Sunday, March 29, 2009

A Daring Bakers Venture: Lasagne Verdi al Forno

This month's challenge was to make lasagne from scratch!! Now though I have prepared home-made mushroom ravioli some years ago, I never really considered venturing into making my own lasagne sheets!!

The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.

I chose to make a vegetarian version - egg free with a vegetarian ragu filling!! The bechamel sauce was delicious. Well, here is the beautiful result. The photos are ready for sharing:)

The corner piece which I love!!!!

And one for a view of the layers:)

Yummy!! We all really enjoyed this meal. This recipe is a keeper.

All content, text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2010. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Adzuki Beans with Swiss Chard

This is one of my very favourite recipes, and I love to make it on winter evenings. Once cooked, adzuki beans are very creamy and with the addition of a green almost resemble a thick hearty soup!! They absorb seasoning very well yet retain their own particular taste. This recipe will go well with Indian style flat breads, as well as any freshly baked wheat bread. We love it with Basmati rice.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Cucumber Salad with Peanuts

We've just got past the first few days of spring and already we are feeling the difference in the weather. Its a tad warmer, the snow has almost entirely disappeared and green shoots of grass pushing their tiny heads out of the barren ground!

Warmer weather definitely encourages a change in the menu and I am really enjoying making fresh and light salads now-a-days!! Here's one with cucumber and peanuts! The beauty of this salad recipe is that its very easy to put together, can be added as a side dish to a meal, and serves as a wonderful and tasty starter too :)

Ingredients:
1 medium cucumber, peeled & diced
2 green chilies, minced
1/2 tsp ginger, grated
2 tbsp cilantro, minced
2 tbsp fresh coconut, shredded
1/4 cup peanuts, roasted & crushed
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Salt, to taste
Pinch of sugar

Method:
  1. Mix the cucumber, chilies, ginger, coconut, and cilantro. all the ingredients together. Set aside for 10 minutes.
  2. Blend salt and sugar into the yogurt. Add to the cucumber mix and coat the cucumber well.
  3. Add the peanuts.
  4. Mix and serve immediately with a meal.
This salad goes well with parathas, bhaji, or dal. But I often dish it up separately as a starter with roasted papads (poppadums) or as a dip with crunchy corn tortillas. This refreshing recipe goes to Neha @ Easy & Tasty recipes who is hosting AFAM Cucumber this month.

All text and photographs in this blog, unless otherwise noted, are Copyright of © Annarasa 2007-2009. All Rights Reserved. Kindly do not reproduce without permission.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Whole Wheat Focaccia

How about a slice of freshly baked focaccia with your soup? Here's the recipe of this wholesome focaccia that I baked to go with my Vegetable & Black Bean Soup. Now typically, all recipes for focaccia include all-purpose flour as the primary ingredient. However, as I am not really a fan of maida (all-purpose flour), I try and substitute it with other types of flour where possible. Here is my recipe for a tasty and chewy Whole Wheat Focaccia.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Chocolate Almond Muffins

Last weekend I decided to treat us to some delightful muffins. I have been baking quite a lot of bread of late, and have been avoiding baked goodies like cakes, muffins, and cookies. But then, last Saturday I purchased a new muffin pan and I could not stop myself from inaugurating it:)

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Vegetable & Black Bean Soup

There is a lovely bakery in our neighbourhood. It specializes in bagels, whole grain breads, and an amazing array of Danish pastries! They also do soup and sandwich lunches and the best part of this is that they actually have 2-3 completely vegetarian soups on the menu each day. And by vegetarian I mean that even their basic soup stock is a vegetable stock!!