Kitchen Kandinsky

Ingrained Ideas (or) Why you should embrace whole grains with open arms

2011-03-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Ever since recent visit to Austin where my good friend Sirsha introduced me to oats as an alternative substitute for rice, I’ve been hooked to using oats in lunches and dinners more often than not. To make sure I was doing the right thing by making this dietary modification, I figured I wanted to do a more detailed study on oats on the internet. One thing led to another and I realized there’s a fascinating world of whole grains out there. I mean, we all know we should be eating healthier. Grocery store aisles are packed with a million different products that have the buzzwords “multigrain”, “whole wheat”, “low fat”, “organic”, “fortified” etc on their labels that feed into the health hype. Call me paranoid but I don’t always trust those labels. If you read the fine-print, you’ll see that a lot of the multigrain breads have less than 2% of the multiple grains in there apart from the ubiquitous corn syrup and other unpronounceable words. Anyway, that discussion is beyond the scope of this article. To overcome the trust issue and encouraged by the oaty success, I decided to buy more unaltered whole grains and seeds in their raw form and to use these directly as rice / roti substitutes in our daily diets.

Why bother, you ask?

a) I get bored easily cooking the same stuff

b) Making rotis is a time-consuming and messy affair

c) I am not a big fan of rice

d) I’d rather die of old age than some horrific disease related to dietary lifestyles

e) As I learnt from my research and experiments below, it’s easy enough to incorporate a greater variety of whole grains in our diets. As is evident from my study, the main complex carbs we consume (wheat/rice) definitely don’t provide all the nutrition/health benefits we could be getting.

Anyway, the more I read about this topic, the more I figured I’ve been living under a rock for the longest time!! Here is a compilation of what I’ve found so far which I thought you guys would find interesting –

1) Why rice and / or wheat is not enough for you

I am a big follower of The World’s Healthiest Foods (http://www.whfoods.com/). It’s my Food Bible. I like the fact that they provide valid scientific references for any information (very important for a scientist :D). Here is a compilation of the nutritive values of some of the whole grains I’ve experimented with so far (Fig. 1 and Fig. 2). Firstly I want to point out that white rice does not even feature on the website as a healthy food for obvious reasons – the more you process rice, the more you lose nutritive value. You’re better off sticking to brown rice. Personally speaking, Rajat and I are not big fans of brown rice…it’s just not yummy enough ;).

Next, I want to highlight the fact that by sticking to rice and wheat, we’re missing several key nutrients including iron, phosphorus, copper, and calcium as well as protein and amino acids such as lysine AND dietary fiber. A variety of the other whole grains listed here provide these nutrients. I highly recommend reading up on all of these grains on whfoods and you’ll see I’ve barely scratched the surface where it comes to promoting their nutritive goodness and health benefits. Another comparison is provided in Fig. 2. Notice that rice is comparatively low on the scale of nutritive contents compared to other whole grains.

Fig2 : Nutritive content from 200 calories of a bunch of whole grains

Fig. 3 is a compilation of whole grains rated according to their glycemic index (GI). GI and glycemic load are important indices that rank carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Low GI carbs, i.e the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels reduce the risk of developing diabetes and heart disease. Low GI carbs are ones with a rating <60. As you see in Fig. 3, examples of low GI foods are amaranth seeds*, pearled barley, bulgur wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat and quinoa. It’s good to be aware that maize, wheat, some varieties of rice and millet are on the wrong side of 60. Also, I was surprised to learn that Basmati Rice has a lower GI value than other short-grained rice. I always thought it was unhealthier than other rice varieties in every way, but apparently not. Brown Basmati Rice is healthier than short-grained white rice according to several websites. Another thing I learnt was that the GI value can drastically vary according to how much the grain has been processed. In general, the “rawer” the grain, the lower the GI value (grain flours have higher GI values).

2) This is all fine and good but how much does it cost to make the switch to eating healthier whole grains?

Fig 3 : GI values of a bunch of whole grains

It is obvious that whole grain prices are going to vary according to several factors like where you stay, where you shop etc. Moreover, the prices of the main complex carbs most humans consume, i.e rice and wheat have been fluctuating a lot lately, thanks to shortages worldwide. Here in Atlanta, we’re pretty blessed with the having the Dekalb Farmers Market, a huge international market that has a wide variety of produce and grain products from all over the world at discount prices, a fact that I fully exploit!

You may have to do some scouting around to find these grains in your local stores, but Trader Joes / Whole Foods would be a good start. I know some people who buy these grains cheap and in bulk off websites like Amazon. (Note : For those of you in

India

/ other countries, I’m curious to know how much whole grains like Barley, Oats and Quinoa cost there…let me know!).

Going by the prices from the cheapest sources of these grains within Atlanta, you’ll see that almost all grains apart from Quinoa and Buckwheat, fall within the same price range (Fig. 4). That works out fine, as I don’t really cook Quinoa/Amaranth on its own, it’s always with another cheaper grain as the main base which drives down the price a bit :).

Just to cover my bases, I did another analysis last night to see how much it costs to spend on rice vs oats based on calorie consumption. I estimated that as a couple, we consume about 20lb of rice in a month which is equivalent to ~11800 calories (1oz rice = ~37 cals). Interestingly, 1oz oats provides ~106calories, which means in an ideal world 20lb rice is equivalent to 8lb oats!! Again, in an ideal world that translates to a saving of a couple of bucks per month if you switch to an oaty lifestyle :) My strategy then would obviously be to incorporate a bunch of grains from all ends of the price spectrum, ensuring a better diet at no additional cost :D The verdict: It’s won’t cost you much to incorporate “exotic” whole grains into your diet.

