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Its been quite a while since my last post! Well, after a fun-filled Summer and Fall at home with my family, I’m now busy working in the clouds 
I’m back to work and it’s so much fun as I get to taste a little bit of San Francisco everyday! Even if it is for a few minutes, I try to step out for lunch and explore the foodie hot spots in downtown area. There are such amazing places to eat around my office building and then my favorite place in the foodie city, the Ferry Building, is just a hop, skip and a jump away  . On balmy SF afternoons, I get out and join in the hustle-bustle of the farmers’ market or go strolling inside the building, getting inspirations and relishing the flavors of the marketplace.
Life’s certainly busier than ever before and I just haven’t had time to write about my signature concoctions lately. But, that doesn’t mean I have stopped cooking and clicking! When I’m done with work, I look forward to coming home and getting me some “cooking therapy” . I guess it’s my passion for cooking that makes it such a relaxing and therapeutic activity for me to do at the end of the day. And it also gives me a great sense of satisfaction to have fed my family with fresh, home-cooked food everyday.
In the last few weeks, I have been making my go-to jhatpat subzis or some weeknight quickies, primarily staying in my comfort zone. And then there were the other days when my creative juices were overflowing and I made concoctions like pasta with shrimp, grape tomatoes and baby spinach in a light wine sauce, a hearty pasta dish with fresh, clean flavors or spicy lentils with steamed brown basmati rice, a traditional Maharashtrian dish packed with proteins and carbohydrates that will leave you feeling re-energized at the end of the day and finally, baked masala fish packets, a full and delicious meal that’s done in a little pouch, making the clean up easier that ever.
These dishes are a great way to treat yourself after long hours at work – weeknight wonders that are ready in minutes and completely satisfying! Try making one of these and enjoy the therapeutic experience of cooking.
Read on … »
Being in the Bay Area, San Francisco city is now just a few minutes away from me. This foodie city has a happening culinary scene hiding underneath the fog
From the hustle-bustle of the farmer’s markets in the different parts of the city, street food festivals to the trendy restaurants, I’m on an expedition, tasting the flavors of San Fran. The cuisine here seems to be a blend of Asian, Latin American and European cultures. Ingredients for almost any type of cuisine can be found locally and the Bay Area provides fine, fresh ingredients from fruits, vegetables and herbs to meats, cheeses and wines, not to forget the supply of seafood from the Pacific Ocean.
In the last couple of months, I have been exploring different parts of SF. I felt like a kid in a candy store at the Ferry Building and could go back again and again for the most amazing “Early Girl” pizza slice I had at the Arizmendi Bakery. I think these and many more such foodie places are the true essence of San Francisco.
From my unique finds at the Ferry building and also at the award-winning bakery, I’ve created a couple of simple, flavorful dishes. Try them out and enjoy a little bit of San Francisco in your own home!
Read on … »
This year, I had a “Spring fling” with asparagus
As Spring started to bloom in the grocery stores, I couldn’t keep my hands off those beautiful green-purple, neatly stacked bunches of asparagus. As an asparagus lover, I think, it’s flavor peaks during the months of April and May. This year, I kicked off the ”asparagus season” in my kitchen with Easter breakfast, when I used it as soldiers to dip in the soft-boiled eggs. From then on, I have been using it in my cooking here and there; trying to make the most of it while the season lasts!
Nothing says Spring quite like asparagus. With its lush green color and delicate grassy taste, asparagus is the essence of my Spring concoctions!
Spring Minestrone
(Spring Vegetable Soup)
A simple vegetarian soup that makes the most of Spring veggies - a delightful green Spring Minestrone! This light but hearty soup is a great combination of textures and flavors with pasta, asparagus, green beans and peas in a delicate broth. What really gives this soup a nice flavor, is some basil pesto. It’s usually drizzled on top as a garnish but I like to add it while sautéing the vegetables for the soup, just the way I use hirva masala for my fish curry. This way, I think, the pesto flavor is completely assimilated by the soup, in the vegetables and the broth.
Served hot or at room temperature, every spoon of this soup is a sip of Spring!
