Test Kitchen: Palak Paneer

My friend Alexandra had been following my cooking adventures via Facebook updates and requested that the next time she was in town, she get to partake. She's is a vegetarian, which lent itself well to my favorite: Indian food!

I'd made palak paneer on several occasions, but had never been able to get the seasoning quite right. This time around I doubled what the recipe called for, and even still Alexandra felt it could use more. Plus, she likes things spicy.

We also had the scotch & cheddar fondue, again. I'm really loving that recipe. And Alexandra had just been in Scotland, so it fit.

Palak Paneer is just spinach cooked with delicious Indian spices, paneer (an Indian cheese similar in texture to tofu), and some vegetables. It's perfect for vegetarians.

The All Recipes listing calls for ricotta. If you can't find paneer at your local Indian grocer, you can use ricotta or even tofu. The taste won't be wildly different.

I followed the recipe exactly the first time I made it, but it came out kind of bland. The next few times I played with the ratio of cumin, turmeric, and coriander--even added salt (plain salt, not my trusty Adobo!). It was always just okay.

This round, as I mentioned above, I doubled the spices. The taste was still not "right." It's good, but I want a little more heat, a little more flavor. So this will definitely return for a another round at some point in the future.

There are plenty of variations of this recipe all over the internet. If you decide to experiment with this, please comment and let me know how it turned out for you.