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I don’t want you to get intimidated by the long ingredient list. This dish is easy to make- just needs a bit of planning and some preparation. It is worth taking the time out and isn’t it great to know how to make one of the very popular dishes served in an Indian restaurant? If you make it at home, you will save money and it will taste a lot better and it will be a lot healthier. You can control the amount of oil, etc you add to the dish. There is usually a lot of butter and cream added to most Indian dishes with gravy.

The secret ingredient in the dish is the baked onions. It gives this dish a slow and long cooked flavor. The onions are baked with a bit of flour which thickens the gravy- perfect!

All the other spices add delicious savory flavor to the dish. Kasuri methi or dry fenugreek is really the key to finish the dish off. For my readers in the Maplewood/South Orange area- there is a new Indian/Sri Lankan grocery store on Irvington Ave in Maplewood- they will have kasuri methi. It is a great ingredient to have in your pantry and lasts a very long time.

Mattar paneer can be served with rice or roti- either way it tastes really good. It’s my husband’s favorite so he is extremely happy whenever I make it for him…
Click here for the recipe… »

I have been so inspired by my one day cooking class with Paola in Spello, Umbria that all I want to do is cook fresh tomato sauce. The problem with doing that and writing a food blog is that I need to switch the recipe around a bit so I can post it and inspire other people to make it as well. With all the yummy tomatoes around in the farmer’s market and my back yard, I just couldn’t help myself today and made yet another fresh tomato sauce.

I went to Whole Foods and bought fresh rigatoni- I haven’t made boxed pasta since I came back from Italy- not sure how long this obsession will last.. My plan was to buy some jumbo shrimp and make a shrimp scampi pasta with tomato sauce. I was standing at the fish counter when I noticed beautiful sea scallops from NJ. I had to buy them since they were so local. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with them but bought them anyway.

I came home and cut the fresh tomatoes up and started cooking them. I boiled the fresh pasta and brought it together with the tomato sauce. I sauteed the scallops on the stove- very quickly- that is the trick to really juicy and tender- do not over cook them. I placed them on top of the pasta.

I remembered the arugula pesto in the fridge and decided to serve a bit of that in the form of a bruschetta. All in all it was a delicious meal. The fresh pasta with the fresh tomato sauce was of course delicious. The sweet and tender scallops were yum and the arugula bruschetta was out of this world. A bottle of Malbec made it even better!

• 3 cups fresh plum tomatoes, cut into rough squares
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• Pinch of sugar
• ½ pound fresh rigatoni, cooked al dente (reserve ½ cup pasta water for the sauce)

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook on medium heat for at least 20 minutes or till the tomatoes start to get mushy and soft. Add the ½ cup pasta water and the al dente pasta. Mix well and check for seasonings.

Sauteed Scallops

• 1 pound sea scallops, cleaned
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Salt
• Pepper

Heat a non-stick frying pan on high heat. Add the olive oil and scallops. Add salt and pepper. Cook on each side for 2 minutes on high heat. Cook in two batches is the pan is not big enough.

Serve the pasta with 4-5 scallops on top. Toast some sliced baguette and top with the arugula pesto. Serve with the pasta.

I served this rice with the salmon marinated with miso. When my husband and I ate at Ming Tsai’s restaurant, my lobster dish had the most delicious fried rice I have ever tasted. As I enjoyed and devoured the rice, I realized it had butter in it. Now, of course I am health conscious and don’t want to use extra fat but I realized that if I saute the rice in a mixture of butter and olive oil, I can get great flavor as well. 

So that is what I did with this rice dish. I had farm fresh corn and bok choy and decided to combine the two in the dish- the more the merrier. Actually the two went really well together. The sweet corn was great with the earthy taste of the bok choy. I sauteed everything together and cooked the rice in chicken broth.

I love making fried rice as a side dish. You can put anything you want in there, really- no rules.. It’s easy to make and all sorts of vegetables can be added to make it healthy. 

I was happy to serve a really healthy protein with this fried rice full of vegetables- it was a great combination. My daughter didn’t eat the fish but loved the rice. There was no mention of the strange green vegetable floating around- that is another reason to make fried rice- kids will eat it with whatever you add to it.

