From the category archives:

Recipes by Ingredient

Graham Cracker Crusted Carrot Halwa with Milk Chocolate

Most indian sweets are so so sweet that they make your teeth hurt.  Like immediate-cavity-formation-throb hurt.  And Indian aunties always seem to want to force feed you a huge piece of some sweet that’s prasad, blessed by the temple, so of course you can’t throw it away and have to eat it.  I try to [...]

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Crunchy (and Quick) Cashew Aloo Saag

QUICK is king in my kitchen ever since Surya’s arrival in our life.  Some friends have been asking me how I’ve been managing to cook and blog.  The answer is that I steal little snippets of time between naps and during Daddy time.  Whether it’s cooking, taking pictures or writing up posts, I do it [...]

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Red Lentil and Smashed Garlic Soup

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No Noodles – Bread and Eggplant Lasagna

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Skillet Potatoes in Mojo De Ajo (Garlic Oil)

My mom has had me on a strict “baby friendly” diet ever since Surya arrived.  There’s a whole laundry list of foods that should apparently be avoided while nursing.  The list is in part derived from the internet and by way of word of mouth from my aunties in India.  I’m just thankful to have [...]

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Lemony Spinach Lentils (Spinach Pappu)

Two huge events have happened in my life within the last week.  First, I snuck away to have a baby.  Our beautiful baby girl, Surya, arrived last Thursday and we have been completely preoccupied with loving on her ever since.  Second, I’ve turned over my kitchen to my mother for the next three weeks.  Fortunately, [...]

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Post-Thanksgiving Quick “Recipe”: Mac ‘n Cheese with Chili

I’ve been keeping Mac ‘n Cheese with Chili a secret from you for some time.  Mainly because it’s so so simple that I was embarrassed to share it with you.  And it involves a box and a can.  But I can’t in good conscience keep this combination of cheesy noodles, spicy soy protein and chewy, nutty [...]

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Thanksgiving Sides: Brussels Sprouts in Honey Butter with Chili Flakes

I just ate a pound of brussels sprouts.  By myself.  It didn’t even take that long.  They were roasted in honey butter then showered with red chili pepper flakes and salt.  They were soft and tender with a honey charred glaze cut by pops of salty spiciness.  Before I knew it, the entire pound of [...]

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Tofu Medallions with Whole Wheat Spaghetti

For those of you who don’t like tofu, I want to make a case for it.  If you are already sold on tofu, skip to paragraph 2 below.  Saying that tofu has no flavor is like saying an uncooked chicken breast tastes gross.  I’ve never had one, but I’m assuming you have to season and [...]

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Late Night Meals: Sesame-Garlic Soba Noodles

We had a two and a half hour dinner last night.  I came home hungry.  Maybe it was baby. Maybe dinner was so long that I got full then hungry again before it finished. Maybe the Thai restaurant we picked, which is usually so good, was off it’s game (Halloween??). Take your pick but I think [...]

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Curried Corn and Cherry Tomato CousCous

The Hamptons – it’s the New Yorker getaway.  Stretches of highway are adopted by Sotheby’s.  ”Villages” are dotted with luxe home good stores and couture boutiques.  It also happens to be overflowing with loads of fresh, local produce AND – wait for it – wait for it – roadside farmer’s markets.  It was all I [...]

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15 Minute Creamy Corn and Potato Soup

I had to share this with you right away.  Tonight’s creamy corn soup with knobs of tender potatoes and juicy corn kernels was sweet, spicy, fresh and belly warming and above all so quick and easy.  Here in New York, Fall has been rolling in and out battling against the few 80 degree days we’ve [...]

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Kadai Tofu: Tofu with a Rainbow of Bellpeppers

Biting into a piece is paneer is a creamy, rich and chewy experience.  But it’s an experience that can be hard to come by – you can’t just pick up a block of paneer from your local grocery store (unless you live in Flushing, Queens and Patel Brothers is your local grocery store – [...]

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Market Greens with Split Peas

Do you have a grocery item that maintains a permanent on your weekly grocery list?  Something you know you can make use of no matter what your weekly menu?  Something that never dies a slow death in your crisper?  Greens.  They are always on my list, and they never go to waste.  Kale, collard greens, [...]

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Book Review: Curry – A Tale of Cooks & Conquerors

Has this ever happened to you – a friend tells you that they don’t like curry.  BUT, they reassure you, they really want to like Indian food.  It’s just that – well – they don’t like curry.  So they enlist you to go out for Indian food with them to help navigate the menu.
I would [...]

