Pasta Primavera; Meatless Monday

Sometimes my children get bored of having rice for dinner on a daily basis and ask for something else.. While they are not much of a pasta fan, I think this particular time, they just felt like pasta and requested for pasta for dinner. I had a lonely pack of Rotelle pasta sitting in my pantry and decided to use it. I was going to make a basic white sauce, throw in some peas and carrots and call it a day. Coincidently, on the back of the pasta package I found the recipe for Rotelle Primavera. Usually I am wary about recipes on the box but this one was vegetarian and had green beans asparagus, green peas and bell peppers. When I looked in my freezer, I found that I had used up my peas and carrots but I had a handful of just peas. In my refrigerator I had fresh green beans and purple asparagus. I didn’t have any peppers on hand. I didn’t have half and half so I used whole milk instead, which also cuts the calories!  I decided to try the recipe. I am glad I did. It was quick and easy to make and the taste was delicious! The kids loved it and so did hubby!! I strongly recommend this wholesome pasta recipe, especially now that spring is here and there will be a plethora of fresh vegetables in the market. No, this post has not been sponsored by Ronzoni pasta!! 

Servings: 6-8

Prep time: 15 minsCook time: 15 minsTotal time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

8 ozRonzoni® Rotelle

1/2 lbfresh green beans, trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces 

1 lbasparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 Tbspbutter

1 Tbspolive oil

1 tspsalt

2 Tbspsall purpose flour

1 1/2 cupswhole milk or half and half. 

1 cupfrozen peas

1/3 cupgrated Parmesan cheese1 tsp 

 freshly ground black pepper

Method :

Prepare pasta according to package directions, adding green beans to pasta cooking water during last 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter with olive oil; add asparagus. Season with salt. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until vegetable are crisp-tender; reduce heat to medium. 

Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

 Add milk and peas. Cook, stirring frequently until mixture thickens slightly. 

Toss hot cooked pasta and green beans with sauce; serve with Parmesan cheese and freshly ground black pepper. 

Serve hot!

Enjoy!!

Cooking made easy: 

You can use other vegetables that you may have on hand such as broccoli, peas and carrot, cauliflower etc. 

Quinoa Lima Beans Pulao/ Pilaf

My favorite way to include quinoa in my diet is by making a salad of some kind or mix it with rice in a Pulao. I usually make quinoa-Black bean salad or make methi pulao. When Camellia sent me a bag of Lima beans, I decided to make Quinoa Pulao without any rice in it using a very simple and basic recipe that doesn’t require too many ingredients or take too much time and yet is simply delicious. The end result was more like a warm salad that is nutritious what with both the main ingredients being protein-rich and quinoa we know is a superfood! 

Do give this recipe a try. It is naturally gluten free, low fat and great for diabetics. 

Servings: 2

Ingredients :

Cooked Quinoa: 2 cups

Cooked Lima beans: 1 cup
Coconut oil: 1  tbsp
Onion: 1 medium, chopped lengthwise.

Bell pepper: one medium, diced
Black pepper powder: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1 tsp
Salt : to taste

Cilantro/ coriander leaves: 1 tbsp, chopped

Method: 

Heat oil in a kadai/ sauté pan. Add chopped  onions and 1/2 tsp salt. Sauté until the onions turn transparent. Add the chopped bell peppers and sauté for 2 minutes.
Now add the turmeric powder and the drained lima beans and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Add quinoa. Mix well and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until it all comes together.
Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro leaves.

Serve hot or at room temperature.

Enjoy!

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Lima Beans Platter, a Slow Food USA Initiative supported by Camellia Beans

When Camellia Beans reached out to the Meatless Monday Bloggers with their Slow Food USA initiative I was quick to volunteer. inspire individuals and communities to change the world through food that is good, clean and fair for all. initiative encouraging vegetarian meals, Camellia Beans is a family owned and farmed business that has been providing consumers with high quality beans since 1923. Beans is a great source of protein, iron and folic acid. When coupled with a carbohydrate such as rice or bread, it makes for a complete meal. Beans form an integral part of the Indian diet as majority of the Indians are vegetarians. There exists a plethora of recipes in the Indian Cuisine that makes use of beans in some form or the other and is beautifully complimented with particular vegetables. I chose to use Lima Beans to be showcased for this special day today as it happens to be my favorite beans. I have created 3 recipes using them, all of them gluten free, diary free, nut free: Lima Beans Rice, Lima Beans in a curry and Quinoa Lima Beans Pilaf, each one competing with the other in taste and ease of making it.

