Easy Gourmet Brunch Recipe: Focaccia Bread Sandwich

Focaccia Bread Sandwich with Mediterranean Vegetables, Rosemary, Caramelized Onions and Sprouts

I love to pamper myself, and I love brunch! Especially well-made, fragrant, gourmet, big-menu brunch consisting of juices, fruit, paninis, pancakes, crepes, cappuccinos, om nom nom... What a great way to start a weekend! 

But at the same time, I don't want to spend two hours on a Saturday morning compiling such a feast. So, I decided to experiment with a recipe that is a brunch-version of something I have already made, something quick but tasty, healthy and of course awesome! A sandwich with Mediterranean vegetables and balsamic caramelized onions! I paired it with imported guava and a cup of hot cappuccino. This can be made grilled as a panini too!

Time: 20 mins
Serves: 2

You'll need:
- 1 loaf of focaccia bread (try a flavor like sundried tomato or herbs)
- 2 natural cheese slices
- Colored peppers- red, green, yellow- chopped length-wise
- Handful of frozen corn (optional)- thawed
- Balsamic Vinegar
- 1/4 cup sprouts- boiled/ready to eat
- 1 medium sized red onion- cut into thin rings
- A handful of cherry tomatoes- halved
- 1 twig of rosemary- stem discarded and leaves chopped
- Mustard sauce (optional)
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Butter

How to:
1. Slice the focaccia bread into 4 slices, around 6 inches long.
2. Lightly toast the bread on both sides on a flat non-stick pan with butter.
3. Lay out on a plate. Very lightly coat the underside of the top slices with mustard sauce. On each of the bottom slices, lay a slice of cheese.
4. On the same pan, lay out the onion slices and spread a spoon of balsamic vinegar, Toss to spread evenly and let them caramelize on medium heat. They shouldn't be totally charred, but caramelized to a deep brown on both sides evenly.
5. Lay the onion rings on the cheese.
6. On the same pan, lay out peppers, corn, cherry tomatoes, rosemary and 1/2 tsp olive oil. Toss to coat evenly and let them cook for 1-2 minutes until tomatoes become soft but not mushy.
7. In the meanwhile, lay 1-2 spoons of sprouts on the sandwiches on top of onions.
8. Lay the vegetables when cooked on the sandwich.
9. Put the other slices of bread on top and serve immediately.
10. Did you notice I didn't use even a bit of salt or any other condiment? I like the mix of subtle flavors of balsamic, vegetables, rosemary and mustard sauce, and I really never feel extra salt is needed in this recipe. What do you think? Comment below!

Moroccan Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Moroccan Stuffed Peppers with Couscous with Spices, Herbs and Nuts

I have been trying different forms of stuffed peppers (with rice, mashed potatoes or couscous) and also different types of couscous (with tomato puree and on breads), but it has never been an experience that entirely satisfied me. Until now, that is. 

I tried this a few days ago, inspired by a recipe I found online here on Al'Fez. I added my own variations to it by cooking the couscous with spices, nuts and herbs, and another one of my kitchen what-if experiments- what if I added all types of tomatoes- roma tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and sundried tomatoes (it was awesome) and voila, a dish I could eat for dinner, or even pack and take to office for a delicious vibrant lunch! 

Cooking time- 40 mins
Serves- 2

You'll need:
- 1/2 cup couscous
- 2-3 peppers of different colors (I used red and yellow)
- Fresh parsley- 4-5 twigs
- Fresh basil- 6-7 large leaves
- Fresh mint leaves- 2-3 twigs
- Roma tomato- 1 medium sized
- Sundried tomatoes- a couple of slices
- Cherry tomatoes- a handful
- Nuts- cashews, pine nuts and raisins- a handful
- Red onion- 1 small
- Garlic- 3-4 cloves- minced
- Spices- Cumin seeds, black pepper, paprika, turmeric powder, 1 tsp crushed cilantro
- Olive oil
- Al Fez Moroccan Spiced Couscous, 200g