Serves 2 meals or 4 first courses
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
a bunch (3-4 stems) spring onions or scallions, sliced
10-12 asparagus stems, diagonally chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ cup fresh or frozen peas, thawed
6-8 green beans, diagonally chopped into 1-inch pieces
¼ cup Basil Pesto
4 cups (32 oz./945 ml/1qt box) vegetable stock or low-sodium chicken stock
½ cup (a handful) short shape pasta (like mini shells, elbow, ditalini, fiori). *Cut the carbs - use ½ (15 oz/425g) can cannellini, garbanzo or butter beans
salt
fresh ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese, shaved or grated, for garnishing
Heat olive oil in a pot over medium – high and sauté garlic and spring onions till they become transluscent, for 1-2 mins. Stir in the pesto along with the asparagus, peas along with the green beans and cook for about 4-5 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Pour in the vegetable stock and bring to a gentle boil. Add the pasta or beans (if using), reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 8-10 mins so that the pasta cooks and the flavours can come together. You don’t want to let it boil hard.
Ladle in a bowl and serve with some Parmesan shavings and freshly ground black pepper.
Pasta with Asparagus & Peas in Lemon Cream Sauce
Here’s a delicious pasta dish that’s ready in minutes! It uses few ingredients that compliment each other, giving you a wonderfully balanced combination of flavors. A rather usual, cream sauce gets a facelift when combined with lemon juice and is a perfect base for whole-wheat pasta, which generally needs a slightly stronger flavoring to match to it’s distinct robust taste.
An excellent combination of warm comforting food and fresh Spring vegetables, this pasta dish is now my favorite quick-fix lunch or dinner!
Serves 2
2 handfuls (about 2 cups) whole wheat pasta such as penne, rigatoni, fusilli
10-12 asparagus stems, diagonally chopped into 1-inch pieces
½ cup fresh or frozen peas, thawed
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 garlic clove, minced
1-2 spring onions or scallions, diced
1 lemon, zested and juiced (zest for garnishing)
1 cup light cream or half ‘n’ half
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese, grated
flat leaf parsley, chopped, for garnishing
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add a generous quantity of salt to the boiling water and throw in the pasta. Cook until al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), stirring occasionally, about 10 mins. Add asparagus during last minute of cooking time. Place frozen peas in a colander. Drain pasta-asparagus mixture over peas, so that they will thaw from the steam and set aside till ready to add to the sauce, while reserving the water in which it was cooked.
Heat olive oil in a large, nonstick skillet or frying pan over medium – high and sauté garlic and spring onions till they become transluscent, for 2-3 mins. Add the juice from the lemon and continue to sauté for another min. Add the cream and season with salt and pepper. Add the Parmesan cheese and stir constantly until the sauce thickens.
Return the cooked pasta, asparagus and thawed peas to the pan. Stir gently until the pasta and the vegetables are warmed through and get evenly coated witht the sauce.
Garnish with fresh chopped parsley, Parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Serve immediately.
Asparagus Prosciutto Wraps
I like the salty-meaty taste of prosciutto and have been wanting to try this recipe by Rachel Ray that I saw it on the television on one of her shows.
It’s a simple and easy way to dress up the asparagus and turn it into a fancy looking appetizer or snack. The saltiness of the prosiutto is just enough and the lemon adds another “spring-time” dimension to the overall flavor.
Asparagus & Zucchini Crudi
And lastly, another recipe from my favorite Foodnetwork star. This elegant salad looked very good on television and tasted out of the world in reality. The fresh and clean flavors of the dish tasted like Spring in every bite!
Friday, March 20th, was “officially” the first day of Spring ’09 and we woke up to a dusting of fresh snow! And one last time (my husband hopes!), we saw fat snowflakes clinging to the still, leafless branches of trees and frosting the bushes and shrubs white. “A not-so-warm welcome to spring!”, I thought to myself as I filled my cup of coffee and went back to the window. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful sight, first thing in the morning!
 
As I took the first sip of my coffee and turned my computer on, I was glad I didn’t have to commute in the morning and had the luxury of working from home. But most signs of snow were gone by mid-morning and within a couple of hours it had started to warm up a little, melting the snow away. Soon the sun came back up in the sky, reminding us that spring is just around the corner!
Since I was at home all day and it was still a little cold out there, a hearty bowl of soup that needed very little effort and not much time, sounded like a perfect idea for lunch. Well, the “soup season” is not over yet! So here’s another one, to make the most of the season while it lasts….
Escarole with Cannelini Beans, Pasta and Asiago Cheese
Ah, Escarole and White Bean Soup! I had been wanting to try this soup recipe after seeing my favorite star chef make it on Foodnetwork and I also had all the ingredients on the list readily available from a pasta dish that I made for dinner a couple of days back.
