Tag: vegetarian

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

The Worse Stir-Fried Eggplant with Sweet Chili-Garlic Sauce

Stir-Fried Eggplant with Sweet Chili-Garlic Sauce

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

When designing a satisfying vegetarian stir-fry recipe, we chose hefty eggplant to stand in for meat and then followed our tried-and-true procedure for stir-fries: Cook the eggplant in batches and set aside (we added a glaze to boost the flavor); steam-sauté the longer-cooking vegetables (such as carrots and broccoli) and set them aside; stir-fry the softer vegetables (such as celery, bell pepper, greens, and aromatics); then add everything back to the pan along with a flavorful sauce.

INGREDIENTS

GLAZE

2tablespoons soy sauce
2tablespoons honey
¼cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth

SAUCE

1tablespoon rice vinegar
1teaspoon Asian chili sauce
1tablespoon cornstarch
¾cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
3tablespoons soy sauce
2tablespoons honey

VEGETABLES

4medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 4 teaspoons)
2teaspoons minced fresh ginger
¼cup vegetable oil plus 1 tablespoon
½teaspoon table salt
1large egg, lightly beaten
1large eggplant (about 1 ½ pounds), peeled and cut crosswise into 1 1 /4-inch-thick rounds, each round cut into pie-shaped wedges (about 7 cups)
⅓cup cornstarch
2cups broccoli florets or other longer-cooking vegetable from the chart below
¾cup low-sodium chicken broth or vegetable broth
1cup diced red bell pepper or other quick-cooking vegetable from the chart below
1pound leafy greens from chart below
2tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS SERVES 3 TO 4

Eggplant can cook unevenly because the stem end is denser than the part containing most of the seeds. If some of the pieces seem cooked through in less than the allotted time, transfer these pieces to a plate and continue cooking the others until done. Return all the pieces to the pan before adding the glaze mixture. If you like a spicier stir-fry, increase the chili sauce to 2 teaspoons. Serve with steamed white rice.

1. Whisk glaze ingredients in small bowl; whisk sauce ingredients in separate small bowl. In third small bowl, mix garlic and ginger with 1 teaspoon oil. Set bowls aside.

2. Heat 1/4 cup oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. While oil is heating, combine salt and beaten egg in large bowl. Add eggplant and toss to coat evenly; transfer to clean bowl, allowing any excess egg to drip off. Sprinkle cornstarch over eggplant and toss with rubber spatula to coat evenly. Add eggplant in single layer to skillet and cook, without moving eggplant, until golden brown on one side, 2 to 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium; turn eggplant with tongs and continue to cook, shaking skillet occasionally, until pieces are golden brown and softened, about 10 minutes more. (Some pieces may take longer than others; see note above.) Increase heat to medium-high; add glaze mixture and cook, stirring, until glaze is thick and eggplant is coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer eggplant to large plate; rinse skillet clean and dry with paper towels.

3. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and place over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Add broccoli and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add broth and cover skillet; cook until broccoli is just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Uncover skillet and cook until remaining liquid evaporates, about 30 seconds. Transfer broccoli to plate with eggplant.

4. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and place over medium-high heat until it begins to smoke. Add bell pepper and green stems and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown and soften, 1 to 2 minutes. Add leaves from the greens and cook, stirring frequently, until wilted, about 1 minute. Push vegetables to sides of skillet to clear center; add garlic-ginger mixture to clearing and cook, mashing mixture with spoon or spatula, until fragrant, 15 to 20 seconds, then stir mixture into greens.

5. Return all vegetables to skillet along with sauce ingredients; toss to combine and cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened and vegetables are coated, about 1 minute. Transfer to serving platter, top with pine nuts (if using), and serve immediately.

Choosing and Preparing Vegetables for a Stir-Fry

Portobello mushrooms and eggplant are the mainstays in our stir-fries. As for the other vegetables, use those called for in the recipe or switch them with another vegetable from the same category below. We recommend using one harder, longer-cooking vegetable paired with quicker-cooking vegetable and a leafy green (either napa cabbage or bok choy).

