Spring Vegetable Risotto

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Cook from 1 European Cuisine -- Italian

Dish: Spring Vegetable Risotto

We are on to our second week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is to 'Cook from 1 European Country' and I picked Italian cuisine. When I think of Italian food, pizza and pasta are the first to come to mind. But there is so much more to the world of Italian cooking. The many regions in Italy have distinctive cuisines based on the local ingredients available, cooking styles and eating habits.

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For the first day, I have this Spring Vegetable risotto. Risotto is a north Italian rice dish that is cooked in broth to a creamy consistency. Arborio, Carnaroli etc are the principal varieties of rice used to risotto. These are high in starch, round medium or short grained white rice -- they have the ability to absorb liquids and release starch, so they are stickier than the long grain varieties.

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Bengali Mishti Pulao with Vegetables

I made this Bengali Mishti pulao to go with the Enchor Kofta curry. Typically this pulao is made using Gobindo bhog rice which is an aromatic short grain rice, very popular in Bengali households. I've never seen it in Indian stores here, so I used regular basmati rice. Soma says good quality jasmine rice can also be used instead.

Rice is rinsed, drained and dried for at least 30 minutes before making the dish. It is then sauteed with whole spices until aromatic and then cooked till tender. Care is taken to make sure each rice grain is separate and the dish doesn't end up becoming mushy.

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Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: Dishes using Root Vegetables

Dish: Sweet Potato Quinoa Chili
For the final day of this week's marathon I made a hearty and comforting chili with sweet potato, quinoa and black beans. This is a one pot meal that is great to make on a weeknight too.

Sweet potato is a tuberous root with a smooth skin with different colors like yellow, orange, red, brown, purple and beige. Even the color of the flesh differs from one variety to the other from beige, through white, red, orange and purple. Something new that I learnt is that the sweet potatoes with white or pale yellow flesh are less sweet and moist than those with red or orange flesh.

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Greek Style Lemon Rice with Dill

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 2/ Day 3

Theme: Meal Ideas

Dish: Greek style Rice with Dill

For the last day of this week's marathon, I have a simple meal with Greek style Lemon rice with dill. This is a popular side dish served in many Mediterranean restaurants and is very similar to our very own Indian Lemon rice except for the addition of dill. This recipe is from Vegan Eats World cookbook by Terry Hope Romero. 

Lemon rice is the first thing that comes to my mind when I have leftover rice. In fact I even make lemon flavored oats, barley and quinoa. So today's recipe is on the same lines but with dried oregano and fresh dill that add delicious Greek flavor to the dish.

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Healthy Cilantro Rice (with Brown rice)

Recently I started watching a Telugu cooking show where the chef, a holistic nutritionist -- Sridevi Jasthi, shows recipes that incorporate whole grains, healthy fats and seasonally available ingredients. I like these kind of shows because they show a totally different perspective on cooking healthy everyday food.

I have tried quite a few of her recipes and they have all turned out great. I will be posting them here periodically.

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Indian Flavored Risotto (Vegan Recipe)

Finally spring seems to have found its way into our neck of woods. I can see the tiny buds on trees and hopefully they'll bloom within a week now. Somehow spring makes me very happy -- everything is waking from a long slumber and with the harsh winter that we had even people seem to be coming out of hibernation -- I mean the heavy jackets, boots and so on.

Today, I'm excited to share with you a dish that is colorful and springy (??) and is inspired from a dish off a specialty menu at the Wynn Resort in Las Vegas.

I've never been to Vegas and it is one of the destinations on my bucket list. My ex-manager had a condo in Vegas and she used to take a yearly vacation there. I always thought Vegas was all about the casinos until she told me there are many things to do with kids too like hiking, sight seeing etc.

Vegas is a foodie heaven with plethora of restaurants to dine at and a lot of them fine dining with exquisite menu options. So today I'm trying to put my own spin on one of the dish based on Wynn's specialty menus created by famous vegan chef Tai Ronnen.

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Methi Chana Pulao (Fenugreek leaves and Chickpea Pilaf)

Blogging Marathon# 50: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Methi Dishes

Dish: Methi Chana Pulao

Apart from curries, lentil dishes and rotis, methi is great to use in rice dishes too. I have made spicy pulao with methi and paneer before, but today's pulao is quite mild with just a few whole spices. This recipe is my adaptation of my cousin's methi pudina rice. She usually serves the rice with a spicy curry, but I added some chickpeas to the rice to make it wholesome.

This is a one-pot dish and can be whipped up in no time (if you have the methi leaves all prepped and ready to go, that is). I usually store my cleaned methi leaves in an airtight container in the fridge once I get back from the store and then use them as needed during the week.

