Reiver found a soup recipe online the other day and we decided to give it a go. It's very simple, but did make a tasty soup. Although I'd be tempted to swap out the turmeric for ras el hanout next time.

While I tried to stick pretty close to the recipe for my first time making it, I did end up making a few small changes. I used whole (skin-on, bone-in) chicken thighs rather than skinless, boneless simply because that's what I had on hand. I used a much smaller quantity of dried herbs instead of the large quantity of fresh because, again, I was working with what was on hand. And I dumped in a bunch of frozen spinach toward the end of cooking, just to give it a vegetable and make it a little more nutritionally complete. I also left out most of the olive oil since I felt that there was sufficient fat from the chicken skin.

Red Lentil Soup with Chicken

Ingredients

• 600g chicken thighs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 onions, halved and sliced
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced (or 2 Tbsp. garlic paste)
• 2L water
• 1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)
• 1 1/2 c. skinned split brown lentils (red lentils/Egyptian lentils/masoor dal)
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric (and/or ral el hanout for a more complex flavour)
• 1 c. fresh mixed herbs (parsley, dill, mint, etc.)
• 1 c. chopped frozen spinach (optional)
• 1 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Directions

1. Pat the chicken dry and season to taste with salt and pepper to taste. (I recommend ~1/2 tsp. of each.)
2. Heat the oil over medium to medium-high heat.
3. Add the chicken, skin-side down, and sear until skin is crisp.
4. Flip the thighs over and sear briefly on the other side.
5. Remove the chicken from the pot and set aside.
6. Add the onions, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until soft and caramelized (~30 minutes).
7. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes.
8. Return the chicken to the pot and add the water and bouillon cube (if using).
9. Increase heat and bring to a boil.
10. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until chicken is cooked through (~15 minutes).
11. Shred the chicken and return it to the pot, discarding the skin and bones.
12. Rinse the lentils and add them to the pot along with the turmeric (and/or ras el hanout, if using).
13. Simmer until the lentils are just tender (~10 minutes).
14. Stir in the herbs and spinach (if using), adjust seasoning to taste, simmer for a minute or two, then remove from heat.
15. Stir the lemon juice into the yogurt and set aside.
16. Serve the soup topped with the lemony yogurt.

This is a great breakfast. Maybe just don't try to bake the potatoes from scratch first thing in the morning. Bake them the night before and just warm them back up and finish off the prep in the morning. Or "bake" them in the microwave.

Timings aside... I really like this as a breakfast. It's very satiating. You get starch, protein, healthy fats, and a bit of dairy. The only thing it's missing is a bit of veg! I half-wonder if you could get away with mixing a bit of spinach into the potato. I actually think that would be really nice. And Reiver suggested that some chopped chives or green onions would be a nice addition as well.

Eggs in Baked Potatoes

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 4 large baking potatoes
• 4 tsp. butter
• 1/4 c. sour cream
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 c. chopped frozen spinach, thawed (optional)
• 1/2 c. grated cheese, divided
• 4 large eggs
• 1-2 green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F) and pierce the potatoes all over with a fork.
2. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for ~1 hour. (Or microwave on high for ~10 minutes.)
3. Split the potatoes lengthwise. Do not cut all the way through! Press on the ends to force them opem a bit.
4. Add 1 tsp. of butter and 1 Tbsp. of sour cream to each potato.
5. Use a fork to break up the flesh of each potato and mash in the butter and sour cream.
6. Season to taste with salt and pepper, 1 Tbsp. of the cheese, and ~2 Tbsp. of spinach to each potato (if using). Mix well.
7. Make a well in the centre of each potato (pushing the flesh to the sides).
8. Transfer the potatoes to a greased baking dish.
9. Crack an egg into each potato and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
10. Bake at 190°C (375°F) for 18-20 minutes (or until eggs reach desired doneness).
11. Sprinkle with green onions and serve.

Kaddu Dhansaak (Pumpkin Dhansaak)

Dhansaaks are often made with meat, but this one uses pumpkin (and a variety of root vegetables) for a satisfying legume-and-vegetable stew.

