This dish is based on a recipe e-mailed to me by an Indian reader, Dara. (More of the story in the second paragraph of Menu Plan Monday, 8/4 - 8/10.) I wanted to be respectful of and as true to the original recipe as possible, but at the same time I knew some adaptations were required, both to use up farm share vegetables and to accommodate the difference in ingredients between here and India. I think I succeeded in keeping to the essence of Dara’s original recipe.
While I was cooking and trying to stay somewhat authentic, I wondered, what is a jalfrezi anyway? Jalfrezi is a general term for a dry Indian curry, cooked with chilies and with the main ingredients usually including peppers, onions, and tomatoes. OK, I had all of those elements nailed — I was on the right track.
The green beans, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes are all from my CSA share. As a result, the quantities that I used were based on what I received this week, and might not be what you’d buy in the supermarket. You can mix and match your favorite vegetables — IndiaCurry.com has some suggestions. The Mariachi peppers have a mild heat, while the Red Rocket is hotter. I found the finished dish to be pleasantly spicy, J. didn’t find any heat at all. The original recipe called for chili powder in addition to the fresh chilies, so if you like to sweat consider that addition.
I love the combination of ginger (I might add more next time) and cilantro. I would not have been disappointed if I ordered this meal in a restaurant. The only downside is that there’s a lot of chopping — I did some before a birthday party, and then some after.
Vegetable Jalfrezi
Adapted from Dara’s e-mailed recipe
2 large yams, peeled & cut into bite-sized chunks
1 quart green beans, trimmed & cut into inch-long pieces
6 small carrots, peeled & cut into bite-sized chunks
olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 bunch green onions, diced
2 Mariachi peppers, seeded & minced
1 Red Rocket pepper, seeded & minced
2 medium tomatoes, diced
2 tsp. fresh ground ginger (I use bottled)
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
Add yams, green beans, and carrots to a pot and cover with two inches of water. Cover and bring to a boil; then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Drain and set aside.
While vegetables are simmering, drizzle olive oil in a large saute pan and cook onions over medium heat until they start to soften. Add peppers and cook an additional few minutes until onions and peppers are caramelized.
Add remaining ingredients plus the drained yam, green beans, and carrot mixture, and stir to combine. Continue cooking over medium heat for 5 minutes (no liquid should remain in the pan).
Taste and adjust seasonings. Serve hot.
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August 9th, 2008
I don’t need them for another few days, so it didn’t matter that every avocado in the huge display was rock-hard. I was amused by their proclamation, though: “Buy me, I’m ripe! I promise!”
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August 7th, 2008
Everything was so colorful today, it made me happy just to look at the reds of the peppers, the light purple of the eggplants, deep purple beets, and the yellow squash. No herbs, though, and no greens, chard, or lettuce mix — it was surprising to not get any of those in a single week.
The total pick-up comprised: 6 ears of corn, a small bunch of little beets, 2 Mariachi peppers, 3 Italia peppers, 1 red hot pepper (can’t remember the name), 2 yellow squash, 2 cukes, a quart of green beans, 3 small eggplant, and a quart of tomatoes.
I wish the farm included more specifics in the weekly newsletter or on their Web site about the varieties of vegetables we’re receiving. For instance, the eggplant isn’t described any further, but it doesn’t look like the regular eggplant you buy in the supermarket. And when I’m wrangling two kids during my pick-up, I can’t always remember the varietals when they are listed on the “what to take” board. I need to e-mail the farm to see if they can include those details somewhere for members’ reference.
If anyone in the Roxbury Farm share knows about the eggplants or hot pepper, please leave a comment! Thanks.
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August 6th, 2008
It was a great week for cooking — lots of variety, lots of success with new recipes. We enjoyed a Swiss Chard & Gruyère Frittata, Basil Green Beans with Tomatoes, and Strawberry-Coconut Muffins. I need to try making the Hoisin & Ginger-Glazed Chicken & Onions again, this time with the sriracha.
One of the best parts of writing this blog is the e-mail I get from people I’d never otherwise have met. Several weeks ago, a gentleman named Dara (it’s a name with many origins) wrote to me from India. He has taken over the cooking in his household as his wife is ill, but he tells me she was a wonderful cook while she was still able. He had stumbled across my site while searching for recipes, and since our names are the same (our last names are similar too) and we both cook, he e-mailed me to ask if I’d like some of his wife’s recipes. I’m going to try my hand at their vegetable jhalfrezi later this week — the measurements and some ingredients are very different than what I’m used to, but we’ll see what I come up with. I hope I can do the other Dara proud.
Monday: Spicy Sauteed Chickpeas, Beef & Cilantro, pita, celery sticks
Tuesday: Baked Tofu with Garlic Chard, noodles (so the boys don’t revolt)
Wednesday: I’m out to dinner with friends; Annie’s mac & cheese + crudite for the boys
Thursday: Slow Cooker Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs, whole wheat spaghetti, farm share veggies (sauteed greens or salad?)
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: The Other Dara’s Vegetable Jalfrezi (recipe sent to me straight from India!), paneer (if I can find it), brown basmati rice
Sunday: Eat out
For more menu planning ideas, check out Laura at Organizing Junkie.
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August 3rd, 2008
J. grilled steaks tonight, and as good as they were (always are), the side dishes were what we all talked about. We had homemade pickles (the cucumbers, garlic, and onion were from my CSA), CSA potatoes (Allyson, another Roxbury Farm member, gave me the heads up that they would be pink inside, just like the skins), grilled CSA sweet corn, and Basil Green Beans with Tomatoes (so yummy I made it again — basil, tomatoes, and green beans from my CSA).
