Baked Spaghetti Squash

Not a top favorite among the winter squashes, Spaghetti squash gets its turn in my kitchen a few times during fall/winter months.

Brush with olive oil, sprinkle some salt and pepper, maybe a touch of paprika, and bake in a 375 °F oven for about an hour.

Once baked and ready, however, the strings of spaghetti squash are handy for making other dishes, like this Spaghetti Squash Thai Curry/Soup.

Bisi Bela Huli Millet

"Bisi bela huli anna" translates to "hot lentils tamarind rice" in Kannada, a typical vegetarian dish that is out of this world when done right. Instead of the "anna" which is the rice part, this dish is made with millet.

This may not be the conventional method of preparation here, but, this is what I like to do: Simply add the chopped veggies, lentils, millet, tamarind paste, spices, salt to taste, in a pressure cooker, with enough water to cook it through. When cooked and ready, add some fresh tempering and garnish, and serve hot, with a generous dripping of ghee.

Most of the time, I use my home-made Sambar powder for the spice mix and flavoring, but this time I went with store-bought mix of spice powders that are easier to find at the local grocery stories.

Ingredients
Pressure cooker:
3 cups assorted chopped veggies: eggplant, onions, squash, peppers, broccoli stems, carrots (optional: peas)
½ cup Tuvar dal (split pigeon peas)
1.5 cups pearl millet
2 Tablespoons tamarind concentrate (I use Vietnamese Sour Soup Mix)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
2 teaspoon Madras curry powder
2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon red hot chili powder (optional)
salt to taste
enough water to immerse the contents and build up pressure - about 5 cups

Garnish: ghee-roasted cashews

Tempering:
¼ tsp urad dal
¼ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp mustard seeds
3 or 4 curry leaves
1 tsp vegetable oil

Preparation:

1. Pressure cook: Combine the ingredients for the pressure cooker and cook till done; the cooked dish will be mushy with a porridge-like consistency
2. Tempering: Heat oil in a small pan, add urad dal and allow it to turn a mild golden brown, add the mustard seeds and let them pop; cover with a perforated lid if preferred as the mustard seeds will spatter all over when they pop; add the fresh curry leaves, remove from heat and add to the bisi bela huli millet from the pressure cooker
3. Garnish: Heat some ghee in a small pan and roast some unsalted raw cashews till golden brown, toss in Curry leaves if available

Caribbean Squash Coconut Cumin Koottu

There are days when I barely make it home from work - not just the traffic, but the killing headache and associated nausea makes it all the more challenging to get home safely. Focused on deep breathing during the commute, all I can think of is getting home, hugging an ice pack and curling up on the sofa...

And on such days, just to make it fun for the kids, they get cereal or waffles or pancake puffs or something topsy-turvy for dinner - something that Papa can easily handle after his longer day at work.

I saw this West Indies/Caribbean Squash at the local market - it didn't have a specific name, so, not sure what it is called... Its taste and flesh reminded me of large sections of Matthanga, which along with Elavan made the delicious Olan, the best version, of course, being my mom's. I've always had a soft spot for Matthanga, it has a delicate sweet flavor, with a pumpkin-like soft texture when cooked.

Anyway, other than the fact that cutting and cleaning the squash is a pain, this is a simple dish that comes together quickly.

Garnish with cilantro and serve warm with naan, paratha or brown basmati rice.

Ingredients
3 cups of diced squash
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
cilantro for garnish

for the coconut paste:
¼ cup grated coconut
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
2 or 3 dry red chilies

Tempering:
½ teaspoon split urad dal
¼teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon coconut oil
6 to 8 curry leaves, if handy

Preparation

1. Heat the oil in a pan, add the turmeric powder and the squash, some salt and water, cover and cook till squash is soft but not mushy, drain any excess water
2. Meanwhile, grind the coconut paste ingredients together
3. Stir in the coconut paste and the brown sugar, adjust salt to taste
4. Tempering: heat the oil, add urad dal, when it turns golden brown add the mustard seeds; when mustard seeds pop, add curry leaves if using, turn off heat and pour over the squash curry

Wheat Berries, Brown Lentils, Golden Beets, Squash Salad

One part wheat berries to 3 parts stock in a rice cooker is my preferred way of cooking wheat berries. The crunchy chewy texture from cooking in the rice cooker is perfect for this salad.

