Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage and Peas)

A spicy, vegetarian, Indian dish of cabbage, peas (I added some carrots to the mix), and warm spices.

I love Indian food and Indian flavors.  The complexity of the flavors is something indescribable.  Not only does this dish (and most Indian dishes) taste great, it is also very nutritious.  I like to have vegetarian meals regularly, and vegetables are usually much less expensive than meat.  This meal has no cholesterol (when you use oil instead of ghee) and lots of nutritious vegetables.  All of the spices are healthy too, I'm no expert but, I have read great things about chillies, garlic, ginger, and turmeric.  Even if they happen to not be as great for you as some websites say, they don't hurt and they taste great.

Patta Gobhi Mattar (Cabbage and Peas)

Ingredients:
Modified slightly from IndianFoodForever.com

1-2 Tbsp cooking oil or ghee
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp ginger, minced
1-2 jalapeno minced
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 large head cabbage, chopped
2 carrots, jullened
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp red chili
Salt to taste

Heat a large skillet with oil over medium high heat.  Add cumin seeds and let them sputter.

Then, add the ginger, garlic, and jalapeno (or chilli of choice you can remove the seeds or leave them in depending on how much heat you can handle.  I usually remove the seeds and control the heat with the chili powder because sometimes raw peppers can have different heat intensity).

Stir and cook until fragrant, about a minute.  Add the cabbage and carrots and spices (I used a lesser amount of ghost pepper masala instead of the red chili powder because I have a lot of it on hand--a friend brought some back from India for me and it is VERY spicy).

Stir and mix until just tender, then add peas.  Cover and reduce heat to low until peas are heated through.

Serve with rice and flat bread (cilantro and raita are nice too).  Makes about 3-4 servings.

Enjoy.

Linked to:  2 Cup, Lou Lou Girls, Teach Me, Tasty Tues, Tickle my Tastebuds, Freedom, foodie friends

Original post 2/20/2013 (50 views, 6 pins) re-posted with updated pictures and minor editing.

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Blueberry Pancakes

I like to call this my blue breakfast.  Blueberry, whole wheat pancakes and a blueberry smoothie.

I must share something with you all (or y'all which ever you prefer). My husband is weird.  He sings random, made up songs and changes the words to regular songs all the time.  I found this slightly odd and endearing at first, and now I hardly notice.  I have even started to pick up this habit.  While I was making this breakfast I was singing 'Blue Breakfast' to the tune of Blue Christmas and changing the words to suit my needs  (and I don't sing well luckily my husband picked up the tune and took it from there).   Yes we are weird.

Anyway.  For this breakfast I used my usual Whole Wheat Pancake recipe and just added blue berries.  This makes for a delicious and nutritious breakfast.

A tip I picked up from a cooking show:

•  Do not mix the blue berries in to the pancake batter (they will crush and you will have funny colored pancakes or sink to the bottom).  Instead sprinkle the blueberries on the individual pancakes, in the pan, while the batter is still soft, before you flip it.  Press the blueberries as deep into the batter as you can to keep them from falling out while flipping.

I think this is the best way to make blueberry pancakes.  The blueberries stay intact and they are well spaced so you can have the amount of blueberries you want in every bite.  This recipe made about 5-6 pancakes and I also made some bacon.

For the smoothie:

2 apple bananas (the small bananas)
1 cup frozen blueberries
Kefir (enough to fill the blender to 750 ml)

Put all ingredients in a blender and puree or liquify (or whatever is preferred on your blender for smoothies) until all ingredients are mixed and smooth.

 

 This was a great breakfast and it felt great having a well balanced meal.  If you find blueberries at your store (of if you are lucky enough to have a blueberry bush), make pancakes. The time for pancakes is now! Enjoy.

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Mushroom and Chicken Barley Pilaf

A delicious and nutritious pilaf made with onions, mushrooms, mizuna, chicken, and barley.  A great dinner on a cool rainy night.

All week the weather here in Honolulu has been rainy, dark, and chilly (I would say cold, but it's only in the 60s--Fahrenheit which in reality is not cold but when you are used to sunny 80 degree days if feels cold).  While I prefer warm sunny days, this weather has its uses mainly being I feel inspired to make winter time recipes.

I have been thinking I should incorporate more whole grains into my diet and I came across a recipe for Mushroom and Caramelized Onion Barley.  This recipe was used as a side dish so I made my own tweaks to make it a full meal.  I also recently found another mushroom recipe that I had to try  called Bourbon Mushrooms.  My recipe mixes these two recipes and adds some new items to make a filling and nutritious one pot meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 large red onion, chopped
• 5 cups sliced mushrooms (I used a combination of crimini, button, king trumpet, and shiitake)
• 4 cups mizuna, chopped (or any slightly peppery green)
• 1/4 cup bourbon (I used Jim Beam, but any would be fine or use a few dashes of worchestire sauce instead)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 cup dried barley
• 1 1/4-2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup chopped (precooked) chicken
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil

In a large pot heat about 1-2 tsp olive oil over medium heat then add onion,  cook uncovered for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally until onions caramelize.

Then, add the mushrooms and stir.  Cook for about 15 minutes more and add garlic and thyme cooking for about 1 minute until fragrant.

Add the mizuna (or other green of your choice.  I just learned what mizuna was the other day.  I kept seeing it at the market and it was inexpensive and neat looking so I asked around until someone was able to tell me what it was, then I googled it) and bourbon.  Cover the pot and let the mizuna cook down until wilted it should only be a minute or two.

Add salt and pepper (I read some where that you should only add salt at the end when cooking mushrooms)  then add the barley and chicken broth.  Bring to boil and reduce temperature to simmer and let cook for 30-45 minutes until barley softens and the liquid is absorbed (if you soak the barley overnight the cooking time is shorter).  

Add the chicken and pecans last and turn off the heat and cover for a few minutes for the chicken to heat. (This is a great use for leftover chicken of any sort.  I used leg and thigh meat, but breast meat would be fine too.  For a vegetarian meal omit the chicken completely and use a mushroom broth instead of chicken broth.)

Makes 4 servings.

I served this pilaf with a side of cauliflower.  It made a very filling and satisfying meal.  It was great.  If you like mushrooms this is the recipe for you and it's nutritious.  Enjoy.

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