My Legume Love Affair #88 - October 2015

I'm pleased once again to be hosting My Legume Love Affair, a long running event celebrating all of the goodness of legumes. We are at edition #88 and I hope fellow bloggers will submit a recipe this month. This event was started by my dear and loving friend Susan of The Well Seasoned Cook and eventually passed along to me to administer. A special thank you to those who have hosted and contributed their creativity and talent over the years.

Legumes are an important source of protein, especially for those following vegetarian or vegan diets. In my kitchen, it is rare a day goes by without legumes playing an important role.

To share in the legume love affair, all you need to do is:

Prepare a legume-centric dish. Link back to this announcement, my blog and also Susan's blog, as she is the original founder of the event. Share your creation using the linky tool at the end of this post by the end of the month. Use of the lovely logo, designed by Susan, is optional, but appreciated.

I own and operate a vegetarian blog, so only vegetarian recipes will be accepted. That includes recipes free of meat, fowl and seafood. Please only one submission per month, per blogger. Recipes from your archives will be accepted if reposted and updated.

For your dish to be included in the roundup, it must contain more than just a few tablespoons of legumes. The slight exception to this are legumes such as fenugreek or tamarind that typically are used in smaller quantities. Fresh or dried beans, lentils, pulses, and the sometimes edible pods that contain these seeds, and derivative products such as tofu or besan, along with fenugreek, carob, and peanuts are all acceptable. The possibilities are endless. Please just ensure that your shining ingredient is in fact a member of the legume family. All types of cuisines and courses are welcome, meaning appetizers, sides, mains and desserts are all acceptable so long as the mighty legume is the key ingredient.

Thanks in advance for your participation and inspiration. I am looking for guest hosts for 2016. Send me an email at legume.lisa AT gmail DOT com or leave a comment on this post if you would like to host.

Urad Dal Tomato Soup

A longtime favorite soup of mine that I often make when I don't want to fuss and want something warming and easy to digest, this attractive and gently spiced ural dal and tomato soup is always worth another share. And another taste too. Creamy mild urad dal combines so well with tangy tomatoes, hot peppers, ginger and cumin. I took advantage of a surplus of cherry tomatoes from our garden for an extra boost of flavor and goodness as well as a red bell pepper too for some extra flair. Sometimes simplicity is exactly what the body needs. This easy-to-make recipe just might become a staple in your kitchen too.

Millet and Brown Rice Patties with Tahini and Tamari

Sometimes the easiest dishes are the most satisfying, especially when you are pressed for time but don't wish to sacrifice flavor or nutrients. Take these deliciously nutty baked millet and brown rice patties with creamy tahini and salty tamari sauce. With hardly any ingredients at all, they need little adornment to satisfy the palate and appetite. I've always maintained that millet is an under-appreciated grain, and there is no reason for that. It's always a staple in my pantry, along with the more popular grains such as rice, quinoa and oats.

Mushroom Tikka Masala

One of my favorite ingredients, I scarcely like to go a week without eating mushrooms and will often incorporate them into rice or dishes that don't ordinarily call for them. But sometimes I like to make a dish in which the mushrooms shine as the starring ingredient. That and my usual preference for Indian food means plenty of mushroom curries being served at my table.

This time I marinated whole tender button mushrooms in a thick and zesty Indian yogurt and spice "tikka" or marinade. As if these wouldn't be good enough by themselves, I simmered them gently in an incredible smooth Indian-spiced tomato and cashew gravy. Using the mushrooms whole and only gently simmering them in the gravy keeps them plump and meaty for enjoying them as a whole wonderful mushroom bite with each forkful. Served with some simple saffron rice, this mushroom curry made an extraordinarily colorful and delicious meal.

Don't let the rather long list of ingredients intimidate you. It's not a complicated dish to make.

Quinoa with Almonds and Mixed Vegetables

Quinoa is a perfect meal accompaniment just on its own or with a little seasoning, just as rice is. And just like rice, the nutty flavor of quinoa is easy to dress up to take the grain experience to a whole new level. It's a delicious and simple vehicle for incorporating vegetables into your meal, such as in this colorful, nourishing and filling take on an Indian pilaf.

