Jicama-Avocado Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

I love trying new vegetables and the latest one I tried is Jicama (spelled as hi-ka-mma). Actually I bought it couple of times before, but I was hesitant to use them right away and by the time I was ready, they rotted :-( So this time, I made sure I had a recipe ready and I made it right away.
Jicama also known as Mexican yam or Mexican turnip is an edible tuberous root of a native Mexican vine. I was surprised that it is from a bean family because it almost looks like it belongs to the potato family. Another interesting thing is that the remainder of the jicama plant (except for the root) is poisonous.

Out side of a jicama is yellow and papery and needs to be peeled. Inside is crispy and resembles raw potato or pear. It tastes a little like apple but is not not sweet -- like a bland apple. It is usually eaten raw in salads and sometimes cooked in soups and stir-fried dishes.

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Cherry Tomato & Kale Pasta

I love cherry tomatoes and usually keep a pack of red or yellow cherry tomatoes in the fridge. They are so juicy and can be eaten just as is. They are great to add in salads, pastas and even on crostini.

This recipe is from 'Meatless' cookbook by Martha Stewart Living. Cherry tomatoes are cooked till they burst and then stirred with pasta and kale. It is a very simple recipe with few ingredients and can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes, perfect for a busy weeknight.

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Chocolate Pizza (Grilled)

Chocolate & Pizza are two of my son's favorites (or can I say, any kid's favorite), so what perfect way to combine these two than make a Chocolate Pizza. I made this chocolate pizza on the grill using the goof-proof grilled pizza recipe I posted the other day. But this can be made in the oven with any of your favorite pizza crust or even store bought pizza crust to save time.

 

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Grilled Pizza

I don't want to say it aloud, but the fact of the matter is we have almost come to the end of summer in our neck of woods. It is still feels hot not, but it won't be too long before the leaves start to change color and the wind starts to get chilly. So, before ALL of that happens, I want to post from Grilling Recipes that we have been enjoying in the warm weather.

One of my favorite Grill recipes that I tried this summer is this Grilled Pizza, recipe courtesy Vegetarian Times magazine. This is one fool proof recipe to make excellent grilled pizza. The trick is in pre-baking the crust in the oven to set it and then finish with the toppings on the grill. Pre-baking helps in easy transportation of the loaded (or should I say overloaded) pizza from the table to the grill and there is no way your pizza is going to sag over the hot grates.

 

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South Western Couscous Salad

For Day 3 of BM# 17, I made this very quick and easy South Western Salad with couscous. I think any grain can be used instead of couscous and the salad would taste equally delicious. Using couscous cuts down the cooking time considerably. Recipe is from Whole Foods website.

This is a very colorful and healthy salad. Ingredients can be easily substituted with what you have on hand. A perfect dish for summer BBQs and the leftovers taste great chilled the next day for quick lunch.

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Grilled Eggplant Sandwich with Tomato Pesto (Chutney)

This month, my blog completed 6 years. I wanted to celebrate by making some sweet, as is the Indian tradition, but lack of time has let me down. But I wanted to celebrate in my own way by making my favorite eggplant sandwich (you know I'm all about simple pleasures :0) ). Actually I was looking for recipes to make for Dish It Out: Eggplant &Tomatoes event and this one seemed like the perfect fit for both the event and the celebration.

This is a very simple sandwich with toasted bread spread (rather generously) with the tomato pesto (chutney) and layered with grilled eggplants, onions and lettuce. Pesto was so good that I was eating that by spoonfuls before I made the sandwiches.

 

If outdoor grilling is not your thing, veggies can be grilled on stove-top grill pan or roasted/ broiled in an oven or even sauteed in a saute pan. If you don't like eggplant (but why wouldn't you eat an eggplant......hmmmm), then you can substitute with zucchini or peppers. Don't let anything stop you from making this yummy sandwich, especially the pesto.

I used canned fire-roasted tomatoes for the pesto, but if you have abundance of good fresh tomatoes, then slow roasted tomatoes would taste excellent too. Pesto recipe is a fusion between Italian pesto and Indian chutney, you will see why from the ingredients and the method I used to make it. This is a great accompaniment to many Indian dishes like idlis, khichdi and even plain rice.

