Meat n Poultry

Bone broth

9:50 PM


Its wonderful what 20 minutes of brisk walk in a chilly evening can do to your mood. I am not good at selfcare, I have never been. and with two small kid and plethora of work that needs to be done no matter what i hardly get any time to call my own. But this year I made a concious effort to niche out some 'me time' to do things that makes me happy inside out. and the first I did was to commit to a 20 minutes brisk walk everyday. For the kind of lifestyle I have I know I need to go for a more serious commitment but right now am happy with my small step towards my goal. 

But then most days especially the days when I go out with the day light still there the kids love to tag along. That definitely slows me down as they wonder about everything on our way and ask plethora of questions. It's like a full on blabbering session with one running after the butterfly and the other collecting leaves and flowers, playing with a sprig of twig as an imeginary car steering and what not. Those days definitely my 'all by myself' time is lost but I gain another perspective that us mothers  need to be flexible with our self care routine too. Our precious me time might look different everyday but no matter how disturbed it is we need to carry on and there still would be a certain joy. because we always know it in our hearts that this phase soon will go away and we would all be left to ourselves. 

Meat n Poultry

Chicken and Noodle soup

9:31 AM


How many times have you heard the words 'keeping it simple', 'less is more' etc etc. If you are an avid Masterchef Australia fan then you know that it's the best advice that the judges like to give the contestant. Respecting the ingredient, it's colour, form. taste, texture, flavour is the key and developing a recipe to celebrate the beauty of seasonal local produce is the mantra of modern day cooking.

Soup and Salad

Purple potato and Quinoa Salad

8:15 PM


I have been cooking and experimenting more than I usually do these days back in Kolkata. The whole day I just keep opening the fridge, touch the ingredients and wait for my daughter to sleep. And once she does I start working like a maniac, peeling some veggies here, whizzing some berries there. I do all I can to experience these new ingredients. In the hotel I could try only easy recipes like Guacamole sandwich or Chorizo rice. But now that we have shifted to an apartment complete with a big oven, microwave and a huge fridge my experiments is stopping within any boundary.

Last week while doing our veggie shopping I bought a small sack of gorgeous purple potatoes. Yes you heard me right, deep purple pretty potatoes and some Artichokes. I have neither touched or ate these two veggies before so I was definitely excited. My imaginations ran wild and finally decided on making a simple salad with Quinoa, steamed purple potato, sauteed asparagus in a simple Chermoula style dressing. For variation in texture I ended up adding a handful of sunflower seeds.

The artichokes were steamed for a simple snack with dip. We liked this new veggies but were not overwhelmed with the taste or texture the way we are with purple potatoes. It made us feel like small kids to discover something so unusual in colour yet so familiar in taste. We enjoyed our meal with a poached egg on top.

Curry

Tomato Rasam

6:04 AM


My stay in Japan is memorable in many ways. Not only it gave me an insight into living life in a foreign country but also taught the real value of relationship. Near or far ,many times we just forget or to put it more appropriately...the daily rut consumes us so much that we dont think of how special, how blessed we are to belong to a family. but being away makes our heart ache for those familiar touch, caressing voice. for some people its never a home away from home if your family is not around. but then, that is what life is all about. Making adjustments, finding happiness in a distant land makes us stronger. and having good friends makes the task much more easier. They are family when you are away and provides the comfort of home away from home when you seek.

I was blessed to find such friends in Japan. Lets call them S and T. We lived in the same apartment and the fact that all of us had kids of almost same age helped the matter initially. With the onset of heavy cold winter our friendship became more cosier. Every evening we used to meet at one of our apartments to have our cup of tea or coffee. While the boys played, fought, screamed and patched up amongst themselves we used this time to unwind from the daily grind. We shared everything from life to jokes to annoying habits of our husbands and more often than not food. We tried to support each other with whatever way possible. If one was not well the other did the grocery or looked after the kids. 

Soup and Salad

Leek and Potato soup with Pan roasted Broccoli

11:21 AM


Ohh! so it finally rained.
Though its not Monsoon yet but It gave this city, reeling under severe heatwave a much needed respite.
Also to a mother who was getting insane day by day...
and to two bored kids, being at home all the time...
and to a helpless husband who had to face all the mood swings in the evening...
and three a/c s who had to hum alternatively to keep everyone's pressure under control...

