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You are in a rut.  You are having the same food, night after night.  You are going out to eat, spending too much money, and your wasteline is suffering.

I am here to solve your problems, with some slightly altered (lovingly borrowed) recipes you’re going to love. Break out your fez; tonight we’re eating North African-style.

Here’s what happened: I got one of my few cooking urges and somehow came up with the idea to make lentil soup in the crockpot.  A quick Google search led me to A Year of Slowcooking.

But I wanted more vegetables, and a few more searches led me to The Vegetarian Resource Group’s Egypt page.

Finally, I knew we had rice pudding in the fridge, so I came up with a quick dessert.  A run to the grocery store and I was on my way.  My altered recipes, based on those found at the links above, are below.  It’s all shockingly good, if I say so myself.  And I’m pretty sure the soup could be made on the stovetop in about an hour if you go our usual route of deciding on dinner when you’re already hungry for it.

Morrocan Lentil Soup

1 cup dried lentils
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
1 white onion, roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot coins
28 oz can diced tomatoes, with liquid
4 cups vegetable broth (I used a low sodium variety) + 1 cup water
1 1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
course sea salt, to taste

In a large crockpot, combine all ingredients.  Stir, place on high heat, and let it go all day–at least seven hours.  When you’re ready to eat, use an immersion blender to partially blend the soup, leaving some of the vegetables and legumes whole.  I served mine with whole wheat pita rounds warmed directly over the fire of the gas stovetop.  A dollop of sour cream is a nice touch.  This will serve six people as an entree–more as an opening act.

Egyptian Spinach with Dill

1 white onion, roughly chopped
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1/2 loose cup chopped fresh dill
1 15 ounce can tomato sauce
10 ounces fresh spinach (1 bag–you can use the cheaper, tougher adult varieties)
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepot, saute onions in oil for three or four minutes. Add garlic and dill and continue to saute for two minutes. Add tomato sauce, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Add spinach and water–you will need to pack in the spinach and stir carefully to avoid losing it over the side! Once the spinach has wilted and you’ve given it a good stir, add your salt and pepper and cover and simmer on low heat for 15 minutes.  I poured this over a pouch of microwavable basmati rice–it will serve four to six (though the rice, only two!).

Jaci’s Easy Honeyed Fruit Pudding

1 tub rice pudding
dried whole apricots
honey

Put a scoop of rice pudding (about 1/2 cup) in a small dessert cup or parfait dish.  Array three dried apricots on the surface of the pudding.  Swirl honey to taste over the top of the pudding.

To accompany the meal as a whole, I recommend some kalamata olives (or similar) and mint tea; we also had a glass or two of a red wine that I picked up on a total whim, but which upon additional Googling I found enthusiastically reviewed here.

It’s amazing what you can come up with when you’re avoiding your homework.

Our Guest Recipe Poster- Ranjana... and me.

A big thanks to our special guest recipe contributor on Bengfort.com- Ranjana Sharma. Ranjana, or Rani as we call her at school, is a classmate of mine at NDSU. Not only is she a skilled computer scientist, chemist, polymer-magician, teacher, and student, but she is also an amazing cook! This is probably due to the fact that she has over 90 graduate degrees, most of which are chemical related, and she can therefore explain the mysterious molecular magic of masala.

Born in Madhya Pradesh (Central India), she is an expert roti maker. However, as her father was in a transferable job, she didn’t grow up in one place in India. Even though she traveled all over India’s varying cuisine geography, she was delighted to find that our own Guyana Cookbook had such similar recipes to her own “home style” food.

I was super lucky to be assigned the same office as her, because as soon as she discovered the Guyana Cookbook, she was determined to feed me her distinct version of Indian cooking to see how well it compared. After a semester of mostly taco bell, subway, and absolutely nothing spicy in North Dakota, it came as a welcome relief to warm up my frozen, flooded self. For the rest of my time at North Dakota, my classmates and I were treated to feasts that could not be found anywhere else in the Midwest, feasts that were very reminiscent of home.

Shweta & I enjoying Ranjana's Cooking

It is purely my fault, that I haven’t yet asked Rani to contribute to our growing World Cookbook. I’m truly sorry that it has taken this long to get her recipes up. As Ranjana is a strict vegetarian, I’m sure that Jaci especially is going to enjoy these recipes! I’m sure the rest of you will also recognize them as you make them, either from Nanee’s cooking, from Indian restaurants, or from your friend’s Indian cooking. The one distinct thing about them, though, is that they are cooked in a home-style that you probably won’t get elsewhere, and while the dishes are recognizable, the recipes and taste is very unique.