Roasted winter squashes, turnip, rutabaga, golden beets, sweet potatoes are all wonderful additions. Cooked brown lentils bring some more texture and protein. Toss with favorite vinaigrette and serve warm or cold.

Winged Beans and Acorn Squash with Coconut and Curry Leaves

The title says it all. The winged beans craze is still strong at home. Paired with acorn squash it was a welcome warm salad/side on a stormy weekend afternoon.

It is made in typical south Indian style with tempering and curry leaves and grated coconut. Salt, tamarind, and chilli powder for flavoring.

I cooked the acorn squash and winged beans separately in the microwave so they are firm yet fully cooked, not mushy.

Roasted Acorn Squash, Jewel Yams, Brussel Sprouts with Kasha

Now that the cold weather is taking over, the cobwebs are cleared out of the oven, and the broken safety thermostat is fixed. Quite a bit of baking and roasting has been going on-- casseroles, roasted vegetables, dampers and rolls and breads of all sorts.

One stormy afternoon, it felt like a roast vegetables kind of day. The jewel yams and acorn squash bought in a fit of Autumn frenzy were waiting to be cooked.

Brussel Sprouts seems to be the new Mac-n-cheese for the older child who used to snarf the said Mac-n-cheese by the potful not too long ago.

In they all went, with some olive oil, diced red onions, and whatever herbs and spices I could find. And, out came this aromatic, sizzling, delicious plate of goodness.

Kasha was cooked with some broth in the rice cooker while the vegetables were roasting.

Pan-roasted Kabocha Squash

After the cow-train ride, and seeing Lucy llama, Victor goat and Lenny & Squiggy ducks, and climbing the hay pyramid, and checking out the pumpkins, the only thing left to do was get the farm fresh produce and head home.

And we did.

The Kabocha squash we got was a good size, and I couldn't use it all up for the Orzo in Creamy Kabocha Squash Sauce.

This Pan-roasted Kabocha Squash is very simple, really. But, just wanted to record the recipe anyway as it is quite tasty as a snack or appetizer, by itself.

Simply peel and cut into wedges, toss with oil and spices, and pan-roast (in a grill pan if available) over medium high heat till done. I left mine unattended for a bit as the wee one needed some TLC right away and so some of them got a bit more crispy-dark skin (read: charred) than I intended :)

Now, the spices listed here are usually handy in my spice rack, but, feel free to use whatever is handy - flavor is easily adjustable. Even though it seems like a long list of spices, with some of them having a tendency to overpower, the end result was quite interesting for me. (And yes, I didn't plan on adding all the spices, I just added a little of this and a little of that till it felt right).

If preferred, roast in a 400°F oven, in a single layer till desired doneness.

As a short-cut to cooking time, I microwaved the kabocha squash wedges till part-done and then pan-rosted.

Ingredients
20-24 wedges of peeled, cored Kabocha squash (more if preferred)
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 Tbsp smoked paprika powder
½ tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp nutmeg powder
1 tsp dry sage
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbsp dry basil
1 Tbsp dry marjoram
salt to taste

Preparation

1. Par-cook the kabocha squash wedges in microwave
2. Drain and pat-dry and combine all the rest of the ingredients, toss well, arrange in single layer and roast in a grill pan, or just any pan; flip and roast both sides
3. Alternately, roast in a 400°F oven till fully done
4. Serve warm as a side, or even an appetizer. (I used the leftovers as a side for my favorite pepper rasam and rice meal for lunch the next day)

Orzo in Creamy Kabocha Squash Sauce

The fresh harvest, the nippy weather, the pageantry of trees... it must be Autumn!

This Orzo in Creamy Kabocha Squash Sauce captures the mood of Autumn for me, for Autumn is not Autumn unless I indulge in the gourds and squashes and pumpkins.

Orzo is pasta, shaped like rice, only slightly bigger. Kabocha squash soup is a favorite fall meal at home. I wanted to add some body, pump it up a bit for the kids. This almost feels like pumpkin risotto in texture, very creamy, thick and wholesome.

Cook orzo per package directions. I take the short cut - I usually start it in the rice cooker in the morning, before I leave for work. So, when I get home, I just need to make the sauce and finish the dish.

Now, after a bit of trial and error, I have managed to cook macaroni, rotini, penne even spaghetti in rice cooker, al dente, with proper amount of water. This way, I am not waiting for pasta to get cooked in the tight weeknights when all I have energy for is to throw together something simple yet sumptuous for the kids.