How to:- 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 
- Halve and seed the colored peppers. 
- In a small container, mix 1 tbsp olive oil with a pinch of salt, and half the minced garlic. Drizzle over the peppers on a baking dish. 
- Roast in the oven for 20-ish minutes, while turning sides as they start to brown and soften. Set aside.
- Separately, chop the red onion and roma tomato finely. Halve the cashews, raisins, and cherry tomatoes. Also, chop the sundried tomatoes, mint leaves, parsley and basil coarsely.
- Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan and add  the 1/2 tsp cumin seeds. When they start to sputter, add cashews, raisins, pine nuts, onions and remaining garlic. 
- Stir for 4-5 minutes on medium heat until the onions start to brown, then add the herbs and roma tomatoes and cook for another 4-5 minutes. 
- After the roma tomatoes begin to soften and mash, reduce the heat, add the sundried tomatoes, and cherry tomatoes. Also add seasoning. Mix well, avoid mashing up the cherry tomatoes, and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the tomatoes look soft enough. 
- Add couscous and 1½ cup water. Mix well and cover it for 5 minutes. 
- Stir and fluff the grains with a fork, add more water and cook if needed. 
- Stuff the roasted peppers with the couscous and serve warm.

Moroccan Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Recipe

Oven-Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli with Nuts, Herbs and Caramelized Onions

Wow! I just finished the most amazing dinner and couldn't wait to share how I made it. It was a spinoff of some of the things I have already tried before. But this combination was wholesome and filling. And as it should always be- tasty! 

Guess these days I have been on a Mediterranean food streak. And look at what I found while reading about Mediterranean food on Wikipedia: "...there really is no such thing as "Mediterranean cuisine." At the same time, we seem to know what we mean when we use the expression..."! So true! That's why it often makes me wonder how to experiment with it, because I am no longer sure whether what I ended up making even belonged to this so-called cuisine. Maybe some of you experts can tell me...

Serves- 1
Cooking time: 40 minutes

You'll need: 
- Cauliflower and broccoli florets- 1½ cup
- Red and green bell peppers- ½ of each (optional)
- Cilantro- 10-12 twigs
- Mint- 6-8 twigs
- Basil- 5-7 leaves
- Parsley- 4-5 twigs
- Red onion- 1 small
- Garlic- 3-4 small cloves
- Rasins, cashews and almonds- a handful
- Salt, black pepper powder, red chilli flakes, cumin seeds
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar

- Preheat the oven to 420 degrees. Line a baking dish with foil and put cauliflower and broccoli florets in it.
- Cut almonds, cashews and raisins into halves or thirds and add them to the baking dish.
- Separate the stems from the twigs of cilantro, mint, basil and parsley, but do not separate the leaves. Add to the baking dish.
- In a small container, add salt, black pepper powder, red chilli flakes and 1tsp cumin seeds to 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. 
- Finely chop or grate the garlic and add to the container. Mix well and add to the baking dish, mixing with the veggies well, making sure they are well coated with oil.
- Put in the oven and let them roast, turning occasionally.
- The herbs and nuts should be done before the cauliflower and broccoli, say in 5-7 minutes. Take them out in a plate. 
- Separately, chop the onion and peppers into long medium sized slices. 
- Heat a skillet to medium-low heat and put the onions and peppers on it.
- Add 2 tsp balsamic vinegar and toss.
- Cook until the onions are brown at the edges, tossing frequently.
- When the cauliflower and broccoli are well roasted (they start to brown but do not blacken in like 20 minutes), take them out and mix them with well the herbs, nuts and caramelized onions and peppers. 
- Serve hot.

Bruschetta on Focaccia Bread with Onions Caramelized in Balsamic Vinegar, Cherry Tomatoes, Rosemary and Peppers

For the Day 2 of my Italian Food Week, I decided to try an appetizer. Once again, this was an experiment, but I guess one can hardly go wrong with combining so many delicious things! This bruschetta is very easy and fast to make, and totally addictive! I got so addicted to it that I made it everyday for the whole week. I think it is a perfect little appetizer to have when I am super hungry after office and need a quick fix.

I had it with kalamata olives and an amazing white wine from Marques de Riscal, that I recently bought in memory of my trip to the winery as a Graduate School of Design student. It went pretty well with the bruschetta and made a good accompaniment to my meal.

Another interesting thing I would like to write about is the fragrance. It has the whole caramelized balsamic with fresh rosemary and tomatoey fragrance going on when you make it. It is just so pleasing and smile-inducing. And it is so colorful. Okay, I hope that makes everyone hungry enough and now I’ll move on to the recipe already!

Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 1-2

You’ll need:

4 slices of Focaccia bread

½ Medium sized red onion

Peppers of different colors: red, yellow, green- a quarter of each medium-sized pepper

1 twig of fresh rosemary

A handful of cherry tomatoes

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Prep:

1. Chop onion lengthwise, each of the peppers into small ½” pieces, and cherry tomatoes into halves longitudinally.

2. Separate the rosemary leaves from the twig and chop them coarsely.

3. Heat a skillet for a couple of seconds on medium-high, and put the onions on it. Pour 1-2 tsp balsamic vinegar on it and toss so the onions are well-coated with it. Let them caramelize for about 4-5 minutes or until they begin to get charred, tossing ocassionally.

4. Just when they begin to get charred, remove them from the skillet and set aside.

5. Pour 1 tsp olive oil on a fresh skillet placed on low heat. Place the rosemary, peppers and cherry tomatoes and toss well so the veggies are well-coated. You can use the same skillet if you want the veggies to have a balsamic flavor as well.

6. Cook for about 5 minutes more, tossing ocassionally, until the cherry tomatoes are softer and start to lose their firm shape but the peppers are still crunchy.

7. Remove the veggies from the skillet and set aside. Mix with the onions.

8. Place the slices of focaccia bread on the same skillet to heat it slightly on low flame. Turn to the other side carefully so as to not break it. Heat for about 30 seconds on each side.

9. Set the bread slices on a plate. Divide the veggies equally into four and place on the bread.

10. Eat!

Italian Cherry Tomato and Sundried Tomato Pesto Pasta Recipe

The Pasta of Everything

Maybe I have been watching too much of Stephen Hawking’s documentary, Into the Universe- The Story of Everything. And maybe just because I just went grocery shopping today and bought all the fresh veggies and so I couldn't resist using them all in my pasta together. Either ways, I’m going to refer to it henceforth as The Pasta of Everything! Did it turn out well? For me, yes!! For you- well, I’ll let you decide… :)

Serves: 2

Prep Time: 45 min

You’ll need:

1 medium sized red onion

3 small cloves of garlic

Colored peppers- red, yellow and green

Kalamata olives

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 small tomato

A handful of red teardrop tomatoes

3 spoonfuls of sundried tomato pesto

1 cup mini fusilli pasta

A handful of fresh mint leaves

1 tsp ricotta cheese

1 bay leaf

Seasoning- dried oregano flakes, salt, pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

1    1.       Cook the pasta as per packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
2.       Chop onions into small pieces, and mince the garlic. Separate the rosemary leaves and chop them into small pieces.
3.       Heat 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a pan, and put in the bay leaf. After about 30 seconds, reduce the heat to low and add the fresh rosemary, onions and garlic. Let them cook till they are transluscent, stirring ocassionally. This should take about 7-8 minutes.
4.       While the onions are cooking, chop the colored peppers, about ¼ of each, into small 1” pieces.
5.       Add them to the pan after the onions are done, and let them cook and a couple of minutes, stirring ocassionally.
6.       Chop the tomato into medium sized pieces. Add it to the pan, too.
7.       Halve the kalamata olives and discard the seeds. Also chop the mint leaves.
8.       After the tomatoes and well cooked and blended, add the olives, mint leaves and teardrop tomatoes to the pan. Stir and cook for a minute or so.
9.       Add about 3 tsp sundried tomato pesto and mix well.
10.   Add the pasta, and seasoning to taste. Toss well so the pasta is nicely coated with the sauce.
11.   Remove the bay leaf, and serve. Add the ricotta cheese on top.

Italian Food Week

So, I am in the cab right now, returning home from work. Actually, I took a detour from work and went to the mall near my office to spend a lot of money on a pair of new shoes and a lot of groceries. Luckily, the superstore in the mall had everything I needed and now I have decided to celebrate an Italian food week. Here's what all I bought:

- Focaccia bread- I bought this because I have been missing it since I last had it in an Italian restaurant in Vegas.
- Kalamata olives- These I just love as an accompaniment to wine, or to use in pizza or pasta.
- Teardrop tomatoes- They're so small and cute and round and juicy- it's hard not to love them!
- Fresh rosemary- So fragrant and flavorful and so versatile. It makes every dish better!
- Mini fusilli pasta- Well, I already have a recipe in mind that will make use of these.
- Balsamic vinegar- How can one have Italian Food Week without this!
- Sundried tomato pesto- And this!!
- Ricotta cheese- Well, I am trying to gain weight and I am a sucker for cheeses. Plus I'll use it in my pasta, too!

