Spicy Flax Meal Podi and Spinach Rice.

Flax seeds was something new to me when I saw bloggers using them in their baking as a replacement for egg. I started trying this in my baking experiments and to my surprise the baked goodies turned out super soft and moist. I got over excited and got a big bag of Flax meal from whole foods couple of months back.Though Flax seeds is a good source of Omega 3 fatty acids, it has very poor shelf life. So I always keep it sealed in the refrigerator. In my quest to find different ways to use that bag of flax meal , I came across this recipe for FlaxMeal and Peanut Podi from Usha's VegInspirations. Needless to say about her blog, she has so many recipes anything healthy :)
We use this podi as multipurpose podi for rice, Idli, dosa etc.,


I did not use Jaggery as in her recipe,except that I followed the same::
Ingredients: 
1 cup raw unsalted peanuts.( I used the roasted , lightly salted ones)
1/2 cup sesame seeds (white)
1/2 cup Channa dhal
1/2 cup blach gram dhal with skin( I used whole urad dhal)
1/2 cup flax seed meal
8 red chillies ( I used very less compared to her recipe, add more if you like it really spicy)

How to make the powder:
Dry roast each of the ingredients one by one in a low flame.Switch off the stove and add the Flax meal in the pan and give it a toss. Cool all the ingredients and powder it your dry/spice grinder.Do not make it to smooth powder. Store it in an airtight container.

This Spinach rice is one of my recipe which I experimented with this podi...The peanuts in the podi and spinach compliments each other. Perfect lunch box dish.

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked rice
2 cups roughly chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 tsp jeera/cumin seeds
curry leaves (optional)
turmeric optional (I did not use this)
2 tblsp of Flaxseed podi
1tsp lemon juice

Method:
In a wide pan add 2 tblsp of olive oil, 
To this add cumin seeds and wait till it splutters.
Now add the onions and chopped garlic  fry till slightly brown
To this add the chopped spinach and stir fry till wilts completly.
Add salt and turmeric, mix well.
Now add the cooked rice and mix well.
Switch off the stove, add the Flax seeds podi and mix well to combine.
Finally add the lemon juice and gently stir the rice.
Serve with Raita.
.

Simple Pasta with Zucchini

Zucchini/courgettes is one of my favorite vegetable. I try to make a wide range of dishes from soups to dhals and curries, during summer when the vegetable tastes its best.This is a super simple recipe, which I happened to taste in a small motel /restaurant in  Rome.We reached the place very late in the night after a hectic flight journey from Brussels, the motel owner who himself was a chef was very kind enough to whip up this quick pasta for us at that time of the night. This is a perfect example of great food with less, but good quality ingredients.

Ingredients


4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil.
2 zucchini cut into bite sized pieces
4 cloves garlic
2 tblsp coarse pepper.
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Any pasta of your choice.(I used Rigatoni)


Method:
Cook the pasta as per the package instructions
Heat the oil in a wide pan, add garlic and fry for a minute.
Add the zucchini piece and stir for about 2 - 3 minutes
Add the dried oregano, mix well.
Now add the cooked pasta and toss well to coat.
 Finally add the coarse black pepper and mix well.
Enjoy with soup or salad.





Sending this recipe to Priya's VFAM - Zucchini event guest hosted at Vardhini's.