Tag: quick meals

Ma po tofu with minced chicken

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I grew up eating the pork version of this dish at Chinese restaurants, and every once in a while my mother made this at home from a ma po seasoning packet. Back in 2014, I decided to try a scratch recipe from Andrea Nguyen's Asian Tofu cookbook. Over time, I tweaked her ma po tofu… Continue reading Ma po tofu with minced chicken

Chef John’s classic, fluffy mashed potatoes

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We love homemade mashed potatoes, and we decided to try this classic recipe: https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/219077/chef-johns-perfect-mashed-potatoes/. Chef John's video is filled with useful tips. We accidentally did not cut the Russet potatoes only lengthwise, but the dish still turned out well. To make this recipe a little healthier: for 3 large Russet potatoes, we reduced the salt… Continue reading Chef John’s classic, fluffy mashed potatoes

Indian stewed red lentils

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We made this recipe from Shubhra Ramineni's Healthy Indian Vegetarian Cooking, and it was surprisingly delicious. First, pick through 1/2 cup split red lentils to remove grit, then place in a small bowl and rinse the lentils with cold water (filling and carefully draining 3 times). Second, place the lentils, 2 1/4 cup water, 1… Continue reading Indian stewed red lentils

White bean hummus with coriander and white miso

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We love hummus and wanted to try more variations. This recipe offers an unlikely combination of cannellini beans, tahini, white miso, and coriander that works surprisingly well: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019521-white-bean-hummus-with-tahini-and-coriander?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share For the coriander, we used 1.5 tsp ground coriander. (July 2022)

Roasted eggplant pasta

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We had one medium eggplant and one zucchini, so we tried this recipe: https://asimplepalate.com/blog/roasted-eggplant-pasta/ We cut the eggplant and zucchini into 1" dice, then separately tossed in enough canola to coat, and placed on separate baking sheets (because zucchini leaks more liquid). We roasted at 450 for 20 mins, tossing midway (and we broiled the… Continue reading Roasted eggplant pasta

Quinoa and vegetable soup

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We tried this America's Test Kitchen recipe from its Bowls cookbook, available at Bowls: Vibrant Recipes with Endless Possibilities https://a.co/d/dyP4wtB To make this a brothier stew, we doubled the garlic, spices, and chicken broth. We found the diced avocado and fresh cilantro brightened the soup. (July 2022) We found a very similar recipe here: https://www.cookingclassy.com/quinoa-vegetable-stew/… Continue reading Quinoa and vegetable soup

Black bean dip

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We generally followed this Melissa D'Arabian recipe: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/black-bean-dip-5536208 Our modifications: first, we halved the recipe to only one 14.5 oz can of no-salt black beans. Second, we drained the beans, placed in a small pot, then added 1/2 cup water. We brought to a boil, then reduced to a simmer (uncovered) until the beans were… Continue reading Black bean dip

Black bean and sweet potato tacos

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We combined two favorite recipes into a healthy and satisfying meal: first, we were inspired by a NYT recipe for sheet-pan chicken with sweet potatoes (https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019161-sheet-pan-chicken-with-sweet-potatoes-and-peppers?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share): Preheat oven to 450. Prepare 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces (approx. 3/4" x 1/2"), 1 bell pepper (we used 1/2 yellow, 1/2 red); cut into… Continue reading Black bean and sweet potato tacos