Agretti Parathas

The CSA season is in full swing. Every week the bag brings us just-harvested, lovingly grown, organic vegetables. A recent bag contained, amongst other things, bok choy, cilantro, broccoli, baby carrots, kale and agretti. While reading the newsletter that accompanies the produce, I mentally made plans for each item; but at the last one I hit a major speedbreaker.

Each year we get introduced to a couple of new vegetables/ cooking greens. Last year it was lamb's quarters. This year it is agretti. More about agretti here.

When presented with a new cooking green, I usually try them for the first time in a daal or in parathas. Both don't need a recipe per se which make them ideal for experimentation. If the green is not welcomed in the daal or paratha avatar, it is unlikely we'd like them prepared any other way. But so far we haven't met a cooking green we didn't like.

This time I made agretti parathas. Here is a picture of the parathas and a spring (bunch?) of agretti.

We were quite happy with the results. The inherent sourness came through quite well.
The only herb/ spice I used was chopped garlic and some mirchi powder. Next time I can load up on the spices as this is quite a sturdy green. Owa (ajwain, carom) with agretti already sounds good.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour (atta)
1 cup chopped agretti
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tsp mirchi powder
4-5 stalks of cilantro, chopped
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste

Method
Heat the oil over medium high heat, add garlic. Don't let it brown.
Add the mirchi powder, salt, and agretti.
Cook for about 5 minutes.
Add the cilantro.
Let cool slightly before adding the flour.
Add water as need to make a soft dough. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into about 20 pieces.
Roll each piece into parathas of even thickness.
Use a little oil and cook both sides of the parathas on a heated pan.
Enjoy with yogurt!

These parathas go to Srivalli's Roti Mela.

Sunshine Salad (aka Yellow Beet Salad)

The moment I saw these yellow beets, I knew my 'Y' was taken care of.
That is my entry for 'Y is for ...' of Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables .
The red/purple colour of beets is due to a combination of betacyanin (a purple pigment)and called betaxanthin (a yellow pigment). The yellow beet have more betaxanthin and less of betacyanin.
Besides being slightly sweet, the best thing about yellow beets is that they don't bleed any colour like the red beets. They taste much like regular beets; maybe just a tad sweeter.



Ingredients
2-3 cooked yellow beets, cubed (I microwaved the beets, which turned out to be a bad idea as they started blackening in a while. Next time I'll be cooking them in the pressure cooker.)
1 small onion, thinly sliced
handful of chopped cilantro
1 (or more) jalapeno, finely chopped
¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped
salt, to taste
juice of ½ lemon (or more)

Method
Mix all ingredients.
Adjust the salt and lemon juice as per your taste.
Cover and let it rest for about an hour.

Serve as a salad to accompany your usual meal or mix with a couple of cups of cooked pasta to make a wonderful summery one-dish meal.

This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables food blog event.

X = Lamb's Quarters

Lamb's quarters a.k.a goosefoot, pigweed, and fat hen. So many names and each one more glamorous and appetising than the previous one. As if this wasn't enough, this edible weed thrives on muck.
But since I was on the look out for something unusual, something I hadn't used before for Nupur's A-Z event, I wasn't going to let anything get in the way of trying this green.
More on this weed here and here.

Lamb's quarters can be eaten raw, but the taste and rough texture just did not appeal to me.
They had to be cooked. I could've taken the easy way out and used them to make daal. Nah, too boring and predictable.
Since I am in a major bread making phase, it didn't take me long to figure out how I'd use the lamb's quarters: whole wheat buns stuffed with seasoned lamb's quarters!
On a whim I used pav bhaaji masala instead of garam masala. So glad I did that. The pav bhaaji masala worked really well here.
The buns were delicious, just delicious!
I like the idea of making such stuffed buns, the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients
whole wheat bread dough, divided into 12 pieces
4 cups lamb's quarters, finely chopped
1 carrot, shredded (optional. I used this only for the colour contrast.)
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 tbps pav bhaaji masala
1 tbsp oil
salt and lemon juice, to taste

Method
Make the filling:
Heat the oil, first add the pav bhaaji masala and then the lamb's quarters.
Cook for about 10 minutes.
Add the salt, lemon juice, carrots, and cilantro and mix well. Turn off the heat.
After the mixture cools slightly, taste it and adjust the salt and lemon accordingly.

