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A Good Dish

making food simpler

Kitchari/Khichri Is A Comfort Food For These Stressful Moments In Which We Need Comfort Where We Can Find It

May 25, 2020

 

Kitchari/Khichri is easy comfort food
Stoneware bowl by Melissa Weiss

On a “normal” Memorial Day weekend, I would be posting ideas for a picnic or barbecue but there is nothing normal about this year. Instead, I will share one of my comfort food recipes, kitchari (also known as khichri, khichdi, khichuri and other variations). In times of stress, like during this pandemic, we tend to crave whatever it is we personally think of as filling and soothing food. For different people, that means different things. Some will go for macaroni and cheese, goldfish crackers or chicken pot pies. For others, pizza, grilled cheese or a big bowl of minestrone or chicken soup with a side of crusty bread will do it. My mom always goes for meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I have a friend in Virginia for whom simple buttered toast does the trick. I’ve noticed that my family has been carbo loading, eating more pasta, rice and bread than usual and our fair share of my go-to garlicky bean salad (which I’ve been making with big scarlet runner beans). Maybe that is because those are the stable ingredients we have on hand or maybe starchy things calm or soothe, I’m not sure. Maybe both. I find both cooking and eating comforting and I have been doing quite a lot, as have, I believe, many people, judging by how hard it became to procure those ingredients!

Split mung beans known as moong dahl
Inlaid Stoneware bowl by Melissa Weiss

One of my many comfort foods, kitchari, a combination of basmati rice with mung beans and spices, is also one of the easiest to make. I first tasted it a few years ago at Kripalu, a wellness center in the Berkshires, and then learned to make it from their cookbook, in which they call it the “chicken soup of India.” Yes, it is an appropriated taste but so are falafel, spaghetti, fried rice, posole and salsa and chips, all in my top 10 of comfort foods. In my mind, it is the East Asian version of rice and beans, another popular comfort food which takes various forms in so many cultures. Think Cuban yellow rice with black beans, Louisiana red beans and rice, Italian riso e fagioli with tomatoes, Persian herbed rice with fava beans, Japanese red bean rice made with aduki beans and southern Hoppin’ John. Jeremy Rock Smith, Kripalu’s chef, explains that “kitchari provides a full complement of beneficial amino acids in a complete meal that is easy to digest.” Perhaps that is one reason it is so soothing.

Measure spices before you start cooking
Stoneware bowls, each 2″ tall, by Melissa Weiss

This is also an adaptable dish that can accommodate what you have in your pantry. If you don’t have split mung beans, you can use whole (but make sure you’ve soaked them overnight), or use lentils. If you are eating grain free, use riced cauliflower. This recipe is easily doubled so you will have leftovers for breakfast or lunch the next day. You can make kitchari soupy or dry, gently or highly seasoned and plain or topped with scallions or sesame seeds. If you want it to be warming, add fresh ginger and cinnamon. Add more greens and cilantro for cooling. If you have already cooked veggies, add them at the end of cooking. My son and husband find it bland (they don’t love it but humor me and eat it) and add huge amounts of hot sauce. I like kitchari because it is tasty, filling, inexpensive, quick and easy to make from ingredients you probably have at home plus filling and soothing. What could be more comforting?

Add whatever vegetables you like to make kitchari to your taste

KITCHARI/KHICHRI

  • 1 TBs ghee or vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp brown or black mustard seeds
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
  • 2 or 3 cracked green cardamom pods (optional)
  • 1 tsp turmeric 
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 cup moong dahl (split mung beans) or lentils
  • 1 cup white basmati rice
  • 5-6 cups broth or water (Start with 5 and add depending on how soupy you like it)
  • 2-3 cups chopped vegetables (chopped carrots, greens, cauliflower, celery, etc)
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt (or to taste)
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Lemon wedges, for serving

Rinse the beans or lentils and rice until water runs clear and set aside. 

Measure out seeds and spices and set aside. 

Heat the ghee or oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. 

Add seeds and stir until they pop. Add the powdered spices and bay leaves and cook another 30 seconds, stirring. 

