Cabbage, Grapes, Olives Salad in a Red Wine & Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

I had a bit of salad left over from yesterday - the lettuce was wilted, but the rest was fresh. So, I reused the kalamata olives, gherkins, and peppers; and added cabbage and black grapes to the mix. The vinaigrette is made of 1 part red wine vinegar, 2 parts extra virgin olive oil, sprigs of oregano, and a heaping of poppy seeds. I'd bought the poppy seeds ages ago and hadn't even opened the pack till today -  Had seen a salad dressing somewhere with poppy seeds added, so why not?!

Savory Indian Pancakes

Inspired by Andrea's Japanese savory vegetable pancakes, here's my Indianized version using leftover vegetables like corn, cabbage, and french beans. Sort of like an eggless omlette or frittata using maida (all purpose flour) as the base, peppered with tumeric and chilli powder.

5-Minute Veggie Stir Fry

An absolutely yummy and lightning quick stiry fry using hoisin sauce as the base, and an assortment of vegetables. Adding a few slices of pine apple just pushed the dish into one of my all-time favorites I have ever had.

5-Minute Stir Fry with Mushrooms, Peppers, Pineapple, Tomatoes, and Cabbage

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon ginger-garlic paste
• Approx 10-12 button mushrooms
• 1 green pepper
• 1/2 tomato
• 1/2 onion
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1/2 cup pineapple
• 1 teaspoon oil

To make:

• Chop your vegetables into fairly even chunks.
• In a pan, heat the oil and saute the onions for a minute.
• Add the hoisin sauce and ginger garlic paste and let it come to a boil (2 minutes).
• Add the remaining ingredients and coat them in the sauce.
• Turn off the gas after a minute and serve immediately.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Apple and Cabbage Salad

A delightfully tart apple and cabbage salad dressed with red wine vinegar and chives, and a sprinkling of black grapes with some leftover peppers.

Apple and Cabbage Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 tart apple (I used Granny Smith)
• 2 cups of shredded cabbage
• 1 cup black grapes
• 1/2 red and green peppers
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chives

To make:

• Chop your apple and cabbage. I soaked my apples in lime juice so that it doesn't go brown.
• Dress the cabbage with the red wine vinegar.
• Add to the apple, grapes and peppers.
• Finish off with a dash of finely chopped chives.

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Parathas

Between Bobby Chin's Punjab-special episode, and a live tandoor station at the back of my own building for some function I wasn't invited to, I just had to make some parathas, or Indian flat bread, for myself. These are generally made of spinach, cauliflower, potato, or paneer stuffed inside or mixed alongside the dough made of wheat. I made mine with wheat and soy flour, added sunflower seeds. I would have liked to have added some saffron too, but didn't have any handy. And finally, I used very little water - instead just used extra virgin olive oil and coconut milk to bind the dough. I'm usually very yucky about getting my hands dirty while kneading the dough, but soldiered on nonetheless.

I had the parathas with a green and red pepper relish I got a couple of weeks back from the farmers market.

I wish I had access to that tandoor oven at the back of my building. I later learnt it was 10 days since some old chap died and they were celebrating with tandoor-cooked breads and such.

Oil, water, and flour measurements are approximations only. I just kept adding them as needed.

Cabbage and Sunflower Seed Paratha

Servings: 4 parathas

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups wheat flour
• 0.5 cups defatted soy flour
• Approx 0.5 cups of olive oil
• 1 cup cabbage
• 1/2 an onion
• 1 green chilli
• 2 handfuls of sunflower seeds
• 2 tablespoons of coconut milk
• Lukewarn water, as needed
• Salt to taste

To make:
Chop your chilli, cabbage, and onion finely.

Mix the veggies with your flour with salt, olive oil and coconut milk.

Add the sunflower seeds and water, as needed, to form the dough. Keep kneading till the dough is not sticky  - when you lift it off the plate, it comes off clean. If its too sticky, add more flour. If its too dry, add more water.

Divide the dough into four pieces and roll them into a ball using your hands.

