Gosht Kebab aur Pudhinay ki Chutney (Beef Kebabs with Mint Chutney)

We've made most of the beef curries in the book at this point. But this one in the appetizer section caught my eye. It's really meant to be made on skewers and grilled (on the barbecue), but I chose to leave mine loose and cook it under the broiler indoors. Definitely not as flavourful, but it was very easy!

Gosht Kebab aur Pudhinay ki Chutney

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

Kebabs

• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 6-8 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies
• 6-7 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 450g stewing beef
• 1 tsp. ground Deggi chilies (or 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne + 1/2 tsp. sweet paprika)
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

Sauce

• 1/4 c. water
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh mint
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. tamarind concentrate
• 1-2 fresh green Thai, serrano, or finger chilies

Directions

1. Combine the yogurt, green chilies, garlic, and ginger paste and a blender and purée.
2. Pour the yogurt mixture over the beef.
3. Add the ground chilies, salt, turmeric, and ground cloves and stir to combine.
4. Cover and chill for at least one hour (or as long as overnight).
5. Add the water, mint, cilantro, sugar, salt, tamarind, and chilies to the blender and purée.
6. If using bamboo skewers, soak them in water for an hour or two before cooking.
7. Preheat a charcoal or gas grill or oven broiler to high heat.
8. Pour into a small pot and keep warm while beef cooks.
9. Lightly oil the grates of the grill or broiling pan.
10. If using skewers, thread the beef (with all of its marinade) onto the skewers and arrange them on the grill over direct heat (or on the broiler pan ~5cm under the element).
11. Grill until medium-rare (~6-10 minutes), turning once or twice.
12. Serve the skewered meat topped with the mint sauce.

Masaledar Masoor Dal (Spiced Red Lentil Dal)

I forgot to add the onion to my dal! I mean, it was still delicious! But I'm so mad at myself for forgetting the onion. It was even all sliced and ready to go. I just forgot to sprinkle it on when serving. Oh well... hopefully we can have it with the leftovers.

This is another legume curry that I liked surprisingly much. It contains a lot of cilantro and mint. I was worried that the mint would be overpowering. But it was actually delicious! (And used up some of our huge oversupply of mint. So... bonus!)

I normally wouldn't count herbs as a vegetable. They're seasonings. They're delicious. But you're generally not eating enough of them to be nutritionally significant. But when you're adding 1 1/2 c. of herbs to 1 c. of lentils... at that point, I think it actually does count as a vegetable! And a tasty one at that!

Masaledar Masoor Dal

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 c. skinned split brown lentils (masoor dal/red lentils/Egyptian lentils)
• 3 c. water
• 1 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. fresh mint
• 4-5 cloves garlic
• 2-4 fresh green serrano, Thai, or finger chilies
• 2 Tbsp. ghee (or canola oil for a vegan option)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1 onion, halved and sliced

Directions

1. Thoroughly rinse and drain the lentils.
2. Add to a pot with the water and bring to a boil.
3. Skim off any foam that forms.
4. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until tender (10-15 minutes).
5. Meanwhile, add the cilantro, mint, garlic, and chilies to a food processor¹ and pulse until finely chopped.
6. Heat the ghee over medium heat.
7. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
8. Add the minced herb blend and cook until garlic beings to brown (~5 minutes; longer if you added water to it when chopping).
9. Once the lentils are cooked, add the herb blend to the pot.
10. Stir in the salt and garam masala and simmer until flavours are absorbed (~5 minutes).
11. Serve topped with raw onion slices.

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¹ I don't have a food processor, so I chopped my herbs in the blender with the "food chop" setting. This, unfortunately, doesn't work as well as a food processor, so I had to add a little bit of liquid to get everything to chop. I just drained off some of the lentil cooking water for this. This worked, but did make the herb blend much wetter than it would have otherwise been, which then necessitated cooking it much longer once it was added to the pan. Alternatively, you could also just chop everything by hand. This will take a little more active effort on your part, but will obviate the need to extend the cooking time in the pan. Or, you know, just get a food processor and use that! ^Back

I picked up a copy of Pleyn Delit a couple of years ago. It's a great book full of medieval recipes. I've been wanting to try some out for ages, but I kept just not quite getting around to it. But, with our annual Labour Day get together this year, I finally found the motivation to give it a go!

I picked out a salad, a very interesting steamed chicken dish, and a poached pear recipe. And they were all excellent! This salad was so interesting. It's basically all greens. Lots and lots of herbs in addition to what I tend to think of as salad greens.

