Tag Archives: Side dish

Oh dear carrots – you’ve warmed my heart on a cold winter day!

They sat there in the fridge looking expectantly at me on a cold winter day.  The little bag of baby carrots, waiting to be let out and begging me to unleash some creativity.

Hunger and not necessity is sometimes the mother of invention.  So, I took the carrots and blanched the entire contents of the little bag.  And then very simply tossed these warm carrots with tahini, olive oil, berbere, green chillies, fresh coriander, mint and lemon juice to create a salad that was the perfect, healthy lunch.  It really is as simple as mixing these ingredients, but if you need a more precise how-to, here it is.

Ingredients:

One small bag of baby carrots (One pound bag)

Two tbsps tahini

One tbsp olive oil

Two tbsps chopped coriander leaves

Two tbsps chopped mint leaves

Two tsps berbere (or paprika or one tsp chilly powder)

One hot green chilly finely chopped

Juice of half a lemon

How to:

Mix all the ingredients and serve hot or cold as a salad or side dish.  If you have a few pomegranate seeds, you can use these for a colorful garnish.

Just a take on dressy, bejeweled potatoes

Recently, I spotted fingerling potatoes at Trader Joe’s and was inspired to take these to a different level.  Inspired by the Indian dish of “til ke aloo” or potatoes with sesame seeds, I decided to dress the potatoes with spices and as an afterthought serve them with a nice sprinkling of pomegranate seeds.  The result was a beautiful play of spice, tart and sweetness on the taste buds.  Here’s how I created this dish that can be served as a starter or a side dish.

Ingredients:

Two tbsps vegetable oil

Two dried red chilies

One lb bag of fingerling potatoes washed

One tsp salt

One tsp cumin powder

One tsp coriander powder

Half tsp turmeric

Half tsp chili powder

One cup water

One tbsp Tahini

One tbsp sesame seeds

One heaped tbsp of pomegranate seeds for garnishing (optional)

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Ingredients for dressy, bejeweled potatoes

How to:

Heat oil in a pan.  When the oil is heated, add the red chilies and swirl till they get dark.  Add the potatoes, salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder and chili powder and mix well.

Add a cup of water and cook the potatoes till they are firm but dry and done.  If necessary, add a bit more water to prevent the potatoes from sticking to the pan.  Add the tahini and sesame seeds and toss well.  Take off flame and serve garnished with pomegranate seeds.

Transform root vegetables and greens into dinner in 30 minutes!

By Lakshmi:

If you’ve read a few of my posts you know how I like to whip up a meal with whatever is available.  Today, the “whatever” happened to be some root vegetables and greens.  Here’s how I turned these ingredients into a dish that could be eaten alone, used as a stuffing for a veggie wrap or simply be served on a bed of hot rice or quinoa!

The ingredients:

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The root vegetables: A radish, half a beetroot, a yam and a red onion

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A bunch of fenugreek leaves (available at Indian markets), but you could use spinach or kale as well.

The process:

I chopped the root veggies and greens and threw them together in a pan with salt, crushed red peppers, olive oil and roasted the veggies for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 450 degrees.

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The veggies and greens ready for roasting.

The outcome:

Out of the oven came the beautiful dish pictured below.  The sweetness of the yam, the crunchiness of the beet and radish, the fragrance of the onion and the slight bitterness of the fenugreek leaves all melded together to create this totally yummy, healthy concoction!

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Presenting roasted root veggies with fenugreek leaves!

I’d love to hear from you on quick meals you put together with the ingredients that are floating around in your home 🙂