Hot Or Cold, This Indian Chicken Chaat Salad Works Both Ways For Warm Weather Cooking.

 
   We rushed into Summer this last week, even though it's still Springtime. The temps hit 99 to 100 and the last thing I wanted to do was leave my air conditioned office where we were working on a script and have to cook anything.  No heat, no flames. When it gets that hot I don't even feel particularly hungry. Of course that's me and not everyone else around here, so I cook... but just barely. I wanted something Indian since a lot of what's been going on involves French food for CocoaPlanet Modern French Cafe.
  
   I started thinking about chicken salad, mainly joking around... chick sal sand.... etc and that's when I thought why not a classic Indian Chaat Salad? A chicken chaat salad to be exact. It would be fast, cool, and... leftovers... yes that's important. Served hot or cold that salad seemed just perfect. Another plus, I had everything right on hand. Can't beat not having to go to the market to cook a meal.
   
   This salad can be made up in less than an hour, you can use uncooked chicken but if you want to be extra speedy, get some cooked chicken, even leftover cooked chicken will work for this. I had cooked a couple of chicken breasts ahead of time. I pan steamed them and they were ready to roll.  So gentlemen and gentleladies, start your chicken.

Chicken Chaat Salad

Here's What You Need:
1 lb of cooked or uncooked chicken breast cut into cubes.
1 large russet potato, unpeeled
1 onion finely chopped
1 large shallot finely chopped
1 Tbs finely chopped fresh ginger
2 Tbs vegetable oil, (I use coconut oil)
1 serrano chili finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp salt , or to taste
1/2 cup of plain yogurt whipped smooth
2 Tbs lime juice
1 red bell pepper finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Here's What To Do:
Put the potato in a small pot of water to cover and bring it to a boil. Boil until tender, about 10 minutes or so.
Let the potato cool, then peel it chop it into cubes and set it aside (this can be done in advance.)

Heat the oil in a skillet or kadhai on medium high heat.

When it's hot, toss in the chicken (if you are not using precooked chicken) onion, ginger, shallot, and serrano chili.

 
Then add in the garam masala, fenugreek leaves, and salt.

Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 5 to 10 minutes.)
If you are using cooked chicken once the vegetables are translucent and soft, you can add it in, and warm it up.

Now, add in all the yogurt.

Cook until most of the moisture in the yogurt is absorbed. This takes about 5 minutes.
Mix in the lime juice.

Now add the cooked cubed potato...

...the bell pepper and cilantro...

...and cook for another 3 minutes.

Dish it out and serve it up!

   This is a great salad and works both hot or cold. We wound up wrapping in in  flatbread as roll ups  since I was too lazy to get the chapattis fired up. It would also work great in rice paper wraps or lettuce roll ups.

   This is definitely going to be part of my Summer meal rotation as it's a great make ahead , easy serve weekday meal!  Coming up next, a simple vegetarian lentil salad also good hot or cold, perfect for Summer fun days. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori

Fast, Healthy and Vegan. Chickpea, Mango, and Coconut Salad.

   Sometimes you just want something to be easy. Sometimes you just wanna say what the hell, I'll nuke something, or open a can, or whatever. This last week was one of those weeks for me. I'm nearly halfway through my chemo, still firing on all cylinders. In fact on Sunday I did three miles. The problem was Monday. Monday I felt lower than whale shit. The chemo side effects and I tangled for a couple of days, now I'm pretty much back to normal. Pretty much means I didn't want to do a whole lot of cooking. I wanted things that were nourishing and above all EASY! That's where this salad comes in.
 
   If one has the time and the inclination, one can soak ones garbanzos in tepid water for 24 hours, which sounds more suggestive than it is. Then comes the boiling and simmering and voila!  Salad ready chickpeas. Or, you can do what I did and open a can of organic chickpeas from Whole Foods and be done with it. If you do that, you can be dining on this salad in like 20 minutes. So here how to do exactly that.

