Yigandes Me Spanaki - Greek Spinach, Bean and Feta Casserole

Yesterday I made a Greek dish (Yigandes Me Spanaki) Spinach, Bean and Feta Oven Casserole. I used Nancy's recipe at about.com. Its a healthy side dish. I added carrots for some color and sweetness. I used lima beans instead of yigandes beans but would love to try yigandes beans as well. I did not have fresh dill so I used rosemary and thyme which tasted great. This could also be a great filling for a pita sandwich.

Guasacaca - Venezuelan Salsa

This salsa is a colorful alternative to mushy guacamole. It is very simple and quick to make. I got this recipe from Kathy. I made some modifications. I used a red onion, orange pepper instead of green pepper and 3 tbsp of a hot salsa instead of hot sauce. This salsa taste really fresh and perfect.

Ingredients:
2 avocados
1 medium red onion
2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cup of cilantro
1 medium tomato
1 orange pepper
salt to taste
3 tbsp hot salsa

Braziliian Vegetable Curry

Brazilian food includes manioc (yucca), black beans and rice. Each region of Brazil specializes in a type of cuisine and is influenced by a certain region. Brazilian food has been greatly influenced by African and Caribbean countries and like the Caribbeans rice and beans are traditional dish in every Brazilian household. While I was cooking the vegetable curry, the smells and flavors reminded me of many cuisines. The coconut in the curry reminded me of Thai food. The chickpeas, onion, garlic and tomatoes reminded me of Indian food. This dish is rich in flavor and hearty. There is a lot of room to be creative.


I got this recipe from pinkcherryblossom, recipe. I made some modifications. I used yucca since it is a Brazilian staple. The yucca taste delicious in the gravy. I could not find coconut cream so I used coconut milk. I also used ginger powder instead of the root. I added very little curry powder, I did not want to overpower the flavors but just 1-2 tsp for such a large quantity of food gave the dish a lot of depth. I added extra garlic 3 cloves instead of 2. I did not roast the vegetables since I did not have that much time but I did cook most of the liquid out. I will make sure I have enough time to roast it next time. Roasting it will give it an interesting texture especially since I have added yucca to the dish. I served this with flour tortilla and ate it like an Indian curry. It was delicious!!

Servings: approx. 6

Ingredients:

• 1 yucca (manioc)
  
• 2 red onions
  
• 1 eggplant
• 2 red peppers
• 1 can chickpeas
• 3 garlic cloves
  
• pinch of ground ginger powder
• 1 red chile, deseeded (I used a medium-hot Jamaican chile)
  
• 2-3 large chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup of coconut milk
• 4 tbsp cilantro
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• pinch of curry powder

Yucca is a very tough root and takes a while to boil. Start by boiling the yucca until the water starts turning a pink color or poke the yucca with a fork to see if it is slightly tender. It will not be as tender as a boiled potato, it will cook in the sauce later.Chop eggplant and red pepper.

Using a food processor mix the garlic cloves, chile, ginger powder and onions. Cook this sauce mixture in a separate pot.

Spray a wok with cooking spray and saute the vegetables, yucca and tomatoes. Cook off the excess water so it is not too soupy.

Add the sauce mixture to the wok along with curry powder and salt to taste. Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and cilantro. Occasionally stir the vegetable curry and allow the flavors to simmer for about 10 mintues on low-medium or until excess liquid no longer remains.

Low Sugar "Peach Cobbler" Parfait

A quick and low sugar dessert that I made up one night. I decided to enter it in the original recipe round-up.

Servings: approx. 2

Ingredients:
2 peaches
whipping cream or cool whip
graham cracker crumbs (granola or cereal)
butter peacan ice cream (no sugar added)
splenda to taste (I used 1 tbsp of baking splenda)
1 cap of lemon juice
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon


In a blender, blend peaches, butter pecan ice cream, splenda, lemon juice, nutmeg and cinnamon.
If you are using whipping cream, use mixer until whipping cream has peaks. Layer the peach mixture on the bottom of the glass. Add graham cracker crumbs, whipping cream and another layer of peach mixture. Alternate as much as you like.