Soup and Salad

Roasted veggies, Purslane, Chickpeas and Herb Salad

7:30 AM


If you are still dealing with the leftover Diwali snacks and sweets and thinking of returning to your regular healthy lifestyle then check out this recipe. This light salad is a power pack of taste, nutrition and textures. The juiciness of the cucumber and carrot ribbons, the lightly grilled vegetables with their intense flavour and caramelized sweetness, The peppery taste of the purslane leaves, the soft yet succulent boiled chickpeas pairs perfectly  with the fresh herb dressing. Its sweet, its juicy, its spicy and very very flavourful. Try this out for a perfectly refreshing lunch and feel the lightness in your body.
Purslane on my windowsill

One Pot meals

Roasted Beetroot Soup

12:43 AM



Beetroot and I have a hate hate relationship and the hating part solely lies with me. In this matter, no one can blame the beetroot when it selflessly imparts such gorgeous reddish hue to any dish, even to my not so appreciating teenage fingers when I used to cut them for my mom. The only dish that I can fathom with beetroot in it would be the vegetable chop but in curries???? Forget about it.

Noodle and Pasta

Miso soup with noodles and vegetables

9:33 PM



Hope you all had a wonderful Diwali with your near and dear ones. Mine wasn’t bad either. Though away from home and all the lights and sounds that make Diwali so special but still managed to celebrate it in a cosy way. Cooked some festive food, decorated the apartment with fall leaves and flowers, lit some candles and enjoyed shopping with my lil one. He has been my constant companion on this trip. The whole day we roam and explore various parts of the city, play in the parks, do picnic on the bank of a nearby river, watch movies, shop for our daily needs and pass time in various supermarkets and malls that dot this locality. Though its not rosy all the time. Sometimes he is angry for not buying him what he wants and sometimes am upset when he nags too much. But all in all its fun being with him. More so because now he has his own perspective to everything.

Meat n Poultry

Winter Warmth: Warm Mediterranean Salad

11:07 AM

Here is a quick post to bring you some winter comfort. A perfect bowl of warm vegetable and egg salad. We love this salad and it fits the bill perfectly when you don’t want to slog in the kitchen for hours to prepare dinner. Just cut the veggies thickly, blanch them in salted water, toss with some olive oil and herbs and there you are, with an warming meal. Serve in pretty bowls, curl up on the sofa, wrap your finger tightly around it and enjoy the goodness.

I prepared this long back in Bangalore, when the single cherry tomato plant from my green patch was generous enough to fulfill all my requirements. It was difficult even for us that the tree grew from a single cherry tomato that I brought from my favourite super market and just buried the whole thing in the vegetable garden. Almost a year later that turned into a huge bush laden with small cutesy tomatoes. I really miss that garden especially when am tied here with two tiny spaces passed on as balconies.

The recipe belongs to a cookbook called ‘Mediterranean; quick and simple recipes’, which I got from my library. it’s a paperback but contains some real good recipes. After drooling at the picture for some days I finally decided to make it with some minor amendments to suit my situation. So here is my version. Pardon the lousy pictures which were clicked at night and we then were really struggling with the new DSLR. Give it a try this season. It’s a bowlful of goodness, which will keep you warm.

Soup and Salad

Grilled eggplant, fresh vegetable and chickpea salad with za’atar

9:50 AM



For most homealone lunches I prefer to have salads or soups. Like many of you cooking for self is not something I enjoy and some dats even whipping up a soup seems like a task. Those days fresh salads come into my rescue. Recently hubby went to Chennai for a week and I took a break from the kitchen chores. Apart from cooking the baby’s food I prefer not to enter there and lunch comprised of some fresh salads with grilled veggies, paneer and cheese.

This is one salad that I particularly enjoyed. There is not much recipe but the za’atar gave it an extra edge. For all those who does not know what za’atar is I will refer this link. In short it is a middle eastern spice which is a mix of several dried herbs like thyme, oregano, marjoram, toasted sesame seeds, salt and sumac. This has a very nutty taste and a lovely green color. I got my batch from Israel which Hubby got for me on his last trip there. In my pantry this is mostly used as a topping for focaccia bread and manakeesh or as a seasoning for salads and cocktail samosas. If you don’t have this try adding dried herbs like oregano or mixed Italian seasoning and top it with dry roasted sesame seeds.

