Orange Soup- Carrot, Orange Pepper and Tomato Soup (not involving oranges)

Mumbai monsoons made me sick last month and I ended up cooking healthy but quick and tasty food for myself for a quick recovery. Of course even fever couldn't keep me from experimenting in the kitchen!

So this is what I thought- why not combine all the orange-colored vegetables and see what becomes of it. It was very healthy and I had it with lightly toasted focaccia bread. Other suggestions for accompaniments are welcome!

Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves: 1

You'll need:
- Orange bell pepper- 1
- Carrots- 2 medium sized
- Roma tomato- 1 medium sized
- White onion- ½ small sized
- Garlic- 2-3 cloves
- Whole milk-½ cup
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Fresh parsley- 2 twigs
- Salt, pepper, red chilli flakes (optional), cumin seeds

- Coarsely chop the veggies, onion and garlic.
- Heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in a pot, and add 1 tsp cumin seeds.
- Add onion and garlic and cook till they start to brown or caramelize, stirring often.
- Add the chopped carrots. Stir and cook on medium heat for about 4-5 minutes, until they soften.
- Add orange peppers, and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Finally, add the roma tomatoes and cook for another 2 or so minutes. Add the salt, pepper and chilli flakes to taste. Mix well and cook until the tomatoes soften. Turn the heat off.
- Add 1 tbsp milk and stir.
- Add the mix to a blender.
- Also separate the parsley leaves from the twigs and add to the blender. Reserve one for garnish.
- Blend until the mix becomes a smooth paste, adding another tbsp or so milk as needed.
- Boil the remaining milk in the pot, and add the blended paste. Mix well and bring the soup to a boil. Add more salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve hot and enjoy.

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 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!!!

Vegetarian Cream of Mushroom and Almond Soup

I learned to make almond soup three years ago from my very talented cook in Hyderabad. But before I could try it myself, I wanted to add a spicy twist to it. So I thought why not add a bunch of whole spices and see if they can blend well. And I also wanted to recreate mushroom soup I had in Kebab Factory once in Somerville, MA. So I guess when I first made this soup, everything came together and I created this hot appetizer I love having in the winter.

Serves: 3-4

Prep time: 20 mins

You'll need:
Whole almonds (8-12)
1 cup milk (I prefer whole milk)
1 small onion (I prefer white)
2-3 cloves of garlic

6-8 button mushrooms
Salt, black pepper powder

1/2 green chili pepper (optional)

Spices (1/2 tsp cumin seeds, 1 bay leaf, 2 whole cardamom seeds, a small portion of cinnamon stick and star anise, 2 cloves)

Extra virgin olive oil

Prep:
1. Wash almonds and soak them in water in a microwavable bowl.
2. Microwave them for 2 minutes.
3. In the meantime, chop onion into medium-sized pieces and mince the garlic and green chili.
4. When almonds are microwaved, separate them but do not throw the water.
5. Peel the skins of almonds and halve them. Set one or two aside for garnishing and cut them into thin long pieces.

6. Rinse or wipe mushrooms with a wet cloth and cut into thin long pieces.
7. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. Break the cardamom seeds and also add those.

8. When the cumin seeds start to splutter, add onions, garlic and green chili. Sauté them until they are
lightly golden brown.
9. Add the mushrooms and almonds. Continue stirring.

10. Add black pepper powder and salt to taste. Stir until the mushrooms are slightly brown. Turn off the heat.

11. Add 1 tbsp milk and mix.

12. Transfer the contents of the skillet to a blender and blend into a smooth paste.

13. In the meanwhile, heat the rest of the milk in a pot. Also add the water saved from the almond bowl.

14. Keep adding a tablespoon of warm milk to the blender to make a consistent paste so that all the whole spices are well blended.

15. When the milk in the pot begins to boil, turn the heat to medium-low and add the paste to it. Be careful while transferring hot beverages.

16. Add more salt and black pepper to taste. Thicken the soup to desired consistency. If it is too thick, add more water and bring to a boil. Mix well and garnish with the remaining almonds.