Cheese Parathas

I needed a last-minute lunch before I had to hit the road to leave for our Thanksgiving road trip, so I settled on 2 cheese parathas. Quick, easy, tasty.

Parathas are very easy to put together and cook; you'll be done before you know it. It took me longer to get my camera set up and take these pictures than it did to make and cook the parathas from start to finish.

Parathas are an unleavened whole wheat Indian flatbread, often stuffed with some sort of spiced deliciousness. My favorites are the potato-stuffed parathas (Aloo Paratha) and cheese-filled parathas (Paneer Paratha), but you can find them stuffed with cooked, mashed cauliflower, and probably a variety of other ingredients.

When I came across this video from Manjula's Kitchen, I knew I wanted to try making the parathas her way. She made it look effortless and tasty. No doubt she has years of working that tiny rolling pin under her belt, and although I did a pretty good job of filling and rolling my parathas, they were not as thin and lovely as hers are.

Like so many other things, it just takes practice.






I wanted cheese parathas, but I didn't have paneer or plain yogurt, or even cilantro. I had to fudge the filling a bit to use what I had on hand, but I think that it worked out fine.  I also reduced the recipe quite a bit to make just 2 medium-sized parathas instead of 6 larger ones.

Cheese Parathas

Makes 2 medium parathas

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/8 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/8 teaspoon of salt
• 3/4 teaspoon oil
• approximately 3 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 2 tablespoons green onion, minced
• 1 heaping tablespoon sour cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped cheese curds
• salt
• pinch of granulated garlic

Directions:

1. Sift together the salt, whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour in a bowl.
2. Add the oil and mix briefly to moisten the flour, then pour in the water.
3. Stir the mixture together with a fork until it forms a ball, then turn it out onto a floured surface and knead until it is smooth.
4. Let rest for 10 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the minced green onion, cheese curds, sour cream salt and granulated garlic until well combined.
6. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll them out into a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Place half the filling in the center of the dough and then bring all the edges together and pinch them closed so that you have a ball of dough encasing the filling. Repeat with the second piece of dough and let them rest for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Carefully roll out the stuffed ball of dough to a circle about 4 inches in diameter - the first few times you do this, the filling may squeeze out a few holes. Don't worry too much about this, it will gtet better with practice.
8. Lightly oil a griddle or a large skillet - I use my cast iron skillet or griddle and raise the heat to high. Place the rounds of bread on the hot griddle and cook until the edges begin to brown slightly, then flip them over. If the rounds puff up a bit as you're cooking, that is a very good thing.
9. After about 3 minutes, flip them over again to check the color, they should be speckled golden brown. Cook for another 2 to 3 minutes and then place them on a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any excess oil if needed.
10. Serve hot.

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Healthy Eating

For the past few days this week, I have been eating healthier: More vegan and raw foods, though not totally vegetarian. I can not give up my weekend pizza gorge-fest, so I am trying to offset any potential damage by eating the best foods possible during the week. Besides, when it is hot out, I'd just as soon not turn on the oven.

For breakfast: Raw Apple Breakfast.*

Snacktime: persian cucumbers stuffed with a vegan cashew puree (sometimes called cashew cheese**) and topped with zesty sprouts and sunflower seeds.

For lunch, I had a tomato and avocado salad with watercress and a lime-cayenne dressing on homemade flatbread. Sorry, no picture. I practically inhaled it before it even occurred to me to take a photo.


But about these flatbreads***, one of my favorites. It is amazing how a lump of dough can go from this:

To this, in just about an hour and a half.

This particular recipe I like to cook on a griddle even though it smokes the hell out of my kitchen.

Look carefully, you can see smoke.

But the end result is worth it.

Raw Apple Breakfast

Ingredients:

• 1 tart apple (I like Granny Smiths)
• 1 T almond butter
• agave nectar or honey
  
• 1 T flax seeds, ground in a coffee grinder
• pumpkin seeds

Directions:

1. Take one apple, peel and all, core it, cut it into quarters and toss it into a food processor with the almond butter.
   


2. Process until nicely chopped.
   


3. Then put in a bowl and drizzle the agave nectar or honey over it and top with ground flax seeds and, my favorite, pumpkin seeds.
   
   You can also top with fresh berries or, if you like to live dangerously, some Greek yogurt. Wheat germ sprinkled on top is also a nice option.
   


