Tofu Bhurji

Its been one of those crazy days following an equally crazy busy spring break! To tell you the truth, when the spring break started, was kind of dreading it and wondering what I am going to do with my little one for 10 whole days. But the days just whizzed past full of activities and fun, get-togethers, picnics, a visit to the Barclay's Center to watch a basket ball match, a day devoted to exploring and learning science at the Liberty Science Center and so on and so forth!

Once the break was over and everything was back to routine, I thought things would begin to calm down, but no! Something or the other has been keeping me on my toes. Add to that a whole lot of pigging out and no exercise for all this time, followed by an attempt at being regular at the gym is leaving me sore and tired every night. Hopefully things will get better by next week...

Today kind of topped it all - a major grocery trip took up most of my morning. Add to that the usual chores and workout as well as kiddo's school and extra curricular activities - all in a day's work. But the cherry on the top - some problem with the water supply left us with no water to cook! The repair was done by evening, but the day was beautiful. I mean, after all these months cooped up due to the cold weather, no way was I giving up the chance to let myself and the little one soak up some much needed Vitamin - D with the unusually warm temperature. Finally, was left with 30 minutes to prepare dinner - 30 minutes when I was already tired, hungry - exhausted!

The pressure cooker took care of rice and a simple dal tadka. Fortunately, I had prepared sufficient chapathi dough for the night when I packed my son's lunch in the morning. For the side dish, I opted for Tofu Bhurji.

Wait - don't react to the name. Just try it once - I assure you, it is as good as egg bhurji and paneer bhurji. Infact, if you don't like the smell of egg, this is perfect. No egg smell, yet the wonderful bhurji taste! The best part? Bare minimal vegetable cutting and a quick fix dish!

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes          Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

Tofu - 1 14 oz package
Scallions - 4-5, green and white parts sliced seperately

Tomatoes - 2, diced fine


Capsicum - 1 small, diced
Coriander/Dhania Powder - ½ teaspoon
Cumin/Jeera Powder - ½ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Sabzi Masala - 1 teaspoon
Jeera/Cumin Seeds -  ½ teaspoon
Ginger Garlic Paste -1 teaspoon
Turmeric/Haldi Powder - ½ teaspoon
Salt - to taste
Oil -  tablespoon

Method:

1. Heat oil and add the cumin seeds.
2. When the cumin seeds start crackling, add the white part of the scallions along with the ginger garlic paste.
3. When the scallions turn a golden brown, add in the tomatoes, capsicum, turmeric powder, salt, coriander powder, cumin powder and red chilli powder.
4. Let these cook for about 5 minutes. Now break the tofu and add it.
5. Add the sabzi masala and cook stirring constantly till all the moisture from the tofu evaporates about 4-5 minutes.

Garnish with the green parts of the scallion and serve hot with phulkas.

Spinach Potato Cauliflower Casserole

This New Year's Eve, we had a potluck lunch planned with some friends. Throw in an allergy induced visit to the ER with the little one, followed by dinner, drinks and movie with another friend ending with an impromptu midnight dance performance by the kiddos with a resounding "Happy New Year" - I'd had just about more than enough of a roller coaster ride of emotions to last me through the new year!

The day started of harmlessly enough though! My contribution for the potluck was a spinach potato and cauliflower casserole.

What I had in mind initially was a simple spinach casserole. I wanted to use some grain to go with it - a perusal of the pantry produced some Orzo and I thought, why not - spinach casserole with some orzo.

When I got down to getting the casserole ready, I realized there was not enough orzo and spinach for all of us. That's when I added the cauliflower. Finally, the dried potato flakes just made perfect sense and brought it all together!

When it came to the sauce, I wanted something that would be thick and gooey! So I just opened the refrigerator and took out EVERY kind of cheese that I had! To balance the salty flavors of the cheese, I added a bit of sour cream and Greek Yogurt. I did console myself with the fact that, wherever available, I used non-fat or part-skim versions and the portion size was very small!

One special mention is the deli style sliced pepper jack cheese that I used. The habanero and jalapeno peppers pop out with a burst of heat, but in tune with the rest of the ingredients, are not overpoweringly spicy.

I did not want to add too much spice as the kids were also going to eat it. I just used some nutmeg and fresh cracked pepper. I also topped the casserole with some red chilli flakes (I figured I could always remove the top layer before serving the kids) and dusted a bit of cocoa powder over it.

The end result was this rich creamy and flavorful casserole that was a tad on the heavy side, but go easy on the portion size and it spells absolute comfort food!