Fig 4 : Cost comparison of a bunch of whole grains

3) How on earth does one cook these crazy grains?

This is an easy question. All I’ve been doing for lunches and dinners is pouring out some whole grains in a large glass bowl, adding water (appxly 1-1.5 finger width above the level of the grains), and cooking in the microwave for exactly 5 mins. That’s it!! I’ve tried this with oats alone or oats in combination with amaranth, quinoa and bulgur wheat so far and it’s worked great. Pearled barley in the mix tends to increase cooking time by another 5 mins.

Some observations so far: Oats tend to boil over, even within 5 mins so keep an eye out for that happening. I prefer the texture of steelcut oats to rolled oats (nutritionally, I don’t think the two are very different). For whatever reason, I’ve seen that people cook steelcut oats and pearled barley for upto an hour on the stove or in the slow cooker for hours on end. I think that’s a completely a waste of time and energy. In my experience, 5 mins for oats and 10 mins for pearled barley in the microwave is way more than enough! Also, if you let the grains sit in the hot water after cooking, they’ll soak up the excess water on their own.

I’ve used quinoa in a whole range of dishes, including main course accompaniments, soups, salads and upma. There’s no reason to believe the other grains can’t be used the same way…let your imagination run wild!

4) If these whole grains are so healthy, they’re bound to taste terrible….NOT!!

No way, Jose is all I’ll say! You are not going to know the difference after the first few times of trying these grains. If anything, they taste even better than plain old boring rice. Steel cut oats and pearled barley have a wonderful texture. Quinoa and Amaranth are versatile seeds that can be nutty or soft depending on how you cook them. My favorite way, as mentioned before is doing a mix-and-match of several soft and nutty grains and cooking them minimally to provide a range of textures and nutrients!

5) Disclaimers

I’m no nutritionist or expert on the aforementioned topic and would gladly value any opinions or corrections to the facts if I’ve got them wrong. I would also LOVE to know if you’ve experimented with these or other whole grains and the outcomes. Write in, please!

Since I started with a rather cheesy title for this article, I’m going to end with an equally cheesy bottomline for this article: Variety is the spice (err..grain) of life :)

*The end*

Coming up in the next issue:

Ingreened ideas (or) why you should embrace green leaves with open arms ;)

*Note: I could not find a trustworthy source for the GI value of amaranth seeds. Many websites list the seeds alone as having a GI value of 25-32, but then foods made with amaranth flour seem to have GI values as high as 95. My take on it is that I’m still going to stick to buying just amaranth seeds because they are unaltered and good for you according to whfoods!

If there's leftover dough..Let them eat cake

2011-01-16T15:07:00.000-08:00

Ever so often, I find leftover atta in the fridge, a couple of days old, that's just too hard to roll into rotis (or I'm too lazy to make rotis out of them). And my heart bleeds when I end up throwing the dough down the trash. So I figured I need to use all this dough in a fun easy way that doesn't require too much energy utilization on my part. Here's one tried and tested recipe that worked :

Atta date chocolate brownies

Atta Date Chocolate Brownies
1-1.5 cups leftover atta dough
2 eggs
1 cup milk
8-10 seedless dates
Brown sugar / agave nectar (not sure how much I put, approximate as per your tastes)
Unsweetened chocolate chips
1heaped tsp baking soda
2 tbsp butter

Procedure
Throw all this in blender and blend away till you get the consistency of cake batter. Pour into a flat greased pan and bake at 400F for about 1/2 an hour or till it smells done. Voila! Have warm with a scoop of vanilla icecream!

Now points to note : Don't expect this to taste like cake, it won't. I've always wondered why no one uses wholewheat flour to bake cakes, it's certainly different but not that bad also! Definitely worth a try and a good way to get rid of leftovers :)

Productive things to do in a snowstorm or Homemade Nutella 101 !

2011-01-14T20:25:00.000-08:00

Someone needs to make a Nutellics Anonymous group (I'm sure it exists, too lazy to google it up). A few months ago I would have gladly joined it as would a bunch of other loyal Nutellics I know (by now you should know that Nutellics = Nutella addicts). I'm pretty sure they put banned addictive substances in that stuff...that's the only thing that can explain how its SO DAMN GOOD. Anyway, after a few jars of Nutella, here's what happened -
1) I finally started feeling guilty for eating the bad stuff


Organic Hazelnut butter

2) I figured it has too much processed ingredients in it (we're trying to eat healthier = cutting down on processed stuff if it can be helped)
3) I stumbled upon a jar of Hazelnut chocolate butter in a hippie store

Now the hippie store hazelnut butter was grrreat, but it was so much more expensive than branded Nutella! Sadly, it got over in no time :(

And then...

The great Atlantan snowstorm of 2011 happened...we get 10 inches of snow and the whole city shut down...for 4 DAYS!!! Hotlanta no more, say hello to Icelanta. However, global warming (or cooling) has it's benefits and that's the moral of this story...I finally made Nutella at home!!