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Grilled Naans with Tamatar Malai Rajma (Curried Kidney Beans)

Next up on my series of grilling dishes is Naans. Believe it or not grilled naans turned out to be quicker to make and extremely soft & delicious. When I tried making them on the stove or even in the oven, it takes the dough longer to cook through because of lower temperatures and the end result is usually a tougher naan. But as grill can get to a slightly higher temperatures than the regular oven and since the heat source is much more direct, naans cook faster and stay softer longer. I added 1 cup white whole wheat flour to make them slightly healthier.

Ingredients:
All Purpose Flour – 2cups
Whole wheat flour – 1 cup
Yeast – 1tbsp
Yogurt – ½ cup
Baking Powder – 1tbsp
Sugar – 1tbsp
Salt – 2tsp
Oil – 2tbsp
Method:

• Whisk flours, salt, baking powder, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
  
• Add 1 cup luke warm water (around 110ºF—a few degrees up or down is completely OK), oil and yogurt. Mix until the ingredients come together into a ball (add more water or flour as needed).
  
• Remove on to a floured surface and knead lightly until the dough is soft and smooth, about 5 minutes.
  
• Lightly oil the bowl and slide the dough back; cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 1-2 hours or until the dough doubles in volume.
  
• Punch down and divide the dough into small balls depending on how big you want your naans. Place them on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 45 mins to 1 hour or until doubled in volume.
  
• Next roll them out into a circle and slightly stretch or pull on the ends to form an oval shaped naan. Brush them lightly with oil and stack them until ready to grill.
  
• Now to the easy part; grilling. Have the grill preheated and ready to roll: Place the oiled side down on the grill and let cook for about 1 minute. To get those beautiful grill marks, turn the naan at 45 degrees and grill again for 45 seconds. Oil the top side, turn it over, cover and grill for another 1-2 minutes. Remove and enjoy hot with your favorite curry.
  

We had our naans with Rajma/ Kidney Beans curry that I made from Raghavan Iyer’s 660 Curries. It’s a very simple recipe with few ingredients but the way in which the tomatoes are cooked or “bhunao”(ed) makes the dish taste very complex-flavored and absolutely delicious. I realized I’m a rather restless cook and for some of the Indian dishes you really need to take time to get the flavors out of the ingredients.. Lesson learnt!! Coming to the recipe:

Recipe from 660 Curries.
Ingredients:
Red Kidney Beans - 3 cups, cooked
Garlic - 2 cloves, finely chopped
Ginger - 2" long, finely chopped
Cardamom pods - 2
Cinnamon sticks - 2 (3" long)
Bay leaves - 2
Tomato Paste - 3tbsp
Red chili powder - 1tsp (or more to taste)
Sweet paprika - 1tbsp
Ground coriander seeds - 2tsp
Ground cumin seeds - 1tsp
Turmeric - 1/4tsp
Fried Onion Paste - 1/4 cup**
Heavy (Whipping) Cream - 1/2cup
Garam Masala - 1/2 tsp
Salt - to taste
Cilantro - for garnish
Method:

• Heat 2tbsp ghee or oil in a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat. Add the cardamom pods (elaichi), cinnamon and bay leaves and cook until they sizzle and are aromatic, 5 to 10 seconds.
  
• Add ginger and garlic and fry to a golden-brown color, about 1 minute.
• Add 1/2 cup water and the tomato paste, red chili powder, paprika, salt, coriander, cumin and turmeric. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan and simmer until the water evaporated and a thin film of oil starts to form on the surface of the sauce, about 5 minutes.
• Add another 1/2 cup water and continue to simmer the sauce, covered, stirring occasionally, until the water evaporates and the oil film reappears on the surface, about 5 minutes.
  
• Repeat the addition and evaporation of water twice more to create a rich tasting, lush-red sauce.
  
• Stir in the onion paste and simmer, covered for another 5 minutes.
• Add kidney beans and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Uncover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce starts to thicken, 13-15 minutes.
• Pour in the cream and add the garam masala. Cook until the cream is warmed through, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Garnish with cilantro and serve.

** Fried Onion Paste (makes 3 cups):

Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in a large saute pan. Add 2 pounds of thinly sliced red onions and cook them, stirring occasionally until they are caramel-brown with a deep purple hue, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool. Grind into a smooth paste once cool enough to handle. Stored in a tightly sealed container, this paste will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator or can be frozen into smaller batches for 2 months.