The original recipe called for parsely, sage, "green garlic", "chibolles" (which I would have assumed were chives, but the authors of Pleyn Delit indicate were actually green onions), onions, leeks, borage, mint, "porrettes" (small leeks), fennel, watercress, rue, rosemary, and purslane. These are washed, torn, and dressed with a simple combination of oil, vinegar, and salt.

The modern interpretation recommends making it with a combination of leaf lettuce, spinach, borage or radish leaves, watercress, parsley, sage, chives, fennel, mint, green onions, sweet onions and/or leeks, and savoury and/or tarragon. This made for a lovely mix! I loved all the herbs! It was very different, but absolutely delicious!

Original Recipe

Take persel, sawge, grene garlec, chibolles, oynouns, leek, borage, myntes, porrettes, fenel, and toun cressis, rew, rosemarye, purslrye; lave and waische hem clene. Pike hem. Pluk hem small wiþ þyn honde, and myng hem wel with rawe oile; lay on vyneger and salt, and serve it forth.

Photo goes here.

Salat

Slightly adapted from Pleyn Delit: Medieval Cookery for Modern Cooks by Constance B. Hieatt, Brenda Hosington, and Sharon Butler

Ingredients

• 2 handfuls of leaf lettuce
• 2 handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful borage or radish leaves
• 1 handful of watercress¹
• 1 small bulb of fennel, thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fennel fronds or dill
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives or garlic chives
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh sage
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. fresh tarragon
• 1 tsp. fresh savoury (optional)
• 3-6 green onions, sliced
• 1 small Vidalia or red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2 small leeks, very well washed and thinly sliced (optional)
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• ~1/4 c. vinegar (preferably red wine vinegar)
• ~1/2 Tbsp. salt
• freshly ground pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the lettuce, spinach, borage/radish leaves, watercress, fennel, parsley, fennel fronds/dill, chives/garlic chives, sage, mint, tarragon, savoury (if using), green onions, sweet onion, and leeks (if using).
2. Add the olive oil and toss to combine.
3. Have guests drizzle their portion of salad with a little of the vinegar and some of the salt and pepper (if using) at the table.
   

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¹ I will admit that I omitted both the borage and the watercress for my rendition. It was still delicious. But I'd love to try it with an even wider variety of greens sometime. ^Back

I'm used to watermelon and mint salad just involving whole mint leaves tossed with watermelon, feta, and maybe a little oil and/or vinegar. I've never seen one that goes to the trouble of making a whole vinaigrette before. It was an interesting approach. And I appreciated how much mint it used up!

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3/4 c. fresh mint, divided
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1 fresh mild chile (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 650g watermelon, cubed
• 185g feta, diced

Directions

1. Combine 1/2 c. of the mint with the sugar in a blender or food processor and chop.
2. Add the chile (if using), vinegar, and lime juice and purée.
3. With motor running, drizzle in the olive oil.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Add the watermelon and feta to a bowl and toss with dressing.
6. Top with remaining mint leaves and serve.

Aloo Pudhina Rajmah (Potato-Mint Kidney Beans)

This is yet another curry that I made while still trying to get back into the swing of things after my return from New Zealand. Not a favourite, I don't think. But it got the job done.

Photo goes here.

Aloo Pudhina Rajmah

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1/4 c. firmly packed fresh mint leaves
• 2 Tbsp. ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp. ground turmeric
• 3-5 fresh green Thai, serano, or finger chilies
• 1 (7cm/3") cinnamon stick, broken
• 2 Tbsp. ghee
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 2 russet or Yukon gold potatoes, cubed
• 3 c. cooked red kidney beans (rajmah)
• 1 c. water
• 1/2 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. heavy (35%) cream
• 1 tsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. choppsed fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Add the tomato, onion, mint, ginger, peppercorns, turmeric, chilies, and cinnamon to a blender and purée.
2. Heat the ghee over medium-high heat.
3. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 5-10 seconds.
4. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil.
5. Reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated (~15 minutes).
6. Add the potatoes, kidney beans, and water and bring to a boil.
7. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender (~20 minutes).
8. Meanwhile, whisk the cream into the yogurt.
9. Once the potatoes are cooked through, stir in the yogurt mixture, masala, salt, and cilantro.
10. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until heated through (3-5 minutes).

I picked up some lamb on sale the other day and wanted a nice vegetable side to go with it. I figured lamb and mint are often combined and zucchini has just come into season here, so this seemed like a natural pairing.

