Wilted Spinach with Carmelized Onions and Raisins

I loved reading Little Women and all the rest of the series, like a lot of people my heart was captured by Jo, the independent almost tomboyish sister. Jo had lovely hair, refered to as her one beauty in several places, I think like Jo, my one reedeeming eating habit is my love for greens. I love them year long.

These dish was a quick side dish that I had put together the othernight with a package of baby spinach. It really is a good idea to buy organic spinach, since the leaves taste significantly better and need less fuss in terms of cleaning.

Wilted Spinach with Caramelized Onions and Raisins

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
Cook Time: 20 -25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons fruity extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon grated ginger
1 medium sized red onion, halved and cut into thin slices
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup raisins (I like the green Persian variety)
3 cups (about 5 oz) baby spinach leaves
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and the ginger and cook for 20 seconds to let the ginger cook very lightly.
2. Add in the onion, sugar and the turmeric and turn the heat on low and cook the onion, stirring frequently for about 12- 15 minutes. The first 5-6 minutes do not need much attention as the onion softens and gently wilts. Gradually, the onion turns pale golden and then eventually it is nice fragrant and a healthy caramel color, as it starts darkening it is important to make sure that the onions do not burn or crisp unevenly.
3. Add in the raisins and cook for 30-40 seconds.
4. Gently stir in the leaves in thirds to let the leaves shrink just a little.
5. Stir in the salt and the walnuts and stir the leaves until they are just lightly wilted. Do not overcook the leaves or they will loose their vivid green color.
6. Stir in the walnuts and the red pepper and serve immediately.

Wilted Spinach with Caramelized Onions and Raisins

A comforting soup

Well, time flies when you are having fun? Actually time flies, whether you want it to or not. Friday was a lovely day, although cold enough for soup. Friday and Saturday are also days, that I try to cook something respectable (read beyond my simple array of lightly spiced stir fries). Well, usually for Anshul, soup qualifies as simple food. This soup while simple,

is also quite elegant. The subtle mix of spices brings out the richness of the base. If you have some good crusty bread around, you have a good meal in a pot. (ok pot and blender).

Potato Soup with Spinach and Ginger

Prep/Cook Time: 40 minutes

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients

3-4 tablespoons oil

2 leeks (whites and tender green parts)

1 teaspoon powdered cumin

1 inch piece of peeled, sliced ginger

3-4 medium, peeled and cubed russet potatoes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

6 cups water

1 teaspoon red chili powder

2 cups of finely chopped spinach

1 cup of half and half

Cilantro and black pepper to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and cook the leeks on very low heat for about 15 minutes, till the leeks are soft and lightly browned. Stir the leeks frequently, since they can burn easily.

2. Add the powder cumin, ginger, potatoes, salt, black pepper, red chili powder and water and cover and simmer the potatoes till soft and tender.

3. Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 minutes.

4. Cool slightly and puree the mixture in a blender with the half and half.

5. Return the soup to the fire and cook till heated through.

6. Serve in bowls, garnished with cilantro and black pepper.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach and vegetable medley with Shrimps

Eastern India where I grew up incorporates a variety of greens and vegetable medleys in the cooking. Actually, now that I think about it, there are several regional combinations of vegetables across India. These combinations other than providing a good way to balance out your vegetables are very economical and a great way to mix and match vegetables of the season.

This summer, my contribution to our garden project was to transport a tiny piece of my childhood to our backyard. I read in this wonderful blog, about how easy it was to grow this green.

Early in summer, when I had gotten a bunch of Malabar spinach from Jackson Heights, Queens I saved a stalk or two and kept these stalks in water.

Sure enough, it began to root and ten we placed it in our backyard and Pui or Malabar Spinach came to our backyard. The plant is a climber, therby actually needing very little room to grow.
Well, it looked so pretty, I really did not want to use it, but it is begining to get cold and the leaves are turning yellow, going through the usual rites of season change. I cooked this up as a chorchori - that as mentioned earlier is a bengali melange of vegetables. I added little shrimps to it. This is actually also a classic way of adding protein to balance out the meal.

