White Bean(Cannellini), Asparagus and Basil Hummus or Dip

Posted on May 22, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

We have a lot of Salvia plants in our garden. I particularly love the ones around our mail box. Come spring, and the Salvia erupt into a glorious bloom. This year, our Salvia are particularly lush and gorgeous, probably because of all the rain. Nothing makes me happier than coming home to these purple tufts of Salvia, buzzing with bees.

Just as the blooming of Salvia flowers remind me of the joys of spring, so do the stalks of asparagus at the farmers market. I made a healthy, vegan dip or hummus with fresh asparagus stalks and some white beans. This dip come together in no time and is a lighter alternative to creamy store bought dips. I also like using this as a spread for sandwiches.

White beans or cannellini beans add a nice creaminess to this dip/spread without the added fat. I used asparagus because it is now is season. Broccoli or spinach would also work.

Basil and lemon juice add a fresh, bright taste. If you like it more lemony, stir in some lemon zest.

Here are some other white bean/ cannellini bean based dips around the web

Giadas white bean dip. Gotta love Giada!
Cannellini bean dip with sage and rosemary by Andrea Meyers
Easy white bean dip on cheap healthy good blog

White Beans (Cannellini), Asparagus and Basil Hummus Dip Recipe

makes about 1 1/2 cups

6-8 stalks of asparagus
one 15 oz can white beans/cannellini beans, washed and drained well
1 garlic clove, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup basil leaves
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper

Chop off and discard the tough ends of the asparagus stalks. Chop the asparagus into pieces. Boil asparagus in some water, till asparagus is tender. Drain well and place asparagus in a blender. Place all other ingredient in the blender as well. Puree as smooth or as chunky as you like. Serve chilled with vegetable crudites, chips or pita bread.

Shaved Carrot Salad with Pecans and Tangy Honey Vinaigrette

Posted on May 20, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Here’s an easy, simple carrot salad that will be a great side dish. I love packing this for a summer picnic. Sweet, tangy, crisp yumminess! I like shaving the carrots into ribbons or strips using a vegetable peeler. If you wish, you could grate or julienne them.

Tips

- For extra crisp carrots, place the shaved carrots in a bowl of water with ice cubes. Pat dry before dressing
- When you measure the ingredients for the vinaigrette, measure out the olive oil first. Then use the same measuring cup or spoon to measure the honey. They honey will slip out of the olive oil coated measuring spoon easily
- The vinaigrette will keep for a few weeks in the fridge, so its a great make ahead item!
- I used white wine vinegar for the salad dressing. Apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar will also work well. For a citrus touch, try adding lemon or orange juice and zest

I love serving salad dressing in this mini creamer jug I brought back from my trip to Thailand.

Shaved Carrot Salad with Pecans and Honey Vinaigrette Recipe

serves about 2

3 medium carrots
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
Honey vinaigrette, recipe below

Peel the carrots. Using a vegetable peeler, shave the carrots into long ribbons (see photos above). Lightly toast pecans in a skillet. Sprinkle pecans over shaved carrots. Serve chilled, with honey vinaigrette (recipe below).

Honey Vinaigrette Recipe
Whisk together 2 tablespoons each of olive oil, honey, and white wine vinegar. Add salt to taste.

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry

Posted on May 15, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Mor kuzhambu or moor kulambu, however you spell it, is a satisfying south Indian dish made with yogurt and fresh coconut. Mor is buttermilk in Tamil and kulambu is gravy or curry. I use yogurt to make this dish (instead of buttermilk) because it makes the gravy thicker. Peppercorns are wonderful in this dish. You don’t actually eat them, but they impart great flavor. These peppercorns are from my dear friend and fellow food blogger, Nandini’s plantation in India.

Tips

- Use freshly grated coconut or fresh-frozen coconut. Please, none of the dried or dessicated stuff!
- For a lighter version of this dish, use buttermilk instead of yogurt
- Do not let the curry boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Use low heat and stir constantly to prevent boiling
- Remember to only gently re-heat this dish
- Serve mor kuzhambu with steamed rice or curry leaf rice. See this post for my curry leaf rice recipe

A note on what vegetables to use for Mor Kolambu
You can use any vegetable you like, here are some favorites and suggestions*

- Long squash(sorakkai or lauki). Peel the skin, scoop out the seeds and cut into cubes. (This is what I used in this recipe)
- Winter melon(ash gourd, neer poosanikkai or petha). Peel skin, scoop out seeds and membrane and cut into cubes
- Ripe mango. Peel skin, remove pit and cut into cubes
- Corn on the cob. My favorite. Remove husk and cut the whole corn into 1 inch rounds. Will need more water to cook
- Orka(vendakkai or bhindi). Cut into pieces. Make sure you saute okra in oil till it is no longer slimy

Mor Kuzhambu or South Indian Yogurt Coconut Curry Recipe

serves about 6

Grind to a paste
3/4 cup fresh grated coconut
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
2 green chillies (use more or less according to taste)
1/2 cup water

For the gravy
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
a pinch of asafoetida
a few curry leaves
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 cups of cubed vegetable (see suggestions in the post above)*
water
salt
a 32 oz tub of plain yogurt
Cilantro for garnishing

Place the ingredients for grinding in a blender and grind into a smooth paste. Set aside.

