My top 10 favorite pictures - A meme

Thanks to Madhuram of Eggless Cooking for tagging me for this meme. So, here are my top 10 favorite pictures not necessarily in order of preference. You can click on them to get the recipes.

I would like to pass it on to:
easycrafts
Dhivya’s Cuisine
Athisaya Divya
Indian Cooking

NOTE: I will be gone for a week starting tomorrow. So, until then have a good week all of you. I will come back with a lot more new recipes after a week. Take care.

Refreshing Summer Sandwich

These days fresh vegetables are in season. The days are getting warmer and my family needs fruits & vegetables to keep us cool. We even prefer to eat easy, simple with not much spices or fuss dish yet fully utilize the availability of produce in season. My husband loves bread and he can eat it any day; of course different variety of bread would be better. He can survive on bread alone while it is a little cumbersome for me. Anything made from bread or even a simple sandwich can satisfy him and this makes it very easy for me to prepare his lunch plus take advantage of the fresh vegetables. Breads come in all sorts of shapes and flavors from plain white, wheat, multi-grain, sour dough, sprouted grain and much more. My husband’s favorite, the French sour dough which I bought from Whole Foods Market.

French sour dough bread

This is bread is just about enough for one person and you can see that it’s size is just about the diameter of my plate. I would say about 6″ inch long.

Recipe:

1 french sour dough bread
1 small red bell pepper
1 carrot small
1 small cucumber
3 sun-dried tomatoes cut lengthwise
Some paneer crumbled
2 - 3 tsp of dhania chutney
2 tsp butter
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper

Roast the bell pepper on the stove top, occasionally rotating it. Once it has turned black all over, put it in a ziploc bag and cover it tightly and let it sweat for about 15 minutes. To char in oven: Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Place peppers stem side down on baking sheet. Roast uniformly, rotate if necessary. (About 8 to 10 minutes). In the meanwhile, cut the bread in the center to split open. Spread some butter on both the sides. Now spread some dhania chutney. Using a vegetable peeler, peel slices of carrot & cucumber. It peels like ribbons. Place some carrots, then cucumber on the bread. Now remove the bell pepper from the ziploc, and remove the skin. It will come off very easily. Below are the pictures after roasting and skin removed.

Cut the bell pepper in long strips and place it on the cucumber, add the sun-dried tomatoes, crumble some fresh home made paneer for protein. Sprinkle with salt and pepper if needed. Cover with the other slice of bread and cut in the center. Easy and nutritious lunch ready in no time and my husband loved his sandwich; the crunch from the cucumber & carrots, the spiciness from the chutney and sweetness from the bell pepper and sun-dried tomatoes.

Delicious & Refreshing sandwich perfect for any day

TIP: Make the roasted bell pepper earlier and keep it in the fridge and it comes handy when making sandwiches and pastas. They taste really good too. You can also add leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce or whatever your imagination is.

Aloo in Palak Gravy

Fresh & crispy chinese palak and aloo

Aloo in Palak Gravy or simply aloo palak is a very popular dish in India. Palak is seasonal and taking advantage of this iron rich, dark green leafy vegetable is a must; at least in my family. So, I keep up the tradition and cook palak whenever I find it fresh. These days I find really scrumptious palak in the farmer’s market. They are truly a feast to my eyes before a feast to my mouth. I bought the chinese version. Yes, chinese spinach or chinese palak has a thick, fleshy, dark green leaves as compared to the Indian version and after I saw them this weekend, I could not pass it on. So, aloo in palak gravy became our meal.

Recipe: (For 4- 6 people)

1 bunch palak
8 - 10 round baby aloo, cooked and peeled
1 medium size onion, chopped
1 medium size tomato
Green chilies as per taste
1 tbsp dhania powder
2 tsp mirchi powder or per taste
1 tsp haldi powder
Salt to taste
1 tbsp oil
2 tsp jeera

Pressure cook the palak with little water. Add a little oil and sauté the onion and green chili. Now, purée the mixture with cooked palak and tomato. Use the water used to cook the palak while puréeing. Heat oil in a skillet, add jeera and let the aroma infuse. Then add the boiled aloo, spices & sauté a little bit and then add the palak purée. Bring it to a boil. Serve hot with a side of Naan or Roti.

Aloo in palak gravy with Naan bread

TIP: You can add ginger & garlic while sautéing the onions and purée it along with palak. Also, you can add cream in the end for extra flavor.