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Locaware: Green Tomato Lentil Stew

I talk to my parents everyday and each evening I look forward to asking what they’re having for dinner.  It’s always something I wish I was eating too (which is half the reason I started cooking in the first place).  A few weeks back, my dad told me they were having locaware.  Undoubtably, a joke [...]

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Curried Tomato and Arugula Salad

Do you ever come back from vacation with memories of a dish that you ate during your trip and then try to recreate it at home?  I have at least 3 dishes from our last trip that I’m trying to deconstruct and recreate.
Sometimes it can be cumbersome to vacation as a strict vegetarian, but on [...]

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Warm Bean Salad

Still trying to decide what to make for the Fourth of July?  This warm bean salad is a favorite of ours – it combines the creamy, nutty taste of beans with tangy feta, crunchy sharp onions and juicy cherry tomatoes.  The key is to get the beans and the tomatoes mildly warmed.  This makes the [...]

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From the Spice Box: Tamarind Candy

As a kid, I used to sneak into the pantry when my parents weren’t around and tear off a little corner from the block of dried tamarind that was guaranteed to be aplenty in our house.  I would pop the hard knob of tamarind into my mouth, looking like a baseball player with dip wedged [...]

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Masala Stuffed Okra Boats

Okra gets a bad wrap.  I grew up in Irmo, South Carolina, home of the Okra Strut, so perhaps I have a soft spot for the little green guys.  The most common complaint seems to be that okra is slimy.  I know of two recipes and one prep work tip that eliminate the possibility of [...]

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Shaved Rose Water Ice

What is it about the smell of roses that’s so relaxing?  Stick your nose into the center of a rose flower and inhale.   You’re greeted with a heavenly scent followed by a calm that comes over you.  For me, there’s also a regatta of sneezes that follows thanks to my allergies.  
Shaved Rose Water [...]

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Charu Au Poix (French Inspired Rasam)

This is a guest post written by Raj Bala, Nithya’s brother, who is incidentally also a hungry desi.
The French settled a colony in India called Pondicherry in 1673 on the Southeast coast of India. Their influence on the city is still evident today even though they didn’t necessarily fare as well in terms of colonization [...]

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Swiss Chard and Spinach with Shitake and Peas

Farmers markets really get me excited.  Rajat thinks it’s because they remind me of vegetable markets in India.  I think it’s because I associate farmers markets with warm weather and fresh, green vegetables that require sunshine and warmth (two things New York has been sadly lacking until the last few days).  An even more plausible [...]

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Cracked Wheat Can Taste Good (Really)

Cracked.  Wheat.  Porridge.  Nothing about that sounds good to me.  Cracked wheat porridge with vegetables.  Melt in your mouth potatoes.  Sweet peas and carrots.  And spices.  And creamy yogurt.  Served piping hot.  It starts to sound better, no?  Cracked wheat is made by cracking whole raw wheat berries.  This means that it’s high in fiber and [...]

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15 Minute Indian Chinese Noodles

Quick is high on my list of redeemable recipe qualities.  Although, it’s right up there with tasty and healthy.  This sometimes makes for a challenging recipe hunt.  I picked up a few packs of MTR vermicelli noodles a few weeks back for experimenting with vermicelli style upma, or semiya upma.  As I started making the [...]

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Potatoes in Coconut Curry with Mint and Cilantro

It’s been a little over 2 weeks since I’ve blogged!  I was a poor planner and didn’t have any posts in reserve for sharing with you while I was away tending to our move.  But now that we’re moved and semi-settled in with only a few more boxes to go, I’m free to cook again! [...]

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Aloo Chaat Style (Breakfast) Potatoes

Yesterday on Everyday Food Radio, host Sandy Gluck was talking about sweet versus savoury french toast.  I shared with her listeners a recipe for Rajat’s Desi Style French Toast, a spicy, savoury french toast served with ketchup and chutney (no syrup here folks).  Of course, I was a bit of a bad wife because I entirely [...]

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A Side of Roasted Cauliflower – Dinner Party Worthy?

Growing up in an all vegetarian household, we ate a lot of vegetables.  Afternoons snacks sometimes were bowls of freshly boiled peas, lima beans or brussel sprouts topped with butter and showered with salt and pepper.  Cabbage, broccoli, beans – you name it, we ate it.  And we enjoyed the pure vegetable taste of it. [...]

