Quinoa Dum Biryani

It has been some time since I made this. As usual, wasn’t disappointed. A little variation from the last time, but here’s how I made it this time.

Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
1 cup Cauliflower florets
1 cup beans cut into 1in pieces
1 potato cut into 1in pieces
1 cup green peas
1/2 onion sliced
1tomato chopped
2-3 bay leaves
1/2tsp cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1-2 star anise
4-5 cardamon pods
1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tsp garam masala
1-2 tsp ghee
1-2 tbsp oil
1-2 bay leaves
handful of cashews and raisins
Cilantro and mint chopped to garnish
small piece of ginger
2-3 garlic cloves
dash of turmeric
dash of red chili powder
salt to taste

Bring two cups of water to boil. Rinse and add quinoa. Reduce flame to medium. Cover and cook for 12-15 min or until the water evaporates. Set aside.

Meanwhile place a large pan on the stove. Add 1-2 tbsp oil and let heat. Add turmeric, bay leaves, cloves, cardamon, anise, cumin, and black pepper seeds. Fry lightly. Add minced garlic and ginger and continue frying.

Thinly slice onions and add to the pan. Continue frying. Add chopped potato, carrots, beans, peas, and cauliflower. Mix well and continue frying. Season with salt, garam masala, red chilli powder as desired. Add a little water, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until vegetables soften and are cooked. Add cooked quinoa and mix well.

Heat a little ghee in a pan and lightly fry cashews and raisins.

Season biryani with cilantro, mint leaves, fried cashews and raisins. Serve warm with some raita.

Quick Lunch Series: Pineapple Cauliflower Rice

I have been wanting to try this recipe for sometime now. It is one of those really quick and easy recipes if you have all the ingredients. This is adapted from here. This is how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 frozen bag of riced cauliflower
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup frozen pineapple
1 small onion chopped
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tsp coconut oil
cashews
cilantro

Seasoning: cumin powder, coriander powder, curry powder, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper

In a pan heat oil. Add onion and garlic and fry lightly. Add cumin, coriander and curry powder and continue to fry for 1-2 minutes. Add riced cauliflower, peas and carrots and continue to fry for 5-6 minutes.

Add pineapple and salt and pepper and mix well. Toss in cashews and mix well. Sprinkle some crushed red pepper (optional)

Season with some cilantro and serve warm

Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole

Enchiladas are a favorite of mine. And this recipe loosely based on this one, turned out pretty good. I adjusted the ingredients and quantities according to my preference. Makes about 2-3 servings for that weekday meal.

Ingredients:

3 tortillas (used organic whole wheat)
2 cup frozen Latino blend vegetables comprising of corn, black beans, peppers, and onions
1 cup enchilada sauce (used Trader Joes)
cheese (I used pepper jack and parmesan)
Avocado (sliced for serving)
Sour cream (1-2 tbsp.)
Medium salsa (1-2 tbsp.)
pickled jalapenos (optional)
olive oil
seasoning – salt, chipotle power, lemon chili, and paprika

Heat 1-2 tsp olive oil in a pan. Lightly sauté the vegetables for 5-6 minutes. Season as desired with salt and spices.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 375 degrees. In an oven safe bowl spread out a layer of enchilada sauce. Top with a tortilla, add a thin layer of sauce, add half the vegetables, sprinkle some cheese. Continue layering the tortilla, cheese and sauce until done.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy with some salsa, avocado, sour cream and pickled jalapenos.

Quick Lunch Series: Stir Fried Vegetables

I recently picked up a bag of organic snow peas and immediately thought of stir fried vegetables for lunch. Typically when I cook stir fried vegetables I  use a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables. It turned out pretty good and this was how I made mine.

Ingredients:

Sauce – soy sauce, honey, finely chopped garlic, finely chopped ginger, roasted sesame seeds, crushed red pepper
Vegetables – snow peas, sliced assorted peppers, broccoli, green onions, sliced carrots. Can also use baby corn and mushrooms
Tofu squares
Sesame oil
Salt to taste

Heat a wok or pan on medium. Add some oil and fry tofu until lightly brown. Set aside.