Kabocha, a Japanese winter squash is chockful of nutrients - beta carotene, with iron, vitamin C, potassium - rich in fiber, low in fat... all the good stuff.

Ingredients
3-4 cups of peeled, diced kabocha squash
1 small yellow onion, diced
4-6 garlic cloves, crushed
salt to taste
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 cups water or vegetable stock
1 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half

Spices for flavoring:
1 Tbsp dry basil
1 Tbsp dry marjoram
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry sage
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp turmeric powder

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions, garlic, spices and sauté a bit; then add the kabocha squash, water/stock, cover and allow to simmer
2. When squash is cooked through, either mash with potato-masher or purée in a food processor, return to pan, add the cooked orzo and allow to simmer together
3. Stir in the evaporated milk, heavy cream or half-and-half, off heat
4. Garnish with chopped spring onions, fresh basil if handy and Serve warm

Pumpkin Risotto

I have been making my usual favorites like rasam, wholewheat pasta, injera, dosai, idlee and such but nothing new and exciting as Baby and I are just recovering from some sort of viral influenza thing... So, I casually started sifting through some old photos that I might have missed posting and found this pumpkin risotto one.

Risotto is a versatile rice dish open to variations - almost any combination of vegetables would work. This here is not quite the pumpkin risotto - Asian sweet potatoes and acorn squash stood in for pumpkin in this recipe.

Unless I use seafood/poultry explicitly (we don't care for red meat), my usual recipes are primarily vegetarian, and many of them actually turn out to be vegan. In that sense this pumpkin risotto can be classified as vegan, I guess...

For a non-vegan version, add some grated parmesan or pecorino-romano cheese, if preferred.

Ingredients
2 cups arboreo rice
6 cups vegetable stock (low sodium)
1 medium onion diced
4-5 garlic cloves crushed, minced or sliced
1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger
1 medium acorn (or butternut) squash, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 medium Asian sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
salt to taste
1 Tbsp olive oil

spices/herbs:
2 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (reserve some for garnish)
2 Tbsp ground black pepper or cayenne pepper powder
1 Tbsp paprika powder
1 tsp nutmeg powder

Preparation

1. heat oil in a pan, add the onion, garlic and ginger, sauté till onions turn translucent
2. add the squash and sweet potato chunks, rice, stock, some salt, cook over medium heat till all water is absorbed, stirring occasionally
3. i like the creamy consistency - not too thick, sort of like porridge - so, i smash some of the squash and sweet potatoes into the rice to give it some body
4. adjust salt to taste, stir in the spices and herbs

rotini with squash, rosemary and chives

There's rosemary, that's for remembrance.
-- Shakespeare's Hamlet to Ophelia

I came across Green Blog Project at Ahaar today and wanted to write about two little perennials we have in our garden: Rosemary & Chives.

This pasta recipe came about as a result of trying to find Various Ways To Use Up Squash From Last Year, that we grew in our garden.


Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a perennial evergreen shrub, having pine-needle like leaves, and a strong aroma, which is an effective memory stimulant.

Some medicinal uses, sourced from garden guides:

• Rosemary helps to relax muscles, including the smooth muscles of the digestive tract and uterus - and can be used to soothe digestive upsets and relieve menstrual cramps. When used in large amounts it can have the opposite effect, causing irritation of the intestines and cramps.
• A tea made form the leaves is also taken as a tonic for calming nerves and used as an antiseptic: use one teaspoon of crushed dried leaves in a cup of boiling water and steep for ten minutes.
• Use an infusion as a rinse to lighten blond hair, and to condition and tone all hair. Try mixing an infusion half and half with shampoo to strengthen hair.
• An infusion can also be used as an invigorating toner and astringent. Rosemary added to a bath strengthens and refreshes, especially when used following an illness.

Chives (Allium schoenoprasum) belong to the onions, leeks, garlic family. Chives are hardy, draught tolerant, perennials, eight to twenty inches tall, and they grow in clumps from underground bulbs.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives
2 cups cooked rotini pasta (or, any other favorite pasta)
salt to taste
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 cloves of garlic crushed
¼ cup grated cheddar
¼ cup grated mozarella
¼ cup grated parmesan
steamed broccoli florets, squash, peppers, yellow tomato (or red)- as much veggies as preferred

Preparation

heat oil in a pan, sauté the garlic and the cooked vegetables; add the chopped herbs (reserving some for garnish), adjust salt to taste; off heat, stir in the cheese

transfer to a casserole or baking dish and bake in a 350°F oven for about 10-12 minutes

Garnish with fresh chopped rosemary & chives, serve warm.