Red pumpkin is the recommended squash for this. But Iyer suggests that other pumpkins -- or even sweet potatoes -- can be used as well. I initially considered using the pie pumpkin I'd picked up here. But then I remembered that we had some sweet potatoes that had been languishing on the counter for weeks. And this seemed like as good a use of them as any. I also decided to toss in a parsnip, just for fun.

I can't say that this was my favourite curry. But it was pretty good. And I definitely liked it better than the chicken dhansaak that I tried a few years ago!

Kaddu Dhansaak

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 1/2 c. skinned split pigeon peas (toovar dal)
• 1/4 c. yellow split peas (chana dal)
• 1/4 c. skinned split mung beans (yellow lentils/moong dal)
• 3 c. water
• 1 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies (or 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne + 3/4 tsp. sweet paprika)
• 2 onions, one coarsely chopped, one halved and sliced
• 2 c. cubed pumpkin or sweet potato (2cm dice)
• 1 large potato, cut into 1cm dice
• 1-2 carrots, cut into 1cm thick coins
• 1 parsnip, cut into 1cm pieces (optional)
• 1/4 c. ghee, divided
• 4-6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. Madras curry powder
• 1 tsp. sambhar masala
• 1 tsp. Maharashtrian garam masala
• 200g spinach or kale, chopped
• 1/4 c. chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine the pigeon peas, split peas, and mung beans and rinse and drain thoroughly.
2. In a pressure cooker, add the water, turmeric, ground chilies, chopped onion, pumpkin/sweet potato, potato, carrots, and parsnip (if using).
3. Pressure cook on "high" for 15 minutes with a 15-minute natural release.
4. Meanwhile, heat 2 Tbsp. of the ghee over medium heat.
5. Add the sliced onion and garlic and cook until browned (10-15 minutes).
6. Add the tomatoes, salt, curry powder, sambhar masala, and garam masala and continue cooking for another 5 minutes.
7. Once the legumes and vegetables are done, release the remaining pressure and add the tomato mixture to the pot. Stir to combine.
8. Stir in the spinach.
9. Cook until the spinach wilts and flavours meld (10-15 minutes).
10. Drizzle with remaining 2 Tbsp. of ghee.
11. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.

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 made this back in April, while I was in New Zealand, but never quite got around to writing it up. I remember it being pretty good. If I recall correctly, I think I made it with a slightly soft, low-sodium feta that Reiver turned out to actually like (despite not normally being a fan of the stuff).

Photo goes here.

Spinach with Feta and Pine Nuts

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1kg fresh spinach, tough stems removed
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 2 Tbsp. golden raisins, soaked and drained
• 1/4 c. pine nuts, toasted
• 1/2 c. crumbled feta
• 1 lemon wedge

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook for a minute or so.
3. Add the spinach a handful or two at a time and cook until wilted.
4. If the pan gets too dry, add a splash of water.
5. Add the salt and raisins.
6. Transfer to a platter and sprinkle with pine nuts and feta.
7. Squeeze the lemon juice over the spinach and serve immediately.

Baked Rigatoni with Fennel, Sausage, and Peperonata

This was delicious! But I think it could have used more sausage. (And maybe a bit of spinach.)

Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and Peperonata

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 450g rigatoni
• 1 bulb fennel
• 450g Italian sausage, casings removed
• 3 bell peppers, julienned (preferably all different colours)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar¹
• 1 1/2 c. tomato sauce
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream²
• 150g baby spinach (optional)
• 250g fontina cheese, grated
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220°C (425°F) and grease a 23x33cm lasagne pan.
2. Cook the rigatoni according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
3. Remove and discard the core and stems from the fennel bulb. Dice the remaining bulb and set aside.
4. Heat a pan over medium heat and add the sausage.
5. Cook for 3-4 minutes, breaking up the meat as it cooks.
6. Add the fennel and cook until softened and beginning to brown (~5 minutes).
7. Add the sausage and fennel to the bowl with the pasta.
8. Add the bell peppers to the now-empty pan. Add a little oil if necessary, but the sausages released sufficient fat that I didn't need any for mine.
9. Season to taste with salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes.
10. Add the sugar and vinegar and keep cooking until vegetables are glazed.
11. Add the tomato sauce and cream to the peppers and cook until slightly thickened (~5 minutes).
12. Pour the peppers and sauce over the pasta, add the spinach (if using) and the fontina, and toss to combine.
13. Dump the mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
14. Bake at 220°C (425°F) for 10-15 minutes.