Grilled Pizza

So after having Burgers with home-made buns for our first veggie bbq, the next logical dish to make seemed to be Grilled pizzas. I found an awesome recipe for perfect grilled pizza on King Arthur’s site. This is my go-to website for all things baking, they have so many different recipes, some of which are guaranteed by KAF and I absolutely love their blog as they have step-by-step recipes of some very yummy bakes. If you don’t know about KAF, do check them out here.

Coming to the recipe, I made this recipe twice already and it’s been a big hit both times. Recipe is very easy to put together and the dough is very easy to handle as well. We made both thin & thick crust pizzas with the dough and both of them were excellent. My only addition is 2tbsp Extra virgin Olive oil to the dough.

Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients:
All purpose Flour – 2½ cups
Semolina flour – ¼ cup (I used fine Sooji from Indian store)
Whole-wheat flour – ¼ cup
Yeast – 1tbsp Salt – ¾tsp
Water – 1cup, luke warm @ 110ºF
EVOO – 2tbsp
Method:

• In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Stir in the salt, EVOO, semolina & whole wheat flour.
  
• Gradually add in all-purpose flour until it forms a ball.
  
• Remove from the bowl and knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, for about 10 minutes.
  
• Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
• Degas the dough after 2 hours and let rise again for another 40 minutes. Now, punch it down and divide into smaller pieces and roll into pizzas: We made 6 individual thin crust pizzas the first time and for our second attempt, we made 5 individual thick crust pizzas.
  
• Heat the grill to medium hot; gently drape the rolled dough on the grill grate (either directly on the grill or you can buy a pizza grill topper) and grill for 1-2 minutes. This should be long enough to make it stiffer; brush EVOO on the grilled side and top with your favorite toppings. Grill for another 4-5 minutes until the toppings are hot and cheese is melted. Enjoy right away.
  

I think grilled pizzas are quick and easy to EAT and have an awesome smoky taste. My choice of toppings (pick all for a supreme loaded pizza or pick 1 or 2 toppings): Caramelized onions, Sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, grilled veggies (like eggplant, red onion, peppers etc), tandoori paneer (paneer marinated in tandoor spices and grilled) and lots of cheese (of course). Enjoy!!

Burger Buns

With Summer almost coming to an end with the upcoming Labor day weekend here in the U.S., I wanted to post the recipes I made this summer. Some of them are great for backyard grilling parties and some like these Burger buns are fun to make anytime of the year.

After a lot of deliberations and thought we bought our first grille this summer. We wanted to buy a really small one since both my husband and I didn’t think veggie bbq needs anymore investment than that. But we ended up buying this 4 burner Grille master for $200. We had our first barbeque with family for 4th of July and everybody really enjoyed the food and the time together cooking and grilling (Yup.. this post has been on my drafts for more than a month now).

For our first ever BBQ I made these beautiful burger buns and they came out awesome, tasted way better than store bought. Recipe is from King Arthur flour and it is very easy to put together too.

Ingredients:
All purpose Flour – 1¾ cups
White Whole wheat flour – ¾ cup
Salt – 1¼ tsp
Sugar – ¼ cup
Yeast – 1tbsp
Butter – 2tbsp
Egg – 1 large, lightly beaten
Luke warm water – ¾ cup

Method:

• Combine flours, salt, sugar & yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Melt butter and add along with egg to the flour mixture. Add water and mix until everything is well incorporated.
• Knead until it forms into soft, smooth dough. Cover and let rise until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Gently deflate the dough and divide into equal pieces. I was able to make 11 approximately equal sized rolls. Shape piece into a round 1” thick and flatten to about 3” across.
• Place the buns on a lightly greased baking sheet; cover and let rise for another 1 hour, until the buns are very puffy.
• Preheat the oven to 375ºF and bake the buns for 12-15 minutes until golden. Cool on rack.

These buns are perfect for burgers, but they also make great breakfast with some butter & jam..

Grilled Tempeh with Broccoli Rabe and Red Peppers

Tempeh is made from fermented soybeans and has higher content of protein, vitamins and dietary fiber compared to tofu. It also has a different texture and a very strong flavor (slightly bitter). My favorite way of cooking tempeh would be baking it in a marinade and made into a sandwich. Grilling it would be my second favorite; grilling makes it juicy and yummy.

