Super-Quick Tikka Masala (leftover....just about anything)

The best fast tikka masala recipe we have encountered was in Cook's Illustrated several years ago. (The best actual tikka masala we've encountered was in, of all places, Darbar restaurant in Branford, CT). This is an adaptation of that recipe, a little healthier, a little punchier. The beauty of this sauce is that you could throw literally whatever you have sitting around in it.

Vegetable Tikka Masala

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped (or tofu, chicken, or many other htings)
1 10-oz package of button mushrooms (or other vegetable)
3 tablespoons butter
1 generous tablespoon of ginger-garlic pasta (an excellent timesaver for weeknight meals, available at Indian groceries--or use 2 tsp chopped ginger, 2 tsp pureed garlic)
1-2 tablespoons garam masala, or more according to your taste
1 15-oz can tomato sauce
canola oil
milk

1. Clean mushrooms, trim the bottom of the stems, and chop. Coat a wide, deep skillet with about two tablespoons of the canola oil and cook them with a pinch of salt over medium-high heat. Remove from the pan when they are nicely browned and are not giving off any more water. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel.
2. Add two more tablespoons of oil to the pan and cook the cauliflower with a pinch of salt until it is approaching tender and is starting to brown. Remove from the pan and wipe it out again.
3. Reduce heat to medium and melt the butter in the same pan.
4. Add ginger-garlic paste and cook for a few moments until it is fragrant.
5. Add garam masala and stir, letting it cook for a few moments.
6. Add tomato sauce and cooked mushrooms and cauliflower. Bring it to a very gentle simmer and let it cook for about half an hour.
7. Just before serving, add enough milk to give it a bit of creaminess. Heat through and check seasonings.

Serve with besan pancakes and bok choy raita (or rice if you're fresh out of besan and bok choy).

Bok Choy Raita

1 stalk baby bok choy, minced and with the leafy tops separated from the thicker bottoms
1 scallion, minced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove, pureed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole milk yogurt (Ok, great but hard to find, unless you make your own. Use any yogurt)
canola oil
salt

1. In a small saute pan, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium heat. Add the minced bottoms of the bok choy with a pinch of salt and cook until they are tender.
2. Add the minced tops of the bok choy and cook until dark green and wilted.
3. Add the scallion and cook until fragrant.
4. Remove the mixture from the heat and drain it in a bowl lined with a paper towel. Let it drain for a few minutes and remove the greens.
5. Mix the greens with the sour cream, the yogurt, and the garlic. Add a few drops of water at a time until the sauce looks "pourable", but is not watery. Season with salt and let it sit for 15 minutes or so before using it to top the vegetable tikka masala.

Maggi Breakfast Omelet (leftover Chinese or Indian food)

There’s a  Thai snack that you make by taking a handful of eggs, mixing them with a ton of Maggi seasoning, and deep-frying the mixture so it looks like a puffy pancake. It’s served with a condiment made from hot peppers and fish sauce.

If we haven’t lost you already (probable, and we admit it looks like a bowl of slop), it’s very good, and we’ve played endlessly with this idea. Our latest riff involves a way to make a great breakfast out of leftover rice (or in the picture quinoa) and any kind of gloppy Chinese or Indian food you have. Ok, not any. You have to use your judgment, but you’ll want things that are mildly flavored and saucy. In any case, this is more of a technique than a strict recipe, so have fun with it and expect a few disasters along the way.

Maggi Breakfast Omelet

Serves two.

Three eggs

2 tsp. Maggi seasoning

Cilantro, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup leftover rice and 1/2 cup leftover gloppy Chinese or Indian food (don’t go crazy on amounts, it’s a really forgiving recipe, just dump a bunch of what you have in a bowl and mix it up--we do this with daals without rice too).
 