Thanks to this fabulous grocery store in town and and Jessica Su's recipe, I discovered I had all the ingredients and more to make homemade Nutella. And yes, it turned out FABULOUS...way cheaper than store bought organic Nutella and way healthier (or so I think :))

Homemade Nutella
2 cups whole raw hazelnuts
1/2 cup agave nectar (or alternatives like sugar, brown sugar, honey...I actually put in a combo of dates and agave nectar)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (or alternatives like cocoa nibs of unsweetened chocolate chips)
2 tsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Procedure (30 mins)
1) Toast hazelnuts in a single layer in an oven at 350F or on the stovetop in a skillet on medium heat, until the skins are almost black and the meat is dark brown, about 15 minutes. Stir the nuts halfway through baking to ensure an even color.
2) Since the skin is bitter, you’ll want to discard them. Wrap the cooled hazelnuts in a clean kitchen towel or paper towel, and rub until most of the skins have come off. Don’t fret if you can’t get off all the skins.
3) Throw the nuts into a food processor and liquefy them. This takes about 5-7 minutes. First, you will get coarsely chopped nuts, then a fine meal. After a little while, the heat and friction will extract the natural oils, and you will get hazelnut butter! (Steps 1-3 taken verbatim from here..it worked well for me :)
4) When the nuts are liquified, add in the sweetening agent, cocoa/chocolate and vanilla essence and blend well in the mixer.
5) Transfer the yumminess into an airtight container at room temp or in the fridge.

Now one thing I should mention is that when I added the dates into this mixture, the consistency immediately became more solid. So dates may not work too well if you want a more smooth spread. However, I don't mind the gritty texture, in fact I like it, so dates will definitely go in my Nutella again :) Another thing you can do (and I'm going to play around with this when I make my next batch of Nutella) is to add milk for a smoother consistency. The reason I didn't add milk this time is because I wanted something more long lasting that doesn't necessarily have to go in the fridge.

Here's a really terrible pic of my first experiment with Nutella...we immediately dug into it with a box of strawberries...mmm..sooo good! Gosh I need a better camera :(

And here you it - Organic homemade Nutella with partially natural ingredients! (Not too sure Agave nectar is completely natural, hence the reservation :D)

Tangy Salmon Delight!

2011-01-14T19:41:00.000-08:00

I love it when pomegranate season rolls in...can't resist those crunchy tangy red pearls bursting with flavor. I've experimented with pomegranate a lot - in salads, desserts and yogurts but never with a main dish. I finally took the plunge with one of my other most favorite food items - Salmon! I recently bought myself a fabulous skillet with an aluminum base from Sur La Table recently...here's the inaugural recipe that put my skillet to good use, to create a deeelightful meal -

Salmon in Pomegranate Reduction (heavily inspired by this recipe with my modifications)

- 3 Salmon fillets (cut into chunks as shown in the picture)
Dressing ingredients
- Fresh pomegranate seeds (one handful)
- Pomegranate juice if you have some or just pound another handful of pome seeds for fresh juice - 1/2 cup
- Balsamic vinegar - 3 tbsp
- French mustard - 1tsp
- Soy sauce - 2 tsp
- Olive oil - 1tbsp
NOTE : My measurements are a vague approximation...make sure you taste the sauce and let your tastebuds do the talking for your modifications!

Procedure (cook time 30 mins)
1) Whisk all the ingredients for the dressing in a bowl and let the salmon fillets soak in this goodness for a couple of minutes.
2) Drain the dressing into the skillet and let it cook on low heat for a few minutes.
3) Now place the fillets in the skillet and cook them on low heat. Let the flavors soak into the fillets as the cook.Flip the fillets to make sure they cook uniformly on both sides.
4) Serve fresh (or even better..a day later!) with warm bread.

Here's a snapshot of a lovely meal we had last week, perfect dinner for two and some :) On the table - Yam Feta Salad, Ginger Asparagus, Pome glazed Salmon and French Baguette

Yam Feta Salad, Ginger Asparagus, Pome glazed Salmon and bread...quick lovely meal!

Salad or not, that is the question

2011-01-03T18:01:00.000-08:00

Sunayana made this fabulous dish over thanksgiving. I'm not sure it qualifies as a salad, but that's what she called it anyway :) Here's the gist with my modifications :

Fabulous Yam Feta Salad!

Garnet Yam Feta Salad
- 2 Garnet Yams - chop into cubes, toss in olive oil and salt, and bake till cooked through but not mushy (about 30 mins at 400F)
- 1 block Feta cheese - chopped / crumbled
- 1 cup Baby arugula leaves
- 1 medium Red onions sliced long - fry lightly to minimize the pungency
- Pomegranate seeds 1/2 a cup

Toss it all in a dish and enjoy warm or cold. Very filling, very healthy, VERY yummy!

Here's another inspired variation of the same
Potato Mushroom Feta Salad
- 1 large potato chopped
- 1 medium onion sliced long
- 1 cup Mushrooms sliced
- 1/2 red pepper julienned
- half a fistful of sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- parsley leaves

Bake the chopped potato and onion with olive oil and salt till the potato is cooked through. Add the sliced mushrooms for about 5 mins in the same baking dish. Allow the mixture to cool, add in the red peppers, sunflower seeds, feta cheese, pome seeds and chopped parsley leaves and toss it all up. You're good to go!

Quinoa goodness!

2010-09-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

I was bored of making old-fashioned rotis (traditional Indian bread) the other day and since my latest obsession is Quinoa, I decided to experiment with it in not-so-straighforward ways (my other experiments include quinoa upma, quinoa-fish cutlets...hopefully I'll write those up someday :))
But I had to share this one delightful way to use quinoa (which incidentally is the richest vegetarian source of protein).

