Author Archives for Swati Raje

Grilled Peaches w/ Balsamic Soy Ginger Glaze

One of my favorite things about summer is the variety of local fruit available in the farmer’s markets and grocery stores. I love them all from the berries, to plums to watermelons and beyond. But really great peaches are my favorite. I like nectarines too but there’s nothing like a perfectly ripe peach – a texture and flavor that nectarines just don’t ever achieve. So, why do I love peaches so much? There’s something about a peach that takes me back to my younger days of eating delicious mangoes in India in the month of May, and my nostalgia swings into full gear as I find there are many similarities in the two fruit. If you’ve ever had an Alfonso mango, you may understand what I mean.

In addition to enjoying peaches by just taking a bite out of them, I find this fruit extremely versatile in recipes too. Off season, I keep a bag of frozen peaches in the freezer at all times. Aside from the usual peach pie or cobbler, I’ve also used peaches in savory recipes like peach salsas to serve over grilled fish, or blended them into my chicken curry to add an interesting balance of flavors. I’ve added them to bread pudding and used less ripe peaches to add a crunch to salads. Yesterday, I was planning a quick and easy outdoors dinner for a friend who was dropping by and while driving to the grocery store, thought about making grilled peaches. By the time I arrived at the store, I had envisioned this recipe in my head based on what I knew I had in my pantry. All I needed to buy was the peaches.

I loved the way this recipe turned out – a great balance of sweet, acid & salt with a hint of heat from the ginger & cayenne. It was the perfect, summer, no fuss dessert that I was able to prep and serve outdoors to accommodate these days of social distancing.

Grilled Peaches with Soy Balsamic Ginger Glaze & Basil

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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For grilling, I like semi firm peaches as I find they taste better when you’re adding a sweet glaze on top. They’re also easier to work with on the grill. You can certainly make this recipe with ripe peaches too, but I usually prefer to eat those raw.

If you’d like to add another component, you can top the peaches with some goat cheese or blue cheese before adding the glaze.

Ingredients

    For the Glaze :
  • 1/2 Cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 Cup water
  • 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
  • 2 tsp Soy Sauce (I used low sodium)
  • 2 tsp grated fresh ginger
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

    • For the Peaches :

  • 4 Semi-firm Peaches – halved & pit removed
  • 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
  • 6 – 8 Fresh Basil leaves torn roughly with hands (do this just before you add to the top)

Directions


1. Make the glaze – add all ingredients in a small sauce pan and heat over medium low heat to a boil stirring occasionally. Once the sugar has melted, continue to boil (stirring frequently) till liquid has halved and is thick enough to coat a spoon. Set aside until ready to use.

2. Prepare the peaches by rubbing the cut side with olive oil

3. Heat your grill with burners on medium low so it maintains a constant temperature of 400F.

4 . Once the grill is hot, place the peaches on the grill cut side down and close the cover. Allow to cook for 5 – 10 mins until you see the grill marks clearly, then turn them and cook another 5 mins. The peaches will have softened but still feel firm.

5. Remove peaches to a serving plate and drizzle with the glaze. If the glaze has hardened, you may need to reheat for a few minutes (I placed the sauce pan straight on the grill to do this) to loosen up.

6. Tear and sprinkle the fresh basil on top and serve warm.

Chole – (Chickpeas in a creamy tomato curry)

Chole (pronouced Cho-lay) is a popular vegetarian dish in India usually served with rice or paratha. It is easy to make and can be ready very quickly if you use canned chick peas, making it ideal for a fast weeknight meal. Sometimes, I’ll add chopped spinach leaves to make it a true one-pot meal. This recipe is not from any particular tradition but one that I have developed over the years to my own taste.

Chole

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: easy
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Chickpeas in a spice tomato gravy(curry)


Garam Masala is a blend of warming spices like cinnamon, mace, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, and black pepper that can be made fresh at home or bought at any Indian grocer. I often find it in the International aisle of many supermarkets also.

Ingredients

  • 4 Tbsp canola oil
  • 2 inch cinnamon stick
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 15.5 oz can chick peas, drained
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 2 Cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped (optional)
  • ¼ cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Directions


1. In a large sauce pan, heat the canola oil with the cinnamon stick on medium heat.

  1. When the cinnamon starts to sizzle, add the chopped onion and stir until it softens.
  2. Add the cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, and salt and stir to combine and cook for 1 minute until the spices are fragrant.
  3. Add the garlic & ginger and stir and cook for one more minute
  4. Add the tomato paste and combine thoroughly with the onion & spices. Continue to cook until tomato paste starts turning brown from caramelization.
  5. Add 1 Cup water and stir.
  6. At this point, add the spinach if using and cover to cook until just wilted (about 2 mins).
  7. Add chick peas and stir to heat through.
  8. Finish with garam masala & cilantro, if adding stirring to combine
  9. Serve over hot basmati rice or with paratha, roti, or naan. I also like chole with a good baguette.

As many of my friends turn to vegetarian or vegan options, Indian food becomes the perfect choice with its many ways to cook vegetables and legumes. Chickpeas, when combined with a starch like rice or bread, form a complete protein, thus providing a nutritious alternative to meat. I hope you will try this recipe at home and enjoy it as much as we do.

Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup — Season Generously

Just got myself an Instant Pot and have been too intimidated to use it. This recipe might just get me to pull it out of the cupboard.

marthabernie's avatarhomethoughtsfromabroad626

Soup! My all-time favorite meal. You can mix and meat and/or veg into a bowl with broth and it’s always delicious. Don’t believe me? Try any number of my 30 soups I’ve made (recipes here)! This one is no exception. I used the leftover stock from Thanksgiving that I made and it made it that […]

via Instant Pot Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup — Season Generously

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Middle Eastern Kebabs

This recipe was completely improvised at the last minute to use up some excess ground beef I had after making meatballs for a friend. I looked at my pantry and refrigerator and ten minutes later these kebabs were born. Everyone who ate them loved them. My mother used the recipe to make them for Thanksgiving with ground lamb instead of beef and grilled them on a outdoor grill, but I prefer the ones with beef and the kebabs hold up better on an indoor grill pan.  So, here’s the recipe with beef.  Feel free to try out with other meats like chicken or turkey too.

Middle Eastern Kebabs

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
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Make ahead: You can grill the kebabs up to an hour before serving, then just warm them for an extra five minutes in the oven to finish when ready to serve.

Za’atar is an herb & spice blend found in Middle Eastern markets containing thyme, marjoram, oregano, sumac, toasted sesame seeds and other ingredients.

Harissa is a Moroccan chili paste found in Middle Eastern markets as well as many grocery stores

Serve the kebabs with a yogurt sauce by mixing Greek yogurt, 1 clove of grated garlic, chopped mint, salt & pepper.

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef (large grind if available)1 Tbsp Za’atar1 Tbsp Harissa1 Tbsp Sriracha sauce3 cloves garlic – grated or mashed1 inch piece of fresh ginger – grated½ Cup finely chopped cilantro2 eggs1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper1 tsp salt (add per taste)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 F
  2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients
  3. Mix with hands until just combinedForm small flat kebabs no more than 2 inches in lengthHeat an indoor grill pan on medium high heat, and spray with cooking oil or brush with canola oilPlace kebabs on hot pan and brown on one side (approx. 2 mins)Turn kebabs over and brown on the other side (approx 2 mins)Place grilled kebabs on a sheet pan in one layer and continue grilling till all are doneOnce all kebabs have been grilled, finish cooking in the oven for 5 – 8 minutesServe plain or on warm pita bread, with a minty yogurt dip (see notes above)

 

Turkey Empanadas

Thanksgiving is an all day affair in our family. We start with appetizers and cocktails at 1pm and end the evening with a game of Taboo late into the evening. In between, there is lots of food, wine, football, ping pong and fun. And of course, there is always the traditional turkey.

My son and I are not fans of turkey. There, I admitted it. I love Thanksgiving and most of the traditional meal, but have just never warmed up to turkey. It is the only day in the year that I will eat this fowl. I do not order turkey burgers or use ground turkey for meatballs. If I’m going the healthy route, I will always choose chicken instead. So, as you can imagine, I rarely bring home turkey leftovers. This year, I must have had one too many glasses of wine because my leftovers bag had lots of turkey in it. Not quite sure what to do with it, I decided to experiment a bit. Since one the appetizers served each year is an assortment of fresh empanadas ordered from a restaurant which makes really great ones, I decided it would appropriate to try my hand at making some from scratch and give the leftover turkey some new life.

And that is how this recipe came about. The experiment was more successful than I imagined and I hope you will try them also as they were really easy to make.  These went really fast so you might want to make an extra batch.

Turkey Empanadas

  • Servings: 12 empanadas
  • Difficulty: easy
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Flaky pastry filled with a spicy turkey filling

Empanada dough recipe courtesy of Epicurious.com  Link : https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/empanada-dough-230786

Mustard greens may be substituted with kale, spinach or Swiss chard

Ingredients

  • 1 recipe empanada dough (see link in recipe notes above)
  • 3 Cups cooked turkey diced into small pieces (I used white & dark meat combo)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium red onion, diced
  • 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped (with 2 Tbsp of adobo sauce)
  • 5 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 6 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 8 leaves mustard greens, chopped
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • egg wash – 1 egg beaten with 1 Tbsp of water

Directions

In a large sauté pan, heat 2 Tbsp of the olive oil on medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 2 mins until they have softened and have started to brown.  Add the chopped chipotle, thyme sprigs, and cumin.  Stir and cook for one minute.  Add the adobo sauce and stir.  Then add the chopped greens and stir until all leaves are wilted. Then add the cooked turkey, salt and pepper and stir.  Add 1 Tbsp cold water, cover and cook until turkey is thoroughly heated through – approximately 5 minutes.  Allow to cool for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Divide the prepared and refrigerated empanada dough into 12 equal portions and keep covered under a damp towel.  Take one portion of dough and roll out into a 5 inch circle on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fill with 2 Tbsps of prepared turkey filling in the center.  Fold the dough over to form the empanada, and press to seal. Then use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges for a decorative touch.  Place on a cookie sheet and cover with a damp towel.  Continue until all empanadas are finished. You will need two cookie sheets for 12 empanadas.   Brush each empanada with the egg wash.  Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown in upper & lower thirds of the oven switching the sheets halfway through baking.  Serve with a sauce made by blending garlic, parsley, cilantro, lime juice and olive oil.  I served mine with an Indian cilantro chutney.     

 

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