Double Dip & Upcoming review

Dear Foodies,

Let me tell you about the review first, CSN stores gave me the opportunity to review one of their products and I'll be bringing you a kitchen essential soon. So stay tuned for that, and in the meanwhile you are sure to find a whole gamut of stuff from home decor, bed & bath, gardening tools and play sets like these fun wooden swing set.

Time seems to by flying by really quick. A month has already gone by in the new year, and February brings along with it the Super Bowl weekend. One of the biggest weekends for food consumption here. The amount of chips, pizza and beer consumed on game day surpass all highs. I have never been a huge spectator of sports, even when everyone around me were cheering the Indian cricket team when I was kid, I would be completely nonchalant about it. Well, unless it aligned with the exams at school :D A game of cricket was the only thing that gave us a time out from studies at home, not intentionally ofcourse. So I would sit along with my mom, dad and brother taking cues from them and cheering & booing along with them.

Sprouted bean salad

Dear foodies,

Close on the heels of the sweet & savory chickpea and sweet potato salad, I have another salad recipe for you. This one uses a different set of beans and fresh veggies in it. I've been trying to add more protein in my diet. For a vegetarian, beans and legumes are an excellent source of protein, apart from soy and dairy products. Instead of using canned beans - which are more expensive, may contain high amounts of sodium, and not always the right texture for your recipe - re-hydrating dried beans at home is a far better option. You also get the added advantage of sprouting them when you do this and can control the texture of the final product.

I bought some garbanzo beans, kala chana, yellow and green split peas, kidney beans and some black eyed peas to kick start the dried bean collection in my pantry. The bulk bins at the store are a great boon here. I can pick 3-4 varieties and buy just a cup or two of each instead of investing on a whole bag of them. When I get into the mood of prepping the beans, I almost always over do it :D So on the same evening I'll have numerous odd sized bowls sprawled across the counter-tops, each holding a different kind of bean for soaking. And then for the next few days, I'll pressure cook them batch after batch, storing a few bowls of soaking beans in the fridge to stop them from spoilage after day 1. Changing the water every 10-12 hrs helps too. Once pressure cooked, I portion them out into plastic bags and send them into the freezer to await their cooking turn. I cannot tell you how convenient having a bag of these pre-cooked beans are when it comes to making a quickie meal.

I leave out a few handfuls of each bean to sprout so I can snack on them or to even use in stir fry's. (Sprouting guide from the Bee & Jai). Here is a quick salad that I made with a few of them.

Mixed Sprouted Beans Salad

(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups - mixed sprouts (here I used yellow split peas, kala channa/black chickpeas)
• 3/4 cup - English cucumber, diced
• 1/2 cup - Red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup - Carrots, diced
• 1/2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp - Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp - Urad dal
• 1/4 tsp - Ginger, finely minced
• 1/4 tsp - Red chilli powder or to taste
• a pinch of turmeric
• 1/2 Tbsp - Olive oil
  
• 4-5 Mint leaves
• Salt to taste
• Squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, splutter the mustard and cumin seeds, add the urad dal and allow it to turn a slight orange color.
   
2. Add turmeric and ginger, saute for a few seconds. The diced peppers & carrots go in next, cook just for a couple of minutes to get rid of their rawness.
3. Next add the sprouts, cover and saute about 2-3 mins.
4. Take off the heat, allow it to cool a bit and add diced cucumber, mint leaves, lemon juice, salt and chilli powder. Taste and adjust for seasonings. This salad can be served warm or at room temperature.

This is a nice crunchy salad with a tangy, fresh feel to it, and its mighty filling too. A pinch of roasted cumin powder or chaat masala would also be great here. I had found some fresh colored carrot tops at the store which were put to good use here. I am really looking forward to the fresh spring produce to get to the groceries stores here. Tired of looking at everything being shipped from Mexico or Peru or some place far far away, walking through the aisles feels more like a travel expedition now.

Breakfast time

Dear foodies,

Divya asked us all to show her what we have for breakfast. Breakfast is my undoing, I know I've said it before, but no matter how hard I try, things haven't changed. Weekdays I try to squeeze in a bowl of oatmeal or cereals or toasted bread with jam (which I eat in the car :D) From my trip to the farmers market last week, I got some freshly baked whole wheat bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and a lot of cilantro. I had the green chutney I made for the ragda patties

This is my dad's recipe, he uses the soft milk bread we get in India, but any soft bread will do. Slather each slice with softened butter, and then a layer of green chutney. Add slices of cucumber and juicy tomatoes on one and top with the other piece of bread. Thats it...thats all you need for the perfect breakfast ( or lunch or dinner :-P) For an Italian twist, skip the cucumber and top the tomatoes with fresh basil leaves instead.