To the same pan add more oil and stir fry vegetables on medium high for 5-6 minutes, tossing as necessary. Add sauce and the tofu pieces and continue to cook for another minute or two.

Serve warm with some jasmine rice.

Quick Lunch Series: Zoodles

After thinking about it for some time now, I finally cooked Zoodles and really enjoyed it. My original plan was to make roasted vegetable lasagna as I cooked my sauce, but considering the warm weather, I was loathe to turn on the oven. Instead I switched plans and decided to try Zoodles casserole instead. I conveniently had a box of frozen Zoodles ready to use! Here’s how I made my Zoodles.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
5 Roma tomatoes
1/2 onion chopped
3-4 garlic cloves chopped
some fresh basil leaves
olive oil
salt
cayenne pepper

Zoodles:
olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves minced
chopped onion (optional)
Cheese (I used sliced pepper jack)
salt to taste
some fresh basil sliced
1 pack frozen Zoodles (or use 3-4 spiralized zucchini)

For the home made sauce check out the recipe here.

Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and onion if using and fry for a few seconds till lightly golden. Add Zoodles and continue frying. If using frozen, continue frying until all the moisture evaporates. Season with salt and mix well. Spread out the Zoodles around the pan. Add a layer of sauce on top. Sprinkle cheese and continue cooking till the cheese melts and most of the moisture evaporates. Makes about two servings.

Sprinkle some fresh basil and serve warm.

Fenugreek Leaves (Methi) cooked two ways

I love all green leaf vegetables. There is always kale and spinach in my fridge at the minimum. Or other greens such as chard greens, mustard greens, collard greens, amaranth leaves, and red sorrel leaves.

But fenugreek leaves is a whole different story.

While I admired the patience with which my mother extracted, cleaned, chopped and used them in cooking and enjoyed the end product, I am lazy when it comes to following the arduous process involved!

I rarely buy fenugreek leaves, but on a rare occasion I do commit and often regret, which was the case this past week. Good news is, these days you can buy fenugreek leaves in the frozen section of an Indian grocery.

The most common recipe that we used to make at home was to cook fenugreek leaves with toor dal (pigeon gram). I scoured the web for other ideas and finally decided to also try a curry recipe with it.

Here’s how I used my bunch of fenugreek leaves.

Peas, Methi Malai (Creamy Peas & Fenugreek Leaves Curry)

3/4 bunch of fenugreek leaves, extracted, rinsed and chopped
1 cup frozen peas, washed
1 small onion chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
small piece of ginger, chopped
2 Roma tomaotes, blended
3-4 tbsp of sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1-2 tsp oil
dash of tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Extract, rinse, chop and set aside the fenugreek leaves.

Heat oil in a pan. Add tumeric and cumin seeds and fry till lightly brown.  Add onion, garlic and ginger and fry till lightly brown, about 5 minutes. Add peas, and fenugreek leaves and continue flying for another 1-2 minutes. Season with salt and spices as desired.

Add milk, sour cream and a cup of water. Bring to boil, and reduce flame and continue cooking for another 15-20 minutes until the curry thickens. This is very lightly seasoned, always adjust seasoning to personal preference. You can also add paneer if desired.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with naan, roti or a bowl of rice.

Methi dal

 

I previously posted the recipe for Methi dal and you find the recipe for Methi dal here.

Note: Fenugreek leaves have a very strong flavor, and unlike other greens, using a whole lot of them in dal can make it bitter. I usually like to err on the lighter side and use less rather than more!

Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens for the New Year

I am a little late in posting this. Following the tradition from the last few years I made black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years Day.

For lunch, I made these Mediterranean flavored wraps with steamed black eyed peas seasoned with salt, sun dried tomatoes in oil, black olives, sliced cucumber, sliced orange pepper, banana peppers and roasted pepper hummus.

For dinner I made soup loosely following the recipe here.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup black eyed peas, soaked over night and steamed
2-3 large collard greens
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 bay leaf
1 inch ginger, peeled and chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup broth (or use use water like I do)
1/2 tsp berbere spice
touch of turmeric
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
cilantro to garnish
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)

If using dry black eyed peas, soak in water overnight. Steam in a pressure cooker with twice the amount of water.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large dutch over or pan. Add bay leaf, turmeric, onion, jalapeno, ginger and garlic and fry till lightly golden. Add berbere, salt, fresh ground pepper and tomatoes and continue cooking for five minutes.

