Today's spice is: Sweet Paprika
what a pretty package!
So, I have a lot of paprika. Four varieties to be precise: Sweet (Hungarian), Bittersweet (spanish), Hot (Hungarian), and Smoked (Spanish). Smoked Paprika has really stolen my heart lately, but Mr. Vegan Eats & Treats is a true fan of Sweet Paprika. So, today, I bring you TWO meals featuring sweet paprika - one for Mr. VE&T and one for me.
In particular, Mr. VE&T loves the flavors of Hungarian food, and often asks me to make "Hungarian food" for dinner. I have a pretty good selection of cookbooks that feature international recipes, but very few of them offer indexing by country. For instance, I wish I could just look up "Hungarian" in the index and find all the recipes that are from Hungary in the book. But no! Instead I have to slowly fish my way through, which isn't all that bad, as long as I'm in the mood. I found this Hungarian Mushroom Stew in Olive Trees and Honey, which is a great book by the way. This dish is simple and yummy (even if it does have mushrooms in it) - and the most dominant flavor is definitely paprika. This meal = Heaven On Earth, if you are Mr. VE&T: mushrooms, paprika, tomatoes, white rice. But for me, it's just pretty good.
Lentils in a Sauce*, Tomatoes with Tomato Sauce*
(both from World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey)
*actual excellent recipe names! ha!
I love your theme, I learned a lot reading through your posts. It made me feel like I need to get out more. Really inspiring, thanks.
ReplyDeletei love smoked paprika so much! but my brother and his family visited hungary recently (my sil's mom is hungarian) and they brought me back the real stuff!!!!
ReplyDeletei'm fetching it over the holidays. so exciting!
xo
kittee
I'm pretty sure I've never had Hungarian food, but I'm always down for lentils in a sauce. :-) Somebody should help those Hungarians name their recipes better though.
ReplyDeleteI will have to search out that Hungarian Mushroom Stew. It looks great! Your hubbie may really like FatFreeVegan's Eggplant Paprikash. I made it this weekend with sweet paprika with excellent results. :)
ReplyDeleteHahaha, I just realized you posted Eggplant Paprikash during last year's MoFo!! It is a great recipe. :)
ReplyDeleteBoth meals sound darned excellent to me! Your paprika collection is making mine of two seem puny.
ReplyDelete2 tasty dishes?!?! alright! :)
ReplyDeletei had no idea there was hot or bittersweet paprika. i need to branch out. smoked paprika (and chipotle powder, too) is my fav - i adore it the mostest.
i have heard good things about Olive Trees and Honey - i've gotta check it out. the mushroom stew looks delicious and those lentils are perfect, Amey. crazy easy and super tasty are what it's all about! huzzah!
I love smoked and sweet paprika - both add such distinct flavour that really enhances a dish. Thanks for sharing so many great ways to use both. I have World Vegetarian which is great because those lentils are calling to me.
ReplyDeletexo
Haha, I laugh at 'lentils in a sauce' every time I flip through World Vegetarian! Glad to know it's actually good.
ReplyDeleteAnd I can't wait to stock up on paprika when I'm in Hungary in a couple of months.
Now that's my kind of meal!
ReplyDeleteI love smoked paprika! There's a delicious soup in Appetite For Reduction that uses it & I'm a bit addicted to it!
ReplyDeletePaprika is one of my favourites too! I love it with sweet potatoes! Your foods always make me hungry!
ReplyDelete