Add the beans and rice and cook 2-3 minutes to toast. 

Add the vegetables and liquid, bring to a boil and reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook another 15-20 minutes until soft. Add more liquid if you want it softer or soupier. Turn off but leave covered and let sit a few minutes. Stir in the salt and a handful of chopped cilantro and serve with lemon wedges, chopped scallions and toasted sesame seeds (and hot sauce) so people can add what they please. 

Serves 4-6 and stores well in the refrigerator for a few days. Reheated leftovers make a good breakfast or lunch. This recipe can be doubled easily if you want to cook once and eat many times. 

Set of 4 deep bowls, each 4-41/2″ tall
Slab/mold built stoneware with ash and underglaze by Melissa Weiss

Melissa Weiss makes some of the funkiest, loosest and friendliest (not unlike the potter herself) pots around. Her pieces are handbuilt (from clay she digs herself in Arkansas) and have an appealing directness both in structure and surface. Weiss layers slips and glazes over her wild clay, as she says, “to complement the clay as opposed to covering it up”and she fires in reduction in a gas kiln, reduction cooled with wood. We actually felt fortunate to be able to buy this set of 4 blue bowls recently (her online sales go lightningly fast) and are so enjoying using them as well as just having them on our table.

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Filed Under: Recipes, Starches

Wild Rice Salad Is An Easy-To-Make And Easy-To-Vary Summer Meal

June 28, 2018

Wild Rice Salad with Dried Cherries
Earthenware Sheep Cup by Ayumi Horie

One of the simplest and most universally liked dishes I serve at parties or take to a potluck is a wild rice salad with walnuts, cherries, parsley and an orange raspberry vinaigrette. All you do is mix together the cooked wild rice with finely chopped raw vegetables, a dried fruit, nuts or seeds and toss with an easy dressing. You might think of wild rice as a Thanksgiving food but this salad makes a great summer meal because all you have to cook is the wild rice and then add the other, uncooked, ingredients.

Originally, I got a version of this recipe from the Whole Foods website. It is like the one that shows up on their salad bar from time to time. I just varied it to meet my tastes. It is an extremely flexible recipe. Almost every ingredient in the salad may be substituted for by another depending on season and what you have on hand. No celery, use fennel or zucchini. No red onion, use scallions or shallots. No dried cherries, use cranberries, currants or apricots or substitute fresh berries, cherries or citrus sections. No walnuts, use almonds, pecans or pumpkin seeds. No red pepper, use green, orange or yellow peppers or jalapeños, jicama or leave it out altogether. I had sugar snap peas this week so I sliced some and tossed them in. If you don’t like the raspberry vinegar in the dressing, use wine, pomegranate or sherry vinegar instead.

Last week I had some leftover wild rice and I tried a completely different version, essentially rice mixed with a Greek salad minus the lettuce. I added chopped cucumber, radishes, scallions (I didn’t have any red onion), cherry tomatoes, arugula, crumbled feta cheese, oregano and a dash of cayenne to about an equal amount of wild rice and tossed it with a balsamic vinaigrette. It made a very tasty and quite satisfying summer supper plus it held up well for lunch the next day. You could also use the raspberry version as a main course since it contains nuts for protein, or top it with crumbled feta or goat cheese, baked tofu strips, bacon or cooked salmon and plate it on a bed of arugula or lettuce leaves.

Greek salad version of wild rice salad
Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie

Wild rice is really a nutritional grass and like true rice, its cousin, it does not contain gluten. It can be blended with brown rice in this recipe, if you prefer a milder flavor or have leftover rice to use up. This salad is quite hearty and will last (and even improve in flavor) for a couple of days in the refrigerator. I often serve it at a buffet supper because it can sit out for hours. Every time, someone asks for the recipe.

Other side (verso) of Ayumi Horie’s Sheep Mug

WILD RICE SALAD WITH RASPBERRY VINAIGRETTE

Mix together:

  • 4-5 cups cooked wild rice (I cook it like pasta in lots of water until tender and then drain)
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1 cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh red bell pepper
  • 1/3 cup dried cherries, without pits or 1 cup fresh cherries, pitted and sliced
  • 1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, raw or lightly toasted

Toss with:

  • 2 TBs raspberry vinegar
  • 2 TBs orange juice
  • 3 TBs olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Serves 6 and keeps well for a few days refrigerated.

