Grilled Veggie Sandwich

I have a confession to make. It isn't one that I am terribly proud of... not even one that I will admit to if you ask me about it in the real world. But, this is cyberspace. Anything goes, right? Having said that, here is my deep dark secret. I *bleeping* LOVE vegetable shopping. It's true. I do! I LOVE going on weekends, where I don't really have to worry about going home early to cook or think about any pending work that I might have on that day. It is bad, people. Ask me if I want to go out on a hike or do some kayaking and I will say 'Nope, just drop me off at your nearest Shoprite.' It is crazy, I have never admitted this to anyone before, not even to myself! Nonetheless, it is true. I have been thoroughly domesticated.

This week was a good one for me, produce-wise. I got a whole bunch of zucchinis, Japanese eggplant and some gorgeous peaches. I also lucked out and got my new FAVORITE green: Baby Arugula! I decided to put it all to good use today and made myself a delicious sandwich with a refreshing side salad.

Let's first start with the sandwich. First you need a few veggies. I used onions, peppers, eggplant and zucchini. You can also use sun-dried tomatoes or regular tomatoes.

Grill these veggies in a grill pan or even a skillet. Assemble the sandwich on a bread of your choice with some lettuce and feta cheese. That's that!

Ingredients:
4 slices of bread of your choice - toasted slightly
1 zucchini
1/2 onion
2 slices of Japanese Eggplant
2 leaves of butter lettuce
1 tbsp feta cheese
1/4th of orange peppers
1 tsp red chili pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

This recipe serves 2

1. Slice your vegetables as shows in the picture and place them in a bowl with about a tsp of olive oil. Add the salt, pepper, red chili pepper flakes and oregano. Mix until the vegetables are well coated with the seasoning.
2. Heat a tsp of olive oil on a skillet or the grill. Grill the veggies until they are well cooked and tender cooked on both sides. 
3. Separate the two slices of bread and start assembling the sandwich. On one slice, place the lettuce topped with the grilled veggies. On the other slice, place a generous amount of feta cheese.
4. Finally, press the two slices together and enjoy with a side of Arugula and Peach salad!

Refreshing Peach + Arugula Salad

I initially made this salad just to have something light and refreshing to eat for dinner on my more *ahem* "full-figured" days. However, it is just so easy to put-together that I have started using it as a side salad for my everyday dinner. It is a simple salad with very light ingredients and easy seasoning so I always try to use fresh produce to really bring out the flavours of this salad.

Ingredients:

Baby Arugula

Baby Spinach

1 Peach

1/2 cup Pecans or Walnuts 

1 tbsp crumbled feta cheese

For the dressing:

Extra Virgin olive oil

Few drops of lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the peach into small triangular pieces of about an inch and a half in length.
2. Toast the pecans or walnuts in a skillet and break into smaller pieces.
3. Arrange the arugula and spinach in a salad plate and top with the peach slices and pecans. Drizzle with the desired amount of dressing. Top with some feta cheese, mix well and enjoy!

Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole

Quinoa is a staple in my house. I was initially introduced to quinoa  in a salad and I didn't think much of it. It gave a little texture to the dish but didn't add too much in terms of taste. So that was that for me. I put the little  bag of Quinoa at the back of my pantry and forgot all about it.

A few months later, I went to my cousin's house for Golu :). And dinner. Arvind and I had a lovely time catching up with them and eventually the conversation turned (as it so often does these days) to healthy food. They told us, to my utter shock and surprise, that they had replaced their daily rice consumption with Quinoa. As in Quinoa+Sambar, Quinoa+Rasam etc. I had a little taste at their house and I liked it. I came home, fished out the little baggy from the back of my pantry and set forth making Sambar and Quinoa for lunch the next day. Thus began my intense love affair with this beautiful grain.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is grown primarily in Peru so we had some lovely local quinoa dishes when we were there. This is us looking proud as hell at Machu Pichu :) :)

Now, on to the dish. This is actually the first dish I ever made with my own recipe. I did this in an attempt to make something different with quinoa which seems to have so many possibilities. This has become such a staple in my house that it didn't ever occur to me to post it until recently :)

It basically needs some quinoa, cooked black beans, onions and some veggies to get it started. Saute the Onions, Veggies and cooked beans with some spices. Add the quinoa.

Assemble this mixture in a baking pan and top with some cheese.

Bake for about 15 minutes at 350F and serve topped with Greek yogurt.

Delicious! :D

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 cup cooked black beans

1 onion - chopped

1/2 red pepper - seeded and chopped

1/2 green pepper - seeded and chopped

1 jalapeno - seeded and chopped

1/2 cup frozen corn
2 tsp cumin
4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
4 tsp oregano
1.5 tbsp lime juice
2.5 tbsp red chili sauce
1/2 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

This recipe serves 2

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and saute the onion with some salt and pepper for about 2 minutes, until transparent. Add the chopped peppers, corn and jalapeno and saute for another 5 minutes, until slightly cooked.
2. Mash the cooked black beans with a little water and add to the veggies. Add the cumin, red pepper flakes, oregano lime juice and red chilli sauce. Adjust all the spices as needed according to your taste. Saute for about 3-5 minutes until the mixture combines,
3. Add the quinoa to the pan. Sprinkle a little water if this looks too dry. Mix well and taste to adjust the salt as needed. Add the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and mix until well combined
4. Assemble the mixture in a baking pan. Top with shredded cheese and bake for about 15 minutes at 350F until the cheese melts
5. Top with a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream and enjoy!