Rosemary Scented Vegetable Phyllo Tart

One reason, I was excited to try this recipe was that it used all my favorite vegetables, was egg less and used less cheese.

I only made 1/4 of the recipe. The book Vegetarian Times cooks Mediterranean has many healthy recipes, but one downside is that there are only a few photographs of the final product. I don’t know if what I made looks anything close to what it is supposed to look like. I only have to go with the final taste and whether I like it or not. This one was a little difficult, since I was using phyllo sheets and I wasn’t sure how to fold or create a tart.   Methinks pastry sheets might have been good here? The end product was delicious, although I am not sure it looked good and professional. A photograph in the book would have been good!

Either way, I  had used only a quarter of the phyllo sheets to make Baklava, so I could keep the rest to try other fun recipes from the book.

Ingredients:

2 oz of dry, sun-dried tomatoes (I think I used a little more)
1-2 tbsp milk (add as needed)
5 oz of fresh spinach (or frozen)
1.5 oz goat cheese (I used feta instead)
1/4 phyllo sheets
1/8 cup fresh rosemary
1 scallion, trimmed and minced
1 medium zucchini, sliced on the diagonal
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1/4 lb mushrooms, sliced (I didn’t have any)
1-2 roasted peppers, cut long
3-4 oz marinated artichokes
a few basil leaves
pine nuts (I didn’t use any)
white wine (I didn’t use any)
1 garlic clove
olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees F.

Soak sun dried tomatoes in boiling water for 7-10 minutes. Slice thinly.

I used fresh red pepper. So I sliced them thinly, drizzled with olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper and roasted them in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Process spinach,milk, cheese, garlic, scallion, rosemary, salt and pepper until smooth. If mixture is too dry, add more milk.

Place a skillet on the stove, add olive oil, white wine (I used white wine vinegar instead :-)), salt and pepper and saute on medium high heat for 5 minutes. Drain and transfer to paper towels. Add onions to the skillet and cook for 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels. Add mushrooms if using and saute for 5 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to dry.

Line a deep dish pan with phyllo sheets. I used quartered sheets, so I layered them to complete the corners of the circular dish. Brush each sheet lightly with olive oil. Continue piling until all sheets are gone. Fold down the edges over the dish. Spread the spinach mixture over the crust. Add sauted zucchini, onions, mushrooms if using, roasted peppers, sheaun dried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. Bake for 15 minutes. If the crust is browning, turn the oven temperature to 325 degrees F, else continue to bake for an additional 15 minutes until the phyllo is golden and crisp.

Sprinkle with fresh basil, and pine nuts. Tuck in some fresh sprigs of rosemary and serve warm.

Makes about 3-4 helpings.

Spicy Spaghetti Squash with Black Beans

Continuing on the exploration of Spaghetti Squash recipes I came across this one from Whole Foods Market that turned out delicious!

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 cup red onion chopped
1/2 cup red (or any other) bell pepper chopped
1-2 jalapenos chopped (based on preference)
1 cup of black beans (for a change I used canned ones drained and washed :-))
1/2 cup of corn (frozen)
salt and chilli powder
lemon juice
cilantro to garnish
cherry tomatoes (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the spaghetti squash into two halves along the longer side and bake for 50 minutes. Cool the squash and using a fork scoop out the flesh and set aside.

Meanwhile saute the onion and peppers in a pan with some olive oil for a few minutes. Add corn, black beans, salt and chilli pepper and continue cooking for a another minute. Add the cooked squash and lemon juice. Optionally you can add some sliced cherry tomatoes. Leave for a minute or two.

Garnish with some cilantro and serve hot.

You can see the original recipe this is based on here.

Variation on the theme of Red Pepper Chutney (Pacchudi)

Ingredients:
3 red bell pepper chopped
1 small tomato chopped
1/2 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 inch ginger
3 green chillies
Small Bunch of coriander leaves (1/3 of the whole bunch that is sold in market)
1-2 tbsp oil
2 tsp Urad dal
1tsp mustard seeds
6 red chilli
Pinch of asafoetida
salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan. Add red bell pepper, onion, garlic, ginger, and green chilli with some turmeric, asafoetida and salt. Close the lid and cook till 3/4 water evaporates. Stir as necessary. Remove lid and continue to cook till all the water evaporates.  Add some tamarind paste.

In a small pan, fry the urad dal in a little oil. Set aside. In the remaining oil, fry mustard  seeds and red chilli.

Grind half the dal and the red chilli. Add the cooked red pepper mixture and grind to paste.

Garnish with the remaining fried dal and mustard seeds.

Recipe by Mani Lanka.

You can see my version of the recipe here.

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Red Bell Pepper Dip/Chutney

Ingredients:

3 large red bell pepper
1 tsp mustard seeds
2-3 tsp paprika or red chilli powder
1 tsp fenugreek powder (roasted and ground)
2-3 tbsp vegetable oil
touch of turmeric
touch of asafoetida
salt to taste

In a pan heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil with some turmeric and asafoetida powder.  Meanwhile chop the red bell pepper into 1 inch pieces. Add red bell pepper to the oil in the pan and continue frying on a low flame. Add a tbsp of tamrind paste or fresh seedless soft tamarind. Continue cooking until the moisture in the pan evaporates. Remove from flame and cool.

Blend the fried red bell pepper with the tamarind in a food processor.

Heat the remaining oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds and the paprika or chilli powder and fry until lightly brown. Combine with the processed red bell pepper. Roast a tsp of fenugreek seeds and grind to a powder. Add to the red bell pepper paste. Add salt to taste.

Use as dip or with Roti and yogurt for a delicious meal. Refrigerate left over chutney.

Enjoy!