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Filed Under: Salads, Starches Tagged With: Ayumi Horie, Summer supper, Wild rice

10 Easy Recipes From A Good Dish in 2017 to Make in 2018 – Happy New Year!

January 2, 2018

Thanks for all of your supportive feedback throughout the year. I enjoy writing this blog and so appreciate that you read it. In case you missed some of the posts, here is a reminder of 10 easy recipes from the past year that can be made with ingredients available right now. Included are links to soups, salads, vegetables and a couple of sweets that you told me you enjoyed as well as to the artists whose pots are used in the photos. I hope you will try the recipes (if you haven’t already), keep reading and responding to A Good Dish, continue buying and using handmade pottery and have a wonderful winter full of new stories, adventures, cooking and eating. Happy New Year!

Split Pea Soup (and the version with added spices)

Split Pea Soup with Barley and Vegetables
bell hooks and Sojourner Truth cup from The Democratic Cup
cup designed by Kristen Kiefer – Image by Roberto Lugo
Split pea soup with boosted flavor
Porcelain cup by Rachel Donner

Lentil Soup

Lentil soup with herbs, spices and vegetables
Wood-fired stoneware mug by Doug Casebeer

Beet Salad Two Ways

Shredded beet salad in oval bowl with shino glaze by Malcolm Davis
Cooked beet salad in oval bowl by Robbie Lobell

Basic Bean Salad

Summer Bean Salad
Porcelain Server by Andrew Martin

Carrot Salad

Shredded carrot salad with cilantro, watermelon radish and toasted pumpkin seeds
Oval bowl by Emily Schroeder Willis

Green Salad Every Day

Early spring salad with bagged greens
Bowl by Adero Willard

Cooking Parsnips

Parsnip and carrot mash
Glazed bowl by Janice Tchalenko

Seed Crackers

Home made seed and oat crackers
Earthenware plate by Holly Walker

Applesauce

Homemade applesauce in a maiolica bowl by Stanley Mace Andersen

Ice Cream Cake

3 layer ice-cream cake
Plate by Cristina Salusti

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Filed Under: dessert, Fruit, Recipes, Salads, Starches, Uncategorized, Vegetables

A Good Dish – Favorites From Our First Year

January 4, 2017

A Good Dish got up and running in 2016!
A Good Dish got up and running in 2016!

Looking back over all of the recipes I posted last year in A Good Dish, there are some standouts I make over and over. These are the cool weather dishes my family and I don’t tire of, the ones I fall back on when I don’t have another meal in mind and the ones that guests are happy being served and often ask for the recipe. If you didn’t start reading the blog from day 1, you may have missed some. So in the spirit of holiday sharing, here are the links to a dozen of our regulars made with ingredients available now. (No tomato salads or steamed asparagus, for example). Let me know if you add them to your favorites. Happy New Year, happy cooking and happy eating!

Easier Oatmeal

Steel Cut Oats with Seeds, Bananas and Nuts
Steel Cut Oats with Seeds, Bananas and Nuts

Sautéed Radishes

Sautéed Watermelon Radishes Bowl by Silvie Granatelli
Sautéed Watermelon Radishes
Bowl by Silvie Granatelli

Sautéed Watercress

Sautéed Watercress Bowl by Mary Barringer
Sautéed Watercress
Bowl by Mary Barringer

Wild Salmon Burgers

Salmon burgers Plate by Chandra DeBuse
Salmon burgers
Plate by Chandra DeBuse

Tossed Soba

Tossed Soba Plate by Michael Hunt & Naomi Dalglish - Bandana Pottery
Tossed Soba
Plate by Michael Hunt & Naomi Dalglish – Bandana Pottery

Coconut Red Lentil Soup

Curried Lentil Soup Porcelain bowl by Andy Brayman
Curried Lentil Soup
Porcelain bowl by Andy Brayman

