Pecan Cornmeal Pesto
— ¼ cup chopped onion: in skillet, cook over low heat in olive oil and a small amount of water until onions are clear and well cooked.
— 1 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
— Optional: a few springs of fresh arugula, finely chopped
— ½ cup pecans
— ¼ coarse ground corn meal
— 2 teaspoons minced garlic
— ¼ cup olive oil
Mix ingredients together thoroughly with a spoon or fork:
Method 1: blend together in a food processor sufficient to chop and mix all ingredients; do not liquify or puree!!!
Method 2: It is a little more work, but much more satisfying as a final result to grind everything together by hand with a mortar and pestle. It works best to do this in small batches and then combine everything together.
The pesto can be used for whatever you like!!
For a satisfying summer mixture add:
— Zest of 1 lemon
— 1 cup corn kernals
— 2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped
Nooshe Joon!
Summer Chick Pea Salad
Ingredients
– Black mustard seeds
– Half an onion, chopped
– 1 tsp powdered cumin
– 2 tsp turmeric
– 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
– ½ tsp ginger powder or 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
– 2 cups potatoes, cut into small chunks
– 2 cups chick peas (garbanzo beans)
– salt
– 5 or 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
– 1 tomato, diced
– sweetened balsamic vinegar reduction
– optional: feta cheese
To prepare:
Place a pinch of black mustard seeds in a pot with 1 tablespoon canola oil (or similar)
Cover the pot tightly and heat over low heat until mustard seeds pop.
Immediately remove pan from heat and allow to partially cool
Add quarter cup water and chopped onions.
Simmer onions until they are clear.
Add cumin, turmeric, fenugreek and ginger and blend well.
Add potatoes and chick peas and enough water to cover both. Simmer until potatoes are soft.
Remove from heat.
After mixture is either at room temperature, or cooled in the refrigerator, mix in:
– Chopped basil leaves
– Diced tomatoes
Optional: add crumbled feta cheese
Salt to taste
Drizzle with sweet balsamic vinegar reduction
(you don’t have to make it yourself; buy it in the store!!!)
Serve as a salad. Makes a great filling for pita bread sandwiches.
• • •
Bisi Bele Bath (South Indian Vegan Vegetarian)
There are many versions of this staple of South India Karnataka cooking.
This recipe is for a rather elaborate variation that we make at our house, but in reality this dish is made with what you have on hand. So if you don’t have tamarind, no worries; no coriander, doesn’t matter; different vegetables? Chop up what you have available. I’ve done my best with measurements. Personally I cook without measuring, so if you feel you want more or less of a particular ingredient no problem at all.
Note: Alternate names for ingredients are in brackets [ ]
Directions
Place in a Kadhai, Wok, Cast Iron Skillet or heavy-bottomed pan with cover tightly secured. As oil heats the mustard seeds will pop (like popcorn); when popping sound decreases or stops remove pan from heat immediately:
– 3 tbsp vegetable oil
– 2 tsp black mustard seeds [Sāsive, sarason ke beej]
Allow pan to cool for a few minutes before adding:
– 1 tbsp vegetable oil
– 1 to 4 red chillies (depending on spice level you want)
– 1 inch cinnamon stick or ¼ tsp cinnamon powder [chekke or dalchini]
– ½ tsp fenugreek seeds or methee beej or Mente kāḷu
Add additional spices (grind in mortar and pestle or use powdered spices):
– 1 tsp cumin powder [jeera or jeerige]
– 1 tbsp coriander seeds [kothambari beeja or dhaniya]
– 1 tsp turmeric [haldee or arisina]
Add just enough water to mixture to briefly cook spices into a loose paste.
Then add:
– 1 cup cooked black or green lentils [urad dal or uddina bele or skinned black gram]
Note: Lentils should be cooked but still firm
– 1 cup cooked garbanzo beans [chick peas or chana dal or dadale bele or bengal gram]
– 6 or 7 curry tree leaves [Karibēvina ele or karee pata]
– 1 to 2 tsp salt
Vegetables should be diced before adding to mixture. Make a selection from any of these:
– Carrot
– Beet Root
– Onion
– Butter Beans
– Potato
–Tomato
Keep on low heat until vegetables are cooked.
Stir into the dish:
– 2 tbsp unsweetened Tamarind syrup or paste [Huṇasehaṇṇu or imalee]
Note: If using Tamarind that comes whole but packed into a block, cut off a section and work the tamarind into a liquid, removing any seeds and long fibres.
To serve:
– Goes well with crackers or flat bread
– A modern tradition is to crumble potato chips [crisps] over the top
– In our house almost anything goes well with plain rice
Nooshe Joon! نوش جون
