Spaghetti Squash with Green Pea Pesto and Beans

Spring is here.. apparently. That is, if you go by the calendar. There have been some teaser days spent mostly outdoors, along with a few healthy thunderstorms. However, I am not measuring the change of seasons by this criteria -- the evidence that I seek is the vegetables! Oh, how I long to fill my produce bin with hearty stalks of asparagus, glorious globe artichokes, and the rare treat of fresh green peas. Any day now I will have my way. In the meantime I am cooking up the last of the winter squash and playing make believe with this green pea pesto of the frozen pea variety. I must say, dinners like this make the wait not so bad!


Spaghetti Squash with Green Pea Pesto and Beans
(Serves 4)

1 large spaghetti squash (3-4 lbs)

1 15 oz can cannellini beans (or chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 shallot, diced (or 1/2 cup red onion, diced)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp dried oregano
salt to taste

Pesto:
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, packed
1/4 cup walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tbsp olive oil (or water for lower fat)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Squash: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Halve the squash and scoop out and discard the seeds. Rub or spray the insides with a small amount of oil and place halves cut side down on the baking sheet. Roast for 60-90 minutes, until cooked through and starting to lightly brown at the edges. Set aside to cool. (I did this a day ahead).

Pesto: Combine all pesto ingredients in a food processor and process for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides as necessary. A few minutes before serving transfer to a small pot and warm gently over med-low heat.

Beans: Coat a skillet with cooking spray and saute shallots over medium heat until softened, 3-4 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano, and about a tablespoon of water (to prevent sticking) and continue to saute for 2 minutes. Stir in beans and tomatoes and saute gently until hot, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Assembly: Use a fork to scrape out the spaghetti squash into strands. If necessary, reheat the squash in the microwave or on the stove top in a skillet with cooking spray over medium heat. Divide up the squash into four servings. Top with desired amount of sauce (I found 1/4 cup each to be adequate) and divide up the beans among the four plates. Garnish with a few peas and fresh basil leaves if desired. Serve hot.

Matar Paneer and Aloo Tikki

After my first major success in cooking authentic tasting Indian food at home, I had in mind to show off my new skills to my boyfriend. Oh, how very rude of me, you haven't been introduced, have you? This is Steve, my most wonderful boyfriend. Everyone say, "Hi Steve!" He pretty much rules, and I am certain that you would love him.

Steve shares my love of Indian food so I was very excited to cook up something special for him. We both love all things paneer, so I thought it would be most fun and tasty to conquer a paneer dish. I returned to Lisa's Kitchen for inspiration since her Chana Masala was such a hit, and I was pleased to find many paneer recipes in her archives. With a big bag of frozen peas already in my freezer the Matar Paneer was the obvious choice. I put Steve to work measuring spices into small bowls so they would be ready for me when I needed them. He seemed to really enjoy the process of watching it all come together. We were super happy with the end result, and I definitely plan to make this dish again.

To make this an extra special feast I made Aloo Tikki as an appetizer, Indian spiced fried potato patties. I don't have any experience making fried things at home, because I shy away from recipes that involve submerging food in oil. We did not have the highest expectations for these, but were very pleasantly surprised in the end. I love it when that happens! I want to continue with my habit of not submerging my food in oil, but it will be hard not to indulge in this recipe from time to time. This would be great with some tamarind chutney on top, but we did not have any this time.

Matar Paneer

(from Lisa's Kitchen)

a few tablespoons of oil or butter, or a mixture of both
1 1/2 teaspoons of cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon of black mustard seeds
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 hot green chillies or jalapenos, finely minced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 inch piece of ginger, grated or finely minced
1 generous teaspoon of ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons of water
2 cups of tomatoes, finely chopped
1 - 2 teaspoons of sea salt
2 cups of paneer cheese, cubed
1 1/2 cups of frozen peas, defrosted
1/2 - 1 cup of yogurt
2 teaspoons of garam masala
1 1/2 teaspoons of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves) - I could not find this, so I omitted
3 tablespoons of fresh parsley or coriander, chopped

In a mortar and pestle, make a paste of the garlic, ginger, cayenne, coriander, paprika, turmeric and water. Set aside.

In a large pot, heat the oil and butter over medium heat. When hot, add the cumin and black mustard seeds and stir and fry until the mustard seeds turn gray and begin to pop. Now add the onion and cook until it is translucent, stirring frequently. Add the chillies, stir and then add the ginger, garlic spice paste. Stir and fry for a minute.

