Fasolada

I had no idea that there were national foods until I saw it as a theme during this blogging marathon. Back in India, it was norm during our school days to learn about our national animal, bird, flower and so on but I had never come across this "national food" thing. I wondered why and it turns out that India has no national food after all. It is not surprising considering the fact that the food varies vastly from state to state there. 
When I went through the wiki list of national foods, most of the names seemed alien to me at first glance and I started wondering whether I would be able to find vegetarian recipes at all that suit my taste. A little time spent on researching those names lead to not only interesting vegetarian recipes but also this vegan recipe called fasolada from traditional Greek kitchen.
Fasolada / Fasoulada / Fasolia literally means beans. Fasolada pronounced fasolatha is a hearty, bean based soup. This healthy, filling soup is one of the national foods of Greece. White beans are slowly simmered along with the other vegetables such as onion, carrot, celery, tomato and parsley until they are softly cooked and seasoned. Olive oil is generously used in the traditional recipe but I used it sparingly.

Ingredients: (2 Servings)
1/2 cup white beans (I used navy beans.)
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 big onion, finely minced
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 big carrot, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup celery cubes
Puree from 1 tomato
Few sprigs of parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
* I pressure cooked the navy beans ahead. If you don't have a pressure cooker, soak the beans overnight to cook them fast. The soaked beans then can be cooked in a sauce pan along with the vegetables.
* Heat oil in a pan and add onion and garlic. Fry until they turn pinkish.
* Add carrot, celery, tomato puree, parsley and about a cup of water. Cook until vegetables are tender. If navy beans have not been cooked earlier, they can be added as well along with the veggies. Add enough water so that the beans are immersed in water through out the cooking process. Simmer until beans are soft.
* Add the seasonings at the end of cooking, simmer for few minutes and turn off the stove.
* It is served with crusty bread and olive oil. I served it warm with bread croutons.

This is going to be a part of BM # 37 under the theme of "National Foods".

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Navy Beans Curry

Over the years, navy beans have become a staple pantry item in my kitchen. They are white colored pea sized beans with a mild flavor attached to them. They don't need even presoaking if you own a pressure cooker. Initially they used to go in soups at my home but recently I started to use them in Indian style coking as this one for example. Navy beans combined with complimenting Indian spices turn into this hearty bean curry that tastes wonderful. It goes well with rotis / tortillas.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup navy beans
1 - 2 Tbsp oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
one inch piece ginger - grated
2 onions - finely chopped
2 tomatoes - finely chopped
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp chole masala (or garam masala as needed.)
1 Tbsp kasuri methi
Minced cilantro for garnish

Method:
* Cook navy beans until tender. A pressure cooker is ideal for this job but if you don't own one, don't worry. Just soak the beans for a couple of hours in hot water (or overnight soaking is even better) to cut down the cooking time considerably. Throw away the water used to soak and wash the beans thoroughly. Bring the water to a rolling boil in a sauce pan on stove top, add the beans and cook as needed.
* Heat oil in a pan and add cumin seeds and mustard seeds. When mustard seeds start to splutter, add ginger, onion and turmeric. Cook on low flame until onion turns translucent. Then add tomatoes and cook until mushy.
* At this stage if you wish to have gravy, remove half of the cooked onion - tomato mixture and grind it.
* Add this ground paste, salt, chili powder and chole masala to the cooked onion - tomato mixture. Add a little water if needed and bring the mixture to a boil. Add kasuri methi, cook for a couple of minutes more and turn off the stove. Garnish with cilantro.

This is going to be my entry for Susan's MLLA, 40th edition hosted by me this month.

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Simple, Sunday Meals - Soup and Sandwich

Salad:
Carrot, cucumber, lettuce & tomato

Veggie Burgers sans Cheese:
Soy patties toasted with a little butter, shredded lettuce, tomato slices, cucumber slices, dill pickle along with mustard and ketchup gave company to toasted, multigrain, thin sandwich bread.

Minestrone Soup:
This wholesome Italian soup doesn't follow a standard recipe and can be either a vegetarian or a non vegetarian soup. It is prepared with the ingredients at hand and usually contains vegetables, beans and pasta.

Ingredients required for 6 servings:
1 - 2 Tbsp oil
1 small onion - peeled and diced
1 small carrot - peeled and diced
1 small potato - peeled and diced
1 tomato - diced
1 celery stick - diced
1/4 cup of zucchini cubes
A handful of chopped green beans or frozen green peas
Celery leaves
1/2 cup of tomato sauce
1/4 cup small shell pasta (I used elbow pasta.)
1/4 cup any white beans, cooked (I used navy beans.)
1 tsp - Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
(Also add garlic, if preferred.)

Making soup:
* Heat oil in a deep sauté pan and add the onions. Sauté them on low heat till they turn translucent. Then add carrot, potato, tomato, celery, celery leaves, zucchini, green beans or peas and add sufficient water. Cook on medium flame till the vegetables soften.
* Then add tomato sauce, seasoning and simmer for some more time.
* In the meantime, cook pasta al dente and drain.
* Stir in the cooked pasta and beans. Adjust the consistency of soup adding water, if needed and season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for a few minutes more so that all flavors mingle.



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Simple, Sunday Meals - Salad and Soup

A simple, healthy meal put together under 30 minutes on a lazy, cloudy weekend.

A Colorful & Healthy Veggie Salad:



M happens to be the official salad maker at home. He & the little one get to choose the ingredients though the latter would be going gaga over olives. This time they together put this simple, healthy and colorful salad. Shredded lettuce, peeled & sliced carrot bits,  tomato slices, seedless cucumber slices, olives, dill pickle, banana pepper rings and bread croutons went to it with a basic dressing of white vinegar, apple cider vinegar and salt.

Navybean - Veggie Soup

And I get to be the soup maker. I don't follow any rules while preparing soups and just go with my instincts and the ingredients I have on hand. Soups are very forgiving and hard to mess up. Play with whatever you have in the kitchen and you would end up with nourishing and soothing stuff in your bowl.
Today, we had this yummy soup to go with that salad.

 

Ingredients for 3 servings:
Navy beans - 1/4 cup, cooked to fall apart stage
Tomato, onion, carrot - 1 each
Chopped spinach - a handful
Tomato Sauce - about 1/4 cup / 5 oz
Vegetable stock / Water / vegetable bouillon
Garlic powder or garlic
Salt & pepper to taste
Oil - 2 tsp
Italian seasoning (optional / any substitute)

Guidelines for soup preparation:
Chop fine - onion, tomato and peeled carrot.
Heat oil in a pan and add onion (& garlic if using). Fry for a couple of minutes till it softens and then add tomato, carrot and spinach. Add sufficient vegetable stock/water and cook till the vegetables are done. (I added a bouillon cube when the water was boiling.) Then add the cooked beans along with the water and simmer for 5 minutes more.
To the veggie - bean mixture, went in the tomato sauce, salt, pepper, garlic powder & Italian seasoning. Add a little water if the soup needs to be thinner.
Check the taste and adjust the seasoning ingredients.
Simmer for about 10 minutes more.
Turn off the stove and serve piping hot.

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