Make the buns:
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Roll each piece of dough into a roughly circular shape, the size of your palm.
Put about 2 tbsp of the filling on the dough and fold the edges to cover the dough and press slightly.
Place the bun, fold side down in a 13x9 pan.
Prepare the rest of the buns in the same manner.
Cover the buns with a moist kitchen towel. Let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
Brush the buns with a bit of melted butter.
Bake the buns on a pizza stone or in the pan, about 15 minutes.
Enjoy!


This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables food blog event.

Wild Arugula-Batata Bhaaji

Wild arugula has a much stronger flavour than regular arugula.
Regular arugula is pretty bitter to begin with and even for most adults, it is an acquired taste.
In other words, there was no way the kids would've eaten it as-is.
To reduce the bitterness I combined equal parts of spinach and wild arugula to make this bhaaji.
It was delicious!
The bitterness was noted, acknowledged, and (surprisingly) appreciated by all.
I'm definitely going to make this again, and again....

The potatoes play a supporting role in this dish, the wild arugula is the real star.

Ingredients
2 cups wild arugula, washed & chopped
2 cups spinach, washed & chopped
10-15 small potatoes (Halve the smaller ones and quarter the slightly larger ones)
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
4-5 heads of spring onions (or 1 small onion), thinly sliced
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste (optional)
1 jalapeno, minced
salt, to taste
lemon juice

Method
Heat oil, add the mustard seeds and when they start spluttering add the jalapeno and onions.
Saute on low heat till the onions start browning.
Add the ginger-garlic paste, if using.
Add the potatoes and give them a good stir.
Put the lid on and let them cook. If they start to stick to the pan, add a bit of water.
When the potatoes are almost cooked, add the wild arugula, spinach, salt, and the lime juice. Stir well.
Continue cooking till the arugula and spinach wilt.
Adjust the salt as required.

Serve with phulkas/ rotis/chapatis/pita or rice.

This is my entry for Nupur's A-Z of Indian Vegetables food blog event.

My CSA Bag has Fava Beans: It Must Be Spring

Before I get to the recipe, a bit about CSA.
A few years ago, I noticed that the only locally grown ingredients on my dining table were the head of lettuce from Salinas, CA and the garlic from Gilroy, CA.
Though we'd regularly frequent the farmer's market, we couldn't always go there. When we couldn't, the produce came from the global market place!
We live in Northern California, where one should get locally grown produce all year around.
Enter Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Before the harvest season starts, I sign up to become a member of the farm.
Every week, throughout the harvest season, I pick up a bag of organic, fresh, locally grown produce from a pick-up site in the neighbourhood.
Just look at a recent CSA bag!!!

Being a part of the CSA has completely changed the way I cook.
In the pre-CSA days, I'd look at kale, the different types of chards, fava beans but I'd pass them saying 'I'll get them next time'....which never came.
I was mainly apprehensive of them fitting in my Indian-Maharashtrian kitchen.
But once I started getting these vegetables in my CSA-bag, I was forced to use them...forced to think outside the box (bag).
In no time the vegetables that once seemed exotic became a part of our much loved foods: kale-pulao, bok-choy amti (daal), chard-parathas, pasta with dandelion greens etc.

Now on to the recipe....

I read this recipe for the fava bean salad in a magazine in my dentist's waiting room. Don't remember the name of the magazine(was in too much pain) but do remember the ingredients...pain or not, I am a foodie.
The cilantro is my addition.
I think parmesan (not the kind that comes in a box) and cilantro go well together.

Fava Bean Salad
Ingredients
2 cups shelled fava beans
6-7 stalks, spring onions
4-5 stalks cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup, parmesan cheese, loosely packed
1-2 tsp oil (I used olive oil)
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Blanch the fava beans for just over a minute.
Heat oil, and on a low flame cook the spring onions.
Cook the onions slightly (about 1-2 minutes).
Take the onions off the heat and let cool slightly.
Add the beans, cilantro, cheese, and pepper.
Toss well.
Taste the salad before adding the salt. The amount of salt will depend on the saltiness of the cheese.
Enjoy!

I'm sending the salad to Meeta's Monthly Mingle: Spring Is In The Air.