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Spicy Pesto 3 Ways – Basil-Mint Pesto Tofu Scramble

For my third and final Spicy Basil-Mint Pesto dish, I only had about 2 tablespoons of pesto left.  I got a little creative, borrowed some elements from Rajat’s tofu scramble and came up with a hearty breakfast of spicy pesto mixed with scrambled tofu, potatoes, onions and tomatoes topped off with chipotle flavored tostada shells. [...]

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Spicy Pesto 3 Ways: Basil-Mint Pesto Bruschetta

Earlier this week, I blogged about a Spicy Basil-Mint Pesto Sauce we made and my fondness for recipes that use simple, readily available ingredients which can be recreated into other dishes out of leftovers.  So last Wednesday I made a pesto sauce that we used for a hearty dinner of Pesto Marinara on Whole Wheat [...]

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Spicy Pesto 3 Ways: Basil-Mint Pesto Marinara

Recipes that can be transformed from one dish into another and that hold up well as leftovers are really appealing to my schedule.  I usually leave home early in the morning and don’t return until after dark, sometimes toting along more work.  So, recipes like these which make for a quick and easy weeknight meal [...]

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Miso Soup with Wontons

Ever since I started reading Jennifer 8. Lee’s Fortune Cookie Chronicles a few weeks ago, I’ve found myself wanting Chinese food everytime I pick up the book.  To Jennifer’s credit, it’s no small feat to conjure up stirrings for eggrolls, bok choy and General Tso’s vegetarian unchicken during an 8 am subway ride!  Jaden from [...]

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Dad’s French Style Green Beans

My dad made french style green beans almost once a week growing up, usually as a side dish with rasam or sambar.  We accidentally discovered that we liked them just slightly blackened when he sauteed them a little too long once and more than a few got singed.  I think to this day my sister makes them [...]

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Sambar (Spicy Lentil Soup) and Akshaya Patra

Daikon in Sambar
Sambar is South Indian comfort food. It’s a mix of mashed nutty lentils, tomatoes and simple spices finished with the tanginess of tamarind. There are many different varieties and all families seem to have their own tricks.  Regardless, you follow the same essential steps no matter of the type of sambar. [...]

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Vegetable Bhaji (Spicy Tempura) with Mint Chutney

Bhaji is basically Indian tempura – vegetables battered in a spicy flour coating, deep fried and served piping hot straight out of the oil, slightly crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside.  In our house, bhaji was the late afternoon snack of particularly lazy Saturday afternoons following a nap.  Bhaji was the pre-dinner [...]

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Aloo Tikki Sandwich

Earlier this month, I daringly ventured into the Indian breadmaking arena.  In case you missed my Aloo Paratha post, it was a challenge that turned out to be surmountable after all.  My aloo balls for stuffing the paratha must have been a little on the small side though because we had some leftover aloo filling. [...]

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Soupy Soba Noodles

Earlier this week, I posted a recipe for a really easy stir-fry sauce with the forewarning that it’s really saucy.  It was so saucy and flavor packed that I thought it might work well as a soup and gave it a shot with the stir-fry leftovers.  As we watched President Obama address the nation, the [...]

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Simply Saucy: A 10 Minute Stir-fry Sauce

We like it saucy (no R rated pun intended – that sounds dirty right?).  This stir-fry started off as an experiment.  It was so delicious that everytime we made stir-fry, Rajat would ask me to “make it in ‘that’ sauce.” Kitchen experiments are fabulous unless you forget to write down what you did because recreating [...]

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Punjabi Chole with Amchur Crusted Aloo

Punjabi Chole with Amchur Crusted Aloo is possibly the easiest curry I’ve made in a long time.  The chickpeas are packed with protein and high in fiber, and their buttery, nutty taste mixes well with this heavy on masala curry sauce topped with tangy, roasted potatoes.  In a nutshell, you boil everything in a big stockpot, broil some potatoes [...]

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99.98% Slow Cooked Daal Makhani

I’ve tried twice now to make Daal Makhani in my slow cooker. The first time was an utter disaster. I’ll call the second time an “orchestrated” success. After slow cooking the daal for 8 hours, it was still a little tough. We were tired of waiting and ready to eat it with our palak channa, [...]