Add the tomatoes and salt to the pot, increase the heat slightly and cook for about 5 - 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is thickened. Reduce the heat, and add the peas, paneer, yogurt, garam masala, kasoori methi and parsley. Stir to combine and gently cook for another 5 minutes.

Serves 4.

Aloo Tikki

(adapted from VegNews)

2 russet potatoes, peeled, chopped, and boiled (apprx 1.5 - 2 cups)

3/4 cup cooked chickpeas

1 green chile, seeded and minced

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp fine grain sea salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup canola oil, for frying

In a large bowl, mash potato and chickpeas (the chickpeas will remain a bit chunky which is fine). Add chile, cilantro, ginger, lemon juice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, flour, and cornstarch and mix well. Use your hands to shape the mixture into small, tight patties.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add the patties and cook until both sides are golden brown, turning once. Serve hot.

Curried Red-Lentil Stew with Vegetables

I'm a real sucker for curry recipes. I'm an even bigger sucker for curry recipes that I come across that I already have all of the ingredients on hand for, and this Curried-Red Lentil Stew with Vegetables was just that. I spotted this lovely over at Dana Treat one afternoon, and within a couple of hours I sat down to a big bowl of curry.

The recipe below is exactly as she listed it. I decided to add 1/2 tsp ground coriander (because I love me some coriander), and I subbed kale for the spinach. This dish has a mild level of spice which could easily be kicked up a few notches with a couple of fresh chillies (which I'm known to do), but I decided to keep this nice and mellow this go around. This stew was even tastier the next day -- hooray for great leftovers!

Curried Red-Lentil Stew with Vegetables

(from Dana Treat)
Serves 4-6

Serve this stew over basmati rice.

Vegetable oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
Salt
1 (2 x 1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
5 cloves of garlic, minced
5 cups water
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
3 medium carrots, quartered lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
5 oz. baby spinach leaves
1 cup frozen peas, not thawed
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat a heavy 4-5 quart pot over moderate heat and then add just enough oil to coat the bottom. Cook the onion with a sprinkling of salt, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8-10 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes more. Add spices and cook over low heat for 1 minute.

Stir in lentils and 5 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add carrots and another sprinkling of salt and simmer covered, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender and lentils have broken down into a coarse puree, 15-20 minutes.

Stir in spinach and peas and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until peas are tender, about 3 minutes. Stir in cilantro and season stew with salt and pepper. If necessary, add enough water to thin stew so that it can be ladled over rice.

(Stew without spinach or peas can be made and chilled, uncovered, until completely cooled, then covered for up to 5 days. Reheat over moderately low heat, thinning with water to a pourable consistency and stirring frequently, before adding remaining ingredients.)

Aloo Gobi

I had a wonderful visit to a local Asian supermarket recently. I left with all sorts of goodies like thai basil, coconut milk, panang curry paste, soba noodles, and miso paste. In addition - for just $1, a bag full of these cute little guys got to come home with me. They look so innocent don't they? :)

I have featured these chillies in a few dishes this past week, and the first was Aloo Gobi. This common Indian dish is aptly named in Hindi after the two main ingredients:

Aloo - potato
Gobi - cauliflower

I adapted this recipe from epicurious which involves roasting the vegetables instead of pan frying. On the advice of most of the people who commented on the original recipe I doubled most of the spices, and I was glad that I did. The dish was full of flavor and had a definite kick, but not too overpowering. I would have been able to handle even more spice (almost never too spicy for me!), but I wanted to give my poor roommate a break. If you are looking for very mild spice follow the original recipe.



Aloo Gobi
(adapted from epicurious)

1 (1 3/4-lb) head cauliflower, cut into 3/4-inch-wide florets
1 1/4 lb Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3/4 cup fresh or frozen peas
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 fresh chopped chilli peppers, including seeds (or 2 tsp fresh jalapeño chopped, including seeds)
3 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 cup water

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and place a shallow baking pan on rack. Preheat oven to 475°F.

Toss cauliflower and potatoes together in a bowl with 2 tablespoons oil, mustard seeds, and1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread in hot baking pan and roast, stirring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender and browned in spots and potatoes are just tender, about 20 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook onion, garlic, chillies, and ginger in remaining oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until very soft and beginning to turn golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add ground cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Stir in water, scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then stir in roasted vegetables and peas. Cook, covered, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Serve over rice.