The extra crunch of the fresh vegetables like cucumber, carrots, tomato, corn and onion goes really well with this soft grilled eggplant and the nutty flavours of za’atar. Here is the quick recipe.

Fish and Seafood

Tom Yum Goong (Hot n Sour Thai Prawn Soup)

4:15 AM

Lately the weather in Bangalore has become very cold, which I never experienced in my 4 years stay here. Being a winter lover am not complaining at all though. I like to experience each and every season in its full glory…hot and humid summer with Ampora sharbat (Raw Mango drink) to quench the thirst, hot out of the wok Pakodas to enjoy monsoon and colourful winter clothes and warm bowl of soup to beat wintry evenings. For me winter is all about spending the days outside soaking the sun and enjoying the nippy evenings curling under the duvet with a hot cup of coffee and good books. And that’s what I planned to do this weekend. But along with the routine weekly veggie shopping, the baby’s vaccination was also due.

We wanted to wrap up all outside works before evening to come back and watch the latest Bollywood fliks. But by the time we managed to reach the market it was already 5. The place was too crowded with a long que at the billing section. The veggies were almost finished and we almost had to fight for those last packets of mushrooms or bunch of celery. But the highlight of the veggie shopping this weekend is we got fresh herbs like Oregano, Basil and Lemongrass, which I never got to cook with. So grabbed the opportunity and settled for a quick warming soup with our favourite cellophane noodles.

Tom yum soup is most probably the most famous dish of Thailand. It’s a very light and flavourful soup made with freshest of ingredients. Like all Asian dishes this also is characterized by its very balanced hot and sour taste. The base is made with stock to which fresh Prawns, chickens and mushrooms are added. This has no oil but is flavoured with freshest of herbs like galangal, lemongrass, coriander roots, kaffir lime leaves and chilli pepper. There are various versions of this soup like Tom Yum goong (with prawns), Tom yum kai (with chicken) and tom yum pa (with fish), tom yum po taek (with seafoods) ot tom yum nam khon where coconut milk is also added to the broth.

Being said all this now am confused which name to call mine as mine is a hybrid between Tom yum goong and tom yum nam khon. I adapted the recipe from here and then added few spoonfuls of coconut milk…that made this flavour packed soup just perfect with a rounded taste. All in all a very fulfilling, satisfying and warming soup to curl up on the couch to catch your favourite telly show even after a long day at work.

Here is the recipe:

Tom Yum Goong (Hot n Sour Thai Prawn soup)
(serves 2)

Ingredients:
Prawns: 8; cleaned and devained (I used fresh water prawn)
Button Mushrooms: 8 medium
Tomato: 1 big or 2 small
Carrot: 1

Herbs:
Ginger: 1” piece
Lemongrass: 3 stalks
Small onion: 4/5
Coriander roots: 2 roots
Lemon rind: of 1 lemon
Lemon: 1
Dry red chillies: 3-4
Green chillies: 2
Coriander leaves: handful
Salt

Stock cube: 2 (I used Maggi)
Coconut milk: 4 tbsp
Oil: ½ tsp (generally prawns are used raw in this dish but we don’t like it so used this tiny amount of oil to lightly fry our prawns)
Turmeric: a pinch

Method:
For this dish the preparation takes more time than cooking. So lets first prepare the prawn by deveining it. Remove the legs and the shell as well. Wash and keep aside. Rub a pinch of turmeric and salt to the prawn and lightly fry with the oil (probably a minute).

Peel and cut the carrot in juliennes, the mushrooms in big chunks lengthwise and the tomatoes in 6 to 8 pieces lengthwise.

Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass, slice the stalk and smash in a mortar and pestle. Remove the skin of the small onions and smash in a mortar and pestle. Do the same with coriander roots and ginger.

Dry roast the red chillies and with a little lemon juice and salt make a fine paste.

In a bog pan or heavy bottomed bowl heat 5 cups of water. Add the stock cubes to this and bring this to a boil. Now one by one add all the herbs like smashed ginger, shallots, green chillies, lemon rind, lemon grass and coriander roots. Cover and simmer for 6-7 minutes till the water becomes fragrant.

Now add the prawns (along with the oil), mushrooms, tomatoes and little bit of salt.

Cover and again let it cook for 4-5 minutes. By the end of it the prawns would be cooked and would turn pink. Add the carrot juliennes and mix well.

