Skip to main content

From boring lunch to Gourmet feast

Scene I. Sunday 9 am
Cook: What do I make for lunch?
Me (sleepy and bleary eyed): Anything. Isn't there spinach in the fridge? Make aloo palak. And leave some dough for me. I'd make rotis.
Cook: Okay. I also cut some cucumber for salad.
Me (just wanting to go back to sleep): Yeah, whatever!

Scene II. Sunday 12.30 pm
Friend: I'm shopping in the neighborhood. Will pop by in half an hour.
Me: Great! Stay for lunch
Friend: Wow! I'm sure you made something interesting. Bye
Me (To Myself): Is Aloo Palak interesting. NO WAY!!!!!!

Which is why I converted aloo palak and cucumber salad to an interesting gourmet lunch. We had my signature mocktail and green salad for starters. Burritos (or something similar) for mains. And while my main course was in the oven, I quickly mixed up the batter for muffins. Ready by the time we finished eating our main course.



When I say green salad, I mean really green. Cucumber, green olives, capers and mint leaves with salt, pepper and a dash of lemon juice.

For the main course, I simply reinvented my vegetable and roti in a new avatar. Rolled out the dough really thin, and cooked it on the griddle to make 3 rotis. On each roti, I spread a layer of pizza sauce. Added some chopped tomatoes and finely chopped jalepeno slices. Next added 2 tbsp of the cooked vegetable and rolled everything to form a burrito. Placed all three burritos seam side down on a nonstick baking sheet; drizzled some more pizza sauce then roughly tore a couple of low fat chesse slices and put them on top of the rolls. Baked everything in the oven preheated to 220C until the cheese melted, about 10 minutes.

My friend loved it. And she loved the muffins, recipe for which is coming up in the next post.

Before I sign off, I need to say a big Thank You to Dibs for passing on a zillion awards to me. So much so that I have created a display window at the bottom of this page to showoff all the awards I have received since I started this blog. Thanks a ton, Dibs!
Labels:

Comments

Sunshinemom said…
I would not call aloo palak boring any day but you do need to spice up the table when you are having someone over! I appreciate that you ended up making so much - I would have probably served from a nearby hotel - I sleep like a log!!!
November 24, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Anonymous said…
Oh! I would usually order a pizza as well. But I am trying to be good this week :)
November 24, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Bharti said…
Boring sabzis getting transformed in to exciting burritos and lasagnas is what my mom is superb at. I love what you made!
November 24, 2008 at 9:22 PM
Sagari said…
nice transformation simran
November 25, 2008 at 2:05 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kadhi Chawal

I just can't think of what to write today. That's what my absolute favorite meal does to me, I just want to stop talking and dig right in. So I won't ramble and go straight on the recipe for kadhi. First, make the pakoras that would go in the kadhi. Slice an onion lengthwise. Make a batter with 1/2 cup chickpea flour (besan), salt, red chilli powder and water. Dip onions in this batter and deep fry until crisp. Keep aside. Now blend 1 cup yogurt and 1/3 cup besan into a paste. Add 3-4 cups water to make a very thin blend. Heat a tbsp of oil in a pan. Add a tsp each of mustard seeds, cumin seeds, ajwain (carom seeds) and methre (fenugreek seeds). Let splutter for a few seconds. Now add a large onion, cut lengthwise into thin slices and cook until browned lightly. Pour in the yogurt/besan mix and add 1 tsp turmeric powder, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp red chilli powder. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and let simmer for at least half an hour. You have to stir this occasio...
17 comments
Read more

Bibimbap

This is the reason I love taking part in Taste & Create . There is so much new to learn and try when you meet new partners. This month, I am visiting Kitschow in Vancouver for a course in Asian cooking. She also tries a lot of other cuisines, but wok is her favorite way to cook. I first thought I'd find very little vegetarian choice at her place. But as luck would have it, she has recently done a lot of vegetarian cooking and eating for lent and I had a virtual rainbow to pick from. Everything looked so delicious it was tough to pick one. I picked the one with the cutest name : Bibimbap . Bibimbap is a Korean rice, usually topped with beef and vegetables but Kitschow made a vegan version for Lent. The recipe has three parts. First you cook the rice. Then, when it's almost done but is still moist, you arrange vegetables on top so it looks colorful and pretty. For the vegan version, Kitschow just put raw veggies there and let them cook in the steam. But I liked the i...
13 comments
Read more

Dukkah

Talk about myths busted. I went to Dubai planning to buy zat'ar, the fragrant herb and spice mix. And Dukkah, the interesting blend of nuts and spices. Not sumac, because I still have a pack left in my fridge. So zat'ar was easy - every Carrefour supermarket had that one. But no one had dukkah and I was like, how can they not have dukkah? It's a middle eastern thing, right! But well, they don't sell dukkah in Dubai, so I came back and armed with recipes from 10-odd blogs (all roughly the same), I set to make my own. The key to making dukkah is : line up all your ingredients, toast each of them separately in a heavy non-stick pan till they are fragrant and lightly roasted, then put everything in a blender and grind coarsely. This is your dukkah. Now dip your bread in olive oil, then dip it in dukkah and indulge. A final word of warning: this can be highly addictive. And finally, my list of ingredients: 1/4 cup almonds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 1/2 tbsp sesame...
14 comments
Read more