Pui Chingri Chorchori - Malabar Spinach with mixed vegetables and shrimp

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons mustard oil

1 teaspoon panchphoron

3-4 dried red chillies

1 cup white daikon radish or red radish (cubed)

1 small potato cubed

1/3 medium cauliflower,

1 small eggplant cut into small pieces

1 inch piece ginger

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

2-3 cups chopped malabar spinach

1/2 cup green peas ( thawed)

1.5 teaspoon salt

1/2 quarter lbs shelled shrimp

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Method of Preparation

1. Heat all but 1 teaspoon of the oil and add in the panchphoron and cook till the spice crackles.

2. Add in the radish, potato, cauliflower and eggplant and mix well. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pot and cook for about 7-10 minutes

3. In the meantime, grind the ginger, fennel, cumin and coriander into a paste.

4. Remove the cover and stir well, the vegetables should be fairly soft at this point and have released some moisture.

5. Add in the spice paste, and the greens. Add the greens slowly, letting them wilt, you can add a little water if the mixture appears to dry, but you do not want this to get too wet. Add in 1 teaspoon of the salt and the peas and cover the mixture.

6. Smear the shrimp with the remaining oil, salt and the turmeric.

7. Place in the microwave and cook for 1 minutes.

8. Stir the green and vegetables well, the spinach should be nice and soft as should the eggplant.

9. Mix in the shrimp and the sugar and serve with rice and dal.

Messing with the tested and tried!!!

Rich and creamy palak paneer - pureed spinach, with cream and chunks of Indian paneer cheese is one of the few Indian dishes that my children love. Granted, I use chillies quite sparingly but my kids love this dish. Actually, so do students!

However, with all the spinach in the garden, over the summer, I wanted to simplify this dish a little more without loosing it's appeal for the kids. I added almonds and just a hint of cream (which actually can be dispensed) with. With some quick co-ordination, I had this dish done in 20 minutes.

Actually that really is where the standard lies, I think people are now getting a little jaded with the 30 minute rule. Nah! here I jest!!!

While a lot of the food I cook, is rather quick and simple I also am not really a believer of cutting corners for the sake of reaching a "quick cook" target. One cooks as needed, and until food is done. Anyhow, this still does not change the fact that my palak paneer was pretty much done in less than 30 minutes.

Tangy Palak Paneer - Spinach with almonds and paneer cheese

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

1/2 cup hot water

20 almonds

1 tablespoon oil

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/2 teapoon coriander powder

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

4 cups of chopped fresh spinach

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon red chili powder (optional)

3/4 cup of diced paneer (can be substituted with tofu)

2 tablespoon fresh heavy cream (optional)

1 lime - cut into small wedges

Cilantro to garnish

Method of Preparation

1. Place the almonds in the water and set aside for about 10 minutes. This step can be skipped if you use pre-blanched almonds.

2. Heat the oil and add in the cumin and coriander powders and cook for a few seconds. Add in the ginger and onion and saute for 2-3 minutes until the onion is tranluscent.

3. Add in the spinach and tomatoes and mix well. Turn the heat to low and cover the pot and let the spinach wilt. This process takes about 5 minutes.

4. In the meantime, peel the almonds.

5. Turn off the heat, you should have the spinach wilted, with some water released from both the spinach and the tomatoes. Stir in the salt and red chili powder and let the mixture cool just a little.

6. Place the spinach and the almonds into the blender and blend for 2-3 minutes until the spinach is very smooth.

7. Place this mixture back into the pot and stir in the paneer or tofu and cook through. Stir in the cream ( if using) and mix well.

8. Squeeze in half the lime and stir and garnish with cilantro.

9. Serve with rice or bread and enjoy!

Green Love

The summer project this year in our household is our little edible garden. This is the first time, we have invested a little tome to pay attention to the tiny little spot that we had at the back of our little backyard. It is interesting as with anything natural even though we planted everything together we are seeing the results in batches. We have lots of spinach, I personally love spinach so my husband planted tons of it. I think I need to think before I ask in future. At least 2-3 evenings I recieve two large colanders filled with bright green spinach, washed and picked through by the man. Earlier this week

I tried something different, with the spinach. I actually cooked this in a fairly thick sauce. I first made the sauce and then folded the spinach into the base. The results were interesting. The most pronounced flavor here is the fennel.

Spinach in a fennel tomato sauce

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 small red onion, cut into a coarse dice

1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

2 cloves of garlic, grated

1 large tomato cut into a dice
1 large stick cinnamon

2 green serrano chillies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups of washed fresh spinach leaves

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add in the fennel and cumin seeds and wait for them to sizzle.

2. Into this mixture add in the red onion, ginger, garlic and mix well. Cook on low heat for about 5 minutes until the onions are soft and just begining to turn golden.

3. Add in the tomato, cinnamon and the chillies and salt and cook this mixture for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. At this point, you sould have a fairly smooth gravy, with the onions soft and melted into the sauce.

4. Fold in the spinach leaves and cook for another 3-4 minutes, until the spinach is just cooked through.

This dish is as homey and comforting as the no frills picture. It tastes pretty good even at room temperature.

