Skillet Bulgur Cakes with Vegetarian Chili

February 11, 2012 — Chelvi S

I have been making bulgur with different vegetables.  I kind of started getting bored making the same bulgur dish again and again.  So I thought to make this new and interesting version of bulgur dish.  Grilling in butter gives this dish a distinct flavor.  I used salted butter (I know too much sodium).  But it gives even a better taste.  But if you are a health conscious person and want to avoid any fatty stuff, you can use oil spray instead.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup uncooked bulgur
  • 1 ½ cups water
  • Salt to taste
  • About 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 4 oz white mushroom
  • 1 small green squash
  • 1/3 cup dried kidney beans
  • 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons Sri Lankan chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon cumin powder
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • Butter for skillet

Method:

Cook Bulgur

  • Bring water to boil in a covered saucepan
  • Wash bulgur thoroughly and add washed bulgur to saucepan and bring to a rolling boil
  • Reduce heat to low and cover and simmer until all water is absorbed
  • Let for about 5 – 10 minutes
  • Transfer bulgur to a baking tray and level with a spoon
  • Cool to room temperature
  • Cover and chill in refrigerator for about half an hour to one hour

Cook Vegetarian Chili

  • Soak beans overnight.  Drain water and wash them thoroughly
  • Add beans to a saucepan, add enough water and cook until soft (I used a pressure cooker since its fast.  I cooked for about 8 whistles).  Let cool.
  • Meanwhile thinly slice onion, garlic, and mushrooms.
  • Chop squash into ½ inch cubes
  • Add oil to a saucepan and add onion and garlic and sauté until soft.
  • Add mushroom, squash, beans, chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, ½ cup water, tomato paste and salt and cover and cook on medium flame for about 10 – 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender and the gravy has thickened

To Serve:

  • With a sharp knife, cut chilled bulgur in to diagonal pieces (about 6)
  • Melt about 1 tablespoon butter in a non stick skillet
  • Add bulgur cakes to the skillet and cook on both sides until lightly browned and crisp
  • Drain on paper towel
  • Place 2 bulgur diagonal pieces on each plate and top each serving with vegetable chili.

Serves 3

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Quinoa with Crunchy Sprouted Beans

February 3, 2012 — Chelvi S

Bean sprouts has a crunchy and nutty flavor.  They are rich in vitamins, minerals, amino acids, protein and phytochemicals.  Usually I add these sprouts in salads which give a nice crunchy taste.  But due to the recent outbreaks of salmonella, or Escherichia coli I started cooking them in high heat so it will at least kill the bacteria to some extent.

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup Quinoa
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • About 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • ½ lb mixed vegetables (such as bell pepper, mushroom, squash etc)
  • About ½ inch piece of ginger
  • 1 small red onion

  • 1 cup mixed bean sprout
  • Few cashew nuts (optional)
  • ½ teaspoon chili paste
  • 1 teaspoon crushed pepper
  • Salt to taste

Method:

  • Roast quinoa on low flame for a couple of minutes or until fragrant (make sure not to burn it or turn brown)
  • Add water and salt and bring to a rolling boil.  (When adding water to the roasted quinoa, it might splatter since the pan is quite hot).
  • Reduce flame and cook until all the water is absorbed. When quinoa is cooked you will see a tiny tail coming out of the grain.  (See my image for recipe quinoa with vegetables).  Let cool
  • Chop ginger into very small pieces (you can also grind and crush them)
  • Chop bell pepper, squash, and mushrooms into thick sliced.
  • Add oil to a skillet and add ginger and fry for about a minute.
  • Add red onion and sauté until lightly transparent.
  • Now add the rest of the vegetables and sprouted beans and stir fry on medium to high flame for about 5 minutes
  • Reduce flame and add chili paste, crushed pepper and mix well and cook for another minute
  • Transfer cooked quinoa to the skillet and mix well.
  • Season with salt.
  • Roast cashew nuts and sprinkle on the top and mix into the quinoa.
  • Serves about 2

Note: you can use any vegetables you want for this dish.  For example snow peas or sugar snap peas can be another option (I did not have those).  If you are non vegetarian, you may want to try a bit of fried shrimp on the top.

Posted in Grains, Lunch, Main Courses, Main Dishes, Uncategorized. Tags: , , , , . Leave a Comment »

Quinoa with Roasted Veggies

January 8, 2012 — Chelvi S

I like to roast vegetables instead of sauteing them on a stove top.  Especially with the cold weather and windows shut, sauteing in oil makes the whole house smell.  So this is one of the most easiest way to cook vegetables which is quite healthy and time consuming.  Once you put the vegetables in the oven, you don’t have to stand next to it.  So here is a quick version of Quinoa dish.

