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.

Zoodles Week

I had a zucchini and yellow squash that were ready for use. Inspired by the Red Lentil Spaghetti from last week, I went looking for some zoodles recipes and I wasn’t disappointed. I was immediately attracted to this one: Thai Tofu Noodle Soup. Maybe it was because I recently had Panang Curry at True Food Kitchens. I only made minor changes to the original recipe, and it turned out delicious. Served with some wild rice, it was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series.

I still had left over zoodles and the second recipe I tried interestingly enough was also with Thai flavors: Thai Peanut Zucchini Noodles. I did not make too many changes to that recipe as well, other than sprinkling some sriracha, crushed red pepper, and Szechuan sauce. 

Sprinkled with cashews (instead of peanuts) and served with left over wild rice, it too was a perfect entry into the quick lunch series!

See Also:

Quick Lunch Series: Zoodles

Quick Lunch Series: Red Lentil Spaghetti

Last time I was in the grocery I had picked up some organic red lentil spaghetti. Although my original thought was to use it in a traditional pasta recipe, I changed my mind when I came across this twist on one pot Enchilada Pasta.

I did not have all the ingredients used in that recipe. As always, I improvised as I cooked. In the end, turned out great. Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1/2 packet of organic barilla pasta

1 cup of frozen Santa Fe vegetable mix

1 green bell pepper

2 Roma tomatoes

some onion and garlic

some taco sauce

roasted corn and black bean cotija cheese salsa

sour cream

cheese

salt to taste

chili lime and taco seasoning

olive oil

Heat some oil in a pan. Add onion, and garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes. Add peppers and tomato and continue frying for a few minutes. Add salt and other seasoning, and sauces. Mix well. Add pasta whole or break into chunks. Add water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame to medium, cover,  and continue cooking for about 20 minutes or until the pasta cooks and water evaporates. Add sour cream and cheese and continue cooking for another few minutes.

Sprinkle some cheese and serve warm. Makes about 2 servings.

Quick Lunch Series: Quinoa Vegetable Soup

Good recipe when you have assorted vegetables and greens that you want to use off. This recipe is loosely based on this one.

Ingredients:

1 can Great Northern white beans

1/4 cup quinoa

1-2 cups of assorted vegetables (I used bell pepper, yellow squash, carrots, celery)

2-3 Roma tomatoes

1/2 bunch of kale greens

green onions

garlic

lemon juice

salt and pepper

paprika

dashes of dried basil, thyme and oregano

Heat oil in pan. Lightly sauté onion and garlic. Add chopped vegetables and greens and continue to fry for 5-6 minutes. Add quinoa and two cups water (or use broth) and bring to boil. Reduce flame and continue cooking until the quinoa is cooked, about 15-20 minutes. Add more water if necessary.

Rinse and add beans. Season with salt and pepper and other seasoning. Stir and continue cooking for another 5-10 minutes. Makes about 2-3 servings.

Serve warm with some bread. Can also add some cheese if desired.

Mexican Cauliflower Rice with Black Beans

Here’s one more recipe with cauliflower rice that always works…

Ingredients:

2 cups cauliflower rice

1 cup black beans

1 cup corn

3-4 mini tri colored peppers chopped

5-10 mini heirloom tomatoes sliced

some chopped onion

chopped avocado

pickled jalapeno slices

cilantro

salt and pepper

chipotle chilli powder or chilli lime powder

some olive oil

lemon juice

sour cream (optional)

In a pan, add oil and sauté onions, peppers and tomatoes and continuing frying for 4-5 minutes. Add cauliflower rice, season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle some chipotle or chili lime pepper and continue cooking for another 5 minutes. Drizzle some lemon juice, sprinkle some cilantro leaves.

Serve warm topped with some avocado and pickled jalapeno. Can also add some sour cream.

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

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens Chili

Happy New Year!

