Stewed or "Red-Cooked" Daikon, 176

Shiu-Min Block's Stewed or "Red-Cooked" Daikon
Hung Shao Lo Bo
China
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes
WW pts (as specified): 2
WW pts (cutting oil to 1 Tbsp): 1
Bonus: easy, quick, one pot
Bummer: daikon tastes kind of "meaty"

I never made daikon before, but this recipe was easy to follow and went well with the bean curd with hot sauce. I don't know if it was my imagination or what, but I thought there was a
meat-like smell while I was cooking the daikon. I thought there may have been something odd on the stovetop, but the daikon tasted meaty, too. This may be a daikon characteristic or I could just have olfactory issues.

Unless I needed to make daikon, I probably wouldn't make this dish again.

Leftovers
The stewed daikon performed well in leftovers

Bean Curd with Hot Sauce

Shiu-Min Block's Bean Curd with Hot Sauce
La Jiao Chieng Chow Dofu
China
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 5-8 minutes
WW Pts (as specified): 4
WW Pts (only 1 T of canola oil): 3
Bonus: one pot, super easy, common ingredients
Bummer: for this I need a cookbook?

I made this with the Stewed Daikon and the sauce ingredients were mostly the same, with chili paste with garlic (I used Sri Racha) added to this dish. I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of hotness, but that was easily remedied by adding more Sri Racha as I ate.

This is a basic, solid stir fried tofu recipe and it's great for someone who is new to cooking or new to tofu. I, however, found myself standing there, looking at the cookbook and having my husband ask me repeatedly why I was following the book. I mumbled something about a project and continued to mix the sauce.

The truth is I haven't stir-fried tofu in a long long time and it used to be such a staple when I was a kid, so I'm kind of glad I had to cook this dish. Maybe I'll make some more tofu off-book, now.

Leftovers
This dish performs well in leftovers and tastes yummy when cold. Some people have concerns about eating cold food, but if you don't have qualms and you don't have a place to heat it up, this dish would be good for lunch straight out of the refrigerator.

Spicy Punjabi Red Kidney Bean Stew, p 47

Spicy Punjabi Red Kidney Bean Stew

Rajma
India
Prep Time: 35 min
Cook Time: 20-25 min plus cook time for kidney beans
WW Pts (spec, 5 svgs): 6
WW Pts (1/2 oil, 5 svgs): 5
Bonus: tasty, cooked in the dutch oven
Bummer: the kidney bean cooking process, tomato chopping (both of which have cheat sheets available in the canned goods aisle of your locally owned and operated market)

I've made this several times in the past and even though Dave doesn't like beans, this dish is a winner. It's supposed to be made with different size red kidney beans, but I only had one kind, so that's what I used. I cooked my beans in the pressure cooker, which cut down on time. I actually peeled and chopped the tomatoes instead of using canned. It took some additional time and I'm not sure if it was worth it because of the minimal flavor imparted by the tomatoes in this dish.

The onions, garlic, tomatoes and other spices are cooked and the cooked beans with their cooking water are added to that. Using the pressure cooker to cook the beans, I had a different amount of cooking water and estimated the addition of about 3 cups, which seemed to be too much, rendering my stew slightly soupy, but still delicious.

A few years ago, I doubled the recipe and brought this dish to a potluck, where it was devoured in no time.

leftover stew with brown rice

Leftovers
As a bean stew, this dish is ideal for leftovers, and, if memory serves me correctly, can be frozen and reheated without harm.

Punjabi-Style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger, p 163

Promila Kapoor's Punjabi-Style Cauliflower and Potatoes with Ginger
Aloo Gobi
India
Prep Time: 25 min
Cook Time: 10 min plus time to fry (or roast or boil cauliflower & potatoes)
WW Pts (spec, assuming 1 ounce oil absorbed by frying): 5
WW Pts (roasting veg w/1 Tbsp oil and using 1 Tbsp oil for cooking): 3
Bonus: darn tasty, loaded with ginger, little chopping
Bummer: two-step cooking method

We made this a few years ago before I started this project, but in the margins of my book, I wrote "can try with roasting (or even boiling)." So, instead of frying the potatoes and cauliflower, I roasted them. Dave thinks they might have been better boiled, but I liked the roasted potatoes in this dish. I didn't not fry them because of the additional fat, I chose not to fry them because of the additional work.

roasted potatoes & cauliflower

mis en place

Without the frying (or if you are a master fryer), this is a very simple dish to make. It's not spicy, but that can be adjusted. It's a dry curry, so it'll sit nicely on the plate and play well with others. I'm sure we'll make this again - probably with boiling, but I'd totally fry it for a special occasion like Hannukah.

just a small bit of leftover aloo gobi

leftovers
I put the leftovers in a pan and heated them in a 250-300 degree oven. There was no loss of yumminess and the flavors had some extra time to mingle. Aloo gobi made with fried potatoes and cauliflower may not reheat as well, but if Michelle is to be believed, aloo gobi made with fried potatoes and cauliflower will leave no leftovers.