Decrease the heat to lowest and add the coconut milk. Mix and finally add the seasoning very little at a time. Lemon juice, chilli paste and salt. The taste should be very balanced with the sweetness of the coconut milk balancing out the sourness of the lime juice and the heat of the chillies.

Finally sprinkle chopped coriander leaves and serve Hot with a wedge of lemon.

We boiled some cellophane noodles to make our soup more filling.


A Homemaker's note:
I have made this several times and it tastes equally good without the prawns. To be true I prefer the taste more without the prawns.


I have also been showered with these awards. Thanks friends for remembering me.
award+3.jpg (320×195)
Thanks Biny
Thanks Satrupa and Indrani.
Thanks Sulagna


Tags:
Thai soup, Thai food, Thai curry, Thai prawn soup, Thai hot and sour curry, lemon grass in soup, thai herbs, prawn soup, shrimp soup, sweet n sour clear soup, coriander soup, broth, tomato and vegetable clear soup, best Thai soup, Asian soup, Perfect prawn soup. best ever thai soup, coconut milk soup, fish sauce, soup for dinner, filling soup, cellophane noodle soup, hot and tangy asian soup recipe.galangal, kaffir lime.

One Pot meals

Mushroom soup with Chili Oil

10:16 AM



This time am not going to start my post with the weather of Bangalore. My brother yesterday called up and said that my blog seems more like a weather report on Bangalore, all its missing is a picture of mine in a business suit with a stick in hand pointing to the map beside me. Ha, very funny but I realized may be a lot of you must have been thinking the same way. So rather today am going to give you a recipe that is very comforting to sustain such bad weathers. That’s my deliciously creamy mushroom soup with chili infused oil.
READ MORE...

Chutney Pickle n Preserves

Vegetable Clear soup with rice vermicelli

1:34 AM

Its been raining here non stop for last couple of weeks. We hardly get to see the face of the sun these days. Hubby is irritated as the traffic jam keeps him on the road for a long long time, I feel frustrated as the clothes are not drying (with a 1 year something very active baby which is not less by any number) and the baby himself is annoyed for not being able to go out in the garden. Amidst all these stress simply love the weather. For me nothing is as good as being confined in the comfort of my house, watching the raindrops with a good book and a hot cup of coffee. Though these days I hardly get any chance to enjoy it by myself but I make most of the time when the baby takes his afternoon nap. Finished some long pending work of quilted bedspread and some paintings. The weather even inspired me so much that last week I even made some garden inspired cushion covers and also hand stitched some block printed curtains for our living room. Yes! Am feeling extra domestic these days. But its completely another story when the baby wakes up…then the only entertainment for me is to watch TV mostly my favourite cookery shows.

It’s a boon that we get to see channels like Discovery Travel and Living, Star world and NDTV good times. They air some real good shows on world culture, history and cuisine, which I love to watch. One such program is Kylie Kwong’s My China, which apart from showcasing some delectable dishes from Australia’s celebrity chef Kylie, also shows food cultures, habits and lifestyles of various provinces of China. I especially enjoyed the episode where Kylie visits her ancestral home in a remote village called Toishan, meets her distant relatives, cooks and eats with the fresh produce from family farm.   It’s a beautifully put together show that reveals the vast contrasts of China through the eye of an expatriate. Though this was her personal journey to discover China but at the end it almost takes the shape of a culinary travelogue spiced with many authentic Chinese dishes made in a modern way.

The dish that caught my eye was this soup stock or broth that she prepared from scratch and her choice of ingredients spelt ‘burst of flavour’ to me. My hands almost itched to try this one and when yesterday Hubby came home with a bag of fresh bok choy, celery and mushroom I instantly recognized the time. I had some rice vermicelli that Hubby bought from China. This soup is incredibly easy to put together all you need to do is, chop and boil. Within hardly 45 minutes we had two big bowlful of hot steaming aromatic soup ready in the table. The homemade chili oil accompanied it very well and we enjoyed our pleasing dinner watching the rain.


And rain reminds me of my favourite song by the ace singer Shubha Mudgal. This song beautifully depicts the essence of Indian Monsoon. Hope this will uplift your mood perfectly.


