Quick Lunch Series: Curry Cauliflower Quinoa Salad

For a while Trader Joes had this delightful item on there ready to eat item list. I picked it up a few times and it tasted delicious and was great for those times when I needed to carry lunch and had nothing planned. Sadly, it disappeared from the stores  at the local store in recent times.

Source: Whats good at Trader Joes

This past week I decided to make some at home and here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 cup rainbow quinoa
1/4  cup french lentils
1 cup cauliflower florets cut small
1/2 diced red bell pepper
1/4 red onion, chopped fine (can also use green onions)
1 tsp curry powder
dash of garlic and ginger powder
salt and pepper to taste
dash of paprika
1-2 tsp coconut oil
cilantro to garnish
healthy dose of lemon juice

Soak lentils overnight or for 8 hours.

Bring two and half cups of water to boil. Add quinoa and lentils. Reduce flame and continue cooking for about 20 minuted or until cooked, adding additional water as needed.

Meanwhile, place a pan on the stove, add oil, and add  onions, cauliflower and red bell pepper. Toss in spices and fry  on medium high.  Alternately, you can roast the vegetables in an oven.

When the quinoa is almost cooked, add the sauted vegetables and continue cooking. Add lemon juice generously. Garnish with cilantro and serve warm.

Makes 3-4 servings for that home-office lunch

What can go wrong with quinoa, lentils and cauliflower?  All in all a delightful lunch. Either at home or in the office really. Bought at TJ or made at home.

Quick Lunch Series: Mexican Cauliflower Rice

Since I discovered Cauliflower rice, I have been enjoying trying different recipes. My favorite so far is the Cauliflower Fried Rice I posted previously.

Whenever I bring a bag of Cauliflower rice, I usually try a couple of recipes. This time wasn’t different. This recipe is loosely based on this one.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of Cauliflower Rice
1/2 cup diced orange and yellow peppers
1-2 tbsp chopped onion
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 jalapeno, chopped
1 tomato chopped
olive oil
salt to taste
dash of cumin
dash of paprika
lemon juice
chopped cilantro

Saute onion, garlic and jalapeno in a pan till lightly golden. Add tomatoes, salt, paprika and cumin and cook for another few minutes. Add peppers & cauliflower rice and continue cooking on a low flame for 5-10 minutes or longer until cooked, and the moisture evaporates.

Drizzle lemon juice and garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve warm with sliced avocado, sour cream, and pico del gayo.

Perfect for a workday lunch!

Links:

Cauliflower Fried Rice

Cauliflower rice and Kale soup

Quick Lunch Series: Cauliflower Rice and Kale Soup

As soon as I came across this soup recipe, I was propelled to try it! Here’s how I made mine.

Ingredients:

1 small Cauliflower, separated into florets
1 bunch of Tuscan Kale, chopped
1/4 red onion chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 carton of light coconut milk or use Almond milk
cumin powder
paprika
curry powder
red pepper flakes
salt and fresh ground pepper
olive oil
lemon juice
3-4 cups of broth or water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss Cauliflower florets in olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Layout in a baking pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare other vegetables.  Heat a little oil in a large pan or dutch oven. Lightly fry onion and garlic till translucent. Add carrot and kale and lightly fry. Add seasoning, coconut milk and broth or water and bring to a boil. Reduce flame and let simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Process the roasted Cauliflower in a food processing, pulsing lightly to create Cauliflower rice. Transfer to the soup pan and continue cooking for another 4-5 minutes.

Season with salt and fresh ground pepper. Sprinkle croutons or pumpkin seeds. Drizzle lemon juice. Sprinkle herbs as needed and serve warm!

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

Patio Garden 2016

I normally get very excited with growing my vegetables in my small patio garden. But lately I have been too busy with work and classes, and frustrated with the squirrels, but not so much that I would give up entirely!

I didn’t try my organic seeds this Spring, but I did finally plant a tomato, zucchini, red bell pepper, fresh herbs: basil, parsley and mint and blueberries!

I still have my curry leaf plant, safely indoors tucked away from the elements!

So far so good…

My Patio Garden this year is not to its usual standard. But I still hope to plant some greens, once there is a breather…

Will keep you posted.

