Comfort Food Series: Spinach and Tofu Rice

Although today was the official first day of winter, we've been having winter weather for the past month or more. The temperatures have been fluctuating between 20 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit everyday so it's only natural to want to make and eat comfort food. 

Our go to comfort food is some kind of rice dish. It should have vegetables and protein so you are not just "carbing" it up. Below is a recipe for easy Spinach and Tofu rice.  

Ingredients

- 2 cups Basmati Rice, cooked with slightly less water

- 1 large bunch of fresh Spinach, chopped finely 

- 4 oz tofu*, cut into 1/2" cubes

- 1/2 tsp crushed green chilies paste (or 1 green chili, finely chopped)

-  1 tsp Garam Masala

- 1 Tbsp ginger-garlic paste

- 3 Tbsp vegetable oil

- 1/2 Tbsp whole cumin

- 1/4 tsp turmeric powder

- Salt, per your taste

- Fried onions (optional)

Procedure

In a large skillet, heat oil and add whole cumin. When it starts to sizzle, add turmeric powder, crushed chilies, and ginger-garlic paste. Stir for few seconds. Then add spinach, sprinkle some salt and stir the mixture until the spinach leaves are wilted (cook for about 3 to 4 minutes). Next add garam masala and mixture well. Then add cooked rice, tofu and salt as per your taste. Mix well until the spinach is evenly mixed into the rice. When it's ready to be served, top with fried onions. 

This dish can be enjoyed on its own or eaten with cucumber raita (yogurt dip). It's comfort food for the soul.  

*Quick Tips

- We freeze tofu for 3 to 4 hours to keep it firm and thaw it for a bit when we need to use it. This way it doesn't crumble when we cut portions of it. 

- Try our other rice dishes made with beets, coconut, and/or lentils. 

Quick and Easy Szechwan Vegetable Rice

We love trying new ways to spice up our meals and making them healthy at the same time. Sometimes, that is hard to do when you are busy working and do not have a lot of time. That is why we love products like Steam in Bag rice blend from ShopRite or Birds Eye Protein blends. These steam in a bag blends usually have rice/quinoa/brown rice with assortment of vegetables.

For our semi-homemade Szechwan Vegetable Rice dish, we used the Steam in Bag - White Rice with Vegetables from ShopRite. It's easy to use. Check out the recipe below:

Serving Size (4 to 6 people)
Ingredients:
- 2 packets of 12oz ShopRite Steam in a Bag - White Rice with Vegetables
- 1 large (or 2 medium) green bell pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 3 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp Szechwan chutney
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 slab of tofu*

Procedure:
Slice bell pepper and onion into thin slices and cut into halves. Next, steam the rice bags as per the instructions on the bag and put aside. Heat oil in a medium sized skillet, and add garlic, onion, bell pepper and tofu. Stir for 2 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt and saute the mixture under closed lid for another 3 to 4 minutes or until the bell pepper's color changes to light green (soft texture).

Then add the Szechwan chutney and remaining salt, mix well. Add the rice from the steamed bags and mix well. Allow the rice and the vegetables to cook under closed lid for 3 minutes. Then stir for another 1-2 minutes without lid.

Voila! Szechwan rice with vegetables is ready to be served.

***Quick Tip:
Tofu chunks or slices tend to fall apart when stirred. If the tofu tub is frozen for few hours and then allowed to come to room temperature, the tofu tends to become spongy in texture and absorbs the flavors and easy to use. 

Mother's Day Special - Vegetarian Maqluba & more

I've always been curious and adventurous about cooking. When I was little, I used watch my mom cook in the kitchen. The aroma of the taalimpu or tadka (tempering of the spices) was so energizing. When she mixed those spices with the various vegetables, my mouth was watering and I couldn't wait to eat what she had made. It was that joy of cooking that drove me to learn to cook our ethnic food. 

I'm all grown up now and I still find the tempering of spices euphoric. Just a whiff of whatever is being cooked in the kitchen is enough to make me run wherever I am to the stove. I thank my mom for getting me excited about Indian cooking and teaching me the ways. She's always encouraged my sister and I to experiment and not be afraid to try new dishes.

I feel that some of that energy or spunk has rubbed off on my dad as well. He's been testing out a lot of recipes he finds on the Internet and gets feedback from my mom.

This Mother's day was no different. He was catching up on his daily dose of world news and found an interesting recipe for a rich dish called Maqluba; a Middle Eastern dish that literally means "upside down", The dish includes meat, rice and fried vegetables in a pot which is then flipped upside down when served. Leave it to my dad to come up with the menu for this special day. He researched further and found a vegetarian version of this dish on the Serious Eats website.

