VarshaChawla.com » Recipes

Broccolini with Lemon Butter & Parmesan

Varsha — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:28:28 +0000

This is one of my favorite dishes because it’s super quick & easy, fresh, pretty healthy (ok, fine, it’s got its share of butter!) and uses those amazing Meyer lemons I talked about in my previous post again. It also uses my absolute favorite butter: Kerrygold – a rich, creamy and all natural Irish butter that’s sold in many grocery stores. The Kerrygold website has some awesome recipes on it as well, so be sure to check that out, too: http://www.kerrygoldusa.com/recipes/.

Ingredients (for two people)

One bunch of broccolini
Grated zest of a lemon, plus a squeeze of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of Kerrygold Irish butter
Shaved Parmesan cheese (to garnish)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Wash the broccolini and remove parts of the stem. Cut into smaller pieces if desired.

2. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a medium skillet and add the lemon zest and broccolini. Add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and saute for about 10 minutes.

3. Season with salt and pepper, the remaining butter, and the shaved Parmesan. Serve warm and enjoy with warm, crusty bread with more butter!

Lemon Olive Chicken

Varsha — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 19:12:42 +0000

Meyer lemon season generally runs from December to April and is one of my favorite seasons since I absolutely adore the fruit. Meyer lemons are a bit rounder, smaller, and sweeter than regular lemons and you can find them in many grocery stores. I decided to make a lemon olive chicken dish with my newly purchased lemons. Here is how I whipped this up:

Ingredients (for two people)

3 chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise in half
grated Meyer lemon zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 lemon peel
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5 table spoons of olive oil
1 table spoon of butter
flour for dredging
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Grate half the lemon and peel the other half. Set aside. Drain and slice the olives and finely chop the garlic.

2. Heat the olive oil o medium heat in a large skillet, slice and pat the chicken breasts dry.

3. Combine flour, salt, and pepper and dredge each halved chicken breast in the flour mixture. Lightly fry in the olive oil for a few minutes on each side, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the skillet.

4. Add the butter to the same skillet and once melted, add the garlic, lemon zest, peel, and olives. Sauté for a few minutes on medium heat and then add the chicken broth. Simmer for about 10 minutes until some of the liquid is absorbed and then add the chicken back in. Cook for a few minutes and server warm.

If you’ve got some cremini or white button mushrooms leftover, try adding them in as well by sautéing them with the lemon and olives. They make an excellent addition to this super fresh and easy dish!

Balsamic Roasted Fennel

Varsha — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 19:03:04 +0000

You might be more familiar with eating fennel in soups, but it’s actually quite amazing when braised or roasted as well. I experimented with fennel this past weekend and decided to go the nice and simple route by simply tossing the fennel with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The house smelled amazing and we devoured this fabulous side dish in less than 15 minutes!

Ingredients (for 2 – 3 people)

2 medium sized fennel bulbs
4 tablespoons of high quality balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and cut the fennel into small (less than an inch thick) slices / rings and add to a large bowl.

2. Toss the slices with the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper and bake on a large baking sheet for about 40 to 45 minutes on 400 degrees.

3. Serve warm and toss with grated Parmesan cheese, your favorite sauce, or enjoy the fennel just plain out of the oven, as a satisfying side dish.

Potato & Kale Samosas

Varsha — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:47:32 +0000

As my fellow busy girls know, short-cuts are your best friend when you’re short on time. A few weeks ago, I really wanted to make samosas, but had no time to make the dough from scratch and had a ton of farm-fresh kale on hand that I really needed to use up. My solution: puff-pastry sheets and potato-kale filling! Although less authentic than the original version of the Indian samosa, it worked out fantastic. Here’s what I did:

Ingredients (for 16 samosas)

2 puff pastry sheets (found in the freezer section of your grocery store)
2 medium organic Russet potatoes
half a bunch of organic kale
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of turmeric powder
1 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds
2 teaspoons of coriander powder
2 teaspoons of red chili powder
2 teaspoons of ginger-garlic paste
2 tablespoons of olive oil (more as needed)
salt to taste

Directions

1. Take the puff pastry sheets out of the freezer to allow them to defrost. Boil potatoes (you can leave the skin on) and lightly mash them so they form small bite-size chunks. Wash and cut the kale into bite-size pieces as well.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet or frying pan and saute the kale for about 10 minutes, or until soft.