In a deep pot, heat oil, and add mustard seeds and peppercorns. When the mustard starts to pop and splutter, add the asafoetida, curry leaves, turmeric, and cubed vegetable (see note in the post above for what vegetables to use). Cook on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Then pour about 1 cup water, cover and simmer till the vegetable is cooked; about 7 minutes.

Add the ground coconut mixture, and cook on medium-high for about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low. Beat the yogurt with a spoon or whisk and add it to the coconut-vegetable mixture. Stir gently and constantly on low heat for about 2 minutes. Do not let the gravy boil once you’ve added the yogurt. Add more water if the kuzhambu is too thick. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve with white rice or curry leaf rice.

How I shot the floating cranberry photo

Posted on May 13, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Many of you wrote to me asking how I shot this floating/suspended cranberry photo that appeared in this post.

Did I drop the cranberry into the bowl and shoot while it was falling?

Did I hold the cranberry up using a skewer or something similar and then photoshop the skewer?

Was this two photos that were merged together?

No, no, and no!

Its really very easy to do. No photoshopping, no fancy camera tricks. You just have to elevate the single cranberry from the rest, using a tooth pick. Take a look..

One tooth pick didn’t elevate the cranberry enough. So I taped two tooth picks together for extra height. Because of the short distance between the elevated cranberry and the rest of the bowl, I decided to use a macro lens.

A Macro lense, along with a wide aperture setting, will give the image a shallow depth of field. This means the background (in this case, the bowl full of cranberries) will be thrown out of focus. More background blur means the more the floating cranberry will stand out.

The set up is simple..

I placed the bowl with cranberries on a white foam core board. I placed two ego lights on the foam core; one at 2 o’clock and one at about 10 o’clock. (It was a winter night, so I couldn’t make use of natural sunlight, which is my first choice for food photos).

Then I took the shot from top down so that the tooth pick was directly under the floating cranberry. It took a few tries before I could position myself so that the tooth pick was not visible under the cranberry. And voila, the money shot!

EXIF info

Camera: Canon Rebel XTi

Lens: 60mm macro

Aperture: f/2.8

Shutter speed: 1/125

ISO: 100

Exposure mode: Manual

Lighting: 2 Ego lights

Rhubarb Raspberry Polenta Cake

Posted on May 11, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

Its rhubarb season! Grocery store shelves are brimming with these beautiful red stalks. I couldnt let spring roll around and not make anything with rhubarb! Usually, rhubarb is used along with strawberries in pies (because rhubarb and strawberry seasons coincide). This recipe features rhubarb, along with raspberries in a polenta or cornmeal cake. If you like corn cakes, you’ll certainly love this dessert version!

Andrea, from Cooking Books blog says its the Scandinavians who know how to best enjoy the tartness of rhubarb. Andrea says,

“I’m not sure anyone appreciates rhubarb the way the Scandinavians do. In the US, it seems like you rarely find rhubarb without strawberry to mellow it’s tartness. But in Norway, rhubarb stands very much on its own. In fact, R remembers as a child being given stalks of raw rhubarb with a small bag of sugar for dipping and munching.”

Tart rhubarb, tart raspberries, in a sweet, cornmeal cake. Just delicious! And I love the ‘corny’ taste and texture of this cake too.

I adapted the recipe from this recipe for raspberry and lemon polenta cake by Jane Hornby. Jane’s recipe is for a layered polenta cake, filled with a cream cheese filling. I left out the filling all together and simply made a single cake, adding rhubarb.

Add most the fruit to the batter and bake half way. Then sprinkle more berries on top of the half-cooked cake and continue baking.

Ever baked a cake with fruits in it and all the fruits sink to the bottom? Jane has the solution! Its a great trick for getting this cake to look beautiful too. Reserve some of the berries and then sprinkle them on top of your cake half way through baking. The cake should still be jiggly when you do this. Gently press the berries into the batter like the picture above and return cake to the oven. The batter will bake around the berries and when its done, you’ll have a perfect, berry studded cake!

You can store this cake covered at room temperature for about 2-3 days or wrapped tightly in the fridge for about 4-5 days. Serve with icecream or homemade rhubarb-raspberry compote.