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¹ The recipe called for granulated sugar and red wine vinegar. I swapped out the white sugar for brown. But I used the red wine vinegar as specified. Having tasted it though, I'd be inclined to try balsamic next time. I think that'd be even better! ^Back
2 The recipe called for 1 c. of tomato sauce and 1 1/2 c. of cream. We had a bit of extra sauce though, so we just tossed it in. I'm not sure if it was a full extra half cup. It might've been more like 1/3 c. But... close enough. Meanwhile, after putting in just 1 c. of cream, the sauce looked both very rich and very pale already. So I opted to omit the extra half cup. If you wanted to make this dish a bit lighter, you could use half-and-half instead. (I normally would've done that. But the cream has been in the fridge for a while and needs to be used up.) ^Back

This was pretty tasty! Definitely not health food. But a nice treat. Especially on the first day. (I do think it loses something in the reheating. It's still good. Just not as good.)

Marry Me Shrimp Pasta

Slightly adapted from Delish.com

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. sun-dried tomato oil¹
• 450g shrimp, shelled and deveined
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 450g dry pasta (rigatoni, shells, or penne all work well)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• 2 c. chicken stock
• 1 c. heavy (35%) cream or half-and-half (10% MF)
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning²
• 300g spinach
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan
• fresh basil, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium-high heat.
2. Add the shrimp, season with salt and pepper, and cook until pink and opaque (3-5 minutes).
3. Remove shrimp from pan and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain, reserving ~1/2 c. of pasta water, and set aside.
5. Reduce pan temperature to medium.
6. Add garlic, tomato paste, and red pepper flakes and cook until paste darkens (1-2 minutes).
7. Add sun-dried tomatoes, broth, cream, and Italian seasoning, deglaze the pan, and bring to a simmer.
8. Cook until the sauce thickens slightly (~5 minutes).
9. Add spinach and cook until wilted (1-2 minutes).
10. Add pasta, shrimp, and reserved pasta water, stir vigorously for a few seconds, and cook until pasta is well-coated and sauce is glossy.
11. Stir in Parmesan.
12. Season to taste with additional salt and pepper.
13. Sprinkle with fresh basil (if using) and server.

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¹ My tomatoes were not oil-packed, so I didn't have any tomato oil for my sauce. Instead I used a bit of oil from some spicy, oil-packed anchovies. I feel like this was an acceptable substitute. ^Back
2 I didn't have any ready-made Italian seasoning, so I just mixed in a few herbs separately: mostly parsley, oregano, and basil with just a touch of rosemary and thyme. ^Back

This somewhat unusual breakfast scramble was apparently the signature dish of a restaurant in San Francisco. I've seen a few different versions of it floating around over the years. This one is very straight-forward. And tasty.

Although I do feel that this is one case where the dish might benefit from the use of lean -- or even regular -- ground beef rather than my usual extra lean. Don't get me wrong! The extra lean was good. But it just didn't quite have that unctuous, greasy spoon diner vibe that I really associate with this kind of cooking. Definitely much healthier this way. Just maybe slightly less authentic.