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For the Love of Nutella

Today is World Nutella Day, and I applaud the good people who decided that this chocolate and hazelnut wonder deserves a day of it’s own.  In honor of the occasion, I want to share the nutella drenched waffle pictured above that I had at Wafels & Dinges, a Belgian waffles truck.  Yes, that’s right.  A truck.  Where else [...]

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Aloo Paratha – Spiced Potato Filled Flatbread

Warm, generously filled parathas (stuffed Indian flatbread) remind me of cold, wintery mornings at my husband’s family’s house in Delhi. We wake up to be treated to hot parathas and steaming chai. Despite our “protests“ against such a heavy breakfast and ”pleas“ for no butter, we let our plates be filled with hot paratha after [...]

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Palak Channa – Spinach and Chickpeas

I’ve been craving the smooth taste of hearty chickpeas ever since reading about Mike’s channa masala. So, not surprisingly, Sunday’s lineup included chickpeas. As a healthier alternative to palak paneer, we decided to make palak channa. Soft, buttery chickpeas swimming in pureed fresh spinach made for a fulfilling end to a lazy [...]

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Ridge Gourd Chutney

Ridge Gourds are one of those vegetables that I see in the grocery store and feel a little scared of – I wonder how to break through its green, spiny skin, why it’s sometimes called Chinese Okra and if that’s the same thing as ridge gourd (it is) and how my mom manages to transform [...]

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Five Star Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant parmesan is a childhood favorite of mine.  An oozy combination of cheese embracing fried eggplant wading in pools of tangy tomato sauce.  Growing up, it wasthe perfect break in our daily menu of rasam, yogurt rice and kura…one of the few “American” (i.e. non-Indian) dishes my mom made that even my dad would eat.   [...]

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Simplifying: Methi Daal

Simplify.  That’s my new years resolution (more on that later).  So what better way to start the new year than with a dish which is simple in its ingredients, simpler in its preparation and anything but that in the amount of comfort food flavor and nutrients that it delivers…Methi Daal (Lentil Soup with Methi, or [...]

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Indian Cure for a Cold: Tomato Garlic Rasam

Tangy, spicy heat massaging my vocal cords.  Roasted mustard seeds, cumin, garlic and pepper steaming towards my nose.  Each maintaining a soft cadence under direction of the nutty paste of toor dhal.  Filling my belly.  Warming my throat.  Reviving my olfactory senses.  Cold cold go away.  Please don’t come back another day.
R and I were not only [...]

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Mumbai Mama, Take Me Home – Vada Pav

 Country roads, take me home, to the place where I belong…John Denver was singing about the mountains of West Virginia but his song resonated with me as I read about prominent Mumbaiites like Suketu Mehta urging the world to run to Mumbai – not away from it in response to the recent terrorist attacks.  I agree with Suketu’s [...]

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A Very Desi Thanksgiving

I’ve never characterized Thanksgiving as just ”a day to be thankful” – it’s always been more about a day of good food, parades and family because I just don’t understand limiting thankfulness to one day.  A thing as difficult as say parades, however, I do understand limiting.  The loss of life and terror we saw this past [...]

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Chili When Chilly

When winter hits, thoughts of a steaming bowl of hearty, vegetarian chili makes the wind slapping my face, the ringing chill in my ears and frostbite in my fingers seem a little less awful.  A stockpot of it warms up our house and our bellies for a few days.  I like to top mine with [...]

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Nutella Ricotta Stuffed Pancakes and Roasted Home Fries

Last night, we met some friends for dinner at Cafe Ino, and I didn’t manage to save any room for their nutella panino.  We woke up this morning to hear what could only have been ginormous raindrops hitting our skylight, and I knew it was a perfect day for a decadent brunch.  We made nutella [...]

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Saucy Soba Noodle Stir Fry

Last Sunday, after a low key, relaxing spend-the-night with friends in Warwick, NY, we wanted a low key, relaxing dinner to cap off the weekend.  Stir fry is great because we just gather a few of our favorite veggies, throw them into the wok, pan fry or *grill a block of tofu and hit [...]

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Black-Eyed Peas and Aloo Sabji

For the longest time, black-eyed peas were filed away in the gray matter of my brain as a high school cafeteria side dish likely to be flavored with ham hocks.  I might have been confusing them with pinto beans for years.  I finally learned how tasty they are after trying Guru the Caterer’s black-eyed peas with [...]