4. It is filling, packed with fiber and very tasty.

**Vegan Cashew Cheese

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews
  
• 1/2 cup water
  
• 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  
• 2 garlic cloves
  
• 3 T lemon juice
• 8 large fresh basil leaves
  
• 1 T Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
• 1 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil oil
• 1 tsp sea salt
  

Directions:

1. Put everything in a food processor and blend very well until it is nice and creamy. If it's too thick, add more water slowly through the feed tube until it reaches the consistency you like. If it's too watery, toss in a few more cashews.
   

***Sesame-Flax Whole Wheat Flatbread

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 cup flax meal
• 1 cup bread flour
  
• 3 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour (or a combination of whole wheat and bread flour)
• 1 T salt
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/3 cup untoasted sesame seeds
  

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together yeast and warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes in a warm place until the yeast mixture is foamy.
   


2. Add the flax meal, bread flour, and 1 cup of the whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, mixing well until you have a rough, shaggy dough that starts to drag on the sides of the bowl.
   


3. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes. When it is done, you will have a messy-looking sponge. Don't worry, it is not supposed to look pretty at this point.
   


4. Add the sesame seeds, salt and oil, mix well and then add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a nice stiff dough. Sometimes you may need only 2 cups of the flour, and at other times, you will need the full 3 cups.
   


5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead well for 8-10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
   


6. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise int a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
   


7. Preheat a cast iron griddle or skillet over medium-high heat.
   


8. Punch down the dough and divide in half. Section it into 8 pieces. Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
   


9. Lightly coat the griddle with cooking spray.
   


10. Place a round on the griddle (mine can hold two at a time). Let it cook for 15 second, then flip it. Let it cook for about a minute until bubbles start to form, then flip it back over and let cook another minute.
    


11. Repeat with remaining dough.
    


12. Wrap the breads in a kitchen towel to keep warm.
    

Note: This will smoke the hell out of your house, so have the windows open and the fans cranked, but it is so worth it.

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Multi-grain Bread

I love the idea of baking bread on Sundays.

Well, actually, I love the idea of baking bread on any day, but there's something appealing about a lazy Sunday spent in a cozy house, with enticing yeasty smells of rising bread and baking bread wafting from a warm, humid kitchen.

Seriously, I love just about everything about bread. I have a difficult time during the first few days of stage one of the South Beach diet, sometimes even dreaming about bread, its taste, hearty smell, distinct texture.

The process of making bread is an enjoyable one for me as well. Even if I take the lazy baker's way out and toss the items in the Zojirushi, and sit back and let the machine do the kneading for me, I still like to shape the dough myself and bake it in my oven, and then, as easy as you like, I have an amazing loaf of fresh, home-baked bread.

Kneading the dough myself though, has definite benefits. At times it's damned-near therapeutic, as I beat the shit out of the dough and use it as a focus for every last petty grievance, stupid annoyance and revenge fantasy. The bread is always the better for it, too.

Some breads I will always create by hand from start to finish are:

• Whole Wheat Flatbreads, which I cook on a cast iron griddle, which really smokes the hell out of the entire house so I have to have fans running full-bore, windows wide open, and even outside doors propped open, but they're so worth it - anytime I make Indian food, I whip up a batch of these too;
  
• Herbed Whole Wheat Focaccia, best served warm with a dipping sauce of balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. It tends to get eaten up very quickly;
• Pizza dough, my super-fast, incredibly easy, no-fail recipe which can be ready to go in the oven in under 30 minutes, makes homemade pizza almost as fast as takeout, and way more satisfying. It's fun too, because the girls get to shape and top their own personal pizzas, so no more arguing about which toppings are touching each other;
• Russian Black Bread, because sometime I crave real zakuski* - buttered black bread topped with smoked salmon, sour cream & chives or sliced pickles with a sharp horseradish cheddar - and a loaf of pumpernickel, homemade or store-bought, while tasty, doesn't have quite the same kick to it that authentic black bread has;
• Maple Wheat Dinner Rolls, one of my favorite Thanksgiving offerings. Coming soon!
  

My daily-use bread is some sort of whole grain, multi-grain bread. I really like Pepperidge Farms's Natural Grains loaves and several of Arnold's Whole Grain Classics, but nothing beats a loaf of bread I've baked myself. Even my kids have come to agree. Finally. Let me tell you, that was a hard-won battle! Thank God I have never had to wean them off of Wonder bread! That stuff is like crack, and about as good for you.

