Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes

Name: Persian Love Cake
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 4040 min
Cuisine: Persian
Ingredients: 0.75 cup Yogurt (thick Curd); 4 Tbsp Oil; 3 Tbsp Rose Water; 1 tsp Cardamom Powder; 0.75 cups Fine semolina (Chiroti Rava); 0.5 cups Whole Almonds or 0.75 cups Almond Flour; 0.75 cup Powdered Sugar; 0.25 tsp Baking Soda; 0.75 tsp Baking Powder; 0.75 tsp Baking Powder; 1-2 Tbsp granulated Sugar; 1-2 Tbsp Water; Few Saffron strands; Oil to grease the cake tin; Flour to dust the cake tin; Chopped pistachios for decoration; Dried rose petals for decoration

Oven roasted potatoes flavored with crushed garlic, oregano, rosemary, paprika and salt.

oven roasted potatoes flavored with garlic and herbs

Who doesn't love potatoes? Did you just say "Yes"? Then I suggest you pack your bags and head over to Bangalore so that I can serve you a plate of this delicious Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes that I cannot get enough of.

That humble little golden tuber tastes so great irrespective of how it is cooked - boiled, roasted or fried. Especially fried! I see no reason to not like it. It is also one of those vegetables that has gained such a bad reputation among dieters. But hey, a little potato never killed anybody, so dieting or no, I wasn't going to miss out on cooking or eating these luxurious purple potatoes. If you are counting calories, I'd suggest eat just a little bowl, but don't miss it!

Gee went to Malaysia a while ago and she picked these purple beauties there. I know right, how foodie of her. Well, when you have a food blogger for a sister, you walk in super market aisles even when on vacation. My brother in law claims he wasn't too claims he wasn't too happy about it, but hten he is a big potato person, so I don't think he has too many complaints now. Our daily calls when she was there focused more on what she ate rather than what she saw. "Ooh you saw Petronas, greattt! now, what did you eat for lunch? Tell me all about it". She got my mouth all watering, that we went out for some 100% vegetarian Malay food as soon as she was back - Mamak Mee Goreng and Nasi Goreng at Nasi and Mee. If you like Malay food (and are in Bangalore), you should check out this place.

Back to potatoes, while Indians love their potatoes, the only variety we get here is a regular white-yellow potato. The only other variety we do get is the Sweet Potato which isn't orange as most one abroad are. This is white too, with a pink skin. So Gee got really excited when she found the purple ones and immediately called me up to ask what I could make of them. What better way to celebrate a potato, than to make a Roast Potato Salad. Why you will love it:

So easy to make
Flavorful
Colorful
Pairs well with anything
Salty
Potatoes - yes, just because they are potatoes

Potatoes are a winter or cool-season crop. So they are the freshest in winter. Most of the potatoes we get in summer are actually from cold storage. And with winter almost on its way out, this recipe is right on time. May be you still have time to go pick up this seasons potatoes. And while you are at it, pick a nice mix of them - purple, red, fingerling, gold, sweet. I added some local white potato and sweet potatoes to the make the dish a little more interesting with different colors and flavors. But if you cannot find the various varieties, just go with what you have cause there is no reason one should miss out on some serious potato action.

While the plain salted roasted potatoes taste good, make it better with added flavors. I added crushed garlic, dried oregano, fresh rosemary, smoked paprika and salt. I rubbed the potatoes with all the herbs and garlic along with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and baked them until they crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The trick to getting them crisp is to allow them to touch the pan, so don't overcrowd them if you want a crispy exterior on all your potatoes.

If you made this recipe, let me know! Leave a comment here or on Facebook, tag your tweet with @oneteaspoonlife on Twitter and don't forget to tag your photo #oneteaspoonoflife on Instagram. You can also email me at onetspoflife@gmail.com. I'd love to see what you are upto.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Garlic and Herb Roasted Potatoes

A mix of potatoes, roasted in the oven along with crushed garlic, oregano, rosemary and paprika.

Recipe Type: Side

Cuisine: International

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Yield: Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

750 grams Potato (mix different types)

3 Tbsp Olive Oil

4-5 Garlic Cloves

0.5 tsp dried Oregano

4-5 sprigs of Rosemary or 0.5 tsp fried Rosemary

1.5 tsp Salt

1 tsp smoked Paprika

A handful of fresh Coriander leaves

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degree C.
Wash the potatoes thoroughly and dry with a kitchen towel.
Chop them into bite sized chunks while retaining the skin and put them into a large bowl.
Crush the garlic cloves and chop it finely.
Add the oil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, smoked paprika and salt to the bowl.
Mix well so that the oil and seasoning coats the potatoes well.
Spread the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet carefully from the oven and flip the potatoes using a fork or a pair of tongs.
Place it back in the oven and continue to bake for another 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are done.
Taste to check for seasoning. If it is less, add it when the potatoes are hot and mix well.
Garnish with chopped coriander just before serving.

Roasted Vegetable Torte

Roasted Vegetable Torte is made by baking thinly sliced roasted vegetables along with herbs, spices and cheese. Oh, SO delicious, you have to make extra!

I gave up refined sugar for a whole year back in 2015-16 and I did not suffer from withdrawal symptoms. But take away my internet for a week and I'm cranky all week. We had a double whammy last week. We decided that since we barely watch TV, we should disconnect our cable TV for while. That was a mutually agreed decision that we were ready to live with, after all we had internet and a prime video account. We could survive!

That was until our internet broadband provider decided, we did not need them anymore and deactivated our account by mistake and could not enable it back. After their wait time went from 2 hours to over 24 hours, we were done with the provider - Hathway. We applied for a new connection from a new provider on Sunday and are still waiting for the connection to arrive. Until then, we are depending on connecting to the faint WiFi signals from my sister's house. Not a good week!!

