Spinach Berry Salad

We have gotten into the habit of eating as much seasonal produce as we can - so these days its all about cherry tomatoes, peaches, plums, corn and berries etc. Besides having them independently, I love the idea of adding them to our regular meals. So a berry spinach salad is right up my alley - quick to assemble and delicious in taste. This is one of the salads that doesn't require much chopping except the strawberries so its something that you can easily make in the mornings. Give it a try and let me know how it turned out:

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup cooked Quinoa (1/2 cup uncooked)
• 4-5 handfuls of spinach
• 1 handful of strawberries
• 1 big handful of blueberries
• 1/4 cup almonds- slivered
• 1/2 avocado - chopped (optional)

Dressing

• 1/4 cup lime juice 
• 2 tsp mustard sauce
• 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp maple syrup/honey
• salt and pepper

NOTES:

- I use regular yellow mustard sauce - you might have to change the quantity depending on how spicy your mustard sauce is.

- You can replace apple cider vinegar with rice vinegar

- Honey/maple/agave syrup either can be used based on availability. I almost always add honey simply because I love it's taste (and I get to lick the spoon afterwards:)

PROCESS:

1. Cook the Quinoa. I usually put twice the amount of water and cook it in a pan.
2. Wash the spinach and berries. Chop the strawberries and put them in a mixing bowl
3. Add the chopped avocado if using
4. Mix the dressing ingredients separately in a bowl and drizzle them over the salad
5. Garnish with almonds and you are done!!

Fig & Arugula Salad with Pistachio Pesto

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients

• two big handfuls of arugula
• 8-10 figs, sliced into halves or quarters
• 1/2 avocado, cubed
• 1 ball of burrata, torn (I did not use it)
• a few splashes of balsamic
• drizzle of olive oil
• sea salt & pepper

pistachio pesto: (this makes extra)

• 1/3 cup toasted pistachios (reserve a few for the salad)
• 1 small bunch of basil (or 1 big handful)
• juice of 1/2 a small lemon
• sea salt & freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 - 1/3 cup olive oil

Notes:

• added goat cheese instead of burrata.
• My pesto turned out to be a bit too spicy so add the dressing in portions to check the taste.

Instructions

1. Make your pesto by pulsing the toasted pistachios in a food processor. Then add basil, lemon, salt & pepper. Pulse again, then add the olive oil and pulse one last time. Add more olive oil if you prefer a smoother pesto. Taste and adjust seasonings.
2. Arrange the arugula, sliced figs, avocado, and burrata on a plate. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Dollop pesto (as much as you like), and drizzle the balsamic vinegar. Crush extra pistachios and sprinkle them on top. Try to distribute the ingredients evenly, or gently toss to be sure each serving gets a bit of each ingredient.

Recipe Source: Love and Lemons

Spinach Khichdi

Khichdi is my go-to comfort food. It is my kind of fast food - healthy, easy and quick to make. For the longest time I used to make Khichdi in the simplest way possible - Mix rice & green mung dal, add salt and pressure cook it. The only fancy thing that I did to my khichdi was top it off with a spicy salad of diced onion and tomatoes.
Off late I have been trying to make khichdi with some variations and the results have been pretty good. The main theme is still a simple mix of dal and rice but the small tweaks have brought a fresh flavour to a good old favorite. In this recipe, adding spinach increases the nutrient value of the khichdi and its still a simple one-pot meal. I make this often especially when I have some extra spinach on hand that needs to be finished. There are a couple of different ways to incorporate spinach into the khichdi, I have put the options in the Notes below:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup yellow mung dal
1/2 cup masoor dhuli dal
1/2 cup rice
3 cups spinach - finely chopped (can add more)
3 cups water
salt
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
Tadka/Tempring
1 tbsp ghee
1tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp garlic -minced
1-2 whole red chillies
2-3 tejpatta
1 pinch heeng/asafetida
1/4 tsp garam masala (optional)

NOTES:
-Spinach: I simply chop the spinach and add it to the pressure cooker along the dal and rice - this is the simplest way to approach this one pot meal. You could chop and blanch the spinach separately and add it to the khichdi mix once its cooked - you will need to cook it a bit more after addign the spinach. Another alternative is to simply blend the raw spinach into a smooth paste and add it to the cooked khichdi - again you would want to cook the mixture for a few minutes once you add the spinach. In all the above options, tadka is the last step in the recipe.
-If you want your khichdi to be more fancy, you could also add another layer of tadka to the cooked khichdi - starting with minced ginger-garlic in a 1tbsp of ghee. Followed by chopped onion and chopped tomatoes.

PROCESS:

1. Cook the the washed lentils, rice and spinach mixed with 3 cups of water in a pressure cook. It usually takes 2 whistles on medium flame. Add more water if you feel the khichdi looks too dry.
2. Het ghee in a pan and add the cumin seeds, followed by minced garlic. Then add the tejpatta and red chillies. Add the hing.
3. Add this tadka to the khichdi and mix it well and let the khichdi simmer for a couple of minutes. Add the garam masala if using. At this point, adjust the seasoning and add water to make the consistency as per your liking.
4. Khichdi is ready to be served.

Weekend Links

Spoiled Rotten: Being too friendly with your kids might backfire - a great article on today's parenting style.
Object of Desire: A brilliant article on the issue of female consent and how our films are propagating a very skewed version of it.
Before I say Goodnight: A beautiful piece on the fragility and beauty of out lives.

