This Spaghetti Ain’t Squashed
Winter’s been quite severe so far, what with our area’s first blizzard of the 21st century and foot-upon-foot of snow and ice.
Brr. It was fun when the snow first came down but after that, not so much.
Weather like that makes one yearn for steamy food, doesn’t it? So this holiday season, I cooked what is fast becoming a Burke family “heirloom-in-waiting”; a marinara sauce my brother-in-law learned of from a friend, and that I’ve been experimenting with as well. It’s delish.
Unfortunately you’re not getting that recipe from me today.
Not because I’m being selfish, but mostly because I don’t have any photographs of it, and it deserves to be seen as well as eaten.
What I do think you should try to make, though, is this extremely easy and tasty recipe from Martha Rose Shulman for spaghetti squash. It’s incredible. I’ve started cooking it in place of pasta to go with the marinara. In fact, I don’t know if I’ll ever eat pasta again, when spaghetti squash is such a delicious and healthful alternative.
Filed under Cooking, Recipe of the Week, Shonali Burke | Tags: Cooking, marinara, martha rose shulman, pasta sauce, Recipe of the Week, spaghetti squash | Comments (3)Carry On Kofta
I “borrowed” the title for this recipe post from Shashi Bellamkonda‘s Carry On Curry, because I knew he wouldn’t mind (you don’t, right, Shashi?). If you haven’t read CoC, you should check it out, it’s great fun and extremely valuable for foodies in the DC metro area.
Koftas are basically the Indian version of meatballs. Just like the feringhis, we rarely eat them without some kind of gravy (or curry, which means many more things to us than a spice or herb). But we’ll often pair them with a vegetable, dal and rice and/or rotis (tortillas are an ok substitute) to make a really hearty meal.
Here’s my recipe for kofta curry, a classic Indian comfort food.
Ingredients
Koftas: 1 lb. ground lean turkey (or meat of your choice); ½ cup chopped cilantro; 1 tsp cumin seeds; ¼ tsp turmeric powder; ¼ tsp salt; pinch chilli pepper; ½ tsp ginger paste; ½ tsp coriander powder. Enough oil to deep fry the koftas.
Filed under Cooking, Recipe of the Week, Shonali Burke | Tags: Cooking, food, kofta curry, shashi bellamkonda | Comments (3)Spinach and Mushroom Enchiladas
Before moving to the U.S. nine years ago, I’d eaten Mexican food only once or twice; it just wasn’t that big in India at the time (I have no idea if it’s different now). Chinese, Thai, Continental, yes, but not Mexican. Perhaps that’s not surprising in in a country that has such a rich culinary heritage of its own.
Nine years down the road, I love Mexican food. There are several spices that are similar to those used frequently in Indian cooking, albeit in different combinations. It’s up there with dosas for me. So here’s my recipe for spinach and mushroom enchiladas. This is not a low-fat recipe by any means, but it’s delicious.
Ingredients (makes 8 enchiladas; reduce ingredients if you want to make fewer)
½ bag frozen spinach, thawed & drained; 1 can black beans, drained; 1 white onion, chopped; 1 fresh tomato, chopped; 2 bunches green onions, sliced; 2 cups mushrooms, chopped; 8 tortillas; 2 cans enchilada sauce (I use one red and one green); 3 cups grated cheese (I like to use Pepper Jack); ½ bottle taco sauce; 2 tsp cooking oil.
Recipe
Filed under Cooking, Recipe of the Week, Shonali Burke | Tags: Cooking, recipes, spinach enchiladas | Comment (0)
