gujarati thali

I tend to make four items when cooking gujarati food - roti (flatbread), sabji (vegetable dish), dal (lentils) and rice.

In the thali above, I made some stir fried cabbage with carrots, sauteed okra with besan (chickpea flour), roti and beet greens dal and some rice which I forgot to get a picture of. So healthy and filling. Really reminded me of some good home food. What's in your thali?

indian chinese dinner

We had some company drop by and I made some favorite indo-chinese dishes - hakka noodles, garlic broccoli and szechuan green beans.

Everyone was really happy with the choices.

vegetable calzones

this is what's been cooking, i mean baking in my kitchen lately. the top two pics are of the veggie and goat cheese calzones made with my whole wheat dough recipe, and the bottom is the pizza i made the next night with the leftover dough.

i used my basic and extremely versatile recipe which includes: 3 cups whole wheat flour, salt, olive oil, sugar, yeast and yogurt or milk to knead with.

this dough is remarkably forgiving and tasty. when you're low on time as i always am, it's a life saver. make a double batch and then you can keep churning out different dishes all week.

i've stuffed mine with sauteed red & yellow bell peppers, chard, olives, sundried tomatoes, onions and a mixture of goat cheese and mozzarella with fresh basil.

here's my method: take small rounds of dough about tennis ball size and roll into a small circle, add pizza sauce or marinara sauce and your toppings, fold over and pinch to seal. prick with a fork and bake in a preheated oven at 400 deg for 20-30 min.

Notes: if you're vegan, substitute with soy cheese or even a tablespoon or two of tofuetti.

easy & healthy palak paneer

you know through the years, i've met so many people who always ask me about indian food. they might not have known a whole lot about the diversity of foods indians prepare but they all seemed to know what palak paneer is. what is it about this creamed spinach that makes everyone turn to mush? i don't know anyone who doesn't love this. it's truly food for the soul.

I am also posting this for my brother who called me one day out of the blue to ask me how to make my palak paneer. i think the fact that i made it for him once under 20 minutes might have had something to do with it.

because i don't normally measure, it's really taking a toll on me to write up recipes constantly using measures, but since he's relatively new at making this, i'm gonna go ahead and give him the recipe rather than my 'dump this then this' version.

you'll find that my recipe is easy, healthy, fast and pretty damn tasty. you won't miss any of the butter, cream or ghee that is used in the restaurant version. oh and hey, the best thing is you have everything at home for this. i promise you. well, you might have to make a run for the paneer.

Easy & healthy palak paneer
serves: 3-4
prep time: 20 min

vip's:

• 1 bag of baby spinach
• paneer, about 16-20 pieces
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tomatoes cut into large chunks
• green jalapenos or chillies chopped, to taste, i used 3 jalapenos because we like spicy
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• red chilli powder, to taste
• 1/2 tspn turmeric
• 1 tspn garam masala
• salt to taste
• 2-3 tbspn oil

the play:

• heat a pan and add water, spinach, tomatoes and jalapenos
• once it comes to a boil, simmer for 10 min while you work on the next steps
• in another pan, heat oil and add cloves, cinnamon stick, onions and garlic saute for 5 min
• add the chilli powder, turmeric, salt and garam masala
• puree the spinach mixture using a handblender and add it to the other pan with the onions
• cover and let simmer for 5 minutes

Notes: if you want it slightly creamy and you're not vegan, go ahead and add a few tablespoons of lowfat yogurt. if you're not watching caloric intake then go for it and add 1/3 cup of cream in the last step.

Listening to: another suggestion from my friend A... 'Eggplant' by Michael Franks from the album, Art of Tea (1976). thanks A! loved this and why wouldn't i? the album title and song title are sooooo groovy!

vegetable pot pies and apple tartlettes

recently, i made vegetable pot pies and some apple tartlettes, because frankly i didn't have much in the way of veggies. i was alone this weekend and i had a lonely little carrot, a zucchini and a red onion - oh, and some frozen peas. so i guessed you've figured the vegetable pot pies aren't really potpies, haven't you? no, they're tarts, so sue me, i just totally misled you. well, if i bothered to cover them with pastry dough, they would've been pot pies right? i knew you'd see my point of view. and as far as the apple tartlettes go, they just sound better than apple tarts. reminds me of this crazy lady who works here who keeps saying, "she's such a tart" in all that southern twang glory.

anywho, they look a lot more fussy than they are. they're very fast and i would highly recommend this for a dinner alone. who wants to be in the kitchen for an hour when they're by themselves? not me. i really only feel inspired when i know they're are mouths to feed. so, it took me all of 5 min of prep, 5 min to cook and then 25 min to bake.

vegetable pot pies

serves 2

prep time: 10 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 package of individual sized frozen tarts - mine had 8 in there - only use 4
• 1 zucchini, washed and diced small
• 1 carrot, washed and diced small
• 1 red onion, washed and diced
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1-2 tbspn oil
• pinch of cumin, coriander, red chili powders
• pinch of garam masala
• juice of 1/2 lemon

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrosted the tarts while you prepare the vegetables
• saute all veggies together in a bit of oil, add a pinch of coriander and cumin powder, red chili powder and garam masala. add salt and cook until cooked thru but still firm - about 5 min
• turn off heat, add lemon juice
• prick the tarts all over with a fork
• divide the filling among 4 tarts
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

apple tartlettes

serves 2

prep time: 5 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 small granny smith apple, peeled and diced
• 2 tbspn butter
• 1 tbspn brown sugar
• 1 tbspn toasted pecans or walnuts - you can microwave these for 30-45 sec
• 1 tbspn chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (optional)
• 1 tbspn pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice or a mixture of ground cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger
• tiny pinch of salt
• a tiny squeeze of lemon juice

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrost the frozen tarts while you chop the apple and get the other ingredients together
• prick the tarts with fork
• add the chips to the bottom if you are using them
• mix the apples with brown sugar, nuts, spices, salt and lemon juice
• fill the 2 tarts with this mixture
• top with 1 tbspn butter cut up over each tart
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

Notes: for the veggie pot pies, use whatever firm veggies you have on hand like bell peppers, cauliflower, etc. (i think that line is in every post so far, lol). for the apple tartlettes, you can pretty much use any stone fruit, i'm sure peaches and nectarines would be divine.

Listening to: 'Nickel bag of funk', by the awesome awesome awesome Digable Planets, from their debut album, Rebirth of Slick (1992)... how can you not love their lyrics?

"Tell my pops i'm out earthbound with the crew

He said butterfly may the boogie be with you..."

pre-thanksgiving dinner

Last nite as I was still sick, my husband braved the grocery store in midst of the crazy bustle of thanksgiving shoppers to buy frozen CPK pizza. They have a new Mediterranean one out with kalamata olives and grilled eggplant. So as he heated up the pizza, I toasted some English tea bread and slathered it Nutella while it was still warm. I couldn't have asked for a better dinner. It made me feel so much better. Those empty calories lifted my spirits right up. If you've never had it, you have to try this little indulgence just once. I warn you not to give this to your kids if you're a label reader or if your kids are the overkill types that once they like a certain food that's all they'll eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 weeks.

I was lucky enough to find the "real" Nutella from a Middle Eastern grocery store and let me tell you it was soooooo much better than the American stuff. You'll notice right off that it isn't grossly sweet. Also, you get much more of the hazelnut goodness coming through. It's $5.99 for the real deal. Cheap remedy for a cold.

Notes: Once again, I ask all ye faithful to forgive the God awful Corelle... and please any suggestions are MOST WELCOME!