oil in it. I was wrong. But the filling didn't wow either. Needs more herbs I think. I'm pretty sure I saw something like this on Lidia's Italy. Need to look up recipe and compare differences. Yeah dinner was a calorie bomb tonight. Too bad it didn't taste worth it. :-(

Experience? I say this humbly and playfully.. as I'd love to find the secret too. I'll point out what I've learnt along the way. Some things to avoid:
1. Lumpy filling - say for aloo paratha
2. Very dry filling - more a problem for kachoris than parathas, but may prevent a good seal at the crimped seam. Also a crumbly filling may lead to air getting trapped inside and this will lead to punctured parathas when rolling them out.
3. Too stiff dough - if dough isn't pliable enough, it'll tear. Allow it rest after kneading, before stuffing and rolling. You may want to try adding some all purpose flour to the atta, to help with this.

I made peach kuchen on Friday night too! This was only the second time I executed a pressed-in tart crust in a fluted loose-bottom pan and though there were no leaks, I would like to learn to make a uniform crust. Base was even, but sides could've been better. Is there a trick to doing this right? It would help to know how much of the mixture to save for the sides. I guess I could've scraped some up from the base when sides looked anemic.

How about couscous or quinoa salads? Couscous with some ground cumin, citrus zest, steamed broccoli or other veg, drained can of chickpeas, roasted nut or seed of choice and a simple oil-lemon juice dressing. Chopped flat leaf parsley or cilantro or mint if you have some will gild the lily. It comes together quickly.
Another idea for pantry pasta: saute sliced onion, garlic, chile flakes, chopped olives (or olive tapenade), sundried tomatoes, drained can of chickpeas or other bean. Toss in cooked short pasta reserving some pasta water to moisten as needed. Careful with the salt in this one! Top with grated parmesan, flat leaf parsley or basil, and chopped toasted walnuts or crisped breadcrumbs.

So true - the throwing out bad vs good food. That said, I freeze leftover frosting. Even if only to finally move it to the fridge after a year and use on toast every morning until gone. :-)