Vegetable noodles in coconut sauce

Thai style noodles in creamy coconut sauce and colorful vegetables is a delectable dish which everyone will enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 packet dry noodles

2 tsp oil

1 lemon grass stalk finely chopped

2 tbsp Thai red curry paste

1 onion thickly sliced

1 cup mushrooms thickly sliced

1 cup broccoli florets 

1 cup carrot sliced

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 14 oz can coconut milk

1 tbsp Thai fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

Method:

Heat oil in a large pan or wok. add lemon grass and red curry paste. stir fry for few seconds.

Add onions and cook till they are soft. Now add carrots, mushrooms and broccoli and saute on a low heat for 3 to 4 mins. 

Once the vegetables are half done add coconut milk, and broth and bring to a boil, then add noodles and on low heat simmer for 18 to 20 mins.

stir the fish sauce, soy sauce and mix well. serve hot.

Enjoy!

Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is a very popular Italian rice dish made with rice. I am using Arborio which is medium grain rice with pearl like appearance. It has high starch content which allows it to absorb water while keeping a creamy texture idle for Risotto.

Ingredients:

1 cup Arborio rice

1 small onion finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

4 cups of chicken broth or vegetable broth.

1 cup of diced mushrooms 

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a sauce pan bring broth to a boil.

In other pan heat oil and saute onions till tender and translucent.Then add mushrooms and saute for a min. Now add rice and stir until coated evenly. 

Then add heated broth 1 cup at a time and stir. let the rice absorb the broth then again add broth and stir. continue this process till the rice absorbs all the broth. Once the rice is cooked properly add butter, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and mix well. garnish with some Parmesan cheese and serve hot.

Enjoy!

Ratatouille

Few days back I was watching a Disney Pixar movie called Ratatouille. It’s an animated movie and is a story about a young rat who is trying to prove his culinary skills. So for the climax of the movie a fancy layered version of the original french dish was prepared by renowned chef Thomas Keller, which looked very appetizing in the movie.I looked for the recipe but could not find one, so tried to create my own. Ratatouille is a French dish. It’s basically a vegetable stew served as a side dish accompanied with Pasta, rice or bread. This colorful dish looks beautiful and tastes delicious as well. 

Ingredients:

For Sauce

3 tomatoes finely chopped.

1 onion finely chopped

6 to 8 garlic cloves finely chopped.

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp black pepper powder

1 tsp chili powder

1 ½ tsp mix dry Italian herbs.

Salt to taste

For layered vegetables

2 zucchini thinly sliced.

2 eggplants thinly sliced

2 – 3 tomatoes thinly sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven at 350 ° F

In pan heat oil on medium flame, add garlic onions and sauté till they turn golden brown, and then add tomatoes and sauté till the mixture is thick.

Add salt and dry herbs and mix well. Then add pepper powder and chili powder, stir well. Once the sauce is ready remove from heat and keep aside.

Now in a baking dish pour the sauce at the base and then arrange all the sliced vegetables as shown in picture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 350 ° F for 20 min.

Then remove the foil and bake uncovered for 15 min.

Serve hot with pasta, rice or even tastes good with couscous.

Enjoy!

Vegetable Couscous

Couscous is granular semolina it’s among the healthiest grain based product. Numerous different names and pronunciations for couscous exist around the world. Cooked couscous is served in variety of different ways, sometimes with vegetables or meat stew or even as a dessert made with milk, dry fruits and cream.

Ingredients:

1 packet couscous

½ cup chopped red, orange and yellow bell pepper

1 chopped onion

1 medium eggplant chopped

1 zucchini chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chili powder

1 tbsp lime juice

Salt to taste

Method:

Cook couscous according to the instruction given on packet.

Heat oil in a pan, add onions and sauté till they are translucent. Now add eggplant and cook for a min. then add bell pepper and zucchini and cook for another 2- 3 min.

Add chili powder, lime juice and salt and mix well

Now add cooked couscous and mix till it’s covered with all spices.

Serve as a snack or as a complete meal for a weekend brunch.

Enjoy!

Stir fried rice noodles

I just love all kind of noodles. add some  vegetables, little sauce and they are ready in min. these stir fried noodle taste great with any salad or simple stir fried  vegetables.

Ingredients:

1 pack dry rice noodles

½ cup thinly sliced carrots

½ cup thinly sliced onions

Chopped bok Choy

1 egg

1 tsp finely chopped garlic

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tbsp chili sauce

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Take boiling water in a big bowl and soak dry noodles and cover the bowl for 20- 30 mins.

Once the noodles are soft, drain the water add little oil so they will not get sticky.

Heat oil in a wok and add finely chopped garlic, onion and sauté for a min. Then add carrots and bok Choy and sauté for another min.

Now add fish sauce, soy sauce, egg and mix everything together.

Then add chili sauce, brown sugar, salt, lemon juice and rice noodle. Give it a quick stir as noodles stick to the base of pan and burn easily.

Serve hot with crunchy peanut and tofu salad.

Enjoy!

Crunchy peanut & tofu salad.

Tofu is high source of protein, Iron and calcium, it contains less amount of calories and fats. It looks very similar to paneer. There are many varieties of tofu like soft, medium, firm, dry, fermented, flavored and many more. Mostly for salads soft tofu is used but I prefer firm tofu because it is easy to work with.

Peanut and tofu is a very famous combination used in Asian cuisine. This salad is little sweet, little Tangy and crunchiness of peanuts adds great texture.

Ingredients:

1 small pack firm tofu

½ cup coarsely crushed peanuts

1½ tbsp brown sugar

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp sesame oil

½ tsp chili powder

Salt to taste

Method:

In bowl mix oil, brown sugar, soy sauce, lime juice and chili powder.

Now add crushed peanuts and mix again, then add tofu and salt and gently mix together.

Serve with fried rice or stir fried noodles.

Enjoy!

Avocado sushi

This is one of my favorite dishes. Sushi is a Japanese delicacy, made with cooked rice, variety of thinly sliced vegetables, seafood and meat, wrapped in seaweed sheets which are called Nori. This beautiful and colorful dish tastes delicious. Whenever I ate sushi in restaurant I always thought this must be very complicated dish and very difficult to make. But when I tried it at home for the first time it came out perfect and everyone just loved it!

Ingredients:

1 Cup uncooked rice

2 Cups water

1 Tsp vinegar/apple cider

3 Sushi/Noori sheets

1 Avacado thinly sliced

1 Cucumber thinly sliced

1 Red bell pepper thinly sliced

2 Tbs Mayonese

Salt to taste

Method:

In a sauce pan, bring water to boil and cook rice. Once rice is cooked, mix 1 tsp vinegar, salt and  mix well, and keep aside.

Place Noori sheet on a board or on a plastic sheet, which will help to roll sushi easily.

Spread rice on 3/4 portion of sushi sheet.Now apply mayo evenly on rice and place thinly sliced vegetables on rice.Then slowly roll sushi with the help of plastic sheet.

Repeat above process for other 2 sheets.

Cut approx. 1 inch rolls and serve with chilli sauce and soy sauce. 

Enjoy!