Indian spices Carrot Top "Saag"

I took my first vacation this year visiting my sis-wonderful time to catch up, soak in the hot springs water, bike ride, yoga and plow through The Memory Keeper's Daughter (great read, changes between characters like Jodi Picoult or George Martin. Seeing the ripple effect of one choice made). We happened to be at the resort during guest chef weekend so we paid and had the luxury of not needing to cook a majority of our meals. Throw the dairy ban out the window for the magical spicy chai, cheese with veggies and cream atop of the strawberry rhubarb and flourless chocolate cake, but it was worth it! Certainly got some fun ideas: potato chips on top of fish and ginger-lemonade as a natural quencher.

Getting back into dairy-free cooking once back at home, but still carrying over lingering affects of eating a little more slowly. Savoring each bite. Helps me realize when I'm full too. In the spirit of Wilbur Hot Spring's waste not (eco-friendly composting, cooking in season, solar powered grid) and in the spirit of trying new things (soaking sans bathing suit, getting a massage while lying on my side), I implore you not to toss your carrot tops next time (sure composting is nice, but maybe you don't have time to go out to the store to get more veggies).

I've mentioned it before that it's been hard to find something tasty to do with carrot tops-pesto is one thing I've repeated, but a girl like me isn't happy without variety in her diet. I read about making a tea but that won't use up much plus I'm not a big fan of the flavor of carrot top leaves. I chopped it up and added it as an herb to a lentil salad (was alright, nothing to blog about). This week I finally found something worth puffing up my feathers about! Using it in place of spinach (or other leafy greens) for an Indian inspired spicy vegetarian dish was an experiment gone good. I followed a Saag (spinach) recipe from Holy Cow! with a few tweaks.

You'll need for two servings:
1 bunches of carrot tops (about 3 cups with thick stems removed, chopped roughly and boiled in about 1/4 cup of water until tender ~3 minutes)
1/2 cup chopped onion stem (or onion bulb)
.5 tsp cumin powder
.5 tsp coriander seed powder
.25 tsp turmeric (optional)
.25 tsp chili powder or red chili flakes
1 TBSP tomato paste (recipe could be 1/2 14-oz can of diced tomatoes or 1 tomatoes, diced)
.5 tbsp ginger, grated
.5 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
.5 tbsp cornflour whisked with 1/4 cup of hemp milk (or other non-dairy milk)
Salt to taste

1. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium.

2. Add the onion and cook till browned. While waiting mix all dry spices together in a small dish. Mix the corn flour and milk in a separatedish.

3. Add the dry spices to the onion and let cook 30 seconds to release the flavor.

4. Add the wilted carrot tops, tomato paste, ginger and pepper flakes. Cook about 10 minutes on a low simmer.

5. Add the corn flour and water mixture to thicken the dish.

I ate mine as a side to roasted celery and "nacho cheese" soup. And also cold with canned salmon flakes as a snack. 


What do you like to do to slow it down?

Indian Culture & Vegan Snack-Lighter Pakora's

Ate at Bawarchi Dosas in Miramar area with Kristina this month. I just love Southern Indian for offering Chinese dishes on the menu as well as having some bread-like items that are often made from lentil, chickpea or rice flour (I will always miss naan but this makes up for it).

 Kristina kept getting distracted by the odd dance videos playing on the TV screen behind me. The man mainly gave Zoo-lander-esque looks as he pauses from his Ricky Martin type dancing the in rain routine at a club. The woman sadly stares at him from across the room and a glistening tear rolls down her cheek. Her hair whips around in the wind.   He steps down and walks ever so slowly towards her while putting on his sunglasses (in the club). The other thing that we noticed is that the man and woman in each video never actually kissed. Cultural value? I did a little reading on BBC.

 Aside from having bouts of laughter, we were adventurous and tried Masala Papad (note: order yummy yogurt based mango lassi drink to go with this mouth numbing crispy lentil-based appetizer.)  I have seen papads at Fresh and Easy (or am sure the Indian market near this restaurant carries them) that you can just fry up at home, or apparently you can microwave them if you are trying to be healthier.

Speaking of trying to be healthier, I tested out a baked pakora recipe I found on Irreverent Vegan's blog over the weekend. I wish I hadn't run out of parchment paper-trying to butter up foil did not cut it...but at least stuck on there is better than having to soak and scrub the cookie sheets.  I chopped up beet greens to use instead of spinach and also just add grated zuchini as that is what I had on hand. Personally, I was a bit put off by the chutney that went with the recipe. I think I am used to/prefer the more vinegar-based chutneys and it was a bit much on the ginger for my liking (and I do like ginger-pickled with sushi, in candy form, for upset tummy as a tea). I've copied the pakora recipe below with my modifications. I think next time I might try decreasing the salt. I would make this again-very tasty even without a sauce. Just be ready to heat up your home-500 F bake temp! Nice winter recipe, no? Save on your heating bill! We're just starting to have drizzly, light jacket weather here.

Baked Pakora (chickpea battered veggies)

• three handfuls of chopped leafy greens (beet greens today)
• one zucchini grated-this one was probably about 1" diameter and 7" long
• 2 cups chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour-I got Bob's Redmill brand, starting to see this available at even regular chain grocery stores now, but again go for Indian market if you want it cheaper. I liked the taste of the Redmill flour though.
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red pepper (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp dried coriander (cilantro)
• 1 1/2 cups water

Tools needed: spatula safe for oven flipping, cookie sheets, parchment paper, 1 large bowl

Pre-heat the oven to 500 F.

Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water a bit at a time, until you make it a bit thicker-than-muffin batter type consistency. Add your rinsed, chopped/grated veggies (you can be creative here use what you have on hand) and mix until covered with batter.

 Spoon batter onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets. The lumps should hold their form (not keep spreading) The size lumps I  made yielded about 12 pakora. Make bigger or smaller-just adjust the cooking time (also depends on your oven, I had to take mine out early). 

The original recipe has you bake on one side 8 minutes and then flip the pakora on the other side for 10 to get the crunchy crust. Mine only needed 8 minutes on the second side, luckily I stayed in the kitchen because they brown fast!

 

What recipe have you health-ified and loved? (or hated?)  What's your take on PDA's in public?