Beet and Tomato Soup

My photograph doesn't begin to capture the unique elegance of this Beet and Tomato Soup, adapted from Madhur Jaffrey's World-of-the-East Vegetarian Cooking. Combining the typically strong flavors of beet and tomato results in a perfect balance of flavors and a surprisingly subtle soup that can only be tasted to be appreciated. This is an ideal soup to be served as a first course.

Beet and Tomato Soup

1/2 pound of fresh beets (approximately 3 medium beets)
1 teaspoon of butter or oil
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
4 whole cloves
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
3 medium-sized tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 cup of cream (optional)

Peel the beets and chop. Put the beets in a food processor or blender, along with 1 1/2 cups of water and blend for about a minute. Transfer the blended beets to a fine sieve and collect as much of the juice from the beets as possible.

Heat the oil in a medium-large pot over medium heat. When hot, add the cumin seeds, cloves and cinnamon. Stir for a few seconds and then put in the tomatoes. Stir for another 30 seconds or so and then add the beet juice, salt and black pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove the cloves and the cinnamon stick, stir in the cream and gently simmer on low for another few minutes. Serves 4.

Lemon Pasta

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my last post – you sure do know how to put a smile on a girl’s face!

There were two different holidays here in Sao Paulo and I didn’t go to work for 6 days in a row – how great is that? :)

I had a wonderful time at home, friends over for dinner, my sister spent a day with me (we played Super Mario Bros. a hundred times). I took care of my herbs and

Rice with Paneer and Peas

I've been terribly busy of late meaning I currently have less time to experiment in the kitchen but today I worked a shorter shift and took advantage of the extra time to explore my newly acquired copy of Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. As I am a huge fan of green peas and paneer cheese, I decided to make a slightly modified version of Ms. Jaffrey's Rice with Paneer and Peas. This easy to prepare dish would serve as a fine compliment to any Indian meal. I used pre-fried paneer cubes due to my present time constraints, but you can easily substitute fresh paneer. Simply cut the paneer into 1/2 - 1 inch cubes, fry it up ahead of time in oil and set aside until its time to add it to the rice.

Rice with Paneer and Peas

1 cup of basmati rice
1 cup of fried paneer cubes
3 tablespoons of ghee, or a mixture of butter and oil
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 large bay leaf
1 inch piece of cinnamon
3 whole black cardamom pods
2/3 cup of peas (fresh or defrosted frozen peas)
2 hot green chilies or jalapenos, cut into fine half rings
1 teaspoon of cumin seeds

Wash the rice well and drain. Soak the rice in five cups of water and leave to saok for at least 30 minutes. Drain and leave to dry for another 10 - 20 minutes or so.

Heat the oil in a medium sized heavy pot over medium heat. When it is hot, add the bay leaf, cinnamon, and cardamom. Stir for a few seconds, and then add the drained rice, peas, salt, green chilies and cumin seeds. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of water and bring to a boil Cover, turn the heat to very low and cook for 15 minutes, or until the water is mostly evaporated. Take off the lid and quickly put in the paneer. Cover, and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the rice sit, covered and undisturbed, for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf, cinnamon and cardamom and gently fluff with a fork. Serves 4.

Indian Mushroom and Scallion Scrambled Eggs

Here is another Indian scrambled egg breakfast that is much less piquant than the Punjabi-style scrambled eggs I made last week, but has the warm, earthy fragrance of fried mushrooms and scallions that makes it a nourishing, delicious and colourful plate on a cold autumn morning, wonderful with buttered toast and some fresh fruit. Like many of the simple dishes that I like to make, this recipe — called khumbi wala khichri unda — is taken with only minor modifications from Madhur Jaffrey's wonderful book World Vegetarian.

Indian mushroom and scallion scrambled eggs

3 tablespoons sesame oil
4 large white mushrooms, diced
1 small firm tomato, seeded and diced
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced, both green and white parts
8 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
fresh ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a large wok over high heat. As soon as it is hot, toss in the mushrooms and stir-fry for a few minutes until they appear silken. Add the tomato, jalapeño and the white parts of the scallions, turn the heat down to medium, and stir-fry for another few minutes until the tomato is softened.

