Ptitim with Mushrooms and Peppers

For the last month or so, I have been resorting to comfort foods like the usual soups and stews and casseroles. Plus, the usual round of viral influenza had us down one after the other, so, nothing exciting in the kitchen...

Now that Spring is in the air, and my kale and arugula have tender baby leaves perfect for a quick side salad, it felt like a good time to cook up simple and wholesome meals.

Ptitim, sometimes known as Israeli cous cous, has large pearls which when cooked al dente makes a fine accompaniment for sauteed or stir-fried veggies.

This time, I went with mushroom, peppers, onions, tomatoes, and kale, lightly flavored with Balsamic Vinegar and Bragg Liquid Aminos.

Roasted Amber Cup Squash with Israeli Ptitim

Unlike its giant cousin moghrabiah, which I cook on and off, Ptitim or Israeli Couscous, as it is labeled in the markets here, has become a staple in my kitchen. Especially because of quick cooking time in rice cooker: just 1:1 ptitim:stock, with some olive oil, herbs, and spices in the rice cooker and it is ready to eat.

I was fascinated by the variety of squashes at the farm and picked up quite a few, ambitiously determined to cook them over the autumn weekends before they start decomposing.

A couple of squashes and Cloud 9 eggplant, some kale, tomatoes and peppers from my garden made weekend cooking a lot more fun over late summer and early fall.

Having grown squash in my garden and finding it heartbreaking to see only a handful get pollinated and bear fruit while the other flowers simply ended up boosting my summer salads, I have a weakness for these beauties.

The Buttercup squash from my garden, as well as Sweetmeat squash, barely bore a couple despite me waking up early and meddling with the flowers to try to get them going some days.

Anyway, Amber cup squash has thin-ish edible skin, with a golden orange flesh that is on the sweet side. This time, I partially peeled the skin and cubed them for roasting.

Along with Japanese eggplant, red onions, and green bell peppers, the Amber cup squash was tossed in olive oil and roasted in a 450°F oven for about 20 to 25 minutes.

A splash of lemon juice and olive oil, a dash of salt, and a pinch of pepper tossed with the cooked ptitim, topped with roasted Amber cup squash and onions and eggplant and bell peppers, and maybe some feta, makes a sumptuous Fall dinner.

Cous-cous Loaf, Sliced and Pan-fried

Reconstituting leftovers was one of my mom's specialties. In those days, she believed in cooking a huge meal often because we'd usually have family and friends drop in, and depending on the meal time my mom always insisted on feeding everyone, forcibly if needed. Hospitality culture that I grew up in is simply wonderful. And, as a guest, it is an affront to refuse refreshments/meals offered by the host.

Anyway, so, there were days when a pot full of upma, or a dozen idlees sat around, uneaten. Spoilt brats that we were, we refused to eat leftovers in the same form. So, my mom used to get creative about rehashing the leftovers and making something "new" for us. I am glad I picked up a few pointers from her even if inadvertently.

Cous-cous, plain white rice, noodles, upma - they all lend themselves well to reconstitute for the next day. Rice, of course, is rather easy - they can become coconut rice or lemon rice or mango rice or vangi baath or mint and spinach rice or peas-and-cumin rice... endless possibilities.

Noodle pancake is a great way to use up the extra noodles, not to mention the various noodle salads, casseroles, and noodle soups that they can become.

While not the traditional way, sometimes I make leftover upma into upma kozhakattai.




While Cous-cous patties and vada are a popular choice at home, these pan-fried slices of cous-cous loaf are enjoyed as well.

Not very different in concept from cous-cous patties, the cous-cous loaf is rather easy to make. Simply sauté any veggies we'd like to add to the plain cooked leftover cous-cous, toss them all together, allow to cool a bit; then, line a bread loaf pan with cling wrap, pack the cous-cous down in there tight, cover with the cling wrap, and leave in the fridge to set for an hour or two up to overnight. Then, slice up the loaf and pan fry them till crisp on the outside. Serve with favorite tomato sauce.

