Quinoa Salad with Yellow Squash

Aparna and I have been going to Williams-Sonoma Technique Classes on Sundays for the past few months. Their recipes are simple and very earthy. Last week, the theme of the class was vegetarian cooking and one of the dishes they made was the yellow squash with red quinoa.

This dish is a great side dish or even a main dish if you like. I made it entrée size for dinner last night and believe me, this is a super filling dish. I have modified this recipe from the one I learned in the class.

Try this easy and healthy warm salad on a cold winter night.

Ingredients (serves 2)

Quinoa – 1 cup

Water – 2 cups

Yellow squash – 1 cup cubed (you can also use zucchini or any other squash)

Cucumber – 1 cup cubed

Garlic – 1 clove minced

Lemon juice – ¼ to ½ cup

Green onions – ¼ cup diagonally cut

Fresh basil – 2 tbsp

Fresh mint – 2 tbsp

Feta cheese – ¼ cup crumbled (optional)

Salt to taste

Pepper to taste

Olive oil – ¼ cup + 2 tbsp + 1 tbsp (plain or flavored)

Method

There are many ways to cook the quinoa, but this is my favorite method. Rinse the quinoa using a fine-mesh strainer. Toast the rinsed quinoa in a saucepan and keep aside. Take 2 cups of water in a saucepan. Add a little salt and 1 tbsp of olive oil and bring the water to a boil. Now add the toasted quinoa and stir once. Reduce the heat to low medium and cook the quinoa covered for about 15 to 20 minutes or until the grains are tender. Once done, let the quinoa stand for a few minutes and then fluff it with a fork and transfer it to a large bowl.

Mix lemon juice, minced garlic, salt, and ground pepper in a bowl. Let this stand for a few minutes. Whisk in the ¼ cup of olive oil. Keep this vinaigrette aside.

Take 2 tbsp of olive oil in a frying pan and warm it up. Add the cubed squash, salt and a little pepper and stir-fry it on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Once the squash is tender crisp, remove from the stove and allow it to cool on a plate.

Mix the cooked quinoa, stir-fried squash, cubed cucumbers, green onions, basil, and mint in a large bowl. You can add crumbled feta cheese if desired. Drizzle the vinaigrette and mix gently. Serve this warm salad with bread and a glass of wine.

Recipe linked to

Carrot-Ginger Soup

We have had quite an extreme winter (for Southern California standards) and there have many chilly evenings when a bowl of hot soup has been the most comforting food. I have been wanting to make this soup for quite some time now, and one day last week I figured the day was auspicious enough (and cold) to finally make it. So here goes.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

Roughly chopped carrots – 2 cups

Roughly chopped onions – ¾ cup

Finely chopped ginger – 3 tbsps(more if you like it stronger)

Olive/any cooking oil – 2 tbsps

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Chili powder – ½ tsp ( or to taste)

Salt to taste

Water as required

Method

Boil the carrots and keep ready. (I cooked them in the microwave. Alternately, you could cook the carrots along with the onions, spices, and some water). In a large saucepan, heat the oil and sauté the onions until slightly brown. Add the carrots, turmeric, chili, ginger, and salt. Sauté for about 5-6  minutes and keep aside to cool. Once it has cooled a bit, blend until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the required amount of water and simmer for about 10 minutes.

Garnish with cilantro and a few slivers of ginger. Bon Appétit.

Pongal Special

We hope that you all had a very good Pongal/Sankranthi. Every Indian state, except Kerala, has its own way of celebrating this festival and we are sharing with you some specialties from Tamil Nadu. Even though these dishes are made during the Pongal, they can be enjoyed on any day of the year (an excuse for having posted them after Pongal?).

Thani Kootu

Ingredients

Green peas – 1 to 2 cups (frozen or fresh)

Tamarind extract – 1 cup

Sambar powder – 1 tbsp

Salt to taste

Hing – a pinch

Masala

Oil – 1 tsp

Channa dal – 2 tbsps

Dhania seeds – 3 tbsps

Grated coconut – 4 tbsps

Red chillies – 4 or 5

Seasoning

Oil – 2 tsps

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 4 or 5

Red chillies – 2

Grated coconut – 2 tbsps

Method

Boil the green peas in tamarind water, with sambar powder, salt, and hing for about 15 - 20 minutes. In the meantime, sauté the masala in oil until channa dal turns slightly brown. Grind to make a powder or paste. Add the ground masala to the boiling peas and allow it to cook for another ten minutes.

For the seasoning, heat oil in a kadai. Add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Then add the urad dal and the red chillies. Add the curry leaves and the grated coconut. Once all the seasoning ingredients are nicely sautéed, add them to the peas and serve hot.

Kali Kootu

Ingredients

Diced winter melon – 1 cup

Diced pumpkin – 1 cup

Peeled and diced raw banana – 2

Peeled and diced sweet potato – 1

Peeled and diced potato – 4

Finely chopped green beans – 1

Diced carrot – 1 cup

Diced brinjal – ½ cup

Green peas – ½ cup

Tamarind extract – ½ cup

Cooked toor dal – ¼ cup

Sambar powder – 2 tbsps

Hing – a pinch

Salt to taste

Masala

Oil – 1 tsp

Channa dal – 2 tbsps

Dhania seeds – 3 tbsps

Grated coconut – 4 tbsps

Red chillies – 4 or 5

Seasoning

Oil – 2 tsps

Mustard seeds – 1 tsp

Urad dal – 1 tsp

Curry leaves – 4 or 5

Red Chillies - 2

Method

Boil the vegetables in tamarind extract, with sambar powder, and salt. Preferably, pressure-cook the vegetables.

