Cheesy brown rice with vegetables

The hubby was away for the day, and I knew the kids wouldn't want to have bhindi. So I rustled up this fried rice, and served it with fried papad.

2 bell peppers (one red, one yellow)
3 pods garlic, chopped
1/2 cup peas
1 1/2 cups brown rice
3 tbsp cheese
1 tsp butter
Salt to taste

Method::
Soak the brown rice for 1 hour and cook it with sufficient salt, till done. Drain water and keep aside.
Add grated cheese to the rice, and mix well.
Heat the butter, add garlic and saute till browned. Add chopped bell peppers and saute for 1 minute. Add peas, and saute for an additional minute.
Pour the fried vegetables over the cooked rice, and mix well.
One dish meal complete!

Nutty peas delight

I've realised that vegetables go down much easier, if they are colourful, which prompted me to make this peas- pepper curry in a creamy gravy for dinner. You can bet every last bit was polished off.

4 pods of garlic, thinly sliced
2 inch piece - ginger, grated
1/2+1/2- yellow and red pepper, thinly sliced
2 1/2 - onions, thinly sliced
1 cup frozen peas
1 tbsp - ghee
1 cup milk
1 tsp - garam masala
Oil to sauté vegetables
3 tbsp flax seeds
6- 8 cashew nuts
1 tsp kasuri methi
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste

Method
Steam the peas for five minutes till slightly cooked. Keep aside.
Coarsely grind the flax seeds and cashew nuts (without water). Keep aside.
Heat the oil in a non stick pan, add the thinly sliced garlic, ginger, onions and pepper and saute for a minute on medium heat.
Add the coarsely ground nuts and cook for about a minute. Add the 1/2 cup of milk and cook until the milk evaporates.
Add the garam masala, salt, sugar and 1/2 cup of milk and bring it to a boil.
Add the peas and the kasuri methi and mix well.
Serve immediately. Goes best with hot rotis.

Grilled aubergine with bell peppers and cheese

I love brinjals, but the kids not so much. They do, however, tolerate the vegetable if it is called by its more fancy name of aubergine. I bought these thin brinjals for myself, but when I also saw the colourful bell peppers, I decided to make a dish for all of us. And believe me, aubergines never disappeared as fast!

250 gms aubergines/  brinjal
1 1/2 bell peppers
2 tbsp basill
4 tbsp feta cheese
4-6 garlic cloves
Olive oil for dousing
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Smash the garlic cloves, add 2 tbsp olive oil, and let it seep for 5 minutes
Meanwhile, chop the brinjals into cubes (or discs), and the bell peppers into inch squares.
Toss the chopped vegetables in olive oil, adding salt and pepper to taste. Allow it to marinate for at least 1 hour. Tear the basil leaves and toss in.
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Grease a baking tray and arrange the vegetables on it. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring once to ensure all parts are well done. Remove from the oven.
Crumble the feta cheese and sprinkle over the vegetables.
Serve with garlic bread.

Thing One's classic casserole

The holidays have started, and Thing One decided to help me in the kitchen. Since he loves casseroles, I helped him rustle this meal up.

200 gms pasta
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour powder
1/3 cup cheese, grated
10 button mushrooms, sliced in half
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
6 pods garlic, peeled
10 olives, pitted
2 tbsp basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp cooking oil

Method:
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack, drain, wash with cold water and keep aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil, add the garlic pods and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the bell peppers and mushroom, and saute till well browned. Add salt to taste, mix well and keep aside.
To make the white sauce, heat the milk, make a paste of cornflour with milk, mix well, and let it simmer on a low flame till the sauce attains desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix in 1/3 of the quantity of cheese. Add the torn basil leaves, and keep aside.
Chop the olives and mix well with the cooked pasta.
In an ovenproof bowl, put a layer of cooked pasta, followed by a layer of mushrooms, and a sprinkling of cheese. Repeat till all the pasta and mushrooms are used up, and top it with a layer of cheese.
Pour the white sauce over the bowl.
Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 5 minutes till the cheese melts. Enjoy.

Bell Peppers in Sweet-Sour Peanut Sauce

I bought a couple of bell peppers a few days back (literally a couple- one red, one yellow), intending to try out a bell peppers in peanut gravy that I had found. Unfortunately, however, I wasn't able to locate the recipe again, so mixed and matched a few recipes to come up with this dish. It tastes really good with rotis, and is a good dish to have in the repertoire for a time when you want to serve something other than paneer to guests.

