Eggplant and Chickpea Tikka Masala + New Food on a Budget

This is the debut of Indian food here at the professor's kitchen. I'm not a huge fan of Indian food, but last semester I tried a place in town with some colleagues and loved it. The dish I had was so good I decided to make my own version at home.

It's a new year and it's a great time to try new things. But if you're like most people you've probably made a new year's resolution about saving money. Luckily, you can do both. Here are some tips for trying new dishes without breaking your piggy bank or your resolution:

1. Look before you shop: The Internet is a wonderful thing. You are just a search away from thousands of recipes. Before you go to the store, do some homework. Decide what kind of dish you want to try: Indian or French? Noodles or rice? Meat or no meat? Knowing what you want to make ahead of time helps you plan and helps you budget.

2. Look long-term: Deciding to try new things doesn't mean you have to do it all at once. Pick one or two dishes to start with. There's no reason to make something new every night. Try a new dish on the weekends when you have more time. Make it once a month. Make a list of things you want to try and keep it posted on the fridge. Get the kids involved by letting them pick a dish. If you think long-term, you won't have to break the bank buying specialty ingredients with every trip to the store.

3. Look for dishes with few ingredients: When I decided I wanted to try Indian food, I started searching recipes to see what was involved. Some recipes for tikka masala had an ingredient list a mile long. I picked the ones that didn't. When you're trying something new, don't feel like you have to use the most authentic recipe or the fanciest one. The less you have to buy the more new things you can try.

4. Look for bargains: Did you know places like Marshall's, TJ Maxx, Ross, and Home Goods have food sections? You can get otherwise really expensive specialty ingredients for cheap. For the dish I made, I needed garam masala (an Indian spice mix). At the grocery store, it was pricey, but at Home Goods, it was much more reasonable. Did you know that in the grocery store, often the spices in the international foods aisle are much cheaper than the ones in the baking aisle? The cumin that's in the Latino food section is the same cumin in the spice section, but it costs less. Also, feel free to swap out things on the ingredient list with things you already have. If the recipe calls for tomato paste and you have ketchup, use it. If the recipe calls for smoked paprika and you have regular paprika, use it.

With a little ingenuity and planning, you can try new dishes without having sacrifice your best laid budget plans! On to the recipe!

Notes: This tikka masala was not particularly hot, so we added some hot sauce to ours. The powder I got was no hotter than regular curry powder. If you want a stronger flavor, you could use 3 teaspoons instead of 2. I would start with 2 if you're not sure.

I used plain white rice, but feel free to use brown or Basmati if you're feeling fancy.

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant
1 can chickpeas
1 onion
6-7 cloves of garlic
1 bunch parsley
2 teaspoons garam masala
1 cup water or chicken stock
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup whole milk or plain yogurt
Extra hot sauce (optional)
Salt
Olive oil
Rice for serving

Directions:

Start by prepping all the veggies. Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and dice the eggplant. Drain and rinse the chickpeas.

Heat the oil (I used about 3 tablespoons) in a large skillet on medium high. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and fragrant. Add the garam masala and cook until fragrant. Be careful not to burn the spices. If the pan starts to look too dry add a little water to the pan.

When the spices are fragrant, add the eggplant. Season with salt. Cook until the eggplant is just tender. Pour in the water or stock. Stir in tomato paste. Turn the heat down to medium/medium low (it needs to bubble, but not vigorously) and cover. Simmer for 20-30 minutes.

While the tikka masala is simmering, cook the rice and chop the parsley. After 20-30 minutes is up, turn off the heat and stir in the milk or yogurt. Serve by putting a bed of rice on a plate and then topping it with tikka masala. Sprinkle with parsley and enjoy!

Individual Veggie Pot Pies

Happy New Year, food lovers! I hope everyone had a great holiday. It's time to start 2015 off with some new recipes.

Holidays are great, but they usually mean LOTS of heavy food. After all the meat, carbs, and sweets, your body needs some serious nutrition. Small portions + veggies fits that bill.

