Ginger Sesame Watercress Soup

The first legit snow day. Kids are home today and tomorrow has been declared a holiday already. Outside 10 inches of snow waits to be shoveled and my Canadian man has geared up to shovel, since the man who blows snow for us has just undergone a knee replacement surgery. And, it had to be the heaviest snow!  So my older daughter gears up too, to help. She is excited to be out as is the little one heavy snow makes good snow people . So booted and jacketed from top to toe, the three head out each on their personal pursuits. I am at home trying to get my valentine's project for my kiddos, esp the little one finished - this is a big deal in our house and for some reason the kids have always been into it, the girls especially. And I try to draw energy from their enthusiasm and end up making Nutella cookies with my daughter's help yesterday.

Three hours and some later, I poke my head through the garage door to enquire about lunch and in unison they demand something warm and yummy.  I rifle through the fridge to see what I can rustle up at short notice. Like a scanner that beeps when it spots things, so to my eyes zoned in on the half used tofu, spring onions begging to be eaten before they go rotten, baby carrots and a big whopping piece of ginger. Pulling these out from the fridge I sprint downstairs to my other fridge to see what else catches my fancy and voila watercress.
I sprint back up, go to the pantry and get down some TJ vegetable stock. At this point I feel like I was on one of those cooking shows where they assign you one ingredient and you had to race to come up with some ideas around it.

I place my big pot on the stove, threw in some olive oil to sauté the veggies and then just like the last few clicks of a rubric's cube, things fell in place so naturally and believe you me, I have never heard my hubby rave so much about anything quite as much as he did about the soup. He also insisted I blog it right away so that I would archive the recipe for keeps.

RECIPE
For 6 hearty portions
Can be made in 10-15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1medium bunch of watercress (as sold in whole foods)
• 6-8 baby carrots slit in 4 
• Half pack of extra firm tofu  cubed (Trader Joe brand)
• 1carton of vegetable broth (Trader Joe brand)
• 4 stalks of spring onions finely chopped
• 2 inches long and as thick of a ginger piece chopped roughly
• 1tbsp of sesame seeds (white or brown)
• 1tsp of olive oil

For the flavoring

• 1 heaped tbs of peanut butter
• 1tbs stir fry Szechuan sauce
• 1 tbs Sriracha sauce
• 1 cup of water

Method

1. In a pot, add olive oil and the sesame seeds. 
2. When they start turning golden, add the veggies and stir in high heat for a minute before lowering to a simmer
3. In a blender, add the chopped ginger to half the carton of veggie stock and blend smooth
4. Add to the pot and allow the veggies to cook in the ginger broth. Add also the rest of the broth. 
5. In the same blender, add the water, and all the flavoring ingredients and blend until smooth.
6. Now add this to the boiling soup
7. Allow the whole soup to boil for 2-4 minutes before taking off the flame.
8. Serve hot

I guarantee you that this will be a super hit plus it is such a quick recipe.

I have another wonderful preparation to share with you next time - until then stay warm or cool as the case may be.

Baked Zucchini Noodles with Pistachios and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Ever since I learned how, I have been making these and absolutely LOVE it  and make it at least once in 2 weeks - It is healthy, guilt free and what's more so tasty - dress it up with your favorite nut, some of your favorite cheese and if you want sauce and you've got yourself a wholesome no carb meal

For making these you need the sharp julienne peeler which will strip you zucchini into thin noodles - be mindful, these instruments are viciously sharp so please use caution while using it

How many zucchini's you use depends on how many people you are making for - I used 3-4 for  4 of us - While stripping, stop when you come to the seedy part of the vegetable. By then it will start breaking anyhow.

Instructions
Strip, arrange in a baking dish; crumble cheese, sun dried tomatoes and toss in some walnuts, some pepper - Do not salt now or it will become watery … salt before eating.

I broiled for 15 -18 minutes or until the cheese has melted - BTW, I used some goat cheese. SO GOOD!