I wasn't able to find any yellow summer squash here, so I ended up using all zucchini, but that's not a huge deal. It mainly makes a difference to the aesthetics more than anything else.

Summer Squash Noodles with Mint Pesto

From Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan (p174)

Ingredients

• 1 c. (~45g) firmly packed fresh mint leaves
• 1/3 c. vegetable broth
• 2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 3 yellow summer squash (~375g)
• 3 zucchini (~375g)
• Olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Combine the mint, broth, Parmesan, garlic, and oil in a blender and process until smooth.
2. Using a mandoline or a vegetable peeler, cut the yellow squash and zucchini into long, narrow ribbons.
3. Pour enough oil into a large nonstick frying pan to film the bottom, and warm over medium heat.
4. Add the shallots and sauté until softened (~3 minutes).
5. Add the squash and thyme and season generously with salt and pepper.
6. Sauté until the squash is just tender (4-5 minutes).
7. Stir in the mint pesto and heat for 1 minute.
8. Remove from the heat, garnish with additional Parmesan, and serve.
9. Transfer to a warmed serving dish, sprinkle with additional cheese, and serve.

I wasn't a huge fan of this salad. I find glass noodles can be pretty hit-or-miss for me. And I think this preparation was more miss than hit. I mean, they were okay they just weren't great. I think I probably prefer my bean noodles in soups rather than as a salad in general.

That said, the Kidlet liked these. And they weren't bad, just not my favourite.

Glass Noodle Salad with Chicken and Shrimp

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 150g bean thread noodles
• 1/2 c. chicken stock
• 200g ground chicken
• 2 green onions³, greens and whites separated and chopped
• 150g shrimp, peeled and deveined
• juice of 2 limes
• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1 Tbsp. nam prik pao (Thai roasted chile paste)¹
• 2 large red Fresno chilies², seeded and minced
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
• 2-3 Tbsp. fried shallots (or onions)
• red or green leaf lettuce, to serve
• 老干妈 (Laoganma/spicy chili crisp), to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Soak the noodles in cold water for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil and add the chicken and white parts of the green onions.
3. Cook, breaking up the chicken, until meat is cooked through.
4. Remove the chicken and green onions with a slotted spoon and set aside.
5. Add the shrimp and simmer until cooked through (~1 minute).
6. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
7. Add water to the pot with the broth until the pot is at least half full and bring to a boil.
8. Drain the noodles and add to the boiling water.
9. Boil until tender (1-2 minutes).
10. Drain noodles and rise thoroughly with cold water.
11. Combine the lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, nam prik pao, and chilies in a large bowl and mix well.
12. Add the chicken and shrimp and toss to combine.
13. Add the noodles and toss to coat.
14. Add the cilantro, mint, and green parts of the green onions and toss to combine.
15. Top with fried shallots (or onions).
16. Serve on a bed of lettuce and top with Laoganma (if using).

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¹ The original recipe just called for "roasted chile paste" and didn't specify what kind. That could plausibly be any number of things! 辣豆瓣酱 (là dòubàn jiàng/Sichuan spicy bean paste), gochujiang (Korean red chile paste)... possibly even red curry paste or chipotle chile paste. Based on the rest of the recipe and the other ingredients, I'm pretty confident that they wanted nam prik pao for this, but I wish they'd been explicit about that in the instructions! Also, I didn't have any nam prik pao on hand, so I ended up substituting gochujang instead. ^Back
2 I couldn't find any Fresno chiles, so I just minced a jalapeño and tossed it in instead. I used only one, since jalapeños tend to be a bit hotter than Fresnos. That said, the overall dish was still pretty mild, so I think it would have been fine to use two. Maybe I'll add another jalapeño and/or a bell pepper to the leftovers... ^Back
3 The original recipe only calls for 1 green onion and that's all I used, but, having tasted it, I really think it would be better with more. Acutally... Now that I think of it, I think putting one in with the chicken and the rest at the end would be excellent! Or maybe, put the whites with the chicken and save the greens as a garnish for the end... Yes! Brb, updating recipe. ^Back

This was okay once it finally cooked, but it took forever for the zucchini to cook through. More than twice what the recipe specified! Also, I had one less zucchini than called for an one onion was still nowhere near enough! I've doubled the onion and tripled the vinegar relative the what was called for in the original recipe. I think that makes for much better proportions. And I have no idea what to suggest for the bake time. I'm going to recommend starting out with twice the time called for in the recipe and then going from there.

