Potato, Peas and Broccoli Mash

Move over regular potato mash, a healthier one is here!

Yes, no butter and not just potato, it's loaded with the goodness of green peas and broccoli. Yes, broccoli. It has extra virgin Olive Oil and mint, salt and pepper. So you see, it isn't lacking in flavor. It definitely isn't lacking in color, Go Green Guys! and it is healthy. And no one will ever find out it has broccoli hidden in it.

Let's be honest, this isn't really my recipe. It is Jamie Oliver's. I'm a big fan of Jamie's 30 minute meals and I try to not miss any of them. While the main course is usually some form of fish or meat, he makes some really nice vegetarian sides. This is just one of them. I loved the sound of it, and now, the taste too...

Before I made the mash, I was wondering what to pair with it. Usually, mash is paired with some kind of meat (Google said the same). I've usually had mashed potato with a vegetarian sizzler or with veggie burgers. It will also go great with a lot of vegetarian options, such as:

• Grilled Portobello Mushrooms 
• Grilled Tandoori Paneer
• Grilled/Baked Spicy Tofu
• Roasted Cauliflower Steaks

I mean, serve it with anything big and chunky with a lot of texture and flavor and no one will complain. 

I was super bored to make anything to go along, so I made it a main instead of a side. We ate it just like that and did not mind at all.

Do you have leftovers that you don't know what to do with? Do what I did, I stuffed them along with some cheese in between butter slathered slices of bread and grilled it to make an extremely delicious sandwich. After this, you'll make the mash just for the sandwich.

The quantity of the ingredients is just a loose guideline, I'd say add more or less of each of the items based on your taste.

Potato, Peas and Broccoli Mash

Healthy vegan potato mash with added green peas and broccoli. Adapted from Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals.

Recipe Type:  Side
Cuisine:            International
Prep Time:     10 minutes
Cook time:     30 minutes
Yield:                Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

3 Potatoes, medium sized
0.5 cup Green Peas, frozen or fresh
0.5 cup Broccoli florets, loosely packed
Handful of mint leaves
3-4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pinch of sugar
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Water as required

Method:

Peel and dice the potatoes.
Pressure cook them with water until they are done. Around 5-8 minutes or 2-3 whistles.
Wash the broccoli thoroughly and add it along with the peas to the pressure cooker and cook for 3-5 minutes or 1 whistle.
Drain and leave aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Finely chop the mint leaves and add a pinch of salt.
Add 1 Tbsp of boiling hot water and a pinch of sugar.
Mix well and keep aside for 5 minutes.
Mash the potato, peas and broccoli.
Add extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and the mint sauce and mash until creamy. If you would like to make this recipe vegetarian instead of vegan replace the oil with 1-2 Tbsp of butter.
Serve it hot.

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Fried Rice with Ginger Garlic Sauce

This fried rice is so tasty, I cannot believe I never tried it before. Sigh.

When I went veggie shopping this weekend, I was extremely disappointed to see that my regular vegetable vendor has closed shop. Nothing excites me as fresh veggies, and he kept really fresh veggies. I’m still in denial. I’m sure it was a one off thing, may be a birthday or something (I’m sooo hoping it’s a onetime thing). So grudgingly I had to find a few new places to shop. To brighten my day, I picked some all colored peppers aka red, yellow and green capsicum. I even picked up zucchini and broccoli in the first shop. The next shop had more of my weekly local vegetables. I picked up some French beans and carrots. I add French beans and carrots to so many dishes – dalia, uppit, sambar, mix veg sabzi etc.

Ok, so I bought all these vegetables, but I just realized today, that I’m out of town the whole of next week and hubby dearest is not going to bother about my precious exotic vegetables lying in the fridge and by the time I come back they will be all shriveled. I had to cook them today, when they are still fresh and smiling

And I did have some wonderful fragrant Basmati rice with me. So I decided to make fried rice. Only this time, I’ve added a twist. This is my own recipe and I simply love it. Henceforth, this is how I will always make fried rice.

.

So grab your sharpest knife and get to work. It’s quite a bit of chopping, I accept. I julienned the peppers, French beans and carrots. I broke the broccoli into small florets. I cut the zucchini into thin semicircle slices

The recipe below makes yummy fried rice for 2.

Fried Rice with Ginger Garlic Sauce

Vegetable Fried Rice tossed with a ginger garlic sauce

Recipe Type:  Main Course
Cuisine:          Indian Chinese
Prep Time:     30 minutes
Cook time:     60 minutes
Yield:              2 Servings

Ingredients:

½ each Red, yellow, green Capsicum / Pepper
½ Zucchini
10-12 small florets Broccoli
1 Carrot
10-12 French beans
1 Onion
8-10 cloves Garlic (Garlic cloves in India are very small, 3 of them may make 1 garlic clove abroad)
1.5” piece Ginger
1-2 Green Chillies
1 cup Basmati rice
4 tsp Soy sauce
2 tsp Sesame oil/ Olive oil
2 tsp Rice vinegar or any white vinegar
½ tsp Sugar
1 Maggi magic cube or ½ tsp Ajinomoto (Optional)
6 tsp Oil
Salt
Water

Method:

• Wash thoroughly and soak the rice for half hour. Drain the water and cook it with 1.5 cups of water in a pressure cooker for 3 whistles or until done. Alternatively, follow the instructions for cooking the rice mentioned on the packet.
• Once the rice is cooked, fluff it and keep aside.
• In a blender/ mixer, grind together the garlic, ginger, green chillies, soy sauce, olive/sesame oil, vinegar, magic cube and sugar. It doesn't have to be a fine sauce, it can be coarse.
• Julienne the capsicums, French beans and carrots. Slice the zucchini into semicircles. Break/cut the broccoli into small florets and slice the onion.
• We will cook each of these vegetables separately as they have different cooking times.
• Heat 2 tsp oil in a wok/kadhai. Add the French beans and carrot and fry until they are cooked but still crunchy.
• Remove them and keep aside.
• Add 1 tsp of oil into the kadhai and now add the peppers. Saute them until they are partially cooked, we want them crunchy.
• Remove them and keep along with the beans.
• Add 1 tsp of oil and now add the broccoli and zucchini and cook until they are done.
• Remove and keep with other veggies.
• Heat the remaining oil in the kadhai and add the onions. Once the onions are cooked, add all the other vegetables and the sauce.
• Add the rice and mix well.
• Add salt if required.

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