Enjoy and repeat :)

Macaroni with Spinach sauce

Today I made a resolve to get back to blogging, if only for the sake of writing, an exercise like all others, that needs to be kept up, if I don't want to stagnate…which is pretty much what I've been doing in this department. And that calls for time-managements and less over-committing of my time to other far less useless pursuits - by this i mean my recent addiction to angry birds friends - an online game that is exciting because you are playing against somebody, but also stressful because each time your high score is beaten, you want to up it and in this way end up spending good time that is better spent writing about how I waste it :)

Oh well, like a writer's block, I have suffered from a blogger block - We grew so many veggies in our garden this past summer and I have cooked like the dickens but somehow have not felt enthused to sit and blog them or crop my pictures. Did I mention to you among other things, I have also started working at the market, selling crepes, aka masala dosas. This has been a awesome outlet for me and I get to do this with my older kiddos, an icing on the cake!

And I have been traveling to exotic Espana :) The most wonderful experience with the dance and the spanish Guitar that I have fallen in love with verily-  AND...folks of all the countries I have visited in Europe and elsewhere, including the US where I live, I have never seen cleaner public restroom anywhere but Spain. Impeccable until you read the Madrid airport of course  - Even the Spanish cannot keep up with the world's dump in their busiest airport!  I am not about to make this a travelogue but I would like to share some pictures with you all, assuming of course, that I still have an audience out there who is interested in reading what I have to write. Oh God, please be there :)

In any case, we returned home only to fall right back into parental duties of driving, cooking, baking for school events, cooking cleaning etc… not my idea of fun - the US way of life - sigh - especially because I know better lives can be gotten (in some ways) back in my home country. But that's a topic for an entirely separate lament.  What I meant to say is I've literally had no time to recover from jet lag, what with the whole house sniffling -cos t'is the season for the sniffles, being fall and all.

Another hurried dinner day before I have to run my girls to their music dance and whatever else class. Thinking on my feet and thinking simple is becoming second nature to me, in so far as daily dinners are concerned. This is not to say they are not made with love or with an element of the exotic. Like on election day when i said - ok it's going to be macaroni and…. went racing down to the basement where our old fridge houses additional supplies of milk veggies and miscellaneous. Saw a box of fresh spinach and quickly, easy as abc it struck me to me a sort of spinach pesto to go with the mundane macaroni.

So I got the garlic, the spinach, a red chili or two, and a fistful of pine nuts. But to make it more wholesome, I added a can of campbell's mushroom soup and a 1/2 cup of milk - brought it all to boil and then ground them into a fine sauce. I then threw the macaroni into it and added some grated parmesan to the plate as I served it out. A simple healthy and delicious meal. The kids enjoyed it and I had it all made in less than 20 minutes. Now this is what I call a win-win situation :)

I am going to try this out with other veggies and will keep you posted as I make them

Will be back with a a spanish recipe and some pictures soon.

Brussel Sprouts and Peanut Stir Fry

Sometimes, we can underestimate the quantity a certain vegetable can shrink to when steamed/cooked - Such shrinkage happened with the Brussel Sprouts that made the other day - Not enough to feed 2 adults and two perpetually hungry teens - So I did the next best thing - got creative and decided to boil some peanuts and bung it in. Could've well created the best combo ever with the baby cabbages. Enjoy this simple and simply delicious curry by itlsef or with some rasam or even chapatis.

Ingredients

• Brussel Sprouts
• 1 cup of  raw peanuts boiled
• 1 tsp of sesame seeds
• 2 red chilies
• 2tsp of olive/sesame oil
• cheese optional

Method

1. Dice into 4 and steam brussel sprouts for about 10 minutes
2. Boil peanuts simultaneously
3. In a frying pan, add the oil and splutter the sesame and red chilies
4. Add the sprouts and the peanuts along with some salt
5. Sprinkle a tsp of water and keep closed and cook for a couple of minutes
6. Serve as is or as side
7. As an Entree this could be served with freshly grated Cheddar  (extra Sharp) and /or Mozzarella melted or plain

Enjoy the goodness of this curry with the greatest relish

Sweet Potato and Hazelnut Soup

Mama Mia - Looking for a gourmet soup to put together for a wonderful evening together with friends, here is a fabulous soup - The hazelnuts gives this soup a creamy and delicious finish and for sweet potato lovers like me, this was a match made in heaven. 