I am all set to have the perfect Italian Food Week!

Vegetarian Recipe: Green Risotto

I made this a few days ago, and overdid on the homemade pesto, resulting in a pretty green risotto. But I am a huge fan of the greens, so I liked it that way! I had been wanting to try risotto for some time now. This article on gourmettravel.com helped me figure out how to cook a basic risotto, and I added more stuff like sundried tomatoes, fresh veggies and pesto to give it a nice twist.

I was also wondering how I would know when the risotto is cooked, and I found this wikipedia entry on "al dente", meaning to the tooth- still offering resistance to the bite, but cooked through.

Prep Time: 45 min

Serves: 3-4

You'll need:

Colored peppers: red, yellow and green- 1 of each

1 Zucchini

Fresh basil and parsley: a handful of each

1/2 cup broccoli florets

Extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Arborio rice

Truffle salt

Sundried tomatoes

1 small Onion

2 big cloves of garlic

1 cup vegetable stock

2 spoons butter

Prep:

1. Heat butter in a wide pot. 

2. Add finely chopped onion and minced garlic and cook until they are soft and translucent.

3. Chop colored peppers and zucchini into thin rings. 

4. Add broccoli florets in a microwavable bowl and fill with water. Microwave for three minutes. Set aside.

5. Add the colored peppers and zucchini to the pot when the onions are cooked. Save half the green pepper. Stir until soft.

6. At this point, take out the peppers from the pot and set aside to be added at a later stage.

7. Add the rice and stir for about a minute.

8. Add 2 tbsp of vegetable stock and stir continuously on medium-low heat until the water evaporates, before adding more. Add salt and seasoning to taste.

9. Keep adding a ladleful of vegetable stock at a time, stirring continuously.

10. Drain the water from the broccoli, without discarding it. Also coarsley chop basil and parsley. Save a leaf of parsley for garnishing.

11. Add parsley, basil and 1/2 green pepper to a blender, with the broccoli stock. Blend until it becomes a smooth paste. Add the sundried tomatoes and blend a little more, until the tomatoes are coarsley chopped within it.

12. When the rice is softer, and about half cooked, add the pesto and broccoli florets. 

13. Keep cooking until the rice is al dente. 

14. Remove from heat and add the cooked peppers. Serve in a shallow bowl. Garnish with the parsley leaf and sprinkle some truffle salt.

Italian Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Wow! I am so excited to post my favorite and most frequently used recipe- roasted vegetables. It takes so long to make, and I have tried many different ways to do it faster (such as using dry minced garlic (ugh) or frozen veggies (so not fresh)), but it never tastes the same. So I stick to the longer method. I hope that you enjoy it as much as I do.

I first tried it I guess in 2010 when I used to be in grad school dorms experimenting with new foods every weekend. The idea came when I wanted to find out the difference between grilled, baked and roasted veggies, so I thought why not try them all and see! I tried it many many times with different combinations of herbs and veggies and spices, with different oven temperatures and (why did I) even without oven mitts!, before I settled on this version and just loved it, got so addicted that I used to make it every night for dinner (my dorm floor mates can vouch for that!)

As far as the selection of veggies is concerned, I use a bunch of them. Peppers of all colors, green beans, baby carrots, cauliflower and broccoli, corn and onions and sometime potatoes and rarely tomatoes(although I haven't shown them here in this recipe). The image also features olives that could have been marinated, asparagus soup (yummy too, I'll post about it sometime with its own story), le roulé cheese and Fontezoppa Verdicchio, which goes very well with the roasted veggies. 

Time: 1.5 hours 

Serves: 2

You'll need: 

Thin baby carrots, green beans, quantity is variable, but a cup of each is good.

1/2 small onion, 2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cauliflower, broccoli

2 green peppers
A handful of frozen corn (thawed)

½ red peppers, orange/ yellow can also be used

1 green chili (optional)

1 twig of fresh rosemary (or parsley)

Dry oregano flakes

Salt, black pepper

Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp truffle oil (optional)

Baking dish, oven and mittens (so important).

Prep:

1. Halve the carrots vertically or slantwise. Transfer to a microwave safe bowl and add some water. Microwave for 4 minutes.

