Leftover Calzone Filling and Sprout Sandwich

I had some calzone filling leftover, so i just added some cut tomatoes to it, and spread it over bread and added some alfalfa sprouts(my most fav. sprouts) and had a great sandwich.

The bread is homemade, it is called Whole Wheat Flax Seed Bread.

It was delicious!

Eggplant, Shallot and Zucchini Calzone

I got this book called Vegetarian (Over 300 healthy and wholesome recipies from around the world) edited by nicola graimes. Bought it barnes and noble. I am going to try all these and post some recipies if it comes out good, atleast once a week.

I made this Calzone last week. It came out pretty good.
You need
For the crust
2/3 cup Warm Water
1/4 tsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
2 Cups of flour
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tblsp Olive Oil
For the Filling
3 baby eggplants, cubed
3 Shallots, chopped
1 small Zucchini Cubed
1 Garlic Clove chopped
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper
2 Tsp Fresh thyme
3 oz Mozzeralla Cheese cubed
Salt
Freshly ground Black pepper
Method
To make the crust.
--->If you have a bread machine, put the items needed for the flour in the pan and set the machine at dough setting. If you dont have a bread machine, follow the steps below.
--->To make the dough, in the water, add the yeast and sugar let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes until frothy.
--->Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
---> Gradually pour the eyast mixture and add 1 tablespoon of oil to this. Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, until smooth. The dough shuld be springy and elastic.


--->Once the dough is made let it sit for an hour and half to rise.
To make the filling.
---> Heat the oil in a pan, and the chopped shallots and fry till it softens.
--->Add the eggplant, garlic, zucchini, crushed red pepper, thyme and salt and pepper.
--->Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently, untill eggplant begins to soften.
--->Divide the dough in half (I divided it in four since i felt it was too big) and roll it in to a 7 inch piece round.
--->Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
--->Spread the eggplant mixture on it and sprinkle witht he mozzarella cheese.
--->Dampen the edge with water and fold over the other half to enclose the filling
--->Seal firmly with the end of a spoon.
--->Brush the top and bottom with oil
---> Line a baking pan with foil and place the two calzones on them
--->Make a hole on top of the calzones to let the steam escape.
--->Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden.
--->After you take it out, brush with remaining oil and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (I skipped this part, since kids were too hungry.

The other calzone came out perfectly since I had sealed the edges very nicely, the one in the picture was not sealed, hence some cheese came out!



My daughter gave a 6 on 10 for this, not bad for the first time........
Also the original recipe was with sundried tomatoes. I replaced it with zucchini, since my son is not a fan of tomatoes.

Update! on my hand!

Update on my hand ---

It still hurts if I press it against something but the swelling / or the inflammation has gone down. I am seeing a hand specialist next month to figure the problem...

Watch out for some new posts!!

This post was typed entirely by my left hand!!

Seriously! So excuse the wrong or missing capitalization and punctuation marks!

abOUT 2 WEEks ago I had some pain on my right hand, just under the little finger, could not straighten it out or curl it completely.
i learnt something valuable - Never underestimate the power of your little finger!!

I dont know if i injured myself or what happened to it, but kept going thru life with the pain, until it got worse last weekend, when it was swollen and puffy and i would wince or cry if anyone accidentaly knocked me or touched my hand!
Right from brushing my teeth in the morning to flossing at night, the little finger plays an all important role in your life.

I finally went to a doc on monday, he could'nt find a fracture, and i told him i was having up to 6 advils a day and i reluctantly let him touch the hand, and i couldnt stop the tears when he was trying to diagnose what i had. He has referred me to a hand specialist and in the meanwhile prescribed a painkiller which is the grandma or great grandma of advil.
I have to say, it is doing an excellent job of it. The pain has gone down considerably, as well as the swelling.

I was trying to browse the net if i can find any info on what this is and i found this blog
http://aabharaveendran.blogspot.com/
Although she has not updated it for the past two years, it is the same exact thing that i have right now.