1 bell pepper (or 1/2 and 1/2 as I used)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup of peanuts, skins removed
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
1 lime sized ball of tamarind
2 tbsps of jaggery
2 cloves
1-inch cinnamon stick
1 tsp cumin (jeera)
Salt to taste.
Cooking oil

Method:
Grind the peanuts, jaggery and tamarind together to get a smooth paste
Heat the oil, temper the jeera, and when it stops spluttering add the whole garam masala and onions. When the onions start to turn transparent, add the chopped bell peppers, and saute for a minute.
Add the peanut paste, about 1/2 cup water, and salt, and mix well. Cook for about 10 minutes.
Tastes excellent with rotis.

Soya Mince Sauce with Bell Peppers

I had a little bit of this, and a little bit of that in the fridge, and since I was feeling too lazy to make anything elaborate, I put together this creamy mince sauce which we had with toast for lunch. It was only after having the meal, that I realised that it covered all the essential food groups.

1/2 cup soya granules
1 bell pepper (preferably 1/2 yellow and 1/2 red)
5-6 basil leaves
1 tsp dried oregano
4-6 cloves garlic
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cornflour
2 tbsp grated cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tbsp butter

Method:
Boil 1 cup water, add the soya granules and drain after 10 minutes
Meanwhile, heat the butter, add chopped garlic and saute till it
starts browning. Add the bell peppers, and saute for about a minute.
Add milk, and bring to boil. Make a paste of the cornflour with the
milk, and add to the boiling milk with continuous stirring to ensure
no lumps are formed.
Add the cheese, salt and pepper, torn basil leaves and the cooked soya
nuggest. Stir well, and take off the flame after about 30 seconds.
While I served with hot toast, it can also be added to pasta.

Cauliflower stir fry

I had a huge head of cauliflower in the fridge, but didn't want to make the same boring cauliflower subji. The hubby doesn't like cauliflower dalna, and since I didn't have the veggies to make fried rice, any Chinese dish was out. Time to innovate. Taking off from this recipe, I threw together a whole bunch of stuff, and was pretty surprised when everyone said it was awesome!

1 medium cauliflower (or equivalent)
6 pods garlic (the more the better)
2 tbsp cooking oil (I used olive oil)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chilli sauce (or to taste)
2 tbsp honey
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves for garnish

Method:
Remove the stem and leaves of the cauliflower and cut/ break into small pieces. Soak in salt water for about 10 minutes to remove any worms that might be there.
Heat the oil, throw in the garlic and cauliflowers, and stir fry on high heat till the cauliflower starts browning.*
Add the soy sauce, lemon juice and chilli sauce, lower the flame, and cook with stirring for another 2-3 minutes.
Add salt to taste, and the honey, mix well. Turn off the flame, cover, and let it cook in its own steam for about 10 minutes.
Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.


* I had some stir fried yellow bell pepper, so threw that in too, but it did nothing for the dish, so not adding it next time

Veg pizza

Ever since I started baking bread, I've been wanting to make pizza from scratch, but for one reason or the other, it has been eluding me. What I did do, however, in order to assuage my conscience slightly, was to create this rather elaborate veg pizza, using a store bought base.
Kids happy, mother almost as happy!

For pizza sauce
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a kadhai. Add 4 garlic pots, and 1 medium onion (both chopped fine), and saute till the onion turns transparent. Add 4 medium tomatoes chopped into small bits, and cook on low with a cover on, till the tomatoes turn mushy. Add red chilli powder, salt and sugar to taste, and take off the fire. When cool, blend in the mixer till it gets a smooth consistency.


Method:
Saute American corn, capsicum, bell peppers in a bit of butter till the corns start turning brown.
Spread pizza sauce on a store bought pizza base, sprinkle the sauteed vegetables, top with lots of grated cheese, and pop it into the oven till the cheese melts. Sprinkle oregano and chilli flakes before serving.

Quesadillas with leftover roti

On a Monday morning, when you are already dreading the rest of the week, if you see a post that says, "Leftover rotis get a dandy do-over with these delicious Quesadillas", you immediately sit up and take notice. This is my take on the Tadka Pasta girls' dish.

Chop and mix together one onion, 1/2 red bell pepper. 1/2 yellow bell pepper, some olives and a few coriander leaves. Spread this mixture on one half of a leftover roti. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of grated cheese. Fold the roti over, sprinkle some more cheese on top, and grill in the oven till the cheese melts.Cut into wedges and serve with ketchup or salsa