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ lb vegetables such as green beans, bell pepper, cauliflower, mushrooms.
  • ½ lb sweet potato
  • 5 red radishes
  • About 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons flax seed grounded
  • ½ teaspoons roasted cumin seeds
  • ¾ cup white quinoa
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • Salt to taste

Method

  • Pre-heat oven to 400F
  • Slice bell pepper into thin slices.  Break the cauliflower into small florets.  Slice mushrooms into thick slices.  Chop green beans diagonally into 1 inch pieces
  • Cut sweet potatoes into about ½ inch cubes
  • Add all the vegetables to a cookie sheet with salt and sprinkle with olive oil and mix well
  • Bake for about 45 minutes
  • Let cool
  • To cook Quinoa: add quinoa to a skillet and roast lightly on medium flame.  About 5 minutes.
  • Stir water and salt to quinoa and bring to a rolling boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until all the water is absorbed.  About 10 minutes
  • Let cool.  Now mix vegetable with quinoa and season with salt and pepper
  • Serve with mango pickle.
  • Serves 2 as a main dish
Posted in Grains, Main Dishes, Quick Dishes. Leave a Comment »

Vegetable Quinoa Pilaf

February 8, 2011 — Chelvi S

I found a quinoa recipe in the good housekeeping website.  (check recipe at Vegetable Quinoa Curry).  I took this recipe and modified to make it as a vegetable quinoa pilaf.

Quinoa (Red & White):

Quinoa is a grain like plant grown for its edible seeds.  Even though quinoa looks like a grain, it does not belong to the grass family (graminacea). Quinoa is closely related to spinach, beets, and Swiss chard.  The most common ones are the white quinoa which becomes transparent or off white when cooked.  But other varieties features colors as red, orange, brown etc.  Cooked quinoa seeds are very fluffy and crunch in taste.

When cooked, the bead like quinoa will have a tiny tail like protruding from the seeds.

Cooked Quinoa:

Quinoa is very rich in amino-acids as well as rich in manganese, iron, copper and phosphorus

Ingredients

  • ¾ cup quinoa
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • 10 – 12 oz mixed vegetables (cauliflower, carrots, string beans etc)
  • 6 oz extra firm tofu baked
  • 2 teaspoons cooking oil
  • ¼ cup chopped onion
  • 2 – 3 cloves garlic chopped
  • ¼ inch piece ginger chopped
  • ½ teaspoon coriander powder
  • ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • Couple of cashew nuts (about 10)
  • 2 teaspoons generous Greek yogurt
  • Salt to taste

Method

  • Add quinoa to a saucepan and roast on medium flame for about 5 minutes stirring frequently
  • Stir water and salt to quinoa and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and cover and simmer until all the water is absorbed (about 10 minutes).  Set aside
  • Break the cauliflower into small florets.  Slit the carrot lengthwise and then chop diagonally into thick slices.  Cut green beans into 1½ inch pieces.
  • Add oil to a saucepan and add onion and sauté for about a minute.  Add chopped ginger and garlic and sauté until onion and garlic are golden brown
  • Add coriander powder, cumin powder and fry for a couple of seconds on low flame
  • Add vegetables, water and cover and cook on low flame until all the water is absorbed and vegetables are soft (if needed sprinkle a little water at a time to prevent burning)

  • Add cashew nuts, quinoa, baked tofu, Greek yogurt to the vegetable mix and mix well
  • Serve warm (serves 2 main dishes)
Posted in Grains, Main Dishes, Others. 1 Comment »

Bulgur for Brunch

December 8, 2010 — Chelvi S

This is a very healthy bulgur dish with brussels sprouts and tofu.

 

Ingredients

  • ½ cup uncooked bulgur
  • 1 ¼ cups water
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 medium carrot shredded
  • 1 ½ cups Brussels sprouts finely shredded
  • 2 cups finely shredded spinach
  • 5 oz tofu cubed
  • 1 tablespoons chopped walnuts toasted
  • 1 tablespoons flax seed toasted
  • 2 teaspoons feta cheese
  • Oil spray

 

Method

  • Wash bulgur thoroughly
  • In a covered saucepan, bring water to a rolling boil
  • Add bulgur and once it starts boiling lower the flame to very low and cover and let cook for about 10 – 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed
  • Set aside
  • Wash the tofu and cut them into cubes
  • add oil spray to a cookie sheet and add tofu cubes and broil for about 15 minutes and then turn the tofu and broil again for another 10 minutes
  • set aside
  • Meanwhile in a skillet add oil and once it’s hot add Brussels sprout and shredded carrot and sauté for about 7 – 8 minutes or until crisp but done
  • Add cooked bulgur to the skillet and add broiled tofu, flax seed, walnuts, feta cheese and mix well
  • Season with salt and pepper
Posted in Grains, Main Dishes. 1 Comment »

Healthy CousCous Dish

August 29, 2010 — Chelvi S

Ingredients

  • 2/3 cup couscous
  • 1 cup water
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 6 oz frozen veggie crumbles (can be replaced with ground meat)
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 medium red/yellow bell pepper
  • 1 ½ cups sliced button mushrooms
  • Oil spray
  • 1 tablespoon ground flax seed
  • Black pepper and salt to taste

Method

  • In a covered saucepan add water, olive oil and salt and bring to a rolling boil
  • Turn off the flame and add couscous and cover and leave for about 15 – 20 minutes
  • Meanwhile chop mushrooms into thick slices and chop bell pepper into thin strips
  • Spray some oil in a cookie sheet and add mushrooms and bell pepper and bake at 450F for about 15 – 20 minutes
  • Thaw veggie crumbles
  • In a skillet add oil and once its hot, add veggie crumbles and sauté/fry until they are cooked and dry
  • Now fluff the couscous with a fork and add to the skillet with baked mushrooms and bell pepper
  • Add ground flax seed and mix well
  • Season with salt and pepper
  • Serves: 2
Posted in Grains, Main Dishes, Quick Dishes. Leave a Comment »
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