Protein Noodles & Bean Cuisine
Hello, friends and family! I hope you’re all celebrating National Creamsicle Day safely and responsibly.
Let’s talk dinners!
Sunday 8/6/23
Big Salad, Jersey Farms Version
This was a very special edition of Big Salad, made entirely from farm-fresh New Jersey produce! Today at the farmers market I picked up these mixed spring greens and some gorgeous cherry tomatoes from Stony Hill Farms, along with fresh mozzarella (“mutz”) and focaccia from Hoboken Farms. I tossed the greens and tomatoes in a homemade balsamic vinaigrette, topped with torn mozzarella. Simple, fresh, delicious.
Monday 8/7/23
Indian takeout from Rasoi
Because sometimes you get a craving, you know? I still haven’t tried any other Indian restaurants in town, simply because Rasoi never fails us. Crispy, spicy samosas; a creamy, tangy chicken tikka masala; garlic naan, of course; and two different bean dishes: amritsari choley (a Punjabi style chickpea curry) and dal maharani (black urad lentil and red kidney bean curry). The more I dive into the wide world of beans, the more amazed I am by the endless cultural variations on bean cuisine. There’s so many dishes out there to explore! To riff on an old phrase: if you’re not excited about beans, you’re not paying attention.
Tuesday 8/8/23
Cold soba noodle salad
I’ve eaten soba noodles before, but this was my first time cooking them myself, and I’m hooked. They’re a Japanese noodle made of buckwheat with an impressive nutritional profile. 11 grams of protein? In a serving of noodles?! Sign me up!
I served these noodles cold, in a rich and savory rendition of Kate’s magical tahini sauce, which long-time readers may remember from the Reader Recipe Spotlight a few months ago. (If any other readers have a beloved recipe they’d like me to spotlight, I’m always open to suggestions. Just send me an email!) My version of Kate’s sauce is basically tahini, soy sauce, garlic powder, sesame oil, rice vinegar, and maple syrup, in whatever amounts suit my fancy, and the nuttiness of the tahini worked really well with the soba noodles.
I added edamame for even more protein, some diced avocado for creaminess, and peanuts for crunch. Topped with sesame seeds. One of my favorite things I’ve made recently.
Wednesday 8/9/23
Grown-up mac and cheese
Another day, another fun noodle with a high protein content. Tonight I used these Banza’s chickpea pasta shells and a vegan “cheeze” sauce to make a grown-up mac and cheese that the whole family enjoyed.
The last of the market cherry tomatoes were becoming just a touch too tender, so I sprang into produce-rescue mode. I halved them and cooked them down in a pan with olive oil, minced garlic, a few big handfuls of chopped spinach, and a healthy shake of balsamic vinegar. Once this was to my liking—the spinach melting, vinegar reducing, tomatoes falling apart—I added the cooked chickpea pasta, and a container of the Butternut Mac and Cheeze sauce from Busy Bee Organics (the adorable cafe where I work). It’s utterly addictive and surprisingly cheesy for a vegan sauce, made from butternut squash, sweet potato, coconut, and nutritional yeast. For just a touch of decadence in this otherwise healthy meal, I topped our bowls with some butter-toasted breadcrumbs. This dinner was a big cozy bowl of comfort food, and I got a little anticipatory thrill thinking of the fall nights just around the corner (fair warning: I’m going to be insufferably cozy when fall gets here).
Thursday 8/10/23
Newman’s Own Four Cheese pizza
It was frozen, then it was hot; it was delicious, then it was gone. The baby loves pizza, but she calls it “pi-pi.” We’re working on that.
Friday 8/11/23
Burgers at The Hutton
Because there was another craving! We walked the few blocks to the Hutton, a neighborhood bar and grill with a nice outdoor patio and a killer plate of honey ginger cauliflower wings. I liked the cauliflower better than the burger, which was honestly… just okay. I’m not crazy about these hifalutin, New American bistro-style burgers that are taller than they are wide; I’m partial to a more fast-food-style burger like the one they serve at Marty’s. And I still need to check out the classic sliders at White Mana Diner, another nearby burger joint that dates back to the 1939 World’s Fair. Jersey City: an embarrassment of riches.
Saturday 8/12/23
Moong dal curry
This dinner was not only a treat to eat, but a treat to cook. There’s something about a simmering stew that warms my heart, and I love the process of tasting, adjusting, and tasting again until I’ve brought the dish as close to perfection as I can.
I acquired this bag of split moong dal beans on a recent trip to JFK Grocery, a small Indian grocery store tucked away on JFK Boulevard, a few blocks from my apartment. I was hunting for dried fenugreek leaves, and I was so glad that my hunt led me to this store’s astounding bean and lentil aisle, which was stocked with a beautiful array of Laxmi products. On a whim I picked up this bag, since I’m on a journey of cooking as many different kinds of pulse as I can.
Moong dal, also known as mung beans or green gram, is a versatile pulse that—unsurprisingly—packs a nutritional punch with protein, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The unshelled version (sometimes labeled “with husks”) has even more of the good stuff, and that’s what I got. The only trick is that you have to soak them for a few hours before cooking to soften those fibrous hulls.
So I soaked the beans and made them into a curry with sweet potato, carrot, bell pepper, and coconut milk. Here are some of the tricks I used to pack this curry with flavor:
starting with diced onion sautéed in ghee
blooming the spices in ghee before adding the veggies and lentils
tasting, adjusting the seasoning, tasting again, over and over
adding a splash or two of tamarind chutney for brightness and flavor
I served this curry over some of the leftover basmati rice from Rasoi, and it was unbelievably good. Spicy, salty, creamy, warming, nourishing—everything I want from a curry. A single cup of dried beans, once soaked and stewed with veggies, made a huge batch, so we’ve got quite a few servings of this masterpiece stashed away in the freezer. Life is good.
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Thanks for reading! Here’s the link to last week’s Dinner Diary, in case you missed it, and here’s a special treat (by my standards, at least): a big round-up of 45 seasonal recipes to make in August from one of my superfave food personalities, Nisha at Rainbow Plant Life. Personally, I have my eye on these fudgy vegan chocolate beet truffles. I’ll let you know how they turn out.
XO,
Hannah