I made a winter vegetable curry for dinner the other day. It was good, but lacking in protein, so I made this simple legume curry to round out the meal.

The original recipe calls for making the sauce with a combination of yogurt and bean cooking water. Normally I would have made it that way, but I still had rather a lot of leftover kibbeh sauce and no kibbeh left to eat it with, so I actually ended up using a whole cup of kibbeh sauce and omitting both the yogurt and the bean water. I figured that since the sauce is basically just yogurt and chicken stock (with an added egg), that it would work well as a stand-in and allow me to use up some leftovers from the fridge. I think it worked out quite well!

I found both curries a bit lacking in punch, but that was easily remidied with a generous dollop of Laoganma (老干妈/spicy chili crisp) at the table. That said, stirring in some extra chilies, spices, and/or fish sauce during cooking would accomplish a similar goal.

Black-Eyed Peas with Tomato-Yogurt Sauce

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. dried black-eyed peas¹
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. Better Than Bouillon
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, chopped
• 5 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 3/4 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/4 tsp. cardamom seeds, ground
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne
• salt, to taste
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Place the black-eyed peas, water, and Better Than Bouillon (or other stock concentrate) in an InstantPot/pressure cooker and cook on high pressure for 10 minutes. Allow a 15-minute natural release before releasing any residual pressure. Set aside.
2. Heat oil over medium-low heat.
3. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes.
4. Add the ginger, garlic, coriander, cumin, and cardamom and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
5. Increase heat to medium and begin adding yogurt, 1 Tbsp. at a time, stirring well between each addition.
6. Stir in 1/2 c. of cooking water from the beans.
7. Drain the beans, discarding the remaining cooking water.
8. Add the cooked beans to the sauce along with the cayenne.
9. Season to taste with salt.
10. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
11. Uncover and cook until thickened (~5 minutes).
12. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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¹ The original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c. beans, but I chose to scale it back to 1 c. for my rendition. I also halved the oil. But I left all other quantities the same. ^Back

I only had a tiny fraction of the amount of avocado that I was supposed to for this recipe, so imagine these patties topped with a lot more guac/avocado mash than they are in the photos. Also, the recipe as written just calls for mashing up the avocado with a bit of tomato, lime juice, and salt. This is fine, but I wanted to gussy it up a bit (especially since I had so much less than I was supposed to), so I opted to add some fried garlic, cilantro, and ground Kashmiri chilies.¹

The patties themselves were also relatively simple: just some onion, cumin, oregano, and jalapeño mashed up with some beans with a bit of egg and panko to bind it. This seemed a bit bland to me, so I added some garlic and a bit of adobo sauce from some chipotles in adobo. I also replaced some of the cumin with dhania-jeera masala to add another layer of flavour. I didn't add any black pepper this time, but I feel like that wouldn't've gone amiss either. There's room to play around with the seasonings a bit.

Black Bean Patties

Adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Patties

• scant 2 c. cooked black beans
• 1 Tbsp. garlic oil, divided (home-made or store-bought)
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. adobo sauce from chipotles in adobo
• 1 large egg
• 6 Tbsp. panko breadcrumbs

Topping

• 1 avocado
• 1 roma tomato, seeded and diced
• juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• 1/2 tsp. balti masala (optional)
• 1 tsp. minced fried garlic (from garlic oil or store-bought)
• 1/4 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. lime zest (optional)
• ~1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt or sour cream
• ~1/4 c. salsa verde, Envy sauce, or cilantro-mint chutney

Directions

1. Mash the beans and set aside.
2. Heat 1/2 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion, garlic, and jalapeño and cook until soft (3-5 minutes).
4. Stir in the cumin, masala, pepper, oregano, and salt and cook for another minute or so.
5. Add the onion mixture to the mashed beans along with the adobo sauce and stir to combine.
6. Mix in the egg and the breadcrumbs.
7. Shape into patties. You should get 4-8 patties depending on how big you want them.
8. Heat the remaining oil over medium heat.
9. Add the patties to the pan and cook until heated through and browned on both sides (5-6 minutes per side).
10. Meanwhile, mash the avocado and mix in the tomato, lime juice, masala(s), fried garlic, Kashmiri chilies, cilantro, salt, and lime zest (if using).
11. Serve the patties topped with the avocado mixture, yogurt/sour cream, and salsa/Envy/chutney.