Chinese style Vegetable soup with rice vermicelli
(Serves 2)


Ingredients:
Onion: 1 medium
Ginger: 1” piece
Garlic: 2 flat cloves
Celery: chopped 1 cup
Carrot: 1
Capsicum: 1 small
Beans: 8-9
Coriander roots and stems: 1/3 cup
Bok choy: 1 (optional)
Spring onion: ½ bunch
Tofu: 1/3 cup (optional)
Seasoning:
Soy sauce: 3 tbsp
Vinegar: 2 tbsp
Stock cube: 1
Pepper powder: ½ tsp
Salt
Sugar
Oil: 1 tsp
Rice vermicelli: 2 bunch or any noodles. Even maggie and top ramen will work fine in this.

Method:
First we need to make the stock or broth. For that use the not so fresh vegetables and those parts which we generally do not use in cooking. Like stem and roots of coriander, the hard inner parts of celery, bok choy, mushroom, capsicum, old and hard beans, the thicker part of carrots etc. wash everything and cut them in thick slices.

Cut the onion in half moon shape, roughly chop ginger and garlic. Lop off the stem and leafy part of celery and keep the fresh soft portions for the soup, roughly chop the hard parts for the stock.

The stock should have minimum 2 cups (tightly packed) of chopped vegetables.

In a big pan heat the oil and add the ginger and garlic. Fry till they turn color and quickly add onion. Fry for a minute and then add all the other veggies. Add a little salt and keep frying for 2-3 minutes till a nice aroma comes through.

Add 1.5 liters of water. Bring it to boil and then add soy sauce, vinegar, stock cube and some pepper powder. Cover and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes.

After that check the seasoning and strain the stock through a muslin cloth. (Don’t throw away the boiled veggies. nicely tuck them away in your fridge till next time I tell you what delectable monsoon goodies you can make with them.)

While the stock bubbles prepare the veggies for the soup. The major part of cooking Chinese dishes is the chopping. In whatever shape and size you decide to chop your veggies make sure they are all the same. I tried to cut them in julienne. Keep everything ready.

Now bring another pan full of water to boil. Add a little bit of salt to it and place the rice vermicelli bunches in them. Cover and let it soak and fluff for min 10 minutes. Before serving drain the excess water and serve at room temperature.

Once the stock is strained put it again on heat and bring to a gentle boil. Add the prepared veggies one by one. Start by the hardest veggies first like beans and carrot and end with tofu. Don’t over boil the vegetables should retain their crunch and texture.

If needed add more soy sauce. Check the seasoning and serve hot with rice vermicelli and chili oil

Spiced Chili oil
I don’t follow any recipe for this. I read the Chinese chili oil label and used the ingredients written there in my own way.

Tear and soak handful of dry red chillies in water for 10 minutes.
Drain and grind the chillies with 2 fat cloves of garlic, 1 tbsp vinegar and 2 tbsp of tomato puree.
In a pan take ½ cup of peanut, sesame or any cooking oil. Heat the oil to smoking point on very slow fire.
Switch off the heat and add the crushed spices. Mix and cover.
Keep aside for 2 hours till the oil absorbs all the aroma and heat.
Use as required.

A Homemaker's Note:








This is a very light but comforting soup. Please adjust the seasoning as per your choice.


Chicken Clear Soup: Hubby requested a chicken soup following the recipe which I made yesterday. it came out well. I boiled some chicken pieces (with bone) while making the stock and later fried the boiled shreds of chicken and added it to the soup. 


[Souper+Sundays2.JPG]
Events:
sending this soup to Souper Soup sundays at Kahakai Kitchen.










Tags:
Chinese soup, chinese vegetarian soup, chinese clear soup, vegetable clear soup, chinese tofu. chinese bok choy. vegetable broth, vegetable stock, bok choy, chinese cabbage, light meal, breakfast soup, light soup, homemade stock, broth, soy sauce, carrot, tofu, healthy soup, light dinner, capsicum, spring onion, vegetable soup, chili oil, homemade chili oil, soup with oil, 

