Broccoli for Breakfast

Seems like these days all the cooking revolves around using up what’s left from the garden! We had our first frost over this past weekend and all the remaining vegetables in the garden needed to be plucked and brought in. I have two brow bags with green tomatoes ripening on top of the kitchen cabinet. There are about 2 dozen butter gourds waiting to be roasted on the counter, along with some bell peppers, chilies and hyacinth beans. The last of the broccoli has been waiting to be used up and this morning I decided I can’t let them go to waste. So I did a quick stir fry of them with some garlic, ginger, almonds and coconut - breakfast is ready!

Beans from the Garden

As the summer progresses, my gardening woes have also increased! We had a huge hail that damaged most of my squash plants. In its aftermath, all the squash, pumpkin & melon plants have been stressed & developed powdery mildew. In addition to that, we now have squash bugs :( However, not everything is doom & gloom. The pole beans & some of the bush beans not near the squash plants are happy & in production mode. 

Today I am taking the day off from painting & studio chores to spend time tending the garden. I also harvested enough green beans this week & took the time to make a sauté with some peas & coconut. I also have some yard-long bean plants growing on the vegetable garden fence & noticed a couple of flowers blooming yesterday. Hoping for more beans to grow in the next few weeks. 

Vegetarian Ramen

With the summer art season in full swing, its been a while since I was able to post anything here. As we are starting to wind down from the weekend shows, I got a chance to make delicious veggie Ramen last night! In the hot pan went 1/2 water + 1/2 Miso -Ginger Broth (from Trader Joe's), 1 pack of maggie + 1 pack of Ramen (without the flavorings), 1 tsp of my spicy garlic pickle, salt.

In spicy chili oil were sautéed shiitake mushrooms, tofu, eggs, Napa cabbage with a little more salt

Into the pot they all went, along with roasted nori, avocado and cucumbers..

and now I got to eat leftovers for breakfast :)

Recent Eats

Its been a good couple of weeks in trying to get the changes going in my eating habits. Though I am not noticing any changes, its been good to be working out on a regular basis and watching my diet. It is not easy to cook at home in the weekends with really long days out at art festivals. We did indulge in sushi & tempura last weekend, but most week days I finish making dinner by the time S gets home and we go for long walks after eating.

Last week, I made chapathis using some of the leftover cauliflower soup (instead of water / oil) and they came out very soft. Side dish is a mushroom & bell pepper curry adapted from 1000 Indian Recipes. Another dinner was Dal with rice and plantains.

When I don't want to eat rice, we are using quinoa for carbs, and it was served with a crustless quiche with mushrooms & peppers, and roasted brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes & onions in a harissa sauce. Last night, it was comfort food with mixed veggies sambhar, yard-long beans with rice.

Tonight I made a minty chapathi with chole & yogurt. I am hoping to make rotis at home at least twice a week. It is interesting that though I have cut down my portion sizes by less than half, it is not really affecting my hunger frequency or energy levels. May be my motivations levels have changed a lot in the last year. I am finally able to focus & commit on my physical health since most of last year was trying to stay emotionally healthy after the loss of my dad. 

Trip to Door County

As S and I celebrated our wedding anniversary last week, we took a trip to the Door County for fun over the long weekend. We decided on Door County so Kalki can also go with us. One of the best decisions we made since he had so much fun!

Before the trip we loaded on good home-made food & a wonderful anniversary dinner at a friend's house. I made a red-lentils & Cauliflower soup topped with chickpea sundal.

One of the nice meals we had during the trip was a Roasted Vegetables quesadilla & a Black-bean burger at The Cookery in Fish Creek, WI

 I have not seen my baby be this happy ever, though he is always a happy baby. He spent an hour in the water for two days and another 20 minutes the third day. Though he gets to swim quite often, he has never seen waves before! He tried to catch the waves and refused to leave. 

And he also got to eat an ice-cream everyday! When we got back home on Monday night, I made a simple buttermilk gravy with zucchini &  sautéed red cabbage for the side dish. I also got a lovely, new bowl from the trip. Supporting other artists :) 

Kelekosh from Azerbaijan

As I cook my way around the world, here is yet another recipe that I adapted from the AZ Cookbook - a Creamy Yogurt Soup! I like to make this soup in the fall, though in our house we love to eat yogurt anytime. I also used some Quark in this which made it even more delicious. This reminded me of thick kadhi from Indian cooking.

Ingredients: Yogurt + Quark - about 3 cups; Onions - 1 yellow - diced; Garlic  - 2 cloves minced; Mint - 2 tbsp chopped; Walnuts - 1/2 cup chopped; All-purpose flour - 2 tbsp; Egg - 1;  Salt & Pepper - to taste; Water - 2 cups, as needed. 