1. Put a nonstick frying pan on medium to medium low heat.
2. Put the rice and food in a bowl and mix. Using a scissors, cut any large pieces into pea shaped sizes.
3. In another bowl mix up the eggs with Maggi.
4. Add some oil to the pan.
5. When the pan is hot, pour in the eggs. Swirl the eggs around and peel them off the center of the pan. Scramble them very gently.
6. When they are about 2/3 cooked but still watery, dump in the leftovers.
7. Mix thoroughly and heat through to where the eggs are cooked.
8. Pour into bowls and garnish with cilantro.

Rutabaga Gratin

The poor, lowly rutabaga. Wrapped in wax and adorned with a cheap price tag, it just looks like it wouldn't be very good. Looks can be deceiving. It actually has a nice oniony taste and loves a little roasting. This gratin has quickly become one of our favorites.

No worries if you can't find rutabagas in your market. Turnips work just as well.

Rutabaga Gratin

1-2 rutabagas, peeled and diced into roughly 1/4 inch cubes (To peel, cut the rutabaga into eighths with a big knife and then slice the skin off with a small one)
1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter
about two cups of milk
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese, grated
breadcrumbs (if you don't have breadcrumbs, put some crackers in a plastic bag and give it a whack with something)
canola oil (or any neutral oil)

1. Turn your oven on to 375.
2. Put the rutabagas in a sheet pan (you want them to be in a single layer, but a little overlapping works well). Toss with oil and salt.
3. Roast for about 30 minutes, tossing them every so often to ensure they cook evenly. You want them tender. Some browning is ok, actually preferable.
4. Put a saucepan on medium heat, and when it warms up, add the oil, onions and a pinch of salt.  Cook until they begin to brown.
6. Add the butter and wait until it has melted.
7. Add the flour and cook for a minute or two, stirring.
8. Add two cups of milk and stir to thicken.
9. When it has thickened, remove from the heat and add most of the cheese, reserving some for the topping. Mix through.
10. Taste and adjust seasoning. You might need to add a bit more milk. You don't want the sauce to look like it is on the verge of solidifying.
11. Combine the roasted rutabaga with the sauce, and pour into a casserole dish that can accommodate everything comfortably. Top with extra cheese and breadcrumbs.
12. Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes until the crumbs are browning and the sauce is bubbling. Depending on your oven, you may need to tent it at about the halfway point with aluminum foil to prevent it from burning on top.
13. Serve with the bread of your choice.

Spinach Pasta (leftover pureed spinach baby food)

Babyfood. Last thing you'd think would make good leftover grub. But our 2.74 year old has proved a remarkably tough critic. According to her, we are quite possibly the worst cooks on earth. (A certain Chef Boyardee sets a standard we could never hope to equal.) This has left us with a wide range of pureed products to fashion into something edible. The class of these so far is this simple frozen spinach pasta.

Spinach Pasta

1 lb defrosted frozen spinach
6 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts
3-4 tablespoons dried Italian spices (Any Italian seasoning works, as does even amounts of dried oregano and basil, with a generous pinch of garlic powder.)
pasta (Rotini is perfect for this)
olive oil

1. Puree spinach in a food processor. You might need to add a touch more water to get a smooth puree. Remove from processor. (Do not substitue commercial spinach baby food. It costs a fortune and tastes awful.)
2. Now put the cream cheese and about a half a cup of water into the food processor. Let it go. Add additional water, as needed, to make a creamy mixture. Remove from processor and keep separate from pureed spinach.
3. Toast pine nuts in a warm pan (low medium heat, tossing frequently until lightly browned) and set aside.
4. Cook pasta. Before draining, reserve about a cup of cooking water.
5. While pasta is cooking, heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow, deep skillet. Add spice mixture and stir to toast for about 15 seconds.
6. Add pureed spinach and a sprinkle of salt and cook for a few minutes, until it loses its bright green color.
7. Add cream cheese mixture. Stir to combine and cook for a few minutes.
8. Add pine nuts and then cooked pasta to skillet, along with as much of the pasta cooking water as is needed, until the sauce-to-pasta ratio is correct (in other words, how you like it.)
9. Adjust for seasoning and serve with grated cheese.