by Priya | Apr 23, 2011 |
This is almost a weekly meal chez nous – it’s a fast and fantastic meal – wholesome and complete. The Spinach complements the pasta in every way, as we are all well aware, and through in some garlic into it and it takes it to the next level! Simplest recipe Ingredients for -4-6 good eaters 1 pack angel hair pasta 1 can of diced tomatoes or about 4 ripe tomatoes pureed 2 cups of homemade or store bought Arabiatta sauce 1 family pack of frozen chopped spinach 2-3 cloves each for the sauce and the spinach (so 6 in all) 2-3 tsp of olive oil Cayenne pepper to taste (crushed) Whole pepper to taste (freshly ground) ½ Italian seasoning Preparation In a deep pot, boil the pasta using ½ tsp of oil and some salt Drain and keep Heat 1 tsp of olive oil in another deep pan. Sauté the garlic and the peppers Add the tomato sauce/puree and allow it to boil Sprinkle the seasoning per taste Bring to bubbling boil and stop Your pasta is done when you mix the drained pasta into the freshly made sauce Spinach Cook the spinach on stove top (fresh) or microwave to thaw the frozen In a tsp of oil sauté the garlic and some crushed cayenne peppers. Salt to tasteTop with freshly grated Parmagiana before serving Serve hot as side with pasta Enjoy! Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me – initiated by Srivalli of Spicing your life – Thanks Valli Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e) Seven Days of...
by Priya | Apr 22, 2011 |
HAPPY EARTH DAY ALL! IT IS DREARY here, but we are on a well and welcome the rain! I was in panic mode having spend a guilty amount of time going through blogger and commenting and when I looked up at the clock it was past 5pm! Two hungry kids returned from school with great expectations and I had not a thing in mind that could be accomplished in 30 minutes, that I had not already blogged… crises averted when I saw the beautiful rice on Pushpa’s blog, Taste As You Cook It was cinchy recipe wise and I had Manathakali (also known as Black Nightshade) ready to go and go I did with a few modifications – funny how rare this has become considering my mom grew these in her front and back yard and I used to love the tart sweetness of it, plucked straight off the plant, totally organic!!! When i asked my son to take a picture, this is what he did before clicking – An Ernie look alike! Ingredients 1.5 cups of rice 1 onion finely chopped 3-4 red dry chilies crushed 2 cloves of garlic minced 3 tbsp of dried sun berries Tempering with mustard, jeera & Hing Garnish with cashews (optional) 2tbsp of oil Preparation Cook your rice In the meantime, chop your veggies Temper the mustard, jeera and hing Throw in the crushed garlic and chopped onions And finally the berries Add salt and switch off flame Now cool the rice a bit so that it does not get mushy as you mix it with the curry. Garnish with cashews and...
by Priya | Apr 21, 2011 |
This is another dish where the name was in question as to whether it should laal paneer or Paneer Gulabi – we stuck with Laal because that was really the closer color! It’s actually fun to try out new combos and come up with a name for it. I had made it this weekend and I believe from the feed back I got this was a sixer or at the very least a boundary, in cricket terminology J How or why laal – This time I decided to couple paneer with Beets, not known commonly as a match, at least to my knowledge… Of course, paneer took on the lovely red hues of the beets and what resulted was Laal paneer . The sauce I used for this was Long Red peppers that are now available at Sam’s. I used some green chilies and a touch of garlic and rosemary and sage to this. No spices are required really for this dish because the beets have an all too distinctive flavor and aroma and it is hard for any of the other spices to compete with that. My recipe Ingredients 6 beets washed, peeled and cubed 1 pack of Nanak Paneer cut into ½ inch cubes 2 tsp of Suvaiyana Chennai curry powder (or other) 1 tsp Suvaiyana North Indian Garam masala (or other) Salt For the Sauce 4-6 long red peppers cut in 1 inch rounds Chilies – 2-4 (per taste) 2 cloves of garlic A sprig of rosemary and sage 1-2 tsp of oil 1 tsp turmeric Preparation Step 1 The Sauce Heat the oil Throw in...
by Priya | Apr 20, 2011 |
This was the inspiration for the day – end result – 100% satisfaction Served it with red pepper thogayal/chutney Simple pleasures last longer folks! Ingredients 1 cup instant oats The crumbs of 6 toasted bread slices (about 1 and ½ cups) ¾ cup of sooji rava 2 cups of thick buttermilk Salt Grated carrots 1 serrano pepper (just for fun) Crush cilantro 1 tsp of baking soda Tempered with urad dal, mustard seeds, and a pinch of asafetidaPreparation In a food processor blend the cold hard toast into a fine crumble Add the instant oats and run them together once more Pour into a deep bowl Add the cream of wheat (sooji/ravai) Salt Gently stir in the buttermilk until all of the batter is one consistency and no dry flakes around With a lemon zester, grate the Serrano pepper, crush cilantro and the carrots into bowl Mix in Temper in 1 tsp of oil the mustard, urad dal and asafetida until the mustard pops and the urad dal turns golden. Add to the batter Grease the Idli pans Pour and steam for 10 mins Allow them to cool before scooping the idlis Serve hot with chutney/sambar of choice In Pictures Crumble the toast Add the oats and spin again Mix ingredients in buttermilk and add grated veggies Add the thadka Pour batter in the Idli mold Serve Hot Day 3 of the Blogging Marathon Check out my Blogging Marathoners doing Group 3 BM#4 along with me Diabetes Diet/Management: Kamalika, Smitha, Suma Kid Friendly Recipes: Anusha, Cool Lassi(e) Seven Days of Soup: Priya Suresh Seven Days of Indian Bread: Jayasree,...
by Priya | Apr 19, 2011 |
Quinoa is rapidly becoming a good substitute for rice in our home – It has a very distinctive taste and luckily one that all of us, right down to my toddler love. It actually tastes good with sambar, rasam, morekozhumbu , kootus and vetha kozhambu – It is protein packed and even smaller amounts tend to fill you up quickly . This seed is a keeper! For those who have been following and reading my blog, you know that I have adopted some sneaky mom tactics in infusing veggies in just about every food, from pasta sauces, to upmas to chappatis and idli-dosais! Not that we don’t eat cut veggies – in fact veggies and curries are our sustenance, but those dishes more known to be veggie free like pongals and upmas, I use veggie juice as my base, so none of the goodness of the veggies is compromised on or eliminated. I used all of the juice and the fibers – do not strain out just the juice. Quinoa also cooks better in a pressure cooker, with lot less water than you keep for rice and a lot less time to cook as well. So here is my recipe – I presented this to you in my apple plates J Ingredients 1 and ½ cups of Quinoa 1 cup of water Juice of 1 carrot, 1 tomato and 1 red bell pepper 1 chili Thakda spices of choice – I used only mustard and asafetida and a little turmeric Salt to taste 1 tsp of olive oil or other ½ cup grated coconuts A few cashews (entirely optional)...
