Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

My entire family loves lasagna. Many years ago there used to be a fusion restaurant on Mount Road in Chennai which served some great lasagna. It was a very different lasagna with a bread crumb topping and loads of spinach. I like this particular recipe because it uses both white and red sauce, has a ton of veggies and is not cheesy at all. I hope you enjoy making this for your friends and family.


Recipe: Roasted Vegetable Lasagna.

The recipe is split into three parts and I have mentioned the ingredients under each. You can use store bought white sauce if you don't want the hassle of making it at home. It will also save you some time.

Serves: 4 or 2 ( with leftovers )

Preparation time: 1 hour

Baking time: 40 - 45 mins

For the filling:

1 - Zucchini sliced in half moons
1 - 1/2 cups mushrooms sliced
1 red pepper diced
1 eggplant sliced
2 -3 cloves of garlic un peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
dash of salt & peper
1 tsp Italian seasoning mix.

* Preheat oven to 375 F, Place vegetable on a baking tray sprinkle with olive oil, italian herbs, a dash of salt and pepper.

* Bake for 30-40 mins or until roasted completely.

* Remove the skins of the garlic before assembling in the lasagna. You can roast these veggies a day before you make the lasagna to save you time.

White Sauce:

2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups hot milk
Salt & pepper to season
red chili flakes for spice

* Before you start the sauce, place 4 cups of milk in a pan on medium heat.

* In a heavy bottomed vessel, melt the butter and add the flour. Stir until the flour is browned a little.

* Add the milk now a little at a time and keep stirring. If the milk is hot enough the sauce will start thickening immediately. Continue until you have added all the milk. If the sauce does not thicken stir continuously on medium low heat. Sometimes the sauce takes around 30 mins to thicken.

For Assembly:

* Store bought Pizza sauce or Tomato sauce
* White sauce
* Pre-cooked lasagna noodles ( approx 10 ) **See Note
* 1 -2 cups grated parmesan cheese
* Roasted veggies

**Note: I like the lasagna noodles to be cooked before I bake them, as the un-cooked lasagna noodles get to dry and thick. Cook according to package instructions.

* In a rectangular baking dish. First spread a layer of the red sauce. Then add a spoonful of roasted veggies everything except the eggplant slices.

* On this we will then place the lasagna noodles in such a way that the entire surface of the baking dish is covered.

* Next layer with the roasted eggplant slices, and cover with white sauce generously.

* Repeat again with a layer of noodles.

* On top of the noodles, now place both a layer of white and red sauce covered with grated parmesan cheese.

* Bake at 375 for 40-45 mins until the cheese on top has melted, bubbly and browned.

Enjoy your lasagna with a side salad.

Broken Wheat Vegetable Delight

How has your weekend been? Mine was good. We did quiet a few things, caught up with friends, went on a long hike after a long time, went shopping at IKEA and tried to watch a movie using Chromecast. Every time I go shopping at IKEA I have to buy a few more air-tight jars for my pantry. I have an obsession for jars, any size, shape and color jar and have quiet a collection in my pantry.

Broken Wheat also called Bulgar wheat, Fada, Dalia is high in fiber and is made from whole raw wheat kernels. I am not a big fan of broken wheat and enjoy it if its cooked the right way and eaten hot. This is an easy one pot meal. Broken wheat can be substituted with rice as well in this recipe.

I had a small cauliflower, one potato and one carrot lying in the pantry and were used up in this dish. The recipe is a good way to finish up leftover veggies and also eat healthy.

Recipe:

Serves: 2-3 adults

Time: 20 mins

Special Kitchenware: Pressure cooker or  Electrical Rice Cooker.

Ingredients:
1 cup broken wheat / rice
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 tsp ginger garlic paste *
2-3 green chillies
1-2 cup mixed vegetables ( potatoes, carrots, french beans, peas)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp chili powder/paprika
Cilantro chopped finely to garnish.

Tempering:
1/4 tsp Mustard seeds
1/4 tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Olive Oil

* If you do not have ginger garlic paste. Add finely chopped garlic and grated ginger where the recipe calls for this ingredient.

Broken wheat vegetable delight

• Wash the broken wheat thoroughly in a bowl and keep it aside. 

