Happy Wednesday!

It is pouring rain outside here today and I am thankful for it – California can always use an abundance of rain. I am working and drinking cup after cup of hot tea to keep the chill away.

I have definitely been in a rut with dinner for the last few weeks! So I got back to some of my favorite blogs for some ideas and walked away pretty inspired! Some of my faves are:  Naturally Ella, Smitten Kitchen, My Name is Yeh, A Cozy Kitchen, Cookie and Kate and Pinch Of Yum.

From this exploration I was inspired to make some yummy things: kale salad with fried greek cheese, a couple new soups, and some old fashioned Indian veggies (bengan bhartha!). This quinoa came out of that experimentation – it was delicious. There are a lot of possible variations and I encourage you to use whatever veggies you have on hand. I ran out of tahini otherwise I would have throw that in as a dressing. It was good the way I have it – lots of different textures and very comforting. You could also throw a fried egg on top.

Winter Quinoa Bowl

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed and soaked for at least 10 minutes

1 head cauliflower

1/2 red onion

1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

1 can garbanzo beans

salt/pepper

olive oil

dried oregano

garlic (2 cloves, optional)

lemon (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees F.
2. Drain quinoa and cook. Put in a small pot, add 1 and 1/3 cups of water and salt to taste. Cover then bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, decrease the heat to minimum until the water is gone. Fluff with a fork and set aside.
3. Cut cauliflower into small florets, onions into small pieces,  and toss with salt, pepper and olive oil. Roast in the oven until the cauliflower is crispy. Toss once of twice during cooking. This will likely take 30-40 min.
4. Use toaster oven to toast the pumpkin seeds. Set aside to cool.
5. Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering, put in the garbanzos (drained and rinsed) and cook, tossing frequently, until they are darker brown and crispy.
6. You can add thinly sliced garlic once the garbanzos are almost done. Be careful not to allow them to burn.
7. Toss together the quinoa, 1 tsp dried oregano, cauliflower/onion mixture, crispy garbanzos and pumpkin seeds. Add additional salt/pepper to taste and a squeeze of lemon. Season with crushed red pepper for an extra kick.
8. Enjoy!

Love,

Pooja

Happy Wednesday everyone!

As someone who cooks a lot, I spend a lot of time trying to use the leftovers – we do end up eating most of the leftovers for lunch but sometimes that doesn’t quite work out.  This is my mom’s way of using our leftover dal (Indian lentils). As kids, we used to look forward to this more than the original meal! Poori is a fried bread and generally very popular with kids – my kids certainly love eating this and it makes for a pretty nutritious dinner for them when they eat it with yogurt. I hope that you try it and let me know what you think!

Dal Poori

Ingredients: 

Leftover dal (I usually make masoor dal – the small orange lentil – see above)

Chickpea flour and whole wheat flour (can easily make this gluten free by using chickpea flour only)

Salt to taste

Cumin

Oil for frying

Instructions: 

1. I don’t have any specific measurements listed because the amount of dal I have depends on what is left over – sometimes less and sometimes more, so I will tell you the how and you may have to experiment a bit.
2. Let the dal sit out to warm a bit, otherwise, your hands will freeze! Put it into a large mixing bowl.
3. Start adding in the flour. You can start by adding a cup at a time of the chickpea flour. Once it starts to come together into a dough, switch to adding whole wheat flour. The dough has a lot of moisture in it so you will have to be careful when you start rolling it out.
4. Add cumin and salt to the dough to taste – I usually sprinkle the salt over the dough and then incorporate by kneading so I don’t over-salt.
5. Here is a good video tutorial for how to make poori. Start at 1:26 in the video as the starting process for these is different.
6. Make little balls out of the dough and knead them well in your hands to make them smooth and elastic. I usually make them about 1 to 1 1/2 inches in diameter. You may need to dip them in flour to combat the stickiness.
7. Generously flour your working surface and roll them out using a rolling pin. How thin you roll them will depend on 1. how sticky the dough is (these are delicate and sometimes require quite a bit of additional flour so they don’t stick to the rolling surface) and 2. how thin/crispy you like them. For the kids I make them a little bit thicker and for myself, I make them thin and crispy. (see heart shaped one for Esha below)
8. Heat the oil in a wok – 3-4 inches deep of oil – until shimmering. Lower heat to medium.
9. After it has fried for about 1 minute on the first side, press down on it with the skimmer (I have this one), if you have rolled it out well, it will puff (mine do about 70% of the time! I’m getting better with practice…..)
10. Fry each poori, about 2-3 minutes on each side. Drain out on paper towels placed on a cookie sheet.
11. Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt for dipping.