One of my favorites, great as toast, the base of a grilled cheese sandwich or just by itself, spread liberally with herbed butter, is this hearty multi-grain bread.

Multi-grain Bread

Ingredients:

• 2 ¼ tsp dry yeast
• 1 ½ cups bread flour
• ¾ cup whole wheat flour
• 3/8 cup oatmeal
• 3/8 cup multi-grain cereal, like Hodgson Mills or Bob's Red Mill
  
• 4 heaping T gluten
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 3 T honey or agave nectar - I've come to prefer the subtler flavor of the agave nectar
• 1 ½ T butter
• 1 ½ cups warm milk
• 3/8 cup mixture of sunflower seeds and sesame seeds
  

Directions:

1. If you have a bread machine, place the ingredients inside in the order the manufacturer recommends.
2. Add the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds during the tail end of the mixing cycle (last 10 minutes) before the first rise.
3. I prefer to use the dough cycle, so I take it out once the dough cycle has completed the first rise, punch it down, place it in a loaf pan, cover it with a towel for the second rising (about 60 minutes until it has doubled in size. If it's a cooler season, I often turn on the oven to keep the kitchen warm while the dough rises.
   
4. Bake in a preheated 375° F oven for 25-35 minutes (depending on your oven - start checking it at 25 minutes), take it out to cool on a wire rack and coat the top lightly with butter if you like.
   

Non-machine method

1. Place warm milk (130° F), honey and yeast in a large bowl. Let sit 5-10 minutes until yeast mixture is foamy. Add salt and bread flour, stirring to incorporate.
2. Sift in the whole wheat flour ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. Add the gluten, oats and multi-grain cereal and mix well.
3. Add the sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.
4. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead well until the dough is smooth and elastic (appr. 10 minutes).
   
5. Set in a warm place, cover with a clean dish towel and let rise 1 ½ - 2 hours until doubled in size.
6. Punch down and knead a bit, shape and put in a greased loaf pan, set in a warm place, covered with a towel and let rise for 1 hour or until the crown is about 1 inch above the top of the pan.
7. Bake in a preheated 375° F oven for 25 - 35 minutes. Take it out to cool on a wire rack and coat the top lightly with butter if you like.

Notes:

• This recipe makes a 1 ½-lb loaf. I have adjusted these ingredients upwards to make 2-lb loaves as well;
• If I make the 2-lb loaf, I usually knead it by hand because I'm not sure how large a loaf the bread machine can handle;
• Oddly enough, the machine seems to do best with the 1 ½-lb recipe, perhaps because the pan is vertical instead of horizontal, and has two kneading paddles and a smaller recipe might not get mixed as well as a slightly larger one, though that seems paradoxical at first, it makes sense when I'm looking right at the pan;
• Have I ever mentioned how much I love this bread machine? I get downright gushy over it at times and actively proselytize the Zojirushi whenever I can.

* For an explanation of zakuski, see this great article from Vodkaphiles.com: The Zakuska Table, and this piece from NPR Zakuski: Mighty Russian Morsels, which includes a wonderful recipe for Russian Black Bread. Tweet

Whole Wheat Flatbreads

These are great, satisfying flatbreads that go well with falafel, hummus, peanut butter, curried dishes, just about anything.

Whole wheat flatbread

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 2 1/2 cps warm water
• 5 to 6 cups of whole wheat flour (or a combination of whole wheat and bread flour)
• 1 T salt
• 1 T olive oil

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix together yeast and warm water. Let sit for 10 minutes in a warm place until the yeast mixture is foamy.
2. Add 3 cups of the whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, mixing well until you have a rough, shaggy dough that starts to drag on the sides of the bowl. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
3. Add the salt and oil, mix well and then add the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until you have a nice stiff dough.
4. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead well for 8-10 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic.
5. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and let it rise int a warm spot for 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in size.
Preheat a cast iron griddle or skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Punch down the dough and divide in half. Section it into 8 pieces. Roll out each ball of dough to about 1/4 inch thickness.
7. Lightly coat the griddle with cooking spray.
8. Place a round on the griddle (mine can hold two at a time). Let it cook for 15 second, then flip it. Let it cook for about a minute until bubbles start to form, then flip it back over and let cook another minute.
   Repeat with remaining dough.
9. Wrap the breads in a tea towel to keep warm.

Note: This will smoke the hell out of your house, so have the windows open and the fans cranked, but it is so worth it. Tweet