Chickpea, Mango, and Coconut Salad

Here's What You Need:
1 16oz can of chickpeas
2 tsp coconut oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp urad dal
1 dried red chili pepper
1 tsp chopped curry leaves
2 Tbs grated fresh or dried unsweetened coconut
1 serrano chili minced
1/2 green mango peeled and cut into slices, plus more for julienning
1 handful of grapes
grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbs chopped cilantro
1 pinch of hing (asafoetida)
1/4 cup of roast unsalted whole peanuts (optional)

Here's What To Do:
If you're using canned chickpeas, rinse them in cool water, and drain them. You may need to rinse them gently several times.
Heat the coconut oil in a saute pan or kadhai.
When the oil is hot add in the mustard seeds and urad dal.

When they start to sizzle and pop, toss in the dried red chili.and curry leaves.

Stir everything around for a minute or so, then add in your drained chickpeas...

...1/2 tsp of salt, and a pinch of hing.

Saute everything together for about 3 minutes then take the pan off the heat.
Add in the coconut...

...Mango julienne...

Chopped red grapes...

And finally the zest...

...and juice of 1 lemon...

...and finally the peanuts.

Stir everything together well.
Then peel and thinly slice your mango.

Arrange the peeled slices fan like on a plate.
Add the chickpea coconut salad mixture to the top of that.
Sprinkle with a bit of chopped fresh cilantro and serve it up.

   It's that simple, that fast, and a perfectly tropical relaxing treat for when life seems to be kicking you ass. Coming up next, more very easy dishes that can be made quickly, without too much muss and fuss. Follow along on Twitter at @kathygori

Lend me Your Ears. Corn and Coconut. The Perfect Pair. Who Knew?

   Corn is the Miss Popularity of the vegetable World. It seems to be the vegetable that no one rejects, even the pickiest eaters, even guys who don't "eat" vegetables, and I don't mean that in the ironic hipster sense. But speaking of hipsters, I once cooked dinner for a couple of hipster P.A.s. One guy warned me ahead of time he didn't eat vegetables so therefore I should only give him what he would eat. Meat.

   Surely I thought this wasn't possible. There had to be one freakin' vegetable this kid would eat. Some plant matter had to make its way into his digestive system besides beer nuts and Doritos. So I asked him if he ate corn. "Yeah, well corn isn't really a vegetable" I was told. Dude, unless you have to hunt it down and chase it to get it into your mouth, it's a vegetable. So, it turned out there was something green and growing that he'd eat. Corn. Busted.

   Corn is probably one of the easiest things in the world to cook. Fresh shucked, 2 minutes into boiling water and out. That's it. Of course there are more complicated ways of making corn, roasting, grilling, dry-rubbing with spices. All of them delicious. Almost every cuisine has a recipe for corn and Indian cuisine is no exception. One of the best is an Indian corn salad made with coconut. Easy, Fast perfect for Summer eating, it's another great make-ahead dish, and who doesn't want to take some of the pressure off cooking at this time of year.
 

Indian Corn and Coconut Salad

Here's What You Need:

6 fresh ears of corn
1 and 1/2 Tbs coconut oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/8 tsp turmeric powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut or dried grated unsweetened (fresh is best if you can get it)

Here's What To Do:

Shuck and wash the ears of corn.
Scrape the kernels off the cobs.

Take 1/2 of the kernels and grind them up in a blender. Do Not add any water.
Grind them up until they form a smooth batter.

Mix the ground corn in with the rest of the whole kernels.
In a skillet or kadhai heat the coconut oil.
When the oil is hot, add in the cumin seeds.
When the cumin seeds start to sizzle and turn color, add in the corn mixture and the turmeric.

Mix it together well.
Cover the pan, turn down the heat and cook the mixture for about 10 minutes or so. Stir it every now and them so nothing sticks.
After 10 minutes, take off the cover and add in the sugar, salt, ground cumin, cayenne and lemon juice.

Give everything a good stir, cover the pan again and cook for another 4 minutes or so.
Take the lid off, add in the coconut, give it a good stir and you're done. Serve this at room temperature.