2. Cut 1- 1-1/2" pieces of green beans, also slant-wise. When the carrots are done, add the green beans to the same bowl (keep carrots in) and microwave for 2 more minutes. Set aside when done. Don't drain yet.

3. Preheat oven to 430 degrees.

4. Take out the membrane of green peppers, and wash. Make 1" x 1" pieces and keep them in the baking dish. Try for whatever that goes in the baking dish to be as dry as possible. Also make sure you're not layering the veggies one on top of the other. They should touch the baking dish surface as much as possible.

5. Cut the cauliflower and broccoli into 1" florets and wash in a colander.

6. Drain and also keep inside the baking dish.

7. Make thin long pieces or circular of the red peppers and lay them on the baking dish. It's okay to layer these on top of the green pepper pieces.

8. Drain the carrots and beans and also put them inside the baking dish.

9. Chop onion into small pieces about 1/2" and also lay them and corn over the rest of the veggies. You can also make them bigger per preference.

10. In a small container, pour out 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil. 

11. Crush 2 medium sized cloves of garlic (or mince if you don't have a crusher). Add to the olive oil.

12. Chop parsley or rosemary finely and add to oil.

13. Add black pepper powder and lots of salt. It should taste slightly saltier than what you're used to. Trust me, it'll come out just fine later. You can also add red chili powder if you like it hotter.

14. Chop green chili and also add to the oil.

15. Mix well and pour evenly over the veggies in the tray. All these ingredients can also be added separately before you pour the oil, in case you were using an oil spray. Make sure all the veggies have been covered with oil, but don't overdo it either. 

16. Keep the dish in the oven. Make sure to use mittens.

17. Keep for 15 minutes and then check. You can turn the veggies upside down if they have started to brown. You can reduce or increase the heat from 420 to 450 depending on the situation. The brown level is upto you, but I usually want them properly cooked, which takes extra time. Keep checking every 10 minutes or so. 

18. You may take out the veggies that are already done and leave the rest for a few more minutes.

19. When all are done, add a spoonful or half of truffle oil. Serve hot.

20. I usually eat them as is, but you can have soup or rice to accompany.

Enjoy!!!

Pasta with Roasted Tomato, Rosemary and Mint Sauce

So I'm usually not a big fan of pastas with tomato sauces (like I hate arrabiata). But this time I tried cooking one myself, just because I had too many tomatoes hanging out in the fridge and I had to try something new. And I also had lots of fresh mint and rosemary and I wanted to use those as much as possible before they went bad. So I experimented with this pasta recipe, which I thought was very summery and savory. It was a complete experiment, and I wasn't sure how it'd turn out, but thankfully it was delicious and I topped it off with some truffle oil, but you may choose to skip that part. 

Serves: 1 

Prep time: 45 mins

You’ll need:

1 -2 roma tomatoes

2-3 long twigs of rosemary

8-10 large mint leaves

2 handfuls penne pasta

1 small red onion

1 small clove of garlic

Salt, black pepper powder, dry oregano 

Extra virgin olive oil

Prep:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Separately, keep the pasta to boil in a pot, sprinkle a pinch of salt and a couple drops of olive oil.

2. Cut the tomatoes into thin, long slices.

3. Chop the onion into medium sized pieces and mince the garlic.

4. Wash the rosemary twigs and separate the leaves from the stems.

5. Put all the tomatoes, half the chopped onions, garlic and rosemary in a baking dish. Sprinkle some salt, black pepper powder and oregano. Drizzle some olive oil. Place in the oven. (If you like it hotter, u can also chop up half a green chili and add it.)

6. Chop the rest of the rosemary finely.

7. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan, add rosemary and stir for a few seconds. Keep the heat low-medium.

8. Add the remaining onions and garlic, and stir until onions start to brown.

9. Keep checking the items in the oven every 5 minutes. The tomatoes should b added only after they have roasted well, and the onions have started to caramelize. Turn the heat up or down depending on how brown you want them. All in all, at least 20 minutes is a good time to roast them.

9. Once they are done, add the roasted tomatoes, onions etc. to the pan and continue stirring.

10. Add half a cup of water and bring it to a boil, stirring continuously.

11. Chop fresh mint leaves and add to the sauce. 

12. Add more salt to taste.

13. Mix well until water evaporates and the paste looks well blended.

14. Strain the pasta once it is cooked and lay it out on a plate.

15. Pour the sauce over it and enjoy.