Original Joe

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 400g ground beef
• 250g cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 6 green onions, sliced
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• 200-300g frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 6-7 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. water or milk
• pinch of ground nutmeg
• grated Parmesan
• chopped parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Combine the beef, mushrooms, and green onions over medium heat and cook until beef is no longer pink. Add a little water if necessary.
2. Season with half of the salt and pepper and add the frozen spinach. Stir to combine.
3. Beat the eggs with the water (or milk), nutmeg, and remaining salt and pepper.
4. Pour the eggs into the pan and let cook for a minute or two.
5. Stir and continue cooking until eggs are set.
6. Sprinkle with Parmesan and parsley.
7. Serve with buttered toast and/or broiled tomato slices.

Sarson aur Palak ka Saag (Mustard Green and Spinach Curry)

This was a nice, easy vegetable curry to toss together to round out our dinner for the night. We served it with leftover dal, vindaloo, and some rice and naan.

This wasn't a spectacular curry. But it was perfectly serviceable. And gave us a nice bit of green on our plates.

Sarson aur Palak ka Saag

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 8-9 cloves garlic
• 4 fresh green Thai, serrano, finger chilies
• 2-3 Tbsp. fresh ginger (or ginger paste)
• 2 Tbsp. ghee (or oil for a vegan option)
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 450g mustard greens, chopped
• 450g spinach, chopped
• 1 small (400mL) can diced tomato
• 1/2 Tbsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. Punjabi garam masala

Directions

1. Place the garlic, chilies, and ginger in a food processor and pulse to mince (or mince by hand).
2. Heat the ghee over medium heat.
3. Add the cumin seeds and sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
4. Add the garlic mixture and stir-fry for a minute or two.
5. Add the greens a handfull at a time, cooking until wilted between each addition.
6. Add the tomatoes and salt and cook until heated through (~5 minutes).
7. Stir in the garam masala and cook for another minute or two.
8. If desired use an immersion blender to purée or process in batches in a jar blender.

Kishmish Waale Murghi (Raisin Chicken)

Whole chickens were on sale at the grocery store again a couple of weeks ago. I was somewhat reluctant to get any since I was worried that I wouldn't have time to break them down before I left. But, after discussing it with Reiver, I decided to go for it anyway. I got the chickens broken down the next day and then ended up using one of them in this curry a few days later.

I ended up going with this recipe, specifically, both because it wasn't on the blog yet and because it let me incorporate some veggies into the meal without having to make an extra dish. The original recipe calls for making this with chunks of chicken breast, but I think it also works quite well with bone-in chicken pieces.

Photo goes here.

Kishmish Waale Murghi

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. golden raisins
• 1/2 c. slivered almonds
• 1kg skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into 2cm pieces
• 1 Tbsp. Punjabi garam masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. ground cayenne or Kashmiri chilies
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 250g chopped frozen spinach
• 1/2 c. water

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion, raisins, and almonds and cook until the onions soften and nuts brown (15-20 minutes).
3. Add the chicken and cook until it sears (~10 minutes).
4. Add the garam masala, salt, ground chilies, and turmeric and cook for a minute or so.
5. Add the spinach and water, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked through (~10 minutes).
6. Serve with rice and/or your favourite flatbread.

Zucchini finally went on sale at the grocery store and I had ~100mL of diced tomatoes in the fridge that needed using, so this omelette seemed like a natural choice. The herbs and Parmesan worked very well with the veggies and produced a satisfying breakfast.

Zucchini, Tomato, and Green Onion Omelette

Slightly adapted from The Big Book of Breakfast by Maryana Vollstedt

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• ~1/2 c. chopped zucchini
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ~100mL diced tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1/4 tsp. dried)
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp. dried)
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 5 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. water
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk
• 1 tsp. butter
• 1 handful baby spinach (optional)
• 1/4 c. grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Heat the oil over medium heat.
2. Add the zucchini, green onions, and garlic, and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, rosemary, basil, and salt and pepper to taste and cook for another minute or two.
4. Transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set aside.
5. Beat the eggs with the eggs, water, and a bit more salt and pepper.
6. Melt the butter over medium-low heat.
7. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook for a minute or so.
8. Carefully lift the edges of the egg to allow the uncooked egg to run underneath and cook for another minute or so.
9. Add the baby spinach (if using) to one half of the egg.
10. Top with vegetable mixture and cheese.
11. Once eggs are almost completely set, fold the omelette over.
12. Carefully flip the omelette and cook until heated through (~1 minute longer).
13. Serve with toast and/or buttermilk biscuits.

