Quinoa Tabouli

Quinoa is that wonder food we began hearing about a few years ago. Its health benefits are actually quite unique. This seed, often considered a  whole grain, is a good source of manganese, magnesium, iron, riboflavin, and copper and can help prevent migraines. Its also gluten free. But maybe the best thing about it, is that it contains a complete amino acid protein, which is great for any vegetarian!

Here is a quick and easy way to incorporate quinoa into your day. The original tabouli is a Lebanese salad made with bulgar wheat and parsley. I like the taste of cilantro far better, so I have used that instead. You may use either or a mix of both. Enjoy!

• 1/2c uncooked quinoa
• small bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped finely (I was too lazy for “finely” hehe)
• 3 scallions or 1/2 red onion diced small
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 cucumber, diced
• 2-3 green chilies minced (if you like it hot, otherwise omit)
• 1/4 tsp red chili powder (same as above)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2-3 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• black pepper
• 1/4c of crumbled feta cheese (leave out for vegan)
• 1/4c black olives

Rinse the quinoa in a strainer. Heat 1c water and 1/2c quinoa together in a small pot over med-high heat(I like to add 1 bay leaf and a little salt to the water). Cover. Once it comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10 minutes. Once the little pod splits from the side of the seed and curls, it is done. Fluff with a fork (remove bay leaf) and let cool slightly.

Mix together all the other ingredients in a large salad bowl. Add the quinoa to it, and adjust the seasonings. You can eat it immediately, but it will absorb flavors if you can let it sit for a little while in the fridge. I also prefer it cold.

Sending this to Make it with Mondays-Quinoa and Only Salads by Prathibha and Pari

Rajasthani Methiwale Chole

I got this recipe from Mr. Hemant Trivedi’s Cookery Corner

Here it is:

• 2c well cooked channa/chickpeas
• 2c methi/fenugreek leaves chopped
• 1 lg or 2 sm tomatoes chopped
• 1 in ginger grated
• 3 green chilies
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp chili powder
• salt
• 1/4 tsp amchur powder or tamarind
• 1 Tbs besan flour made into paste with 1 Tbs water

Tempering:

• Ghee or oil
• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp methi/fenugreek seeds
• 3 cloves
• hing

Heat ghee and add the tempering spices. Then add the methi leaves and cook them for a couple minutes. Add salt and all the masalas. Stir and add the tomato. Cook until completely softened. Stir in the chickpeas, and mash a couple spoons of them. Add a cup of water and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the besan paste and the amchur powder. Cook for 5 more minutes then add the coriander leaves.

Sending to Bookmarked Recipes at US Masala
and to Complete my thali- Beans by Taste of Mysore and Joy of Cooking.

Methi Aloo Sabji(potatoes with fenugreek leaves)

Winter is a great season for greens and when JF saw some vibrant fresh methi (fenugreek) leaves at the grocery, he couldn’t resist buying some. Then I have to decide what to cook with them! There are a lot of tasty dishes using methi. This is a really simple one.

• 1/2 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• 2 med. potatoes, chopped
• 1 bunch of methi leaves, plucked (depending on your size of bunch or how much methi you want to add)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• red chili powder to taste
• salt to taste
• 1 TBS dried kasoori methi (optional)

Heat oil and pop the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, then urad dal. Add the garlic and onion and cook till translucent. Add the potatoes and cover to cook for a few minutes. When the potatoes are half cooked, add the chopped methi leaves, spices, salt, and a sprinkle of water (! TBS or less) put the lid back on and continue to cook until the potatoes are done. It should not be watery.

I am sending this to CompleteMyThali- Subji Event hosted by PJ at Seduce your Tastebuds and started by Jagruti

and to Veggie/Fruit of the month: Potato hosted by Divya at Dil Se and started by Priya

Moong dal and Cabbage Palya

Aren’t sprouted moong dal about the cutest things? I sprouted some extra and saved half in the freezer for next time.

Its very easy to do, if you havent tried it. Soak the whole green moong dal in plenty of water overnight. Be sure all the beans have plumped up. Drain the water and place in a strainer or colander and cover with a damp cloth. Once or twice a day rinse the dal with fresh water and cover again with the cloth until the sprouts grow as long as you like.

This is a super simple and healthy side with sambar and rice or chapathi.

Here is what I did:

• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp urad dal
• sprig curry leaves
• 3-4 dried red chilies
• sprinkle of turmeric
• pinch of hing
• 1/2 whole moong sprouted
• 1/2 small head cabbage grated or julienned finely (I used red cabbage)
• 1-2 TBS grated coconut

Boil 1c of water and add the moong. Cook this only for a couple minutes then drain. Just enough to take the raw taste off and soften them, but do not overcook.

Heat a saute pan and add oil. Then splutter the mustard seeds, add urad dal, curry leaves, red chilies and hing. Then add the cabbage, salt and turmeric and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add in the moong dal and about 2 tsp of water and cover the pan, letting it cook for another 10 minutes or so, until the cabbage is done to your liking. Remove from the heat and sprinkle fresh shredded coconut on top.