Baked Zucchini with Red Onion and Mint

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 red onions, halved and sliced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 680g zucchini, trimmed and halved lengthwise
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/4 c. fresh mint, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Put onion in a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish and drizzle with the olive oil. Toss to coat and then spread out into an even layer.
3. Bake at 200°C (400°F) until softened (~10 minutes).
4. Push the onion to the side and place the zucchini pieces cut-side-down in the baking dish.
5. Spoon the onion over the zucchini and sprinkle with the salt and pepper.
6. Bake at 200°C (400°F) for ~20 minutes.
7. Flip the zucchini over and bake until tender (10-15 minutes).
8. Transfer zucchini to a serving dish.
9. Add the mint and vinegar to the onion and toss to combine.
10. Spoon the onion mixture over the zucchini and serve.

I took a few too many liberties with this recipe. Or, at least one too many, rather.

Banh mi are meant to be made on baguettes. And that is, indeed, what this recipe calls for. Unfortunately, I didn't have any baguettes. And I didn't want to wait until tomorrow to make this, so I decided that I'd just roll with some non-honey-filled honeycakes as the bread component of these sandwiches. Go for little banh mi sliders rather than the traditional sub. Sadly, the honeycake flavour profile doesn't really mix well with the banh mi flavour profile. They are two great tastes that do not taste great together.

That said, all the individual components were good! So I do think this would have been fine had I made it on the right bread. The cilantro, mint, pickled veggies, and sri racha mayo were all delicious. And I think the bacon and eggs would have been great with them. Although I say "would have" because I did end up making another substitute here. First off, because I was making sliders rather than subs, I went with scrambled eggs rather than fried. I think scrambled worked well here, but I'd be interested to try it with fried sometime, just to see how I like it. And the other change was to swap the bacon out from some turkey breast deli meat. I was going to use smoked tofu, but I hadn't realized that TF had used up the last of it while I was away camping and neither of us had ever restocked. So turkey breast was the best substitute I could manage in the end. It was fine, but I think that smoked tofu, tempeh, or bacon would have been better.

Still, despite a few... less-than-ideal substitutions, this worked out alright as a last-minute breakfast. I would definitely keep this in my back pocket to try again someday. Especially if I had some nice baguettes on hand!

Breakfast Banh Mi

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Pickled Veggies

• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 shallot¹, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 c. rice vinegar
• 1/2 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt

Sri Racha Mayo²

• 1/4 c. mayonnaise
• 1 Tbsp. sri racha
• 2 tsp. lime juice³

Sandwich

• 8 slices bacon or smoked tofu
• 4 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 baguette
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Combine the carrot, shallot, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a jar.
2. Close jar tightly and shake to mix. Set aside for at least 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine the mayo, sri racha, and lime juice and mix well. Set aside.
4. Cook your bacon or tofu until crisp. If using tofu, add a little fat to the pan to help it crisp up.
5. Set the bacon/tofu on a plate and either drain fat from or add fat to the pan as appropriate.
6. Either fry or scramble your eggs in the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Cut the baguette into four equal pieces and slice each piece in half lengthwise.
8. Spread both halves of each baguette section with sri racha mayo.
9. Top the bottom half of each baguette section with bacon/tofu, eggs, pickled veggies, cilantro, and mint and place the top piece of the baguette on top.

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¹ The original recipe called for half a red onion, but I didn't have red onions and I did have shallots. And, honestly, I felt like a shallot would go better here anyway, so I would 100% keep this substitution in the future. That said, I think red onion would also be fine. Especially if it'd save you a trip to the grocery store. So, use whichever one is most convenient. ^Back
2 I've halved the quantities called for here because the original recipe made way too much mayo! ^Back
3 The original recipe called for lemon juice, but, after giving it some thought, I decided to go with lime juice instead. I felt like the lime would complement the other flavours better. I think either one would be fine though. Also, the recipe didn't call for any zest and I didn't use any, but I might try tossing in a pinch next time. I think it would be nice. ^Back

I find frittatas tend to make a fairly decent low-effort-but-nutritious breakfast/brunch option. You get protein from the eggs and it's relatively easy to work in at least some veg. They're very flexible. And one frittata will feed all three of us for two meals, which is handy.