Quinoa is obviously not a traditional Indian grain, but it cooks up just as quickly and easily as the more customary white rice and takes on Indian spices just as well too. Plenty of fresh vegetables are loaded into this Indian-inspired quinoa dish as well as some almond meal and fried sliced almonds for extra flavor and crunch texture. It's as good as it looks, if not even better. Each bite is a taste experience.

Olive Oil Almond Cake

Sometimes the most elegant desserts are the easiest ones. Take this cake for example. An ideal accompaniment for tea or coffee if you please, almonds are the shining ingredient here, along with olive oil and a bit of citrusy burst from freshly grated orange zest. It's not too sweet, and that's a bonus as the other flavors shine because they aren't drowned in sugar. Moist inside, with a slightly crusted exterior, each and every bite is to be savored.

Quinoa Potato Patties

I've been cooking my way through one of my new favorite cookbooks. Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen is a creative twist on traditional Indian recipes designed for the home cook. It's beautiful to browse through, with plenty of mouthwatering photos and ideas for little bites and meals, breakfast, sides, vegetable and legume curries, mains, flat breads, accompaniments and even desserts. There are easy recipes for those days when you don't want to fuss too much and other slightly more complicated ideas for those days when you have more time to hang out in the kitchen. All of the recipes are easy to follow and beautifully presented. For those new to Indian cooking, this is a great introduction with lots of useful information regarding the fundamentals of Indian cuisine. Your taste buds will thank you.

Classic Tamarind Chutney

Why purchase store-bought chutneys and sauces when it's so easy to make your own? As I enjoy Indian savories, that usually means that when I make them, I also make an accompaniment for them. Sweet tamarind chutney is one of my favorites and I've made several versions of it in the past. This one is smooth, tart and hot, and easy to make, and I made it to go along with baked samosas (that recipe is coming soon). All you need to do is soak the tamarind for a while and then gently simmer with a few other ingredients until it thickens up. It keeps well in the refrigerator for at least a week in a covered container.

Roasted Cauliflower Bites with Sriracha Sauce

Rather than one or two large meals, I tend to nourish myself with smaller portions throughout the day. Appetizer bites are especially suited to this preference, and in this case, I get my spicy kick and a vegetable component besides. Easy to make up, these satisfying cauliflower nuggets are a delightful and colorful addition to any party platter and a nice appetizer on their own or as a side too. They are hot, and if you want them even hotter, add even more hot sauce if you dare.

Chana Dal and Cauliflower Kitchari with Green Peas

Kitcharis (or "khichdi") are an easy Indian meal idea that generally consists of rice and split legumes and often vegetables. Very easy to digest, with a minimum of spices, all of your nutrients are served up in one glorious bowl. I used chana dal, basmati rice, cauliflower and green peas to keep us going for a few days.

Chickpea Flour Cubes in a Spicy Madras Sauce

For now, I'm following an essentially dairy-free diet. That's not really a drastic change for me as I've been a strict vegetarian for over 20 years now and dairy has't made up a significant portion of my daily meals for quite some time now. It's unlikely I would follow a strict vegan diet, but for digestive reasons, this seems to be the right approach for me personally for the time being.

The thing is, some of my favorites happen to be not so dairy-free. Like cheese! That's the sad part. The fun part is finding alternatives that closely mimic my favorites, while still focusing on real and nourishing food. So far, I've been quite satisfied with vegan versions of some classics such as coleslaw and Caesar salad. It's a refreshing challenge and my taste buds and body are certainly content.

When it comes to cheese, paneer is a particular weakness of mine, if you could call it that. A succulent soft and mild cheese with a high melting point, it is perfectly suited to curries as it takes on the flavors of the dish it stars in, and adds a unique chewy texture. And then I found a recipe for "chickpea tofu" from Vegan Richa's Indian Kitchen. Without soy and containing only chickpea flour, some spices, and my own addition — nutritional flakes for a bit of a cheesy flavor — these cubes are not only easy to make, but delicious as a snack. I had to restrain myself from snacking too much, otherwise there wouldn't have been enough left over for this tomato-based curry that I also adapted from Richa's book.

This dish reminded me of very much of mattar paneer, one of my all time favorite North Indian classics featuring cubes of paneer simmered in a spicy tomato gravy with green peas. As an analogy to my habit of ordering mushroom dishes on those occasions when I happen to dine out to test the prowess of the chef, likewise I seem to judge the quality of Indian restaurants from the paneer dishes offered up and am always finding new ways to make it in my own kitchen.