Polenta squares

I saw these as an idea for school lunchbox, and adapted for my taste. My girls like these warm, but refuse to take them in their lunchbox. I do not understand the workings of a tween mind.

1 cup polenta (coarse cornmeal)
4 cups water or stock
1 tsp salt
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Grease the bottom and sides of a 8x8 cake or other shallow pan.

In a a large saucepan bring the water to a boil on high heat. Add oil, salt and cayenne. Reduce heat to med-high and slowly add polenta in a stream to the water, while mixing with a wire-whisk. Once all the polenta is incorporated, reduce heat to med and cook stirring frequently and scraping the sides and bottom, until the mixture comes together and leaves the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. You will have to stir much more frequently towards the end of the cooking time, and constantly for the last five minutes.

Remove from heat and pour into the prepared pan. Flatten the surface and let cool. Cut into squares using a sharp knife. These can be eaten plain, with marinara sauce, green chutney or with the following tempering poured on top.

Tempering
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
4 curry leaves
Heat oil to smoking in a small saucepan. Add mustard seeds and curry leaves. As the mustard seeds start popping (in just a few seconds), take off the heat and pour over the polenta. Garnish with grated coconut and chopped cilantro.

Homemade pizza lunchables

My kids are fascinated by Lunchables. I cannot stand them and refuse to buy them but I do like the concept. So I set out to make my own version of a pizza “lunchable”. We use Laptop lunchboxes which inherently lend themselves to the lunchable concept by providing multiple containers to attractively package this. Most of it is easy – shredded cheese, homemade or store-bought pizza sauce, olives and other toppings, and of course, a treat. It was the crust for the pizza that presented a challenge.

I experimented with my basic pizza crust recipe – rolled it out, cut in it about 3” circles using a steel bowl, and baked them. The result however wasn’t satisfactory. Pizza crust baked without any topping on it came out too hard, and tough to bite into. Little pita breads might have worked but I haven’t found them in local stores where I usually shop. Then a friend suggested I use the flat bread served in Olga’s Kitchen restaurents and provided the recipe. I made a batch - some large ones for dinner, and many little ones for my lunchable experiment. This worked wonderfully! The crust had a soft, chewy texture. Kids loved it, and have been taking “pizza lunchables” to school once a week. I made about 30 little crusts, and froze them. Along with homemade pizza sauce that I freeze in cubes in ice cube trays, lunch is very easily put together.

I will make a few adjustments to the bread recipe the next time around. For one, I will omit the honey because I found the sweetness out of place in a pizza crust. Secondly, I will probably replace some of the white flour with a combination of soy and teff flours.

Beetroot greens

Here is a recipe inspired by my recent trip to India, and my newly frugal mood on account of the economy. Growing up in India, no food was ever wasted. Every part of a vegetable that could be used was used and there was always a stray cow to eat what was unusable. I recently wanted to make a beetroot salad and hence bought some beets at the supermarket. These beets came with the complete top attached - a nice set of leaves and red stalks, and I couldn't get myself to throw them away and devised this recipe.

Being an old school Indian cook, I remind you don't have to measure out the ingredients exactly. Feel free to vary according to taste. Since this is meant to be scooped with a flat bread and not as a salad, I do cook the stalks to be fairly soft.

Leaves and Stalks from 6 beetroots, finely chopped
Half a red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp olive or other cooking oil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Juice of half a lime (about 1 tbsp)
2 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Place the oil in a shallow frying pan on med heat. Add the onions and saute them until they are soft and translucent. Add rest of the ingredients except for the lime juice. Stir to mix. Lower heat to med low, cover the pan tightly to let the stalks cook in their own steam. After about 5-7 minutes uncover the pot. By now the stalks should be soft and the leaves wilted. Raise the heat to med high and cook away all the liquid while stirring the vegetable around so that it does not catch or burn. Take off heat and mix in the lime juice. I like to sprinkle the cilantro just before serving to add a splash of green to the red stalks. If you add it too early it will turn red as well!