This frittata recipe comes courtesy of The Breakfast Bible (which I'm still working my way through). It's meant to be made with parsley, basil, mint, chives, cherry tomatoes, and gruyère. We were all out of fresh basil, so I ended up substituting dried. And our chives had gone off, so I tossed in a small green onion instead. For the cherry tomatoes, I ended up using up some leftover diced tomatoes we had sitting in the fridge. And I ended up going for grated cheddar rather than gruyère because that's what we had on hand. (Although TF and I both think that mozzarella would've also worked really well.) For the topping, I ended up using some baby spinach rather than the arugula, but they're both good options. I know that's a lot of changes, but it still worked out well and gave us a tasty breakfast (and used up some leftovers from the fridge), so I have no complaints!

Frittata with Herbs and Tomatoes

Slightly adapted from The Breakfast Bible by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 10 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. milk
• 2 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh chives (or 1 small green onion, chopped)
• 1/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
• 1/4 c. grated gruyère (or mozzarella or cheddar)
• 1/2 c. halved cherry tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
• 3 c. arugula (rocket)
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil (optional)
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Beat the eggs with the milk.
3. Mix in the parsley, basil, mint, chives, salt, and pepper.
4. Melt the butter over medium heat.
5. Pour in the egg mixture and sprinkle with cheese and tomatoes.
6. Cook, without stirring, for 2 minutes.
7. Transfer to oven and bake for 10-12 minutes.
8. If frittata is still undercooked in the centre or insufficiently browned on top, place under broiler for 1-2 minutes to set.
9. Meanwhile, toss arugula with olive oil and lemon juice (if using) and season with a little extra salt and pepper.
10. Once frittata is cooked, top with arugula, cut into wedges, and serve.

We had a surplus of mint and strawberries were on sale this week, so this low-effort dessert seemed like a natural fit.

Macerated Strawberries with Lemon and Mint

From Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 450g strawberries, hulled and quartered (or sliced)
• 2-4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 Tbsp. lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint

Directions

1. Add all ingredients to a bowl and toss to combine.
2. Let stand for at least 15 minutes, then serve.

I'm digging pretty deep into my backlog again with this one. I can't even remember exactly when I made this. But it's in my notes and it does sound at least vaguely familiar. So I'm going to do a write-up for it before it gets lost entirely.

I have been doing better at not letting recipes slip through the cracks the last couple of years. But that still doesn't mean that I always write them up promptly. I'm now just getting to them eventually rather than not at all. (And I am at least getting to most of them somewhat promptly.) It's a definitely improvement. It's just not completely consistent yet. Even so... I feel pretty good about the effort we've put in the last couple years! Over 340 posts last year and, while I don't think we're on track to beat that this year, we might manage to break 300, which is still pretty darn good.

And here is a soba noodle salad recipe from who-knows-when to help get us there.

Soba Noodle Salad with Sugar Snap Peas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g soba noodles or whole wheat spaghetti
• 150g sugar snap peas, trimmed and halved diagonally
• 3-4 small carrots, julienned
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 3cm piece of ginger, minced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 4 tsp. rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/3 c. natural peanut butter (preferably chunky)
• 1/2 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds
• 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions adding carrots and peas ~2 minutes before they're done.
2. Drain noodles and vegetables and add cilantro and mint.
3. Heat oil over medium heat.
4. Add ginger and garlic and cook for ~1 minute.
5. Add the soy sauce, vinegar, pepper flakes, peanut butter, and stock and stir to combine.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer until thick (5-7 minutes).
8. Pour dressing over noodle mixture and toss to coat.
9. Allow to cool, sprinkle with sesame seeds and green onion (if using), then serve.

After making a large batch of stew, we needed more vegetables to go with the leftovers. Symbol located this in Vegetable of the Day and it was delicious! Prep was a bit tedious simply because we had a huge number of tiny carrots, so peeling them took forever, but I think it would go a lot faster with regular-sized carrots, and there's no arguing with the results - everyone loved them.

Photo goes here.

Honey-Ginger Roasted Carrots

From Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan (p. 66)

Ingredients

• 500g carrots or "baby carrots"
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp finely chopped candied ginger
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh mint
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Peel the carrots and cut them into ~5cm lengths. Halve or quarter the thicker segments to produce a roughly uniform carrot size. If using pre-peeled "baby carrots", you can ues them as-is.
2. Melt the butter in a large bowl.
3. Whisk in the honey, ginger, salt and pepper, and mint.
4. Add the carrots and toss until well coated.
5. Arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet and cook at 400°F until fork-tender, 40-45 minutes.
6. Stir in lemon juice, optionally garnish with additional mint, and serve.