Rhubarb Raspberry Polenta or Cornmeal Cake Recipe

adapted from this recipe by Jane Hornby
serves about 8

8 oz or 225 grams sugar
8 oz or 225 grams butter, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 oz or 175 grams fine cornmeal or polenta
1.75 oz or 50 grams flour(I used cake flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 cup chopped rhubarb
1 cup raspberries
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pre-heat oven to 375F. Butter a 9 inch cake tin or baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a standing mixer, cream the sugar and butter together for about 3 minutes. Then add the eggs to this mixture one by one. Beat on high speed till the mixture is fluffy. Add vanilla and turn off the mixer.

Sift together the cornmeal/polenta, flour, baking powder and salt. Fold this into the egg mixture in 2 batches. Stir in lemon zest. Pour this batter into the baking dish or cake tin.

Reserve about 1/8 cup of the rhubarb and 1/8 cup of raspberries. Sprinkle the rest of the rhubarb and raspberries on top of the cake batter. Smooth out the top. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. The cake should still be jiggly, but risen. At this stage, take out the cake from the oven. In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tablespoon lemon juice. Sprinkle the lemon juice-sugar mixture all over the top of the cake.

Then arrange the reserved rhubarb pieces and raspberries on top of the half cooked cake. Gently poke them into the batter (but dont poke them all the way in — see picture in post above). Return cake to the oven and bake another 10 minutes. Cool cake slightly before removing it from the pan.

South African Bunny Chow – my vegetarian version with Chickpeas

Posted on May 4, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

South African cuisine is a titillating mix of Indian, British, Malay, Portuguese and Indonesian food. Every group of settlers has left its own mark on the country’s cuisine. Bunny Chow, also called ‘bunny’ is one of the Indian community’s contributions to South African cuisine. Indian immigrant laborers are credited with inventing this dish nearly 200 years ago. They used hollowed out loaves of bread to put their curries in – an easy way to transport their curries while working in sugar cane plantations. The concept of bunny chow is not unlike India’s own pav bhaji – bread eaten with curried vegetables.

Camps Bay in Cape Town

When I first heard about Bunny Chow from a taxi driver in Cape Town, I was intrigued. But this African street food is usually made with meat, and I couldn’t find a vegetarian version while I was in South Africa (I should have searched harder because the original bunny chow was vegetarian!). I was disappointed to say the least. When Meeta announced South Africa as the theme for her monthly mingle, I jumped at the opportunity to make a vegetarian bunny chow.

I used chickpeas as the filling. I also decided to go with a more elegant presentation and used mini ciabatta rolls, instead of the traditional white bread loaf. The mini rolls worked well, they looked cute, were easy to eat and reminded me of panera style bread bowls! The bread ‘bowls’ soaked up all the curry and got finger licking good!

Intrigued? Want to read more?

Cook Sister’s bunny chow recipe
Afar blog’s bunny chow recipe
Bunny chow etiquette

If you dont want to bother hollowing out bread or dont want use as much bread, you could serve the chickpea filling on top of slices of crusty bread – tapas style! But ofcourse, it wont be bunny chow anymore

South African Bunny Chow with Chickpeas Recipe

makes about 6 mini bunnies

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1 tablespoon ginger paste
1 carrot, diced (1/2 cups when diced)
1 small green pepper, diced (1/2 cup when diced)
1 large tomato, diced
1 tablespoon curry powder ( may need more or less depending on the brand)
1/2 teaspoon turmeric, optional
1/2 teaspoon paprika, optional
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1-2 cups water
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt
cilantro for garnish

6 mini ciabatta or other bread rolls (or 1-2 regular sized loaves of white or crusty bread)

Heat oil in a pan. Add chopped onions and cook on medium heat till the onions are brown. Then add ginger and garlic paste and saute 30 seconds. Add carrot, green pepper, and tomato and cook till the vegetables are soft. Now add salt, curry powder, turmeric and paprika if using, cook 1 minute on medium-high heat. Add chickpeas, tomato paste, 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil. Stir to make sure tomato paste has dissolved. Boil for about 2 minutes. Add more water if the curry it too thick. Turn off heat. Taste,and add lemon juice according to taste.

Cut the tops off the mini bread rolls and gently scoop out the bread inside. Fill the bread ‘bowls’ with the chickpea filling. Garnish with chopped cilantro. Serve along with the scooped out bread for dipping.

If using larger sized loaves of bread, halve or quarter (depending on the size) the bread loaf. Scoop out the bread to form a bread bowl. Fill with chickpea filling. Be careful not to scoop out too much bread, your filling might leak out!

Spaghetti and Spinach Balls

Posted on May 3, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

I first had this amazing pasta dish at Italia restaurant in Park Pod hotel, Chennai, India. Wanting to recreate the dish at home, I googled around to see if there were similar recipes. To my surprise I found a very similar recipe that is served at the famous Carluccios restaurant in UK! My recipe is inspired by Antonio Carluccios recipe for pasta with courgette sauce and spinach balls on BBC Food

Not only is Antonio Carluccios recipe delicious, it also has a special story behind it..