Dust some flour on your rolling board, and roll the dough ball into a thin round roti. Hopefully, more round than mine. :)

In a flat frying pan, add some olive oil. Remember you're not frying the paratha - the oil is just so the paratha doesn't stick to the pan. When the oil and pan are hot, gently place your paratha and let it cook for 3-5 minutes on each side.

Enjoy immediately with some pickle, or yoghurt.

Veg Biryani and Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Lately, I've been feeling a bit lazy to cook anything for myself and also feeling a bit stifled with having so few fresh ingredients to work with. I'm waiting for this sunday when I can buy a truckload from the farmer's market. So, last night, I just ordered a Vegetable Dum Biryani. It came with a yoghurt raita, which I chucked away. My brother's always amazed why someone would pay Rs. 120 for a vegetarian biryani, when for only Rs. 10 more you get the chicken version. Ten rupees - that's the worth of a chicken's life?!

And this morning, for breakfast, a cabbage, onion and tomato upma, along with my coffee-coconut milk concoction.

Cabbage, Onion, Tomato Upma

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup semolina or an upma premix
• 1 cup chopped cabbage
• 1 tomato
• 1 onion
• 1 cup of water
• Teaspoon of olive oil
• Half a lime
• Handful of coriander

To make:

• In a pan, gently dry roast the semolina/upma premix for a minute or two.
• Add water to the roasted semolina and cook for approximately 7-10 minutes.
• Once the semolina is cooked, add the chopped up vegetables and stir for 1-2 minutes.
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve immediately with lashings of lime juice.

Cabbage and Guava Salad

This salad brought me a nice wholesome lunch as well as a renewed belief in mankind. On my way to work, I hauled a rickshaw, asked if the driver would go to Andheri, after having said yes, I stupidly put my bag in the rickshaw and went off to get a pack of cigarettes. When I got back, the rickshaw was gone. I had my purse and cell with me, but my office ID and my lunch was gone. Great way to start the day when you're already running a bit late. Four hours later, I get a call from home saying my bag has been returned! The rickshaw driver drove on halfway before realizing I'd left some stuff in there, and drove all the way back to hand over my bag to the cigarette shop he saw me going into. Phew! I'm not leaving my bag again, thats for sure! But at least good to know not everyone is a crook...

Cabbage and Guava Salad

Ingredients

• About 2 cups of green cabbage
• 2 guavas
• 1 red pepper
• 2 teaspoons of dry chilli flakes
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• Handful of coriander
  
  
  
  

Strawberry, Lettuce, Pak Choi, and Pepper Salad

Continuing with my theme of adding fruits to salads, here's a salad with lettuce, pak choi, peppers, strawberries, and basil.

Strawberry, Lettuce, Pak Choi, and Pepper Salad

Ingredients

• 15 strawberries
• 2 cups of iceberg lettuce
• 1 green pepper
• 1 cup pak choi
• 3-5 leaves of basil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon dry chilli flakes

To make:

• Chop the veggies and the strawberries fairly even.
• Combine the veggies and strawberries.
• Tear up the basil leaves and add on top.
• Add the chilli flakes to the olive oil and dress the salad.

The Kidney Bean Salad

Kidney beans are a good source of cholestrol-lowering fiber, they're cheap, and are available all year round. You do have to wash them well, and then soak in water for at least 8-12 hours. But then the upside is that you dont need to cook them! They look soft to the touch after an overnight soak, but start to cook them and they will actually harden and take a hell of a time to be completely cooked. Why bother cooking at all?! They're perfectly edible raw.

The Kidney Bean Salad

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of kidney beans, presoaked overnight
• 1 cup carrots
• 2 cups green cabbage
• 2 cups green peppers
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 leaves of sage
• Handful of mint leaves
• Salt, per taste

To make:

Drain the kidney beans.

Chop your veggies fairly small.

Mix in with the kidney beans.

Add the salt, curry powder, lime juice, sage and mint leaves, along with the oil.

Let it marinate for an hour or so before eating.