I am sending this to CompleteMyThali- Subji Event hosted by PJ at Seduce your Tastebuds and started by Jagruti

 

Eggplant Rice – Vangibath

Vangibath is an easy, go-to all in one dish, a filling lunch, and one of JF favorites(mine too). This can also be made with potato along with or instead of the eggplant/brinjal.

• 4-5 small eggplant or, if you can find long green eggplant that is best (sliced thin, finger shapes)
• 
• or 2 potatoes, finger shape cuts
• 1 onion sliced thin
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1tsp urad dal
• sprig of curry leaves
• green chilies slit
• vangibath masala powder
• cashews or peanuts
• cilantro
• leftover rice (2 cups)

Heat oil in a wide pan and add mustard, cumin, urad, green chilies and curry leaves. Then add the onion and saute it well. Add eggplant(if using both, cook potato first until half done, then add the eggplant) or potato, and saute a few minutes. Add salt and then a sprinkle of water and cover with a lid until the vegetable is cooked through. Remove lid and put the masala powder, give it a stir and add in the rice. Mix well and check for salt and masala. Add more if you need to.Sprinkle lemon juice over it. Top with cilantro, roasted cashews or peanuts and I love to have this with raita or yogurt for the creamy and appalam or potato chips for that crunch!

*This month, I am only posting recipes I made using ingredients I had on hand, and this dish was made last month. However, I did make it this month using potatoes, though that is not in the photo. So, it counts, hehe*

Sending this to Akila’s Dish Starts with E

and Healing foods- Eggplant by Siri and Kavita

Vegetable Bean Barley Soup

Continuing on in the spirit of Cleaning out the Cabinets, here is another recipe to use several of my pantry ingredients. This is a delicious soup for a cold winter day (or ice storm as the case may be!).

Here’s what I did:

Soak 1/3c each of adzuki beans, red kidney beans, and black eyed peas (or beans of your choice) overnight

Pressure cook 2 whistles. After cooling, Keep half the beans in the freezer for the next soup!

Cook 1/3 c barley in 1 1/3c water by bringing it to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer for 20 min. In the meantime,

Heat oil, add mustard seeds, 4 shallots (all veggies mentioned should be chopped). Once they turn translucent add 3 cloves of garlic, 2 carrots, 2 red potatoes, 2 dried red chilies and 1 TBS Italian herb blend. Stir it around and saute for a few minutes. Then add 3 big leaves of swiss chard, 2 tomatoes, 2 c vegetable broth, cooked barley and any extra liquid, 1c cooked beans, 1c water, chili paste or hot sauce, 1 bay leaf, salt and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until potatoes are done. Then add in 2c baby spinach, 2 spring onions and a handful of cilantro. To serve top it off with freshly ground black pepper, coarse sea salt, grated parmesan and/or nutritional yeast flakes.

Whew, that’s a lot of healthy goodness!

I was so lucky to receive a lovely gift basket in an exchange party before the holidays. I should’ve posted a pic before! It had some nice french milled soap, a soy based candle, hand cream, a small jar of “holiday” jam, lake champlain dark chocolate bar (used in the tiramisu), and the salt that you see in the picture above. The salt blend has dried lemon peels and fennel seeds and really adds a nice touch to the soup. I just discovered how nice fennel is in soup when I made the potato kale soup last year. If you don’t have this salt, you may want to add fennel seed to your soup. It adds a whole new dimension.

I’m sending this(a tad bit late) to Hearth and Soul event, which already has over 80 entries, wow!

Soba noodles with Thai peanut sauce

My first post of 2011! After quite a day in the kitchen, I might add. For some reason, things were not going smoothly. Simple things which should have been done quickly took a long time. The tofu was sticking to the pan. I added ajwain instead of sesame seeds to the oil and had to start again. It’s okay… all’s well that ends well. And the final product was really good. Much better than greasy take out!

I used the recipe found here, but made a few changes because I found that one a bit bland.

• 8 oz soba noodles (or any)
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup natural peanut butter (unsalted, unsweetened)
• 2 TBS Tamari sauce or low sodium soy sauce (I love this one)
• 2 TBS water
• 1 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 1/2  lemon, juiced
• 3/4 inch fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp hot jalepeno sauce or chili paste
• handful of cilantro/coriander leaves
• few scallion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup shelled unsalted peanuts

Begin by making the sauce. In your mixie or blender add peanut butter, tamari, water, vinegar, lemon juice, ginger, brown sugar, red chili, hot sauce, and cilantro leaves and grind it together to form the sauce. No cooking required!

Boil or steam the broccoli. Boil the soba noodles according to the package (mine says 3 minutes) be careful not to overcook them because they  can turn mushy faster than regular pasta noodles. You could also use rice noodles or spaghetti.

Stir it all together and voila! Done.

I served this with Tofu and swiss chard stir fry inspired by this lovely blogger, but with my own sauce, which I will blog about another time.

