Spinach Pesto sauce

This is a very easy Pesto sauce with no cheese in it. It tastes wonderful and very healthy. Good thing about pesto sauce is you can make a lot and freeze it, so you will have it any time you need or its that simple that will not take much time.

Ingredients:

2cups Baby Spinach
1cup Walnuts
1/4cup Olive Oil
salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:
Grind the walnuts to a fine/coarse powder then add spinach and blend it. Add salt and Pepper and start grinding and slowly add olive oil till its well blended and fine paste is formed. Use it on any pasta or store it in an airtight container.

Note: Its easy in a food processor or a glass jar blender.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Now a days I am trying some new dishes which I would have never thought of trying it at home. After getting calorie conscious I am digging for new dishes with less calories and more vegetables and filling. This is one such dish which has high amount of vegetables and flavors but if done individual pot pies it cuts a lot of calories in the pie base. This was a nice change on a cold/rainy day. The crust was crispy with soft and tender vegetables and the perfect sauce with it.

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)[I used Canola oil]
2 cups sliced yellow onions
1 fennel bulb,
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
Pinch saffron threads
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons heavy cream
1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)
1 1/2 cups Green Beans
1 1/2 cups carrots
1 1/2 cups butternut squash
1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions
1/2 cup minced parsley

For the pastry:

1box of ready pastry mix.

Method:

Melt the butter/oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the beans, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well. Let it stay warm.

For the pastry, make the pie base as given in instruction on the box.Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.Make 4 pie base for an ovenproof bowls filled with the filling.. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the butter wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.Vegetable Pot pie is ready. Serve at Room Temperature.

Simple Salad

Here is a simple salad but very tasty.
Ingredients:

1 cup Lettuce roughly chopped
5-10 Grape/cherry Tomato cut into half
1tbsp chopped walnuts
5 Pineapple bits(from can)
1tbsp Cooked Garbanzo beans(or Canned)
1/4cup Green bell peppers(roughly chopped)
salt and pepper
1tbsp Olive Oil

Method:

Place a serving bowl and add lettuce, tomatoes, pineapple, walnuts, garbanzo beans, bell peppers, salt and pepper. Now add a spoon of olive oil and toss it. Serve chill.

Tips: You can add any dressing or vinaigrette .This is one simple version.

Tofu Ravioli

Ravioli is an Italian dish, which is mainly a stuffed Pasta. Its a delicate and a very refreshing dish.This Ravioli dish is so easy and can be made anytime, if the stuffing is ready. Here I have used Won-ton wrappers as the base.They are readily available in the super-market, so just fill the stuffing and steam it for couple of minutes and dress it with the sauce and its ready to eat. This Tofu stuffing was so yummy and tasty that you will not go to any fancy restaurant anymore. I am actually looking forward to make them again.

Ingredients:

1 pkg won ton wrappers (or vegan pasta dough rolled out)
1 cup extra firm tofu
1/2 cup fresh spinach finely chopped
5-10 mushrooms chopped
1/2 a red bell pepper finely chopped
1 large Onions or scallions chopped fine
1/3 c. gr sunflower seeds (use spice grinder-optional)[I didn't us it]
4-6 sun dried tomatoes soaked in boiling water
3-4 baby carrots finely grated
3 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp crushed rosemary
2-3 cloves garlic crushed
splash of lemon juice
Milk to thin
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste

Tomato sauce
--------------
1 medium Onion chopped
2 cups Canned Tomatoes no salt added
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 tsp Oregano dried
1/2 tsp Basil dried
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth (Stock)
2tbsp Tomato Paste
1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper
Directions:

First put all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend it well. Now heat a pan with a tsp of olive oil and saute the sauce till it gets thick and all the water is evaporated. Keep aside and let it cool a bit.

Mill sunflower seeds into meal consistency then set aside.Drain sun dried tomatoes and finely chop.Blend sliced tofu, lemon juice, sea salt, yeast and milk until ricotta like consistency in a food processor. Finely dice tomatoes, red peppers, and chives. Blend with tofu mixture by hand with a fork just until well mixed. In a small bowl combine tofu mixture with remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Now heat a tsp of olive oil in a frying pan and add this mixture and fry it for 5-6 minutes set aside and cool it.