So, Rani has already posted 9 recipes to the blog. They aren’t on the front page, because we posted them under the auspicious date December 19, 2009. However, you can find all her recipes, and future posts under her author page: http://www.bengfort.com/author/ranjana/. (Or by looking up the Indian Cooking Tag, or the World Recipes Category, etc. etc.) I’m pretty sure she is planning on gracing us with more (hopefully). But here are links to the first few:

• Chhole
• Gulab Jamun
• Halwa
• Khatta Aloo
• Masala
• Matar Paneer
• Pao Bhaji
• Rajma
• Shahi Paneer

I know the girls especially are going to be excited by the Gulab Jamun recipe! So these recipes are still a little bare, and are missing pictures and descriptions, but don’t worry, as Ranjana and I cook them, more content will be added. Enjoy!

As you may have guessed, this is a post about dressing.

Salad dressing, that is.  (insert drumroll here)

These crabs come from the sea to be dressed in the delicious flavors of Old Bay.

You may get the impression that here at Bengfort.com we eat all Guyanese, all the time.  In fact, we have a growing collection of recipes from around the world, and we enjoy a great variety of foods.

Preliminaries out of the way, I wanted to share two recipes, one new, one old.

I came up with the first the other day when I had bought a can of crab from the grocery store.  (This can be purchased in the tuna section and is surprisingly good.)  There was a mini crabcake recipe on the inside of the can label, but I didn’t have all the ingredients called for, so I decided to serve the crab on a bed of greens instead.  Using the recipe for crabcakes as a rough guide, I came up with the following deconstructed version:

Crabcake ala Jacquelyn

a salad

Note: all measures are approximate–when I’m making something up, I do a dump-and-taste method.  Which, I guess, means all ingredients are approximate as well…

• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 teaspoon mustard (I used a very liquid gourmet Champagne mustard)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• dash Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil (enough to give the dressing a dressing consistency)
• mixed greens
• 1 small can lump crabmeat
• Old Bay seasoning

Mix together the mayo, mustard, cumin seed, onion, W-sauce, salt, and pepper; add in the oil and stir, adjusting the amount for the desired consistency.  Use this to dress the greens (this will be enough dressing for two medium/large salads–you’ll have to eyeball it).  Dish up the dressed greens and split the crabmeat between the two salads; sprinkle with Old Bay, to taste.

The second recipe is an old favorite of my Grandma Dorothy’s.  The name alone nearly put Ben off of it, so you can call it Catalina or French if you like–but to me, it will always be…

Grandma Dorothy’s Tomato Catsup Salad Dressing

• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup vinegar (I used white rice vinegar–any kind will do)
• 1/2 cup “catsup” (ketchup to you non-North Dakotans)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Blend all ingredients together.  This recipe will make a lot of dressing, but it keeps well for a few weeks.

With these two recipes at your side, not only can you dress your salads, but you can begin to discover the joys of making your own small-batch salad dressing instead of filling your fridge with giant bottles of the stuff–no more race to see whether or not it will go bad before you’re sick of same flavor on salad after salad.  Think of it as couture for your naked greens.  Enjoy!

• 300 gms Paneer/Tofu
• 1 large onion
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
• ½ cup milk
• ½ tsp shahi paneer masala
• Salt to taste
• 1 tbsp oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan.
2. Finely chop onion and fry until brown
3. Add tomato paste
4. Fry for 2 mins
5. Add tomato ketchup and milk and stir
6. Add shahi paneer masala.
7. Add Paneer/Tofu
8. Add salt.
9. Bring it to boil. Cover for 2 mins.
10. Add milk if needed. Do not add water.

Rajma Masala

Ingredients:

• One large onion
• 3 tbsp Tomato paste/puree
• ½ tsp Ginger-garlic paste
• ¾  tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp Red chilli Powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp dry mango (amchur) powder
• 1 tbsp Oil

Directions:

1. Grate onion ( may be in a mixer)
2. Heat oil
3. Add ginger-garlic paste.
4. Fry until brown.
5. Add grated onion
6. Fry until brown
7. Add tomato paste, turmeric, chilli, coriander and amchur powders.
8. Fry on low heat until the mixture leaves sides.
9. Masala is Ready

Note: If ginger –garlic paste is not available, peel and grate 1-2 bulbs of garlic. Fry until brown. Grate ginger and add with tomato paste.

