Zucchini Pasta with Green Sauce

I find that Zucchini tends to feel soggy if you don't have them freshly-grilled, but as a replacement for pasta, it tasted delicious. Word of caution, use this as a side dish or salad because you will feel hungry soon after eating only this.


For the pasta, you'll need
1 large zucchini
1 red onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp oil
Pinch of chilli flakes
Seasoning
*You can also have it raw in which case you only need to season it

If you have a peeler that lets you peel the vegetable in strips then great, or use a regular peeler to get ribbons. You can use the ribbons as it is or manually cut them into thin strips to resemble pasta. I prefer to use the skin of the zucchini as well. It's healthy so don't throw it away. Peel it till the seedy core. If you want to use the core, then chop it up and add it to the mix.

In a pan, heat the oil, add the onion, garlic, and chilli flakes and cook till onions start to brown. Next, add the zucchini and season it. You don't need to cook it much - just a minute to get some flavour into it.

For the Green Sauce:
1/2 cup blanched and pureed spinach leaves
1 avocado, mashed
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Seasoning
Tortilla chips for crunch (optional)
*you could also add some pesto and/or cheese

Keep the spinach and avocado at room temperature and mix them together with the seasoning. Then add it to the pasta.

It is advisable not to heat the avocado but you could heat up the spinach with the pasta above then mix in the avocado after you take it off the heat. Or you could have it as a salad with all items at room temperature.

Add the cheese if using, and crush some chips on top before serving.

This serves 2 as a salad, and just 1 as a light meal.

Vegetarian Vietnamese Rice Rolls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

This is just so fresh and healthy and easy to make that I wonder why I never did this before.

Rice sheets are now available in most grocery stores in India (well, in Bombay at least).

For the filling, I used:
1 small radish
1 small carrot
Half each of red and yellow peppers
Moong bean sprouts
Sweet basil 
Cilantro
Mint
Vermicelli*

*I used Brown Rice Vermicelli. Just soak them in boiling water for 5 minutes.
To give it some extra flavour, I stir-fried it with some garlic-chilli paste and added some salt. Allow to cool.

To prepare:
Keep a flat dish with some warm water, and 2 plates - one to prepare it in and 1 to keep the finished rolls in.
Dip the rice sheet in the water for about 10-20 seconds - make sure it doesn't fold in the water else it'll stick to itself. Once it is soft, place on the plate and start placing the filling. Start with the vermicelli in the center and add a piece of each vegetable. Don't overfill else it will get difficult to roll. Once everything is in place, roll the sides in first, then the rest of it. It takes a bit of practice but after 2-3 rolls, it should get better.

Peanut Dipping Sauce:
1 cup roasted peanuts 
1/2 tsp salt                  
1 tbsp honey               
2-3 tbsps olive oil  
Put these ingredients in a food processor and make into a paste - doesn't need to be very smooth. OR just use some Peanut Butter.

Add:
1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tsp cornflour
1 tsp chilli-garlic paste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Mix well and serve.

Healthy Cup Noodles with Tofu

I like to have some brands of instant noodles. I know they are not the healthiest of options, but they taste good and are great comfort food.

One of the ways to make it a tad healthier is to add vegetables. Just stir fry them separately with garlic and add salt. Them mix it in with the noodles.

I had a packet of Pepper Chicken noodles, so Tofu was a great addition.

I made the noodles as directed on the packet.
For the Tofu topping:

100 gms tofu cut in cubes
1 small capsicum cut in cubes
1 tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsps oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
salt/pepper to taste

You can also add:
Boiled chicken or prawns
Mushrooms
Baby corn

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the garlic once oil is hot and stir on high flame for 30 seconds. Add the vegetables and tofu and keep stirring for another minute. Then add the soy sauce and chilli flakes. Normally, you shouldn't need more salt after you've used soy, but check to see if you need to add some. Add some ground pepper and remove from heat.

Mix it in with the noodles and serve hot.