Quick and Easy Dinner on Kitchen3N

Spinach Purée with Quinoa (Saag ar Quinoa)

Fri, 25 Apr 2014 00:00:00 +0000

I did it! I conquered the quinoa! I thought about ways to desi-fy it since practically anything cooked in a curry sauce in this house gets consumed in minutes. Since I had this bag of frozen spinach in the fridge, I thought about doing a take on the classic palak paneer, replacing the protein in the form of paneer (cheese) with quinoa.

Easy Fried Rice

Mon, 10 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Ever since I started cooking for myself, my taste for takeout has rapidly declined (pizza and sushi exempt). Take chinese takeout for example: when I was a kid, it was the ultimate treat. My Friday lunch if I used my allowance wisely. I’m not sure what you know about Bengali moms, but they are pretty militant in their meal regiment. Rice, vegetable saute/bhorta, some kind of protein curried, and daal. That is what you have for dinner, every night. Without fail. Every bengali kid who grew up here knows the struggle to have something different on the table (first world problems, I know). And the retorts that follow: “Eh? Pizza? How is that any kind of food? What with all that cheese…and they wonder why American kids are so fat!”. This is usually said as one or more uncles are stuffing their faces with beef or goat curry and are working away at a Mt Everest sized mound of rice on their plate.

Spinach and Tuna Sauté

Fri, 30 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Try to do a better job than I did with the onions.

This recipe is based off of one that my mom learned from our first hosts in American, way back in 1989 (listen up kiddos, fireside chat time). Of course, that one included all the usual spices found in Bengali curries (cumin, coriander, turmeric, chili powder). It was the perfect hybrid between American pantry basics and desi cooking. Props to Majumder Aunty for coming up with it! It’s great for so many reasons. Surprisingly flavorful for a straight-out-of-the-pantry dish. Really low budget. And quick. Frozen spinach is just such an all around winner. Always keep some in your freezer. So much easier to prepare than to rinse, cut, and cook fresh spinach, only for it to wilt down to nothing. And as per the tuna, I like the italian tuna packed in olive oil. So much more flavorful than the watered down chicken of the sea we used to have growing up. It’s amazing how much flavor tuna can impart on a dish when it’s not drowning in mayo and hiding in between slices of bread. I like to swap out the medley of spices for some freshly squeezed lemon juice and lemon zest. “Brightens up the flavor” as Giada would say. And because I made it kid friendly, I dialed back on the amount of chili flakes. My mom tosses in whole green chilis, but I rarely have those on hand. I did keep the coriander in there because I think it complements the lemon. But if you’re truly making something from the pantry, this dish would still taste great with just the garlic, salt and pepper. You can serve this with rice and daal. It would also be great on some crusty bread with a little bit of grated cheese (gruyere, fontina), pressed and served as a panini. It’s super versatile. Hope you try it out soon!

Olio, Aglio & Peperoncino

Tue, 25 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

For most people, the holy trinity means the Catholic theological doctrine of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. For those in the culinary world, it usually means carrots, celery and onion. But for me, it really is olio, aglio & peperoncino (oil, garlic and pepper). On busy weeknights, it is your best friend. Heat up some garlic and crushed red pepper flakes in a pool of extra virgin olive oil and you have the base for a flavorful, fast meal in minutes. Throw in cooked spaghetti, spinach, green beans, or broccolini. Or use it to dress up fish or chicken breasts before grilling. Remember to filter out the pieces of garlic and pepper, of course, otherwise it burns. Once you do that, the whole thing becomes a super versatile garlic and pepper infused oil.

Spaghettini with Cherry Tomatoes

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

By now you all know that consistency is NOT my middle name. I offer, not as an excuse, but as a simple explanation for my long absence the fact that I am just about to pop this baby out (of course that means posts will become even more intermittent once I am a fully sleep deprived zombie/mother of two). I have been relying on a combo take-out, mom’s cooking and trader joe’s prepared meals to get by.