Flashworthy Alu Palak

A heavenly medley of tomatoes, potatoes and spinach.

Made this at a class, at the request of one of my students. It is one of my favorite recipes, it covers all the bases for a good weeknight recipe - it is healthy, it is comforting and pairs beautifully with most dishes actually makes a complete side since it works and both the vegetable and the carbohydrate.

What makes it practical is that I use a baby spinach mix - anything you find in the local store, Dole or Earthbound Farms usually works for me. These packages come tripple washed and all I need to do is through this into the cooking pot.

other variations, and tastes closer to a warm salad. Now, I told you we had this houseguest visiting us. He had been sitting on the table working on his laptop which was right oposite me cooking in the kitchen. I am so used to taking pictures while cooking, well, he suddenly sees the flash and the next thing I knew he was in the kitchen wanting to know what spice caused that effect...
I think I might have impacted this young scientist's thinking for life. Oh well, for what its worth he like the dish.


Alu Palak - Spinach, Tomatoes and potatoes

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 whole dried red chili crushed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 shallots chopped
1 potato peeled and cubed
2 tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 16-oz package of baby spinach
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp chopped cilantro

Method of Preparation

1. Heat the oil and add the mustard and cumin seeds and let them begin to sizzle and crackle together.
2. Add in the turmeric, salt, garlic and ginger and shallots and stir for about 2 minutes.
3. Add the potato and cook stirring occasionally till the potatoes are lightly browned and half cooked.
4. Add in the tomatoes and cook covered for about 5-7 minutes till the tomatoes are soft and pulpy and the potatoes are very soft.
5. Stir in the baby spinach leaves and cook for 2-3 minutes till the leaves are wilted and just cooked through.
6. Sprinkle the garam masala and cilantro and serve hot or at room temperature.

I am sending this over to Deepa for this months cooking with kids event, originally started by Sharmi .

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

In my house, getting the kids to eat healthy is a lesser challenge than being able to find something that works for everyone. Since the focus had always been substance over form, the kids pretty much eat most things, but have a very low spice tollerance. Simple dishes like this dal however are good options for both the little ones and the grown-ups too. Cooked in a jiffy in a pressure cooker, this dal is later tempered with panch phoron and then for us, tempered again with crushed red pepper. Served with plain rice either brown or white, this makes a lovely soothing meal on a busy cold day.

I have added some ground corn to this, the corn can be added whole but I felt that processing this in a food process with tomatoes and cilantro helped it blend better into the very smooth buttery texture of the dal.

Bhaja Moonger Dal - Roasted Moong Dal with Corn and Spinach

Serve 4-6 people

Ingredients

1/2 cup moong dal
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
1 tomato
1 piece (about 1/2 inch) peeled ginger
3/4 cup frozen or fresh chopped spinach
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ghee
1/2 tsp panch phoron
1 lime
2 -3 tbsp chopped cilantro
Optional tempering
1/2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

Method of Preparation

1. Roast the lentils in the base of a pressure cooker. This is done by placing the lentils on the dry pressure cooker and cooking them until lightly browned and fragrant.

2. In the meantime, place the corn, tomato and ginger in a food processor until almost a paste.

3 Place the corn, in the pot with the lentils, add 2 cups water, spinach, salt and turmeric and cook under pressure for 7 minutes.

4. Cook throughly and mix well.

5. Heat the ghee and add the panch phoron and cook till this crackles and pour over the dal.

6. Mix well, squeeze the lime juice and stir in the cilantro.

7. If using the optional tempering, roast the crushed red pepper in the oil and pour over the dal.

Dals are a perfect way to mix an assortment of vegetables into our diet. This particular entry being sent to Sharmi, for her cooking for kids event.

An Apple a day

I am not a particular fan of apples in general, but the granny smith is an exception. Its tart crisp texture gives it an amazing versatility.

Well I tried to find out a little more about it and discovered that they get their name from their original cultivator a Marie Ann Smith.

They do not brown as easily as other apples, hence they are great for salads, Like the one I am writing about.

Apple-Spinach Salad with red onions

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 granny smith apples peeled and sliced

1 tsp black salt

10 oz baby spinach leaves

2 eggs hard-boiled and sliced

1/2 cup wine-vinegar onions with some of soaking liquid

3 slices bacon cooked till crisp and crumbled (optional)

Method of preparation.

1. Mix the black salt with the apple and let this sit for 10 minutes.

2. Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

3. Eat with bread or alone.

This weeks WHB is being hosted by Sue and Coffee and Cornbread. Thanks for hosting!