Some recent pics:

Diya took this amazing one of our sunset view: 

Esha and Nisa – all dressed up and ready to go:

My most recent favorite memes:

Love,

Pooja

Happy Tuesday everyone,

So much going on here lately! Diya turned 12 and I can’t believe that my oldest is such a mature young lady (although using that phrase does make me feel old enough to have a mature young lady). We also had my nephew staying with us for a few days and watching him and Nisa together warmed my heart every moment (even the fighting – SO interesting to watch the negotiations).

In the midst of all this craziness, we made this kale salad with the stuff we had in the fridge and it turned out amazingly well. The nice thing is that you can improvise with whatever you have on hand (nut free? use pumpkin seeds, no pears? use whatever fruit you have on hand, I think that grapes would be amazing!)

Let me know if you make it and use different ingredients!

Kale Salad with Pears, Almonds, Dates and Feta

Ingredients:

One to bunches of kale (we used about 1.5 and the dino kale variety)

one pear (we used D’Anjou)

3-4 Medjool dates

1/2 cup nuts/seeds toasted (we used a combination of sliced almonds and pumpkin seeds)

crumbled feta

salt/pepper

olive oil

juice from one lemon

Instructions:

1. Clean the kale, dry well and rip the leaves off the ribs, toss the ribs. Cut into bite-size pieces.

2. Put a tablespoon of olive oil on the kale and sprinkle salt to taste. Massage the kale until it softens and becomes shiny (about 1 minute).

3. Add chopped pear, chopped dates, nuts/seeds.

4. Make the dressing: 3-4 tablespoons olive oil, salt/pepper, juice of one lemon. Whisk until the acid is incorporated with the oil . Drizzle over the salad.

5. Add the feta and toss until the dressing and the ingredients are distributed evenly.

6. Enjoy as a side salad or with protein as a main meal. Serves 8 as a side.

Massaged kale

Add the pears

Add the dates

Add the nuts/seeds

Add the dressing and fate

Yum!

Happy Thursday everyone! It has been cold and rainy and I was feeling like some roasted veggies. This is a pretty simple recipe although it does take some hands on time with the chopping of the squash. I do really love squash but it takes SO MUCH WORK. Luckily it comes in my Imperfect Produce box sometimes so I am forced to use it!

In terms of substitutions, you can easily substitute cauliflower or romanesco for the broccoli. Arugula would also be good in place of the kale. And sweet potatoes are a good sub for the squash. If you try it, let me know what you think! It is definitely going to be a do-over in our house.

Roasted Broccoli + Squash with Kale + Tahini Dressing

(Side dish for 4, main meal for 2)

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash

1 lb broccoli

1/2 onion

1 pepper

Olive oil

Salt/pepper to taste

1/2 bunch kale, torn

Crumbled feta (optional)

Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional) – I toast them in the toaster oven

DRESSING:

3-4 tbs tahini

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tbs olive oil

2 tbs water

salt/pepper

chopped mint (optional)

Instructions: 

1. Heat the oven to 400 degrees
2. Peel and cut the squash into cubes. Cut the broccoli into florets that are about twice the size of the squash cubes. Cut the pepper and onion into a similar size as the squash. Lay out on a baking sheet.
3. Drizzle with olive oil and salt/pepper, toss using your hands to coat the veggies well.
4. Roast for 25 min or so, stirring once or twice. The broccoli should have crispy edges and the squash should look caramelized at the edges
5. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients and whisking well.
6. Meanwhile, tear or cut the kale and put in the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Add the dressing on top.
7. Top with the roasted vegetables while still hot out of the oven. Toss well to allow the kale to wilt a bit and the dressing to coat everything.
8. Top with the pumpkin seeds and feta.
9. Enjoy!

Hello,

It is starting to feel like winter! Whenever it is gray and cold outside, I feel like making (and eating!) soup. I wanted to make a coconut curry soup this week but ran out of coconut milk and didn’t feel like running out to get some. I put this together with the stuff I had in my fridge/pantry and I think that it is versatile enough that you can use whatever you have on hand. We ate the soup with crunchy garbanzo croutons and pesto grilled cheese sandwiches (recipe for the garbanzos below as well!). I hope that it hits the spot for you like it did for us!