Notes: This recipe can act as a pantry staple if you either (a) make your own pie crust from scratch or (b) keep pre-made crusts on hand. I should have just made the dough from scratch, but I bought some refrigerated pie crusts before we left town for Christmas.

I love Fordhook lima beans and I can always find them in my freezer section, so I added those to my pies. Feel free to swap these out for something else if you're not a fan of limas.

If you don't have ramekins, you can just make a regular-sized pie in a 9-inch pie dish. My ramekins are medium-sized, so this recipe made 4 pies. If you have smaller ramekins, it will make 6.

You'll note that the crust on these pot pies are rather small. That's because I made the mistake of trimming the crust rather than folding it. The crust will shrink when it bakes, so be sure to keep it slightly larger than the ramekins. Lesson learned!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup (about 5 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 can low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon dried Italian herb blend (or just parsley)
1/2 bag of mixed frozen vegetables
1/2 bag of frozen lima beans
1 box of refrigerated pie crusts (I used Pillsbury)
Salt
Pepper

Directions: Heat oven to 375.

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Whisk in the flour until a smooth paste forms. Whisk in chicken broth and then whisk in milk. Season with salt, pepper, and herb blend. Allow the mixture to thicken.

Once the mixture thickens, add in frozen veggies. Make sure everything heats through. Turn off heat and set aside while you prep the ramekins.

Put ramekins on a baking sheet. Unroll the pie crusts on a floured surface and roll them out just a little with a rolling pin. Flip over one of the ramekins onto the pie crust. Using a pairing knife, cut out a circle of pie crust that's about an inch wider than the lip of the ramekin. Repeat with the other crust until you have one circle of dough for each ramekin. You can smoosh (technical term) together and roll out the scraps if you need more circles.

Divide the vegetable mixture equally among the ramekins. Put the dough circles on top of each ramekin and pinch the dough around the edge to "seal" the pie. Bake for 30 minutes until the crusts are golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes, serve, and enjoy!

Apple Gingerbread with Vanilla Glaze

Classes are ending this week (thank goodness!) and I promised my upper level seminar snacks on the last day. I decided I wanted to bake and I had some apples left in the fridge that needed using up. Apple spice cake? Apple muffins? 

I wanted something holiday-related, so I went back through some of my bookmarked recipes. I found a recipe for pear gingerbread. Aha! Apple gingerbread it is. 

Notes: Me and glaze? We're not friends. I've never been good at getting the consistency right. This recipe as it was originally written did not work: the glaze was too dry. I upped the amounts and that worked better. If there's one thing I've figured out, it's that glaze is not an exact science. I heated a little bit more milk than I needed and just fiddled with the amounts until I got it right. 

I used my stand mixer to make the glaze and it worked great. You don't need to use it; you just need some elbow grease and a whisk.

Mixing the apple pieces into the flour will help them not sink to the bottom of the batter, so be sure not to skip that step.

The gingerbread is fluffy and sticky and delicious! If you're bored with other holiday desserts, give this one a try. It would be perfect for a holiday potluck because you can make it well in advance.  

Ingredients:

For gingerbread (adapted from this recipe):

2 cups flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoons fresh ginger

1 cup milk

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup molasses 

1 teaspoon vanilla 

2 eggs

2 apples

For vanilla glaze (adapted from this recipe):

1 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons milk

Pinch salt

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 and butter a 9x13 baking dish.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Peel and chop apples into small pieces (mine were a little smaller than 1/2 an inch). Mix the apples into the dry ingredients. 

In another bowl, crack and beat the eggs. Add in oil, milk, vanilla, and molasses. Stir to combine. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well-combined (don't over mix). Pour batter into the baking dish and bake for 30-40 minutes until a tester comes out clean. 

Let cool completely and then cut into small squares. Put wax paper under a cooling rack and transfer the squares to the rack. 