In the meantime, sauté the masala in oil until the channa dal turns slightly brown. Grind to make a powder or paste. In a big pot, add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and allow it to splutter. Add the urad dal, red chillies, and curry leaves. Now add the boiled vegetables and bring it to a boil. Add the cooked toor dal and the ground masala. Allow the gravy to boil for about 10 minutes and serve hot with rice, dosa or roti.

Oats Chakkara Pongal

You all know that the traditional sweet pongal is made with rice. This year, we decided to give it a healthy twist. Try our oats pongal and we are sure you won't miss the rice.

Ingredients

Cooked oats – 1 ½ cups

Cooked moong dal – ¾ cup

Melted jaggery – 1 cup (approx)

Cardamom powder – ½ tsp

Cashews and Raisins for garnish

Ghee – 1 tbsp

Water – ½ cup (more if required)

Method

Cook the moong dal (in a pressure cooker or on open flame) and keep aside. Toast the oats for about 5 minutes, on low heat. Meanwhile, bring the water to a boil. Once the oats is ready, sprinkle the water over it and keep stirring. Keep adding the water until the oats are nicely cooked. Make sure it does not become mushy. Keep this aside.

In a saucepan, melt the jaggery with 1-2 tablespoons of water. Once the jaggery is completely melted, add the cooked oats and moong dal and mix well. Allow it to simmer for 10-12 minutes or until most of the excess water is absorbed and you are left with a nice ooey-gooey mixture. Take it off the heat and add the cardamom powder and mix well.

Heat the ghee in a small pan. Add the cashews and raisins and sauté for a couple of minutes. Garnish the prepared pongal with the sautéed nuts and raisins and serve hot. Bon Appétit.

Acorn Squash Soup

I don't remember if I have mentioned this before, but I have been attending some of the free Cooking Technique Sessions conducted by the Williams Sonoma stores. These sessions are held on Sunday mornings and are really interesting. The first one I attended was focused on fall squashes. The lady doing the demo had brought 6 different varieties of squashes and she cooked a few of them for us. One of the squashes she cooked was the acorn squash. She cut it in half, spread some butter and brown sugar on the inside, placed it upside down on a cookie sheet and baked it for about 30 minutes. What came out was a nicely caramelized, gorgeous looking thing, which was very yummy too.

The other squashes (butternut, kabocha, sugar pie, etc., were roasted with some olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs. They tasted awesome too.

Coming to the soup, I roasted the acorn squash (with peel) in the oven, scooped out the flesh and then made the soup. This can be done with any other squash that is available.

Soup

Ingredients

Chopped onions – ¾ cup

Mashed squash – ¾ cup

Water – 2 cups + more

Milk/cream – 2-3 tbsps

Finely chopped garlic – 1-2 cloves

Chili powder to taste

Turmeric – ¼ tsp

Thyme (or any herb of choice) – 1 tbsp

Olive oil/Cooking oil – 2-3 tbsps + more for brushing on the squash

Method

Preheat oven to 350^O F. Wash and cut the squash, remove the seeds and pulp, brush with a little oil, sprinkle sat and chili powder and place upside down on a cookie sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes. Let the squash cool a bit before you handle it. Using a spoon, scoop out the cooked flesh and mash well.

In a saucepan, sauté onion in 2-3 tbsps of oil. Once they turn slightly translucent, add the garlic and sauté for couple of minutes. Add the mashed squash, salt, chili, turmeric and herbs. Mix well. Add the 2 cups of water and let it simmer. Add more water if you want. Also, you can blend this mixture if you prefer  smoother soup. I personally liked the slightly coarse texture.

Add the milk/cream just before serving.

Croutons

Ingredients

Butter – 1 tbsp

Olive oil – 1 tbsp

Bread – 2 slices

Mint/Rosemary/or any herb of choice – 1 tbsp

Method

I used regular whole wheat bread, but you could use any bread like a baguette, sour dough etc. In a pan, heat oil and butter on medium heat. Add the herbs and heat it for a minute. Add the chopped bread and toss to coat. Reduce the heat, and let it get crunchy (about 10-15 minutes). Keep tossing to ensure even crunchiness.  Add a few croutons to your soup and enjoy. Bon Appétit. 

 Note: For an added crunch you can also add toasted pumpkin/squash seeds. To make those, wash  dry the seeds. On a cookie sheet toss the seeds with some olive oil, salt, and chili powder. Roast in the oven at 350^OF until they are crunchy (about 30-40 minutes). These make a nice afternoon snack.

We wish all our readers and their families a very Happy and Prosperous 2013. Our holidays were extremely fun and we hope that yours were too. The best part of the season was that we got to meet each other…and we spent some quality time together. What could be better?? Well, we got to taste each others intoxicated cakes. They were absolutely delicious!

The new year usually brings with it hopes, aspirations, and resolutions. We of course do not believe in resolutions, because most resolutions are made to be broken. It is better to not make any, don't you think so?

Anyway, in this first post for the year, we would like to share some photographs of all the wonderful food we made/ate over the holidays. Bon Appétit.

Mashed Potatoes topped with Cheddar, Green onions and Mushrooms

Mini Pumpkin Cake (Left) Mini Chocolate Pie (Right)

Kacchi Biryani (Veg)

Intoxicated Cake Laced with Coconut Rum

Intoxicated Cake with French Vanilla Ice Cream

Celebration Punch (Raspberry Lemonade, Lemonade, Orange Juice and Club Soda)

Sea Breeze (Cranberry Juice, Grapefruit Juice, Lemonade, Vodka)

Maple Cream Roll with Hazelnuts

Ginger-Cinnamon Torte