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.

annatto ghee roasted vegetables

Roasted vegetables are a treat. And, pan-roasted vegetables are quick and easy to throw together on a week night. With just a touch of flavored annatto-garlic ghee, these roasted vegetables come to life...

We had a good yield from our garden last year. Some of the hubbard, crookneck and butternut squash we harvested have been resting in the cool basement, aging gracefully. I wanted to use them up soon, so, I've been incorporating squash in my recipes lately. Perhaps over the next few weeks, I can share some of them here.

The varieties we harvested from our garden cook up in no time - just throw the chunks in a hot pan, cover and let the steam soften them - takes just a few minutes, usually.

This roasted vegetables recipe here is the first in the series I hope to do on Various Ways To Use Up The Squash From Last Year :-)

Ingredients
6-8 new baby potatoes, cut in half
3-4 cups of cut squash, cut into fairly big chunks
1-2 bell peppers (green, or red, or yellow)
10-12 asparagus spears (optional)
2-4 cloves of garlic, peeled, sliced
coriander for garnish
salt to taste
2 Tbsp annatto-garlic ghee

Preparation

par-cook the potato halves and asparagus in microwave or boiling water, drain, set aside

heat 1 Tbsp annatto-garlic ghee in a pan, add the garlic, bell peppers, a pinch of salt and sauté till pepper softens a little; remove from pan and drain

add another Tbsp annatto-garlic ghee in the same pan, add the squash, sauté a bit, cover and let the squash soften a bit; then, throw in the potatoes and asparagus, some salt to taste, adjust the heat, and pan-roast the vegetables till desired brownness, stirring as needed; toss in the garlic and peppers sautéed earlier

Serve warm with chicken breast, or, toss in with pasta, or serve with some hot basmati rice. I enjoy it as-is - a meal by itself.

stuffed acorn squash

Stuffed vegetables are a wonderful healthy meal. They are fairly quick to put together on a weeknight with some preparation done ahead.

The wild rice stuffing for this can be made ahead of time and refrigerated for about 2-3 days.

Acorn squash seem perfect for stuffing as they are small, have a fairly thin skin, with a mild sweet flesh. And, when baked, the skin gets a slight crispness which makes it delicious. But, sweet bell pepper, or even eggplant are good candidates for stuffing:-)

Procedure is fairly simple: cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds and fibers, par-cook in microwave or boiling water, scoop out some pulp and mix it in with the stuffing, then, stuff the squash halves, and bake in the oven.

Ingredients
2 small "ripe" yet firm acorn squash, cut in half, seeds and fiber removed
½ cup grated cheddar
2 Tbsp oil

for the stuffing:
2 cups cooked wild rice
½ cup of dried cranberries, raisins, walnuts, cashew (combined)
½ medium onion diced finely
1 jalapeño chopped finely
2 garlic cloves crushed or minced
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp all-spice powder
¼ tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp brown sugar
salt to taste

Preparation

par-cook the clean squash halves in microwave or boiling water till the flesh is just fork-tender but not mushy (takes just a few minutes)

scoop some of the pulp from each squash half carefully, leaving a thin layer of flesh in the squash

heat 1 Tbsp oil in a pan and toast the dried cranberries, raisins and nuts, remove from pan, drain, set aside

add another Tbsp oil in the same pan, sauté the onions, garlic and jalapeño; then add the squash pulp scooped out earlier, the cooked wild rice, nutmeg, all-spice, brown sugar, coriander powder, some salt, and stir well; then add the toasted dried cranberries, raisins and nuts, stir till well-incorporated, keep handy for stuffing the acorn squash

pre-heat the oven to 350°F, and keep a baking dish handy

stuff the acorn squash halves with the wild rice stuffing, arrange them in the baking dish and bake for about 5-8 minutes, then, top each acorn squash half with the grated cheese and finish cooking till the cheese melts

Serve warm. Each half can be eaten completely - skin, stuffing, flesh and all!

kabocha squash soup

Next to Butternut squash, Kabocha is my favorite. It is sweet and has a wonderful buttery texture when cooked.

