Sambar Rice

This turned out very well!  Somewhat involved, but lots of chances for parallel work.  Maybe 45-min total if you do some things in parallel.

I followed https://www.vegrecipesofindia.com/sambar-rice-recipe-sambar-sadam/

I used ~2.5 cups veggies, and that could even have been more.

I omitted the dried chilies at the end, which was probably a good idea.

In the tadka I also added ~3-4 Tbsp shredded coconut and fried to golden before pouring over the rice mixture.

The final note was that I like my veggies a little crisper, so instead of 16-18 min, I did it for 10-12 min, then an additional 6-8 after the tamarind, and that was about right for the medium sized chunks I cut the veggies into.

Veggies were red and green bell pepper, carrot, and green bean.

Chicken Korma

 Maria made this from https://www.teaforturmeric.com/authentic-chicken-korma/

It took 90 min, though 30 of them were just waiting for the onions to brown.  Really wonderful result, though!  We omitted all the chili-related things and the curry had a nice rich flavor with dominant spice flavors of cinnamon and clove.  David thinks it would be truly excellent with more chili.

Maria used half as much garam, and didn't add some of the finishing things like kewra water.  We used boneless thighs instead of bone-in.  We didn't put in tomatoes and used 1 Cup yogurt instead of 3/4ths.  (I think it probably would have been great with the tomatoes and all the other things as well).

We served it with naan.

Sunshine pasta with pistachio

 This was .... ok, but promising enough to try again.

Saute in pan:  1 Tbsp oil, 1 diced onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, 2 diced yellow bell peppers + 2 Tbsp white vinegar and pinch of salt.  With lid on for 10 min.  Soften but do not brown.

Boil pasta per instructions reserving 1 cup pasta water.

Add 1 oz grated parmesan to onion mixture and blend, adding pasta water as needed until sauce is desired consistency.  Adjust seasoning by adding salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle blitzed pistachio on top.

We also made some shrimp to serve on the side, and it would probably be great to have shrimp bits mixed in at the end.  (Here we did the shrimp separately and plopped them on top so Nadia might eat them).

I would have liked more sauce; and it doesn't keep well as the sauce dries out/gets absorbed into the pasta in the refrigerator.  So maybe sauce the pasta just before serving.  The pistachio crumbles on top look nice but don't seem to add much flavor.  I wonder if we added a tsp of pistachio paste mixed in the sauce itself?

Creme Fraiche Pasta With Peas and Asparagus

We made a modified (Nadia friendlier) version of this.  Our version tossed in some blanched asapargus and peas.

Original Recipe

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Boil water for 1 lb medium shells (or other shape).  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water when done and drained.

Trim ~12 oz (3 bunches) scallions.  Thinly slice 1 or 2 on the diagonal.  Cut the others into 1/2" pieces.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil.  Season scallion pieces with salt and pepper.  Stir occasionally for 6-8 min until they start to caramelize (soften and brown in spots). 

In a large bowl, add 1 Tbsp oil, 1 C parm, 3/4 C creme fraiche, and zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp).  Add 1/2 cup of the resere hot pasta water and stir until sauce is smooth.  Stir in charred scallions.

When pasta is done, add peas to the water, turn off the heat, drain pasta and peas together, and add them to the sauce in the large bowl.  Toss to combine, adding more reserve pasta water as necessary for sauce texture.

Ingredients

3 bunches scallions, 1 lb shells, 1 cup parm, 3/4 cup creme fraiche, 1 lemon zested, 1 c frozen peas.

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We did it without the scallions and with asparagus.  Overall, smaller pasta shapes are better and I thought just blanching the asparagus was the wrong taste.  I'd prefer just pan frying it on the side.

BUT the Creme Fraiche sauce was GREAT.  It was rich with a velvety texture very different from our normal white sauce.  The lemon was just the right amount.

Variation:  Use bay shrimp and stir-fried dark greens with garlic tossed in instead of the green peas.

Recipe for stir-fried dark greens.  Recipe is as written above, but add bay shrimp at the end (like the peas) and drain with the pasta.  Stir in the dark greens to the pasta + sauce.

I think the trick here is going to be ensuring the dark greens are the right size after being cooked.  We don't want big globs, but we don't want small little bits.  Maybe give the greens a rough chop after cooking? 

Pistachio crusted tilapia in the toaster oven!

Thawed 4 tilapia fillets.

 Beat 2 egg whites and put in dredging container.

Mix 1/2 cup pistachio finely chopped, 3 Tbsp cornmeal, 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp salt.

Pre-heated toaster oven to 450 F on convection bake.  Sprayed non-stick spray on tinfoil.

Patted fillets dry with paper towel, dredge in egg white and then pistachio mixture on both sides and placed on tray (we could cook 2 at a time in the toaster oven).  I also drizzled about 1-1.5 Tbsp melted butter on top.

Baked ~8 min, rotating tray front-to-back (didn't flip the fish) halfway through.

Yogurt dip:  Mix together:

1 C greek yogurt

3/4 C finely diced persian cucumber

2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh dill

1 T lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Served with lemon.

Very nice!  Maybe fish could be salted a little more.  maybe mix pistachio with almonds?