Health for life

PRE-POST NOTE #1: Today on Serious Eats, it’s a holiday gift guide for Healthy Eaters. From nonstick skillets to Zombie t-shirts about the Slow Food movement, the list is sure to satisfy every nutritionally concerned cook you know and love.

PRE-POST NOTE #2: This Wednesday! I’m liveblogging (or running diarying or whatever you want to call it) Food Network for an entire broadcast day. It’ll begin at 9:30am and end when the first infomercial airs 19 hours later. It’d be sweet to read your comments as the day goes on, so tune in! But first, today’s post…

If I released an album about Mushroom Bhaji, it would have the following tracks on it:

"Be My Bhaji"
"Bhajicuda"
"Me and Bhaji McGee"
"Bhajombs Over Baghdad"
"Message in a Bhajottle"
"Bhajemian Rhapsody"
"Knowing You, Knowing Bhaji"
"Bhajilly, Don’t Lose That Number"
"The Bhajattle of Who Could Care Less" (or "The Bhajittle of Evermore," depending on whether you per Ben Folds or Led Zeppelin)
and
"The Mushroom Dance"

Of course, songs would be sung by The Bhajeatles, David Bhajowie, and Bhajob Dylan. We would listen to it in Bhajoca Raton and eat bhajananas, but only after seeing our favorite movie, The Curious Case of Bhajimin Bhutton.

All this is a roundabout way of saying that I really liked Mushroom Bhaji. It doesn’t rip your head off with in-your-face flavor, and it’s not a 100% authentic Indian recipe. But it is warm, hearty, cheap, vegetarian, and stupidly easy to make. You can even forget to add the salt ‘til last (*cough cough*), and everything still ends up okay. (Don’t cry, tall, pale, food blogging lady who did that. It’s going to be all right.)

While the taste is earthy and lovely, the real winner here is the texture. You know how button mushrooms usually shrink to an eighth of their size, and lose all semblance of bite in the process? Not these, which remain meaty the whole way through. Their heartiness lends heft to a dish that might have otherwise seemed insubstantial.

Of course, if you should try Mushroom Bhaji yourself, know the following:

1) Don’t fear the jalapeno. I reduced mine, thinking it would be too spicy. In retrospect, I should have used it all, since it mellows in the stewing process.

2) Don’t throw out the mushroom stems! You can chop ‘em up and save them for omelets, where nobody knows the difference.

3) For even better savings, wait until mushrooms go on sale. I bet you can get this recipe under a dollar per serving.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to drive my Bhajentley around Bhajooklyn. Maybe take out a bhajook from the librarbhaj … okay, that one doesn’t work.

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If you like this recipe, you might also dig:

• Chicken and Mushroom Marsala
• Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms
• Sweet Lassi

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Mushroom Bhaji
Serves 2
Adapted from The Perfect Pantry via Serious Eats.

14 ounces white button mushrooms, stems removed and thickly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon minced green onions or chives
Cooked white rice

1) Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Saute onion and jalapeno for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they being to soften. Add garlic, and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add cumin, coriander, chile powder, and stir thoroughly. Cook for 1 more minute.

2) Add mushrooms, tomato paste, salt, and water. Stir thoroughly and reduce heat to low. Cover pot and cook for 10 minutes, stirring after 5. There should be a stew/sauce formed, and mushrooms should be plump and just tender. If not, take lid off and cook another few minutes.

3) Serve over rice. Sprinkle with scallions.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, and Price Per Serving
136 calories, 7.5 g fat, 3.1 g fiber, $1.60
With one cup of cooked white rice: 341 calories, 8 g fat, 3.7 g fiber, $1.72

Calculations
14 ounces white button mushrooms, stemmed: 62 calories, 0.9 g fat, 2.8 g fiber, $2.49
1 tablespoon olive oil: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.11
1 medium onion: 46 calories, 0.1 g fat, 1.5 g fiber, $0.20
1 jalapeno pepper: 18 calories, 0.1 g fat, 0.7 g fiber, $0.06
2 teaspoons minced garlic: 8 calories, 0 g fat, 0.1 g fiber, $0.09
1 teaspoon ground cumin: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.02
1 teaspoon ground coriander: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.05
1/2 teaspoon chili powder: 4 calories, 0.2 g fat, 0.4 g fiber, $0.03
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.01
1 tablespoon tomato paste: 13 calories, 0.1 g fat, 0.7 g fiber, $0.07
3 tablespoons water: 0 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.00
1 tablespoon minced green onions or chives: 2 calories, 0 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.07
TOTAL: 272 calories, 15 g fat, 6.2 g fiber, $3.20
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 136 calories, 7.5 g fat, 3.1 g fiber, $1.60

Today on Serious Eats: Three-ingredient Banana, Honey, and Peanut Butter Ice Cream. It’s divine, and I kind of can’t believe it worked so well.

If you’re looking for a treat this Valentine’s Day, a blog called Love and Olive Oil recently featured a recipe for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles. I made ‘em for a Super Bowl party yesterday, and they’re as good as they sound.