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¹ I feel like I added one or two other things as well, but I can't remember what they were now. That said, I think a little balti masala and/or dhania-jeera masala would go nicely in this. Use whatever you feel best fits the vibe. ^Back

This was tasty, but also annoying to make; it needs the zest and juice of a whole lemon plus some lemon juice, and wants you to use a food processor (which we don't have) to prepare the patties. We ended up making do with a potato masher and a blender, and I've revised the instructions somewhat to take into account some lessons learned there, but, likely as a result of this, the "patties" disintegrated in the pan and it ended up being falafel crumble.

Falafel Crumble with Lemon-Tahini Sauce

Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 72)

Ingredients

• Sauce
• ⅓ C tahini
• ¼ C lemon juice
• 3 tbsp yoghurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 (440g) tins chickpeas, drained and rinsed, reserving 1 C of the liquid
• ½ red onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
• 5 fresh mint leaves, chopped
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper
• 1 egg
• ½ C panko
• 4 pitas, split to form pockets
• thinly sliced tomatoes and lettuce for serving

Directions

1. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously to combine; set aside.
2. Mash chickpeas in a large bowl.
3. Combine the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, lemon juice and zest, spices, and egg in a blender. Blend on low until until smooth. If there is insufficient liquid, add chickpea liquid in small amounts until the blender engages.
4. Combine blender contents and panko with chickpeas, mix well, and shape into 8 patties.
5. Pan-fry over medium heat until golden brown.
6. Serve in pitas with tahini sauce, tomatoes, and lettuce.

Surprisingly, this is an egg recipe not from the egg book! I decided to peruse some of the digital cookbooks we got in the Humble Bundle a while ago and figured I'd give one of their frittatas a try.

Their approach is slightly different than Simmons'. They add milk to their eggs to make a savoury custard and only cook it on the stovetop for a few minutes before transfering it to the oven to finish cooking. Ms. Simmons, by contrast, uses no milk and cooks the frittata entirely on the stovetop with only a brief and optional stint under the broiler to brown the top if desired.

I like both approaches just fine. I do think it's a bit easier to get the frittata to cook through properly in the oven. But either way works. And, as far as I'm aware, neither method is the "traditional" way which involves flipping the frittata over partway through cooking. And, while I have, successfully flipped frittatas before, I don't really want to attempt that most days, so I'm content to use one of the easier (but perhaps less traditional) approaches.

Tomato, Arugula, and Goat Cheese Frittata

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 6 large eggs
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 100g fresh goat cheese¹, crumbled
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil², divided
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 c. chopped tomatoes (preferrably cherry or heirloom)
• 140g (~5 c.) coarsely chopped arugula, divided

Directions

1. Beat the eggs with the milk, salt, and pepper.
2. Stir in the cheese and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F).
4. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.
6. Add the tomatoes and cook until softened and some of the juices have evaporated (3-5 minutes).
7. Stir in 4 c. of the arugula and cook for a few seconds.
8. Pour in the egg mixture and cook until the bottom begins to set (5-6 minutes).
9. Transfer to oven and cook until fully set (15-20 minutes).
10. Top with remaining arugula and olive oil and serve.

