Baked Eggs And Vegetables In Bread Cups

Like one of my previous recipes, this one too is inspired by something that caught my eye on the Pepperidge Farm website. I used the basic idea from there but made my own changes to the recipe.

Ingredients:
(For 9 bread cups)
9 bread slices, crusts trimmed
5 eggs, beaten
¼ cup milk
Salt
Pepper
5 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese

Other ingredients:
2 Tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
½ tsp red pepper flakes
Salt
2 cups of mixed vegetables, finely chopped (I used what I had- onions, asparagus, potatoes, radishes)


Method:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Grease a muffin tin.

Take a slice of bread and brush one side of it with a little bit of the beaten egg-milk mixture. Place the slice (brushed side down) in the muffin cup and press down gently. Repeat with the other slices.

Meanwhile, melt some butter in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and onions followed by the asparagus, potatoes and radishes. Cook for 3-5 minutes. Mix well and set aside.

Once the vegetables have cooled a bit, add to the eggs. Add salt, pepper, cheddar cheese and mix well. Distribute the vegetable-egg mixture between the cups of the muffin tin (I had enough mixture for 9 cups). Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the eggs are done.

I like how the bread, eggs, vegetables and cheese come together to make this a very simple and elegant meal. This is a nice variation on the traditional eggs-on–toast routine and would be great for breakfast, lunch, or even dinner.

Spicy Cannellini Bean Soup

A lot of my Italian-style cooking is heavily influenced by what I see on Giada’s show on the Food Network. I saw this recipe a couple of days back and decided to make it. Here’s my version after a couple of modifications.

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
2 medium onions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and diced
3 celery stalks, chopped
¾ tsp red chilli flakes
½ tsp coriander powder
½ tsp chilli powder
½ tsp powdered cloves
1 can of diced tomatoes
A handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 (15 oz) can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup milk

Method:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the chopped onions, carrots, celery and garlic and sauté till the onions are translucent, and the other vegetables turn soft.

Add all the spices, mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.

Add the canned tomatoes and chopped basil and cook for another 5 minutes.

Puree the mixture. (I used my immersion blender. If you are using a regular blender, allow the mixture to cool for a bit, blend and then return to the saucepan.)

Add the milk to the pureed mixture, bring to a boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. (You could thin out the soup by adding some water too. I like mine a little thick and creamy, hence added only milk.)

Add the canned beans and cook for another 5 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper, garnish with chopped herbs and serve hot.

Other winter warmers on this blog:
Creamy Cauliflower Soup
Gingered Carrot and Parsnip Soup
Cream of Broccoli Soup

This spicy bean soup goes to Susan @ The Well-Seasoned Cook for her event- My Legume Love Affair.

Moth Beans curry and Cluster Beans sabji

Moth Beans Curry
Ingredients:
2 cups moth beans/matki, cooked
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp cumin seeds, roasted & powdered
6-10 peppercorns, roasted & powdered
Salt to taste.

To be ground together:
2 Tbsp coconut
½ tsp cumin seeds

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
A pinch of asafoetida
1-2 red chillies

Method:
Cook moth beans till done. (I always pressure cook dals/ beans/lentils in bulk and freeze them in separate freezer-safe plastic containers to avoid the hassle of having to use the pressure cooker every single time I need to make something using it. It has been working great for me.)

Roast and powder the cumin seeds & the peppercorns.

Grind together the coconut & cumin seeds.

Heat the oil in a pan and add the mustard seeds, asafoetida and red chillies followed by the chopped onion and garlic. Sauté till the onions are transparent.

Add the roasted powders and the ground coconut-cumin seed mixture. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Add the cooked beans to this and ½ cup of water & cover and cook for 5 minutes or so till all the flavors blend in.

Serve hot.


Cluster Beans sabji
Ingredients:
3 cups cluster beans/guvar, chopped into one inch pieces
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 big piece of jaggery
Salt to taste

To be ground together:
2 Tbsp coconut
2-3 red chillies
½ tsp cumin seeds

For seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp urad dal(skinned and split white lentils)
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
A pinch of asafoetida


Method:
Heat the oil in a pan and add the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the chopped onions & garlic and sauté till the onions are transparent and soft.

Add the cluster beans and cover and cook till tender.

Add the ground coconut mixture to the beans and mix well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes.

Cluster beans are a little too bitter for my taste and I added a big piece of jaggery too. Mix well till the jaggery melts.

Serve hot with rice or rotis.

Cucumber and Tomato Curry

Ingredients:

½ cucumber (medium), peeled & cubed
2 tomatoes, cubed
½ cup yogurt
½ cup grated coconut (I used the frozen variety)
½ tsp cumin seeds
2 red chillies

Pinch of turmeric powder
Salt to taste

For the seasoning:
1 Tbsp oil
½ tsp mustard seeds
½ tsp fenugreek/methi seeds
3-4 curry leaves
Pinch of asafoetida/hing
1-2 red chillies

Method:

Cook the cubed cucumber and chopped tomatoes with a little water and some turmeric powder in a vessel till the veggies are soft.(Take care to see that the cucumber is not falling apart).

Meanwhile, grind the coconut, cumin seeds & red chillies to a fine paste with very little water.

Add the ground coconut mixture to the cooked vegetables & mix well. Cover and cook for about 5 minutes or so.

Beat the yogurt well & add to the vegetable-coconut mixture. Cook on medium heat, stirring continuously to mix everything well and also to make sure that the yogurt does not separate.After 2-3 minutes, set this aside.

In a separate pan, heat the oil and add all the ingredients for the seasoning.

Add the seasoning to the curry . Serve hot with some rice.

Cauliflower au Gratin

Here's a quick & easy recipe that I came up with as a result of a Google search. It seemed perfect since it did not require too many ingredients and I did not have much in my refrigerator anyway!

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, broken in florets (You could use frozen cauliflower too)
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheese ( I used Mozzarella)
Salt & pepper to taste.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Blanch the cauliflower florets in a pot of salted boiling water until just tender (this takes about 3-4 minutes). I salt the water just so that the flavor of the cauliflower is enhanced slightly.

Meanwhile, prepare some white sauce by melting the butter, blending in the flour & adding the milk gradually while stirring constantly till the mixture thickens. ( takes about 3 minutes or so)Add salt & pepper.

Drain the cauliflower & place in a baking dish. Sprinkle a little bit of the shredded cheese uniformly over the florets.

Pour the white sauce over this.

Finally, sprinkle the rest of the shredded cheese over the sauce and bake at 375 degree F for 20 minutes until the cheese melts & you get a nice golden brown topping.


Other veggies that you could include in this recipe are corn & broccoli. They taste so good together.Unfortunately, I was out of both.This took me a little under 30 min to prepare from start to finish & I did not have to worry about cleaning up either since it is cooked & served in the same dish!

This picture does not do justice to the dish. Believe me, it tastes better than it looks!! :-)

This goes to Shaheen for her Express Cooking Event.

Corn Salad

Ingredients

3 cups corn

1 finely chopped red onion

1 cucumber, peeled & diced

2 finely chopped small tomatoes

3/4 cup roasted bell pepper, chopped in small pieces

For the dressing :

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp. honey

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Juice of 1 lemon

Salt & pepper to taste.

Method

Add & mix the vegetables in a bowl.Prepare the dressing and add to the vegetables. Mix well. Chill & serve!