Figuring out dinner was a bit of a scramble last night. I didn't have a plan, but I was suddenly hit by a hankering for Korean. So I quickly threw together some ground beef bulgogi and whipped up a few simple sides to go with it.

This seasoned spinach was probably the most straight-forward of the bunch. It's not amazing on its own. But it does work quite nicely when combined with all the other dishes.

The original recipe used fresh spinach. I didn't have any fresh spinach on hand though, so I just thawed out some chopped frozen spinach and used that. If you are using fresh, you'll need to blanch it for a few seconds first, drain it and press out most of the liquid, and then proceed from there.

Korean Seasoned Spinach

Slightly adapted from Aaron & Claire

Ingredients

• 250g frozen spinach
• 1 tsp. garlic paste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped green onion
• 1/2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp. toasted sesame seeds (preferably ground)

Directions

1. Thaw the spinach over medium heat and then cook for a minute or two to boil off some of the water.
2. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic, green onion, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
3. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

I was dead tired yesterday. Luckily we still had some leftovers for dinner. So all I needed to do was whip up some sort of vegetable side to go with it. I had a big bag of minced spinach in the freezer and I'd just restocked on cream, so that made this an easy choice.

It wasn't a phenomenal dish, but it wasn't bad either. And it did the job of putting some green on our plates. And I cut the cream with a bit of milk, so I didn't even feel too guilty about eating it!

The original recipe was written for fresh baby spinach, but I didn't really want to commit half a kilo of baby spinach to it. As far as I'm concerned, this is what frozen spinach was made for: being used in large quantities on short notice.

Creamed Spinach with Lemon

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 c. heavy (35%) cream or half-and-half (10% MF)
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 1 tsp. sugar
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Use a vegetable peeler to cut a 5cm long strip of lemon zest off of the lemon and add it to the cream.
2. Bring the cream to a simmer over medium-low heat.
3. Simmer, uncovered, until reduced by half.
4. Meanwhile, heat the spinach over medium-low heat until thawed.
5. Sprinkle in the sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper.
6. Continue cooking the spinach until any excess liquid has evaporated.
7. Grate the lemon zest from half of the remaining lemon and add it to the spinach. (Reserve the remaining lemon for another use.)
8. Once the cream has thickened, add the spinach to it and stir to mix.
9. Cook until heated through (2-3 minutes).

I've been doing a lot of sweet breakfasts lately. Which is fine to a point. They've certainly been tasty. But they aren't exactly the healthiest. (Not that every savoury breakfast is an exemplar of healthy eating, but I feel like it's easier to do a healthy savoury breakfast than a healthy sweet one on average.)

Anyway... I finally got out to do a proper grocery shop yesterday and restocked on eggs and greens, so I decided to give this simple baked egg recipe a try. It's nothing fancy, but it's a solid and reasonably healthy meal to start the day.

Baked Eggs with Greens and Cream

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• ~400g greens of your choice¹
• 2 tsp. butter, divided
• 4 large eggs
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 4 tsp. heavy (35%) cream, divided

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F) and grease four ramekins or an oven-safe frying pan.
2. Rinse the greens and chop into bite-sized pieces.
3. Blanch the greens in lightly salted water until wilted.
4. Drain the greens and divide amongst the ramekins or spread in the bottom of the pan.
5. Make a well in the greens for each egg.
6. Place 1/2 tsp. of butter in the bottom of each well.
7. Break an egg into each well and season with salt and pepper.
8. Pour 1 tsp. of cream over each egg.
9. Bake at 180°C (350°F) until whites are set and yolks have reached desired doneness (12-18 minutes).
10. Serve with toast and your choice of condiments. Mayonnaise and/or ketchup (tomato sauce) go well.