Winter Soup

Ingredients:

1 small head of cauliflower

2 large or 4 small carrots (about 2 cups chopped)

1 small onion

vegetable bullion (2 cubes)

water

1 clove of garlic, 1 knob of ginger

Assorted spices: cumin, turmeric, salt, pepper, curry powder or curry paste, thyme, etc..

ghee or butter

splash of milk (almond milk or non-dairy milk will work, as will coconut, or cream if you want to use that)

garbanzo croutons (see below)

Instructions:

1. Salute the chopped onion, garlic and ginger in 2 tablespoons of the butter or ghee.
2. Add in spices: salt and pepper, cumin, curry paste etc. Stir and cook for about a minute until the spices are fragrant.
3. Add in the chopped vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften.
4. Add in 3 cups of water and stir, scraping the bits of the bottom. Put in the bullion cubes. Cover and cook for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
5. Using a hand blender (or a regular blender in batches), puree until smooth.
6. Stir in 1 cup of “cream” (milk or coconut milk work well)
7. Top with toasted pepitas, chopped herbs and garbanzo croutons.

Garbanzo Croutons

Ingredients:

One can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

salt,  cumin

olive oil

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Toss the garbanzo beans with 1 tablespoon olive oil, 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp cumin
3. spread out on a baking sheet and toast for 30 minutes until crispy, stirring once 15 minutes into the cooking time.
4. Serve!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

It’s been a whirlwind the last week! We just celebrated Diwali (a Hindu festival which celebrates the triumph of good over evil or light over dark). It’s one of my favorite holidays of the year and we were so happy this year to celebrate with my nephew as well. I am always the happiest when the kids are together.

This year, after celebrating with so many who are dear to me, I reflected on how we have been blessed to develop a diverse community/village. #lifegoals

I am going to tell you about these delicious and relatively quick fall falafel patties I made. But first some link love!

A couple of books that I am reading:

1. A recommendation from the girls’ head of school called “Wait, What?”  It’s a quick read and super interesting.

2. I know I am late to the game, but my sister just gave me her copy of Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey and it’s pretty incredible. One of my favorite poems here:

Other fun stuff:

1. Ten of the best photos from the 2017 National Geographic Travel Photos contest. Cheers me up every time:

https://www.boredpanda.com/national-geographic-travel-nature-photographer-of-the-year-contest-2017/

2. My friend Nadya sent out this awesome video for the International Day of the Girl:

3. On my list to make:

https://cookieandkate.com/2017/mini-peanut-butter-cups-recipe/

and

http://www.acozykitchen.com/burnt-butter-pear-apple-crumble/

Now, on to the recipe. I saw this a couple of weeks ago on Ashley’s blog Blissful Basil and bookmarked it to make. I love the idea of incorporating pumpkin into these to make them good for the fall! And since it uses such little pumpkin, there is pumpkin puree left over to make a fall dessert. These patties are also gluten-free and vegan. I ate mine with tahini sauce (i’ll give you the quick recipe below) and some greek yogurt on the side. They would also be good like more traditional falafels – wrapped in pita. I did make a few tweaks to the recipe, so if you want the original, you can go to Ashley’s site.

Pumpkin Lentil Falafel

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dried split red lentils
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup mix of raw sunflower and pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup canned unsweetened pumpkin purée
• 3/4 cup oat flour (make your own by blending oats in a food processor)
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, stemmed
• 1/2 medium red onion, roughly diced (about 1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt or to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and generously oil 2 baking sheets.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the lentils and water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the lentils are tender but not yet mushy. Strain off excess water and set aside.

3. Add the seeds to a food processor and process for one minute, or until ground into a coarse flour.

4. Then, add the cooked lentils, pumpkin purée, and all remaining ingredients to the food processor. Pulse 10 to 15 times to coarsely chop and mix. Be careful not to over-process.

5. Using a large tablespoon, drop spoonfuls of the batter on to the baking sheets, flatten slightly using the back of the spoon.

6. Bake for 10 minutes on each side, longer if you like them crispier (but be aware, that if you overtake them, they will dry out)

7. Let the patties cool on the pan slightly before moving or serving.

   8. Serve with tahini sauce!

   

   

   Quick Tahini Sauce

   In a small blender (or can be mixed by hand) combine a few scoops of sesame tahini, a splash of olive oil, a splash of water, juice of one lemon, and salt/pepper to taste. Blend until it becomes a smooth paste. Serve with the falafel!

    

   Love,

Pooja