Vegetarian Country Captain

In five years subscribing to Cooking Light, we haven't once found a recipe that we didn't like at all. Until today, that is. The recipe in question is Vegetarian Country Captain, a vegetable "stew" from their January 2011 issue.

First of all, it's worth noting that this recipe was originally published with the wrong picture (!!), which gave us the impression that we'd be eating something much different than what we wound up with. This may have something to do with our misgivings about the recipe - but probably not.

What we actually wound up with was a curry-based dish with cauliflower and edamame. It took roughly 30 minutes to prepare and a whopping 17 ingredients, half of which needed to be chopped, diced, or toasted. The prep work didn't take very long, but for all that effort, the final dish was disappointing.

The recipe goes a little something like this: saute onions, add apples, add flour and seasoning. Add broth and bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 minutes on low heat until the mixture thickens. Incorporate the mango chutney, whipping cream, and kosher salt, then add cauliflower and edamame and cook for 8 minutes. Serve over the rice, using the remaining ingredients (almonds, currants, green onions, and cilantro) as toppings.

Beyond that, we just can't get too excited about recapping this recipe, it was that disappointing. Commenters on the recipe page seem a little more enthusiastic, but trust us when we say this was bland, boring, and kind of tiresome to eat. The part we were looking most forward to - the mango chutney - was just plain absent from the flavor profile.

Because we hate wasting food, we'll eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, but it will be under extreme duress! Cooking Light still has a great track record, as far as we're concerned, and we're excited to make another recipe from their pages as a palette cleanser.

Curried Dal with Basmati-Raisin Pilaf

You already know we love incorporating world cuisine into our weekly repertoire, and last night's culinary journey was to India. We clipped a recipe for Curried Dal with Basmati-Raisin Pilaf out of the October 2008 issue of Cooking Light and have come *this close* to using it a number of times but could never commit. Last night we finally got an opportunity to prepare it, and with great results.

Dal is a vegetarian dish of lentils, and this particular recipe include instructions for fragrant basmati rice to accompany it. Because it's really two dishes, you might be intimidated by the army of ingredients it sports, but don't fret - this meal comes together astonishingly quickly.

This is a recipe where we absolutely recommend chopping and measuring everything out ahead of time, because the rice and dal are cooked simultaneously, and each for only 15 minutes. We started by taking out all of our ingredients, looking ahead in the recipe to see which items "went together", and measuring them together into small bowls representing each step.

The rice is easy to begin first, because all 8 of its component go into the saucepan together - water, rice, and aromatics and seasonings. If you're having trouble finding cardamom pods (those two little seeds laying at the right front corner of our cutting board in the picture), you can either omit them or substitute 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom. We bought our cardamom pods in the bulk section of our grocery store, because a bottle of them was marked at a mind-blowing $9.99! (About 20 of them in bulk were just 80 cents.)

While you wait for the rice to boil, heat the olive oil over medium high heat, then sautee the onions for 5 minutes. When the rice comes to a boil, stir it once, cover it, and reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for 15 minutes until it's nice and fluffy. You'll die when you smell this rice - it's so sweetly fragrant! The cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, and cardamom pods can be discarded, then remove the rice from the heat and keep warm.

Turning our attention back to the dal, when the onions have sauteed, the spices, ginger, and garlic are incorporated into the onion mixture for 30 seconds, then the water and all other ingredients (except the cilantro!) are added. That mixture is also brought to a boil, then covered and simmered over medium low for 15 minutes, after which the cilantro is stirred in. Then it's time for dinner!

We've noticed in our years of preparing Cooking Light dishes that their spiciness is often overstated. We were expecting a little more heat based on the incorporation of serrano chiles into the dal and were slightly disappointed this time. Sure, it was delicious, but we were hoping for a little more kick. So, to our Southern friends, who are always adding Tony's and Tabasco to everything, we recommend grabbing 2 or 3 of those chiles and going with gusto!

To recap:

• Buy your cardamom pods in bulk.
• Measure out everything ahead of time for a stress-free cooking experience.
• Turn up the heat!

Mini Caprese Bites

When planning any party menu, we like to make sure we have a couple of vegetarian options available for those who are living la vida meatless, or just trying to be extra disciplined. The trouble is that the veggie appetizers we find are often boring and uninspired. That's why, when we saw the image accompanying Mini Caprese Bites (Cooking Light, May 2008), we knew we had found a winner.

Sure, a caprese salad isn't mindblowingly unique, but it's definitely a step above a crudités platter. And showcasing brilliant red cherry tomatoes, it adds a whimsical pop of color to any buffet table.

A pint of cherry tomatoes is halved, then each pair of halves is threaded onto 4-inch skewers, with a slice of a mozzarella ball placed in between. The Popsicle-like presentation wowed our guests; we stood some up in a glass just as the photo editors at Cooking Light did, then fanned and stacked the rest out across a platter. With all the skewers assembled, we drizzled them with a mixture of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and fresh basil.

Aside from the color, the most beautiful thing about this dish is that the preparation can easily delegated to a random house guest. You know how it is - you're doing last-minute set-up, and the doorbell rings. Your guests rush in, chatting, and offer a well-meaning, "What can I help you with?" Rarely is there ever an easy answer, but from now on, just hand them a package of skewers and a pint of tomatoes, and say, "I've got just the thing...."

Risotto Primavera

We're back with another budget dish from Cooking Light. This time, it's the Risotto Primavera from the June 2010 issue. This dish seemed a little heavy for our southern climate back in June, but now that the temperatures are more consistently out of the near triple digits, it's a lot more palatable. There's nothing particularly summery about it, so all of the ingredients should be available wherever you might live.

This recipe rings up at $2.48 per serving, which, if your grocery store is anything like ours, is influenced heavily by the inclusion of fresh asparagus. We'd be willing to bet that you could sub in some of the frozen stuff without anyone batting an eye. Purchasing the Arborio rice in bulk may offset a decision to go with the fresh stuff.

Before you think another minute about making this dish, beware: Risotto requires constant attention. You'll be stirring and reducing for about 20 minutes, so put on some comfortable clothes, flip on the tele, give your stirring arm a quick arm warm-up, and get ready to cook!

The first step is to roast the tomatoes in the oven for 15 minutes. (We recommend lining your jelly roll pan with heavy aluminum foil to speed up your clean-up.) You can use this time to trim up your asparagus, grate your cheese, and measure out other ingredients, because, once you start adding liquids to your rice, you won't have time to even think about measuring, grating, or chopping.

Next, you're ready to combine your water and broth in a sauce pan, heating - but not boiling - them. The onion goes into your Dutch oven first, then rice, then vinegar. Then it's time for your marathon stirring session!

You'll add in half-cups of the broth and water mixture one at a time, stirring until all of the liquid is absorbed. According to the recipe, this should take about 20 minutes, start to finish, which we found to be pretty accurate. When the last cup of the broth mixture goes in, so do the veggies (other than the tomatoes).

You've probably notice that, due to a clerical error in our grocery list-making, we ended up sans peas. We subbed in frozen corn instead; the consensus in our house was that the corn lent the dish a little more snap than the peas might have.

Off the stove came the rice mixture and in went the grated cheese, making the texture of the dish smooth and luxurious. We plated the mixture and topped it with tomatoes and more cheese, then a dusting of pepper and, voila - an inexpensive, hearty dish that required just a little bit of elbow grease!

If you're wondering whether it's possible that this dish reheated well - it certainly did! Just be sure to heat it in short increments and stir until you're happy with the temperature. This isn't something you want to shock in the microwave for 5 minutes!