It’s time to come to the table to celebrate Food for Change! Join me in supporting tasty solutions to climate change. On December 10, the global Slow Food network will celebrate Terra Madre Day. In the USA, we are taking to the kitchen to prepare plant-based meals with ingredients grown and produced in climate-friendly ways. I am sharing my food with my neighbors in my apartment building. Whom are you sharing yours with??

By acting together as a global network, we can pivot towards more sustainable food production and farming systems, and achieve a climate friendly future. Food is a cause and victim of climate change, but also a delicious solution. This year, @SlowFoodUSA has focused on the positive solutions of Slow Food to connect the dots between farmers and consumers as the everyday climate champions.

Choose climate-friendly foods, try this recipe at home, and tag your dish with #FoodforChange and #MeatlessMonday.

Click on the title for the recipe:

Lima Beans Rice:

Quinoa Lima Beans Pilaf

Lima Beans Song (Curried Lima Beans)

CAMELLIA BEANS

Camellia Beans has generously contributed many pounds of beans for our Food for Change meal participants to use, which you will/have received from Slow Food in anticipation of Dec. 10. Here is a little more about their delicious beans and some vegetarian recipes for inspiration!

Why Beans Are Nutritious | Camellia Beans

Adding Flavor to Vegetarian Beans | Camellia Beans

Vegetarian Recipes by Camellia Beans

MEATLESS MONDAY

Our Food for Change meal on December 10 is in support of Meatless Monday (because it’s a Monday!) and isdesigned to inspire our community to reduce their meat consumption. If you are in need of inspiration for plant-based recipes, Meatless Monday has a whole bunch of tasty-looking recipes on their website!

    Meatless Monday Vegetarian Recipes with BEANS!

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Lima beans Rice

I am Indian and therefore rice has a ubiquitous presence in my diet. My husband prefers pulao( pilaf), fried rice, Biryani or any kind of one pot rice dish as opposed to plain white rice served with some curry ( side-dish that has gravy). Lima Beans is one of my favorite beans and I decided to make a rice dish using the Lima beans sent by our friends at Camellia Beans. Many of you must have eaten the cilantro lime rice at Chipotle. Imagine that with Lima beans added to it. Believe me when I tell you that not only does it taste delicious but it makes for a complete meal what with the essential elements of protein, carbohydrate, fat and minerals. 

Do try it. It is quick and easy and you will fall in love with it. You won’t even need a side dish for it! It is a great way to make use of leftover rice!! 

Servings: 2-3

Prep time: 2 mins
Cook time: none
Total time: 3 mins 

Ingredients:

Cooked rice: 4 cups 

Cooked Lima beans: 1.5 cups
Olive oil: 1 tbsp
Lime juice: from one small lime
Salt: to taste
Black pepper: 1/8 tsp
Garlic powder: 1/8 tsp ( optional)

Method: 

Add 4 cups of warm/ hot rice to a bowl. Now add all the other ingredients and toss until the rice is thoroughly mixed with the other ingredients. Be gentle while mixing so that the rice does not become mushy!

Serve hot with a side of your choice or eat it as is!

Enjoy!

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Lima Beans Song (Curried Baby Lima Beans in spicy onion-tomato sauce).

At the outset let me confess that this post has been sponsored by Camellia Beans. 
We Konkanis make several types of songs. Not the musical kind; the gastronomical kind. Song is basically the type of sauce or gravy that is make out of sautéed onions and tomatoes. Loads of onions and tomatoes are used in this dish. Song can be made with coconut ( masolu ghalnu) or without coconut in which case it is referred to as mirsange pitte song ( which essentially means song made with chilli powder). This is a nice tangy , spicy,delicious dish. Like I mentioned earlier there are several types of song: batate song( made with potatoes), mushroom song, tingalavre song ( made with navy beans).It is again one of the favorites in my household. The best part is that it is quick an easy to make! I decided to make this song with my favorite beans: baby Lima Beans. 




Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Baby Lima beans: 1/2cup ( dry) 

Water: 4 cups + 4 cups ( for soaking and cooking)
Onions: 2 medium, diced small
Cherry Tomatoes: 10 whole
Cooking Oil: 1 tbsp( I use coconut oil)
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp

Turmeric powder: 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves( cilantro): 4-5 sprigs for garnishing.