I won’t lie: I was almost as excited to use up so much produce in a single meal as I was thrilled that everyone found it all delicious.
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August 3rd, 2008
- Have you heard of Cookthink? I saw the site linked on Mango & Tomato. Cookthink is more than just aggregated recipes from all over the Web, they’re a super search engine (you can even search by “what are you craving?”) and they test all their own recipes. Their “Cookthinktank” includes Vegan Yum Yum, which I already read and love. Plus they have in-depth tips on how to handle specific ingredients.
- I stumbled across wastedfood.com today, and can’t stop reading. It bothers me when I waste food in my own home, and I’ve often wondered about the tremendous amount of waste grocery stores must have, especially in an area like mine where there is probably little market for reduced dairy and produce. Wasted Food takes a look at all the excess around us, and tries to find ways to redistribute that food to those that need it. They discuss how to create less waste, too.
- I’m thinking of getting back to composting. J. built us a huge outdoor compost bin a few years ago, and we’ve used it on and off (with the composted material being used in his garden). I just haven’t found a good solution to storing the compost in our small kitchen before I bring it outside and add it to the heap. I found a link on Wasted Food to BioBags, which makes biodegradable bags for countertop composting bins. I’m excited to get back into this and think having a bin that’s easier for me to use in the house will help me throw away less of all the veggie and fruit scraps we create, especially during CSA season.
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August 3rd, 2008
I used Sriracha-Glazed Chicken and Onions over Rice as my starting point; Anna from Cookie Madness recommended it to me. I already knew I liked the combination of onions, chicken, and hoisin, but there were two problems: first, I couldn’t find sriracha (a Thai hot sauce); second, I didn’t want to make it too spicy or no one in my family would have enjoyed it. I was going to just substitute Tabasco, but wound up leaving out the hot sauce altogether. I tasted a tiny bit of heat from the curry powder, whereas my mother-in-law found it fairly spicy as prepared so I’m glad I left the hot sauce out. Sounds like I wound up making Sans Sriracha Chicken & Onions, don’t you think?
I also changed the steps of the recipe a bit. My sister-in-law Lauren makes memorable sauteed onions at her barbecues — she takes her time and lets them cook in a tiny bit of oil for as long as it takes for them to get sticky sweet and caramelized. They are fabulous. I was thinking of those onions as I was getting ready to make this dish, so I took the extra step of cooking the onions Lauren’s way earlier in the day. I then stuck them in the fridge until I was ready to add them into the recipe that evening.
I also mixed all the sauce ingredients together and marinated the chicken pieces in the sauce for a few hours. Then, when I was ready to cook, I dumped the whole bag (plus the onions) into a large saute pan with a lid, and simmered it all for about 20 minutes. I also wound up thickening the sauce at the end with a scant teaspoon of cornstarch, but I think I could have avoided that step if I’d taken the time to let the sauce reduce, uncovered.
I forgot to add the garlic (oops — you should add it) and served it over whole wheat egg noodles, since the boys have not been into rice lately and I was in the mood for an easy dinner. Lauren and her mom really enjoyed it; I thought it was good but it would have been better with more heat (I could have added hot sauce to my own portion, but didn’t think of it at the time). I think the onions make the dish.
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August 1st, 2008
Five ears of corn, a cucumber, a zucchini (it’s fun seeing how much larger they get each week), a yellow squash, red and yellow chard (so pretty!), green beans, red (purple, really) potatoes, basil, a bunch of carrots, and some tomatoes.
My mom recently brought me some Gourmet Fried Onion Pieces from Trader Joe’s, so I’m feeling the urge to make a green bean casserole. On a small scale, though, because we didn’t get too many beans.
I’m hoping to convince J. to make his awesome home fries with the potatoes on Saturday morning. I’ll roast the squash and zucchini tonight with our chicken. The cucumber will go towards the pickles I hope to make tomorrow. And the tomatoes will either go into a pasta salad, or will be eaten as a snack as is.
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July 31st, 2008
I’ve made this recipe several times and I’m always surprised how tasty it is. I think the trick is the small amount of sugar combined with the basil; the sweetness highlights these in-season veggies (the green beans are from my farm share).
Basil Green Beans with Tomatoes
Adapted from Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes
1 lb. green beans, trimmed
1 c. grape tomatoes, halved
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
salt & pepper to taste
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. While water is heating, cut beans in halves or thirds so the pieces are similar in length to your grape tomatoes. Once water is boiling, add green beans and simmer for 10 minutes. Drain water and return the pot of beans to the stove over medium-low heat.
Add remaining ingredients to the pot, stirring for a few minutes until sugar is dissolved and tomatoes begin to soften.
Serve warm or room temperature.
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July 29th, 2008
Is it a proper frittata if you don’t start it in a skillet on the stove? Perhaps these are just baked eggs. Either way, they’re delicious.
Preheat your toaster oven to 375° F (it was in the mid-80s today, too hot for the big oven). Saute two small onions, diced, in a little olive oil. While they are turning soft and golden, wash and trim about 10 cups of swiss chard, and then chop it roughly. Add the chard to the pan, cook until wilted. Let it cool a bit. Beat a dozen eggs with 4 to 8 oz. of shredded Gruyère, add the chard mixture, and stir. Pour into a greased pan (I used the one that came with my toaster oven, which is about 9.5″x11″) and bake for 25 minutes, or until eggs are set.
Once you’ve cooled the frittata, slices can be individually frozen.
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July 29th, 2008
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I'm Dara, the chick in the kitchen. Living in the suburbs of Manhattan with my two boys, ages 2 and 4, and husband. Trying to feed my family something more diverse than a different shape of pasta each night. Reach me at .