• In a bowl, whisk together the yogurt / quark, flour and egg.

• In a pot, add the walnuts, toast for a couple of minutes. Add a tbsp of butter or oil and add the onions and garlic. 

• Once the onions are soft, add the yogurt mixture, turn down the heat and cook for a few minutes. Add enough for desired consistency. Cook for another 5 minutes. 

• Season with salt & pepper. Garnish with mint. 

• Serve warm!

The original recipe called for using a tablespoon or so of rice in the mixture and cook till the rice is soft. You could always add a tablespoon of cooked rice towards the end. 

Sweet Potato Salad

When S was in St. Louis last month I had asked him to get me a couple of pounds of the white sweet potatoes. The last of those were used yesterday for dinner in a delicious salad from North Africa, adapted from World Food Cafe - 2. It was hard to not keep eating this salad as the rest of dinner was cooking!

Ingredients: Japanese White Sweet Potatoes - 2 boiled, peeled and diced; Ginger - 1 tbsp minced; Saffron - a pinch; Onion - small, diced; Cumin - 1 tsp; Cayenne Pepper - 1/2 tsp; Black olives - 1 handful; Cilantro - 2 tbsp chopped; Lemon Juice - 1 tbsp; Salt - according to taste; 

• Add olive oil in a hot pan, and saute onions and ginger for a couple of minutes. 
• Add the sweet potatoes, saffron, salt, cook for a few more minutes.
• Add the rest of the ingredients except lemon juice, cook for a few more minutes. 
• Turn off the heat, sprinkle the lemon juice, serve!

I made the easy version by cooking the sweet potatoes first in the microwave. Another option would be not to cook them ahead, but after adding them in the pan and using enough water to cook them through.

Cucumber Sweet & Sour Pachchadi

As I was browsing through my food pictures to see what I want to post today, I came across this one from a couple of years back. Now that we are also getting a lot of cucumbers from the CSA work-share I am doing this summer, its time to revisit this easy recipe. This recipe is adapted from the book Cooking with Pedatha - A cookbook of vegetarian recipes from Andhra. 

Ingredients: Cucumber - 2 medium - chopped; Tamarind paste - 2 tbsp; Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp; Sambhar powder - 1 tsp; Sesame seeds - 1 tsp; Jaggery - 1 tbsp; Curry leaves & Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp; Green Chili - 1 diced;  mustard seeds & cumin & lentils - 1/2 tsp

• In a pot, add olive oil and once hot, temper the mustard & cumin seeds, lentils, green chili , curry leaves and saute till translucent
• Dry roast the sesame seeds and blend into a coarse powder
• Add the chopped cucumber, tamarind paste, sambhar powder, sesame seeds, jaggery and turmeric. 
• Add salt, adjust seasoning. Let it cook for about 5 minutes
• Garnish with cilantro & serve!

I am also sending this dish to ONLY Cookbooks Event hosted by Runner Girl in the Kitchen and started by Pari. 

Cherry Almond Pie

Last weekend S and I were in Oshkosh, for the Paine Art Center's Faire on the Green. We had a good time with friends and a good day with our little booth at the fair. One of our friends has a cheery tree - and a couple of our other friends were gracious enough to share some of their pickings with us. So I spent a good chunk of time today pitting them and the first batch I pitted were used for a cherry pie.

I just mixed 3 cups of pitted tart cherries with 1 cup sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, 1/2 tsp Almond extract and 1/2 cup chopped almonds for the filling. Poured the filling in a pre-made crust from Trader Joe's and baked for 40 minutes. Now I am ready for an early dinner and dessert.

Mtedza - Peanut puffs from Malawi

Tonight was African Night at home. I made a peanut - calabaza squash stew and mbatata (Sweet potato cookies) and mtedza - these delicious & nutritious cookies made with peanuts. I adapted the recipe from here and used almond meal in addition to the peanuts and also some candied ginger! I used very less butter and added a little milk to bring the dough together. Checking Malawi off my list and Snacks for the rest of the week :)

Ingredients (For 16 cookies):  Whole Wheat Flour - 1/2 cups; Peanuts - roasted, 1 cup; Almond Meal - 1/4 cup; Sugar - 1/4 cup; Butter - 2 tbsp; Vanilla - 1/4 tsp; Salt - dash; Candied ginger - chopped, 1/4 cup; Milk - 1 tbsp. 