Quinoa Rotis (Prep time : 20 mins for 8 rotis which includes kneading the dough)
Whole wheat floor (atta) : 3 cups
Quinoa seeds (rinse well to remove saponins) : 3/4th cup
Water (preferably cold)

Procedure
Wash the quinoa well in water and cook them damp (add a bit more water if needed, ~ 4tbsp) in the microwave for about 4 mins till the quinoa seeds become translucent-ish (I don't bother cooking them fully, I like the nutty texture in my rotis). Add the quinoa to your wheat flour after it has cooled a bit and add just enough water to knead some nice dough. Incidentally the best consistency for dough is that which doesn't stick to your hands or the bowl / mixer you used to knead it in, but isn't too tough / dry at the same time.

Roll out the dough balls like you would for rotis. The advantages of using quinoa in this are
a) for whatever reason, the rotis roll out much faster and smoother...I don't know how to explain it but it's like the quinoa studs provide the brakes for roti-rolling which are beyond one's control, but it works!
b) the rotis cook much faster than traditional chapatis
b) quinoa-studded rotis look rather pretty ;)
c) nore nutrition-packed power I say, now who wouldn't want that :))

Points to note:
The quinoa-rotis will not rise like traditional chapatis do BUT that doesn't mean they're not cooked...they taste just fine and in fact don't even get hard if you let them sit out for a while (of course, I recommend covering the rotis with foil/cloth if you're going to eat them later).

I'll put up pics later, but believe me y'all, this one makes roti-making so much easier for the body and soul :)

Try it and let me know what you think!

Sirsha's Desi Spinach Enchiladas

2010-08-18T20:28:00.000-07:00

Ingredients :
1 bunch spinach

1 onion

1/4inch ginger

1jalapeno

2 cloves garlic

2 potatoes

4 mushrooms

1/2 tsp jeera-dhania (cumin-coriander powder)

4 wheat tortillas

Goat cheese crumbles

Procedure : (50 mins)

1. Blanch spinach in hot water

2. Make onion/ginger/garlic paste

3. Fry paste till brown. Add spinach

3. Cook spinach and then blend to paste

4. Cube potatoes and boil till cooked (microwave for 5 min)

5. Saute potatoes in jeera-dhania, keep aside

6. Saute chopped mushrooms and halopeneo, mix with potato

7. lay 2 tortillas in a flat baking dish, spread potato-mushroom mix and cover with remaining 2 tortillas

8. Pour spinach paste onto tortillas. Crumble goat cheese on top and bake at 350 for 20 mins till cheese melts.

Options: - Use Paneer (Indian cottage cheese) instead of potatoes & mushrooms, then its Paalak Paneer Enchiladas!

Neha's Paalak Methi Corn

2010-08-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

This is a dish that my mother-in-law gets made at a little seafood restaurant in Worli called Sealord to go with the tandoori fish :). It goes well with the fish, but also great by itself and versatile - with rotis or as a spread in tortillas/bread, topping for crostini...

Palak, Methi & Corn (Spinach Fenugreek Corn) (Prep time : 30 mins)
One bunch of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
Half a packet of frozen methi leaves, defrosted (I'm not sure of the exact quantity, but it doesn't really matter, as long as the methi is a little less than the palak)
One packet of frozen corn, defrosted (or about 5-6 ears of fresh corn, shucked)
One onion, chopped
Cumin seeds
Ajwain (carom seeds)
One green chilli, finely chopped or to taste
2-3 tsps oil
Pinch of hing/asafoetida
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of ground coriander powder
Salt to taste

To make:
Heat the oil in a medium-sized saucepan, with a lid. When hot, add the hing, followed by the cumin and carom seeds. Once the seeds start to sizzle, add the onion, followed by the green chilli. Cook the onion on medium heat till soft, stirring occasionally - about 5-7 minutes.

Once the onion softens, add the spinach. You might need to do this in batches - waiting till the spinach in the pan wilts to add more. Once all the spinach has been added, cover and cook till the spinach is bright green. Add the defrosted methi leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, till the greens are cooked through. The mixture might look a bit dry at this stage - but that's okay.

Take the pan off the heat and let it cool for about 10 minutes. Blend the mixture in a food processor till smooth.

Return the pan with the pureed greens back to the heat. Heat the puree through. Add the turmeric, coriander and salt. Stir. Add the corn and cook for a couple of minutes.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Nidhi's Bell Pepper & Tomato Soup

2010-08-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

While not quite qualifying as soul food (it's just the right amount of 'rich' in my opinion), I find it extremely comforting on a chilly or rainy evening.

Ingredients:
Red Bell Peppers (Large): 3
Ripe Tomatoes: 3
Shallot (very finely diced): 1 small
Cream (preferably sour, you can use whipping cream if you have that): 2 tbsp
Butter: 1/2 tbsp
Olive Oil: to brush the veggies before broiling
Garlic (minced): 3 cloves
Fresh Thyme and Rosemary: use thyme liberally and rosemary a tad cautiously
Salt/Pepper/Red Pepper Flakes: to taste

Preparing the peppers and tomatoes:
1. Wash the peppers and tomatoes and pat dry. Rub some oil (vegetable oil or olive oil) on the veggies, covering the grooves, put them on a baking sheet and broil them on the top shelf, turning as necessary. They should be done in about 8-10 mins (dark brown/black spots all over). Stay close to your oven to avoid charring.
2. Put the broiled veggies in a bowl and cover with lid or just put them in a paper bag and allow them to sweat for around half an hour. This would loosen the skin. Now take the skin off of the veggies and rough chop.

