South Indian Spiced Purple Cabbage

Now that it’s warming up, I’m returning to cooking with seasonal produce and doing so simply and minimally so as to let the vegetables shine. I’m on a current kick of cooking vegetables in a South Indian style, which involves just a few light spices and short cooking times. The result is a meal that is not only quick, but tastes fresh and delicious.


Unlike North Indian dishes, which frequently contain onion, ginger, garlic, and garam masala, South Indian food frequently utilizes roasted lentils, mustard seeds, and dried red chilis to provide a light yet distinctive flavor. The mustard seeds are popped in hot oil to release their characteristic flavor, and the lentils are then added to impart the oil with a nutty flavor. Red chilis provide a bit of heat, and asafetida provides an earthy flavor that is reminiscent of but not quite as pungent as leeks or shallots.

Carrot Cupcakes with Golden Raisin Cream Cheese Frosting

I’ve never been a huge fan of carrot cake, but Matt absolutely loves it – it’s what he gets for his birthday cake every year – so I decided to make some carrot cupcakes for his committee meeting the other day. I’ve eaten plenty of carrot cakes, and I’ve made carrot cake one or two times before, but I wasn’t too thrilled with the end result (I will admit that I am very picky about baked goods). I think my main problems with it are that it is frequently too dense, sweet, and/or oily, and it usually contains nuts and raisins, which makes the cake seem more muffin-like than cakey. Also, the frosting is almost always too sweet for my taste, but that’s usually the case with any frosting on any baked good I’ve ever eaten.

To remedy these problems, I added lots of carrots to the batter to give it natural sweetness and moisture, thereby reducing the amount of oil I would need to use. In a non-traditional move, I added golden raisins (which I hate in the cake itself) to the frosting to give it sweetness and texture without having to use a ton of confectioner’s sugar. It came out way better than I expected and the frosting doesn’t taste like raisins at all; it simply tastes sweet, but not in a cloying sugary way. Also, these are the easiest cupcakes to make – no creaming of butter and sugar and no need for a mixer of any kind (although you will need one for the frosting).

Review: Woodberry Kitchen

Matt has been working really hard for his committee meeting (which was yesterday), so I decided that I’d treat him to a nice dinner at Woodberry Kitchen, about which I have heard many great things. Their mission statement (from their website): Woodberry Kitchen features the seasonal best from local growers and emphasizes organic meats and sustainable agriculture. Our goal is to nourish and delight our guests with cooking grounded in the traditions and ingredients of the Chesapeake region.

All photos from Woodberry Kitchen website

The restaurant itself is stunning. It is situated in an old foundry, and the soaring ceilings, exposed brick, wood, and metalwork give it a rustic yet wholly modern feel.

South Indian Green Beans

I really did not like green beans when I was younger. My mom made them two ways: French cut ones with garam masala and chopped ones with roasted lentils and coconut. My brother loved the former and I recall seeing them on the dinner table very often, but I didn’t like them – they were too spicy for me. She made the latter version less frequently, and I don’t recall really liking them, either. But, like most people, my taste buds grew up along with the rest of me, and now I love them. (Although, oddly enough, I used to really like broccoli but now I won’t eat it, ha!).

My mom has been teaching me how to make more South Indian dishes recently. I feel like an idiot for not having learned to do so earlier because not only is it really delicious, but it’s incredibly easy and quite healthy. My mom gave me the instructions for this one a few weeks ago and I think it is now one of my favorite things to eat.