Dharma Feast Cookbook (26 page)

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Wash kale, spin in salad spinner untilnearly dry.

Lightly rub each leaf of kale with olive oil, front and back. Do not use too much oil or chips will be soggy. Then rip into bite-sized pieces.

Lightly salt. Place on cookie sheet in one layer. Bake until crisp. Baking time will depend on oven and tray but check after 10 minutes. Overcooking makes the chips turn to dust.

4 portobello mushrooms

Olive oil

BALSAMIC GLAZE

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar

2 cloves garlic, peeled and squeezed

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

¾ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Quickly rinse mushrooms and dry off with a paper towel. Coat baking sheet with olive oil. Place mushrooms on baking sheet.

To make glaze, combine all ingredients except olive oil. Drizzle in olive oil, whisking to form an emulsion. Brush on mushrooms.

Bake for 1 hour.

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon coarse sea salt

1 pound sweet potatoes or yams, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Drizzle olive oil over sweet potatoes and toss to coat. Spread on shallow baking pan. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake for 45–60 minutes or until tender and starting to brown at edges.

Stir occasionally while baking.

5 medium roma tomatoes, peeled and chopped (see
How To—Peel Tomatoes
in
Chapter 6
)

1 medium onion

4–5 tablespoons safflower oil

½ teaspoon fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

½ 4 teaspoon onion seeds (if unavailable, can make dish without)

1 teaspoon sea salt

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½
teaspoon cayenne

1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

1 lemon (optional)

Handful of fresh mint, chopped

1 tablespoon black/roasted cumin

Prepare tomatoes and set aside. Cut onion in half lengthwise. With cut side facing down, slice it thinly, starting from side. Set aside.

Coat bottom of a saucepan with oil. Over medium heat, add fenugreek seeds. When seeds begin to brown, add mustard and onion seeds, if using. Fry for about a minute, then add sliced onion. Fry until onion is transparent and starting to brown on edges.

Add salt, turmeric, and cayenne. Onion should be a reddish color when these spices are added. Fry spices with onion for about 2 minutes and add water if mixture is starting to stick.

Add tomatoes and fry with onions and spices until oil and water begin to separate. When oil starts to separate, tomatoes should be dissolving into the sauce and mixture of onions, tomatoes, and spices should be fairly thick.

Add potatoes, coat with sauce, and fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Add enough water to bring level of sauce up to top of, but not covering, potatoes. Bring mixture to a boil.

As potatoes are boiling, cut half a lemon into quarters, if using, and put in with rind for about 2 minutes. When sauce has thickened, turn heat off, stir in mint, and sprinkle roasted cumin on top. Add salt, if desired. Serve hot.

Note
–When doubling, tripling, etc., this recipe, be conservative with the amount of spices used or they will dominate the flavor. Add only a third more if doubling or even tripling the ingredients and then adjust the spices later if needed. Turmeric is added mostly for color and usually doesn’t have to be increased.

1–1¼ pounds fresh spinach, steamed, chopped, with moisture squeezed or pressed out (or 2 packages of frozen chopped)

1 small-medium red onion

3 tablespoons safflower oil

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

2–3 medium red potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 teaspoon sea salt

Prepare spinach and set aside.

Cut onions in half lengthwise, place the cut half flat on the board and then slice onion in thin slices lengthwise. Put enough oil in a skillet to coat the bottom of the pan. Heat oil over medium heat and add mustard seeds. When they begin to pop, add onions and garlic. Fry until the onions begin to turn transparent, approximately 5 minutes.

Add cubed potatoes and cayenne pepper and stir so that potatoes take on a bit of the color of the cayenne. After about 3–4 minutes, push potatoes and onions to the perimeter of the pan leaving a clearing in the center. Put spinach in there with the salt. Add just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan so that potatoes don’t burn, bring to a boil, cover, turn the heat down to low and simmer until the potatoes are done, about 30 minutes.

When done, boil any excess water away, and stir to combine spinach and potatoes. This will keep your spinach a little greener than if it is mixed with the potatoes at the beginning.

Note–
For Stage 3 use fresh spinach.

When doubling, tripling, etc., this recipe, be conservative with the amount of spices used or they will dominate the flavor. Add only a third more if doubling or even tripling the ingredients and then adjust the spices later if needed. Turmeric is added mostly for color and usually doesn’t have to be increased.