Overall it was a successful dinner- no complaints.

• 1 cup basmati rice
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter, olive oil and add the rice. Saute for a minute on medium heat or till the grains begin to look opaque. Add the chicken broth and salt and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium once bubbles begin to show on the surface. Cover the saucepan once the broth has evaporated and cook on low for 15 minutes or till rice is cooked. Take out and let cool.

• 1 large head of bok choy, cleaned and the white and green parts separated and chopped.
• 2 ears of corn, husked and kernels taken out
• 3 inch piece of ginger, minced
• 1 teaspoon white miso
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 teaspoons tamari

Mix the white miso, honey and tamari together and keep aside.

• 2 tablespoons extra light olive oil

In a wide wok-like pan, heat the olive oil and add the ginger. Saute for a minute and add the chopped white parts of the bok choy. Saute on medium high heat for 3-4 minutes. Next, add the green part and the fresh corn kernels. Saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the cooked rice and the miso mixture. Saute the rice on high heat for 5-6 minutes. Check for seasonings.

I love miso flavored anything. I first had the alaskan butterfish marinated in white miso at Ming Tsai’s restaurant, Blue Ginger in Boston. It was so fabulous that I replicated it at home with great success. Alaskan butterfish or black cod is quite expensive and is definitely not for a regular weeknight meal. I wanted to use similar flavors and try it with another fish. Salmon came to mind since it is one of the healthiest fish to have and it is not as expensive.

I bought fresh Alaskan salmon at Whole Foods. I am a little leery about using the farm raised variety, especially since they add color to make the salmon pink- I really don’t like that idea at all. I would rather have salmon less often and pay more for the wild variety. 

I bought a big piece and and marinated it with white miso, tamari and a little mirin. The flavors are wonderful together and compliment the fish really well. I also made a fried rice with the fish – I had fresh corn and bok choy in the fridge and decided to combine the two in the rice (recipe to follow on Monday). 

It was great healthy meal. My daughter does not like salmon- at all. So, I had her try a bite (she hated it) and then gave her the fried rice and made a chicken sausage for her on the side. She is usually such a good eater that I didn’t have a problem with her not enjoying the fish. It is probably the only fish she doesn’t like. All in all it was a successful meal.

• 4 salmon fillets (6 oz each, about an inch thick)
• 1 tablespoon white miso paste
• 2 tablespoons tamari
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoon honey
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 1 tablespoon butter

Mix the miso, tamari, sugar, honey and mirin together and marinate the salmon for 2-3 hours.
Arrange fish in a shallow dish lined with aluminum foil. Spoon the left over marinade evenly over the fish. Distribute the butter evenly over all the fillets.
Broil 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
Serve with fried rice.

I love this chutney! It is very versatile- it is fabulous with pork or chicken- even duck! I served this with scallops for a get together. It worked out really well since all I had to do was cook the scallops for the big crowd and the condiment was all set in advance- I made it the previous night.

The chutney has a great flavor, especially with the nectarine and mango. Although these fruits are quickly going out of season, there is still some time to make this delectable condiment. The fruit doesn’t have to be very ripe, since it will be cooked down with honey and lots of other spices and fresh herbs.

One of the other reasons this chutney is so versatile is because it has flavors from a few different cuisines. Thyme and rosemary remind me of Italian food; chipotle in adobo sauce reminds me of Southwestern cuisine; and cumin seeds yell Indian cuisine.

For the fall, the same spices can be used with a mixture of apples and pears. I think it would great on top of burgers or with a roast chicken. Even a simple cheese quesadilla will taste great topped with the chutney. I guess my point is to have this in your fridge at all times- it is very convenient and helps to serve a quick meal when you are in a rush!

• 1 large mango, peeled and chopped
• 2 nectarines, chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
• 1 teaspoon chipotle in adobo sauce, just the sauce if you don’t want the chutney too spicy
• Salt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup pineapple juice

In a wide frying pan, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Add the rosemary, thyme, cumin seeds, chipotle in adobo, mango and nectarines. Mix well and add the salt, honey and pineapple juice. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes till the fruit is soft and the sauce is thick. Check for seasonings.