Add broth or water, coconut milk and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium low and continue to simmer for 20 minutes. Add the cooked black eyed peas. Add more broth or coconut milk as needed and continue to simmer for another 15-20 minutes.

Add chopped greens and mix well. Keep cooking for another 5-10 minutes.  Garnish with some cilantro, drizzle of lemon juice  and serve warm with some rolls.

See Also:

Black-Eyed Peas for Prosperity in the New Year
Hoppin’ John
Black-eyed Peas and Greens with Navrattan Spices to start the New Year
Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Best of 2016

I slacked off in 2016. But that is understandable. My schedule was so busy, that I had less time to try new recipes. I did try some new, retried several old, and tasty recipes!

Here are some favorite recipes from 2016.

In January, I  kicked off the year,  with some another fun Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens recipes. This one is a keeper!

I even tried two roll recipes: Jalapeno, Scallion and Garlic  and Sun-dried Tomato and Jalapeno. Both were so delicious, that I continued to make them throughout the year!

I attempted the 21-day beach body diet in early 2016, and here’s my version of Bulghur Wheat Upma, designed to meet the container requirement (Disclaimer: I am not a certified Beach Body coach, so use at your own discretion!)

Another fun recipe in February from the beach body diet was the Brown Rice Paella.

March was all about Cauliflower Nirvana. Period!

Come April, I put all else aside for a two week vacation down under. What an incredible trip!

May is always, typically about Cherries.

I also experimented with other recipes like Mango Coconut Scones

And learnt to make Bagels… Sun Dried Tomato and Jalapeno bagels, of course 🙂

Summertime, to beat the heat, I experimented with many Popsicle recipes, many of them with mango or cherries: my two favorite fruits.

I maintained a scant patio garden this summer, which was plagued by over zealous squirrels. The most exciting vegetable from my patio garden this year  was zucchini!

August was about Savory Sun-dried Tomato Kalamata Olive and Jalapeno bread.

Two fun recipes from September included, plunging into Cauliflower Rice and Stir Fried Vegetables.

And these delicious Cherry Friands!

And another variation of the Quinoa Bisibele Bath.

October, I found Mango Chia Pudding, and it was terrific. It has fast become my go-to breakfast items!

November was incredibly busy. Come December, I did try the Tian.

But, December is all about the holidays… about Airplane Cookies!

Have a very Happy New Year!

Hope to see you back here next year!

Quick Lunch Series: Cauliflower Fried Rice

I have been meaning to make Cauliflower Fried Rice since I saw this Coconut and Lime Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe and this one.  Although, I had a cauliflower at home and could make the rice from scratch, I found a bag at Trader Joes and this is how I ended making my dish.

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower rice
1/4 cup lite coconut milk
some lemon juice (optional)
1 cup mix vegetables – I used shredded carrot, corn, peas, red pepper sliced, broccoli florets and sliced red onion
1-2 tsp chili oil with crushed red pepper
1 tsp coconut oil
drizzle of soy sauce
salt to taste

Heat the coconut oil in a pan. Add the cauliflower rice and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add coconut milk, lemon juice and cook on for 8-10 minutes or unitl the liquid evaporates and the rice is cooked.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan add the red chili oil and stir fry the vegetables on medium high for 5-10 minutes until lightly browned. Season with salt, red crushed pepper, and a drizzle of soy sauce. Mix in the cauliflower rice and serve warm.

It turned out delicious! It looks very much like brown rice, but once you taste it, it was pleasantly tasteful. Especially being cooked in coconut milk gives it extra flavor.

Makes 3-4 servings.

Mediterranean in May

Fun recipes from last May…

Farro & Sun Dried Tomato Foccacia

Eggplant and Tomato GratinRosemary Scented Vegetable Phyllo Tart

Stuffed Tomato

Mediterranean Grain Soup

Baklava

Eggplant and Tomato Gratin