To the soup:
1. Get a heavy-bottomed pan (Le Creuset or such), and melt the butter on medium heat. Sautee the minced garlic and shallots till the shallots are translucent, and add the chopped veggies, season as necessary
2. Puree with an immersion blender or in a regular mixer.
3. Add the herbs (Rosemary/Thyme), close the lid and simmer on low heat for 15-20 mins. Add cream during the last 5 mins of cooking. Check for seasoning and serve as is or with croutons.

Happy eating!

Seema's Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-08-10T09:43:00.001-07:00

A little decadence is always a good thing!

Ingredients:

100 gms dark chocolate

125 gms unsalted butter, softened

90 gms dark brown/muscavado sugar

35 gms caster sugar

4 heaped tbsp cocoa powder (not the Cadburys variety – that’s too sweet!)

100 gms dark chocolate chips

140 gms plain/self-raising flour

2 tsp – vanilla essence/vanilla extract

1 egg

1 tsp soda bicarb

Pinch of salt

Keep at hand – 25 mls of milk

You could add:

-25 gms instant coffee powder if you’d like to flavour the cookies. Adjust the sugar quantity if adding this depending on how dark/sweet you like the cookies

-Chopped walnuts instead of chocolate chips (or with them)

-Orange essence to make choc and orange cookies - in this case, make sure to add the zest of a large orange too.

Procedure:

1. Heat the oven at 170 C.

2. Melt chocolate in a bowl – usually this should be done using a water bath but I’m lazy so I microwave it on the lowest setting the machine has for about a minute or two until melted.

3. In another bowl, mix softened butter with the two sugars and cream together till well blended, pale and fluffy. I find it best to use an electric egg beater- makes the whole process so much easier (unless of course you have some fancier gadget to make dough etc).

Note: I wonder what would happen if we were to use softened goor instead of the brown sugar? Perhaps need some more of the white sugar to balance the dark flavours? Must try

4. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes. Add in the melted chocolate and vanilla and beat for another minute.

Note: When I make anything using melted chocolate, I hate to waste any that’s stuck to the bowl and won’t come off. At this stage, I am feeling pretty virtuous and want to use all the chocolate in the cookies instead of licking the bowl dry. In which case, I add a splash of milk and stick it back in the microwave for 20 seconds on a low setting or in the water bath till I can mix it altogether and add it to the cake/cookie mixture. Sometimes I just drink the mixture.

5. Sift together the flour, soda bicarb, salt and cocoa powder into the egg-chocolate mixture and mix all ingredients together for 3-4 minutes. Add the chocolate chips and mix together lightly with a spoon. The mixture should be pretty grainy, not pourable like cake batter, but thick and gloopy. If the mixture is too runny for cookie dough, add some more flour till it gets drier.

6. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper. Use a rounded spoon or a melon baller and butter knife to make the cookies. Scoop a small quantity of the dough and drop a rounded ball on the greaseproof sheet – this does not have to be 360 degrees, just a small mound. Do not flatten. Use a knife to scoop off the spoon or melon baller to make life easier. Make more of these small mounds about 6-7 cms apart – this is necessary since the cookies will spread during the cooking process.

7. Bake for 18-19 minutes. The cookies are ready if a fork comes out cleanish. Remove from oven and let cool for a minute of two. Then remove on a plate or a large tin and let cool for 30-45 minutes. These will harden as they cool.

8. Serve with milk and receive gracious compliments!

9. Notes: If adding coffee, do so at stage 5 with the dry ingredient. If adding orange, reduce the quantity of vanilla to a quarter, and mix together in stage 4. Add zest at the end with the chocolate chips. If using walnuts, mix last instead of the chocolate chips.

Seema's Roasted Butternut Squash Risotto..mmmm!

2010-08-10T09:39:00.000-07:00

Comfort Food – Roast Butternut Squash Risotto with Red Chilli and Rocket
Makes enough for 4 (ok so on a bad day, I eat enough for all 4)

Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1 Butternut squash (about 600 gms)
200 ml – white wine
200 gms – risotto rice
1 ltr – vegetable stock
1 - medium onion, sliced
2 cloves - garlic, finely chopped and crushed
2 cloves - garlic, cut into 4 large pieces each and crushed
1 level tsp - Red chilli flakes
1 tbsp – olive oil or 10 gms butter, as you please
4 tsps, 2 each – fresh herbs, including rosemary and thyme
Handful – fresh rocket, if like me you are fan
To taste - Salt and pepper
To drizzle - Balsamic vinegar
Parmesan cheese (depending on your diet plans)

Procedure:
1. Clean the butternut squash, peel the skin, cut into big pieces and put in a roasting tin. Drizzle some oil, add the large garlic pieces, some salt and pepper and half the herbs to the tin. Toss together till all the squash pieces are covered. Stick the tin in the oven at 200 C for about 40 minutes or till squash is cooked through and slightly mushy. You could also add the balsamic vinegar at this stage to add deeper flavour to the dish.

2. Add olive oil/butter to a large pot on medium heat. When the oil starts to heat, add the remaining herbs – you should get a lovely aroma wafting through. When the herbs go nuclear and start spluttering (which will happen pretty soon if the oil is very hot), add onions and soften for about a minute. Add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook together for a minute.