Everytime someone orders this dish at Carluccios restaurant, 50p (about 75 cents) is donated on the diner’s behalf to the charity, Action Against Hunger. In just 3 years Carluccios has raised 430,000 pounds for the charity this way! Take a look at their menu for details. (The restaurant sells this dish as penne giardiniera).

I made several changes to Carluccios recipe. Their spinach balls use eggs, I cut that out. Their recipe required fresh spinach leaves, but I used frozen, thawed spinach because i like the texture of frozen spinach better. I also added fresh thyme and extra garlic to the pasta for extra flavor. The fried spinach and parmesan balls are super tasty! You could even serve them as a snack or appetizer. But I love them in the pasta. These are a great vegetarian substitute for spaghetti and meat balls.

Some tips:

- Timing is important in this recipe because there are 3 elements to it – the pasta, pasta sauce, and spinach balls. Make the pasta sauce first (using olive oil, thyme, garlic, zucchini and cheese) and keep aside. Then work on the spinach balls. Roll the balls and keep them ready to fry. Then put the pasta to boil. While the pasta is boiling, fry the spinach balls. This way, the pasta and the spinach balls will be done at the same time and you will have al dente pasta and crispy spinach balls just before serving.

- If you want to use fresh spinach, blanch it in boiling water and squeeze dry before using. Refer to Carluccio’s original recipe which uses fresh spinach.

- If your spinach mixture is too dry and wont form a ball, sprinkle a little water. If the mixture is too moist (you probably didnt squeeze the spinach dry enough), try adding more bread crumbs. Keep in mind that if the mixture is too wet, then end result will be oily.

- You can bake the spinach balls if you wish. But it will work better if you formed the spinach mixture into patties for baking, instead of balls. This way, you will get a crunchier exterior in the oven. Ive never baked these before, but I think a temperature of 400-450f should work.

Spaghetti and Crispy Fried Spinach Parmesan Balls Recipe

adapted from this recipe by Antonio Carluccio
serves about 6

For pasta

450g or 1 lb spaghetti pasta
8 tablespoons olive oil
3 sprigs fresh thyme
4 garlic cloves, minced
Crushed red pepper, according to taste
2 zucchini or summer squash cut into thin strips (see picture in post)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Generously salt the water. When water boils, add pasta and cook till al dente.

While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a pan. Add thyme sprigs, garlic and crushed pepper and cook for about 30 seconds. Then add the chopped zucchini. Saute for about 2 minutes or till the zucchini is cooked, but still a little crunchy. Turn off heat and stir in grated parmesan, salt and pepper. This is your pasta ‘sauce’. When the pasta is done, drain the pasta and toss with the zucchini mixture.

For Spinach Balls (makes about 24 balls)

1 lb frozen spinach
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 cup breadcrumbs
a pinch of nutmeg
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt
Pepper
Vegetable oil for frying

Thaw frozen spinach. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Place thawed, dry spinach in a bowl. Add all other ingredients to the bowl, except the oil. Mix well.

Now test the spinach balls. Make one ball from the mixture, heat the oil, and shallow fry it on medium-high heat. If the balls fall apart, you need to add a little more bread crumbs to bind the mixture. If the extra breadcrumb trick didnt work, and the balls still fall apart, add one beaten egg to the mixture.

Form the spinach mixture into balls (see pictures in post). Heat a thin layer of oil in a wide, shallow pan.

Place spinach balls a few at a time and shallow fry them on medium-high heat, turning the balls around till all sides are golden and crisp. Remove spinach balls with a slotted spoon and place them on paper towels.

Serve spinach parmesan balls with the spaghetti.

Spiked Blueberry Lemonade

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Sala @ Veggie Belly

I almost feel bad giving you a recipe for lemonade. I mean, its a no brainer right? Just mix up sugar, lemon juice, and water, thats it. So, to spruce up the humble lemonade, I added some blueberries (and vodka!). The extra tang and brilliant color were fantastic! We loved eating the lemonade soaked blueberies in the end of each glass!

The lemonade will become a stronger color if you let the blueberries sit in the lemonade for a few hours. Use either fresh or frozen blueberries. Other berries would work well too — strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries..yum! If you are using something with lots of seeds (like raspberries), you may want to puree the fruit and strain the puree before adding it to the lemonade.

Alcoholic version - Spiked Blueberry Lemonade: add vodka to this lemonade. You will not be sorry you did!

Blueberry Lemonade Recipe

makes about 8 cups

1 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (I used bottled)
6 cups water
1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Place all ingredients in a pitcher and stir till sugar dissolves. Muddle the blueberries a little using the back of a wooden spoon to release their juices and color. Taste and adjust sugar if needed. Serve chilled.

For spiked lemonade – add 1 to 2 cups of vodka (preferably citron flavor) to above recipe.