To offer myself some inspiration and to support local, I am doing a CSA this year. One of my goodies from week one is nettles. This one is new to me. But of course, I love my greens. So, after some back and forth this is my recipe. Sauteed Nettles with Smokey Sweet Walnuts. This particular recipe is good with any seasonal green and or alliums. Now, chances are that I would have never picked up nettles on my own, so that alone is a score. A Little Bit About Cooking with Nettles For starters, there is a reason they are called stinging nettles. Either use gloves, or place in a colander and then ..read more

This week has been about lots of essential cooking. Like this easy and flavorful weeknight fish curry. This is an old and staple family recipe. Mostly with a few staple ingredients. As they say, pantry staples. Every household has their share of these everyday recipes. The kinds that you make without thinking. My Weeknight Fish Curry Story The beauty of these dishes is that they are guaranteed to delight everyone in your household.  My weeknight fish curry is something I enjoy year-round. Yes, even in winter I make this with my stash of stored tomatoes. With mom visiting, fish is in. Lots ..read more

This recipe is one of our favorite weekend brunches. Usually whenever the household is full, Spicy Avocado Toast with Fried Eggs shows up. Today, I made this just for us (as in me and the husband). Much as I like to avoid the inevitable, there are more and more such meals looming in our future, as the next gets empty in fall. The Spicy Avocado Toast with Fried Eggs Story Well, at the moment the house is very full. My mother is here for her summer visit. This though is not her kind of food. I did make an interesting salmon curry, that I will share as soon as time permits. So yes, there is lots ..read more

The coolish weather and Indian food are a match made in Instant pot heaven.  Running around, with simple errands I wanted comfort food for dinner. Simple and easy to make comfort. And comfort for me today looks like this Cilantro Green Chili Chicken. A dish with herbs, creamy yogurt and simple Bengali flavors.   About this Cilantro Green Chili Chicken We, Bengalis name our dishes after the dominant flavor or ingredient. I call this Cilantro Green Chili Chicken after the ingredients. So, you can have another version that is named similarly but offers a very different rendition. That i ..read more

It is no secret that I love my beans. Rajma being one of my favorite bean dishes. One of favorite recipes is this one pot Rajma Pulao. The only catch is that I do need to cook the Rajma and then make the pulao. And today I tried something. I made this with brown rice and soaked rajma beans. And voila, I have a one (instant pot) Rice and Red Beans that I can stand behind. It is easy, comforting and better for you than the original. It tastes seriously good too! A perfect way to make up that extra lost hour.   The One Pot Rice and Red Beans (Rajma Chawal) Story I am trying to close out thin ..read more

I love the rain, although these chilly rainy days are a little different. And yet, there is always room for opportunity. Room for soup, for finding a corner to snuggle into and for making comfort food. Today’s edition of comfort food is Chicken Quesadillas, with an attitude.  I recently made a batch of theplas. And used the leftover theplas instead of tortillas to make these quesadillas. The result is both high impact in terms of flavor and nutrition. And I realize that just like any other sandwich, interesting bread makes all the difference. And I might be biased, but a touch of Indian m ..read more

An often-underrated vegetable is turnips. Treated with love and a good dose of spices however turnips blossom. These Achari Turnips with Crispy Toasted Lentils will change your perception about turnips. This recipe works well for other vegetables like kohlrabi, parsnips, broccoli carrots or a mixture of everything. Serve this as a side, with a good bowl or dal, or eat a large batch by itself, it is all good. It served me well on this chilly day. The Story Behind the Dish Our farmer’s market (Pleasantville Farmer’s Market) is a rain or shine market. This weekend, despite the snow, I sudden ..read more

This Chicken Tikka Masala is developed in the spirit of, when you can’t beat them, join them. If you have been following me anywhere, you probably know that the daughter has flown the coup and my son is almost there. In the bad outside world Tikka Masala’s rule supreme. And not surprisingly my daughter loves them. This is my somewhat healthier version.  Easier too! I made a large batch with paneer for her. Yes, a welcome care package! And by swapping the protein chicken tikka for the son.  And now let me tell you about the healthier swaps and the recipe in general. Me and Chicken Tik ..read more

Caccio E Pepe literally means cheese and Pepper in Italian. These two simple ingredients when meshed with spaghetti offers you a sophisticated and well-seasoned dish. Not all cheeses are made equal, so the cheese of choice here is Pecorino Romano. More on the cheese later. A few weeks ago, I received a review copy of the cookbook, the Vegetarian Reset and this recipe is inspired and adapted from the cookbook. There are a lot of fun recipes using vegetable noodles aka zoodles and cauliflower rice. This particular one, seemed so easy and doable. It works so well with my better for you goals, so ..read more

These Spicy Sesame and Scallion Noodles are made with Chickpea Pasta!!! It is all kinds of delicious and has managed to get me on the Chickpea Pasta bandwagon.  My 2023 explorations with food is to generally explore more in the wholesome area. And after much trepidation I tried chickpea pasta. Just as an FYI, it is still not low carb, if that is what you are after, however it definitely is better for you than regular pasta. And in this dish it tasted pretty good! This of course, is my own observation and not a sponsored post. In general, the flavors make this dish.  It is spicy, cozy ..read more