Our mint has gone a bit crazy, so I'm always happy for recipes that promise to use a bit up. I also had a carton of whipping cream in the fridge that expired a few days ago and some leftover Bahamanian sweet pastry. Now, of course, technically this tart is meant to be made with what I think of as "regular" sweet shortcrust. But I wasn't about to go making yet another batch of pastry dough when I still had a buch of other dough in the fridge. So I figured I'd just give it a try with the extra sweet pastry.

I think the sugar cookie-like crust works quite well with the minty ganache filling! I mean, I'm sure the recommended crust would also be good. (And I think some sort of chocolate crust might also be quite nice.) But I'm certainly not complaining about how this version turned out!

The original recipe calls for using 1 1/2 c. of cream, 340g of chocolate, 10 sprigs of mint, and 2 Tbsp. of corn syrup in the filling. It also calls for making it in either a 35x11.5cm (13.75x4.5") rectangular or 24cm (9.5") round loose-bottomed tart tin. I didn't want to mess around with the super-hard-to-handle Bahamanian pastry in a loose-bottomed tin, so I decided to use my 9" deep dish pie plate instead. Then, in order to both accommodate the deep dish and to use up more cream and mint, I bumped up all the quantities in the filling except for the corn syrup. I reasoned that since the Bahamanian pastry was so much sweeter than a "regular" sweet shortcrust, it made sense to dail back the sweetness of the filling a bit. If I'd been making this with a less sweet pastry, I might've considered adding another 2-3 tsp. of corn syrup along with the chocolate.

Photo goes here.

Fresh Mint and Chocolate Tart

Slightly adapted from Dessert of the Day by Kim Laidlaw

Ingredients

• 1/4 batch Bahamanian sweet pastry or 1 crust worth of another pastry of your choice
• 2 c. of heavy (35%) cream
• 12 sprigs fresh mint
• 450g dark chocolate
• 2-3 Tbsp. corn syrup
• extra mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

1. Roll out the pastry and use it to line a 23cm (9") deep dish pie plate (or equivalent volume tart tin).
2. Chill for 20-30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, scald the cream. Get it very hot, but stop just shy of boiling.
4. Add the mint to the cream and set aside to steep for 20-30 minutes.
5. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F), line pie shell with baking paper, and fill with pie weights.
6. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 15-20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, strain the mint from the cream and discard.
8. Add the chocolate and corn syrup to the infused cream.
9. Gently heat the cream mixture, stirring, until chocolate is melted and fully combined.
10. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 20-30 minutes.
11. Remove baking paper and pie weights and continue baking for 5 minutes longer.
12. Remove from oven and set on wire rack to cool.
13. Once crust has cooled, pour in the ganache.
14. Transfer to fridge and chill until set (~1 hour).
15. Garnish with extra mint leaves, cut into wedges, and serve.

I wasn't sure what to think of this salad based on the recipe. I like squash. Roasting it in the oven sounded like a promising start. And I've had some lovely warm salads in the past. But this combination sounded a bit unusual and I didn't quite know what to expect. It was actually really great though! Sadly, the Kidlet didn't care for it. But TF and I both loved it!

I cut back on the oil quite a bit. (The original called for half a cup!) And I had to use a yellow onion rather than red because that's all we had on hand. But, other than that, I stuck to the script and it worked out quite well!

Warm Squash Salad with Mint

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 butternut squash
• 1/4 c. olive oil, divided
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
• 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. minced fresh oregano (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• 1-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1/4 c. fresh mint leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2. Peel the squash and cut crosswise into 2-3cm thick slices, scooping out any seeds.
3. Toss with 2 Tbsp. of the oil and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spread the squash out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast at 200°C (400°F) until tender (~30 minutes), turning once or twice.
5. Meanwhile, whisk the remaining 2 Tbsp. of oil into the vinegar.
6. Add the onion, oregano, garlic, and pepper flakes and let stand while squash cooks.
7. Once squash is done, transfer to a serving dish and pour the dressing over.
8. Sprinkle with mint and serve.

I wasn't a huge fan of this salad. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't great for me. That said, TF actually really liked it. She said it was nice and light and refreshing. Not necessarily a food she wants to have all the time, but possibly a favourite when she's in that salad-y sort of mood.

I didn't have the recommended flank steak for this recipe, so I cooked up a T-bone and cut that up instead. Not quite the same vibe, I know, but it worked well enough. And used up a steak that had been going begging for a while. So, all-in-all, a good result.

