Quick dinner anyone?

How 'bout a delicious, nutritious dinner in less than 15 minutes? Here we go...

You'll need:

1 bunch of organic broccoli
1 cup of quinoa (red or white)
2 tbsp of almond oil (olive oil will do)
1/4 cup of parm cheese (feel free to skip that for a vegan version)
1/4 to 1/4 cup of sliced almonds, toasted
salt, pepper to taste

Cook quinoa according to directions (usually 2 cups of water per 1 cup of quinoa). While the quinoa is cooking, toast the almonds, then cut the bottom half of the stems from broccoli and chop up the rest. Heat oil in a large pan and sauté or stir-fry broccoli, until cooked, but still crisp. Add salt and pepper, stir in cooked quinoa, almonds, cheese if using and serve.

Baked Eggplant Dip or the Upside of Natural Disasters

I suspect my family members pray for various natural disasters...When that collective prayer is answered, I am forced to close the studio and come home after work or better yet - stay home altogether. That usually means a five course dinner and baked goodies. Last night, instead of fixing knees in Warrior 2 in my Iyengar class I've got to experiment with a whole baked eggplant. As the flood waters crept to my studio, the blender was going... It resulted in a tasty dip, that could also replace ketchup for your home baked fires or your veggie burger. It can served as a side dish too, which it did last night.

Backed Eggplant Dip

1 large eggplant

2-3 Tbsp of tomato paste

1-2 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/4 tsp of coriander powder (or your favorite spice mix)

About 1 tsp of olive oil (optional)

Small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

Salt, pepper to taste

Cut several slits on the eggplant. Place it on a foil lined baking sheet and bake at 500F for 45 minutes. Let it cool, then peel the skin off. Transfer all that soft, gooey, baked goodness into a frying pan, add tomato paste and garlic and cook on medium heat until the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat, add coriander, olive oil, salt, pepper, cilantro and pulse in a food processer/blender/chopper until smooth. Cool to room temperature and enjoy!

A short lesson in French Cooking

French cuisine can be intimidating. Just thinking about all the steps involved in Bouillabaisse preparation makes me want to take a day off. But the everyday French "style" cooking can be simple, inspiring, and economical. Step one: open your fridge and see what you have. Step two: decide what to make (can be daunting)

Here is my take on it, inspired by the latest issue of Vegetarian Times:

Pasta and Roasted Vegetables with White Wine Sauce

(ok, this is not a traditional French dish, but the cooking style is) This dish is Vegan if you skip the parm at the end.

You'll need:

Fresh vegetables - whatever you have: sweet peppers in any color, asparagus, mushrooms (I used shiitakes), Brussels' sprouts (just love them), baby artichokes, zucchinis or yellow squash, eggplant, onions, garlic, tomatoes. Any combination! About 4-5 cups

Herbs: parsley, basil or cilantro - chopped.

1 box of pasta

2-3 Tbsp of Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop all your veggies up to fill a large roasting pan, spreading it thin, add salt and pepper to taste, add 2-3 Tbsp of Olive oil, mix it well and bake for 20 minutes in the oven preheated to 400 degrees. Stir, then add chopped tomatoes, if using, and bake another 10 min.

Meanwhile make pasta - any pasta you like will do. Cook according to directions, drain well and transfer back to the pot.

Remove the roasting pan from the oven and transfer the veggies into a dish. If you using herbs, you can add them now. Deglaze the pan for 5 min. with 1/2 cup of white wine. You can do it on the stove or, if using a Pyrex pan, in the oven. Then add 1/2 of cooking water from pasta. Add the wine sauce to your vegetables, mix well, adjust the seasoning and add to pasta.

Serve with grated Parm or Romano cheese.

Butternut Squash Quickie

This is perfect on a cold night and is super quick in terms of the hands-on time. Who has the time to slave in the kitchen?
You can buy your butternut already cut into 1 inch pieces. That will speed things up even more.

Preheat your oven to 400. Place your butternut chunks into a large Pyrex baking dish, add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil (I use Organic Olive Oil Spray), toss to coat well. If you like spice, you can add nutmeg, or cumin, or paprika, or cinnamon. I use a Moroccan spice mix. From Ayurvedic point of view, you can use various spices to adjust the recipe for your dosha or unbalanced dosha.

Bake until almost ready (about 30 minutes), then sprinkle with brown sugar, lower the temperature to 350 and bake a little longer. May be 5-15 minutes more – you’d have to keep checking.
Serve with rice or toss with spinach and Kalamata olives to make a warm salad (perfect for all of you Vatas out there who can’t have cold salads in the winter) Be creative!