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(Vegetarian) Unchicken Tikka Masala

N, a good friend of mine who is a self-described “recovering corporate attorney who enjoys writing, traveling and the arts,” introduced me to veat when she brought Veat Makhani to a potluck dinner a few years ago.  R and I were immediately hooked on her makhani dish and on veat.  Veat’s a nice alternative when [...]

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Cilantro-Chili Pesto Sauce

A friend pointed that I didn’t provide instructions for making the cilantro-chili pesto sauce needed for my Vindaloo Pasta Sauce*.  Admittedly, that’s because I cheated and used leftover pesto that I bought from Union Market.  I was trying to finish up what I hadn’t used in our Tofu Scramble.  Here’s a recipe that I’ve used before to [...]

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Vindaloo Pasta Sauce

The chilly, windy weather outside made me want to cozy up with a big bowl of spicy, saucy pasta.  So, I fired up the oven and roasted some tomatoes, onions and garlic.  The freshness of these three, simple ingredients roasted with a splash of olive oil and sea salt is a treat but a sprinkle [...]

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Vegetarian Sushi…Beyond California Rolls

R first introduced me to sushi was four years ago in Lake Tahoe.  I loved the combo of rice and fresh veggies, rice and fried sweet potatoes, rice and tempura.  Sushi at non-vegetarian restaurants gives me the heebee jeebees though…I picture fish juice contaminating my veggie sushi (sounds crazy but is it really?).  Once, I [...]

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Goodnight Moon – Karwachauth and Tapioca Payasam

I’m not one who skips meals, and I don’t ”forget to eat.”  In fact, I’m at my all time worst when I’m hungry.  As a warning about my temperment when hungry, my brother, during his speech at our wedding reception, warned R to carry bite size snickers in his pocket lest by some stroke of misfortune I was made [...]

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Hold the Eggs – Tofu Sramble with Pesto

It’s been nearly five months since R and I returned to Brooklyn from a three year stint in Boston.  Though the southerner in me is thrilled to have escaped before Boston’s winter, I do miss New England summers and easy escapes to the idyllic surroundings of the Cape, Maine and Vermont.  This Labor Day weekend, [...]

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Chayote Squash Kura

Chayote squash is a curious little vegetable.  It’s slightly intimidating with its odd pursed seam along one edge making it look like a cartoonish venus fly trap or the Grinch’s balled up fist.  When you peel it, it lets off heavy beads of sweat and gets slippery.  The juice dries on your hands making them [...]

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Bruschetta with Ricotta Salata

Salt, butter, cheese and bread are among my favorites – a cardiologist’s nightmare.  We actually cook and eat pretty healthily but things might be different if it weren’t for R making me adopt healthy habits (for example, who knew dumplings could be steamed and not pan fried and that the gym should be attended regularly???).  [Note: [...]

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My Secret Dream to be a Sandwich Artist – Aloo Gobi Naanini

R and I don’t usually don’t have time to really cook dinner on weeknights b/c we get home so late, so on nights like tonight, we rely on heating up leftovers.  I had gotten a little tired of the rice and aloo combo, so I decided to turn my leftover aloo gobi sabji into a [...]

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Eggplant in Peanut Sauce

With the season starting to change and the weather turning cooler, I’ve been craving the velvety taste of baingan, or eggplant.  So tonight I tried to recreate a dish that my mom makes – eggplant in a peanut sauce.  R and I went grocery shopping at the new Whole Foods in Tribeca, which usually has [...]

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Simple Sides – Quick Aloo Gobi

I found this beautiful, oddly yellow colored cauliflower at the   grocery store today and was intrigued to see what it tasted like…I have to say that tasted just like regular cauliflower to us.  Would love to hear from anyone else who has tried these cross bred veggies (which is kind of creepy, no?)…
Normally, I like to [...]

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Soba Noodles and Tofu in Cilantro-Tamarind Sauce

I had a craving for soba noodles tonight and no time to stop by the grocery store, so my ride back to Brooklyn was spent ticking through things we already had in the fridge which might be soba noodle worthy.  My result was inspired by Heidi Swanson’s post on her blog, 101cookbooks.com (you can find [...]

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Mattar Mushroom – Shitake Mushrooms and Peas

I wanted to make one of our favorites for dinner tonight – mattar paneer – since R came home after a week of traveling and is about to set off on another week of traveling.  Unfortunately, paneer is hard to come by in Brooklyn so I made mattar mushroom instead using shitake mushrooms.  I rarely follow [...]

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