Fusili with baked vegetables and cream sauce

One of those feel good pasta dishes, with a lot of fresh seasonal veggies, looking bright and colorful, perfect for the endless 'December -summer' days in Mumbai. In fact it does look like Summer on a plate!

For the baked veggies you need: (You can use any vegetable you like and any amount)
Zucchini thinly sliced, one red onion, one yellow bell pepper chopped and broccoli florets,
3-4 garlic cloves,
and a handful of dried herbs- (rosemary, thyme and chives/ oregano)

For the sauce you need:
1 cup of milk
2 teaspoons butter
chopped parsley
grated garlic (2 cloves)
grated parmesan (1/2 cup)

So mix all the veggies, garlic and herbs in a bowl with a generous amount of good olive oil and a little salt. Spread them out on the baking tray and pop it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes at 180 dec C. You might need to stir them once in between.

For the sauce, whisk the butter and milk, parmesan, garlic and chopped parsley. Sauce done.

While the veggies are in the oven, we get the pasta cooking in boiling water ( it takes about 10-15 minutes), till al dente. Drain the pasta and reserve about half a cup of the starchy pasta water.

In a pan, pour in the sauce, a little pasta water and the pasta and simmer till the sauce thickens, becomes sticky and coats the pasta evenly. Add the baked vegetables and stir.

Serve hot with a dusting of fresh parmesan.

Quinoa/ sama breakfast

This simple breakfast dish packs a punch in flavor and protein. The original recipe called for quinoa, but I couldn't find it in the market. I got a substitute, which seemed similar called 'sama'. It also looks like upma in some way, and even this preparation is pretty similar. Let's say a 'fancy western' upma!

You need:

half a cup of quinoa/ sama
1 cup vegetable broth
a handful of peas, chopped carrots, onions, garlic, parsley
juice of half a lemon
2 tsp of olive oil, salt and pepper

Pour just broth over the quinoa to cover the surface. Set aside for 10 minutes, till it soaks in all the water and expands. Meanwhile in a pan, heat the oil and saute the onions, garlic, carrots and peas till soft. Salt and pepper. Add the quinoa, the juice of half a lemon and stir well for two minutes. Add in the chopped parsley.

The Spring Pea Soup

It has gotten a bit chilly past few days... thanks to the constant downpour through the day. This gloomy weather calls for a nice hearty soup.  The spring pea soup.
About a week back, I got on to this website- sparkpeople.com, and I have been keeping count of my calories and nutrient intake everyday. What was severely lacking in my diet was proteins. Being a vegetarian there are limited sources, so the pea soup rich in protein and fibers was a great idea.

Here's how you make it. You need:

• 2 tsps butter
• half a medium leek finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups fresh/ frozen peas
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3 tsp fresh cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• a sprig of rosemary

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Add the leek, the salt, pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
2. Add the broth, the peas and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the peas are tender, about 5 minutes.
3. Remove the pan from the heat, add the basil and rosemary. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, taking in all the flavours.
4. Using a blender, purée the soup in batches until smooth. Transfer the soup to a saucepan, add the fresh cream and parmesan and simmer it for another 5 minutes.