3. Take the kale out and set aside. In the same oil, add the cumin seeds and fry for about 3 – 4 minutes. Add the ginger-garlic paste and the rest of the seasonings. Stir and add in the kale and boiled potatoes. Add salt last and saute for about 10 more minutes to allow all flavors to blend.

4. Turn off the heat and move the skillet to allow the filling to cool. Cut the puff pastry sheets into 8 triangles, as shown in the picture below. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

5. Make cone out of each triangle and spoon enough filling in so that the samosa will close without breaking. You can add a tiny bit of water to the edges of the triangles so that edges will stick more easily.

6. Place each samosa on a parchment lined backing sheet and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm with your favorite chutney!

Buffalo Tofu Wraps

Varsha — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:18:09 +0000

Love the flavor of buffalo chicken, but want to try something healthier? Buffalo tofu wraps might just work out for you then. Many people don’t like the flavor of tofu, but what I love about it is that it’s one of those foods that easily takes on the flavor of whatever you season it with. It’s kind of like eggplant in that sense – the “bread” of veggies. And, it’s quite a bit healthier than fried chicken. Here’s how I put together buffalo tofu wraps for lunch:

Ingredients (for two people)

2 to 3 whole wheat wraps
2 cups of shredded Romaine lettuce
1 container of extra firm tofu, water drained
1 Roma tomato, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 cup (or more) of your favorite buffalo sauce (we like Frank’s red hot buffalo)
1/2 cup of blue cheese crumbles
1/2 cup of plain Greek yogurt (2% or fat free)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Carefully dry the tofu with paper towels and cut into bite sized cubes. Dry again after cutting, so that the tofu is as moisture free as it can be.

2. Toss the tofu with the buffalo sauce and add more sauce if desired. Bake on a baking sheet lightly covered with cooking spray on 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Turn the tofu about halfway through the baking process.

3. Chop the lettuce (unless you bought pre-shredded lettuce) and tomato. Mix the blue cheese crumbles with the Greek yogurt and set aside.

4. With about 5 minutes of baking time left, heat the wraps in a frying pan on low-medium heat.

5. Once the tofu is done, build the wraps by adding tofu first, then the lettuce and tomato, then the yogurt and blue cheese mixture. Eat right away to avoid the wrap getting soggy.

Apple Date (or Prune!) Bars

Varsha — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 16:24:45 +0000

Here’s another recipe that I found online and thought was worth re-posting. It’s delicious for breakfast or as a snack and contains tons of great vitamins, fiber, and nutrients. Instead of using regular flour, I opted for the gluten-free kind since I sometimes cut out all gluten products for a week. I find that going gluten-free for periods of time gives me more energy. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with using regular flour. Since I did not have dates on hand (which the recipe requires), I chose to use prunes instead. The results were fantastic, even without the dates. I added some extra cinnamon to the recipe as well. If you don’t have ground cloves or nutmeg on hand, you can use pumpkin pie spice as well, which is an excellent substitute. Here’s the full recipe…let me know what you think!

Saffron Rice

Varsha — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 02:52:55 +0000

Let’s face it. Rice gets boring. Sometimes, you just need a few ingredients to spice things up. Here’s my go-to rice recipe that goes great with Indian food, but works with virtually any dish that could use more than just plain rice on the side. Saffron, the world’s most expensive spice, makes plain old rice instantly exotic.

Ingredients (for 2 – 4 people)

cooked Basmati or just plain white rice
a handful of golden raisins
1/4 teaspoon of saffron threads
2 teaspoons of cumin seeds, toasted
a handful of cilantro, finely chopped
a handful of chopped cashews, toasted
2 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil
salt to taste

Directions

1. Soak the saffron in a little bit of water for at least two hours. When shopping for saffron, look for bright red threads, which generally indicate a higher quality. Do keep in mind that the threads should be lighter orange or yellow at the ends, otherwise they might have been dyed red to look more expensive.