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Whole Tomato Rice with Indian flavors (made in Rice Cooker)

Blogging Marathon# 49: Week 2/ Day 3

Theme: Cooking for 1

Dish: Whole Tomato Rice with Indian flavors

Today's recipe is not a recipe at all. This post will make the other two recipes that I posted this week seem to take forever. I saw this 'Whole Tomato rice in Rice cooker' recipe on many blogs. It is exactly what it sounds -- Rice is cooked along with whole tomato in the rice cooker to make this tomato rice. Apparently it is a recent food trend in Japan.

I recently started using my 3cup rice cooker that has been collecting dust for almost a year. For some reason, rice cookers never appealed to me and I resisted buying one for a very long time. This small one was actually supposed to be returned to the store, but we got lazy and it got too late to send it back. I started using it especially when I'm cooking just for the kids.

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Pudina Vegetable Pulao (Mint flavored Vegetable Pilaf) -- (Revisiting Old Recipe)

Blogging Marathon# 45: Week 4/ Day 3
Theme: Revisiting Old Recipes
Dish: Pudina Vegetable Pulao

One problem with blogging regularly is that I am constantly trying out new recipes to post here on the blog and don't usually find time to go back and cook old recipes. Whenever Valli has 'Revisiting recipes' theme for blogging marathon, I make sure to sign up for it so I get a chance to remake the dish and redo the photos.

This Pudina Vegetable Pulao is from my early blogging days way back from 2006 -- more than 8 years back. This was the fanciest rice dish I knew in those days and made it regularly until my pulao & biryani repertoire started growing and this simple one pot meal became a rarity in my house.

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Yemen -- Carrot Rice

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: Y for Yemen

Dish: Yemeni Carrot Rice

Today we are going to Yemen, an Arab country in Southwest Asia. We are only a day way from our final destination tomorrow and I can't believe how fast the month passed.
The first dish I made for Yemen was a colossal failure -- the first and last failure in my entire A-Z International series. I was quite upset since I planned to make it at the very end and didn't have enough time to remake it. So I picked a very quick and simple (no-fail) recipe for Yemeni Carrot rice from the blog Queen of Sheba. This is an awesome Yemeni food blog that has a ton of authentic Yemeni recipes.

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Turkish Bulgur Pilaf with Veggies

I thought bulgur was used to make Tabbouleh only until I ate this pilaf. I should have known, bulgur to Turkish is like rice to South Indians -- the many variations of rice we enjoy is incredible. So bulgur
is used in both savory and sweet preparations. Bulgur is made from groats of several different wheat species. It looks like our wheat rawa and it probably is Turkish wheat rawa -- I'm not sure (if any of you do, please add your comment below).

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Dominican Republic -- Rice & Beans (Moro de Habichuelas)

BM# 44: A-Z Cooking Series -- Around the World in 30 days
Country: D for Dominican Republic
Dish: Rice & Beans

We are back to South America today, to Dominican Republic. It is a nation on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean region. Chrsitopher Columbus landed in Hispaniola in 1492, during the first of his 4 voyages to America. Dominican Republic is the most visited destination in the Caribbean. 

The first time I heard of this country was 9 years ago from a colleague who was from Dominican Republic. He was a very jovial person and had lots of stories to tell about his country. What I found interesting was he cooked his own lunch and brought it to work. I never got a chance to taste his food since it was mostly meat based but it always smelt soo good.
Dominican cuisine is typical to what can be found in other Latin American countries, but many of the names of the dishes are different. Meals tend to have meats and starches. Many dishes are made with Sofrito (a mix of local herbs) and is used as a wet rub for meats and sauteed to bring out all of a dish's flavors.

I picked a dish very commonly made all over South America. Every county in Latin & South America has their own version of rice and beans. While looking for dishes to make from Dominican Republic, I found this amazing blog called 'Aunt Clara's Kitchen' written by Clara, a Dominican herself. She has so many traditional recipes on her blog and here pictures are absolutely mouth watering and perfectly go with her beautiful write-ups.

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Quick Paneer Pulao (Pressure Cooker Method)

We are celebrating Sapana's Virtual Baby Shower' today. Welcoming a new bundle of joy into the family is a very exciting time for the whole family and especially to the mom. So Sapana, here's wishing you 'All the very best for the new arrival'.

So our BM group decided to cook from Sapana to celebrate her Virtual Baby Shower. I picked a simple one-pot dish, Paneer Pulao from Sapana's blog. This dish was a hit with my family. I made minor changes to the original recipe to suit for taste preference.

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Meghalaya -- Vegetarian Jadoh (with Tofu)

Blogging Marathon# 39 - Indian States: Day 18
State: Meghalaya
Dish: Jadoh

We move onto the next North eastern state of Meghalaya today. The name means 'the abode of clouds' in Sanskrit. Just the name makes me think of beautiful sky kissing moutains and luscious greenery and breathtaking landscapes. Coming back to reality, about one-third of the state is forested and the forests are notable for biodiversity of mammals, birds and plants. It was previously part of Assam, but formed a new state in 1972.
Tribal people make up the majority of Meghalaya's population. The Khasis are the largest group, followed by the Garos and the Jaintias. Meghalaya is one of the 3 states in India to have Christian majority with 70.3% of the population practising Christianity (other 2 being Mizoram and Nagalan, also in the northeastern India).
Cuisine: Meghalayan cuisine is very unique and is quite different from the other states in the northeastern India. Staple food of the people is rice with spicy meat and fish preparations. Each tribe has its own variety of foods. The popular dishes of Khasis and Jaintia are Jadoh, Ki kpu, pickled bamboo shoots etc. Garos on the other hand eat almost any animal, but in day to day life they usually have a simple meal with rice and kapa (this can be made of either meat or vegetables and is cooked with special ingredient called karchi which is made up of filtered ash water).

