No Croutons Required Soup and Salad Roundup for May 2016 - Early Summer Edition

It was my turn to host No Croutons Required this month. As many of my readers will know, this is a monthly roundup of vegetarian and vegan soups and salads alternately hosted by my dear friend Jacqueline and myself. We had a nice turnout this month and so I have 15 mouthwatering dishes to present. As expected, the majority are salads. Settle in and have a look at the contributions this time around. A special thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a dish.

Recipe: Orange, Beet and Goat Cheese Salad

Chef: Erica
Blog: Healthy Life Lessons
Location: Toronto, Canada

Our first submission is this lovely tart, tangy and cheesy salad. Mixed greens, navel orange, beets and creamy goat cheese are all dressed up with Greek yogurt, Dijon mustard, orange juice and white wine vinegar. Just perfect for the season.

Recipe: Warm Asparagus & Mushroom Salad

Chef: Rachel
Blog: Rachel Cotterill
Location: Traveller

Asparagus and mushrooms do come together so well. Inspired from a Chinese restaurant, this salad features asparagus, mushrooms, spring onion, walnuts, soy sauce, rice vinegar and fresh coriander. A wonderful mix of flavours.

Recipe: Griddled Courgette, Mozzarella & Mint Salad with a Pesto, Lemon & Yogurt Dressing

Chef: Ema
Blog: Detoutcoeur Limousin
Location: France

Another early summer recipe that is sure to stimulate the appetite. Here we have zucchini, mozzarella cheese, fresh mint, olive oil, fancied up with a zesty pesto. Yet another seasonal salad and we can never have enough ideas for salads in this heat, can we?

Recipe: Butternut Squash Quinoa Risotto

Chef: Caroline
Blog: Caroline Makes
Location: UK

Risottos are quite popular in my kitchen, and this one features quinoa, roasted squash, spring onion, fresh herbs and this delicious dish is topped with feta. Certainly could be served as a cold salad.

Recipe: Zucchini and Quinoa Cajun Stew (Vegan Gumbo without Okra)

Chef: Janet
Blog: The Taste Space
Location: Canada

Next up is an intriguing version of vegan gumbo. Here zucchini is the star instead of okra and is combined with quinoa, onion, red pepper, celery, tomatoes, file powder, cajun seasoning, thyme, bay leaves, Ayocote Morado beans and Gordo. That is surely a complete and nourishing meal.

Recipe: Tomato And Halloumi Salad

Chef: Lucy
Blog: Cheese and Chickpeas
Location: UK

A luxurious lunch or light dinner indeed, this gorgeous salad features golden fried halloumi, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, basil and some fresh lemon juice. Served up with some crusty bread, this surely would be one satisfying meal.

Recipe: Giant Cous Cous, Chickpea and Feta Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Dressing

Chef: Kat
Blog: The Baking Explorer
Location: UK

Next up is a roundup of mason jar salads. Kat's contribution is a lovely portable salad. The idea is to layer the ingredients, beginning with the dressing, vegetables and proteins in the middle, and salad greens on top. Shake before you are ready to eat. No mess, and little fuss.

Recipe: Orange and Olive Salad

Chef: Helen
Blog: Roast Chicken and a Country Walk
Location: UK

This sweet and tangy salad would be sure to stimulate my appetite. Although it might be considered a different combination of flavors with the olives throw in with the orange, tomato, lettuce, herbs, olive oil and lemon juice, I am sure this would be a wonderful salad and quite a refreshing one too.

Recipe: Summery Gazpacho with Crostini

Chef: Jessica
Blog: Jess Cantoni
Location: UK

Here we have another ideal summer time meal. Soaked crusty bread is whizzed together with red onion, garlic, some cucumber, red pepper, tomatoes and sherry vinegar. Served up with toasted crostini, you need nothing else for a satisfying summer dinner.

Recipe: Only-kale-can-save-us-now Salad

Chef: Johanna
Blog: Green Gourmet Giraffe
Location: Australia

I could get excited about this salad too. Johanna tweaked the recipe and got it just right. Kale is dressed up with nutritional yeast, tahini, lemon juice, tamari, maple syrup, flax meal, a few onion granules, some garlic powder and then garnished with some hemp seeds. I will certainly be trying this one.

Recipe: Roasted Cherry Tomato and Basil Soup

Chef: Katie
Blog: Feeding Boys
Location: UK

Homemade bread is especially nice with soup. A caramelised onion rosemary bread is paired with a lovely soup made up of cherry tomatoes, oregano, basil, balsamic vinegar, stock and some pesto to serve. Just imagine dipping that bread into the soup. Just yum!

Recipe: Israeli Vegetable Salad

Chef: Helen
Blog: Family Friends Food
Location: UK

This colourful salad is sure to please. Based on her Dad's recipe, this is a simple side that goes well with a number of dishes. Tomatoes, cucumber and yellow peppers are all dressed up with parsley or cilantro, lemon juice, olive oil and a bit of zaatar.