Method:

Soak Lima beans in 2 cups water for Atleast 4-5 hours or overnight. Then drain the water, add fresh water about 1.5 cups and cook in pressure cooker with until tender. Generally about 15 minutes on medium heat or until you hear 1 whistle. Make sure you don't overcook the beans as the dish will turn into a mushy paste.Do not open the pressure cooker until the pressure has completely been released. Keep aside.

Heat oil in a frying pan/ wok on medium heat. Add the chopped onions, sauté until they turn almost golden brown. Add the tomatoes and sauté until the tomatoes begin to wilt. Now add turmeric powder and Chilli powder and sauté for 30 seconds. Now add the cooked navy beans( without the water) and mix well. Add the water left behind from cooking the  beans as needed based on your desired consistency of the dish. Add salt, mix well. Simmer until it comes to a gentle boil. Turn off the flame.

Garnish with fresh cilantro.

Serve hot with rice/ roti/ bread.

Enjoy!

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South of the Border Burrito; Meatless Monday vegan recipe and a giveaway!!

My family is a connoisseur of vegetarian food. Fish and chicken is cooked only occasionally. I love fish and cannot resist grilled chicken. However, my husband and kids prefer vegetarian food over non-vegetarian. Needless to say, I therefore end up cooking more vegetarian dishes than non-vegetarian. Truth be told, personally for me, cooking a vegetarian dish is much easier and quicker than non-vegetarian.

I am a huge supporter of the Meatless Monday Movement. I often feel that people in the West have this misconception that a meal is incomplete without some form of animal protein and that animal protein is essential for normal growth and development.  Indian cuisine proves that this is a myth. Many Indians are vegetarian and lead a healthy, whole and successful life. 

Coming back to the recipe on hand.. when Taylor from Meatless Monday told me about an opportunity to work with Kristi Funk by trying one of her healthy recipes that support her  latest book filled with tons of information regarding breast cancer, how to prevent it with a healthy lifestyle, I was all for it! I am always on the quest for cooking in a healthier manner. I grew up in a family where 1 liter of oil would last the entire month. This recipe of Kristi’s uses no oil at all! I had to try that. I have to tell you, it came out delicious!! 

For those of you who are not familiar with Dr. Kristi Funk, she is a leading board-certified breast cancer surgeon and specialist in comprehensive wellness, including nutrition, fitness, and stress management. Best known as the breast surgeon for Angelina Jolie and Sheryl Crow, Dr. Funk has compiled her accessible and powerful strategies for reducing cancer risk and achieving optimal overall health into a much-anticipated book, Breasts: The Owner’s Manual, which came on shelves May 1, 2018.

Dr. Funk embraces meat reduction for healthy living. She personally provided a selection of delicious Meatless Monday recipes exclusively for us to try. One of them was the South of the Border Burrito. I tried it and everyone at home loved it! It was quick and easy. I would have never imagined that cooking without oil would taste so good! I made some minor changes to it due to lack of some ingredients. I didn’t have cilantro or avocado and therefore skipped it. I used chopped lettuce instead. Instead of Braggs amino acids I used tamari sauce. I have described the recipe verbatim as provided by her.

If you would like a copy of Dr Funk’s book, sign up with your email to participate in the give away! 

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 package (8 oz.) organic firm or extra firm, well drained tofu (prep technique below)

1 onion

1 large green pepper

1 large red pepper

2 handfuls chopped spinach

2 tomatoes

1 tsp turmeric

2 T Bragg Amino acids (or tamari)

Veggie broth to broth sauté

Salsa

1 Avocado

Cilantro to taste

Whole grain tortillas

Directions:

Heat pan with a tiny bit of broth just covering the bottom of the pan. Once the broth is simmering, add the chopped onions, tomatoes and peppers. Sauté until they start to get soft (about 6-8 minutes). Keep adding broth by the tablespoon when pan is gets too dry.

Crumble tofu (I use my hands), add turmeric and Bragg Amino acids and sauté until everything is starting to brown just a bit.

Add spinach, turn OFF heat, and toss for a minute or so.

Taste and decide if you want to add a little more Bragg’s.

Heat tortilla until soft and fill with mixture. Add salsa, cilantro and avocado and wrap into a burrito.

Tip: Draining tofu completely is important. Cut the tofu block in half and press in clean kitchen towels, then wrap in a dry towel and place under a heavy pan (or a stack of books!). Leave for at least 20 minutes and change out towels if they get too saturated. Better yet, buy a tofu press... such a great gadget to have!

I am bringing this salad to all my friends at Angie's Fiesta Friday #223. Her cohost this week is the amazing Mollie @ The Frugal Hausfrau.

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