 
   I served this corn as one of the dishes at an all vegan tasting menu at our house a couple of weeks ago. It works just as well with any backyard barbecue menu and is a great alternative to the usual grilled corn. Coming up next, smoke your eggplant and drizzle it with honey and spices. You'll be surprised at what a great dish you get. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori 

Papaya, Walnut, and Watercress Salad

   The relatively cool summer we've been having here in Sonoma took a turn to the warm side this last weekend and the last thing that anyone around here (me) wanted to do was to cook. My mom had surgery in San Francisco on Friday where the weather was cool and breezy. She came home on Sunday morning and it was drippy and foggy in the city, but hot in Sonoma with perfectly blue skies. I roasted a chicken for my parents the evening before she came home so that they could have a nice meal of cold chicken and salad on Sunday night.

   Cold chicken and salad are sort of natural go tos around here for hot summer nights. Roasting the chicken after it cools off in the evening makes an easy next day supper of lunch. As for the salad part, there are a million different salads one can make, however this Papaya salad is one of the tastiest and easiest. Minimal ingredients, and equally minimal prep time make for an ideal accompaniment.

   This salad is an adaptation of a number of refreshing South Indian raw fruit and vegetable dishes. This version is made with walnuts, but pistachios would be good too, also almonds, pine nuts, whatever. I happen to always have walnuts in the house and most people like them, so walnuts it was. The salad can be made a day ahead too as long as you hold off on the seasoning and dressing until just before serving.
  

Papaya, Walnut and Watercress Salad

Here's What You Need:

1 raw papaya
1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1/4 tsp of pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1 tsp of fresh lime juice
2 Tbs of chopped raw walnuts (or whatever nut you desire)
1 Tbs sultana raisins
1 bunch of watercress chopped roughly. Use a good sized handful.

Here's What To Do:

Wash the papaya then peel it and scoop out the seeds.
Chop the papaya into small pieces.
Toss in the chopped nuts and mix them in well.

Add in the raisins
Mix them well.
Just before serving add in the cumin, salt, pepper, and lime juice.

Add in the lime juice
Give everything a good stir then fold in the watercress pieces.

If you add too much watercress you may need to double the dressing recipe to make sure everything is covered. And that's it. Serve it with Yogurt Rice, more vegetable dishes or any roast fish or meat and you're done!

Simple, refreshing and a very easy dish that's a switch off from the usual salad.

   Coming up next, an easy chicken dish for a crowd. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori 

Fast and Snappy Fresh Peanut and Radish Salad

   It seems that every April I have to remind myself that while I'm waiting for more and more of the fruits and vegetables of Spring and Summer to arrive, I need to take advantage of what's blooming and budding all around me. I also go looking for cheap, and it's great and good friend, easy. Maybe it's the time of year when I just don't want to work too hard. After all, the clocks have been set back and I'm only now catching up . Every now and then it's helpful to find something that everyone likes and that can be put together easily. That's where the radish and peanut salad comes in.

   Radishes don't seem to be a big part of the American diet. Other cultures seem to enjoy them more.  I grew up eating them as part of big Italian family dinners where antipasti always featured them along with pickled pigs feet and various olives and other charcuterie. And if you've never had fresh French breakfast radishes with unsalted butter and a  crusty loaf of fresh bread, you're missing a real treat.

   Radish eating isn't just confined to European food. Indian cuisine enjoys them also, where they are the stars of a number of refreshing, tasty salads. A great way to get any non or novice radish eaters in the household into radish appreciation, is to pair radishes with something known and popular. I'm looking at you, peanut. When you want something fast and fresh and tasty, get a bunch of radishes and a handful of fresh roasted peanuts and you've got salad.
   

Radish and Peanut Salad

Here's What You Need:

1/2 lb of radishes
1 Tbs of vegetable oil (coconut oil is great)
1/4 tsp of cumin seed
1/4 tsp black mustard seed
1/4 tsp of turmeric
1/4 tsp of salt
1 Tbs of lemon juice
2/3 cup of chopped roasted unsalted peanuts

Here's What To Do:

Chop the peanuts and set them aside.

Wash the radishes and remove the tops and tips.

