An Oscar Potluck

Two of my closest friends work in media/entertainment, and I've been left with a rather large television, so they and some others came over for some noshing, dishing, and Oscars-viewing.

We had so much food! laid out - not like an etherized patient, more like the antipasti table at a trattoria. Everything we ate last night was light, refreshing, tasty, simple but high quality, easy to prepare. The floral honey, bright green parsley flavor and crunch in the chickpea salad, and raspberries felt like harbingers of a much-awaited spring, while the depth in the blood oranges and dark, woodsy, berry tang of sumac felt like a poignant last look at winter.

*Popcorn tossed with Sumac

*Queso de Murci Curado, a six months' aged raw goat's milk cheese from Murcia in Southeastern Spain (with unspeakably delicious raw Manoir des Abeilles honey mixed with freshly ground black pepper poured over it)

*Red Kardoula Peppers stuffed with Feta and marinated in olive oil, garlic, and basil

*Green-and-black Olive Tapenade (with pita chips): Simply, pitted green and black olives food processed with fresh parsley and thyme, red chilli powder, a small amount of capers, and a slice of preserved lemon.

*Stuffed Grape Leaves

7-layer Bean Dip

Steak Sandwiches a la Ina Garten courtesy of Miz SunDrop

*The Ratatouille from "Ratatouille"

*Blood Orange and Treviso Salad: I sliced two heads of treviso on the bias and laid supremed blood orange slices over that on a platter, scattered some sliced scallions on top, and dressed the salad with a vinaigrette of blood orange juice, pomegranate molasses, cider vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

*Roasted Chickpea Salad: I tossed cooked chickpeas with olive oil, salt, sumac, red chilli powder, and cumin, and roasted them spread out on a baking pan for 45 minutes in a 350-degree oven, then tossed them with shredded red cabbage, lots of fresh chopped flat leaf parsley, and a simple vinaigrette of lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Farmers Market Quiche

*Raspberries with Honeyed Greek Yogurt

*Moroccan Mint Tea

* = organic

Recipe: Chhole (Chickpea Curry)

I hosted my book club last night and thematically served an all vegetarian, Indian-with-a-hint-of-Anglo meal (we read "The Indian Clerk," historical fiction but very much based on reality - the story of the Cambridge don and mathematician G. H. Hardy's encounter with the genius-but-unschooled mathematician and upper caste vegetarian Srinivasa Ramanujan, brought to Trinity College from South India and treated as an exotic specimen of "Hindoo calculator" by Hardy and his colleagues).

The menu: hariyali tikki sandwiches; chhole (chickpea curry) served with imli chutney and brown basmati with browned onions and peas; avial (yogurt curry); gobi masala (cauliflower) with chapatis; chopped raw mushrooms, mild radishes, and baby japanese turnips tossed with chaat masala and lemon and lime juice; red onion salad; and butternut squash raita. One of the book club members brought lemon almond whole grain tea bread and we had that with Concord grapes for dessert.

The cinnamon stick swells up with the curry and imparts a woody spiciness to the whole dish.

Chhole for 8 (served alongside other dishes)

1 1/2 Cups chickpeas, soaked overnight (or ~2 Cups cooked chickpeas)

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 1/2 yellow onions, chopped finely

3 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick (about the length of your forefinger)

1" piece ginger, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and black pepper to taste

1 tsp. red chilli powder (optional)

1-2 tbsp. garam masala (to taste)

4 huge or 6 normal-sized tomatoes, skins removed, chopped

If using uncooked chickpeas: about 2 Cups boiling hot water

Leaves from half a bunch of cilantro, washed, drained, and chopped

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a soup pot or pressure cooker pot until hot. Add the chopped onions, cloves, and cinnamon stick and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and saute until fragrant (don't let the ginger-garlic brown; don't worry if the onion browns a little). Add the chickpeas, salt, black pepper, red chilli powder (optional), and garam masala and stir to combine thoroughly, until each chickpea is coated with the mixture of oil, onions, ginger-garlic, and spices and the chickpeas are heated through. Then add the tomatoes, stir, add additional salt if necessary, and turn the heat up and bring to boil (at this point, add the boiling water if using uncooked chickpeas), stirring.