• Pre-heat the oven to 350F
• In a pan, I roasted the peanuts, as I had raw ones at home.
• In the food processor add the roasted peanuts with the sugar and pulse till peanuts are chopped. 
• Add the rest of the ingredients except milk and pulse.
• Add the milk and mix a little till the dough comes together.
• Shape into small ball, flatten a little, and put them evenly spaced on a cookie sheet
• Bake till golden (15 - 20 minutes)! 
• These can be dusted with icing sugar if needed. 

Sautéed Eggplants

I never liked eggplants, or as the smaller Indian varieties are called - Brinjals, as a kid. These days I can't seem to get enough of them, especially as the smaller varieties are hard to find. My ultimate comfort food, cooking with them, is the Ennai Kozhambu, and the next best thing is to saute them with coconut or peanuts. I am not a fan of mushed eggplants and try to cook them in the microwave first and not turn them much when sautéing.

Ingredients: 6 small eggplants - quartered; Coconut - frozen is better than dessicated - 2 tbsp; salt to taste; Red Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp; Turmeric - a dash; 1/2 tsp cumin; 1/2 tsp coriander powder; 1/4 tsp Mustard seeds; 1/2 tsp Urad dal + yellow split peas; 1 tbsp oil. 

• Slice the eggplants, put them in a bowl with enough water and microwave, covered, for about 7 - 8 minutes.
• In the saute pan, add the oil, wait till it is hot, add the tempering - mustard seeds, cumin, urad dal and yellow split peas. 
• Wait for the mustard to pop and the lentils to turn red. Add the almost cooked and drained eggplants. 
• Season with coriander powder, salt, chilli pepper, turmeric. Mix well, taking care not to mush the eggplants.
• Let cook for about 5 minutes or so. Add the coconut powder, and cook for a couple more minutes.

Jalapeño Cheddar Quiche

Quiche has become a standard breakfast fare over the weekends here, especially since I love to bake in the winter. I either make them crustless or use a store-bought pie shell for the crust (we like the one from Trader Joe's after a friend's recommendation). Most of the time, it doesn't take a lot of planning, as long as I have eggs, some cheese and veggies at home. When we had friends over for a break last year, I made this Jalapeño & Cheddar Quiche. 

 

Ingredients: Pie Crust -1; Cheddar cheese - 8oz, grated; Eggs - 3; Parmesan Cheese - 4 tbsp; Mushrooms - 1/2 cup chopped; Jalapeños - 5 count minced; Red / Green Bell peppers - 1/2 cup chopped.

• Set oven to bake at 400F.
• Follow the instructions for the pie crust and pre-bake it for 15 minutes.
• In a mixing bowl add the eggs, cheddar cheese (hold back 2 tbsps), season with salt, pepper  and  mix well with an electric mixer.
• On a saute pan, cook the peppers and mushrooms till a little tender and season with salt, pepper. I also use a dried herb mix from my garden for seasoning. 
• Add the veggies to the egg mixture.
• Pull the pre-baked crust from the oven, mix the parmesan and cheddar cheese, add 2 tbsp on the bottom.
• Add the egg/ veggie mixture and bake for 30 minutes.
• Pull out from the oven, add the rest of the cheese on top, garnish with jalapeños and bake for another 10 minutes. 
• Let cool slightly, slice and enjoy!

On the Wagon, Off the Wagon...

 Being on a diet has been an interesting experiment so far. I did manage to survive the first two weeks on the phase I South Beach Diet and losing a few pounds in the process. But I did not follow the diet 100% though. For the most part I was ok, and I would say the success rate of the first two weeks was about 90 - 95%. The phase two was a bit more challenging and I did about 80%. Then came a bunch of traveling and the diet was out the window. And anytime life gets busy, it seems like the blog gets the least attention. So, here is a round up of some of the dishes I ate during the phase I. I probably ate about a cup of rice in those two weeks. Loaded up on a lot of veggies. 

      

Cabbage Kootu & Carrot / peanut Saute

     

Roasted cauliflower & Pan seared tofu

      

Chard with chickpeas & Ratatouille

Sambhar with Raita and Cauliflower

 

Spicy egg fry & Dal with Radish

 I did not really feel any big difference other than that my brain refused to acknowledge satiety no matter how much I ate. Am not sure if it was really an endocrinological response or just psychological. At one point I felt like I was making up for lack of starch by eating more and had to watch out for that. I am going back to phase I again this week and next, to help shed the pounds I gained while enjoying great food while traveling :) 

New Home for a Painting & Dieting Woes

After three weeks of trying to find a time that works, this painting titled "The Pond" went to its new home! I hope this brings lots of joy to the person who took it home. I am glad another one of my paintings has moved on :)