One Pot meals

Quick Moroccan couscous salad

12:57 PM


I wanted to make Moroccan couscous salad for our anniversary this year but dint find any in the market at that time. So I created THIS with broken wheat or Dalia. Last month at Spar Hypermarket saw this in the soy granule shelf and without wasting much time included that to my basket. Yet again a big thanks to all you beautiful food bloggers out there who have given me courage to buy something totally new with a hopping price tag of RS.425 for a 500 gms packet. But am glad that I did that. Last Saturday after 1 hour 30 minutes of swimming session and another 2 hour visit to the Mother Earth showroom we were damn tired. Thought of ordering home delivery but then these days we really are not much into restaurant style food and both of us wanted a simple home cooked meal. So I thought of the couscous, which according to all bloggers and Nigella Lawson is the quickest possible filling and delicious meal. I already have this and this book marked from PJ and Pree’s lovely blogs. So thought of making something in the same line but a little bit spicier. Almost like Turkish Kisir or spicy form of tabbouleh cooked with bulgur.
Broken wheat salad on our anniversary this year

So armed with some vegetables, canned olives, fresh mint from the garden I was all set to explore my favourite Mediterranean cuisine with a complete new ingredient. I wanted to make it super quick to hit the bed at the earliest. So just chopped the veggies, micro waved to make it little tender, soaked the couscous and churned the sauce and then just threw everything together. I did not realize what it taste like but when I tried to check the seasoning I was totally bowled over by the taste. It was by far one of the most amazing tasting one-dish meals I have ever tasted. So fresh, comforting, incredibly easy and the dinner was done in flat 15 minutes from start to finish.  What else does a girl after a super hectic day could possible has asked for. The rain outside and the extra time in hand made me a little romantic and I took out my finest china plates to serve the dinner. Hubby was blissfully amazed to sit around some flickering tea lights with the raindrops at the background to have his delicious meal and I almost felt like a domestic Diva…or should I say Nigella Lawson, to have successfully recreated such a scrumptious meal in minutes just by throwing this and that while flattering with the ingredients and gracefully roaming around the kitchen. Seems the dish looks good too as when I posted it on a social networking site friends scrapped and called to share the recipe. So, here it goes.

Super Quick Moroccan Couscous salad
(Serves 2)

Ingredients:
Couscous: 11/3 cups
Water 11/2 cups
Vegetable stock cube: 1 packet; I used magi cubes
Cumin powder: ½ tsp
Coriander powder: ½ tsp
Chopped vegetables: 2/3 cup; I used cauliflower, beans, carrots, peas
Cucumber: 1 medium
Onion: 1 small
Pitted Black olives: fistful

For the dressing:
Tomato: 1 small
Mint leaves: fistful
Coriander leaves: fistful
Garlic: 1 fat clove
Dry red chilies: 6
Salt

To garnish:
Mint leaves
Roasted almond: fistful

Method:
Place the couscous in a big bowl. Heat 11/2 cups of water with the stock cubes, vegetables and cumin-coriander powder. once the veggies are tender (without loosing the crunch) Switch of the gas. Pour the boiling water on the couscous. Cover and set aside for 3-4 minutes or as per the package instruction. Once they are soft and no water is left, fluff them with a fork. Your couscous is ready to be tossed.

In the mean time prepare the dressing. Rub little oil on the tomato and roast it on the gas flame for a couple of minutes. Then blend all the ingredients under the dressing till smooth. Keep aside.

Chop the cucumber in thin pieces. Cut the onion in half moon shape. Sprinkle salt and mash them lightly with your hand.

Roughly chop the mints, olives and almonds.

Now just add everything together. Check the seasoning.

Serve with a final sprinkling of chopped mint leaves and lemon wedges.

A Home Maker’s Note:
I again made it yesterday for a quick home alone lunch with some left over sauce, cucumber, peas, onion and olives. This time I topped it with a poached egg. Loved it to the last grain.

Hubby cherished his share with some quickly fried chicken sausage.

In morocco a simple version of this salad is eaten with Tazine, a meat dish prepared in a cone shaped earthen pot with dry fruits. Guess our good old chicken curry with a thin gravy would taste great too.

I added the stock cube for extra taste, similarly vegetable broth or chicken stock could be used.

you can also add some olive oil but I did not as the stock cube was little oily.

Next time am going to follow PJ's recipe with preserved lemon, chickpeas and sun dried tomatoes. 

Tags:
Couscous, Moroccan Couscous, Mediterranean couscous, mediterranean salad,bulgur, broken wheat, middle eastern cuisine, mediterranean cuisine, moroccan delicacy, quick meal, one pot meal, one dish meal, couscous with vegetables, olives, mint, fresh mint, kisir, tabbouleh, roasted tomato sauce, olives and mint, couscous in vegetable stock, healthy salad, Moroccan salad.