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¹ The recipe calls for goat cheese and that's what I ended up using. But what I actually wanted to do was try swapping in some pressed cottage cheese for the goat cheese. Sadly, I wasn't able to get any this week, so I grabbed the goat cheese instead. I think the cottage cheese would be really nice here though. And it would make it a little more WW-friendly. Maybe next time... ^Back
2 The original recipe calls for 1/4 c. of olive oil + more for drizzling! I thought that sounded like way too much, so I cut it back to 1 Tbsp. + 1 additional Tbsp. for drizzling on at the end. Which feels much more reasonable to me. ^Back

I had intended to make some barley with kale and a celery salad with boiled eggs for dinner last night. I succeeded in making the first of those two dishes, but I didn't end up getting all the ingredients that I needed for the second, so I was left scrambling trying to come up with an alternate dinner plan.

With a few adjustments, these noodles fit the bill. I ended up using thinly sliced stewing beef instead of steak. And the proportions were a bit different in my version since I was short on noodles but had more beef and more mushrooms than the recipe called for. I kind of like the results though. Lots of stir-fry, not too many noodles. It worked out pretty well in the end!

Photo goes here.

Korean-Style Noodles with Marinated Beef and Kimchi

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2-3 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. mirin
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp. gochujang
• 1/4 c. toasted sesame seeds, divided
• 400-450g flank steak or stewing beef, thinly sliced across the grain
• 150g bean thread noodles
• 2 Tbsp. canola oil, divided
• 250-350g shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 1 c. julienned carrots
• 1/4 c. sliced green onion
• 1/2 c. (or more) kimchi

Directions

1. Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, mirin, brown sugar, garlic, gochujang, and 2 Tbsp. of the sesame seeds in a measuring cup. Mix well.
2. Pour half the mixture into a bowl and add the beef. (Set the other half of the mixture aside for now.)
3. Cover the bowl and marinate for at least 30 minutes (or as long as 4 hours¹).
4. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl or pot and add very hot top water to cover. Let stand until softened², then drain and set aside.
5. Meanwhile, heat 1 Tbsp. of the canola oil in a wok over medium-high heat.
6. Add the beef and stir-fry until it begins to brown (~3 minutes).
7. Transfer the beef to a bowl and set aside.
8. Add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil to the wok and return to medium-high heat.
9. Add the mushrooms and onion and stir-fry until they begin to soften (~3 minutes).
10. Add the carrot and green onions and stir-fry until the onions are soft and lightly browned (another 4-5 minutes).
11. Add the noodles and toss to combine.
12. Return the beef to the wok and add the reserved sauce. Toss to coat.
13. Remove from heat and serve topped with kimchi.

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¹ Be sure to store the meat in the fridge if marinating for longer than 30 minutes. ^Back
2 The original recipe says that this should take ~10 minutes, but mine only took ~3 (which is more in line with what I was expecting based on the thinness of the noodles). I suspect that their tap water may not have been as hot as mine. Keep an eye on your noodles and drain them when they seem ready. ^Back

This is a pleasingly simple and straight-forward recipe to put together. It takes a little while for the barley to cook, but requires very little effort and doesn't require many ingredients.

It may not necessarily work as a stand-alone dinner, but it makes a great base with some greens and pleasant flavours. Just add some protein (and maybe a few more veggies) and you're good to go!

Barley with Kale and Lemon

Slightly adapted from Healthy Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 tsp. stock concentrate (eg. Better Than Bouillon)
• 1/2 c. pearl barley
• 300-500g chopped kale (preferably black kale)
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Fill a small pot about halfway with water and the stock concentrate.
2. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and add the barley.
3. Reduce heat to medium and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until barley is tender (~40 minutes).¹
4. Meanwhile, heat the oil over medium heat.
5. Add the onion and cook until golden (~6 minutes).
6. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
7. Add the kale and red pepper flakes and cook until kale is tender (and either wilted or thawed depending on whether you used fresh or frozen).
8. Stir in the cooked barley and lemon zest.
9. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. (Use 1-2 Tbsp. according to your taste.)

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¹ My barley had absorbed most of the liquid by this point. If yours still has appreciable liquid, drain it before continuing with the recipe. ^Back