• In a thick bottomed vessel / pressure cooker add olive oil, mustard and cumin seeds. The mustard seeds will start sizzling in the hot oil. 

• At this time add the chopped onions, Sautee for 2-3 mins with a pinch of salt. The ginger-garlic paste should be added now. Cook until the raw garlic smell goes away. 

• Add all the vegetables along with green chillies to the pot now. Let them cook for a minute or two and then add the spices - turmeric, chili powder and salt. Stir until the spices and vegetables are blended together. 

• Now add two and half cups of hot water to the pot or pressure cooker. If you are using an electric cooker, transfer the mixture to the electric cooker now. For a pressure cooker cook on medium flame for 2 whistles.

You can see my reflection and that of the food on the spoon

• Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with papad or raita. Make sure to serve this dish hot ! 

Tell me how did you like the dish and also if you have a jar obsession like I do :). 

Quinoa Peas Pulao

On a glommy fall evening, all you want to do is snuggle by the fireplace and read a book or watch a movie. Cooking is the last thing you want to do. This Quinoa Pulao is easy, healthy and delicious. It takes only a few minutes to cook and most of the ingredients are in your pantry already ! So lets start cooking.

Recipe:

Time : 20 mins
Preparation : 5 mins
Serves : 2

Ingredients:

Quinoa - 1cup
Water or Vegetable Broth - 2 cups

Peas - 1/4 cup

Onion - chopped finely - 1/4 cup.
Paneer - 10 pieces ( cubed) - optional

Ginger-garlic paste - 1 tsp

Green chili - 2-3 ( depending on your spice level)

Mint leaves - a handful 

Gharam masala - 1/2 tsp

Salt to taste

Oil - 1 tsp

To Temper:
Jeera - 1 tsp

Cloves - 2-3

Cinnamon - 1/2 inch piece

* In a pot or dutch oven add olive oil and all the ingredients under the 'to temper ' list.

* The jerra will turn a golden brown, add the chopped onions to it with a pinch of salt. The salt will help the onions sweat and cook faster.

* When the onions have a pink tinge on them, add ginger-garlic paste, sauté for 2-3 mins. Add the paneer now if you have it. Sauté for few more mins.

* Add the green chili, peas, gharam masala, and mint leaves and sauté for a min or so. 

* Rinse the quinoa using a kitchen strainer. Add the washed quinoa to the pot.

* For every 1 cup of quinoa you will require 2 cups of water or broth. Let the quinoa cook until you can see the germ of the quinoa around it. The quinoa should have a ring around it, it is called the germ of the quinoa.

* To make quinoa fluffy, close the lid of the vessel after you switch off the stove and let it sit for a few minutes. Fluff the quinoa gently with a fork. Serve with Fava beans raita.

Here are more tips on how to make your quinoa fluffy.

CousCous Salad

When I woke up this morning, I heard from my mom in India, that Tarla Dalal India's most celebrated and loved chefs passed away. It is a very sad day. Back in the day when I was a kid and my mom always likes to cook, we used to refer to her cook books and still do today. It was just yesterday that I made her pav bhaji recipe. In India, Tarla Dalal is the equivalent of Julia Child in the United States. She was a house wife who loved cooking and started cookery classes in Mumbai, before writing her first cook book and cookery show. It is inspiring and motivating to read her story.

Let's get on to the recipe now.

Cous Cous salad, just looking at the pictures makes me drool :D

I love Couscous, during grad school I made a lot of it. It is very quick to cook and tasty. I had a couscous salad at a friends place and decided to try something similar at home. The portion size for the salad are for a side. If you are eating this as the main dish, you can double everything in the recipe for a wholesome meal.

Serves : 2

Time: 10 - 15 minutes

Recipe:

1/2 cup large pearl couscous
1 1/2 cups water
1/3  cup cucumber diced
1/3 cup red pepper diced
2 tbsp roasted sunflower seeds
cilantro for garnish

For the dressing:
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp cumin powder
Salt & pepper to taste

* Pour water into a pan along with couscous, place it on flame and let it simmer for 6 minutes. Slowly bring to a boil , take it off the flame and close with lid. Let the couscous cook for 10 minutes.