To make the glaze, add sugar, salt, and vanilla to the bowl of your stand mixer. Stir together. Melt the butter and add it to the bowl. Heat the milk for a few seconds in the microwave and pour it in the bowl while the mixer stirs. The glaze should be thick, but you should be able to drizzle it. If it seems too thick, add a little more milk. If it seems too thin, add a little more sugar. 

Using a whisk or a fork, drizzle the glaze over the gingerbread. Allow it to set for about 15-20 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

Ham, Havarti, and Chive Drop Scones

Can you tell that I'm on a scones kick recently?

Our Thanksgiving didn't quite go as planned. We were supposed to go to West Virginia to visit some friends, but the day before we were supposed to leave, I got sick. It was the worst head cold I've had in a good long time, so I spent most of the holiday on the couch watching the first season of Twin Peaks with Scott (he hadn't seen it before).

I felt better by Sunday, so we decided to do our Thanksgiving dinner then. I made meatballs (our tradition), bacon brown sugar roasted brussel sprouts, and regular old Stovetop stuffing. For breakfast, I made some new scones.

Notes: I loved these, but Scott was less crazy about them. He thought the chives were a bit overpowering (what does *he* know!? ;-)). If you have a picky eater in your house, you might want to use a little less.

I used sour cream to make these and it was a bit difficult to mix them because the sour cream was thick and cold (of course you need it cold). You might want to use a little milk to thin it out.

I divide these between two baking sheets because I like them the size of biscuits. If you like yours bigger, just make bigger handfuls.

Ingredients:
2 cups of flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup shredded havarti cheese
1/2 bunch of chives
6 tablespoons of cold butter
4-5 slices of deli ham
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons of milk (more if needed)

Directions: Heat the oven to 350.

Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a large bowl. Whisk to combine.

Mince the chives and chop the ham into small pieces.

Cube the butter and add it to the dry ingredients. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender or your fingers. The butter should be the size of small peas.

Add the ham, cheese, and chives. Add the sour cream and milk and mix with your hand until it forms a soft sticky dough.

Drop small handfuls of dough on to a baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature and enjoy!

Cheddar Cilantro Drop Scones

The colder weather is beginning to arrive, so it's time to break out the cold weather comfort food.

I was having some friends over for lunch and I made a big batch of chili. I got sour cream, cilantro, and cheddar cheese for chili toppings. I ended up with some leftover cheese and cilantro. I wasn't sure what to do with them, but then it occurred to me I could bake them into some savory scones. I had originally planned to make cornbread with the chili, but why not try something different?

Notes: I made drop scones because I wanted round ones, but I didn't want to bother patting the dough out and cutting them with a biscuit cutter. They're rough-looking, but of course that's the point! 

I don't think the cheddar cheese is particularly overpowering in these, so if you're not a huge fan of strong cheeses, don't worry. It will taste more savory than anything else. 

If you don't dig cilantro, you can easily replace it with chives or parsley. 

This batch made about 9 healthy-sized scones. 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1 teaspoon kosher salt

6 tablespoons cold butter, cubed

1 cup plain yogurt or buttermilk

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro. 

Directions: Heat the oven to 350 and line two baking sheets with foil or parchment paper. 

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add in the butter and work it into the dry mixture with a pastry blender or your fingers. The butter should be the size of small peas when you're done. 

Add the cheese and cilantro and mix to combine. Pour in the buttermilk or yogurt and mix with your hands until it becomes a soft sticky dough. 

Drop handfuls of dough onto the baking sheets (try to form them into balls as best you can---the dough will be very sticky) leaving at least two inches between each ball. Bake for 20-25 minutes until they are golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes. Serve warm or move to a cooling rack and then serve at room temperature. Enjoy!

Q.E.D.: Grilled Black Bean Burgers

I saw this recipe over at The Pioneer Woman not long ago. I knew I wanted to try it, but I decided to wait until the weekend. I usually don't do new recipes during the week because I want to give myself extra time in case they're more complicated than I expect.

Well, these were so quick and easy they took me no time at all. A Q.E.D. black bean burger? Say hello to your next weeknight meal!