Place a 1 Tbsp of mixture in center of won ton wrapper. Wet(I brushed fat free milk on the wrappers,you can use just water/butter too), crimp and seal edges of wrapper Securely (or the wrapper will open in the pan and contents will spill out). Cook a few(8 minutes on each side) at a time in your vegetable steamer making sure to not crowd pan or they will stick to each other and be gluey. Keep warm on a covered dish while the remainder cook. Toss with a bit of olive oil when they are cooked to prevent sticking.Top with a little fresh chopped parsley or cilantro, sauce and Parmesan cheese as desired.

I am sending this post to Jyothi's First Event "Pasta Party".

Minestrone soup

Minestrone soup is one of my families favorite soup.Its so delicious, healthy and filling on a chilly evening. Whenever we go to Olive Garden restaurant, this is a must order. I wanted to try this at home to make it more healthy and enjoy it whenever we need it.So i found a perfect recipe almost similar to the restaurant taste. Only thing I came to know was they add Red wine to the soup, which is bad news for a non-alcoholic person like me. But Red wine is very good for health and a similar drink is used in Ayurveda so I am kinda o.k with it once in a while. Since it requires lot of ingredients it needs a little preparation before hand. Its good for kids as its filled with vegetables and pasta.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 cup Zuchhini chopped
1/2 cup Italian Green beans (frozen)
1/4 cup Celery minced (about 1/2 stalk)
4 tsp Garlic minced(about 4 cloves)
4 cups Vegetable Broth
2 (15 ounce) cans/soaked Red Kidney beans
2 (15 ounce) cans small white beans, drained
1 can(14 ounce) diced tomato or fresh tomato diced
1/2 cup carrots shredded
2 tbsp Parsley fresh minced
1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Dried thyme
3 cups Hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup Small Shell Pasta

Method:

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings. Finally add Parmesan cheese on top and serve with Garlic bread.

Note: Make a pot full so it last for a week, as it stays good in fridge .

Chocolate Hazelnut Pie

There are couple of recipes i have tried last couple of weeks and haven't been able to put them on this blog.This week I had some time so I am blogging each dish for the day.Pie is something I am not so fond of but this particular pie made be do it, as it is a no bake pie and ingredients in this is simple and fat free too.So who on Earth would not like to have a fat free pie?no one i guess.I saw this recipe on Food network, a show I like a lot..."Semi-home made cooking by Sandra lee".She made a peanut butter pie, but we're not that fan of Peanut butter when compared to Chocolae Hazelnut..Best part is the hazelnut with chocolate combination its Heaven.I love chocolate in any form but hazelnut and chocolate combination is wonderful. The chocolate-hazelnut spread available is very famous in Europe as its like peanut-butter spread for them.This time when i visited my brother in Europe I picked one "Nutrella" brand Chocolate Hazelnut spread.Now a days we're so much hooked up for this that we no more use jam/jelly's for bread toast.

This pie is like an ice-cream cake, need to be cut an eaten fast once its out of the freezer.In summer time its the best dessert you can serve.Kids love it as its filled with chocolate.It demanded more chocolate topping(according to the recipe) but i skipped it.It really tastes yummy and i recommend to everyone who is a chocolate fan.

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup Chocolate Hazelnut spread
1 Chocolate Pie base
8oz Fat free cream cheese
8oz Fat free cool Whip
1tsp Vanilla extract
1tbsp Chocolate syrup(I skipped this)



Method:

Take Powdered sugar and chocolate-hazelnut spread in a bowl and mix it well , then add vanilla and cream cheese and mix it with a hand blender for few minutes.Add the whipping cream and mix it lightly with a spoon.Pour this mixture on the pie base and refrigerate for 30 minutes.Spray chocolate syrup(which i did not use) on top and cover it with an aluminium foil and freeze it for 2-3 hours or till it is set and serve.

[Note:I freezed it over night so it was completely set.]