3. Add the wine so that the alcohol evaporates and there is a very runny sauce. You could experiment with adding white wine vinegar (about 2 tbsps) at this stage if you don’t have any proper wine and let me know how it turns out. After a minute or two of the wine/vinegar cooking, add the rice and fry for 3-4 minutes or till all the liquid has been absorbed. Try not to drink the rest of the wine in the process as being sober will immensely helpful in the next stage.

4. Add all the goodies from the roasting tin and then start adding stock, a large ladleful at a time. Yes, its okay to use ready made stock (some Italian grandma is probably turning in her grave by this time if you have used vinegar, so it doesn’t matter) but the risotto now needs careful supervision so you will need to stand by the cooker. Stir the rice regularly and add stock each time all the liquid in the pot has been absorbed.

5. How do you know if the risotto is done and you can stop adding any unnecessary stock?
-Does the rice look happy and plump?
-Is it covered in a thick, juicy coating but is still vaguely visible?
-Does it feel ‘al dente’ enough without breaking your teeth?
If you said yes to all the questions above, then you should be nearly there.

6. Season the dish well with salt and pepper.

7. If you are a rocket fan, mix in a handful of rocket once you take the pot off the cooker. Spoon out individual portions on plates, add parmesan cheese and drizzle with a splash of balsamic vinegar – I love this as balsamic vinegar really does bring all the flavours together.

8. Happy eating – feel free to add or subtract from this recipe but remember that it is called a ‘roasted’ butternut squash risotto for a reason so try not to change that. Oh, and let me know how it goes with the white wine vinegar!

Nidhi's Fennel, Kale & Goat Cheese Panini

2010-08-09T13:12:00.000-07:00

These are perfect for a late weekend brunch or fixing a breezy breakfast if you have any filling left over.

You need:
Fennel - 1 bulb
Kale - 1 bunch (about a pound)
Goat Cheese - 2-3 oz
Whole Grain Bread - a loaf
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Butter-1 tsp
Orange Juice - 1/4 cup
Red Onion - 1 small (thinly sliced)
Garlic - 2 cloves (finely chopped/minced)
Pepperoncini - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste

To prepare:
Core the fennel and remove the stringy/tough outer layer, chop up into 1/2 inch squares/strips. I like to use the aromatic green leaves on the stem as well (In any case, save some for garnish if you don't like getting too much of the thread-like stuff between your teeth). For Kale, just take off the stems and use the leaves.

To cook:
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy skillet/pan, stir in the onions, garlic and pepperoncini. As the onions begin to color, add fennel, orange juice, and salt. Cover and let cook for 15-20 mins or till the fennel is tender. Add Kale and saute till it turns dark green (5-7 mins). Uncover and allow the liquid to dissipate.

To grill:
Plug in your panini press and let it attain the optimum temp. Add the Fennel/Kale filling and pile hunks of goat cheese on to a slice of whole grain bread (Any hearty bread would do, I use Alvarado St's Sprouted Wheat Multi-grain or La Brea's whole grain), as you would for a sandwich and cover with another slice. Put a thin sliver of butter on the grill. Put your sandwich on to it as it sizzles, place another tiny flake of butter on top. Do 2 or more paninis at a time, depending on the size of your bread and/or panini press. The paninis should be done in 3-4 minutes.

P.S. The vegetable stir fry can just as easily be used as a side to pasta or a creamy soup.

As easy as apple...crumble!

2010-07-30T10:20:00.000-07:00

"Healthy" apple crumble (Prep time : 1hr)

Note : The only reason this dish is supposedly healthy is because I have tried to cut down on the refined white flour (maida) and substitute it with whole wheat flour (atta).Also I've added in the ubiquitous flaxseeds and walnuts that you'll see often on this blog!

Ingredients
- 3 Apples (any kind)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup refined white flour (maida)
- 1/2 cup atta
- 1 egg (or two eggwhites)
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- optionals : handful of flax seeds and walnuts (ground)

Procedure
Preheat the oven to 350F. Slice 3 apples and put them in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over 2 tbsp brown sugar. Use a food processor to whiz together the maida, atta, brown sugar, ground flax seeds, walnuts and cinnamon. Add the butter and egg to the blend and "pulse-whiz" in the processor until you get a coarse breadcrumb-type texture. Sprinkle this mixture over the apples and bake until the top is browned and the apples are warm and just a tad mushy. Serve warm with vanilla icecream!

Note : Add lemon/lime juice as a flavor enhancer (thanks Nidhi!)

Pics coming up soon!

Baked Bharatiya Cornish Hen

2010-07-30T08:30:00.000-07:00

Cornish Hens are cute and compact and have a nice natural flavor. You should be able to get them in the frozen section of your favorite local grocery store. This recipe is perfect for an Indian Thanksgiving! This recipe is pretty involved during the prep-time but once you start baking the hen, you can sit back and relax!

Baked Cornish Hen (Prep time : 1hr + a couple of hours for marinating the hen)
Ingredients for the marinade
    * 5-6 cloves
    * 2 cinnamon sticks
    * Seeds from10 green cardamoms
    * 1tsp cumin seeds
    * 10 peppercorns
    * 1/2 tsp ginger paste
    * 1/2 tsp garlic paste
    * 2 medium onion
    * 2 medium tomatoes
    * 2 tbsp yogurt
    * A dash of lime juice
    * 3 green chillies,
    * 1.5 heaped tsp salt (it's a lot but it gets diluted through the process)
    * a little bit of oil
    * Optional : A dash of "Shan Tandoori Chicken Masala" to give the final product a nice rich color!

