Chicken and Chard Rice with Raita

One pot/pan meals are quick and easy, which make it quite attractive for me on weeknights. Spiced rice-and-veggies is one of the easiest dishes to whip up that is quite filling on its own. Toss in some beans or lentils/grams for protein and there's a complete meal, no fuss.

While we don't eat red meat, no pork/beef/lamb etc., the kids and the other adult do like poultry and fish every once in a while. And, getting a small portion of chicken breast from a humane local source seems like something we can make peace with.

Now, there is a school of thought I had subscribed to for a period in my life wherein food was just a bland nourishment to keep body and soul together and any indulgence of the palate was outrageous and unnecessary. I am still superbly satisfied with a simple rice and rasam, or buttermilk and pickles, nothing fancy, no indulging the eyes and nose with an array of flavors and colors. I don't care for meat and am not much of a desserts-and-sweets person either.

Left to myself, I am perfectly happy with the Sattvic diet that I grew up with.

Then, what am I doing with a food blog sharing novel and offbeat recipes, along with richly flavorful staples? I haven't quite found the answer to that yet.

All I know is that I enjoy feeding the family and I find cooking to be Zen-like meditation for me. When I am in the kitchen, I am in my zone.

Anyway, here's hoping that fellow foodies and cooking enthusiasts enjoy stopping by and exploring the recipes for inspiration and comfort.

Nothing much to this dish. Sauté onions, garlic, diced chicken, lima beans, and chopped chard in a large skillet which has a fitting lid. Add rice and sauté. Add appropriate amount of stock or water. Cover and cook, making sure there's enough salt and seasonings to taste.

I used a readymade spice blend from the store -- Blazin' Blends New Orleans Style Seafood & Chicken seasoning.

Cook till rice and chicken are done, adjust seasoning and serve warm.

I served it with a favorite Cucumber Cherries Raita - simple yogurt sauce that cools the tongue and is a great accompaniment for this spicy dish.

Kohlrabi Beet Spicy Chickpea Balls (Koftas) with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

Koftas are a favorite at home - can be made with anything essentially. Am partial to vegetable koftas. Typically koftas are fried balls and are served with spicy sauce, as a side for rice or roti or naan.

This time, I decided to bake the kohlrabi-beet koftas and serve them with cooling creamy yogurt sauce, garnished with fresh crisp veggies.

I was glad to incorporate chickpea flour, rice flour and oat bran into this recipe. These can be deep fried, if preferred.

Since kohlrabi and beets are full of water, I retain their juices and adjust the flours accordingly to get the dough into shape-able consistency.

These kohlrabi kofta balls make a good substitute for meatballs as they are fairly sturdy can can soak up the sauce without falling apart easily. So I throw them in marinara sauce and serve them with spaghetti sometimes. The cooked Kofta balls can be cooled a bit and then stored in the freezer. I've usually used the frozen koftas within a week.

When the ingredients list looks long and some of the items therein seem non-mainstream in some recipes, rather than walk away from the dish or possibly reject it for future attempts, I try to make an educated guess about substitutions and follow the recipe in spirit and see what turns up. Not that this is a complicated recipe or anything...


Ingredients

For the Kohlrabi Kofta Balls:
1 cup finely grated kohlrabi
½ cup finely grated beets
2 Tablespoon finely grated red onions
2 Tablespoon tomato paste
2 Tablespoon cumin powder
2 Tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon celery seeds
⅓ cup fine oat bran⅓ cup rice flour
½ cup chickpea flour
salt to taste
2 tablespoons sunflower or avocado oil for the dough
plus oil for spraying or drizzling before baking

For the Creamy Yogurt Sauce:
½ cup plain thick Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon Tahini
½ teaspoon caraway seeds, toasted and crushed
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon dry dill weed
1 to 2 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
salt to taste

For Garnish:
baby English hothouse cucumbers, sliced
sweet cherry or grape tomatoes halved
small red radish, sliced
cilantro, chopped
spring onions and chives finely chopped


Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 420°F
2. Kohlrabi Kofta: Combine all the ingredients to form a dough that can be shaped into balls 
3. Arrange the 1.5 inch diameter balls in a roasting pan, drizzle or spray some oil
4. Bake in the 420°F oven for about 25 to 35 minutes till cooked through; turn the balls halfway through to brown all sides
5. Creamy Yogurt Sauce: Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender and whip to a smooth creamy consistency
6. Serve the Kohlrabi Beet Koftas with Creamy Yogurt Sauce topped with cucumbers, tomatoes, radish, cilantro, and spring onions

Home Garden Eggplant, Kale, Chard, Mint Rice with Lemon Cucumber Cherry Raita

Summer has been rather hot around here, and I haven't been cooking anything new or interesting. Just the same trusted comfort foods. And a lot of salads. Home garden lettuce and kale have come in handy for the salad base so far.

Ichiban eggplant, kale, chard, mint and chilies from the garden came together for this simple Indian rice dish flavored with mild spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, plus star anise, cardamom and cloves, along with some crushed ginger and garlic.

Typically, raita is a cooling yogurt accompaniment served with spicy dishes in India. This time, I went with lemon cucumbers from my garden (pictured in the right bottom corner of the collage above), plus some mint and cherries, as well as colorful mini peppers and red onions.