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¹ Spinach, kale, chard (silverbeet) or a mix of some combination of those all work well. ^Back

This recipe claimed to be for stew, but it's definitely more of a soup. I even cut the broth by 1/3 and it was still more of a soup than a stew. A delicious soup, to be sure, but still a soup.

I ended up using chicken sausage instead of the turkey called for because I found some on sale and used spinach instead of kale (which I doubled, since the 125g called for didn't seem like nearly enough). I also went with a mix of pot barley and pearled wheat because I got wheat instead of barley by accident when I was at the grocery store restocking. Whoops! That said, both grains seemed to work just fine, so I wouldn't hesitate to use either (or both) again in the future.

It was interesting that the recipe called for cooking the barley separately and then adding it to the soup later. I'm used to just adding the uncooked grains to the soup and letting them cook in the broth. I think I'd be tempted to try it that way next time, just to see if doing it that way makes a noticeable difference.

Spinach, Chicken Sausage, and Barley Soup

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 c. water
• 1 c. pearl barley (and/or pearled wheat)
• 500g chicken (or turkey) sausage
• up to 4 c. chicken stock
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small (~400mL) can diced tomatoes
• 250g frozen chopped spinach (or kale)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Add the barley and cook until tender¹.
3. Drain the barley and set aside. (I reserved the cooking liquid and used it to poach the sausages rather than pan-frying them.)
4. Either pan-fry the sausages in a little oil until well-browned on all sides or poach them in some water (or the residual barley cooking liquid until cooked through. Set aside.
5. Measure out the residual cooking liquid (if you reserved it) and add enough stock to bring the total volume up to 4 c. Set aside.
6. Heat the oil over medium heat.
7. Add the onion and garlic and cook until softened (4-5 minutes).
8. Slice the sausages and return to pot. Cook for another 5 minutes.
9. Add the tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil.
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
11. Add the barley and spinach and cook until heated through (4-5 minutes).
12. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

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¹ This took ~25 minutes for my mix of pot barley and pearled wheat. Pearl barley may cook somewhat faster, I'm not sure. ^Back

This was okay. It definitely delivered on the spinach! Personally, I felt like it could've used a little more Parmesan. And it was way under-done when cooked according to the recipe. I've adjusted both the bake time and temperature below. I've also specified a bit of extra Parmesan sprinkled on top of the frittata just before it goes into the oven to help the cheese come through a little more.

Garlicky Spinach-Parmesan Frittata

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. garlic oil, divided
• 1 onion, halved and sliced
• 450g frozen chopped spinach
• 6 large eggs
• 1-2 Tbsp. milk (optional)
• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced
• ~1/2 c. grated Parmesan, divided
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, ground
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 1/8 tsp. hot paprika

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium heat.
3. Add the onion and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
4. Add the spinach, cover, and cook until wilted.
5. Cook, uncovered, for another minute or two to help cook off some of the moisture.
6. If it is still wet, drain it. Set aside.
7. Beat the eggs with a splash of milk (if desired).
8. Mix in the garlic, 1/4 c. of Parmesan, salt, pepper, and paprika.
9. Add the spinach to the egg mixture and stir to combine.
10. Return the pan to medium heat and add the remaining 1 Tbsp. of oil.
11. Pour in the egg mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.
12. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c. of Parmesan and transfer to oven and bake for ~12 minutes.
13. Set broiler to "high" and broil until top is set and lightly browned (2-3 minutes).
14. Turn out onto plate, cut into wedges, and serve.

I really liked this curry. I think TF and the Kidlet preferred the chicken tikka masala that I made to go with it, but I actually preferred the lentils!

The original recpe called for French (Puy) lentils, but I didn't have quite enough left, so I ended up using a mix of French and brown lentils. I tend to prefer French lentils in general, but the mix was fine here. And brown lentils tend to be more common in Indian cooking anyway, so I didn't feel that it was a huge deal to fudge things with the lentils a bit.

