All posts filed under: Pasta & Grains

Recipes involving pasta or grains (like rice, barley, quinoa etc.)

Beet Orzo Risotto

Published by Swati

There are some vegetables I have made peace with never loving, like eggplant or sweet potatoes.   Beets were also part of this group, until very recently.  They always seemed a bit too (naturally) sugary for me.  Growing up, my mom used to make beets Indian style- sauteed with Indian spices, chili peppers and salt.  I just could not get myself to enjoy that and trust me I TRIED but the sweetness just got in the way.  Beets have amazing health benefits so I was a little bummed that I couldn’t get myself to love them. Thankfully I got into a morning smoothie regimen since last year and through that beets made a comeback.  They are amazing in smoothies!  Which makes sense since they have a little sweetness and go perfectly well with fruits.  But there are times when I have too many beets and mostly the kind that have beet greens attached to them.  So I thought- what else can I make with them that I won’t hate?  Thanks to a leftover box of orzo pasta, I had a brain wave: Why not make a faux …

Couscous Paella

Published by Swati

If you know me, you know I’m not really a reality TV show enthusiast.  Not to say I haven’t watched reality TV, I definitely followed a couple of the MTV ones back in the day *shrug*.  But now, not so much.  The only reality TV I do follow are the cooking shows.  I started out watching Top Chef and then after a few seasons I stopped mainly because I didn’t have cable for 3-4 years.  Then I got cable again and I started to watch Chopped.  That was the show that introduced me to Marcus Samuelsson who was a frequent judge.  He seemed like he was always the level-headed one of all the judges and didn’t blatantly cause a scene for entertainment value.  Then I stumbled on another show called ‘The Taste’, where Marcus is a mentor/judge, which I now religiously follow!  If you love food/cooking- I highly recommend this show!  Contestants have literally one spoonful to prove their culinary prowess- really interesting stuff.  My husband, Suril, and I find ourselves almost always rooting for Marcus’ team …

Southwestern Baked Acorn Squash

Published by Swati

I have always had a colleague or two in my career who have been avid CSA fans and would bring some extra veggies/fruits they couldn’t use to distribute at work.  If you don’t know what a CSA is, check out- http://www.localharvest.org/csa/ .  In a nutshell it’s a farm to table system where you get super fresh seasonal veggies & fruits while supporting local farmers.  I was always intrigued but hadn’t tried it before because you do have to be willing to try vegetables you probably wouldn’t get on your own volition.  I felt like I would be better off going to a farmers market, but my issue with that was always timing.  I would never get out of work early enough to get to a market before it closed or even just have the good stuff available.  This is why a CSA or similar type of delivery system intrigued me. I did some research and while there are a lot of options in the DC area, I decided to try Washington’s Green Grocer (not quite a CSA but similar). …