For soups, the easiest way for me is to cook the squash whole in a pressure cooker. Then, peel it, cut it into chunks and cook it in a broth with flavors. Finally, puree it before serving.

Ingredients
1 medium kabocha squash
1 medium onion, diced fine
1 medium celery stalk, chopped fine
1 carrot diced
3 green chilies (jalapenos or serranos work well to balance the sweetness)
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
4 cups vegetable stock (low-salt)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp brown sugar (optional)
½ cup applesauce (optional)
½ cup sour cream (optional)
1 Tbsp canola oil
for garnish:
2 Tbsp chives, rosemary, young cilantro, chopped fine
flavoring/spices:
2 Tbsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp Tabasco sauce
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp black pepper powder (adjust to taste)
1 tsp turmeric powder

Preparation:

1. pressure cook the kabocha squash whole; peel skin, remove the inside pulp, cut into small chunks
2. alternately, cut it into chunks, skin it, clean the insides, and cook it in a pot with some water till it is soft
3. heat oil in a pan, sauté the onions with a pinch of salt and some brown sugar till it carmelizes; add ginger, garlic, chilies, celery, carrots and sauté a bit
4. add the squash chunks to the pan, all the flavoring/spices, applesauce (if using) and the vegetable stock; bring it to a boil, cover partially and simmer till all the vegetables get very soft and mushy; add water as needed to keep the veggies simmering in liquid
5. off heat, allow it to cool a bit and then puree it in a blender or food processor or one of those hand-held immersion blenders till it is smooth (i like to leave some chunks just for texture); adjust salt to taste
6. before serving, reheat if needed, stir in sour cream if using, garnish with chopped fresh herbs and serve warm

Butternut squash poduthuval

Butternut squash is a favorite winter squash - its texture and mild sweetness makes it quite versatile. It takes well to spices, but is also wonderful with a mild flavoring of coconut+green cilies, which is what I do here.

This is a simple side which can be served with rotis or rice and rasam or sambar.

This is a quick and easy recipe that is pretty much the same as my young green jackfruit recipe. Can substitute Pumpkins for Butternut Squash.

Ingredients
4-5 cups peeled diced butternut squash
1/2 cup dry grated coconut
3-4 green chilies (adjust depending on variety of chili)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or canola oil)
water as needed

tempering:
1 tsp urad dal
1 tsp chana dal
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds

Preparation

1. grind the grated coconut and green chilies into a fine powdery paste and set aside
2. heat oil in a pan, add the tempering: chana dal first, when it starts to turn golden add the urad dal and when they turn brown add the mustard seeds and then the cumin seeds
3. when mustard seeds splutter and die down, add the diced butternut squash, some salt, the coconut-chili paste and stir well till it is coated with oil and tempering
4. add a few tablespoons of water, cover and let the squash cook a bit till it is soft but not mushy; stir once in a while
5. off heat garnish with cilantro or curry leaves, if available
6. serve warm with roti or steamed basmati rice
   

Olan

Olan is a dish from Kerala state in India. As I don't get the 'elavan' and 'mathan' which are the primary vegetables, I substitute with Opo Squash for elavan and either butternut or acorn squash for matthan and the taste is sort of close and pretty good.



I find that opo squash (aka bottle gourd) and foo gwa are readily available in most asian stores pretty much year round; and we have a bunch of butternut and blue hubbard and sweetmeat squashes growing in our backyard this year which is sort of handy for this dish.

Basically, I look for a neutral flavored whitish squash/gourd and a sweetish yellow colored squash for this dish.

Ingredients
2 cups peeled, cored, diced opo squash (can substitute ash gourd)
2 cups peeled, cored, diced butternut squash (or, use acorn/danish squash)
2 cups chopped snake beans - cut into 1" long pieces
5-6 green chilies, slit lengthwise (less if you don't want the heat)
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup whole milk
salt to taste
water as needed, for steaming veggies

Preparation

1. heat 1 Tbsp coconut oil in a pan
2. add the snake beans and a couple of tablespoons of water, cover and let it cook till partially done (snake beans take longer to cook than opo and butternut squashes)
3. add the diced opo and butternut squash, 1 tsp salt, turmeric, coconut milk; cover and cook till squash is tender and cooked but not mushy
4. turn down the heat, add milk and slit green chilies, stir and simmer for a few minutes till well incorporated; adjust salt to taste
5. off heat stir in the rest of the coconut oil and serve warm with rice or chapathi