Preparation & Cooking: 40 minutes          Serves: 8-10

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch, finely chopped
Onion - 1 large, finely chopped
Cauliflower - 1 cup, broken into small florets
Dried Potato Flakes - ¼ cup + 1 tablespoon
Ready Made Marinara Pasta Sauce - 2 tables spoons
Orzo - 1 cup
Nutmeg - a pinch
Red Chilli Flakes - 1 teaspoon
Fresh Cracked Pepper - to taste
Salt - to taste
Kraft Fine Shredded 4 Cheese Mexican Blend - ¼ cup
(Cheddar, Montery Jack, Asadero and Queso Blanco)
Kraft Shredded Natural Italian Five Cheese Blend - 4 tablespoon
(Mozarella, Provolone, Romano, Asiago and Parmesan)
Sargento Deli Style Sliced Pepper Jack Cheese - 4 slices
Ricotta Cheese - 2 tablespoons
Sour Cream - 2 tablespoons
Greek Yogurt - 2 tablespoons
Cocoa Powder - 1 teaspoon
Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
Cooking Spray - to grease the casserole dish
Pillsbury Crescent Roll - 1 tube

Method:

1. Preheat  the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Cook the orzo al dente. Drain and keep aside.
3. Saute the onions in olive oil till they turn translucent. Then add in the spinach, cauliflower and marinara sauce. Cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Now add in the potato flakes (set aside1 tablespoon for the topping), orzo, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Let everything mix well.
5. Finally add all the cheeses (except the Mexican blend), sour cream and Greek yogurt and let them melt and blend in.



6. Grease a casserole dish with cooking spray and pour in the vegetable and cheese mixture. Now cover this with the crescent roll dough.



7. Top this with the Mexican blend of cheese, making sure to cover the entire surface. Finally, sprinkle the red chilli flakes, freshly cracked pepper and potato flakes and dust the cocoa powder on top.



8. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes till the top is nicely browned.

9. Serve hot.

Sending this across to

Vardhini's Bake Fest # 15 guest hosted by  Sumee's Culinary Bites.

Kadhai Paneer

My husband and me belong to the rare breed of species who don't like Paneer! Pretty much everyone I know loves it, so I was really surprised when I heard my husband say for the first time, lets not order any paneer dish, I am not a big fan of it! My sister is crazy about paneer. Growing up she was really glad that I did not like it as I would simply pick out the pieces from my plate and pass it on to her! Nowadays though, I eat it, but am not exactly excited about eating it!

My little one, I can't really say anything. There was a time when he loved paneer and was ready to eat a paneer dish everyday. Now, he hates it. I think this is also a passing phase and he'll be back to his "I want paneer" days very soon.

All said and done, whenever I have people over for dinner, I try and include a paneer dish on the menu, because it something that people love eating, and also because its easier to cook as a side dish when you need something in a larger quantity - cubing paneer any day beats chopping up a ton of veggies!

This weekend we had guests over for dinner and I made kadhai paneer. This is a simple and quick dish well liked by most people.

Preparation & Cooking: 20 minutes               Serves:5-6
Ingredients:
Paneer - 2 cups, cubed
Capsicum/Green Bell Pepper - 3, medium, diced into big pieces
Tomatoes - 4 large, pureed
Tomato Paste - 2 heaped tablespoons
Jeera/Cumin Seeds - 1 teaspoon
Ginger - 1 teaspoon, minced
Haldi/Turmeric Powder - ¼ teaspoon
Red Chilli Powder - ½ teaspoon
Coriander Powder - 2 teaspoons
Cumin Powder - 1 teaspoon
Kasuri Methi/Dried Fenugreek Leaves - 2 tablespoons, crushed
Salt - to taste
Sugar - a pinch
Cilantro Leaves - for garnish
Oil

Method:

• Heat oil in a pan and fry the paneer and capsicum separately till they begin to brown. Set aside on a paper towel. Frying paneer is optional, you could directly use it as well.

• In the same pan, reserve one tablespoon of oil and add the cumin seeds to it.
• When the cumin seeds crackle, add the minced ginger and give it a good stir.
• Now add in the tomato puree, tomato paste, coriander powder, cumin powder, turmeric powder, red chilli powder, salt, sugar and kasuri methi and cook till the oil begins to separate and ooze out, about 8-10 minutes.

• Finally add in the paneer and capsicum and cook for another minute.

Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves and serve hot with phulkas.