So I pulled a pot out of the cabinet and started sautéing some onions and garlic. Then I chopped up some escarole and threw it in along with the cannellini beans and poured in the chicken stock. To add more weight to the soup I decided to stir in little pasta elbows and grated Asiago cheese. Half an hour later look what I got!
Escarole adds a nice green touch to this delicious soup. The pasta and Asiago cheese are a hearty addition to this wonderful slew of nutritious veggies and white beans. After one bowl of this rich soup for lunch, I was ready log off from work and take the rest of the day off!
Serves 2 meals or 4 first courses
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small onion, diced
½ bunch of escarole, roughly chopped
1 (15 oz/425g) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
4 cups (32 oz./945 ml/1qt box) vegetable stock or low-sodium chicken
½ cup (a handful) short shape pasta (like elbow, ditalini, fiori)
¼ cup grated aged Asiago cheese
salt
fresh ground black pepper
Parmesan cheese for garnish
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium – high and sauté garlic and onions till they are fragrant and become transluscent, for 2-3 mins. Add the escarole and sauté until wilted, about 2 mins. Stir in the beans and season with salt and pepper.
Continue sautéing for 1-2 mins more. Pour in the stock and bring it to a boil. Add the pasta and continue boiling uncovered for 10-11 mins till the pasta cooks (See the packet of pasta for cooking duration).
Turn the heat down and simmer for 10-15 mins.
Ladle the soup into bowls. Grate Parmesan cheese over each and serve hot with bread sticks.
I miss those days when we went out on dates all the time
Dinners at datesy restaurants, cocktail nights at upscale lounges, crazy clubbing and bar hopping, romantic weekend getaways; we did it all! We went out a lot before we had the baby. Life’s changed now and we spend a lot of time at home, with our little girl. Going out on dates is certainly a bit of a challenge now, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a date nights anymore. When the baby’s off to bed, it’s a date night at home!
Here’s a simple but stunning menu that sets the mood right!
A Wine Just-for-Two
Moscato D’Oro from the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley CA, is a fresh, floral and beautifully balanced white wine with a crisp, clean finish and a bit of spritz. Lightly sweet and refreshing as a tropical breeze, lush with honeysuckle aromas and sweet-citrusy flavors, this wine is great for sipping after dinner as a dessert wine or for casual drinking in any season.
With its seductive fruity-floral character and perfect serving for two, this wine is a perfect way to start or end your date night!
Go over to A Meal without Wine for more wine tasting notes.
Grilled Shrimp with Pasta in Alfredo Sauce
There’s something special about shrimp! My date night dinner was indeed a special one and there had to be shrimp on the menu.
I didn’t want to order take-out or spend too much time in the kitchen making dinner. So, to keep it quick and simple yet elegant, I decided to grill some garlic-herb marinated shrimp and serve them along side of pasta tossed in a quick alfredo sauce and crispy garlic toasts. The shrimp absorb all the flavors of the garlic and herbs and are wonderfully succulent when grilled to perfection. The crunchy garlic toasts and the creamy alfredo pasta add a neutral flavor and a different combination of textures. They are a great accompaniment, but certainly don’t steal the show away from the shrimp!
This main dish has three different components, but trust me – it’ll all come together in no time. Be sure to read and understand the steps below thoroughly, if you decide to give it a shot. If you gather the ingredients and stick to my method, you should be done with all the three components within 30 mins (40 tops!). This is kitchen multi-tasking at its best!
Serves 2
Garlic -Herb Shrimp
10-12 large shrimp (size: 31-40 count), peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsbp (about 1/2 spring) rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tbsp (about 1 sprig) oregano leaves, finely chopped
½ lemon, zested and juiced
salt
freshly ground black pepper
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
wooden/bamboo skewers (optional for easy grilling)
Pasta
½ lb pasta (rotini, penne, bowtie, etc)
water
salt
Alfredo Sauce
1 cup light (or heavy) cream
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted light (or regular) butter, softened (I used Smart Balance)
1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Parmesan cheese)
Freshly ground black pepper
Chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, for garnish
Garlic Toasts
1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4-6 (1-inch thick) slices French baguette
salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves
Combine the garlic and herbs along with the lemon zest and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the olive oil. Mix well and let the shrimp marinate in this mixture for about a half hour till you prepare the toasts, pasta and alfredo sauce.
Preheat the oven to 400 deg F for making the garlic toasts.
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat.
