My summer lunches revolve around salads like this one, made with gluten free grains, garden fresh vegetables, some sort of protein and fresh herbs or greens. I do try to keep things interesting so as not to eat the same thing all the time, but I admit I’ve become a little obsessed on this particular one lately. It is full of flavor, refreshing and filling, with a satisfying mix of textures from the fresh cucumber, juicy & ripe grape tomatoes, sweet green chickpeas and the chewy wholegrain sorghum.
Soups, Sides & Salads
Pesto Pasta with Fresh Garbanzo Beans
Summer calls for simple, easy and fresh meals. The kind that is big on taste, but requires little effort to prepare. If you love to eat pasta salads in summer, which I can’t think of a single reason why you wouldn’t, then this is the recipe you will make frequently! This pesto pasta with fresh garbanzo beans is light, satisfying, flavorful and a breeze to make. It’s great for lunch or dinner, to take to potlucks, picnics or barbecues.
Masala bharay baingan/Dry Masala Stuffed Eggplants
Do you love eggplants? Well I do. I love for the variety of ways it can be cooked – stuffed, roasted, grilled, sautéed, stir-fried, and in curries and spreads. Eggplants come in many shapes, sizes and colors. In terms of taste they are all very similar, only the texture and degree of bitterness varies somewhat. Today’s recipe uses baby eggplants. They are small and round about the size of a hen’s egg. They have more tender and mild flesh, and can be eaten whole, skins and all. Stuffed with dry spices and cooked to perfection, this recipe is such a cute and tasty way to serve one of my favorite veggie and is quite simple and easy to do.
Mochar Ghonto or Stir Fried Banana Blossom
Growing up I was fortunate enough to be exposed to all sorts of different foods and regional Indian cuisine. My dad served in the Indian Air Force and was posted at various states across India. Hence my mom got the opportunity to learn how to cook and prepare some of the local dishes. Many of which she included in her everyday cooking. One such dish was ‘Mochar Ghonto’. It is a traditional Bengali preparation of the banana flower. It is a healthy, tasty and an easy dish but preparing the flower for cooking is a bit tedious process. However for your convenience I have made this dish with canned banana blossom.
Aloo Gobhi
A quintessential Punjabi sauté of cauliflower and potatoes. It’s also the dish that became so associated with the film, ‘Bend it Like Beckham’ that (back in 2003) the DVD’s include an aloo gobhi cooking lesson from the director and her mom. This dry dish is ideal to serve as an accompaniment to meats or poultry or lentils or on its own with chapatti or paratha. And if you can save some for the next day, sandwich it between 2 pieces of bread and take it to school or office for lunch.
Creamy Kala Chana Soup
A healthy, creamy and chunky soup that is mild enough to be kid friendly and layered with flavors of cumin and ginger to please adult taste buds.
Cream of Lambsquarter Soup with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds
Hi, I am still occupied with too many things but I thought to squeeze in a quick post.
We are a family of soup lovers and today’s recipe features a gorgeous green soup made with a wild edible weed. I know that it’s April, and that it’s springtime but spring is not really a spring in Richmond (BC). You will get a week or so of nice weather and then it is rain again. When I spotted lambsquarter in an indian market today, I grabbed a bunch to make a bowl of belly warming soup. Bathu as we call this green in punjabi and bathua in hindi, is only in season for a brief period in the spring and early summer. So get it quickly and get cooking.
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