If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a pressure cooker, follow the instructions to pressure cook the chickpea curry at this point. If you're using uncooked chickpeas and a regular pot, cover and reduce to medium low heat and simmer until the chickpeas are cooked, ~2 hours. If you're using cooked chickpeas and either a pressure cooker or a regular pot, do not pressure cook, just simmer covered until the tomatoes have broken down into a thick curry (~15 minutes).

Then, at the end, if there is extra liquid, remove the cover and boil until the liquid is reduced, depending on how watery versus thick you want it to be.

Stir in the chopped cilantro after removing from heat but while still hot, just before serving.

Recipe: Whole grain penne with parsley-lemon pesto, diced fresh tomatoes, and chickpeas

Yesterday, I had left over parsley, tomatoes, lemons, and chickpeas. So I picked up some wild ocean perch filets and dredged them in a mix of ground flax, salt, and sambar powder, a masala used in the South Indian dish sambar. It contains roasted coriander seeds, chilli, lentils, and other spices. I use one that my uncle's South Indian mother-in-law makes at home, but MTR brand sambar powder, which you can buy in Indian grocery stores, is pretty good. I lightly pan-fried the fish, and we had it drizzled with a bit of the parsley-lemon pesto that I used to make this whole grain pasta, which we had on the side.

You may be asking - Miz Masala, why no traditional Indian dishes so far? Answer: most of the Indian dishes I make are to be eaten hot, and it's summer, and it's hot - 95°F, so we've been eating light, vaguely Mediterranean or Asian uncooked or partially uncooked dishes that can be served cold or lukewarm - lots of salads, supplemented sometimes with fish/seafood.

But I'll try to make some sprouted mung bean salad or bhel puri or fruit chaat soon, and post those recipes : ). I won't be craving anything like dal, however, until it cools down a bit outside!

Whole grain penne with parsley-lemon pesto, diced fresh tomatoes, and chickpeas (serves 6 as a side dish)

1 bunch parsley, trimmed, washed, and coarsely chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 2 lemons

1 shallot, peeled, quartered

3 tbsp. olive oil

5 tomatoes, washed, seeded, and diced

1.5 Cups cooked chickpeas

8 oz. organic whole grain penne rigate (I used Bionaturae)

salt and freshly ground pepper

Blend or food process until smooth the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, shallot, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Depending on your blender/processor you might need more olive oil.

Cook the penne in boiling, salted water for about 9 or 10 minutes, drain, and, while hot, toss with the parsley-lemon pesto. Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and additional salt and pepper, and toss.

Recipe: Tasty Tabbouleh

I'd love to begin adding recipes to this site, so I'll start with something we made and ate tonight:

Tasty Tabbouleh

Serves 6 as a substantial side dish.

Ingredients

About 1.5 Cups cooked kidney beans (start with 3/4 Cup dried beans, or use 1 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)

About 1.5 Cups cooked chickpeas (start with 3/4 Cup dried chickpeas, or use 1 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)

About 1.5 Cups cooked black beans (start with 3/4 Cup dried beans, or use 1 15-oz. can, rinsed and drained)

2 Cups cooked bulgur (start with 1 Cup dry, uncooked bulgur)

2 bunches flat leaf parsley, rinsed, patted/spun dry, and coarsely or finely chopped (as you prefer)

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 hot chilli pepper, minced (optional: seeded, if you want it to be less spicy)

1 long cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

Juice of 2 lemons, 1 lime, and 1 orange

3 Tablespoons olive oil

Salt, freshly ground black pepper, and za'atar to taste

Other optional add-ons: diced radish, seeded and diced tomatoes, peeled and grated carrot, corn kernels...

This one is pretty easy - just toss everything together in a big bowl!