Over the last few years, I have been cooking black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years day. Each year I try a new recipe. This years is adapted from here. Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 cup black eyed peas (fresh or 1 can)
4-6 leaves of Collard greens sliced
green onions (can use regular onion) sliced
2-3 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno chopped fine
1-2 carrots chopped
2-3 celery sticks chopped
3-4 tomatoes chopped (can use a can of tomatoes instead)
1-2 tomatoes (juice or use tomato paste)

1-2 tsp olive oil
Seasoning: salt, chili  powder (or paprika), cumin powder, coriander powder, oregano, cinnamon, nutmeg, bay leaves

 

Soak black eyed peas overnight if using fresh. When ready to make soup, steam peas in a pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, heat a Dutch oven or large pan with some oil. Add onions and garlic and fry lightly. Add carrots, celery, collard greens, tomatoes and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked black eyed peas, tomato paste, seasoning and 2-3 cups water (or broth) and mix well. Reduce flame and let simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Serve warm with a dollop of sour cream and some corn bread.

See Also:

A. SOUP. A. WEEK. 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
BLACK-EYED PEAS AND COLLARD GREENS FOR THE NEW YEAR

Spaghetti Squash Week

Although we can find Spaghetti Squash all year round, I usually am drawn to them in fall. There were many recipes that I wanted to try, although as usual couldn’t get to them all.

My obvious favorite from before is this Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowl. This week I tried two new recipes:  Spaghetti Squash Casserole and a Very Vegetable Spaghetti Squash.

The Spaghetti Squash Casserole builds on a previous recipe you can find here. Here’s how I made the casserole this time.

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash
2 cups tomato sauce
baby kale leaves
some sliced yellow squash and zucchini
cheese (pepper jack and parmesan)
salt and pepper
fresh basil
crushed pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Slice the spaghetti quash and remove the seeds and pulp. Drizzle olive oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper. Place on a baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. Remove and let cool.

You can find the tomato sauce recipe here.

To make the casserole, layer one cup of tomato sauce, scoop out spaghetti squash strands from one half of the baked squash and layer on top of the sauce. Layer some baby kale leaves on top of the squash. Next add a layer of yellow squash and zucchini slices. Add the remaining tomato sauce. Sprinkle sliced cheese.

Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes. Broil for another 4-5 minutes. Serve warm with some bread.

The recipe for the very veggie Spaghetti squash is adapted from here. I used sundried tomatoes, olives, artichoke hearts,  some kale and fresh basil. Sprinkle some feta cheese before eating.

Greek Style Eggplant Stew

This was one of the recipes I wanted to try during chickpea week  and finally did so this past week.  This is based on the recipe found here.

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant, chopped
1/2 orange bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup chickpeas
10-12 baby carrots, chopped
2-3 Roma tomatoes, chopped
Some chopped onion (I tend to use light onion)
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
Ground coriander
Ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
Crushed red pepper
Fresh basil and parsley

If using dry chickpeas, soak overnight and steam cook.

Pre-heat  oven to 375 degrees.

Heat oil in a pan and add onion, garlic, peppers and carrots. Fry lightly for 3-4 minutes. Add eggplant, tomatoes, chickpeas, and spices and continue frying for another 4-5 minutes.

Transfer to an oven safe bowl. Bake for 30 minutes.

Garnish with some parsley and serve warm with some pita bread or ancient grain naan bread.

 

Quick Lunch Series: Chickpea Week

I have been meaning to try these chickpea based recipes for sometime now. Although I always have canned chickpeas ready to go, it is always fun to use dry chickpeas: soak, cook and use! And while you do that, don’t forget to snack on the soaked chickpeas! Delicious!

I soaked some chickpeas during the weekend and steamed them Sunday night, so they were ready to go for the weekday lunches. I did not get to try all the recipes I wanted to, but here’s three fun ones.

First up is Chickpea Salad. I made absolutely no change to the original recipe and you can find it here.

Next up is this Quinoa salad. The only change is I added left over avocado. You can find that recipe here.

The last recipe is an old one but a favorite. This time around I did use artichoke. It is good with artichoke or mango. Check it out here!