Blend all the marinade ingredients in the mixer, Keep some aside for cooking the veggies in. Marinate the whole hen in the rest for a couple of hours in the fridge. Note : you may/may not want to remove the excess fat from the hen, depending on your cholesterol levels;) Also, poke the hen with a fork so that the marinade gets into the deeper layers.

Cook the veggies
I like to have Cornish hen with julienned carrots, eggplant, green peppers, onions and green peas. Cut the eggplant first into julienned strips and bake at 375F in a baking dish with olive oil. When they're about half-cooked (15 mins), mix them with the other veggies and a bit of the marinade. Bake it for around 5 mins more. Don't cook it too long, the veggies taste good if they're crunchy.

Bake the hen
Take a pan and fill the base with about half an inch of water. Lay the marinated hen in the water. It's important to put water as this prevents the grease from burning and ruining the pan. Don't worry if some of the marinade washes off...it makes a yummy (fatty) gravy in the end! Bake the hen at 400F for about an hour (the time will vary of course, keep poking the hen with a fork to figure out when it's done). Turn the hen over once in the middle so that both sides cook evenly. I'm still trying to figure out whether baking or broiling is more efficient.

The finishing touches and garnish!
Lay the hen on a bed of cooked rice (basmati would be nice!), along with the veggies garnished with cilantro and caramelized onions (love that zing!). Pour some of the gravy on the rice to flavor it.

Dig in!

Baked Cornish Hen on a bed of rice with veggies and caramelized onions!

Note : Even though this dish takes a while to prepare, you can do the chopping etc beforehand and even marinade the hen overnight if needed. I also caramelize onions and do my chopping the day before to save time.

Potato Shrimp Curry

2010-07-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

Potato Shrimp Curry (Prep time : ~30 mins)
Ingredients
- 3 medium potatoes, chopped
- 1 bag uncooked shrimp
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp Mustard seeds

- A couple of Curry leaves
- 1 tsp Urad Dal (White lentils for the non-Indians)
- A couple of black pepper corns
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 green chillies, chopped
- 3 tomatoes, chopped
- 1 inch fresh ginger and 3 cloves garlic, grated
- Salt to taste
- 1/ 2 tsp Turmeric powder
- Madras curry powder (optional)
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- Lemon juice (to taste)

Procedure
Heat the oil in a pan. Throw in the mustard seeds, urad dal, curry leaves, pepper corns, splutter splutter splutter. Add chopped onions, green chilles and sauté till the onions are brownish. Throw in the potatoes, and turmeric powder and sauté till potatoes are 75% done (~15 mins). Add the chopped tomatoes, salt, curry powder, coriander powder, ginger-garlic and cook till tomatoes are done (~10 mins). Throw in the shrimp and cook till they’re done (5-10 mins…they cook really fast). Garnish with fresh cilantro et voila! Add lime for a dash of sour. Yumminess!

Also seen in the snapshot above : Cilantro-Mint Raita!

Scarborough fair dinner!

2010-07-30T07:53:00.000-07:00

One fine day, I found my refrigerator stocked with exotic herbs I barely recognize. Going by my cooking philosophy (Get rid of rotting stuff in quick and dirty ways), I decided to throw 'em all together in one lazy dish. Hooray! The taste-buds declared this one a winner!

Scarborough fair dinner (Prep time : 40 mins)
Marinade ingredients
- Olive oil
- Fresh orange juice
- A dash of balsamic vinegar
- Salt 'n pepper
- Fresh garlic, grated
- Herbs-gone-wild!! (parsley, rosemary, basil, fenugreek, cilantro)
Marinatees
- Chicken thigh chunks
- Veggies-gone-wild!! (zucchini, squash, mushrooms, carrot, onions..whatever else have you)

Mix the chicken and veggies with the marinade in different containers. Shove 'em in a preheated oven. Bake at 350F for about 40 mins. The veggies will get done faster (duh).

PS : Food connoisseurs - don't hate me for committing herb sacrilege. I've definitely overdone the herbs in this one, but the predominant flavors were that of fenugreek and basil. The others where in there just for good luck ;)
PPS : Marinatees isn't really a word.

Twisted Toasted Tuna Salad Sandwich

2010-07-30T07:46:00.000-07:00

Being the self-proclaimed undisputed queen of weird-food combos, here's another recipe that came out pretty good if I may say so myself :)

Twisted Toasted Tuna Salad Sandwich (Prep time : 20 mins)
Ingredients and procedure
Sandwich layers from bottom to top :
- A slice of whole wheat grain bread
- Tuna salad made from tinned tuna, low cal mayo, chopped onions, fresh mint,
cilantro, green chillies and celery
- Tomato slices
- Chopped kale (Sautéed in olive oil and a hint of sugar for 5 mins till nice and crispy)
- Gruyère cheese slices
- Another slice of whole wheat grain bread
Use a sandwich toaster to seal in the flavors for a crispy delightful semi-healthy sandwich :)

Points to note
- I squeezed out the excess juice from the tuna salad to prevent the bread from getting soggy.
- Of course, you can use any other cheese too, I used Gruyère coz it was just sitting around in my fridge!