This is the real deal, made by dad with mom's special pudina chutney.

Other breakfast options that I've cooked in the past are here. What are your quick weekday breakfast options ?

Rustic bread salad - Panzanella

Dear foodies,

I would call this a bhel puri made with bread instead, its that good. Now I love my bhel puri and would not give such a comment lightly :D Every time I make bread at home, the enthusiasm with which I consume it keeps decreasing with each vanishing slice, and the last few are the toughest. So I always have a problem using them up in ways other than a sandwich or toast. Sometimes I might make a upma or use the crumbs as a topping for another dish, but I'm stumped most times. I discovered that you can store bread in the refrigerator/freezer early last year, but even then its the same problem, just that it gets pushed by a few days (or weeks!). I watched a show on food network a few months back where, I don't remember who, was making a bread salad called Panzanella. Panzanella is a Tuscan dish whipped up by yet another enterprising cook, who like me might have had loads of
stale
day old bread lying around. (stale just doesn't sound appetizing)

Traditionally, Panzanella is a salad made with day old bread, juicy ripe tomatoes & generous amounts of basil - a classic Italian combination. But soon each cook added his/her own flair to it and so you will now find Panzanella having onions, capers, garlic, anchovy, olives, cucumber, colored bell peppers & cheese in addition to the basic ingredients. My additions were avocado, and some juicy oranges, it brightens up the flavors and is a treat to bite into. This salad either is a smart way to use up day old bread, or an even smarter trick to get fresh vegetables on the dinner table :) And its just as delicious as this hearty Tuscan bean soup, another innovative dish to use up day old bread.

Tuscan recipes are known for their simplicity and choice of flavorful, fresh ingredients. No matter which combination of vegetables you choose, use the freshest produce you can find, preferably in season, local and organic. The bread can be any Italian style bread, sour dough, rye/ whole wheat bread. I had a loaf of Bee & Jai's Sundried tomato & Peppercorn bread. It definitely is one of the most flavorful breads I've made to date, second would be the potato focaccia. I was wimp while adding pepper though and might bump up the quantity next time. And just as they said, it works really well in sandwiches but is great to simply snack on too. Thanks for the recipe guys.

Panzanella - Bread salad
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 2-3 thick slices of bread, cut into 1" cubes
I used JB's Sundried tomato & peppercorn bread
• 1/2 cup - Red onions, diced
• 3/4 cup - Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup - Cucumber, diced
I used English cucumbers and retained their skin
• 1  - ripe Avocado, diced
• 1  - Jalapeno, finely chopped (optional)
  
• 1  - Orange
• 1/4 cup - Cilantro
• 2 tsp - Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
  
• 2 tsp - Olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Method:

1. Set the oven on Broil (low). Toss the bread cubes on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. Broil for about 3-4 mins till they start browning and turn crunchy. Alternatively, you can toast them on a pan or use a toaster.
   
2. In a large bowl, toss the rest of the ingredients together, making sure to coat the avocado chunks with the lemon juice, so they don't discolor. Section an orange like shown here. The fiber will still have some pulp holding on to it, squeeze it between your hands to extract all the juice. Taste and adjust the salad for seasonings.
3. Toss the bread cubes with the salad just a few minutes before serving. If its allowed to sit for too long, the bread will soak up all the juices and turn soggy! You can store the salad separately in the fridge for a day in a covered bowl/plastic container.

I absolutely loved this salad and the bread had a major contribution in it, being slightly chewy & slightly crunchy. The stale bread can directly be used too but I love the crunch and enhanced flavor that broiling it with olive oil gives. The bread immediately soaks up the delicious juices from the vegetables but still retains a little crunch. I enjoyed eating it and picked a different assortment of veggies with each forkful...yummm.

The salad is great on its own too and you could easily add some puffed rice and turn it into the ever so popular bhel. Once you have this salad you will start storing fresh bread to use in it :) Coming to that, fresh bread can also be used in this recipe if that is all you have at home and can't wait to try it out :) Broiling dries it up (might take a little longer though) and so it is just as good at soaking up the flavors.

This salad is off to Vaishali's 'Its a Vegan World - Italian' event, visit her blog for more information about the event. You have until the end of this month to send her your vegan Italian creations.

How do you use up bread ? Any go-to sandwich fillers/combos and how do you pack it up for lunch ?