* Once the couscous is cooked it will be fluffy and soft. Drain the water and let the couscous cool in a colander.

* Meanwhile add all the ingredients for the dressing in a measuring jar or bowl and stir.

* Once the couscous has cooled down, add it to the cucumber, red pepper, sunflower seeds and cilantro. Pour the dressing over the couscous and serve immediately.

* Enjoy with a cup of hot soup or by itself. You can also add chopped onions, baby tomatoes and olives , feta cheese to make it a mediterranean style salad.

Vegan & Gluten free - Creamy Chunky Mushroom Soup

I love mushrooms. They have an earthy flavor which is best felt in a bowl of "mushroom"y soup :). They are also in season right now, and so are fresh and cheap. The local farmers market in Portland has different types of wild mushrooms , some of them can cost up to $20/ pound ! You should check it out if you are in Portland. But for this recipe I have used the easily available crimini mushrooms. This soup is creamy and has chunks of mushrooms. The cream does not take over the earthiness of the mushrooms in this soup. So if you like mushrooms, this soup is definitely for you.

New soup bowls have a way of making us drink more soup..

I have adopted this recipe from New Season market's Cream of mushroom soup. It is easy to make this soup Vegan , and I have included substitutions for it.

Recipe:

2 cups crimini mushrooms
1 onion diced finely
1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 tbsp rice flour

2 cups water or vegetable stock
2-3 tbsp cream or coconut cream
pinch of cayenne
salt & pepper to taste
fresh cilantro for garnish.

* Clean mushrooms using a tissue paper. Keep 1/4 cup of the mushrooms aside and chop finely. Slice the rest of the mushrooms.

* In a heavy bottomed vessel add the oil and diced onions and sliced mushrooms. Cover the pan and sweat on low heat for 6-7 minutes.

* Add the rice flour and cook for 1 minute. Make sure there are no lumps.

* Slowly add the water or vegetable stock to the mixture . Then add the cream / coconut cream, cayenne, salt and pepper.

* Cook for 15 minutes. Until everything is combined and the soup looks thickened.

* Remove from flame and using an immersion blender blend the soup. Put it back on the flame again and add the finely chopped mushroom pieces and cook until done.

* Serve with chopped cilantro.

I made this with couscous salad and it was a great combination. I will put up the recipe for Couscous salad tomorrow. Let me know how the soup turned out ! Ciao.

Creamy mushroom soup with couscous salad

Thai curry Butternut Squash Soup

It's fall already ! The year has flown by so soon. I remember last December I went home to India and now its almost December again :O. Come Fall and there are different winter squashes and pumpkins available everywhere. They are hard to avoid. I haven't experimented a lot with butternut squash, but I seem to be liking it a lot lately. When its cold and rainy, there is nothing like a hot bowl of hearty home made soup.
A few weeks back I made a thai inspired butternut squash soup, which is hearty, easy to make and fills you up. I will not be surprised if you have most of the ingredients for this recipe in your pantry. This soup is dairy free and delicious.

Thai Butternut squash soup.

Ingredients:

1 small butternut squash peeled, cubed and de-seeded ( 2 cups )
2-3 cloves of Garlic cut finely
1 small onion diced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red thai curry paste
4 cups Vegetable stock
14 oz can coconut milk
Salt & Pepper
Cilantro chopped
Roasted peanuts - for garnish

* In a heavy bottomed pot, add olive oil, onions and garlic. Add a dash of salt to help it cook. The onions will turn a light pink and start sweating.

* Add the red thai curry paste and cook for another 2 mins.

* Now add your butternut squash and vegetable stock. Close with lid and let it cook for 10-15 mins or until soft.

* Once it is soft, take it off the stove and blend either in a blender or use an immersion blender to puree it. The puree will be very thick. Add the coconut milk, salt and pepper. Adjust with water if its too thick.

* Put the pot back on the stove and let it simmer for a few minutes until everything has blended properly. Do not let the mixture boil.

Serve with chopped cilantro and peanuts. I also like adding a dash of lime for an authentic thai taste. To make it more spicy trying adding siracha or red chilli flakes to the soup as it cooks. We added a dash of siracha and it elevated the flavor of the soup .

I hope you all enjoy.