And last night, I had a reception for a group show with two more local artists. It was fun and if not for my migraine, I would have stayed for longer. Days 3, 4 and 5 on the South Beach Diet Phase I have passed and it has been eventful. Day 3 was good with a big burst of energy in the afternoon and I painted for about 3 hours. Friends were visiting that night and I made an eggplant moussaka adapted from the Moosewood cookbook and Vegetarian cooking. The side was a simple sauté of broccoli and cauliflower with coconut. We had the soup I had made the previous day and it had become a lot spicier, even for my taste. Dessert was a simple fruit salad and mochi icecream that I watched everyone else eat, till S gave me a small bite :) My friend who came over, had also done the South Beach Diet and it was really wonderful to actually talk to someone who has gone through with it and has seen tremendous results. She was very encouraging and I am glad to have the support.

Day 4 was bad, I woke up with the migraine and my stomach was hurting. I had an egg with salsa and sour cream for breakfast. S cooked during the day and made a delicious sambhar with onions, radish and eggplants, a green beans / carrots saute, a raita with cucumber, tomatoes and onion. I had a big bowl of all of this with my tofu scramble for lunch. After the reception last night, I had the same for dinner but with 1/4 of a cup of rice. Falling off the wagon already! I figured I might as well make some sensible accomodations that suffer too much.

Today, I had leftover sambhar and the broccoli/ cauliflower saute for lunch. And more of the leftover moussaka for dinner. Migraine also continues on day 2, but I managed to paint for an hour today and am now well rested. Only 9 more days to go :)

New Year, New Diet

All these years, I never thought I would go on a diet. But, reality is different and the amount of time spent on the couch, combined with increasing waist line among other things has led me to kick start a weight loss program. As being a vegetarian is already a restricted diet, I was not sure what I wanted to do in terms of controlling what I eat. Inspired by some friends' posts on facebook - one of them is on a paleo diet, and also by some folks I follow on pinterest, on a little whim I decided to do the South Beach Diet. This diet is basically cutting down on sugar / starch intake. There seems to be a lot of options too for vegetarians and well, I started yesterday. 

It was a little stressful yesterday as I felt unprepared to jump right in. Anyways, I had dark coffee to start the day. Then I had an fried egg for breakfast. I made a tofu/egg/carrots scramble, a curried lentil soup with green jackfruits and a saute of carrots. Though carrots are not allowed in the phase I of the diet, thats all I had at home and didn't want to not use them up. I went shopping last night, even a little over board, just to make sure I have enough to eat whenever there is a craving for sugar. I made adai - with three different lentils and very little rice fir binding last night with a coconut/carrot chutney.

I also had a nasty headache last night and wanted to make sure I ate well today. So I decided to go back to food I am very familiar with and knew I liked from before. Today, I made a spicy roasted red pepper - tomato soup and a shepherd's pie without the crust. For the soup, I used a berbere spice powder I got from St. Louis the last time we were there and it added a good amount of heat to the soup. I used up the tofu scramble made yesterday along with cottage cheese, broccoli, sour cream, mushrooms and scallions for the pie. Lunch today was delish and filling. For a snack this evening, I made a chickpeas sundal. 

I could totally tell the difference in my body from lacking sugar intake. I am not sure how much of it is psychological. I was more tired yesterday than today, but there could be other factors. Today I felt more fulfilled and happy, mostly because I cooked for myself! Most of the time, I cook for others and take great pleasure and satisfaction from seeing others eat well, but today I did everything for myself and it did feel good. 12 more days of no sugar / no starch :)

Mini Mango Tartlets

I made these for my last Art Show reception. It was an easy recipe and the tartlets tasted great!

Ingredients: Pie Crust -1 (I used one from Trader Joe's); Cream Cheese - 8oz; Mango pulp - 1/2 cup sweetened; Sugar - 4 tbsp; Cardamom - 1/4 tsp powdered; Corn Starch - 1 tsp.

• Set oven to bake at 400F.
• Cut the pie crust to lay inside a regular or mini-muffin pan. I made the mistake of pre-baking them inside the pan and the sides kind of collapsed. To avoid this, invert the muffin pan and bake the shells on the outside. Bake for 8 minutes till slightly brown.
• Mix the rest of the ingredients well with an electric mixer.
• Now put the shells inside the pan, add a table spoon of the cream cheese mixture and bake again for another 15 minutes or till the cheese is set. 
• Let cool for at least 10 minutes and move to a cooling rack.
• Enjoy :)

Egg Curry with Okra

Ever since we had dinner at Mingalaba Burmese Restaurant in the Bay Area last month, I have been dreaming about their okra egg curry. And during thanksgiving I tried tor recreate the dish from what I tasted there. And here is my version which was pretty close to the restaurant's. The only change I would make it add tomato paste to it and make the dish a little more tart. This was the second dish we made minus the okra for the cooking class.