I am looking forward to using my right hand once again. and hopefully it will be alls well that ends well. I miss my right hand :(

Bittergourd Dry Curry with Yellow Split Peas (Pavakkai and Kadala Paruppu Curry)

This kind of bittergourd curry is usually made in weddings.

You need

Bittergourd (medium size) - 6 to 7(seeded and sliced)

Channa dal - 1/2 cup washed (yellow split chick peas)

Tamarind water - small tamarind ball soaked in 1 and 1/2 cup of water

Coconut- 2 tablespoons

Green Chillies- 2

Oil - 1/2 teaspoon

Mustard seeds - 1 teaspoon

Salt - 1 teaspoon

Turmeric powder - 1 teaspoon

Curry leaves - 1 strand to garnish

--- Wash and cut the bittergourd lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds, and slice them

--- In a vessel, add the tamarind water, channa dal, bittergourd pieces, salt and turmeric powder, and cover and bring to a small boil over a low to medium flame

---Keep stirring this to make sure there is enough water to cook it, it it is not enough add little more water.

---Once the bittergourd and channa dal is cooked (you will know this by pressing the bittergourd and channa dal with a fork and it should easily cut in two or mash) drain the excess water (use this water in sambar or rasam or kootu)

---Grind the coconut and green chili together

---In a pan add the oil, add the mustard seeds, once it sputters add the bittergourd and channa dal and then add the coconut and greenchilipaste to this and mix well and let it be onn stove for 5 minutes on a low flame

---serve hot with rice

this goes well with sambar or rasam or yogurt.

Ideas and Tips

As the name says this post is for all the ideas and tips. I will update it as when I come across things.

Shortcut to making Sevai
I know a lot of people use instant rice noodles to make sevai, Smitha, my friends daughter had this idea. She said that she goes to a Vietnamese restaurant (the ones with PHO in the name) and asks for the rice noodles alone, and bring it home and make south indian sevai to eat! The only downside is that it is very oily it seems but it tastes great. So this is another option to using rice noodles..

Minestrone Soup

I made this for a party, so this recipe feeds atleast 15 adults. It filled a 5 quart slow cooker completely and then half filled a 2 quart Sauce pan.

I dont like using canned beans in any of my recipes, so I always soak them ahead of time.

If you dont have the time or forget to do that, you may use the canned beans.

This soups also freezes well, you can make it and store in freezer bags and use them when you want later. When you want to eat, thaw it out for 4 hours and bring to a boil again.

You need

Red Kidney Beans - 2 Cups (Soaked for 8 to 10 hours)

Cannelini Beans (White Kidney Beans) - 1 cup (Soaked for 8 to 10 hours)

You can soak the beans together

Elbow Macaroni - 4 to 5 cups (cooked according to package instructions)

Onions- 2 big white ones -sliced

Tomatoes - 1 32 oz canned peeeled tomatoes (pureed)+ 3 big fresh tomatoes pureed

Green Italian Squash - 3 - Cut in cubes

Yellow Italian Squash - 3 - Cut in cubes

Carrots - 4 - cut in cubes

Broccoli - 1 small head (Cut in small flower like pieces)

Half Cauliflower - Cut in small flower like pieces

Beans- 2 handfuls (cut in 1/2 inch pieces so it can fit on a spoon)

Garlic - 1 - chopped

Crushed Red pepper- 3 to 4 tablespoons

Italian seasoning - 3 tablespoons

Olive oil - 5 tablespoons

Salt - to taste

Cranberry juice (or dark grape juice) - 1 cup

--- In a pressure cooker cook the beans, (Cover the beans with water and add some salt to it)

--- Cook the macaroni according to package instructions (remember to add salt to it)

--- In a big pan, (low medium flame)add the oil and wait till it gets hot, then add the chopped garlic

--- After the sliced onions and saute them lightly, then add the veggies one by one except the tomatoes

--- After all the veggies are sauteed lightly, add the tomato puree and the crushed red pepper and italian seasoning and salt and bring to a boil

---Once the beans are cooked, add this to the soup without draining the water

---Add the cooked macaroni to the soup

--- the soup consistency should be of a thick tomato soup, so add some water if necessary

---In the end add the juice to the soup

--- Taste the soup to see if it needs more salt

I started making this at 6.45pm and was done by 7.15pm including cuttting the vegetables and the pressure cooker time, so it is very easy to make. The soup was on a low flame till 7.45pm and then I transferred to a crock pot and took it for the party.