Recipe: Miso Minestrone

Chef: Shaheen
Blog: Allotment to Kitchen
Location: UK

I love miso in soup and this one seems a special treat. Onions, leeks, chestnut mushrooms, brown miso, courgette, frozen edamame, peas and broad beans and spinach are all simmered together. I would enjoy more than a spoonful of this soup no matter the time of year.

Recipe: Wild Rice & Watercress Salad

Chef: Kate
Blog: The Veg Space
Location: UK

This salad is substantial enough to serve as a main meal. Wild rice, asparagus, radish, spring onion and watercress are tossed with parsley, lemon juice, french dressing, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds. Surely a nice patio dish.

Recipe: Cannellini Bean and Asparagus Salad with Mushrooms

Chef: Lisa
Blog: Lisa's Kitchen
Location: Canada

My submission this month is a seasonal salad that features local asparagus, cannellini beans, curry leaves and sauted white mushrooms. I dressed it with fresh tarragon, garlic, lemon juice and zest and some Dijon mustard. It's a snap to make up and satisfying.

That concludes the May edition of No Croutons Required. Jacquline is hosting the June edition for 2016, so to be sure to check her blog for the announcement.

Idli Sambar Recipe – How To Make Tiffin Sambar

I learnt this recipe from my friend Shalini. This method of making South Indian Idli sambar must be new to many of you I guess. This recipe calls for grinding masala using raw vegetables, coconut & sambar powder.So the flavor and taste of this sambar is different from our usual Hotel idli sambar and its healthy too. But this recipe is easy to make and tasted awesome. My entire family loved it very much. A big hug to my friend Shalini for teaching me this yummy Idli sambar. I am sure, I will be making this side dish for idli, dosa very often in my kitchen.Lets see how to make Idli sambar recipe using ground vegetable masala.

Idli sambar recipe with ground vegetables

Idli sambar recipe with ground vegetable masala

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sambar recipes

Serves: Serves 4

Prep time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

To pressure cook Toor dal – one handful Big onion - 1 no Tomato - 1 no Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp Cooking oil - few drops Water – 1.5 cups To grind Carrot - 1/2 no (medium) Cabbage – 1 small leaf or roughly chopped cabbage - 2 tbsp Grated coconut - 2 tsp Sambar powder - 2 tsp Tamarind - Berry size ( sundakkai alavu) To Temper Ghee – 2 tsp Mustard seeds – 1/2 tsp Urad dal – 1/2 tsp Curry leaves – few Hing/Asafetida – 1/8 tsp Salt & water – as needed Jaggery – 1/2 tsp Coriander leaves – to garnish

METHOD

Wash and pressure cook the dal, Chopped onion, one whole tomato ( Do not chop the tomato), Turmeric powder and few drops of cooking oil. Add enough water and cook the dal in low flame for 2 whistles.Remove the lid after the steam is released.Mash the dal + tomato very well and set aside. In a mixie jar, take the sliced carrot, chopped cabbage, grated coconut, sambar powder and tamarind.Add the required water and grind them to a smooth paste. Add this ground paste to the cooked dal mixture. Mix well. Add 1/2 to 1 cup of water based on the thickness. Let the sambar roll boil well at least for 3-4 minutes in medium flame till the raw smell of vegetable and sambar powder goes off. Add jaggery when it boils. Check for taste. Heat ghee in a kadai and when it gets heated, splutter the mustard seeds, urad dal , hing and curry leaves. Add to the sambar and garnish with chopped coriander leaves. Mix well and cover the sambar till use. Serve with hot idli drizzled with a tsp of gingely oil. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of sambar powder as per your taste. As we are grinding the vegetables and coconut, it gives thickness to the sambar. So it needs less toor dal. Do not add more vegetables for grinding as it may change the flavor of sambar. I have added tomato, onion along with dal. If you wish, u can saute them in oil and then add to the dal. Tempering in ghee gives a nice flavor.

Enjoy this yummy sambar with hot idli drizzling a tsp of sesame oil/gingely oil!!

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Cannellini Bean and Asparagus Salad with Mushrooms

After an uncommonly cool spring, it is suddenly blazing hot here in southwestern Ontario. So this means that salads are in order, both to cool and refresh the palate and to avoid hovering over a hot stove for lengthy periods of time. This sudden heat wave also happens to coincide with the beginning of asparagus season here, and that happens to be my husband's favorite vegetable.

Asparagus is delicious on its own with just a little lemon juice and salt, of course, but it also pairs wonderfully with simple flavors as a backdrop — think potatoes, for example. For this salad, tender cannellini beans serve as the backdrop to a serving of lightly steamed crunchy asparagus tossed in a lively and creamy lemon, tarragon and grainy mustard dressing. And mushrooms are my weakness, so I added them into the mix. It all comes together for a simple but elegant and satisfying summer meal, served up with some crusty bread.