Sautéed Broccoli Rabe or Broccoli

Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, Currants and Chili Flakes Flameware Casserole Dish by Robbie Lobell
Broccoli Rabe with Garlic, Currants and Chili Flakes
Flameware Casserole Dish by Robbie Lobell

Black Pepper Pasta with Green Vegetables

Black pepper pasta with vegetables Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie
Black pepper pasta with vegetables
Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie

Simmered Fruit

Simmered apricots, cherries, pineapple and lemons Depression glass compote
Simmered apricots, cherries, pineapple and lemons
Depression glass compote

Pumpkin Pudding

Pumpkin pudding with nuts, seeds and currants Carved mugs by Matthew Metz
Pumpkin pudding with nuts, seeds and currants
Carved mugs by Matthew Metz

Ginger Tea

Warming Ginger Tea Mug by Ayumi Horie
Warming Ginger Tea
Mug by Ayumi Horie

Vermouth Cocktail

Continental Drift Porcelain Tumbler by James Makins
Continental Drift
Porcelain Tumbler by James Makins

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Filed Under: Breakfast, Drinks, Recipes, Salads, Soups, Starches

Raffetto’s: 110 Years of Fresh Pasta and Still Innovating

June 22, 2016

Entrance on Houston Street
Entrance on Houston Street

Despite widespread gentrification and demolition, New York still has many old, unique food shops specializing in everything from cake-decorating supplies to Spanish imports. One of my favorites is Raffetto’s, a more than 100-year old Italian market on Houston Street near 6th Avenue. A charming, old-world type store with wood cabinetry and shelves stocked with all kinds of locally produced and imported Italian foods and ingredients. It is a place you need to visit for a taste of non-sarcastic “artisanal” food. Their pasta is simply delicious.

wall of pasta

I first stumbled upon Raffetto’s in the mid-80s, when I was an art advisor and used to spend a lot of time combing the galleries of Soho (before they morphed into expensive boutiques and chain stores). Walking north across Houston Street, I would pass Raffetto’s on the way to get a coffee or hear music in the Village. When I finally stopped in, I was amazed at the other world behind its front door – a wall of different colors and shapes of dried pasta on one side and shelves full of grains, beans, soup mixes, oils, vinegars, a refrigerated case with fresh sauces, cheeses and more on the other. In the back, several women in white lab coats were packaging sauces and filled pasta in an open kitchen and were cutting fresh pasta to order, something I hadn’t seen before.

Kitchen and packing area in the back of the store
Kitchen and packing area in the back of the store

According to their website, and from the looks of it, Raffetto’s is still using the same pasta-rolling machine that their patriarch/founder bought when he opened the store in 1906. And the pasta “guillotine”, on which you have your fresh pasta cut to your choice of widths, dates from 1916. Don’t you wish more equipment was still made and maintained that well now? Three generations of the Raffetto family are working in and running the business, making the pasta and sauces and staffing the shop. But I’m getting lost in history: the real story is the food they produce.

fresh flavors

Raffetto’s offers cut-to-order fresh pasta in traditional and non-traditional flavors Including tomato, parley-basil, wholefrozen wheat, lemon red pepper, rosemary, black squid-ink and, my favorite, black pepper. Sometimes you can get lucky and arrive when chestnut, lemon, saffron or even chocolate are available. Ravioli fillings range from the usual cheese or cheese and spinach to pesto, goat cheese, seafood and chicken with smoked mozzarella and the occasional special like arugula and ricotta, pumpkin or Gorgonzola and walnut. (My son says he doesn’t like mushrooms but he loves Raffetto’s mushroom ravioli. Go figure!) Tortellini and potato gnocchi are made and sold here in a range of fillings and flavors. Happily for all of us, many varieties of the ravioli are available at stores like Fairway and Citarella and the jumbo ravioli are available at Zabar’s. Both the fresh and filled pastas freeze well, although I wouldn’t keep them in the freezer for more than a few months.