Vegetarian Maqluba (Rice Layered with Tomatoes, Eggplant, and Cauliflower)

Yield: Serves 6 to 8
Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Spice Ingredients

• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves

We adapted this recipe to what we had at home and used garam masala for all the spices except turmeric.

Other Ingredients

• 1-2/3 cups basmati rice, rinsed until water runs clear
• 2 medium eggplants, cut into 1/4" thick slices
• About 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium cauliflower, divided into medium florets
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 3 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into 1/4" thick slices
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 medium cloves garlic, peeled and halved
• Plain yogurt, for serving (optional)
• Hot sauce such as sambal oelek, for serving (optional)
• Chopped fresh cilantro or coriander, for serving (optional)

Procedure

Adjust oven racks to middle positions and preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover rice with water, stir in 1 tsp of salt and let soak. 

Stir together all the spices in a small bowl. (In our case, we measured the garam masala and put it in a bowl). In a large bowl, toss eggplant slices with 3 tbsp oil, 1/3 of the spice mixture, salt, and pepper to taste. Lay eggplant out on two rimmed baking sheets and roast, turning slices once, until eggplant is browned and tender (see example below), about 20 minutes.  

In a large bowl, toss cauliflower, with 2 tbsp oil, 1/3 of the spice mixture, salt, and pepper to taste. Lay cauliflower out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast, stirring once, until cauliflower is browned and tender, about 20 minutes. 

Time to assemble the Maqluba

Line the bottom of a Dutch oven with a circle of parchment paper, then brush paper and sides with melted butter. Assemble tomato slices in a circle, covering bottom of the pot and overlapping the slices as you go. Follow with the eggplant, Arrange cauliflower over eggplant. Drain rice thoroughly, then spread over cauliflower. Stir remaining spice mixture and 1 tsp salt into vegetable, and pour over rice. Scatter garlic pieces over top. 

Place pot over high heat and bring stock to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover pot with a tight-fitting lid and simmer for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove pot from heat, remove lid, drape a clean tea towel over top of pot, and quickly replace lid, letting dish set for 10 minutes. Quickly invert rice dish onto a large round platter; do not remove pot for 2-3 minutes. Remove pot and circle of parchment and serve maqluba with plain yogurt, hot sauce and chopped fresh cilantro, if desired. 

 

Although we substituted some ingredients and used a different pot, our Maqluba dish still turned out well. 

We also tossed together a healthy salad (my sister's recipe): baby spinach, cooked beets (purchased from Costco), walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, diced apples, flax seed powder, and diced carrots. This salad can be eaten as it is or with poppy seed salad dressing. Every since my mom tasted this salad at my sister's place, she always asks her to make it whenever she's visiting us. 

I'm not a big fan of salads, but I love the ingredients in this recipe. I couldn't believe my sister came up with it on her own; she always seems to surprise me with her ingenuity. 

For dessert, I made Dark Chocolate brownies with walnuts using Pillsbury brownie mix and just added chopped walnuts. After we all tasted these brownies, I don't think we're going back to the original kind. I don't feel as guilty eating these since the only calories are from the oil and cacao. Once in a while, it's okay, right. 

My mom loved her Mother's day surprise dinner and we enjoyed cooking together after a longtime. 

Quick Tips

- We realized the importance of parchment paper after we flipped the pot into the serving dish. Some of the rice and vegetables fell out of place. If we had used the parchment paper as suggested in the recipe, everything would have stayed in place and looked more presentable. 

- We forget to garnish the dish with fresh cilantro or coriander. It would have added more flavor. Lesson learned and looking forward to making it again. 

- You can always cut down the recipe by half if you're making it for less people. 

Have you made or tried Maqluba before? What did you do for Mother's Day? Please share your thoughts with us. Happy Mother's day to all the mommies and to be mommies!

Vangi Bhath - More Than One Way to Eat Rice!

You know what the Chinese and the Indians have in common? RICE!! It's our STAPLE food. We eat it with everything. 

We Indians ESPECIALLY LOVE mixing it with SPICES and VEGETABLES to make it more flavorful and different. The spices make the STAPLE food more interesting to eat. 

Here's a signature rice dish from Karnataka (a state in Southwest of India) called Vangi Bhath. It's made with a special blend of spices called Vangi Bhath spice powder (which include coriander, black gram dal, cumin, red chili, Fenugreek, cloves, and cinnamon), eggplant or brinjal, curry leaves, peas, cashews, mustard seeds and of course, plain white rice. 

I love eating Vangi Bhath with a little bit of YOGURT!

Quick Tips:

- To make the rice dish, simply follow instructions on the back of the spice powder packet. 

- These packets are available at most Indian grocery stores such as Subzi Mandi or Patel Brothers.