We also had some simple chili-garlic-sesame green beans. JF loves the french cut ones. Simply heat oil in the pan, add garlic, then red chilie flakes or broken red chilies and sesame seeds. Then green beans (thaw or heat them first if using frozen) and salt. Instead of sesame you could also toast some chopped almonds in the pan before adding the garlic. That is sooo good.

Sending this to Bookmarked recipes by Aipi and Priya and Hearth and Soul at a moderate life

Crispy Okra Fry

MMM, okra! One of my very favorite veggies (not quite as beloved as eggplant). I like it in almost every form, but I especially love it fried (is it any surprise??). The important thing is to not let it get slimy, and there are a couple tricks to accomplish that. First, wash and completely dry them. If there is any moisture while cutting it releases the mucousy stuff. Then use a dry knife and wipe the knife every so often. Do not salt it until nearly cooked or after frying.

For frying, this is what I did:

Slice the okra lengthwise into thin strips.

In a bowl, mix besan flour with 1 TBS or so of rice flour, red chili powder to taste, pinch of turmeric powder, pinch of chaat masala or garam masala. Cover the okra pieces with the mixture. I havent given quantities because it depends on how much okra you are using. Add just enough besan flour to coat the pieces, not too much. And do not add any water or liquid!

You can shallow fry if you have a very large pan to accommodate all the slices without crowding, or do it in batches. Or you can deep fry them. Sprinkle salt as soon as you remove them from the oil. You can also squeeze lemon over it, and serve immediately.

Sending this to “Only Greens” event  by Sara and Pari

Carrot Cake Pancakes – Vegan

A few weeks ago I was listening to Splendid Table on NPR and someone had mentioned carrot cake pancakes. Immediately I had visions of how I would make them… the softened carrot, perfectly spiced, but with something to make it extra special. Honey butter! yeahhh. Anyway, I promptly forgot about this until recently.

I had a few things in the fridge to use up, and here it was Saturday morning, thinking what to make for breakfast. Then it struck me. Vegan carrot cake pancakes!

Here is what I did:

gorgeous shredded carrot

• 1 heaped cup flour (I like to mix all purpose and whole wheat pastry flour)
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp each of ground ginger, allspice, cardamom
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and powdered clove
• 1tsp baking powder
• 1/2tsp baking soda
• 1/4 chopped walnuts
• 1TBS flax seeds (ground)
• 1/4c water
• 1TBS apple cider vinegar
• 1TBS brown sugar
• 1c thick coconut milk + 1/4c  water(or more as needed) or use any milk of your choice such as almond, soy, etc. undiluted
• @1c grated carrot (or 2 medium)

Honey Butter (not vegan):

West Virginia Knotweed Honey

• 3TBS butter softened
• 2TBS honey
• 1tsp orange zest

To make the honey butter, keep butter at room temperature until softened. Mix in the honey and orange zest until well combined.

*A note about the honey* I love to pick up local honeys when I’m travelling and this is one we got as we were driving through WV. It was labeled as Bamboo Knotweed.  I really like buying different varieties of honey and tasting the unique qualities!

To make the  “flax egg” combine ground flax seeds and water in a small bowl and keep aside for 5 minutes. It works better if the water is warm. After a few minutes it will be a gel-like consistency similar to egg whites.

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl, and stir well. In another bowl mix the flax egg, sugar, coconut milk, and carrot. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined, be careful not to overmix. Stir in the walnuts.

Heat an iron or nonstick skillet until water sizzles when sprinkled on it. Put a thin film of butter in the bottom of the pan. Pour or ladle the batter in the pan, fitting 3-4 pancakes around 4 inches each. Once bubbles appear on the surface and it is golden brown underneath, flip them over. Serve with honey butter and some extra honey.

20 minute Pasta Dinner

This is something I threw together quickly one night. It helps to use the convenience of some frozen veggies. When I cook pasta, I often don’t use the whole thing at once, so I often sometimes freeze the cooked and unused portion. Then the most I have to do is pop it in the boiling water to reheat and use immediately. Saves time! Not really a recipe, but this is what I did:

• Spaghetti noodles (previously cooked and frozen. or cook it fresh)
• Broccoli (frozen)
• Spinach (frozen)
• Olive oil
• Chopped garlic
• 1 shallot sliced thinly
• Crushed or broken red chillies
• Sundried tomatoes, finely chopped
• Feta cheese, crumbled, optional
• Nutritional yeast- optional (great for adding vitamins to a veggie diet)
• Panko breadcrumbs (a TBS or two)
• Italian dried herb blend
• Salt to taste

Bring a cup or two of water to boil. Add in the broccoli and cook till done. Then add the spinach and spaghetti. Once those are thawed and warm, turn off the heat and drain.

In the meantime, heat a saute pan and add olive oil. Then shallot, garlic, red chillies until slightly browned. Add sundried tomatoes… Then the veggie/noodles, stir well. Heat another tsp of oil and add to it the italian herb blend, then the panko bread crumbs and heat until they are toasty. Sprinkle on top of the noodles, along with nutritional yeast and feta cheese. Voila!

This is my entry for Presto Pasta Night hosted this week by The crispy cook.

And also for Vegetarian Foodie Fridays.