My kids love breakfast in the morning and look forward to it every morning during these lock down days. It is challenging to get creative at times and so just came up with a breakfast dish very high in protein and good saturated fats (avocados) . This dish was inspired by a korean dish called BIBIMBAP. It is very easy to make. I saute some garlic, onions, red bell pepper, jalapeno’s and black beans with salt and turmeric. My kids love a half fried egg so place that on top with some melted pepper jack cheese and some sour cream and avocados on the side.
Dal makhani or dal makhni is a dish originating from the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. The primary ingredients are whole black lentil, red kidney beans, butter and cream. This dish is a one pot slow cooked dish which will taste better as you let it cook for longer. In India, we cook this for hours and sometimes overnight in a claypot in charcoal flame to get the perfect smoky well stewed Lentils or Dal.
I have substituted butter and cream with low fat milk and coconut oil. So mine is a healthier version of “Dal Makhani”.
The other ingredients used are ginger, garlic, onions, tomatoes and special bunch of Indian spices used for this dish which is cooked for hours to attain the perfect smoky soupy consistency and taste.
One of my most favorite dishes in this world is Meditteranean- nothing like crunchy falafels with some home made tahini, creamy hummus and babaganoush!
Tahini sauce is nothing but roasted sesame along with Olive oil, lemon, salt and garlic. Its the most delicious dip ever. Hummus is also easy to make with chickpeas, garlic cloves, lemon, oilve oil, tahini and salt.
Babaganoush is slightly tricky to make since it involves smoking the eggplant or aubergine in flame to cook and peel off the outer layers. I personally throw the chunks of eggplant after peeling the outer skin into my Vitamix with salt, olive oil, garlic cloves, freshly squeezed lemon and tahini paste. Finally garnish with parsley and mint.
I was asked to make crab cakes during Cut throat Kitchen with Alton Brown on Food Network channel. I am raised a vegetarian and continue to be one so cooking meat or seafood is always a challenge since I do not get to taste my dish and its like cooking blind!
For people who followed me on Master Chef they know that I was asked to cook beef and I did although I refused to taste it. Gordon Ramsay said- ” Its cooked better than some people who cooked it who eat meat”
This simply means that I am blessed to use my finger to throw spices and get lucky with flavors and end up with a tasty dish.
I did exactly that at Cut Throat Kitchen too where I made the crab cakes for Alton but I always try to come up with a vegetarian version.
My quinoa zucchini crab cakes are super healthy and packed with flavor.
Here s the recipe:
Ingredients:
1 cup Quinoa
1 cup grated zucchini
1 small potato grated
1 small onion grated
1/2 jalapeno chopped finely
Spice blend- 1/2 tsp turmeric, lemon pepper powder and garlic powder, curry masala powder and dried fenugreek leaves
Salt to taste
1 teaspoon of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of olive oil
Preparation:
Grate zucchini and add some salt and let it sit for 10 minutes. After 10 min s squeeze all the water out.
Then cook the potato and grate the potato
Cook quinoa. For 1 cup of quinoa add 2 cups of water and let it cook.
Take a bowl and add all the spices, dried fenugreek leaves and salt. Mix well.
Then add grated zucchini, potato, onions, jalapeno and quinoa to the spice mix and mix it well with a spoon mashing everything well.
Add 1 tsp of all purpose flour and mix it in.
Make round patties with this mix.
Place it on a cast iron skillet with olive oil for 2 min s on each side and flip to cook the patties well.
I usually make a mango chutney during the summer and it goes so well with my quinoa zucchini crab cake. You can use any chutney or dip with it.
On this rainy day come and meet me at Whole Foods from 3:30-7:30 pm at Whole Foods in Montclair, NJ to taste some yummy hummus with toasted pita and for an Ithaca Hummus product demo!