Ingredients

• 5-6 medium sized sweet potatoes washed and steamed
• 1/2 medium red onion chopped
• 2 cups of water
• 1/2 cup hazle nuts
• 2-3 green chilies (optional)
• 1tbsp chopped cilantro
• 1tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan
2. Add the green chilies and the onions and sautee until onions are golden
3. Mash the sweet potatoes and add to the pan
4. In a pan, roast the hazelnuts for a minute, no more
5. Add to the curry and stir in
6. Add salt and cilantro and stir like a dry curry for a couple of minutes
7. Now add the water and cook until the water boils
8. Remove fro  flame
9. Cool a bit and grind

I stuck a tortilla for the picture, but actually served it with delicious olive bread (a house favorite) from Trader Joe's

Enjoy

Garnish with cilantro and olive oil or as desired

Cheers, Until next time - this will go to Avant Garde Cookies soup de mois!

Sabudana Khichdi - A Maharastrian staple sensation :)

This is one dish I have had several times at my sister's home in Pune and loved. I have been told that tapioca is a high calorie grain and if not done in a proper manner, this khichdi could be an oil guzzler - I have had a couple of sticky gooey efforts in the past simply because I refused to use the oil, but I'll be darned if I did not do it my way and yet make a hit of it - recently had it at someone's place who happened to be from Maharastra and I asked her and she led me to none other than Divya of Chef in You fame - I checked it out and the realized the two Key things to do to make this are
1) you must use the big sabudana for this dish and 2) you must soak in water just covering the top of the tapioca overnight or for a minimum of  5-8 hours

Garnish, spices, herbs etc are changeable and up to personal preferences. But peanuts are a must :)
It turned out spectacularly and I am happy that this ghost will rest, conquered - booyah!

Serving size -4-5
Ingredients

• 1.5 cups Sabudana (tapioca) soaked overnight in water barely covering the pearls
• 1/2 cup crushed peanuts
• 1 med. onion
• 1/2 cup grated coconut
• 3 spicy green chilies
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• curry leaves
• 1tsp of olive/sunflower/corn oil

For tempering

• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• a pinch of asafetida

For garnish

• Finely chopped cilantro

Method

1. Loosen the soaked tapioca pearls to separate
2. In a pan, sautee the urad cumin and asafetida followed up with the onions, ginger and green chilies
3. When they are getting caramelized, add the sabudana and stir in -you will notice them getting translucent from being solid white
4. Add salt at this point and mix well 
5. Follow up with the crushed peanuts
6. In a small pan, lightly dry roast the grated coconut to get rid of the rawness
7. Add finally to the Khichdi and mix well
8. Remove from flame 
9. Garnish with cilantro
10. Serve HOT

NOTE Common additions to this khichdi are finely cubed and roasted potatoes. You can be as creative as you want with your veggie additions. I plan to be the next time around

Enjoy folks until the next time, signing off with love.

Onion & Peanut Chutney

A simple quick and fabulous chutney to accompany dosa, (lentil crepes) Idlis (savory cakes) or even mix in with rice. Having the kids home demands that you be quick and creative - it is always a pleasure to have them home, but the problem usually is coming up with an idea for  a meal more than making it - I am sure all you experienced chefs out there would agree - Rava Idlis and Chutney seemed like a perfect light and simple lunch to make- So we did and it was enjoyable - And what was best is although it is frigid outside, the sun shines even brighter making for good pics - Lately I have made food that I wish to blog in the evening and Jan evenings are usually gloomy and dark even by 5, making for not so great pics of really good food - Will strive to be more efficient with the daylight hours for blogging.

Here is the recipe
Ingredients
1 big red onion
1 handful of roasted peanuts (husk free)
3-4 of your spicy dried red chilies
1tsp of sesame oil

For tempering
a pinch of asafetida
1/4 tsp mustard seeds
fresh curry leaves
1tsp of sesame oil

Method
In a wok/kadai/frying pan heat the oil and add the ingredients and cook until onion is translucent
Cool and grind
Temper with the suggested ingredients

Serve with Idlis, dosas, rice or chapatis - See here with hot and delicious Rava Idlis

Enjoy

Khobz - A Delicious Moroccan Bread

Khobz 

Happy Kanu Pongal to all - feeling quite under the weather - I had contracted Lyme Disease a few years ago and the recurring effects of it are joint pains - My knees are begging for mercy from a sharp shooting pain that has ruled my life for almost 24 hours now! I am quite sick of taking Advil and have resorted to arnica - hoping to get an acupuncture appointment for it Sigh! feeling better after off loading some of my woes!

