Tag Archives: Dinner

FOOD

Aloo Methi – spinning potatoes with fenugreek leaves

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I’ll be honest – the humble potato has taken a bit of a backseat in our meals of late. With all the hoopla around the nutritional content of a potato, we have not been making it a staple at meals. But potatoes are the ultimate comfort food. And it takes so little to elevate the potato into a lip smacking dish. Like this one, where the potatoes are sautéed in some oil, with cumin seeds, chilis and a whole bunch of fresh fenugreek leaves. Fenugreek leaves also known as “methi” are available aplenty at Indian grocery stores, and this is one of those put a meal together in a jiffy kind of dishes that takes a few ingredients. Sadly, the toughest part of making this dish is the painstaking cleaning required to rid the leaves of mud and grit.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tbsp cooking oil (I used vegetable oil)
  • 2 tsps cumin seeds
  • 2 dried red chili pods
  • 4 medium sized potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes, and washed
  • 1 bunch fenugreek leaves, washed repeatedly till the mud and grit is gone and finely chopped (discard the tough stems)
  • 1 tsp salt (to taste)
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder

How to:

1. Heat two tbsps of oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and red chili pods.

2. When the cumin seeds sizzle, add the cubed potatoes, salt, and turmeric powder. Cover and cook on a medium flame, stirring occasionally till the potatoes are nearly done (a fork inserted should glide through the potato). This took about 13 minutes for me. (If your potatoes are sticking to the bottom, sprinkle a bit of water)

3. Add the chopped fenugreek leaves, toss the potatoes so the leaves are evenly mixed in. Cook covered for five minutes, and then without a lid for a couple of minutes till the leaves have wilted and have coated the potatoes.

4. Serve hot with roti or pita.

5. A tip. You could also make cumin potatoes by skipping the fenugreek leaves altogether and calling the dish done when the potatoes are cooked. This tastes yum by itself or with rotis or as an accompaniment to rice.

FOOD

A creamy, delish, cabbage and spinach soup

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I was cleaning out a few things in the fridge today and pulled out a few remaining veggies, some stock, a bit of leftover focaccia bread and pondered how I could use all of this up in one go.

Given the current environment, every morsel of food is even more precious. And what emerged from this mishmash of ingredients was a delicious, creamy, good for you soup. Here’s how I went about the transformation.

Ingredients for soup:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped into small pieces
  • 2 cups cabbage, finely chopped, and washed
  • 1 packed cup baby spinach, washed and finely chopped
  • 2 green chilis, finely chopped
  • A sprig of oregano
  • 1.5 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 tsp salt

    For croutons (you can use store bought ones)
  • Some leftover bread, cubed
  • A tbsp of olive oil
  • A bit of red pepper flakes

    For garnishing
  • A tbsp or two of grated parmesan cheese
  • Some olive oil
  • A sprig of oregano

How to:

1. Heat one tbsp olive oil in a pan. Add the onion and sauté for five minutes on medium heat.

2. Add the cabbage, spinach, green chilis, oregano, vegetable stock, and salt, mix well and cook till the cabbage and spinach appear wilted. This took about ten minutes on medium heat for me.

3. Transfer the veggies to a blender or use a hand blender to puree the veggies till smooth.

4. If making croutons, heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a bit of red pepper flakes and toss the bread cubes, frying till crisp (about ten minutes).

5. Transfer the soup into two bowls. Top with the croutons, some parmesan cheese and a drizzle of olive oil.

6. Enjoy!

 

FOOD

A beautiful, spicy salad with couscous pearls

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It started with the spotting of whole wheat pearl couscous in the aisles of Wegmans, the familiar packaging of Bob’s Red Mill grains beckoning me. I have never cooked with pearl couscous before, but the idea of turning these beautiful grains into a healthy lunch sounded good. I looked up a few recipes that used regular couscous and decided to throw together things in my fridge and pantry to create this wonderful, deeply satisfying salad.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup whole wheat pearl couscous
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 red onion, finely chopped
  • 14 cherry tomatoes
  • 8-10 nuts of your choice (I used leftover macademia nuts)
  • 2 tbps raisins or craisins (I used craisins)
  • 2 tsps ras el hanout (a north African spice mix available on Amazon)
  • 2 green chilis finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
  • Juice of 1 lemon

How to:

  1. Roast the couscous in a pan for 10 minutes till light brown and set aside.

  2. Bring 1.5 cups of water to a boil, add the roasted couscous and salt and cook over a low flame till the couscous is cooked and the water has evaporated. This took me about 12 minutes.

  3. Transfer the couscous to a large bowl.

  4. Heat 2 tbsps of oil in the pan that you used to cook the couscous, add the chopped onions and sauté till the onions turn brown. Add the cherry tomatoes, nuts, raisins and ras el hanout and toss till the tomatoes are coated with the spice.

  5. Turn off the heat and toss the onion mix into the cooked couscous.

  6. Now add the chilies, cilantro, parsley and lemon juice. Give the contents another toss and serve warm or at room temperature.


    Note: If your tolerance for spices is low, cut back the ras el hanout to one tsp and use one chili instead.