Till the water comes to a boil, cut the baguette into 1 inch slices and peel garlic. Arrange the bread on an aluminium foil lined baking sheet. Drizzle the olive oil over the bread slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set them aside.
Add a generous quantity of salt to the boling water and throw in the pasta. Cook until al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), stirring occasionally, about 10 mins.
While the pasta cooks, prepare the sauce. Heat the cream over low-medium heat in a deep sauté pan. Add butter and whisk gently to melt. Sprinkle in cheese and stir to incorporate. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta water. Add the pasta to the saute pan, gently toss it to coat in the alfredo. Continue simmering on very low heat.
While the alfredo sauce thickens, preheat the grill pan to medium-high. Remove the shrimp from the marinade and skewer 5 per stick and place the shrimp on the grill pan. Grill on each side until they turn pink, about 4-5 mins, basting with the remaining marinade as they cook.
As soon as you place the shrimp on the grill pan, pop the baking sheet with the bread slices into the oven. You will then be free to turn the shrimp and gently toss the pasta again while the bread bakes for about 5-6 mins and becomes crisp and golden. Remove from the oven and immediately rub the garlic cloves over the hot toasts.
Transfer pasta to a warm serving bowl. Top with more grated cheese and chopped parsley. Season with more freshly ground black pepper.
Plate the shrimp skewers, pasta and a couple of toasts together and serve warm.
Vanilla Custard with Raspberry Coulis
A date night dinner should end on a romantic note, right? Here’s a perfect dessert that marries the two individuals that were destined to be together- a creamy vanilla custard and ravishing red raspberries.
It’s a simple vanilla custard made by baking milk and eggs together, just like a traditional flan! I love the flan, but I wanted to get creative with the topping (or should I say “bottom”) and make something else instead of the usual caramel. Mmmm, how about a light raspberry sauce?!
Raspberries give this dessert a sexy twist! The deep red raspberry sauce forms a pool of “love” in which the custard sits and soaks. The soft ‘n’silky custard melts in your mouth followed by the raspberries that explode as you bite them leaving a sweet-tart lingering taste behind.
Try my lovely dessert and feel the “love” on your date night!
Makes about 4 ramekins
Vanilla Custard
¼ cup sugar (or more to suit your taste)
1 cup whole/reduced fat or low fat milk
¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 eggs
Light Raspberry Sauce
a handful of fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tbsp water
½ tsp sugar (or more to suit your taste)
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
In the meantime, add the vanilla extract to the milk in a saucepan and bring it to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside.
While the milk cools, whisk together the eggs and the sugar in a bowl till the sugar seems to have dissolved completely. Then add about half of the hot milk into the egg-sugar mixture and continue to whisk. Finally whisk the remaining hot milk into the egg mixture.
Pour the milk-eggs-sugar mixture into ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven until dry and set in the center, 60 to 65 minutes.
Remove from the water bath and let cool. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, or refrigerate until ready to serve, up to 24 hours.
Just before serving make the raspberry sauce. In a small pan or saucepan, dissolve the sugar in water, then add raspberries. Simmer for about 3 min then stop the heat and let the raspberries cool down in the syrup.
Top it with the raspberries sauce and some fresh raspberries. Garnish with fresh mint leaves.
This summer, as the markets started filling up with all the wonderful veggies, fruits and herbs, I brought home for the very first time a pot (yes! they actually sell the herbs directly in the pots these days, it’s taking “freshness” to the next level, I must say) of leafy, aromatic, vibrant green Basil.
I have seen Giada De Laurentis on TV, going crazy for this one particular herb. She uses it practically in all of her recipes, savory and sweet too! I have had basil in several concoctions before, but never really handled it myself. Talking of basil, what’s the first thing that jumps right at you? For me, it’s the good ol’ pesto! Naturally, that was my first experiment with it.
I followed the renowned chef’s recipe step-by-step.
“
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup (about) extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
In a blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until finely chopped. With the blender still running, gradually add enough oil to form a smooth and thick consistency. Transfer the pesto to a medium bowl and stir in 1/2 cup of cheese. Season the pesto with more salt and pepper, to taste.
”
The result was an intensely aromatic and very flavorful chutney-like concoction! I decided to play around with it……
Italian Chutney Sandwich
Yes, that’s what I made first with the pesto, which looked and felt just like our very own desi coriander-coconut chutney. Smothered with generous amounts of pesto and stuffed with grilled chicken and crunchy grilled vegetables, this hearty sandwich is now a lunchtime favorite!