I had made this bread several weeks ago but it is good I held back posting it for this week with the Avant Garde Cookies, we are making breads - And this is a wonderful addition to any dinner table. Not much different from any other bread in so far as the recipe goes, what sets this apart is the incredible crustiness of the outside shell and the incredible softness of its inside.

How it came about
We had gone to a local Moroccan restaurant, one that has apparently been around for over 3 years and this was the first time we'd paid attention. The food was not great, but good. However, what had me raving was the Khobz - it was out of sight yummy. I did talk to the chef and owner about it and he did not really reveal the recipe, but said it needed a lot of kneading.

More internet searches reveal recipes that were not any different from any other kind of bread. So I took the chef's word for it and kneaded it for an extra long time in my mixer. The other trick was to use lesser water and keep the dough somewhat tough. I did use 1 tbsp of olive oil. While mine was really tasty and well-received, I know I "knead" a lot more to get the same great bread from the restaurant - practice maketh perfect -
One last hint from the chef - rewarming the bread also gives it the crispiness on the shell and the softness inside... so go ahead and give it a try -If nothing else, if you are in Morocco sometime, you'll at least know to order khobz :)  Presenting Khobz

Khobz as explained by about.com

Moroccan and Standard Arabic: الخبز

Khobz is the Moroccan and standard Arabic word for bread. TheTamazight (Berber) word kesra and Tashelhit (Shilha) word agroummight also be used, as might the French word pain.

Although khboz and kesra may mean different things to different Moroccans, both terms are used in a general sense to refer to oven-baked bread which is shaped into round, flattish loaves with lots of crust. During a traditional Moroccan meal, khobz often replaces utensils such as forks or spoons as it is used to scoop up meat, vegetables, sauce, salads, dips and more.

Different types of flour can be used to make khboz. Exactly what goes into each loaf, and how large or small it is shaped, is a matter of personal preference. White, semolina, wheat, rye, bran and barley are some of the flours that might be used, while anise and cumin seeds are just two additions that could be added for extra flavor.

In rural areas, many families use small dome-shaped wood burning ovens to bake their bread. In urban areas, families might opt to bake their bread do so in public street ovens. Both methods give bread a unique flavor and character that simply can't be matched in a conventional oven or by Moroccan bakeries. Nonetheless, very good Moroccan bread can be baked in home ovens, and it's worth trying to make your own bread to complement a Moroccan meal.

Recipe is replicated from About.Com - thank you!

I added some thyme and moroccan spices for flavor

Allow 1 hour rising time. Yields two 8" to 9" round loaves.

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Rising time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour, 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 cups white flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon yeast
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cup warm water
• additional flour for kneading
• cornmeal, semolina or oil for the pan

Preparation:

Prepare two baking sheets by oiling the centers, or by dusting the pans with a little cornmeal or semolina.

Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Make a large well in the center of the flour mixture, and add the yeast.

Add the oil and the water to the well, mixing to dissolve the yeast first, and then stirring the entire contents of the bowl to incorporate the water into the flour.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and begin kneading the dough. If necessary, add flour or water in very small amounts to make the dough soft and pliable, but not sticky. Continue kneading for 10 minutes, or until the dough is very smooth and elastic.

Divide the dough in half, and shape each portion into a smooth circular mound. Place onto the prepared pans, and cover with a towel. Allow to rest for 10 minutes.

After the dough has rested, use the palm of your hand to flatten the dough into circles about 1/4" thick. Cover with a towel, and leave to rise about one hour, or until the dough springs back when pressed lightly with a finger.

Preheat an oven to 435°F (225°C).

Score the top of the bread with a very sharp knife, or poke the dough with a fork in several places. Bake the bread for about 20 minutes – rotate the pans about halfway through the baking time – or until the loaves are nicely colored and sound hollow when tapped. Transfer the bread to a rack or towel-lined basket to cool.