 

Ingredients: Eggs - 4, hard boiled and sliced in half; Onion - 1 (finely chopped); Okra - 1/2 pound, sliced to 1 inch pieces and teamed in the microwave for 5 minutes; Tomatoes -  2 (chopped); Tomato Paste - 1 tbsp; Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp (Alternately use minced garlic and ginger); Cumin seeds - 1/2 tsp; Red chilli powder - 1 tsp; Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp; Garam masala powder - 1 tsp; Curry Powder - 1/2 tsp (optional); Salt - 1 tsp; Cilantro - for garnish.

• Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds.
• Add the chopped onions till it becomes translucent.
• Add the ginger garlic paste followed by the chopped tomatoes and salt.
• Cook for a few minutes and add the okra pieces.
• Add the rest of the spices. 
• Fry it for 2 minutes and then add water as needed. Add cilantro now or garnish later.
• Once the sauce is cooked, add the eggs and let it rest for a few minutes before serving.

Spicy Stuffed Eggplants

This is one of my two favorite recipes to make with these little eggplants (brinjals). The other recipe is the 'ennai kozhambu'. We usually get the best ones either from Chicago or Milwaukee and hence it is a special treat. Made this dish below for the Thanksgiving Lunch we had at home with friends.

Ingredients: 2 pounds small eggplants - slit crosswise from the bottom to the stalk; Spice powders - can be any number of different variety or a mixture. Here I used: Chilli powder, sambhar powder, coriander powder, black pepper + cumin powder; Salt - adjust to taste; 1 tbsp oil. 

• Put the eggplants in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 5 minutes till they are soft. Do not add water.
• In another small bowl, add all the powders, add a tsp of oil and salt. Mix well, taste and adjust salt.
• Remove the eggplants from the microwave, stuff the inside with the mixture. Microwave for about 5 more minutes.
• Add rest of the oil in a pan, and toss the eggplants in it. Cook till the skin is blistered / roasted on all sides.

Gobi Paratha

This morning I gave a private cooking lesson to a friend in Madison. She wanted to learn how to make stuffed parathas and egg curry. We made Cauliflower (gobi) paratha and here is my recipe!

 

Make the dough first and let it rest.

Dough

Wheat flour - 1  cup (Atta from Indian store - a more finely milled wheat flour)

Oil - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Water - as needed

To prepare the dough - mix all the above ingredients, adding water as needed and knead to a dough.

Cover and keep it aside for 15 minutes.

Stuffing

Cauliflower - grated - 1 cup

Onion (small)- 1/2 finely chopped 

Green chillies - 2 finely chopped - hot variety

Ginger (grated) - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Jeera/Cumin Powder - 1/4 tsp

Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

• Heat a tsp of oil in a saute pan, temper the cumin.
• Add Onions, green chilies, ginger and saute for a couple of minutes
• Add the Shredded cauliflower and the spices and cook till the mixture is dry.
• You can also heat this in a microwave (dries the mixture more easily than stove top)

Making Parathas

Rolling pin and board

Pan to fry

Wheat flour

Butter

• Make two small lime sized balls from the dough. Roll them out into small roti. Dust with wheat flour as needed
• Place one tbsp of stuffing on the top of a rolled out roti and spread it.
• Then keep another rolled out roti on top of it and remove air pockets and seal the corners by pressing it lightly. 
• Now roll it out with the stuffing inside gently.
• Heat a pan and put the rolled out paratha on it. Apply butter as needed. Cook both sides well till brown spots appear.

Baking Cheesy Jalapeño Garlic Bread

November is a crazy busy in a good way month for us. Last year, I wanted to work on a novel during NaNoWriMo, but had to postpone it due to more than two weeks of travel. This month, I signed up for Art Every Day Month. I have been doing art almost every day, but has been unable to keep up the posting / blogging. We were traveling for a little more than a week and when we got back, it was already thanksgiving week with guests arriving from out of town. Things have been, needless to say, hectic. But having guests also meant I got to cook a lot of delicious dishes - even a whole bunch of experiments in my kitchen. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends who enthusiastically encourage my culinary experiments.

This bread has been making the rounds on Pinterest for a while and I decided to give it a try. I mostly followed this recipe and added diced jalapeño peppers to the dough, used garlic in the melted butter and grated some on top of the bread and used white cheddar to fill. The bread turned out really good and I will be playing a lot more with this recipe with various flavors. Next on my list is the cranberry-walnut bread that I crave from Trader Joe's.