Tag Archives: carrot

Jeweled Rice

Not that I’d have a special insight into Persian kitchen, but this recipe appealed to me so much, that I decided to simply let myself inspired by its flavors and colors.

And it’s wasn’t difficult at all 🙂 I used the raw pieces of cinnamon and cardamon and a handful of pumpkin seeds to boil them over the pressure cooker along with the basmati rice . When the cooker cooled out enough, I transferred the rice into a bowl and immediately added the orange blossom water and the hot saffron water so there’s enough fluffiness while for adding the rest of the ingredients. As they follow:

  • freshly grated carrots
  • a handful of cranberries and a few raisins
  • more pumpkin seeds, soaked or pistacchio
  • pomegranate seeds
  • ghee (look for organic one)
  • 7 spices mix (you can do it yourself, just put an emphasis on cinnamon)
  • grated orange peel on top

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For serving I used fresh leaves of lettuce and sorrel, for its sour lemony taste. That’s about it. The result was a true delight of hues and flavors, that revealed one by one, just like the motifs of an arabesque unfold to their true depth as you look further more.

The Solar Salad

This salad came up after googling for a new dressing and feeling inspired by the apricot, ginger orange one. It turned out so deliciously orange that my hands unconsciously started weaving around the colors of the Sun: more orange, more red and yellow.

This is how I started peeling carrots and squash, adding some beautiful local tomatoes, cauliflower rice, red peppers and sweet corn. I balanced everything with fresh lettuce leaves and sprinkled sesame and hemp seeds.
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If you want to save the looks of this salad, keep some carrot slices away from the dressing and add it right before serving (something that I haven’t done here 🙂 Same for the lettuce! Everything gets super juicy with the apricots

list of ingredients

  • carrot & squash tagliatelle
  • cauliflower rice
  • tomatoes
  • red peppers
  • sweet corn
  • olive oil
  • orange juice
  • apricots
  • fresh ginger
  • seeds (hemp, sesame, sunflower, etc)

Indian Potatoes Crush

Indian food…mmmm! I admit I have a crush. And it’s actually a crush on spices and enhanced flavors that I’m infatuated about. Although my eyes haven’t dropped on any reliable health claim on the methods of heating up the spices, my experience is that as long as it’s not oil & starch overloaded and of course, not in big quantities (which can be a bit tricky due to the typical thali ‘refill’ 🙂 traditional Indian food feels good in the body.

So let’s have a look at how spices can add up to such a common dish as potatoes.

First of all, any introduction to Indian cooking involves getting acquainted to chillies, onion, garlic, ginger, coconut & a lot of whole and ground spices. And subsequently to frying them at high heat in a drop of oil (not always, but most usual). The order in the pan starts with the tougher spices (cinnamon bark, star anise, cloves, black pepper, dried red chillies), followed by the seeds (mustard, cumin, fennel, coriander, nigella, etc) so by the time they start popping, they can all be incorporated with the onions (together with fresh chillies, garlic, ginger and so on). One must pay a lot of attention not to burn the spices, at least until the onions step in. The last ones to come are the ground spices, the powders (turmeric, cumin, coriander, different masalas, etc)

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Once you develop the skills, you can start playing 🙂 Here I used a combination of black mustard, cumin, fennel & nigella seeds with chilly flakes, onions, ground turmeric and cumin. When the base was getting ready – the onions turning yellowish – I added the new potatoes, previously halved and boiled in salted turmeric water. Cook everything together for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Now bring some European touch to it 😛 chop some fresh coriander, spinach or spring onions and peel some carrot slices to balance the taste and make it look even better!

list of ingredients

  • (new) potatoes
  • onions
  • mustard seeds
  • nigella seeds
  • fennel seeds
  • chilly flakes (fresh ones as well)
  • ground turmeric
  • ground cumin
  • cooking oil
  • salt
  • fresh coriander/ spinach/ spring onions/ carrot

Cashew Pate

Ever since I’ve encountered cashew I found it intriguingly soft and exotic. The best part of it is that you can easily turn it into a salty spread or a delicious desert.  Either way, be generous with the lemon juice.

For this one I used fresh mint, garlic and salt. Put the hydrated nuts into the food processor, add the seasonings and mix well.  I was inspired by the way my mother use to stuff the peppers with soft cheese and then slice it, but I have to admit the texture here is not firm enough as the cheese 🙂 Better serve it as a spread on any kind of peppers or leaves.

If you don’t have enough cashew, you can easily incorporate some grated coconut and carrot. Instead of fresh mint, use dry one or simply mint water . Just get rid of the garlic and you’ll get a pretty fancy spread.  Serve it with pomegranate seeds and juice and you’ll have a winner for the dinner!

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list of ingredients

  • cashew nuts, soaked for a couple of hours
  • fresh or dry mint/ mint water
  • lemon juice
  • salt
  • option 1: garlic
  • option 2: grated coconut and carrot + pomegranate