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Udupi Vegetable Pulao

Blogging Marathon# 38: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Gourmet Rice Dishes 
Dish: Udupi Vegetable Pulao

For day 2 of BM# 38, I made this flavorful Udupi Vegetable Pulao. I saw this dish being made on a Telugu cooking show and really liked the coconut based spice/ masala paste that is added to the veggies. This is a one pot dish that is sure to wow everyone.

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Kakarakaya Nuvvulannam (Bitter gourd-Sesame Rice)

One pot dishes are so convenient any time of the day. Being a South Indian most of my dishes revolve around rice, so a lot of one pot dishes I make are with rice. If I have leftover rice, it gets transformed into some kind of one-pot rice dish the next day. I'm sure all South Indians would probably say the same thing. Talking about rice lovers, I had an American co-worker who didn't like rice at all and I couldn't even imagine what it would be like without eating rice.

Today's rice dish is a new combination for me. I've never made a rice dish with bittergourd before. I saw the recipe on a Telugu Cooking show and the combination of bittergourd, sesame seeds and rice sounded very interesting. I was pleasantly pleased how good the dish turned out to be and was even more happy when the husband really really liked it.

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Cabbage-Pudina Pulao (Cabbage Mint Pilaf)

Can't believe there's only 10 days left for Christmas. But the weather here has been sending quite a few signals that it is almost winter and holiday season is just around the corner. We had 2 snow storms this week and the temperatures are below freezing. Can't wait for winter to end even before it started :-)
After that brief weather report, here's what's cooking in my house. I made this quick and easy (almost) 1 pot dish for one of our meals last week. Recipe is from a Telugu cooking show. I already have 2 cabbage rice recipes on the blog, but this one has whole garam masala spices and ground masala that gives a nice flavor to the dish.

In the original recipe, rice was cooked with the veggies in the pot making it a 1-pot dish, but I cooked the rice separately and added it to the veggies at the end. All in all it is a tasty variation to regular pulaos and can be prepared in short amount of time.

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Corn & Rajma (Kidney beans) Pulao (Pilaf)

Blogging Marathon# 35: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Cooking with Corn
Dish: Corn & Kidney beans Pulao

After using sweet corn in this uggani and baby corn in this masala curry, I'm combining both of these corns in a rice dish today. Recipe idea is from a Telugu cooking show. Original recipe used baby corn and rajma (red kidney beans), but I put some sweet corn that I had in the fridge.

If you have cooked rice and beans on hand, this dish takes literally minutes to complete. I made this for my lunch today. I had very little time to cook before I had to go pick my daughter from her play school. As I said this is a super quick dish to make if you have everything ready. I was able to cook, click and then go pick my daughter right on time.

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Pineapple Sweet Pulao

This post has been in my drafts for exactly 9 months. It's waiting to see the light of day (or the light of your monitor) for way too long. It didn't fit any of the BM themes till now. I saw the recipe being made on one of the Telugu cooking show.

As the name suggests this is a sweet pulao made with pineapple chunks and basmati rice. Addition of whole garam masala is the interesting part of the dish. All in all it is a simple dish packed with flavors. Give it a try if you are looking for a different dish. 

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Zafrani Pulao/ Saffron Rice/ Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao

Blogging Marathon# 32: Letter Z
Theme: A-Z Vegetarian dishes from Andhra Pradesh
Dish: Zafrani Pulao/ Saffron Rice/ Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao

I can't believe today's the last day for our month long Blogging Marathon. This month flew by so fast and I've enjoyed cooking dishes from my home state of Andhra Pradesh. It has been quite a culinary journey that involved learning new dishes that I've never known or made before (like Vegetarian Haleem or Sheer Qurma) and making some traditional dishes that I've grown up with (like Lauju or kobbari kura or these comforting dals).
A big THANKS to Valli, our gracious host and organizer for the amazing ideas and being the driving force behind all of this action. Thanks to ALL the lovely ladies who did this month long marathon for your constant support. Thanks to ALL my blog readers. Last but not the least huge thanks to my family for all your ideas and encouragement.

For the final letter Z, I made Hyderabadi Zafrani Pulao. This dish was almost set in stone and never changed throughout the marathon planning. I couldn't think of any other dish with Z and was happy the minute I found this recipe on Vahrehvah site.

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