With a fork, lightly beat the eggs together with the salt. Pour in the pan along with the green parts of the scallion and the cilantro. Stir the eggs gently with a wooden spoon for 10-15 minutes, depending on the intensity of the heat, until the eggs have been cooked into firm and fairly dry curds.

Serve hot right out of the pan and grind black pepper to taste over the servings. Serves 2-4.

My blog turns 1!

Today is this blog’s birthday and I’m glad for having had the time to prepare a cake to celebrate!It has been a great thing in my life to be able to share my passion for food with so many others who love cooking and baking like I do – and I want to thank you all for being constant inspiration and for supporting my blog. You really mean the world to me!Technicolor Kitchen cakewhite cake recipe

Five-Dal Spinach Soup

It was a gift of Yamuna Devi's Lord Krishna's Cuisine years ago that got me started on Indian cuisine, and it's still by far the finest Indian vegetarian cookbook I've ever come across. One of my favourite sections is her dal soups, which are always so simple to prepare, easily digestible, and exotically fragrant and delicious. This panch dal shorba made with five different dals and spinach is an especially lovely and nutritious soup for a light lunch or dinner served with rice and a green salad with a mango dressing. And despite the quantity of spices, this soup is more aromatic than hot — the piquancy of the cumin, chillies and cayenne linger pleasantly rather than painfully on the tongue, although the chillies and cayenne can be reduced slightly for sensitive palettes.

All of these dals are always available at Indian grocers, along with the pungent asafoetida powder that is essential to these aromatic Indian lentil soups.

Five-dal spinach soup

3 tablespoons split mung dal
3 tablespoons split urad dal
3 tablespoons split toor dal
3 tablespoons split green peas
3 tablespoons split chana dal
1 1/2 inch piece fresh ginger, shredded or minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 1/2 tablespoons ground coriander
3 tablespoons ghee or a mixture of butter and olive oil
4 ounces fresh baby spinach, or 6 ounces spinach or chard stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons whole cumin seeds
4-5 hot green chillies, or to taste, seeded and minced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
1/3 teaspoon asafoetida powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoons sea salt
small handful of fresh parsley or coriander, chopped

Rinse the dals well under cold running water in a fine strainer. Cover with hot water in a bowl and soak for 2-3 hours. Drain.

Combine the dals, ginger, turmeric, ground coriander, and 1 tablespoon of the ghee or butter and olive oil mixture with 7 cups of cold water in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to moderately low and cover, cooking gently until the dals are fully cooked and soft, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on the intensity of the heat.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and blend the dals with a hand-blender or wire whisk until the soup is creamy. Put the soup back on the stove, add the spinach and continue to cook gently for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining ghee or butter and olive oil mixture in a frying pan over moderately high heat. When hot, toss in the cumin seeds and chillies and fry until the seeds turn brown, 30 seconds to a minute. Stir in the cayenne, asafoetida and bay leaf, wait 15 seconds, then pour the fried spices into the soup. Swirl a few tablespoons of water in the emptied frying pan to gather the rest of the flavours and add to the soup as well. Sprinkle in the garam masala and cover for a few minutes to let the seasonings blend into the soup.

Just before serving, stir in the salt and chopped parsley or coriander. Serves 6 to 8.

Chickpeas and Bechamel Sauce

This is an especially good recipe to make if you are rushed for time. There is very little preparation to do, all of which can be done while the chickpeas are cooking. For a satisfying and balanced meal, serve over a bed of basmati rice. If you prefer, substitute mint for the dill.

Chickpeas and Bechamel Sauce

1 cup of dried chickpeas
1 - 2 tablespoons of oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of whole-wheat flour
1 heaping tablespoon of tahini
1 teaspoon of sea salt
1 3/4 cup of water or reserved cooking liquid from the chickpeas
4 - 5 mushrooms, roughly chopped (optional)
2 - 3 tablespoons of fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons of dried)

Soak the chickpeas overnight in enough water to cover the beans. Bring the beans to a boil, immediately reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until beans are buttery soft, about 1 - 2 hours. Drain, reserving the soaking liquid.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat until hot. Toss in the onions and saute until the onions begin to soften up, about 5 - 10 minutes. While the onion is cooking, combine the flour, tahini and salt with 1 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid or water. Once the onion is soft, add the liquid to the pot. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add the cooked chickpeas, mushrooms and dill and gently cook for another 5 minutes. Serves 4 - 6.