Cooking the lentils with some herbs and veggies added great flavour, but picking out all the bits afterward was annoying. I think next time I'd put everything but the lentils in a little cheesecloth bag so that it could be easily pulled out and composted afterward. Either that, or just leave all the veggies in. They'll end up a bit mushy, of course, but it might be worth trying. I figure, if you chop everything up small, they'll just end up homogenizing into the sauce. Something to think about for next time...

Lentil, Potato, and Spinach Curry

Slightly adapted from Vegetable of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 c. French (Puy) lentils
• 4 c. water
• 1 large carrot, cut into three pieces
• 1 rib celery, cut into three pieces
• 1 onion, half chopped, half left whole
• 5 sprigs parsley
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola oil or ghee
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coriander seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1/4 tsp. black peppercorns, ground
• 2 large red potatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
• 2 c. chopped frozen spinach
• 1/4 c. plain yogurt or raita, to serve (optional)

Directions

1. Rinse and drain the lentils.
2. Place lentils in a pot with the water, carrot, celery, onion half, and parsley and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
3. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until lentils are tender (~30 minutes).
4. Remove and discard the herbs and veggies.
5. Reserve the lentils and their cooking water separately. If there is less than 2 c. of liquid left, add water to bring the total volume to 2 c.
6. In the now empty pot, heat the oil (or ghee) over medium heat.
7. Add the chopped onion and garlic and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the garam masala, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook for another minute or two.
9. Add the potatoes, lentils, and reserved cooking water and bring to a boil.
10. Cook until potatoes are fork tender (~15 minutes).
11. Stir in spinach and cook until heated through (2-3 minutes).
12. Serve topped with yogurt/raita, if desired.

Saag Pork (Spinach and Pork Curry)

I don't make pork curries very often. I don't really associate pork with Indian cuisine and it always feels slightly incongruous to me. I tend to default to legume, vegetable, and/or chicken curries. Sometimes I'll do beef, lamb, or fish depending on what I have on hand or what's on sale at the grocery store that week. But pork just doesn't really figure into things.

That said, Iyer does have a decent-sized pork section in the meat chapter of 660 Curries. And I had some pork tenderloins in the freezer. I got them with a completely different recipe in mind, but I keep not quite getting to it, so I figured I might as well just turn them into curries and try to do the other recipe some other time when I have a bit more bandwidth for meal planning.

I appreciated that this was an incredibly simple recipe that required very little prep and cooked quickly. Plus it used up the leftover tomato in the fridge. And gave us some greens to help balance the meal. So, a win all 'round!

Saag Pork

Slightly adapted from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iyer

Ingredients

• 500g pork tenderloin, cut into 2cm cubes
• 1/4 c. whipping (35%) cream
• 2 Tbsp. garlic paste
• 2 tsp. bin bhuna hua garam masala
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1-2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1/2 c. tomato sauce¹
• 300g chopped frozen spinach

Directions

1. Combine the pork, cream, garlic paste, garam masala, and salt and mix well.
2. Cover and chill for at least half an hour or as long as 2 hours.
3. Heat oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add cumin seeds and sizzle for 15-30 seconds.
5. Add the pork along with its marinade and cook, stirring occasionally, for ~5 minutes.
6. Add the tomato sauce and reduce heat to medium.
7. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for ~15 minutes.
8. Add the spinach, cover, and cook until heated through (~5 minutes).
9. Stir and cook, covered, for another 10 minutes or so.

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¹ I didn't have any ready-made tomato sauce, but I did have some leftover canned diced tomato. I just used that and added a little bit of salt, pepper, basil, garlic, and bottle masala to approximate a sauce. ^Back

Lamb Burgers (Dish of the Day)

This is yet another recipe that I'd forgotten I'd made. (Thank goodness for my notes!)

Unfortunately, I can't say much about this one since I don't even remember making it let alone how it came out. I assume it was good, but not spectacular. Good, because it was lamb (and because if it was bad, it probably would have stood out in my mind). Not spectacular, because that also likely would have stood out in my mind.