Korean Noodle Stir-fry

This recipe was inspired by Susan's recipe, check out her blog.I loved how she cooked the tofu in the sesame oil, soy, water mixture. I could never get my tofu to brown the way it did after I followed her method. I followed her recipe to a good extent but I did make some modifications.

I used vermicelli noodles instead of buckwheat soba noodles. I checked at all my local groceries stores and nearby asian market, unfortunately I could not find the hot pepper paste. I think I will have to go to Korea Town in New York City to find it. I used Korean BBQ sauce instead. I also used more garlic, used scallions instead of onion and added some chilli garlic sauce. Finally, rather than using sugar to add some sweetness I added some general tsao's sauce (I know its not korean but it added the right sweetness).

Servings: approx. 4

Ingredients:

1 package of vermicelli noodles
8 ounces firm tofu
1 tbsp soy sauce mixed, 1/4 tsp sesame oil and 2 tbsp water (to cook tofu)
2 medium yellow squash into cubes
1/2 bunch of scallions
2-3 bok choy cut in thin slices
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1-2 tbsp of korean bbq sauce (add according how spicy you want it)
1/2 tbsp of chilli garlic sauce
3 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp of general tso's sauce
1/4 tsp sesame oil

Boil water and cook the vermicelli for approx. 6-8 minutes, check the instructions on the package for cooking time. Once it is cooked drain, rinse in cold water and set aside.

Heat up a wok and use cooking spray. Once heated add tofu and sesame oil, water, soy sauce. Cook until the tofu browns. Once the liquid has cooked off set tofu aside.

Add cut squash, scallions and garlic and cover for a few minutes till squash looks tender. Add the bean sprouts and cover for about a minute. Add the bok-choy and cover until the bok-choy looks wilt but is still green. Finally, add the korean bbq sauce, chilli garlic sauce, general tso's sauce and soy sauce to taste. Allow for vegetables to simmer in the sauces for about 5 minutes. Finally add the tofu and noodles.

Tommorrow's line-up

Tomorrow should be an exciting day. I am cooking from two countries Barbados (Bajan cuisine) and Korea. I plan to make a "Mango Fool" dessert as my Bajan cuisine and a Korean noodle stir-fry. It uses a spicy Korean sauce and combines ingredients found in Korean food but rather than using rice I was inspired by a recipe that I will post up to use buckwheat noodles. I will be going to the Asian market tomorrow and hope to find my ingredients. I hope things work out.

On another note, the country after that is Nepal and I already found a great dish called "Vegetable Thukpa" that requires a spice called lovage. There is a lot of information out there claiming that lovage seeds and ajwain are the same. I am quite confused. After calling a few spice stores in New York City (living near the city is great I feel like I have access to everything) they claimed to either have the lovage root and no seeds or to have ajwain seeds which they passed off as being the same. But I have found information claiming that this is a mistake and that they are infact different. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajwain)

I want this dish to taste authentic. Spices are very important, a signature part of the flavor and origins of the cuisine. I have emailed a Nepalese cook who has posted recipes online using lovage. I hope to get an answer. In the meantime, if anyone has any more info or can help me please let me know!! These spice stores look so interesting. I could spend a day learning about all the spices better yet take a class on them!

Gujarati Toor Dal

I am Gujarati, Gujarat is the western most state of India. Gujarati's love to add some sweetness to their savory food, it is our signature. Gujarati Toor Dal is known for its distinct sweetness which comes from jaggery(brown sugar). I loveToor Dal, it a part of a typical Gujarati meal.

Finally, I have come as close as I ever have to getting my Guju Dal to taste like my mother's. Thanks to my aunt, I was able to figure out the missing ingredient that gave the flavor some body (tamarind).