Longer-cooking vegetables (to yield 2 cups)

  • 4 small carrots, peeled, sliced on bias 1/4 inch thick
  • 1/2 pound broccoli, stalks discarded, florets cut into 1 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1/2 pound cauliflower, core removed, florets cut into 1 1/4-inch pieces
  • 1 pound medium asparagus, bottoms trimmed, cut on bias into 1 1/2-inch lengths
  • 1/2 pound green beans, ends trimmed, cut on bias into 1 1/2-inch lengths

Quicker-cooking vegetables (to yield 1 cup)

  • 1 medium bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1/2-inch dice
  • 3 ounces snow peas, strings and tough ends trimmed
  • 3 medium ribs celery, ends trimmed, cut on bias 1/2 inch thick
  • 1 small zucchini or summer squash, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and cut on bias 1/4 inch thick

Leafy Greens (to yield 2 cups stems and 4 cups greens)

  • 1 small bok choy or napa cabbage (about 1 pound), stems/cores and greens separated, stems/cores cut into 1/4-inch strips, greens into 3/4-inch-thick strips

TECHNIQUE

Preparing Vegetables for Stir-Frying

Napa Cabbage: Separate leaves, removing the core of each leaf with a wedge-shaped cut. Slice the leafy greens crosswise into 3/4-inch strips. Cut the cores into 1/4-inch strips.

Portobello Mushrooms: After removing the stem, gently scrape the underside of the mushroom with a dinner spoon to remove the feathery gills, which can impart a muddy taste to the stir-fry.

Zucchini: Halve zucchini lengthwise and gently scrape out the seeds from each half with a small spoon. Cut in half lengthwise again, then cut into 1/4-inch slices on a 45-degree bias.

Posted on » by Michael » Theme:

Caesar Salad

BY COOK'S ILLUSTRATED
PUBLISHED JANUARY 2011

Caesar Salad

WATCH EVERY STEP

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

A combination of extra-virgin olive oil and canola oil gave our Caesar Salad dressing a neutral base. We used a rasp-style grater to turn garlic into pulp, then steeped it in lemon juice. To get all of our recipe’s ingredients to emulsify, we beat the yolks, anchovies, and Worcestershire sauce into the lemon juice and garlic, then slowly whisked in the oil and half of the cheese. For our Caesar salad’s croutons, we used ciabatta. Sprinkling the bread cubes with a little water and salt preserved their moistness and ensured they were perfectly tender at the center and browned around the edges after we toasted them.

INGREDIENTS

CROUTONS

5tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½teaspoon garlic paste from 1 medium clove (see note)
½ – ¾loaf ciabatta, cut into ¾-inch cubes (about 5 cups) (see note)
¼cup water
¼teaspoon table salt
2tablespoons finely grated Parmesan cheese

SALAD

¾teaspoon garlic paste from 1 large clove (see note)
2 – 3tablespoons juice from 1 to 2 lemons
½teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
6anchovy fillets, patted dry with paper towels, minced fine, and mashed to paste with fork (1 tablespoon) (see note)
2large egg yolks (see note)
5tablespoons canola oil
5teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ounces finely grated Parmesan cheese (about ¾ cup)
Ground black pepper
2 – 3romaine hearts, cut crosswise into ¾-inch-thick slices, rinsed, and dried very well (8 to 9 lightly pressed cups)

INSTRUCTIONS

SERVES 4 TO 6

If you can’t find ciabatta, a similar crusty, rustic loaf of bread can be substituted. A quarter cup of Egg Beaters may be substituted for the egg yolks. Since anchovy fillets vary in size, more than 6 fillets may be necessary to yield 1 tablespoon of minced anchovies. The easiest way to turn garlic cloves into a paste is to grate them on a rasp-style grater.

1. FOR THE CROUTONS: Combine 1 tablespoon oil and garlic paste in small bowl; set aside. Place bread cubes in large bowl. Sprinkle with water and salt. Toss, squeezing gently so bread absorbs water. Place remaining 4 tablespoons oil and soaked bread cubes in 12-inch nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes.

2. Remove skillet from heat, push croutons to sides of skillet to clear center, add garlic/oil mixture to clearing and cook with residual heat of pan, 10 seconds. Sprinkle with Parmesan; toss until garlic and Parmesan are evenly distributed. Transfer croutons to bowl; set aside.

3. FOR THE SALAD: Whisk garlic paste and 2 tablespoons lemon juice together in large bowl. Let stand 10 minutes.

4. Whisk Worcestershire sauce, anchovies, and egg yolks into garlic/lemon juice mixture. While whisking constantly, drizzle canola oil and extra virgin olive oil into bowl in slow, steady stream until fully emulsified. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan and pepper to taste; whisk until incorporated.