I figured I should still do a write-up anyway. Just wish I'd gotten to it a bit sooner.

Lamb Burgers

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion, chopped and divided
• 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 tsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1/8 tsp. ground Kashmiri chilies
• 3/4 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• 3/8 tsp. black peppercorns, ground and divided
• 500g ground lamb
• 3/4 tsp. allspice berries, ground
• 4 burger buns
• ~1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tomato, sliced
• ~2 c. fresh baby spinach

Directions

1. Combine ~1/3 of the onion withe yogur, cumin, ground chilies, 1/4 tsp. of the salt, and 1/8 tsp. of the pepper, mix well, and set aside.
2. Combine the lamb with the allspice, remaining onion, salt, and pepper and mix well.
3. Form lamb mixture into 4 patties and cook over medium-high heat until desired doneness is reached (~5 minutes/side for medium)
4. Meanwhile, split the buns and brush the cut sides with olive oil.
5. Toast buns under the broiler until lightly browned (2-3 minutes).
6. Place a lamb patty on each burger bottom.
7. Top with yogurt sauce, tomato slices, spinach, and the bun tops.

I thought that we had made all of the various enchilada recipes from the Dish of the Day and Vegetable of the Day cookbooks. But it turns out that I'd missed one! This one involves a simple filling of black beans and kale (spinach in the original recipe) with a bit of cheese and some homemade salsa verde to bring it all together.

Personally, I felt like the sauce could have used a bit more kick. I would be tempted to add some jalapeños and/or finger chilies next time. But the kids seemed to enjoy it this way, so that's good at least.

I'm glad that I tried doing the sauce from scratch for these. It was nice. That said, if you're looking for a way to streamline the recipe, I wouldn't hesitate to use store-bought salsa verde in place of the homemade.

Kale and Black Bean Enchiladas

Slightly adapted from Dish of the Day by Kate McMillan

Ingredients

Sauce

• 12 tomatillos, husked and halved
• 3 poblanos, halved and seeded
• 1 jalapeño, halved and seeded (optional)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion, quartered
• 1 c. fresh cilantro
• salt and pepper, taste

OR

• ~1L store-bought salsa verde

Enchiladas

• 2 Tbsp. canola (or other neutral) oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. cumin seeds, ground
• 1 tsp. dhania-jeera masala
• ~300g frozen chopped kale or spinach
• 2 cans (~400mL each) black beans (or 1 1/2 c. dried black beans, cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
• 250g Monterey Jack (or pepper jack) cheese, shredded and divided
• 1 medium tortillas¹
• 1-2 avocadoes, sliced

Directions

1. Preheat the broiler (on high if it has multiple settings).
2. Place the tomatillos and chilies, cut-side-down, on a baking sheet and broil until slightly charred and softened (8-10 minutes).
3. Transfer tomatillos, chilies, onion, garlic, and cilantro to a blender and purée.
4. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
6. Heat oil over medium heat.
7. Add onion and bell pepper and cook until softened (~5 minutes).
8. Add the cumin and masala and cook for another minute or two.
9. Add the frozen greens and cook until thawed.
10. Remove from heat and stir in the beans, cilantro, half the cheese (~1 c.), and 3/4 c. of the sauce.
11. Spoon ~1/2 c. of sauce into the bottom of a 23x33cm (9x13") baking dish.
12. Put ~1/2 c. of filling in the centre of each tortilla, roll up into a tube, and place seam-side-down into the prepared baking dish.
13. Once all of the tortillas have been filled and placed in the baking dish, pour the rest of the sauce over them.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover with foil, and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes.
15. Remove foil and continue baking for another 10 minutes.
16. Serve topped with avocado and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper.

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¹ The recipe calls for flour tortillas and that's what I used this time, but I actually think that corn tortillas would have been better here. They just didn't have any when I went to the grocery store and I didn't feel up to making my own from scratch this time. The flour tortillas were fine. I just think that corn ones tend to work especially well for enchiladas. ^Back