See:

Patio Garden 2015
Patio Garden 2014
Patio Garden 2013
Gardening

 

What’s in a name? Eggplant cooked 20 different ways…

I say  Brinjal, you say Eggplant or Aubergine

Brinjal or Aubergine or Eggplant as it is know in the US was an absolute favorite in my home. Over the years I have tried many recipes. Here is a compilation of some of the recipes I captured in my blog:

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1. Eggplant Curry South Indian Stylle
2. Eggplant and Pepper Soup
3. Eggplant and Tomato Gratin
4. Eggplant Involtini
5. Sicilian White Eggplant Caponata
6. Thai Baby Green Eggplant
7. Stuffed Eggplant
8. Eggplant Chutney South Indian Style
9. Eggplant Rice
10, Eggplant Curry
11. Stuffed Baby Eggplant South Indian Style
12. Eggplant Caviar
13. Quinoa Vangi Baath
14. Roasted Vegetable Lasagne
15. Grilled Ratatouille Salad
16. Curried Ratatouille Salad
17. Chickpea Ratatouille
18. Sri Lankan Aubergine Curry
19. Eggplant Curry
20, Bajji, Pakodi and hot cuppa tea

Fun with Amaranth

Amaranth leaves are found  in abundance in the Tropics and growing up, I loved dal, tamarind stews, and yogurt stews made with them. It was only a few years ago, I started to use Amaranth grain or flour.

Amaranth is not really a grain, but a seed. It is highly nutritious, packed with protein, vitamins and minerals.

Here are some delicious recipes with this seed, flour or leaves that I posted previously:

Amaranth Grain Uttappam

Amaranth Leaves cooked two ways

Amaranth Dosa

Amaranth Orange Cardamon Loaf

Amaranth Pumpkin Loaf

Amaranth Upma

The last few years I have been trying to grow Amaranth and Red Sorrel leaves in my patio garden, and it is challenging as well as highly rewarding!

Links:

Green
Patio Garden: Slow & Steady
Amaranth Plant
Amaranth Grain Nutrition
Health Benefits of Amaranth

Savory Jalapeno, Scallion and Garlic Rolls

I am off to a good start in 2016.  The black-eyed peas and collard green soup was just perfect.

Healthy, filled with all the good of beans and greens to jump start the New Year.

This is my first time baking rolls, and the jalapeno rolls with part whole wheat turned out totally awesome!

I just couldn’t stop eating them, once I got them off the oven 🙂

I am always looking for jalapeno bread recipes without any cheese, and this was an easy to follow recipe.

I followed the recipe as-is from Vegan Richa’s website, with only one minor change: I used a whole jalapeno.  You can find the recipe here. Makes six delicious jalapeno rolls!

Black-eyed Peas and Collard Greens

The last few years, I have started to cook black-eyed peas with greens on New Year’s day following the Southern tradition. This year’s recipe is adapted from here.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup black eyed peas
3 small red potatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 tomatoes
1 bunch collard greens, rinsed and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno, chopped fine
1 in. ginger, minced
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
salt to taste
1tbsp coconut oil
2/3 cup coconut milk
coconut flakes to garnish

Soak the black-eyed peas in water overnight or for 8-10 hours. Rinse and cover with twice the amount of water and pressure cook.

In a large pan, heat the oil. Add onion and garlic and fry for 5-6 minutes. Add ginger and jalapeno and fry for another minute. Add potatoes, curry powder and garam masala and mix well. Chop and process the tomato in a food processor and add to the pan. Mix well.

Add coconut milk, 1 cup water (or broth), the cooked black-eyed peas with any left over water and bring to a boil. Season with salt. Reduce flame and let simmer for 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

Add the chopped collard greens and let simmer for 4-5 minutes till the greens are wilted. Garnish with some coconut flakes and serve warm with some bread rolls.

Happy New Year!

Amaranth Grain Uttapam

I thought I was done with trying new recipes for 2015, and I was wrong. Here’s another keeper recipe.

I wasn’t really sure how this would turn out. I had a lot of Amaranth grain and since making the upma sometime back, I haven’t really tried anything else. On a whim, I soaked it overnight along with urad dal and decided to give it a go. And it was all good!

Amaranth grain is actually a seed, quite minuscule in size and interestingly enough it doesn’t grow in size much when cooked or soaked in water and might be difficult to determine if it is cooked. It has nutty flavor, and is rich in protein, vitamins and minerals.

Ingredients:

1 cup amaranth grain
1 cup urad dal
salt to taste

Soak the urad dal and amaranth grain in water in two separate bowls overnight or for 8-10 hours.

Rinse and blend the urad dal with some water to make a thick batter. Rinse and add the amaranth grain to the blender and continue blending to make smooth batter. Season with salt.

To make uttapam, scoop 4-5 tablespoons of the batter into a separate bowl. Add in your favorite vegetables and mix well. My favorite combination is peas, kale and sliced mini-heirloom tomatoes.

Heat a flat pan on the stove. Add 1-2 tbsp of oil and grease it generously. Pour in the batter and spread evenly into a circle. Cover with a lid and cook on medium low until lightly browned. Flip and cook on the other side.

Serve warm with chutney.

See Also:

Spicy Kale and Pea Uttapam
Brussels Sprouts Uttapam
Cabbage Uttapam
Brown Rice and Whole Black Gram Uttapam
Sweet and Sour Ginger Pickle
Tomato chutney