Garden Fresh Salsa

When you have a garden that gives you the freshest ingredients to make the finest salsa, I say, heck why not make the most of it! :) The garden truly is on its way out with the chill of Autumn setting in. Nevertheless that chilies are putting out their last produce for the season as are the tomatoes. The cilantro is still going strong although not for much longer, perhaps and the bell peppers are finally making an appearance. So whatchya waiting for? That's right! Get that salsa made already, will you?!
Chop up some onions and garlic and squeeze some fresh lime juice into the above ingredients and a smidgeon of salt and voila - And what is the secret ingredient? Habanero peppers of course :)
A quarter goes a looooooooong way so be judicious in your use of this dynamite pepper

Ingredients

• 2- 3 medium sized tomaotes
• 1 small onion
• 1/2 cup of fresh cilantro
• 1/2 habanero
• 1/2 bell pepper
• 2cloves of fresh garlic
• 1-2 tsp of lime/lemon juice
• salt

Method

1. Chop all ingredients finely if you do not have a mixer that can make the salsa for you
2. Otherwise, chop roughly and put in your vitamix or magic bullet and let it go until it is blended but retains some texture
3. Refrigerate immediately if you are not using right away

NOTE: this tastes best fresh or made half an hour before use - keep refrigerated for best taste.

Enjoy amigos!

Cashew-Peanut Vegetable Stir Fry

A nutty idea but trust me when I tell you you could eat it all up and hanker for more - This is another of those one the spot recipes - a new take on stir-fry which was hugely successful with the family - The only time it takes is to cut the veggies... and when it comes to cutting multiple veggies, I love to do it since I always get so turned on by the brilliant colors of them all and I feel like an artist creating amy own color palette.

Here are the veggies I used - 

• 1 each of orange and yellow and green peppers
• 1 perfectly juicy and ripe tomato (big)
• 1 big red/purple onion
• 2 small (long) eggplants

Nuts, herbs and spices

• A fist full of 
• cashews, peanuts, sesame
• 2tbsp Spicy Schezwan sauce

Plus 2 tsp of sesame oil to saute the veggies in

Method

In a wok/wide pan, heat oil and throw in the veggies

Cook until tender but still crunchy

Powder the nuts together

Add the sesame whole and the nut powder along with the sauce and stir until all the veggies are coated with these

Cook for a minute or two longer

Serve hot with noodles, chappatis or eat as is.

Broccoli & Coconut Usili Curry

This is the simplest and tastiest and healthiest broccoli preparation if one is looking to Indianize this green and great veggie. It is light and delicious and can be paired with chappatis or rice or couscous or can even be had as is. Takes 10 minutes flat to make and is highly satisfying.

Ingredients

• 2 medium broccoli bunches
• 1/2 grated coconut
• 2red chilies
• 1/2 tsp urad dal
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp oil

Method

1. Grate the broccoli with the bigger scraping side
2. Steam broccoli until tender (not soggy) this keeps the lush green color intact
3. In a pan, heat oil, add urad and brown
4. Add chilies and broccoli and turn in the pan
5. Add the salt and the grated coconut and let all the flavors blend
6. Serve as desired

Green Chili Thokku (Preserve)

My garden was bursting with green chilies and we kept collecting in the hope that we would get some spicy ones - Alas to our disappointment, although they were extremely aromatic and flavorful and raised our expectations no end about its spiciness. Ironically, they lacked the sting which is a quality all of us proper South Indians look for in our green chilies.  We have learnt now that we have to plant the different varieties of chilies at least a 10 feet away from each other because what can happen if you plant spicy ones and sweeter peppers side by side, one takes over the flavor of the other, in our case the sweet dominated the spicy :(  So a lesson learnt for next year. Joke is I had to use store-bought green chilies and a few red chilies to spice up my chili chutney (lol)  But it smells phenomenally good and and tastes incredible, esp with thachu mammu or yogurt rice; a fab spread on sandwiches and with chappatis and cheese...

Presenting to you my Green Chili Thokku/Preserve - also sharing a couple of fun art I made with them.

Ingredients

• 3lbs of Fresh green chilies 
• 4 thai green chilies (not required if you have spicy chilies already)
• 1/2 cup of urad dal
• 1tsp of tamarind paste
• 1/4 tsp of asafetida
• 1tsp turmeric
• 5tbsp Gingely/sesame oil
• salt
• Tempering with mustard seeds

Method

1. de stem the chilies and keep ready
2. In 2 tbsp of oil roast the urad dal until golden brown
3. In a wide pan add 2 tbsp of oil and add the green chilies and allow them to cook until lightly browned
4. Add the salt, tamarind and asafetida to this and stir for a little longer
5. Cool and grind 
6. Add a tbsp of raw sesame oil to the top to keep it preserved. Enjoy in any which way you want to :)

Chili Thokku