I also adjusted the proportions of vegetables slightly. Mostly because I didn't want to have fractional peppers left over in the fridge. Everything else was left as specified.

Thai Beef Salad

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tsp. sugar
• 1-2 fresh green Thai or finger chilies, minced
• 450g flank steak
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tsp. peanut or coconut oil
• 1 large head butter or leaf lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 c. thinly sliced cucumber
• 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh Thai basil
• 1-2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and chilies in a large bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
2. Season the steak to taste with salt and pepper and brush with oil.
3. Cook the steak to your desired doneness by your preferred method: grill, broiler, or frying pan.
4. Let steak rest for a few minutes, then thinly slice and add to the bowl with the dressing.
5. Add the remaining ingredients: lettuce, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, mint, cilantro, and basil.
6. Garnish with green onions (if using) and serve.

Haleem (Minty Beef with Cracked Wheat and Lentils)

This was a while ago. Do I remember any details of the meal? I do not, except that it was tasty.

The recipe as written calls for cracked wheat and a lengthy pre-soak period. We made it with extra coarse bulgur and skipped the pre-soak, with good results. Note that even if you're making it with bulgur, there's still a long marination phase for the meat -- start early!

Haleem

660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer (p. 175)

Ingredients

• 450g stewing beef
• 30mL ginger paste
• 1mL garlic paste
• 120mL moong dal (skinned split green lentils)
• 120mL masoor dal (skinned split brown lentils)
• 120mL extra coarse bulgur
• ½ tsp ground turmeric
• 60mL canola oil
• 6 whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 black cardamom pods
• 8-10 fresh green Thai chilis, stems removed, bisected lengthwise
• 1 large red onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1½ tsp Kashmiri garam masala
• 120mL finely chopped fresh mint
• 120mL finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine beef, ginger paste, and garlic paste in a bowl. Toss until coated, then refrigerate, covered, for 6-8 hours.
2. Rinse the lentils, if needed.
3. In a large saucepan, combine the lentils (drained), bulgur, and 1L water.
4. Bring to a boil, uncovered, over medium-high heat. Skim off foam.
5. Stir in turmeric, then reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the lentils and bulgur are tender, 20-25 minutes. Set aside.
6. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat.
7. Add cloves, cinnamon, bay leaves, and cardamom pods. Cook until they crackle and the cinnamon swells, ~30 seconds.
8. Add chilis and onion. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and cook until the onion has released its liquid and begins to brown, 15-20 minutes.
9. Uncover and stir-fry until the onion is reddish-brown with purple highlights, 5-10 minutes.
10. Add the beef cubes and marinade. Raise heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the meat browns, 12-15 minutes.
11. Add 240mL water and the garam masala and bring to a boil.
12. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until fork-tender, 15-20 minutes.
13. Add the lentil-bulgur mix and their liquid. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the flavours mingle, 10-15 minutes.
14. Remove from heat, stir in the mint and cilantro, and serve.

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I had to pull together and emergency back-up dinner in a hurry the other day and ended up landing on this potato salad recipe (after going through about four other foiled dinner plans). It's not the most exciting dinner, but it at least has a bit of protein and some vegetables -- and we actually had all the ingredients on hand! -- so I just rolled with it.

Only after I'd put the potatoes on to boil did I remember that I'd used up all the frozen green beans a couple weeks ago and hadn't restocked yet. I wasn't about to try to pivot to a different dinner plan yet again, so instead I did a quick switcheroo and swapped in some frozen peas for the green beans. Not quite the same, I know, but it still worked very well. Potatoes and peas make a great combo!

Two-Bean Potato Salad

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 125g fresh or frozen green beans, trimmed
• 570g potatoes, quartered
• 1 c. cooked chickpeas
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh mint
• 4-6 green olives, pitted and chopped
• 1 Tbsp. capers, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Roman mustard
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp. coarse salt
• 1/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil

Directions

1. If using fresh green beans: bring a pot of salted water to a boil and blanch them for 2-3 minutes. Then shock in cold water. Save the bean cooking water and use to boil the potatoes.
   If using frozen beans: thaw and set aside.
2. Add the potatoes to the boiling water and cook until tender (~10 minutes).
3. Drain the beans (from their ice bath) and the potatoes (from the pot of boiling water) and place them in a large bowl.
4. Add the chickpeas, onion, parsley, mint, olives, and capers.
5. In a small bowl, whisk the mustard with the vinegar salt and pepper.
6. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while whisking vigorously.
7. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir to combine.
8. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before serving.