2. Cook the rice according to instructions, adding half the saffron to the rice before it cooks. Soak the raisins in water so they get nice and plump, and toast the cumin seeds in a little bit of heated oil, while toasting the cashews in a small frying pan without any oil.

3. Wash and chop the cilantro and add all ingredients, including the remaining half of the saffron, to the rice. Pan fry for a few minutes and your fragrant and tasty rice is done!

I Can’t Believe There’s No Milk – Chocolate Pudding

Varsha — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:22:27 +0000

Once in a while I’ll post a recipe by a FoodNetwork star or other celebrity chef that is just really tasty AND unique. This past weekend, we were looking for a creamy, chocolatey, but still moderately healthy dessert. We found just that in Rachael Ray’s Chocolate Silken Tofu Pudding. It’s creamy, full of flavor, and there’s not a drop of dairy in the recipe. We left out the pistachios, but did top the pudding with raspberries. A fantastic find for a vegan or gluten-free person, or anyone looking for great nutrition in dessert. The best part is that it only takes 5 minutes to make! Here’s where you’ll find the recipe: http://www.rachaelraymag.com/Recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/fast-recipes/chocolate-silken-tofu-pudding

Smokey Chipotle Turkey Burgers

Varsha — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 20:12:13 +0000

Anil usually makes fantastic Indian style masala burgers, but last week, it was time to toss something different on the grill. Bring on the chipotle! For those of you who have never had chipotle peppers, they are essentially smoked jalapeños. You can find them canned with Adobo sauce in the grocery store. We added the chipotle, lots of cilantro and some Vidalia onions to the burgers to make them incredibly juicy and with plenty of kick. Summer’s almost over, so give this a try soon!

Ingredients (for 4 – 6 burgers)

About 1 pound ground turkey (we buy natural, hormone and antibiotic free turkey with about 8% fat)
About 3/4 of a cup of breadcrumbs
1 cup of cilantro, finely chopped
1 cup of shredded 2% Mexican blend cheese
3 -4 tablespoons of light sour cream
1/2 Vidalio onion, finely chopped – cut the other half into thin strips
3 – 4 chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce, finely chopped
1 cup Cremini (baby Bella) mushrooms, sliced
4 -6 slices of 2% Pepper Jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. After chopping the onion, cilantro, chipotle peppers and mushrooms, take the turkey out of the package and mix in the onion, peppers, cilantro, shredded cheese, and sour cream. Add salt and pepper.

2. Slowly add the breadcrumbs, until the turkey mixture is firm enough to form patties.

3. Form patties and place on a foil wrapped cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.

4. Grill each patty for about 15 – 20 minutes on low heat (on a gas grill). Add a slice of Pepper Jack cheese to each patty during the last 3 – 5 minutes.

5. While the patties are grilling, spray a small skillet with cooking spray and sauté the mushrooms and onion strips for about 10 minutes.

6. Top the patties with the mushrooms and onions and serve with an ice cold glass of beer. Enjoy summer while it lasts!

Curried Quinoa Bowl

Varsha — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 19:46:00 +0000

If you’ve never tried quinoa before, you’re missing out on a great rice / grain substitute which happens to be an excellent source of protein and dietary fiber. Quinoa is a grain often found and eaten in South America. The cooking process is similar to rice, which makes it easy to prepare. I often whip up quinoa bowls that Anil and I pack for lunch during the week. Here’s how you can recreate one:

Ingredients (for 2 people)

1 to 1.5 cups of quinoa
1.5 of your favorite frozen mixed veggies
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons of curry powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to package directions. While the quinoa is cooking, heat the olive oil in a medium skillet and add the frozen veggies.

2. Saute the veggies for about 10 minutes and add the curry powder, salt, and pepper.

3. Mix in the quinoa when it’s done cooking and stir the entire mixture so all flavors can combine. Enjoy as a quick and easy lunch or as a side for dinner.