glutenfree

In addition to the fresh and filled varieties, Raffetto’s stocks a selection of imported dried pastas, including spelt, farro and quinoa, and a huge assortment of shapes. If you aren’t a pasta eater, there are plenty of delicious red and green sauces, olives, anchovies, condiments and seasonings to buy for yourself or for a gift. Arriving with a bag full of groceries from Raffetto’s (easy to make dinner) would make you a dream house guest!

pork storeRaffetto’s was one of many Italian food stores in its West Village neighborhood and you can still find a few others pastryopen. Faicco’s Pork Store, dating from its first incarnation on Thompson Street in 1900, operates a couple blocks away on Bleecker Street, as does Pasticcerio Rocco, which opened in 1974, the youngster of the group. Caffe Reggio, claiming to have served the first cappuccino in New York, has offered espresso to generation after generation of NYU students and tourists since 1927 on MacDougal Street.

Unfortunately, other old establishments in this little “Little Italy” didn’t make it. Joe’s Dairy, across Houston Street, produced and sold the best smoked mozzarella I’ve ever tasted, but they moved to New Jersey where costs were less expensive. Balducci’s, which started in Brooklyn in 1900 and moved to the Village in 1946, had a large bustling market on 6th Avenue, about 10 blocks north, but it closed after being bought out by a big food company. (Incarnations have opened and closed and opened in various spots around the city). The charming Cafe Dante on MacDougal, with a case full of more than a dozen flavors of gelato before gelato was a household word, closed last year, a victim of surging rent, now replaced by an upscale restaurant of the same name.

Fortunately, Raffetto’s survives, possibly because it keeps up with what people want, continues to innovate, provides quality products and maintains a knowledgeable, efficient and friendly staff. In order to meet wholesale demands, they expanded by opening a small factory, first nearby and now located in New Jersey. It probably doesn’t hurt that they own their own building on Houston. But whatever the reasons for its success, I hope Raffetto’s continues producing delicious pastas and sauces far into the future.

Black pepper pasta with vegetables Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie
Black pepper pasta with vegetables
Earthenware dish by Ayumi Horie

Black Pepper (or Rosemary, Whole Wheat or Parsley-Basil) Pasta with Vegetables

  • 1/2 lb. fresh black pepper pasta, cut to your preference of width
  • 1/2 package of frozen peas
  • 2 or 3 handfuls of clean arugula or spinach
  • 3 TBs olive oil
  • 1 TB butter or ghee
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • Salt to taste

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add a big pinch of salt. Shake the cornmeal off the pasta and add to the boiling water, stirring immediately to break the starch bonds and avoid clumping.

Check for doneness after 2 minutes and again at 3. Just before the pasta is cooked to your liking, add the peas and greens and cook 30 seconds and then drain.

Heat the oil and butter or ghee in the now empty but still warm pan over medium heat and then add the garlic with a pinch of salt. As soon as the garlic is softened, about 1 minute, turn off the heat, add the drained pasta and vegetables and toss to mix. Add additional salt to taste. If you like, sprinkle with freshly grated cheese. Makes 4 starter or 2-3 main course servings.

Note: Preparing the fresh pasta or ravioli makes one of the easiest dinners ever. It cooks much faster than dried pasta so watch it carefully – a few minutes is really sufficient. To fortify, you can toss in some small pieces of broccoli or cauliflower and some cooked beans, with or without cheese. Alternatively, use a tomato sauce or pesto (the garlic scape pesto recipe from a few weeks ago would be delicious with the whole wheat pasta), add some cooked chicken or shrimp, sprinkle with fresh parsley or basil and you’ve amped up your main course to restaurant status.

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Filed Under: Places, Products, Recipes, sauces and dressings, Starches Tagged With: fresh pasta, Raffetto's

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Welcome to A Good Dish

Here you will find recipes and ideas for easy to make and tasty meals, sources for interesting dinnerware on which to serve those meals and resources for ingredients, classes and food related travel. My goal is to make daily cooking simpler and to inspire you to try different recipes beyond the handful you already make repeatedly. I hope that relaying my experiences will enhance yours. Follow along and let me know about your own cooking and food journeys.

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