Quinoa Salad with Chicken, Avocado, and Oranges

This is another recipe from Sunset magazine’s January 2012 issue. I made a couple of changes to the quantities of some of the ingredients, especially in reducing the amount of olive oil and lime. I really liked this salad and will be making it again soon, and maybe adding some sweet peppers to the mix.

Quinoa Salad with Chicken, Avocado, and Oranges

1¼ Cups quinoa, cooked

1 tsp chili powder

3 tsp garlic, minced and divided

1 tsp lime zest

2 tsp plus 1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 chicken breast

2-3 tbsp lime juice

3 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped

4 large oranges, peeled and segmented

2 ripe avocados, peeled and cubed

Cut the chicken breast into 4 or 5 pieces. In a bowl mix together salt, pepper, chili powder, lime zest, 2 tsp garlic, and 2 tsp olive oil. Marinate the chicken in this mix for at least 10 minutes. Preheat a broiler, and place the rack 4-5 inches away from heat. Place the chicken in a baking pan and broil for 6 minutes. Turn over pieces and broil for another 6-8 minutes.

In the mean time, place the remaining olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice in a big mixing bowl. Blend well, and then add the quinoa. Mix it up so that the quinoa is lightly coated with the garlic and oil mixture. Cool the chicken for a minute or two and then slice into strips and add to the quinoa. Just before serving, add in the oranges, avocado and cilantro, and toss. Add salt to taste and serve at room temperature.

Notes:

*Instead of peeling the skin of each segment of orange, I simply cut it into pieces with the inner skin on.

*I didn’t have any cilantro at home and so I used parsley instead. It added a lovely flavor.

Farfalle with Artichokes, Peppers, and Almonds

I found this recipe in Sunset Magazine. The magazine has some interesting recipes, but often need special ingredients that we don’t always have in the house. This one is an exception. I decided to try it because it’s easy to do, and doesn't have cheese (for my lactose-intolerant husband). I did change around a few things, like using a can of artichokes instead of fresh ones, and I using mini farfalle instead of the regular size. The recipe does not say whether to serve hot, cold, or at room temperature. I preferred eating it hot, so I’d just serve myself and then microwave it. My husband and I both ended up sprinkling some chili flakes over our pasta. The next time I make it I’m going to add some smoked paprika and make be a little chopped polish kielbasa.

 Farfalle with Artichokes, Peppers, and Almonds

Zest from 1/2 a small lemon
Juice from 1 small lemon
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3/4 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
1 jar roasted red bell peppers, drained and chopped or 3 red peppers roasted, skinned, and chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and sliced thin
12 oz farfalle pasta
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 cup roasted almonds, coarsely ground
1/4 cup of olive oil
Chili flakes, to serve (optional)

Farfalle with Artichokes, Peppers, and Almonds

Combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, oil, garlic, pepper, salt, and roasted peppers, in a large bowl. Drain and slice the artichokes and then add to the bowl. Keep the almonds and the parsley separate. Cook the pasta till al dente, drain (saving 1 cup of water) and mix into the bowl. Then mix in the parsley and almonds. Stir in the pasta water slowly, to loosen up the pasta, then serve.

Notes:

*To roast the peppers yourself, you need a gas stove. Put on the burner and place peppers over it so that the flame is touching the peppers. Allow the skin to become completely burned, and then turn the pepper. Do this till the entire pepper looks charred from the outside. Finish the other two peppers in the same manner, and once it’s cooled enough to handle, peel off the charred skin and with a knife remove all the seeds from inside. Then chop it into small pieces.

*To roast almonds, place the desired quantity on a baking sheet. In a preheated oven of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, bake the almonds for 10-15 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely, before grinding to the desired consistency. I like to use the almonds with the skin on, as it adds a nice brown color to the already white pasta and artichokes. 

Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

This is a recipe that we usually make in a pressure cooker. I found this slow cooker version in The Indian Slow Cooker by Anupy Singla and it turned out quite nicely. As usual, I cut back on all the spices, so feel free to adjust them to your tastes.

Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes

2 bags cauliflower, defrosted

1 lrg potato, peeled and chopped

1 onion, chopped

1 tomato, diced

½ tsp ginger paste

½ tsp garlic paste

2 green chilies, slit

1 tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp chili powder

½ tsp garam masala

½ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker with ½ cup of water. Stir well, and cook on low for 4 hours. Stir once while it’s cooking, so that the potatoes on top have a chance to cook at the bottom. When it’s done, if there is too much liquid in the pot, place it on high for ½ an hour and leave the lid off. Serve hot with chapatti and kachumbar. 