Shortcut Cauliflower Manchurian

2010-07-29T18:57:00.000-07:00

The only food blogger I follow religiously is Nupur of One Hot Stove, without a doubt one of the best foodie blogs on the internet! I've tried at least 10-15 of her recipes so far, not one has left me disappointed. I recently came across her take on Cauliflower/Gobi Manchurian, which inspired me to try something similar along these lines but as a more saucy main-course dish. Here's the combination of ingredients that hit the right spot!

Shortcut Gobi Manchurian (Prep time : 25-30 mins)
Ingredients
- One whole cauliflower
- 1.5 inches grated ginger
- 3 cloves finely chopped garlic
- A bunch of green onions, chopped
- 3-6 tablespoons cornflour (depending on how thick you want the sauce to be)
- A bunch of sauces including
       * soy sauce
       * regular ketchup
       * white vinegar
Procedure
Cut the cauliflower (gobi) into florets (not too small), mix well with the ginger. Heat around 2 tsp oil in a nonstick pan/wok and stir fry the cauliflower ginger on med-high heat for about 10 mins. It's important to do this on high heat so that you get that nice crispiness without the burn. Remove the gobi and in the same pan, add a bit more oil and sautee the garlic along with all the sauces and cornflour for about 5 mins. Add some water to get the consistency you desire. Add salt/pepper to taste. Add in the crispy gobi and chopped green onions and cook for about a minute. Voila! You're done! Nothing quite like a yummy quickfix indochinese manchurian! Serve hot with steamed rice / fried rice (another post on chinese fried rice some other time).
Optionals : The same sauce can be used for a tougher white fish like trout or catfish for an indochinese style fish dish.

Delightful Avocado Mango Salad

2010-07-28T13:44:00.000-07:00

While on the subject of good fats, here are two essentials that should be on anyone's must-eat list : walnuts and flaxseeds...with between 96-146% of the daily omega-3 fatty acid intake per serving, these two are more than welcome permanent residents in our kitchen! The good thing about walnuts and flax are that they're best eaten raw and can be thrown into all kinds of salads or veggies for that extra crunch. Here's an inspired salad from last night -

Avocado Mango Salad (Prep time : 10-15 mins)
Ingredients
- 1 Avacado
- 1 Mango (slightly raw if possible)
- 1 Red bell pepper
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- A handful of crushed walnuts and some powdered flaxseeds
- Seasoning : Fennel seeds, fresh mint, cilantro and salt all to taste
- Optional dressing : Olive oil + a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Procedure
Chop up the avacado, mango and red peppers into little pieces (1/3rd the size of your index finger). Mix up all the goodness mentioned above and chill in the fridge for a delightfully colorful salad with a funky flavor. Fennel and mint actually gel pretty well in a salad. I got the idea of using them together from this write-up on avocados. The husband and I both loved this one..it's a keeper for the recipe books!

Fun with fatty fish!

2010-07-27T13:30:00.000-07:00

The husband and I are trying to bump up those darn HDL levels these days. Fortunately for us, that means eating more of something we happen to love - FISH!! Mmmm that wonderful omega-3 fatty acid powerhouse that just happens to be delicious! I can certainly do with more Salmon :) Other fish high in omega 3s include mackerel, herring, sardines and tuna. Also, to get the most out of these fish in terms of omega-3s, it's apparently best to bake or broil and NOT fry them.

Dinner last night -
* Grilled salmon fillets
* Grilled squash, zucchini and mushrooms
* Sauteed Ginger Asparagus
* Warm french bread with an olive oil dip
Total prep time : 30 mins with parallel processing!

Grilled salmon fillets (Prep time : 30 mins)
Ingredients
- One fillet of salmon (about 200-250 gms??)
- 2-3 cloves grated garlic
- Balsamic vinegar drizzle
- Olive oil drizzle
- Salt and pepper to taste
(Sorry, I'm not good with measurements!!)
Procedure
Cut the fillet into roughly 4 salmon chunks and rub well with the mixture of ingredients listed above. Place on a baking sheet / cover in foil and bake/broil in the oven till the chunks easily flake off with a fork (takes around 20 mins I would say). Serve warm!

Sauteed Asparagus ginger (Prep time : 10-15 mins)
Ingredients
- One bunch of asparagus
- 1tsp cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optionals : flaxpowder, crushed walnuts to garnish
Procedure
A friend of mine suggested this asparagus recipe from Manjula's kitchen...I followed it word for word and simply LOVED it! Simple no-fuss recipe resulting in a beautiful crunchy and of course, healthy side-dish. I threw in a tablespoon of flax powder on the asparagus after taking it off the stove. The verdict : Yum.my!

Grilled veggies (Prep time : 10 mins)
Ingredients
- One zucchini
- One yellow squash
- A bunch of mushrooms
- Olive oil
- Salt, pepper, red chili powder
- Optionals : fresh rosemary
Procedure
The veggies get minimal treatment. Just chop up the zucchini, squash and mushroom into slightly bigger than bite-size pieces, mix up well with olive oil, salt, pepper and/or red chilli powder and grill/bake in the oven at 375F for about 10 mins. Broil for a couple of mins if you want them crispy. Sometime I add rosemary to the veggies for an italian-y flavor.

Dipping sauce for the french bread
Ingredients
- Olive oil (OO)
- Balsamic vinegar (BV)
- Dried oregano flakes
- Crushed red pepper flakes
Procedure
Mix the OO and BV (in a 2:3 ratio roughly) along with the other ingredients and use as a dip for warm french bread (easily available in Kroger / any generic grocery store)

Bon appetit!