{"id":4580,"date":"2018-11-19T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2018-11-19T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/?p=4580"},"modified":"2021-10-22T11:20:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-22T15:20:28","slug":"test-kitchen-saag-paneer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/2018\/11\/19\/test-kitchen-saag-paneer\/","title":{"rendered":"Test Kitchen: Saag Paneer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Easy, healthy recipes tested for you weekly at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen<\/h3>\n

Caroline Kohler, Dietetics Student, SAR \u201919<\/strong><\/h5>\n

About the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen:<\/em><\/strong> We\u2019re all about making healthy taste delicious here at Sargent Choice.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019ve teamed up with faculty-in-residence Dr. Karen Jacobs to offer students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to trial and taste-test new Sargent Choice healthy recipes each week at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen.\u00a0 Dr. Karen Jacobs invites students of all majors (not just nutrition) into her home on Boston University\u2019s campus to cook up a recipe developed by Sargent Choice Registered Dietitian, Jennifer Culbert.\u00a0 Feedback from the weekly Test Kitchen gets incorporated into future Sargent Choice recipes and helps shape the face of healthy dining at BU.<\/em><\/p>\n

This week\u2019s Sargent Choice Test Kitchen happened to fall on Diwali, an Indian holiday celebrated with a festival of lights, so we enjoyed the traditional Indian dish saag paneer. Warm, creamy, and subtly spiced, this recipe was fun to make and even better to eat.<\/p>\n

What is Saag Paneer<\/h4>\n
    \n
  • \u201cSaag\u201d is a word that refers leafy greens commonly found in India, such as spinach, mustard \"\"greens, and collard greens. In this recipe, it\u2019s referring to spinach\u2014lots and lots of spinach.<\/li>\n
  • Paneer is a firm cheese used in many Indian dishes. Made in with a similar technique as ricotta, it has a mild flavor and pairs well with a variety of sauces and other dishes.<\/li>\n
  • Paneer is most commonly available at grocery stores that have large international sections, but if you can\u2019t find paneer, you can use firm tofu or halloumi cheese. We used tofu at our test kitchen.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    What We Liked<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • This recipe is absolutely packed with spinach. We made a quadrupled recipe and used six big boxes of spinach. We were amazed that it all fit in one pot! Spinach is an excellent source of iron, vitamin K, and vitamin A, and this recipe makes it easy to gets lots of leafy greens into your meals.<\/li>\n
    • The spinach mixture was creamy and had lots of different spices. Combined with brown rice and the tofu, the dish was warm and delicious. Everyone was going back for seconds of spinach!<\/li>\n
    • Using buttermilk and Greek yogurt is a great way to make the dish creamy but still low in fat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Tips and Tricks<\/h4>\n
        \n
      • Browning the tofu in a little bit of olive oil gives the tofu a great texture. Even those who don\u2019t normally like tofu tried it and loved it! Brown on one side for a few minutes without stirring or flipping, and then flip to brown on the other side. Then remove from heat and set aside. Use the same technique for paneer as well.
        \n

        \"\"<\/h4>\n<\/li>\n
      • We accidentally added the buttermilk before the spinach and flipped those two steps, but it worked out great! It\u2019s ok if you get the steps out of order since it all goes in one pot. We even found that the buttermilk helped the spinach wilt faster.<\/li>\n
      • If making a doubled (or in our case, quadrupled) recipe, you may have to add the spinach in small batches. Let a couple handfuls wilt and then add more so it all fits.<\/li>\n
      • We added yogurt into the pot to thicken the spinach mixture and saved some to add on top of the dish. We definitely recommend the finishing touch of more yogurt!<\/li>\n
      • This saag paneer is great by itself, and the spinach mixture could also be a great addition to another dish. You could use it with rice and chicken, or even on a sandwich if you drain the excess liquid. This recipe is overall a great way to add spinach into your diet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Sargent Choice Saag Paneer<\/h3>\n

        Yield: 6 servings
        \nRecipe modified from 101 Cookbooks<\/p>\n

        Ingredients:<\/strong><\/h4>\n

        1 \u00bd lbs fresh baby spinach, well washed and dried
        \n2 tablespoons olive oil\"\"<\/strong>
        \n8 ounces paneer cheese, cut into \u00bd-inch cubes
        \n2 medium onions, finely chopped
        \n\u00bd teaspoon sea salt
        \n3 medium garlic cloves, finely chopped
        \n1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
        \n1 tablespoon spice mixture* see below
        \n\u00bc teaspoon turmeric
        \n1 cup buttermilk
        \nDollop of plain yogurt (optional)
        \nFresh lemon to finish, and toasted sesame seeds to sprinkle
        \nCooked brown rice for serving<\/p>\n

        Directions:<\/strong><\/h4>\n
          \n
        1. Chop the spinach well, and set aside in a large bowl.<\/li>\n
        2. While you\u2019re chopping spinach, cook the paneer in one tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Make sure the paneer is in a single layer and use a spatula to flip it regularly so all sides get deeply brown. This typically takes 7 minutes or so. Remove from the pan and set aside.<\/li>\n
        3. Heat the other tablespoon of olive oil in your largest soup pot. Add the onions and salt, and saut\u00e9 until the onions soften up, five minutes or so. Add the garlic, ginger, spice mixture, and turmeric. Cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant and nicely combined \u2013 a minute or two.<\/li>\n
        4. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the spinach to the pan all at once, if possible. Cook, stirring all the while, until the spinach is collapsed and wilted, a couple of minutes. If you need to add the spinach in batches (adding more spinach as it collapses), that is fine \u2013 just do it as quickly as possible.<\/li>\n
        5. Stir in the buttermilk and yogurt and heat gently while stirring. If the mixture seems dry, add more buttermilk a splash at a time. Add a generous squeeze of fresh lemon juice, stir in the paneer, sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.<\/li>\n
        6. Spice Mixture: Use a mortar and pestle or spice grinder to grind the following spices as finely as possible: 2 tablespoons cumin seed, 1 tablespoon coriander seed, 2 teaspoons mustard seed, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 1\/8 teaspoon cardamom seeds, 3 whole cloves. Store in an airtight container and use as needed.\"\"<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

           <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Easy, healthy recipes tested for you weekly at the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen Caroline Kohler, Dietetics Student, SAR \u201919 About the Sargent Choice Test Kitchen: We\u2019re all about making healthy taste delicious here at Sargent Choice.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019ve teamed up with faculty-in-residence Dr. Karen Jacobs to offer students a one-of-a-kind opportunity to trial and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15032,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[8,12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15032"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4580"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4593,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4580\/revisions\/4593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/scnc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}