Grated coriander leaves can be used for garnishing.

Rajma

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Rajma (Red Kidney beans)
• ½ tsp Rajma Masala
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Soak Rajma for 3-4 hrs
2. Boil in a pressure cooker until soft ( about 20-30 mins)
3. Add 3 tbsp of above masala.
4. Add salt
5. Boil for 5 mins
6. Add Garam masala

Note: Additional tomato paste can make Rajma tastier.

(Easy, quick, fun and healthy recipe)

Ingredients:

• ½ cup chopped green peppers
• ½ cup chopped green beans
• ½ cup chopped carrots
• ½ cup chopped cauliflower
• ½ cup green peas
• ½ cup chopped onion
• 1 large potato – boiled and finely mashed
• 3 tbsp tomato paste /puree
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• ½ tsp haldi(turmeric)
• 1 tsp pao bhaji masala
• 1-1/2 cups water
• 8 Burger buns
• 1 tbsp oil
• Butter

Directions:

1. Pressure cook green pepper, beans, peas, carrots and cauliflower in water for 10-15 mins
2. Heat oil in a pan.
3. Fry onion until brown
4. Add tomato paste and fry for 4-5 mins
5. Add all boiled vegetables and potato.
6. Add haldi, red chilli powder and salt.
7. Mix to mash all the vegetables well
8. Add any remaining water in pressure cooker.
9. Boil for 4-5 mins. Stir.
10. Remove bhaji from heat and add Pao bhaji masala and mix well
11. Heat burger buns and serve with bhaji.

Note: Some people prefer adding butter to bhaji. So butter can be added according to taste when bhaji is hot or some bhaji could be reheated separately and butter could be added to it.

• 2 cups Matar (Green peas)
• 100 gms Paneer/Tofu
• 1 medium potato boiled and coarsely mashed
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• ½ tsp Garam Masala
• 1 cup water
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds
2. Add 2 tbsp Masala (recipe given elsewhere)
3. Add peas, potato and Paneer/Tofu
4. Add water and salt.
5. Boil it for 5 mins
6. Remove from heat and add garam masala
7. Garnish with coriander leaves.

This is a common masala which can be used in many recipes. Once made, it can be stored in refrigerator up to a week and can be used as required.

Ingredients:

• One large onion
• 3 tbsp Tomato paste/puree
• ½ tsp Ginger-garlic paste
• ¾  tsp turmeric powder
• ½ tsp Red chilli Powder
• 1 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp dry mango (amchur) powder
• 1 tbsp Oil

Directions:

1. Grate onion ( may be in a mixer)
2. Heat oil
3. Add ginger-garlic paste.
4. Fry until brown.
5. Add grated onion
6. Fry until brown
7. Add tomato paste, turmeric, chilli, coriander and amchur powders.
8. Fry on low heat until the mixture leaves sides.
9. Masala is Ready

Note: If ginger –garlic paste is not available, peel and grate 1-2 bulbs of garlic. Fry until brown. Grate ginger and add with tomato paste.

Grated coriander leaves can be used for garnishing.

• 1 large boiled potato mashed
• Sour yogurt
• ½ tsp turmeric (haldi)
• ½ tsp red chilli powder
• 1 tbsp oil
• ½ tsp cumin (jeera)
• ½ tsp mustard seeds (rai)
• ½ tsp asafetida (hing)
• Salt to taste.

Directions:

1. Add water in sour yogurt and blend well in a mixer.
2. Heat oil in a pan (kadhai).
3. Add asafetida, cumin and mustard seeds.
4. Add potatoes, and yogurt. Mix.
5. Add turmeric powder, red chilli powder and salt.
6. Boil it for 5 mins
7. Your Aloo is ready

• 1 tbsp fine Semolina (Sooji )
• 1 tbsp Chick pea flour (Besan)
• 1 tbsp Butter or Ghee
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 tbsp golden raisins
• 1 tbsp cut cashews
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 1 tsp coconut powder
• Any other dry fruit (Optional)

Instructions:

1. Melt butter/ghee in a pan
2. Fry sooji and besan with continuous stirring until the mixture is brown
3. Add water
4. Add sugar
5. Add Raisins
6. Boil the mixture until semi-solid
7. Remove from Heat
8. Garnish with cashews, cardamom powder, coconut powder.
9. Serve hot.

Note: Halwa can also be made using only Sooji/Besan/Atta (Wheat flour).