I've never had persimmons before and, I have to admit, I was a little wary of them. But they're actually quite tasty! And I really like the combination of flavours in this recipe. The toasted pistachios are especially nice. But really, it's all good and works well together.

Bulgur Salad with Persimmons, Pistachios, and Pomegranate

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. bulgur
• 1 c. chicken or vegetable stock
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 c. chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 1/3 c. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 c. chopped green onion
• 1/2 c. shelled pistachios
• 3 fuyu persimmons, cored and chopped
• 1/4 c. fresh pomegranate arils

Directions

1. Place the bulgur in a heat-proof bowl.
2. Bring the stock to a boil and pour it over the bulgur. If using homemade stock, add a little bith of salt as well.
3. Cover and set aside for 15-20 minutes.
4. Mix in the lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, mint, and green onion and allow to rest for 20-30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, toast the pistachios over medium heat for 3-4 minutes.
6. Just before serving, stir in the persimmons, pistachios, and pomegranate.

I love jerk chicken. And I appreciate that this recipe has you making the marinade from scratch rather than going for a commercial mix out of a jar.

In theory this is meant to be made with whole chicken legs (ie. attached drumstick and thigh), but I found a package of thighs on sale for 40% off, so I just rolled with that instead. I don't really like drumsticks anyway, so an all-thigh approach suited me just fine!

The salsa was also meant to have some avocado in it, but I forgot to get one, so we just made our version with extra pineapple instead. I actually quite liked it that way, so I've listed the avocado as optional rather than required.

Other than that, I made the recipe basically to spec. The chicken took slightly longer than expected to cook, but that was probably because I was doing this on a small charcoal grill in -2°C weather. I still got excellent colour and flavour from the grill, but I think the temperature over the indirect heat area was just a bit lower than one might expect in warmer weather. It still produced delicious results though, so no complaints from me!

Jerk Chicken with Pineapple Salsa

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Chicken

• 4 green onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-3 habañero peppers¹, seeded
• 1/4 c. lime juice
• 2-4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 1/2 Tbsp. dried thyme)
• 2 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 2 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 12 chicken thighs

Salsa

• 1 pineapple
• 1 red onion, sliced thick
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 jalapeño
• 1/2 avocado, peeled and diced (optional)
• 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
• juice of 1 lime
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Combine the green onions, garlic, habañero(s), lime juice, olive oil, soy sauce, brown sugar, thyme, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and pepper in a blender and purée.
2. Slather the mixture over the chicken, cover, and chill until ready to cook. This can be done up to a day in advance and, for preference, should allow at least 6-8 hours for the chicken to marinate.
3. Prepare your grill for direct, high heat cooking².
4. Toss the pineapple and onion and the oil, brush a little extra oil on the grill, and place the pineapple, oinon, and jalapeño over direct heat.
5. Cook, turning as needed, until the pineapple and onion are softened and have nice grill marks on both sides. Cook the jalapeño until it is blackened on all sides and softened all the way through. Remove from grill and set aside.
6. Place the chicken, skin-side-down, over direct heat.
7. Cook until outside is well seared (2-4 minutes per side).
8. Move chicken to indirect heat and continue grilling, turning occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (30-40 minutes).
9. Meanwhile, chop the pinapple and onion.
10. Once the jalapeño has cooled enough to handle, remove and discard the blackened skin. For a milder salsa, cut the chile open and remove and discard the seeds, then chop the flesh and add it to the bowl with the pineapple. For spicier salsa, leave the seeds in place and chop the whole chile and add it to the bowl.
11. Mix in the avocado (if using), mint, and lime juice.
12. Season with salt to taste. Set aside until chicken is done.
13. Once chicken is ready, remove from grill and serve with the pineapple salsa and a vegetable side of your choice.

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¹ I just used one habañero this time around as I was worried about making it too spicy, but I might use two next time. The marinade had a fair bit of kick when I tasted it, so I didn't add any more after the first, but it tasted significantly more mellow once combined with the chicken and cooked. I think this is something that you definitely have to feel out as you go though, since habañeros can vary a fair bit in how spicy they are from one pepper to the next. Just know that the heat won't be as intense in the final dish as it is when you're tasting the marinade straight, so adjust accordingly. ^Back
2 I lit two baskets of charcoal placed on opposite sides of the grill to create two direct, high heat areas at the sides with a lower temperature, indirect area in the middle. ^Back