Spicy Butternut Squash

Here is another recipe from The Indian Slow Cooker by Anupy Singla. It's an interesting and very different way to make butternut squash and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Once again, it's a spicy recipe, so hold back on the quantities if it's too much for you. I did already reduce the spices, but it might be a little too much for some palates. Hope you like it...

Spicy Butternut Squash

2 tbsp oil
2 tsp fenugreek seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into pieces
2 chilies, chopped
2 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pan, when hot, add the fenugreek and cumin seeds, the cardamom and cinnamon stick. Cook till they start to sizzle, stirring frequently, about 1 minute. When it starts to smell fragrant, add the onion and cook till the onion starts to brown. Next put in the tomato, turmeric and coriander powders. Stir in well and cook for a few minutes. In the mean time, chop up the butternut squash and place it in the slow cooker. Mix in the cooked onion and spices into the squash and add ½ cup of water. Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring once or twice.

When it’s done, add in the chopped green chilies, the brown sugar, garam masala and chili powder. Cook on high for ½ hour or so. If you want to dry out the liquid that the squash has released, leave the slow cooker open for the last 20 minutes of cooking. Serve hot with chapatti.

Notes:

*Cooking the green chilies and garam masala at the end will mellow the spices a little. Ms. Anupy Singla mixes these in and serves immediately; however, I prefer to have these spices cooked so as to reduce the harshness in its flavor.   

Palak Paneer

Apparently, my husband is a big fan of Palak Paneer (Palak translates to spinach and Paneer, a form of cottage cheese), so when he saw it in Anupy Singla’s book The Indian Slow Cooker, he asked me to make it. The recipe is extremely easy, so go ahead and try it. It results in a nice spicy dish, so if you want a toned-down version, you should use half of my quantities of chili powder, chilies, and garam masala. Also, like Ms. Singla says in her book, you do need to cook it for about 2 hours after it’s been blended, so that the spices have a chance to finish cooking.  

Palak Paneer ingredients going into the slow cooker

Palak Paneer

2 lbs fresh spinach, washed and drained

2 onions, chopped into 10-14 pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped into 10-14 pieces

1 4” piece of ginger, chopped up

1 large pod garlic, cleaned

2-3 chilies, stems removed

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tsp (heaped) chili powder

1 tsp garam masala

Salt to taste

12 oz paneer, cut into pieces

Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker except the paneer. Cook on high for 3 hours, stirring once or twice. Check that the onions are soft, if so, switch off and blend using an immersion blender or food processor, till the vegetables are smooth. Place back into the slow cooker and cook for 2 hours on low. Put in the paneer about 10 minutes before serving. Serve hot with chapatti. 

South Indian Lentils with Curry Leaves

This week has been a slow cooker week at this Patel household. My husband’s cousin recently gave me a slow cooker recipe book called The Indian Slow Cooker by Anupy Singla, and I have been trying recipes from it. While the recipes are quite tasty, I think the proportions are completely off. Either this book has made some severe misprints or Ms. Anupy Singla eats a spice level beyond anything I've imagined. I should point out that we don’t eat our everyday food at the absolute top of our spice tolerance, and I feel, and was told by the above-mentioned cousin, that the proportions of the spices in the dishes they tried made it too spicy to eat at all. So, here is a masoor recipe in which I have adjusted/ halved the quantity of spices. It turned out very nicely, and I will be making it again.

To make it easier to follow, I've changed around the language, but the gist is the same as the book. The word Tadka means a sort of garnish. It entails a few spices being fried in a little oil till it is fragrant, and then mixing it into the dish at the very end, enhancing the flavors of the spices that were already in the dish.

South Indian Lentils with Curry Leaves

For Dal

3 cups, masoor, soaked for at least 20 minutes

1 onion, chopped

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

2 Chili, finely chopped

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp turmeric powder

Salt to taste

9 cups water

1 can coconut milk

For Tadka

2 tbsp oil

2 tsp cumin seed

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 small onion, finely chopped

15-20 curry leaves

Cook the lentils, chopped onion, tomatoes, green chilies, cumin and coriander powders, turmeric powder, salt and water (everything in the ‘For Dal’ list, except the coconut milk) in a slow cooker on low for 5 ½ hours. Then add the coconut milk, and cook for another ½ hour on low.

Once it’s cooked, heat 1 tbsp of oil in a small saucepan, fry the curry leaves, and set aside. Heat the remaining oil and add the cumin and mustard seeds, cook for a minute or so, stirring constantly, then add the onion and fry till light brown. When it’s done, mix it into the masoor in the slow cooker and serve (or keep on warm till ready to eat). Serve hot with plain rice.