You can make this ahead of time and transfer it to a slow cooker, and keep on low heat, as time goes by the flavor gets better and better!

Lauki Masoor (Bottle Gourd and Red Lentils)

When I was growing up, My mom never cooked this vegetable, and I never knew this existed.

After I came here, (when I was learning how to cook) I got all the veggies I could get my hands on and started Cooking. Once when my mother was visiting us, we were in the market and I picked two of these and put them in the cart, and My mom asked me, why did you buy THAT vegetable, and I casually answered that I make kootu with this and it tastes pretty good.

Then she explained that she never used to buy that since my grandpa had always said that if you at that vegetable it is equal to eating meat! So she never ate the vegetable at all. But she was very happy that I cooked it since it has a lot of nutrients!!!!


Also I have to admit somehting, I always cooked it with the seeds and I happened to see Poojas Blog about the Lauki roundup, and almost everyone;'s instructions were to remove the seeds!since I never saw anyone cook it I did not know this, so With the seeds this was not one of my fav dishes. So yesterday I made it after removing the seeds1 I have to tell you it is one my favorite foods list, I loved it.



What you need
1/2 cup - Whole Masoor - washed and soaked for 5 to 10 minutes in water
1 large Lauki - Cut in cubes after removing the seeds :)
1 and 1/2 inch - ginger- chopped
1 medium onion - chopped
2 Green Chillies - Chopped
5 cloves garlic - chopped
1 big tomatoe - chopped
1/2 teaspoon - Turmeric Powder
2 Teaspoons - Salt
1 Teaspoon - Oil
1 Teaspoon- Jeera
1 teaspoon - Kitchen King Masala
1/2 Teaspoon - Chili Powder




--- In a pressure cooker, Add the Cut lauki pieces to the Masoor and make sure it is covered in water, add turmeric powder and salt, and give it atleast 3 to 4 whistles
--- In a Kadai, add oil and jeera to it, and after it roasts a bit, add the chopped onion, gaarlic, ginger and fry till it gets light brown, and then add the chopped tomatoes, and fry till it becomes thick.
--- Add some water to this mixture and make a thick gravy, add the Kitchen king masala and chili powder to it and bring to a slow boil
---By this time, the stuff in the pressure cooker will be ready, add this to the gravy and add more salt if necessary..


I did not have any fresh coriander to garnish, but this tasted Awesome with hot rotis.
My kids had it with hot rice and ghee.
You can call it an ALMOST one pot meal, since it has protiens also!

Keerai Masiyal (Simple Mashed Spinach)

You can use fresh or frozen spinach for this.

2 lbs Frozen Spinach or 2 bunches Fresh Spinach
1 and 1/2 Spoons Cumin
1 and 1/2 Spoons Urad Dal
2 or 3 Dry red Chili
1/2 teaspoon Black pepper
2 teaspoons oil
2 teaspoons grated coconut
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 and 1/2 spoons salt (more or less)


---> If using Fresh Spinach, Cut the ends and wash 3 times.
---> In a big pan, place the drianed spinach leaves or if using frozen place them directly with just a 1/4 cup of water on a medium low fire and cover the pan.
---> Keep stirring the spinach to make sure it is not getting burnt.
---> Using a hand blender, blend the spinach well
---> In a different pan, add a teaspoon of oil, and add the Urad Dal, Red Chillies, Jeera and Black pepper and roast till you smell the cumin and the pepper and the dal becomes slighlty rose in color
---> Add coconut to the roasted ingredients, and make a fine powder with a regular mixer or a coffee grinder
---> Add this to the Spinach and mix well
---> As a last step, add a teaspoon of oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds and let it sputter, add this to the spinach, garnish with curry leaves and serve.

When you are done, this should have a consistency of Idli Dough.
This goes well with Rice and Rasam!