Linguine in wild mushroom sauce

Dried wild mushrooms have become a staple in my pantry these days. With a hectic schedule and a desire to eat as many home cooked meals as possible, there is a need to revise the grocery list every now and then to come up with innovative ideas that are in stock and save time while entertaining! Dried food happens to be one of such items.

Ingredients:
1 cup of dried while mushroom
2 1/2 cups of hot water

1/2 packet of Linguine pasta
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tbsp flour
2 cloves of garlic
Crushed red pepper to taste
Black Pepper powder to taste
Dried oregano to taste
3 tsp cream(optional)
Salt to taste
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Pre-prepration:
Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for at least 30 minutes before making the pasta.

Method:
1. Start cooking the pasta based on the instructions on the packet.
2. Drain the soaking mushrooms and reserve the liquid for later use.
3. In a skillet start heating olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, garlic, oregano and salt on a medium-low flame.
4. Once the oil is heated(not to the smoking point) put the flour and cook it for 1-2 minutes into a smooth paste.
5. Add mushroom stock to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
6. Add cream and drained mushrooms to the sauce and simmer for another minute or two on low flame.
7. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and mix.
8. Mix half of the Parmesan in the pasta.

Garnish with remaining Parmesan and serve hot!

Rice with Shrimps and Arugula sauce

I know this sounds like a crazy combination but trust me - it works.
Rice, shrimps and arugula - a combination that is surprisingly delicious and very easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 cup cooked rice
10-15 shrimps
Chopped parsley to garnish


Arugula sauce:
3 cup arugula
1/4 cup roasted nut mixture(walnuts, almonds and cashews)
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese
1 medium size lemon juice
1 medium size lemon zest
1/4 cup olive oil
1 avocado
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. To make the sauce add all the sauce ingredients to the food processor and grind to a coarse paste.
2. In a pan cook the shrimps in olive oil.
3. In a serving platter add shrimps to the rice. Add a couple of table spoons of the sauce and reserve the remaining sauce in the fridge in an airtight container.
4. Mix and garnish with some parsley and grated cheese.

The reserved sauce can be used to dress pasta, cooked meat and veggies and also as a spread on toast for breakfast. It is a multipurpose sauce after all!! :)

Chick pea chat salad

This is one of my to-go salad when it comes to entertaining with Indian food.
This is a great way to incorporate classic Indian flavors and make it look pretty.

Ingredients:
1 medium size red onion
2 tomatoes
1 can of chick peas/garbanzo beans
1 tsbp of mint
2 thai chillies
1 tbsp of fresh coriander/cilantro
1 lime
2 tsp chat masala
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp sugar
1 head of Belgian Endive
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Finely chop tomatoes, onions, chillies, coriander and mint and mix that with garbanzo beans(drained and washed).
2. Add 1 lime juice, sugar, cumin powder, chat masala, salt and pepper and mix well.
3. Let it sit for 20-30 minutes so that the beans soften and soak up all the flavors.
4. Serve on individual endive leaves as shown above for personal salad bites.

Sunshine Salad

This is one of my favorite summer salads.
Mango is a seasonal fruit that is at it's best during summer and this salad highlights the same.

Ingredients:
3 leaves of Romain washed - cut in bite size pieces
4 medium size radishes - cut in quarters
2 medium size ripe mangoes - cut in 1 inch cubes
1/2 cup parsley leaves - roughly chop so that the leaves still retain their shape
1 medium size cucumber - cut in 1 inch cubes
Grated Pecorino-romano for garnish

Dressing:
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. In a bowl layer romain, parsley, cucumber, mango and radish in that order.
2. Lightly mix the dressing, don't over mix that will take away the lightness of salad, and pour over the salad.
3. Garnish with some grated cheese(the salty bite from Pecorino adds to the flavor and is my choice of cheese).

Grilled veggie salad

This salad can be made with any vegetables of your choice.
I just used two of them that I think paired very well together.

Ingredients:
2 ripe tomatoes on vine
1 medium size zucchini 
1 small lemon
Grated Pecorino-romano for garnish
Chopped parsley for garnish
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. Cut tomatoes and zucchini in 1/2 inch circles. 
2. Put some non-stick spray on a grill pan.
3. Grill the veggies on both side for 4 minutes(until you see the grill marks on them).
4. Season the veggies in pan with some salt and pepper.
5. Arrange the tomatoes at the bottom of the plate and then zucchini on the top.
6. Squeeze some lemon juice over the veggies.
7. Garnish with grated Pecorino-romano and chopped parsley.

Roasted fingerling potatoes with yogurt sauce

Ingredients:

8-10 medium size fingerling potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp English prime rub spice mix
1 tbsp chilly powder
2 tbsp yogurt
chopped coriander for garnish

Method:

1. Cut the fingerling potatoes in half length-wise.
2. Mix potatoes with oil, spice mix and chilly powder.
3. Bake the potatoes in a pre-heated oven at 400 F for 35 minutes.

Yogurt sauce:
1. Remove the potatoes from the baking dish and put the yogurt in the baking dish. Mix with coriander, remaining oil and spices left in the dish.
2. Scope this sauce over the roasted potatoes and serve with chicken curry.

Enjoy! :)

Curry chicken with mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast cut in small 1" pieces

2 green chilly

2 cloves of garlic

1" piece of ginger

2 tsp red chilly powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder

1 tsp roasted clove powder

2 tsp roasted cumin powder
1 medium onion(cut into julians)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp of peanut oil

salt to taste

Method:

1. Make a paste of chillies, garlic and ginger.
2. Heat the oil in a pan. Once the oil is warm, put in the ginger-garlic-chillies paste and saute for about half a minute.

3. Add the onions and saute for 2 minutes.
4. Now add chicken, salt, red chilly powder, cumin powder, clove powder and turmeric and mix well.
Cover chicken and cook for 10 minutes.
5. After 10 minutes, remove the lid, mix the mushrooms and stir the chicken. Again cover and cook for 10-15 minutes till the chicken is cooked.
6. Finally garnish with some chopped coriander. 

All the cooking to be done on medium flame.

You can serve this with roasted fingerling potatoes with yogurt sauce(check out my next recipe).

Enjoy! :)