Buying seasonal produce is a vital tenet of healthy, inexpensive cooking. However, come February, after months of eating root vegetables and citrus fruit, I think it’s okay to crave a bell pepper. And if that bell pepper comes roasted and layered with cheese and artisan-y bread, all the better.

I’ve been pining for a roasted veggie sandwich since the beginning of time (note: October), and the premiere of Lost seemed as good a special occasion as any. So, while the Husband-Elect obsessed over alternate realities and (SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER) Juliet’s 47th death scene, I got a-roastin’. Within 30 or 40 minutes, I had Cremini Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers, and Feta on Ciabatta Bread - two savory, cheesy, café-caliber sandwiches, made for a third of what they would cost at the actual café.

Of course, whipping up a roasted veggie sandwich out of season doesnt automatically lends itself to frugality. Thus, a little financial creativity was necessary. First, I found buying a large ciabatta roll and cutting my own sandwich slices was much cheaper than purchasing an entire loaf, which would have gone bad in a few days.

Second, along the same lines, shelling out $1.89 for eight ounces of cremini mushrooms was waaaay less expensive than paying $3.25 for two medium-sized portabellas, which all told, would yield only about six ounces of edible fungus.

Finally and fortunately, the bell peppers were on sale. They were imported from Mars, but they were on sale. Since they were to be roasted, the dearth of end-of-summer flavor wouldnt matter as much (hopefully).

The sandwiches were triumphant, and all told, ran around $2.25 each. The calorie count hovered a little under 400, with about 11 grams of fat and 5 grams of fiber. Not too shabby for August cooking in an arctic February. I might even do it again next week. (Or not. I think red bells go back up to $5 each now.)

Readers, how about you? Are you craving any summer foods right now? What do you cook to remind yourself of warmer days?

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If you like this recipe, you might also like:

• Angel Hair Pasta with Eggplant-Tomato Sauce
• Grape and Feta Salad with Rosemary
• Light Italian Sausage and Pepper Sandwiches

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Cremini Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers, and Feta on Ciabatta Bread
Serves 2


1 red bell pepper (or a few jarred roasted red peppers)
Huge ciabatta roll, about the size of 4 pieces of sandwich bread
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 (8-ounce) package cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, chopped into 1/4-inch slices
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
A few pinches fresh thyme
3 tablespoons reduced-fat crumbled feta

NOTE: If roasting your own pepper, you can do it while everything else is cooking, and it should time out pretty well. First, preheat your broiler. Wash and dry bell pepper, taking care to peel off any stickers. Place pepper on a baking pan or broiler pan. Broil, turning every 2 to 3 minutes (with tongs), until all sides of the pepper are charred and black. Once finished, remove pepper from broiler and place in a bowl. Cover the bowl. Let is sit for a few minutes, until it’s cool enough to handle. Cut off top and remove seeds. Peel charred skin away from flesh. Slice pepper into three or four large strips.

1) Heat a large pan over medium-high. Using a serrated knife, thinly slice the top and bottom crust off the ciabatta roll. (Save sliced bits for breadcrumbs.) Slice the ciabatta roll into four thin pieces of sandwich bread. Brush one side of each piece with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil. Place oil-side down on hot pan. Heat until golden.

2) Once golden, remove bread from pan and on to plate. On their untoasted sides, sprinkle 2 pieces of bread each with 1 1/2 tablespoons feta. Set aside.

3) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Once mushrooms have released their moisture, add thyme. Continue cooking until all moisture has evaporated, stirring frequently.

4) When mushrooms are finished, immediately divide them between the sandwiches, placing them directly on top of the feta. Layer red peppers on top of mushrooms. Top with other piece of bread. Serve.

Approximate Calories, Fat, Fiber, and Price Per Serving
379 calories, 11.4 g fat, 4.7 g fiber, $2.14

Note: calculations will vary, depending on the size of your roll. Figure about 1 to 2 ounces for each slice of bread, though. My numbers are for four 1 ½ oz. slices.

Calculations
1 red bell pepper: 43 calories, 0.5 g fat, 3.4 g fiber, $1.09
Huge ciabatta roll: 442 calories, 4.8 g fat, 2.9 g fiber, $0.50
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided: 119 calories, 13.5 g fat, 0 g fiber, $0.12
1 (8-ounce) package cremini (baby bella) mushrooms: 100 calories, 0.5 g fat, 2.7 g fiber, $1.89
Kosher salt: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.01
Freshly ground black pepper: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.01
A few pinches fresh thyme: negligible calories, fat, and fiber, $0.15
3 tablespoons reduced-fat crumbled feta: 53 calories, 3.4 g fat, 0.4 g fiber, $0.49
TOTAL: 757 calories, 22.7 g fat, 9.4 g fiber, $4.27
PER SERVING (TOTAL/2): 379 calories, 11.4 g fat, 4.7 g fiber, $2.14