I used broccoli rabe for the first time in this recipe. I have to admit that I didn’t like it. I thought I would because I like Karela (bitter gourd), but this was way too much bitter for my palate. Next time, I’m going to make this with either broccoli or broccolini (never had this before and is on my must-try list; now that broccoli rabe is out of it).

Recipe adapted from here.
Ingredients:
For the marinade:
Low-Sodium Tamari – 4 tsp
Olive oil – 4 tsp
Balsamic vinegar – 1 tbsp
Garlic, minced – 1 tbsp
Dijon mustard – 1 tsp
Dried basil – 1 tsp
Dried Oregano – 1 tsp
Onion powder – ½ tsp
Paprika – ½ tsp
Red pepper flakes – ½ tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

For Tempeh:
Tempeh – 1 8oz. pkg any variety (I used veggie style tempeh)
Red Onion – 1 medium, diced
Olive oil – 1 tbsp
Broccoli Rabe – 1 bunch, roughly chopped
Red pepper – 1 medium, diced
Garlic – 1 tbsp, minced
Nutritional Yeast – 4 tsp
Salt and Pepper – to taste

Method:

• First prepare the tempeh for marinating. In a medium sauce pot bring some water to a boil. Cut tempeh into quarters and add them to the water. Let the simmer covered for 10 minutes.
  
• In the meantime whisk all the marinade ingredients together in a dish that’s big enough to place tempeh.
  
• After 10 minutes, remove tempeh from water and immediately place in the marinade. Cover and marinate for at least 1 hour.
  
• Preheat grill pan on medium-high heat. Grill tempeh for 5 minutes on each side.
  
• Reserve the marinade. Keep grilled tempeh warm in a warm oven until ready to serve.
  
• Then prepare broccoli rabe and red-pepper. To remove the bitterness of broccoli rabe, bring some water to a boil in a large skillet, cover and cook it for 5 minutes. Drain and keep aside.
  
• Wipe the skillet clean and add oil; when hot, add onions and sauté for 5-8 minutes until onions are soft and golden. Add garlic and red pepper. Sauté until peppers are tender. Then add cooked broccoli rabe, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper. Cook for another 3-5 minutes. Serve along with grilled tempeh and rice.
  

This is my entry to this month’s JFI-Soy hosted by Lovely Sia @ Monsoon Spice. (JFI is the brain child of Indira @ Mahanandi)

Grilled Tofu

I buy tofu on a regular basis, but end up using it in fried rice or some kind of Chinese style dish (or my version of some Chinese dish). But this time I wanted to make something different and searched around quite a bit (since all I have in my fridge is this tofu) before I found this recipe on Vegetarian Times. Recipe is for baked tofu, but I used my stove top grill pan instead. I was quite impressed with my grilling abilities, but it can be done better the next time.

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times Magazine.
Ingredients:
Extra-firm Tofu – 1 14 oz. package

For the marinade:
Tomato Paste – 1 ½ tbsp
No-Chicken stock – ¾ cup
Low-sodium Tamari (Soy sauce) – 2 tbsp
Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce – 1 tbsp (I didn’t have this, so I used an extra 1 tbsp tamari)
Red Wine Vinegar – 2 tbsp
Scallions – 2, chopped
Garlic cloves – 2, minced

For the sauce:
Nutritional yeast – ¼ cup
Oregano, dried – 1 tsp
Corn starch – 2 tbsp
Cold Water – 2 tbsp

Method:

• To make the marinade: mix all the marinade ingredients in a baking dish and slowly slide in the tofu. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or overnight.
  
• Preheat the grill pan on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes.
  
• Remove tofu from marinade and quarter it. Reserve the marinade.
  
• Spray the grill pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place the tofu slabs on the grill and let them sear for 3 minutes. Lightly press tofu with wooden spatula or tongs once in a while to get grill marks. Turn each tofu piece 90° and grill for another 2 minutes to get the cross hatch grill marks. Flip and repeat.
  
• Remove and keep warm in a warm oven till ready to serve.
• To make the sauce: Mix nutritional yeast and dried oregano to the reserved marinade. Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the corn starch solution. Simmer until the sauce thickens, season with pepper and salt.
  
• To serve: Slice each tofu slab into two triangles. Serve over brown rice with the gravy.

This is my entry to this month's Monthly Mingle: Grill It being hosted by talented Sig @ Live to Eat. Monthly Mingle is brain child of Meeta @ What's for lunch Honey..