Noodle and Pasta

Chilled Summer Salad

11:46 PM


I like to blog not only because I love to cook but it also helps me to know a lot of new things and inspires me to try out ingredients that I never thought of buying. Zuchini is one such vegetable that I see each time on the fridge section of the Hypermarket where I do my vegetable shopping these days but never thought of reaching and picking them. I always thought these are some fancy vegetables that are used in continental dishes unless one day I saw this month’s theme for NCR. So yesterday, while picking groceries I finally walked that few steps to these dark green vegetables and put a couple of them in my basket. Hubby gave me a wired look when he saw these and asked the obvious question what are you going to do with these? I was as clueless as him so decided to give him a ‘Wait and watch’ kind of smile.

Once home I googled and my ever trusted Wikipedia told me that The zucchini has a delicate flavor and requires little more than quick cooking with butter or olive oil, with or without fresh herbs. And I got my clue….Salad, which fits the NCR requirement perfectly. So with some more summer veggies I created this refreshing summer salad. Before I get into anymore blabbering let me thank you once again for inspiring me to bring these crunchy zucchinis home, which I am going to do again and again.

The salad I created had more vegetables than pasta and tossed everything in a mildly flavoured white sauce. The bite from the pasta, the crunch of the vegetables, the sweetness of the baby corn mingled brilliantly with the sauce and this makes for a very light refreshing meal. We had this for dinner with some cold coffee and immediately after finishing the meal Hubby enquired when am going to make it next…guess that only means good. I am going to make this again and again as this is
  1. healthy
  2. Tasty
  3. real quick
 AND

4. Hubby has fallen in love with it (you know those times when I eye that perfect silver ear ring or so badly want another set of hand block printed curtains)
  
Here is how I did it

Chilled Summer Salad


Ingrediants:
Pasta: 1 cup: any small variety will do; I used penne
Zucchini: 1 medium
Carrot: 1 medium
Potato: 1 small
Cauliflower: 1/3 cup: separated in small florets
Beans: 6-7
Capsicum: 1 medium
Babycorn: 6-7
Onion: ½ of a small one
Garlic: 2 fat cloves
Tomato: 1 small

For the Sauce:
Olive oil: 1 tsp
Flour: 1 tbsp
Milk: ½ cup
English mustard: ½ tsp
Grated Cheese: 2 tsp

Seasoning:
Salt
Pepper
Chilli flakes
Oregano
Olive Oil: 1 tsp

Method:
Boil a big pan full of water with salt and put the pasta in it. Cook as per the time given in the packet.

In the mean time slice all the vegetables (Potato, carrot, beans. Cauli flower, zucchini, baby corn, capsicum) in small pieces and keep everything separate.

Microwave potato, carrot, beans, cauliflower for 5 minutes.

Also chop the onion and garlic.

Heat 1 tsp oil and add the flour. Stir continuously till the raw smell is gone (approx. 2 minutes).

In a steady stream add the milk while stirring the flour continuously. Try to avoid formation of any lumps. Season with salt and pepper and cook on low till it thickens a little. The consistency would not be very thick but it should be able to coat the back of a spoon. If you need extra water to make it thin use the water from the boiled veggies. Finally stir in the grated cheese and Keep the sauce aside.

Once the pasta is done, drain the water and keep aside.

Now heat one tsp of oil and add the chopped garlic and onion. Fry for a minute and add zucchini, capsicum and baby corn. Add a pinch of salt and cook for another minute. Take it off from the stove.

In a big bowl put everything together and give it a good mix. Check the seasoning.

Serve immediately or after chilling for 30 minutes.

Sizzling Summer Contest Am sending this to Sizzling Summer at Nithu's Spicytasty.com


Also sending this to two events associated with Priya of Priya's Easy N Tasty Recipes
 Priya's Healing Foods- Onion started by Siri of Siri"s Corner


CWS: Peppers this month hosted at Padma of Padma's Recipes.




also to Vegetable Marathon: Carrot at Seduce your tastebuds.



















and also to No Croutons Required this time hosted at Tinned tomatoes.

Tips:
This morning I had the left over salad mixed with a chopped boiled egg and it tasted excellent.

Other veggies that will work well in this would be green peas, salad greens, broccoli, cabbages etc.

Homemade crumbled cottage cheese will also taste great in this.

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