Ingredients
4 to 6 cups of leftover cooked cous cous
vegetables: onions, ginger, garlic, peas, carrots, bell peppers
spices: cumin powder, coriander powder, paprika
canola oil
cling wrap, small loaf pan or any container that could make a roughly rectangular shaped loaf

Preparation

1. Sauté the vegetables in a tablespoon of canola oil, add the cous-cous and a ¼ cup of water if needed, cover, and allow to cook on low heat for a few minutes till they come together in harmony
2. Allow to cool a bit and pack it down in a cling wrap lined loaf pan, and let it set in the fridge for a few hours
3. Unwrap carefully, cut into about 1-inch slices and pan-fry till the outsides are crisp and brown
4. Serve warm with tomato sauce, with a side of carrot salad

Carrot Salad
grated carrots
finely chopped spring onions
dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts or almond slivers

Combine the salad ingredients and toss with Blue Agave Nectar & Aka Miso Dressing.

Spicy Cous-Cous Patties with Mint and Fennel Pesto

Cous-cous with Spicy Tagine is a favorite dinner for the adults in the house. Kids don't care for it much. There's usually some cous-cous leftover, nudging me to reconstitute them into something appetizing the next day.

These cous-cous patties are a nice way to use up leftover cous-cous. Simply add finely diced onions, carrots, bell peppers, maybe some spices like paprika and cumin, perhaps even some chipotle chilles, bind with eggs or bread, form into patties and pan-fry.

Or, shape them into small balls, even flattened balls, and deep fry, like bonda or vada. The deep fried flattened cous-cous balls remind me of one of my favorite street foods in India, Masala Vada, which is usually made with a few different kinds of lentils.




If I were to indulge à la Owl in Tearwater Tea, I would say the heels, the end-slices, of sliced bread loaves, loathed and discarded cruelly all over, warrant a mention.

Anyway, rather than eggs for binding the cous-cous, I prefer slices of bread, especially the heels, adding a bit of stock or water as needed to be able to shape the patties or balls.

Now, chutneys and pestos flow freely in my kitchen. Chutneys were nothing to write about when I was growing up in India - there were several varieties - any combination of handy edible ingredients, ground together with thought to flavor and texture, becomes a fine condiment to accompany any meal.

In those days, my mom reserved her precious Moulinex Mixer exclusively for delicate handling. All the heavy-duty idlee/dosai batter and chutneys were made using the large mortar-pestle called Aattukkal - The Grinding Stone. Quickly smashed ginger, garlic, black pepper, cumin was done in Ammi kal - a lesser known but just as valued companion of Aattukkal. Ammi kal is very much like the Mano and Matate used in the Americas.

Pesto, to me, bears similarities with the Indian chutneys I grew up with. After all, Pesto is made by quickly grinding the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle. Some favorite nuts, olive oil, fresh herbs, dash of salt/pepper is all it takes to make fresh pesto that has enhanced many a simple dish in our house.

The mint and fennel pesto with sunflower seeds came about thanks to the lovely mint and fennel in the garden that have managed to survive my negligence.



Mint and Fennel Pesto with Toasted Sunflower Seeds
Ingredients
1 cup fresh mint leaves
¼ cup fresh fennel leaves
1 clove of garlic
¼ to 1/3rd cup toasted sunflower seeds
2-4 Tbsp olive oil
hint of water, if needed
salt and black pepper to taste

Simply blend the ingredients together to desired consistency, adjust salt to taste.

cous cous with eggplant-squash tagine

Cous Cous accompanied by some spicy tagine (vegetable stew, no meat here) is a favorite meal at home. My wee one seems to like cous cous a lot, except she likes to call it cous cous rice, as rice happens to one of her favorites.

If handy, I sometimes add wheat-meat cut up into bite-sized chunks to the tagine.

To add to the series on Various Ways To Use Up Squash From Last Year, this tagine recipe uses eggplant, squash and tomatoes as the main vegetables. But, any other favorite vegetable combination can be used for the tagine/stew.

Ingredients

flavoring spices:
1 Tbsp cumin powder
2 Tbsp coriander powder
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp all-spice powder
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
salt to taste

for the tagine:
4-6 cups veggies:
eggplant, squash, tomatoes, diced
4-6 garlic cloves minced
2 Tbsp grated ginger
4 Tbsp tomato paste
cilantro for garnish


1 cup whole wheat cous cous, cooked and fluffed

Preparation

heat oil in a pan, add the onions, ginger, garlic, tomato paste and a pinch of salt, and sauté a bit; then add the spice powders and allow them to bloom

add the diced squash, eggplant, and tomatoes, cover and let it cook, adding a little water if needed; let it simmer till veggies are cooked through but not mushy; taste and adjust spices if needed

off heat, garnish with cilantro and serve warm with cous cous.