Weekend Links

It has been a while since I did a post on what I have been reading. Here are few things that I found really great:

TED Talk: The Happy Secret to Better Work. Funny and insightful. Pay attention to the last 30 secs.
Swallow This: The dark secrets of the food industry - scary but eye opening. A long article but I really urge that you take the time out to read it.
How to make stress your friend: It shows a new and very insightful perspective on stress and how to handle it.

Grilled Corn & Pepper Salad

 This is a perfect summer salad that you can have for lunch or as dinner on a warm evening. I made it for lunch last week and and was planning to skip the grilling part of it as I don't own a grill but I am glad I did not. I used my oven to grill the vegetables - which was essentially roasting them but I still liked the corn and peppers better this way compared to adding them raw (at least in this recipe). The salad is topped with a delicious sweet and savory chili lime dressing that brings out the flavors of all the vegetables:

INGREDIENTS:
1 tbsp Olive Oil
2-3 handfuls of Arugula
1 large red pepper - deseeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 small onion - sliced length wise
1-2 corn cobs -
1 cup of black beans (Rajma) - soaked overnight & boiled
1 avocado - chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro - chopped
Fresh goat cheese
Corn chips - garnish
Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (might need more)
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1-2 tsp honey or agave nectar
1/2 tsp salt

NOTES:
- This time I had not soaked the black beans well in time so could not add them - but I added some cooked black rice which I had in the fridge - they brought some extra texture to the dish.
- Maybe next time - I will try adding the corn without grilling them

PROCESS:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F and put it on broil.
2. Put some olive oil on the chopped peppers, sliced onions and the whole corn cobs ( I just use my hand to mix in the oil) - sprinkle some salt and pepper. Place the veggies on a cookie sheet and place them in the oven. Roast/grill the veggies till they are bit charred - takes anywhere between 15-20 mis.
3. Dressing: Whisk in all the ingredients in a small bowl. I had to add in more lime juice later once I mixed the dressing in the salad. So you might have to adjust the lime juice, chili flakes, salt etc to your preference.
4. Once the veggies are done - slice the corn put it in a big bowl along with the onion, peppers and the arugula. Add in the chopped avocado, beans. 
5. Drizzle the dressing
6. Garnish with cilantro, goat cheese and corn chips - crushed into pieces. 

Cherry Crostini

The cherry season is almost over here in the bay area but we are far from done with them. I found some very good ones from Oregon selling at my local store and I got home a big bag. I am mostly not in favor of cooking with fruits primarily because it feels like you are killing their awesome natural texture and juices.
But a few days back, when I caught a glimpse of this crostini on the pages of a magazine (Bon appetit to be exact), I was literally drooling - so much so that I made it that same evening. It's a pretty simple dish which would work as an awesome appetizer, we however had it for dinner.

INGREDIENTS:
1-2 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cherries - pitted and halved
baguette slices
fresh goat cheese
Coarse salt
fresh black pepper

NOTES:
- Buy the best quality goat cheese you can find and account for its salt content. Mine had no salt added.
- I did pit the cherries first, using the flat end of a chopstick. (It's not as hard or time consuming as it sounds).However, I later on realized that I could have simply cut the cherries in half and then thrown the pit. Try both options and see which one works best for you.

PROCESS:

1. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or a heavy bottom pan - keep the flame high
2. Add cherries and cook them for about 5 minutes- stir frequently. The cherries should turn soft but not falling apart.
3. Sprinkle the salt and pepper
4. Smear goat cheese on baguette slices - top with a spoonful of cherries.

Tomato Panzanella Salad

This is one of my all time favorite salads - I am surprised that I have not posted it till now. I make it ever so often and is one of the few recipes that I remember by heart (kind-of). There are quite a few variations of the Panzanella salad out there, the one given below is broadly what I stick to based on the ingredients I have on hand.

Serves: 2 as main dish

INGREDIENTS:
Bread Croutons (homemade or store bought)
1 handful of salad leaves (optional)
2-3 handful of cherry tomatoes - halved
1/2 red onion
1 small green pepper
1 small red pepper
1 garlic clove - minced
2 tbsp - fresh basil leaves - chiffonade
2 tbsp Vinegar (Rice or Apple Cider)
2 tbsp Olive oil + 1 tbsp for making croutons
Salt
Pepper

NOTES:
- For making the croutons, you can use any bread - I used the multi-grain bread that I usually have on hand.
- A classic panzanella does not include salad leaves, but I tend to add a fistful to add a bit of crunch.

PROCESS:

1. If you are planning to make the croutons at home - its a pretty simple process. Tear 2 slices of bread into bite sized pieces. (You can use any bread -I used the multi-grain bread that I usually have). Put them in a bowl and drizzle olive oil (1tbsp) and mix well. If you want you can sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper as well - I dont. Spread the bread pieces in a single layer on to a parchment lined baking tray and put them in the oven at 400F for about 7 minutes. 
2. Prep the Veggies: Cut the cherry tomatoes into half and dice the onion. Dice the peppers and mince the garlic clove. Chop basil leaves.
3. Mix all the veggies and basil in a bowl. Top with the freshly made bread crumbs. 
4. Drizzle the oil and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Let the salad for about 10-15minutes for the flavors to develop. You can eat it even later but be careful to add the bread just before eating otherwise it would become soggy.