Cut them in half and then in half again, quartering them.
Heat the vegetable or coconut oil in a small skillet.
When the oil is hot, add in 1/4 tsp of mustard seed and 1/4 tsp of cumin seed.
When the mustard seeds start to pop, add in 1/4 tsp of turmeric and 1/4 tsp of salt.
Take the pan off the heat and add in 1 Tbs of lemon juice.
Mix the oil and spices together well and let the "dressing" cool.
Take the radishes and the peanuts and blend them together well.

Pour the cooled oil and spices into the radish and peanut mixture.

Blend everything together well and serve it up.

   Crunchy, spicy and nutty with a nice little kick of mustard seed and lemon to make things fresh. This is a great little side salad that works with anything from an Indian dinner to a grilled cheese sandwich or burger. Fast cheap and under your control. Try radishes, they're popping up all over the place right now.

   Coming up next, a tart, sweet rice dish made with fresh green mango. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori 

Cucumbers Aren't Just For Pickling. Fast Salad For An End Of Summer Feast

  Cucumbers, poor poor cucumbers. If vegetables were going to Cinderella's ball, cucumbers and parsley would be the two ugly stepsisters. Cucumbers are always those things you push to the side of the plate with the other unwanted garnishes; the anemic tomato, the noodly carrot strip, the faded celery having a bad leaf day. And that's when they're rocking their best...as pickles. Overly sweet or too to salty, mushy pickles. Poor, poor cucumbers. They're such a decent vegetable. They're the brown shoe'd squares of the food world. What's a cuke to do?
  Cukes, are in desperate need of a makeover. I'm not talking about going all Jersylicious on their ass. I'm just talking about a simple nip and tuck, a little subtle work. Trust me darlings, you can do this and still go out to lunch after. In fact you'll want to go and take your cukes with you.
   This is a very simple recipe that can be made ahead and is good to go where you want to take it, whether you're off to a barbecue or a picnic  or just staying home over the Labor Day Holiday. It's vegan and gluten free which has been fairly important around our house lately as I'm doing some cooking for friends dealing with some pretty stringent health related diet needs. So there's that. Plus cucumbers are in season, which means they're a bargain, (yes, I'm talking to you, cheapie) and the ingredients can easily be found in most markets...what's not to like. I mean, cucumbers have been in all over the planet for like a bazillion years. It's even been said by Pliny the Elder, and he should know being the Perez Hilton of the early AD set, that Emperor Tiberius always had them on his table summer and winter, and believe me this guy wasn't suckin' on pickles. He's a freakin' marble bust after all!

  Now, I don't know if Tiberius ever made it to India, (they did find a few of his coins there) but if he had cucumbers the way they fix them in South India, it's no wonder he didn't want to be without them. Here's what to do:

Cucumber Salad

The Salad
   Soak 2 Tbs of mung dal in 1 cup of water for 1 hour.
   Meanwhile peel and chop 1 lb of cucumbers. I like to use kirbys, the smaller pickling cucumbers for this recipe because of their firm texture and great flavor.

  Add in:
   4 Tbs grated dried coconut

1 fresh green chili seeded and chopped finely.

 1 small bunch of chopped cilantro leaves
 Salt to taste
 1 Tbs of fresh lemon juice
 Add in the drained, soaked mung dal.

 Mix everything together, it's time to blend:

The Chaunk
In a small skillet heat:
 2 Tsps of vegetable oil
When the oil is hot add in:
 1 tsp of mustard seeds
 1 tsp of cumin seeds
 1 tsp of Bengal dal (yellow split peas)
 1 tsp of urid dal (optional)
 1 dried red chili pepper broken in half
 A few curry leaves, usually found in Asian or Indian markets (if you can't find them don't worry there's no substitute)

 Stir everything around.

When the mustard seeds start to pop, pour everything into the cucumber salad and give it a good mix.

  Blend it well and serve. You are good to go. Serve it at room temperature or chilled.
 If Tiberius never had his cucumbers this way, it would have been worth his while to have gone over to India to try it out.

    Try cucumbers this way and trust me, you'll never look at pickles the same way again. Coming up next, great vegetables and gluten free treats. Follow along on Twitter @kathygori