Cannellini Bean and Asparagus Salad with Mushrooms

Recipe by Lisa Turner Published on May 27, 2016 Refreshing and elegant summer white bean salad with fresh crunchy asparagus and sautéed mushrooms tossed in a lemony mustard and tarragon dressing Print this recipe Salad: 1 1/4 cups dried cannellini (white kidney) beans (3 3/4 cups cooked) handful of dried curry leaves, crumbled (or 1 bay leaf) 1 lb (1 bunch or 450 g) asparagus 2 teaspoons olive oil 8 large white mushrooms, sliced Dressing: 1/4 cup fresh tarragon 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 1 clove garlic, minced or crushed juice from 1 lemon (3 tablespoons) 1/2 cup olive oil 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon or grain mustard, to taste 1 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste fresh cracked black pepper to taste Instructions: Rinse the cannellini beans and soak for 8 hours or overnight in several inches of water. Drain and rinse, then transfer to a medium saucepan and cover with fresh water. Add the curry leaves or bay leaf and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 1 hour or until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Drain and transfer to a large salad bowl. Meanwhile, snap the woody ends off of the asparagus spears and steam the spears for 6 minutes or until just tender but still retaining their crunch. Transfer to the salad bowl. Now cook the mushrooms. Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. As soon as the oil is hot, drop in the mushrooms and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes or until the mushrooms begin to brown and lose some of their liquid. Transfer to the bowl with the asparagus. To make the dressing, combine the tarragon, lemon zest, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and mustard in a small food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Pour the dressing over the salad, season with salt and pepper, and toss. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Makes 4 to 6 servings

This is my contribution to No Croutons Required. A monthly event showcasing vegetarian soups and salads, alternately hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes and myself. It is my turn to host this month.

Other salads to enjoy this summer:
Chickpea Salad with Vegan Mayonnaise
Black Bean Salad with Fresh Mango and a Chaat Masala Dressing
Classic Greek Salad Revisited
Thai Coconut Mango Quinoa Salad

Karpooravalli Bajji – Ajwain Leaf Pakora – Oregano Fritters

Karpooravalli @Omavalli is a well known plant to many of you. It is known as Oregano, country borage, French thyme, Indian borage, Spanish Thyme, Big Thyme, Thick leaf thyme or Broad leaf thyme(Guyana), Poor man pork or broad leaf thyme (Barbados), Cuban oregano, Mexican thyme,queen of herbs, mother of herbs in English, Doddapatre Soppu, Saviara sambara in Kannada, Panikoorka in Malayalam, Vaamu aku in Telugu, Pathorchur, patharcur, Patta ajvayin in Hindi( Source : Pinkandpink) . My MIL makes kashayam with beetel leaves & omavalli leaves for indigestion problem, cough, cold for kids and adults as well. So we have planted this leaves in our backyard as it has many health benefits. Recently I came this bajji recipe in a magazine and thought of giving a try. I made Karpooravalli bajji, Potato bajji and onion bajji using homemade bajji batter. Bajji came out very well with the shape of karpooravalli leaves. We couldn’t feel the bitterness or spicy taste of leaves as I thought.Sendhil and myself loved it a lot. Try this healthy, yummy, flavorful Karpooravalli leaves bajji for your evening snacks. Enjoy with hot tea/Chai !! Lets see how to make Ajwain leaves bajji/ Oregano fritters at home with homemade bajji, bonda batter.

Karpooravalli bajji recipe / Oregano fritters

Healthy, herbal Karpooravalli bajji recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Bajji recipes

Serves: 12 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 5 Minutes

Total time: 15 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200 ml Karpooravalli leaves/ Oregano leaves - 12 nos (medium sized) Besan flour/Kadalai maavu - 3/4 cup Rice flour - 1/4 cup Red chilli powder - 1 - 2 tsp Cumin seeds/Jeera - 1 tsp Hing/asafetida - 1/4 tsp Cooking soda - 1/8 tsp Red food color – a pinch ( optional) Salt & water - as needed

METHOD

Pluck the leaves from the plant with stem.Wash it well to remove the mud. Wash it twice or thrice and Pat it dry using a towel. In a wide bowl,take the besan flour, rice flour, red chilli powder, cumin seeds, salt, hing and mix well. Lastly add the cooking soda and mix well. Add some water to make a thick batter. ( Refer my Onion Bajji post for more detailed pics) Heat oil to deep fry. Add a pinch of batter to check the heat of oil.If it rises immediately, oil temperature is just right. Now dip the karpooravalli leaves in the bajji batter and drop it in the oil. Repeat the same and drop 3-4 bajjis. Let the flame be medium.Cook both the sides till bajji turns golden in color. Remove from the oil and drain the excess oil in a tissue paper.Enjoy with tomato ketchup or coconut chutney !

