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. 

Recreating a Restaurant Favorite

We just completed a big move last weekend to the Greater Chicago area and our last night in Madison we went to Himal Chuli, a Nepalese restaurant with a couple of friends. Its one of our favorite restaurants in town and we hadn't been there in a long time. Food was good as usual and S got their seasonal special - Eggplants with Potatoes. It took us by surprise - it was a simple saute of asian eggplants with boiled potatoes and spices, and was bursting with flavor. It was so good, I had to try making it at home.

Ingredients: Potatoes - 2 medium - boiled and crumbled; Japanese Eggplants - 2, chopped; Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp; Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp; Curry leaves & Coriander leaves - 1 tsp; Green chili - 1 diced; mustard seeds, cumin & lentils - 1/2 tsp.

• In a pan, add olive oil and once hot, temper the mustard & cumin seeds, lentils, green chili , curry leaves and saute till translucent
• Add the chopped eggplants, chili powder, and turmeric. Cook for a few minutes till the eggplants are tender.
• Add the potatoes, salt, adjust seasoning. Let it cook for about 5 minutes
• Garnish with cilantro & serve!

I am sending this to In my VEG BOX ~ Potatoes event by citrusspiceuk.com, hosted by Give me some spice.

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.