Notes: The original recipe has these shallow-fried, but I decided I wanted the grill marks. I think it came out well. The important thing is just to get a nice crust on the outside and heat the beans all the way through.

The hot sauce is optional here, but it really wakes up the flavor of the beans. You could replace it with some lime juice or extra Worcestershire sauce.

This recipe makes 4 patties. Use your favorite burger toppings! I love mashed avocado on mine, so I included that.

Ingredients (adapted from this recipe):
2 15 oz. cans black beans
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon hot sauce
1 egg
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Salt
Hamburger buns
Tomatoes
Spinach or Lettuce
Avocado
Slices of cheese (I used pepper jack)

Directions:

Drain the beans in a strainer (do not rinse). Transfer to a bowl. Using a fork or potato masher, smash the beans until they form a thick, chunky paste (you want to leave some beans whole).

Add in the egg, bread crumbs, spices, salt, sugar, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Mix everything together with your hands. If the mixture seems too soft, sprinkle in a few more bread crumbs until it feels sticky. Let stand 5 minutes.

While you're waiting, slice the tomatoes and mash up the avocado. Heat the grill pan on high.

When the grill pan is hot, add the burgers. Cook 5-6 minutes per side. When they're done, top the burgers with spinach, tomatoes, mashed avocado and serve.

Enjoy Q.E.D. grilling any night of the week!

Eat Food, Save Money: Freezer Friendly Spicy Vegetable Soup

On this edition of "eat food, save money," we're goin' cold. Ice cold.

Homemade soups freeze very well. They are also heartier and more flavorful than the kind of pour out of a can. And when you make homemade soup, you get A LOT more soup for your money than you do when you use the canned version.

Frozen meals make for an easy weeknight dinner. After a rough day when you're tempted to just eat out, if you have a ready-made dinner waiting at home, it's much harder to justify a run through the drive-thru. So, the next time you have a lazy weekend afternoon, consider helping your future weeknight self by making some soup and then freezing it.

Notes: The easiest way to freeze meals (if you ask me) is to freeze individual serving sizes in small plastic freezable containers. Then you can just pull 1 or 2 containers out of the freezer depending on how many people are eating.

Let a frozen meal thaw in the fridge for at least 24 hours. If dinner time rolls around and your meal isn't completely thawed, you can always just heat it up in a pot on the stove.

I start this soup the same way I start my gumbo. It gives the soup a nice deep color and flavor. And since the soup is made with cajun seasoning it makes sense to treat it like gumbo.

You can use hot sauce or fresh chopped hot peppers in place of cajun seasoning.

Feel free to mix up the veggies and use your favorite. You can even use a selection of your favorite frozen vegetables to make the soup more pantry-friendly.

Need some protein? Add some canned beans when you add the frozen corn.

If you want to make this even easier, just skip the butter and flour and throw it all the slow cooker for 8 hours on low.

Ingredients:
1 quart chicken or veggie stock (or water)
4 tablespoons tomato paste
5-6 carrots
1 bunch celery
1/2 pound fresh green beans (or 1 cup frozen chopped)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 onion
1 tablespoon cajun seasoning
1 small bunch fresh rosemary
5-6 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour

Directions: Dice the carrots, celery, and onion. Chop the green beans into small bite-sized pieces. Mince the garlic and rosemary.

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter melts, add the flour and whisk to create a roux. Whisk until the roux is the color of milk chocolate. Remove the pot from heat and dump in chopped veggies, garlic, and rosemary. Stir until the sizzling stops.

Add in tomato paste and cajun seasoning and stir. Return to heat and stir in stock. Add corn kernels. Bring the soup to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow the soup to simmer for between 1-2 hours.

When the time is up, remove the soup from heat and allow it to cool. Divide it in to single servings in freezable containers. You can defrost the number of servings you need for 24 hours in the fridge and then heat the soup in the microwave before you serve it. You can also just put the frozen soup straight into a pot and heat it on the stove.

Enjoy your frozen and frugal meal!