Cheesy Ziti with Summer Squash and Peppers

Last night, I made Ziti with peppers and yellow squash (from my garden). It was a big hit .

Ingredients

Ziti                       - 1 box

Red Pepper          - 1 diced

Green Pepper       - 1 diced

Yellow Squash     - 1 diced

Red Onion           - 1 diced

Lemon                  - Juice of ½ a lemon and whole zest (must)

Red Chili Flakes  - 1 tbs

Garlic                    - 3 cloves- finely diced

Herbs (Fresh Basil, Oregano and Thyme)

To Make Sauce

Butter     -  1 tbs

Flour      -  2 tbs

Milk       -  2 cups

Colby and  Monterey Jack Cheese  - 6 to 8 oz

Red Pepper Flakes  - 1 tsp

Basil

Method:

To make Béchamel Sauce with cheese

                                 Melt butter over medium heat in a saucepan. Add the flour and give a nice stir. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the flour mixture turns golden. Slowly add in the milk (preferably boiled), Make sure you stir it continuously till it turns to a smooth paste without any lumps, Add more milk or the reserved pasta liquid if needed. Once the sauce has thickened add a cup of shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese. Add basil chiffonade, Red Pepper flakes and remove from heat.

                                          ~Béchamel Sauce with Colby and Monterey Jack Cheese

     Pasta

   

                 Cook pasta according to the directions in the package. Reserve ½ cup of pasta liquid. Take olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add minced garlic and sauté it well. Once it is softened, add onions and all the diced vegetables. Add salt, red chili flakes and fresh herbs. Once the vegetables become soft (not mushy), stir in pasta and cook for a minute. Add lemon juice and zest over pasta. Pour the Béchamel Sauce over the pasta and give a nice stir so that the pasta is coated well with the cheesy sauce. Garnish with

basil chiffonade. Serve hot.

                                                                ~Yummy Ziti 

Hidden Golden Beauty - Yellow Squash

                                             ~Yellow squash from my garden

Steamed Kale

Kale is a  cruciferous vegetable packed with nutrients that helps to lower the cholesterol and cut down the risk of cancer. It has higher content of Vitamin A, C and K along with other nutrients. I read that Kale, when  steamed yield very good benefits rather than eating raw.

Ingredients

 Kale                    -   1 bunch

 Coconut pieces    - few

 Lemon Juice        - 1tsp

 Salt

Seasoning

 Olive Oil            - 1 tsp

 Mustard Seeds  -1/2 tsp

 Urad Dal           - ½ tsp

 Cumin Seeds     -1/2 tsp

 Red Chili           -1

 Coconut pieces  - few

Method:

  

            Wash the kale in cold water. Chop the kale including its stem. Steam it in a steamer or Idli cooker. Just to give a little Indian touch, give tadka with the ingredients under seasoning, add steamed kale, sprinkle some salt, add lemon juice and coconut pieces and serve. 

We just had it like a mid-morning snack .

Vegetable Basket

~Healthy greens from the farmer's market

                                   
                                                ~Broccoli Rabe, Kale , Mustard Greens, Endives and Tomatoes


What is in your vegetable Basket?

Seasoning Cast Iron Pans

~Coated with Coconut Oil

                                                     ~ Ready to get into the Oven

~Inside the oven at 200 degrees for 2 hours 

                                                      ~ Non Stick Cast Iron Skillets

Sukku Malli Kaapi (Dry Ginger-Corriander Seeds Coffee)

~Sukku Malli Coffee 

                                                       ~crushed sukku and corriander seeds

Jaggery

                                         ~Sukku malli sweetened with karupatti (Palm Jaggery)

                                                          ~ with little milk

Cashew Pakoda

~ perfect rainy day snack