5. Add romaine to dressing and toss to coat. Add croutons and mix gently until evenly distributed. Taste and season with up to additional 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Serve immediately, passing remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan separately.

TECHNIQUE

A Better Kind of Crouton

Most modern-day croutons used in Caesar salad are crunchy through and through. We designed ours to be crispy on the outside but chewy in the middle, a far better complement to the crisp-tender romaine leaves.

1. MOISTEN Sprinkling bread cubes with water and then squeezing them moistens their interior.

2. CRISP UP Frying the dampened cubes in oil crisps their exteriors while the moist interior retains some chew.

Tempering Garlic’s Bite

In our Caesar dressing, every little detail counts—especially the strong flavor of raw garlic. In the past, we’ve found that cloves minced well in advance end up tasting harsh in the final dish. Would letting the grated garlic in our recipe sit for just 10 minutes while we prepared the rest of the salad ingredients have the same effect? And could steeping it in lemon juice for the same amount of time—a practice recommended by an old French wives’ tale—actually mellow it out?

EXPERIMENT

We made three batches of Caesar dressing: In the first, we grated the garlic and immediately combined it with the other dressing ingredients. In the second, we soaked the grated garlic in lemon juice for 10 minutes before proceeding. In the third, we let the grated garlic rest for 10 minutes on its own before combining it with the other components.

RESULTS

Tasters found the garlic grated in advance without steeping tasted the harshest of the three. The other two preparations—grated garlic soaked in lemon juice and grated garlic immediately mixed into the dressing—tasted markedly milder, with the lemon juice-soaked sample making for a particularly well-balanced dressing.

EXPLANATION

Raw garlic’s harsh flavor comes from a compound called allicin, which forms as soon as the clove’s cells are ruptured and continues to build as it sits. The citric acid in lemon juice hastens the conversion of harsh-tasting allicin to more mellow compounds called thiosulfonates, disulfides, and trisulfides—the same milder-tasting compounds that form when garlic is heated. And since soaking the garlic is easy to do while preparing the other ingredients, it’s a step we think is worthwhile.

GARLIC ON ACIDSteeping cut garlic in lemon juice mellows its flavor.

Make Your Own Anchovy Paste

START WHOLEThe deep flavor of good-quality oil-packed fillets is a must in this recipe. The fishier, flatter taste of commercial anchovy paste won’t do.

MASH UPEven small bits of anchovy can be distracting in Caesar salad. Finely slice the fillets and mash with a fork to create a paste that contributes savory – not fishy – flavor.

Posted on » by Dino » Theme:

Mercimek Köftesi (Turkish Lentil Balls)

  • Recipe: Slightly adapted (omitted garnish) from Joan Nathan at NY Times Cooking
  • Yield: About 40 lentil balls, 8–10 appetizer servings
  • Time: About an hour

Ingredients

  • 2 cups red lentils
  • Salt
  • 1 cup fine bulgur
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons Biber Salcasi (Turkish red pepper paste (not harissa), or a mix of puréed roasted hot and sweet red peppers)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
  • Black pepper to taste
  • ½ cup scallions, finely chopped
  • 1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

Preparation

Step 1

  1. In a small saucepan, combine the lentils, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 4 cups of water.
  2. Bring to a boil and then simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are soft and have absorbed most of the water, about 10 minutes.
  3. Stir in the bulgur and remove from the heat.
  4. Cover and set aside until the bulgur is very soft, 15 to 20 minutes.

Step 2

  1. In a small skillet over low heat, heat the oil and add the onion, sautéing until soft, about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the tomato and pepper pastes and mix well.
  3. Remove from the heat and cool.
  4. Add cumin, crushed red pepper and black pepper.
  5. Season with salt to taste.

Step 3

  1. Add the onion mixture to the lentil mixture and toss to mix.
  2. Add the scallions and parsley, mixing gently.
  3. Line a platter or individual serving plates with lettuce leaves.
  4. With dampened hands, form the lentil mixture into oval walnut-size balls.
  5. Serve immediately, or cover lightly and refrigerate up to one hour.

Nutritional Analysis Per Serving (8 Servings)

  • 368 calories
  • 14 grams fat
  • 2 grams saturated fat
  • 10 grams monounsaturated fat
  • 1 gram polyunsaturated fat
  • 47 grams carbohydrates
  • 8 grams dietary fiber
  • 2 grams sugars
  • 14 grams protein
  • 319 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.