Serves 2
4 individual ciabatta/olive rolls or 1 large loaf of ciabatta
basil pesto
2 portobello mushrooms
1 zucchini, cut at diagonals into 1/2 cm slices
1 small Japanese eggplant or 1/2 regular medium eggplant, cut at diagonals into 1/2 cm slices
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2-3 tbsp EVOO (Rachel Ray’s abbreviation for Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
salt
fresh ground black pepper
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drizzle the oil and sprinkle salt & pepper over the chicken breasts, eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms. One after another, grill the chicken breasts, eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms until they are tender and grill marks appear. Cool completely.
Slice the ciabatta bread in half and spread both sides with pesto. On the bottom slice, stack the grilled veggies and chicken breast pieces. Sprinkle some more fresh ground black pepper and place the top half of the ciabatta.
Alternatively, you can use any of your other favorite vegies, fresh mozeralla cheese slices, prosciutto slices, etc. and have your sandwich your way. Don’t forget the key ingredient, Pesto!
Primavera Pizza
In summer, the vegetables are definitely more flavorful than the rest of the year. With all the fresh vegetables that are suddenly available, you see a lot of “primavera” around you in restaurants, cafes, etc. Pasta Primavera is the most common dish made by tossing all the vegetables with pasta. But another dish that is equally popular is the Primavera Pizza. Smothered with the pesto as a base sauce, loaded with summer veggies, topped with oooey gooey cheese and a little meat factor (the hubby has to have it in every meal!), every slice is a triangle of paradise!
Serves 2
15oz. store-bought whole wheat pizza dough
basil pesto
1 portobello mushrooms
1 zucchini, cut at diagonals into 1/2 cm slices
1 small Japanese eggplant or 1/2 regular medium eggplant, cut at diagonals into 1/2 cm slices
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 small red onion, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
2 jarred roasted red peppers
2-3 tbsp EVOO (Rachel Ray’s abbreviation for Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 cup (1/2 packet) Sargento Reduced Fat Mozeralla shredded cheese
Grill the chicken and vegetables as in the above recipe and cut into thin, long slices.
Preheat oven to 425 deg F.
Roll out the pizza dough on a lightly floured surface to about 1/2-inch thick and transfer it to a pizza or baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread the pesto, top it with the chicken, onion and green pepper on one half of the pizza and roeasted vegetables on the other half and finally sprinkle the cheese.
 
Bake on the bottom rack for about 18 – 20 minutes till the cheese is melted and the crust is golden brown.
Take it out of the oven and season with black pepper. Cut it into slices and serve hot with some ice cold beer.
*Recommended Heineken Premium Light beer
Pesto, Pasta & Peas
Pasta dinners are the quickest and the easiest and pesto makes a perfect no-cooking sauce. I toss hot cooked fetuccini in the pesto and throw in some green peas. The peas look like little beads entagled in the fetuccini ribbons, drenched in the pesto sauce. This elegant pasta dish is not only a treat for your eyes but also for your tastebuds!
Serves 2
1/2 pound (i.e. 1/2 packet) of fetuccini ( or other types like rotini, bow ties, fusilli etc that allow the pesto to get in and coat well)
1/4 cup frozen green peas, defrosted
3-4 tbsp basil pesto
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender but still firm to the bite), stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1/4 cup of the pasta water to add to the pasta later, if needed.
In a mixing bowl, add the hot pasta and the peas to the pesto and toss well to coat evenly. Add the required quantity of reserved liquid for desired moisture level. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and season with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Serve warm with garlic bread or on a side of vegetables, meat or fish.
Summer Vegetables Au Pistou
So, what else did I do with the pesto, still holding it’s wholesome goodness and sitting in the refrigerator for over 2 weeks? Eureka! I had some zucchini, and red pepper also hanging in the refrigerator along with the pesto. I just sautéed the vegetables in the pesto and look what I got?!
Serves 2
1 zucchini, cut into quarter slices
1/2 red pepper, cut into thin strips
2-3 tbsp basil pesto
salt
freshly ground black pepper
In a small frying pan or skillet on medium heat, warm the pesto and add the vegetables. Sauté for 3-4 minutes and season with some salt and pepper. Serve hot as a side dish with pasta, meats or fish or make an elegant bruschetta topping!
You may add other vegetables like asparagus, green beans, summer squash or yellow onions. Chicken tenderloins or shrimps would definitely kick it up a notch!
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