Note

For variations, you can add g&g paste, garam masala powder to the batter. It tastes different. You can top the bajji with finely chopped onions, coriander leaves.Sprinkle some lemon jucie and chat masala powder before serving just like I did in stuffed chilli bajji.

Healthy karpooravalli leaves bajji is ready for teatime !!

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Easy Garlic Spaghetti Recipe – Indian Vegetarian

Food blogging has made me try and taste varieties of recipes from various cuisines which I have not even imagined in my life. Being a South Indian, my whole food world was just revolving around Idli, dosa, poori and chapathi .But after I became a food blogger, my eating habits and cooking have changed completely. I am really proud and happy to be a passionate food blogger.Pasta, Hakka Noodles, Tacos, Spaghetti, Quesadilla, Tortilla – All these terms were very new to me until I saw them in our fellow bloggers blog.I did not even know how to cook them perfectly.Slowly I am learning everything and blogging the same to help beginners like me. I am happy that I am trying out various international recipes in my kitchen. My recent crush was to try spaghetti at home.
Spaghetti is basically a type of noodles made from durum wheat semolina.Spaghetti is the plural form of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "thin string" or "twine". It is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine ( Source: Wiki).Cooking spaghetti is not so difficult as I thought. Its procedure is more like cooking noodles.As a beginner, I wanted to make an easy and simple Indian style Vegetarian spaghetti recipe. I found this easy stir fried, garlicky spaghetti recipe HERE as I din’t have any vegetables in hand. I made some modifications as per my family’s taste buds and tried it for a Sunday breakfast. It came out really well with an awesome flavor of roasted onion and garlic in olive oil.This is just a basic spaghetti recipe. For variations ansd make it more rich, you can add sliced, sauteed vegetables and grated cheese on top before serving.Sendhil & Raksha gave a big thumbs up after eating. We relished it with tomato sauce. Its a quick breakfast recipe for bachelors and working women as there is very less chopping works. Kids would love this for sure. Do try it out for a change and share your feedback here. Lets see how to cook spaghetti and make this Indian style, vegetarian garlic spaghetti recipe with step by step pictures

Check out some of my International recipes in Indian style below
Eggless pancakes
Indian Vegetarian quesadilla
Indian style Veg masala pasta recipe
Veg tacos recipe
Fruit & Yogurt parfait
Nasi goreng/ Indonesian fried rice
Veg Hakka noodles

Easy Veg spaghetti recipe-Indian style

Easy, garlicky Indian Veg spaghetti recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Pasta recipes

Serves: Serves 2

Prep time: 15 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 25 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Spaghetti - 200gms  Water - 10 cups Big onion - 2 nos ( sliced thinly) Olive oil or cooking oil - 2 tbsp Spring onion - 2 sprig ( finely chopped) Red chilli flakes - 1.5 tsp Pepper powder - 1 tsp Soy sauce - 1/4 tsp ( optional) Garlic - 10 cloves (finely chopped & crushed) Salt - as needed

METHOD

In a wide bowl, boil 10 cups of water adding some salt and few drops of oil. Put the spaghetti as such (Do not break it) and let it cook in high flame for 15 minutes. Initially, spaghetti won’t be completely immersed. As It starts to cook, It will get immerse into the water completely and becomes soft like noodles. You can even cover and cook the spaghetti for sometime but water may spill while cooking. So stay nearby and adjust the flame whenever needed. Spaghetti takes more time to cook than our regular noodles.So take care while cooking.Take out one string of spaghetti and check if it breaks and soft to touch.If so, switch off the flame and transfer the cooked spaghetti to a colander(steel sieve) Drain the excess water completely and leave it aside. Chop the onion thinly into slices. Finely chop the garlic cloves and crush it slightly using a mortar & pestle. Chop the spring onions finely. Heat olive oil in a kadai. Saute the crushed garlic cloves for few seconds.Add sliced onions and salt. Saute till onion turns transparent. Now add the red chilli flakes. Mix it well. Lastly add the cooked spaghetti, pepper powder and soy sauce if adding. Mix well using a fork.Toss it well. Make sure spaghetti doesn’t break. Check for taste and add more pepper powder & salt.Garnish with finely chopped spring onions. Serve hot immediately. Enjoy with tomato ketchup or sauce ! You can add some grated cheese on top before serving kids. Enjoy !

Note

Adjust the quantity of chilli flakes and pepper powder as per your taste. If you like tomato flavor in spaghetti, you can add a tbsp of tomato sauce while mixing. For variations, you can try adding thinly sliced capsicum, carrot, mushroom and potato while sauting onions. You can add some grated cheese on top before serving.

 

Try this easy and yummy Indian Vegetarian garlic-ky spaghetti recipe and enjoy !  

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