No TV, no internet makes Anu an extremely cranky girl, when she is not occupied. So I've been cooking more - I even started my second attempt at a sourdough starter, I'm attempting a slow rise no knead bread. I have been walking more, reading more. We also started composting again, something we had stopped in the past few months since our apartment complex had started doing it for us. So yes, I've been trying to keep busy this last week.

So in my keep-myself-busy week. I made this wonderful roasted vegetable torte again. It is:

healthy
fresh
low cal
vibrant
and delicious!

And the best part is it fit right into my healthy diet. This Roasted Vegetable Torte is made by layering thinly sliced vegetables in a baking dish with spices and cheese thrown in between.

I LOVE vegetables, do you? Let us go ahead with the thought that you are as veggie crazy as me. Otherwise why would you be here, right? This Roasted Vegetable Torte is perfect for us veggie lovers, it is bright, colorful and so full of flavor. It is so beautiful, it could almost be a center piece on the table.

The first time I made this Torte, I made it without roasting the vegetables first, and took all the pics then, hence, the intermediate steps may not necessarily match the recipe. Apologies for that. This time, I roasted the veggies for a while before placing them in the torte tin. The difference in the end product is not in the flavor but in the texture. If you roast the vegetables before setting the torte, they will be soft and easy to eat. If you don't mind slightly crunchy vegetables, then you can skip the roasting. Although I recommend roasting if using vegetables like butternut squash or potatoes. If you are using quick cooking vegetables like zucchini, tomatoes, mushrooms and onions, you can skip the roasting.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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If you liked this, you may also like:

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Roasted Vegetable Torte

Roasted Vegetable Torte is made by layering thinly sliced vegetables in a baking pan with herbs, spices and cheese in between and baked until done.

Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Yield: Makes 2 tortes, Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 Zucchini
1 small Butternut Squash
2 firm Tomatoes
2 handfuls Spinach or Kale leaves
2 medium Brinjals or 0.5 large Eggplant
1 small Onion (optional)
1 cup grated Cheese
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1 tsp Oregano
1 tsp Red Chilli Flakes
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Slice all the vegetables thinly except for the spinach or kale.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degree C.
3. Mix salt, pepper and 2 tbsp of olive oil in a small bowl.
4. Place the butternut squash, zucchini and brinjal on a baking sheet and brush them with oil.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes until soft.
6. While it bakes, crush the garlic and chop it finely. Add it to the remaining oil along with red chilli flakes, oregano, a little salt and pepper.
7. Grease two 6" springform pan or a loose bottomed cake pan.
8. Start by placing the butternut squash as the lowest layer in both the pans. Then layer the zucchini, tomato, onion in both pans.
9. Drizzle a little of the garlic flavored oil. Spinkle a quarter of the cheese in each pan.
10. Layer in the fresh spinach or kale. You can chop it roughly or use it whole.
11. Place the eggplant, zucchini and butternut squash on the spinach.
12. Drizzle the remaining oil and top each pan with remaining cheese.
13. Cover loosely with an aluminium foil and bake for 8-10 minutes. Prefereably keep a tray in the lower rack to collect any juice that drips.
14. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese melts and browns. This may take 5-7 minutes.
15. Wait for 4-5 minutes before removing the torte from the pan.
16. Cut into slices using a sharp knife and serve.

Onion Stalk and Brinjal Curry | Eerulli Kaavu Badnekai Palya

Simple vegan stir fried dry curry made from Onion stalks and brinjals. Ready in less than 30 minutes!

Vegan stir fried dry curry made of fresh onion stalks or flowers and brinjals, Eerulli huvina palya, eerulli kaavu palya

Ever walked by a vegetable aisle wondering what "that" vegetable is and how one cooks it?

Happened to me a few years ago when I saw a lot of vegetable carts on the road side stocking up on green stalks with a tiny white bulb at the end. Curiosity made me ask what it was. And I was introduced to the "Onion Stalk / Flower" or "Eerulli Kaavu"/"Eerulli Hoovu" as they call it in Bangalore. The green stalk is the onion plant with the flower at the end. If you have never seen it or tasted it, the closest thing to it would be green onions or spring onion stalks. It is never sold with the onion bulb attached. While sometimes, it can be pungent like onions, most often it is simply sweet and crunchy.

And the good news is, it is right now in season in Bangalore and you will see it stocked all over the local markets and supermarkets.

I love cooking with seasonal vegetables. They taste so much better and are fresher than those annually available veggies. The first time I saw these onion stalks, I asked the vendor how one cooks it. He told me just stir fry it in oil and add spices. That's it! His recipe was so simple and it was tasty, if you like onions a lot. I do like onions, but I'm not a fan of a bowl full of them. So I went looking for different ways to cook it and I chanced upon this recipe by Chandrima . She added stir fried brinjals or eggplant to the fried onion stalks. Adding brinjal added some substance and texture to this dry curry.

These onion stalks are versatile, I added them to "Thalipeeth" and it tasted really nice. I made this same curry with potatoes instead of brinjals and everyone loved that too.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Onion Stalk and Brinjal Curry | Eerulli Kaavu Badnekai Palya

Vegan stir fried dry curry made of fresh onion stalks and brinjals.

Recipe Type: Side
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

8-10 Onion Stalks
5-6 small Brinjals
4 tsp Oil
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
Salt to taste

Method:

Chop the brinjal into chunks.
Heat 2 tsp oil in a kadhai / pan.
Add the brinjals and cook on low heat until done.
Add in a little salt, turmeric powder and stir fry for 1 minute.
Chop the onion stalks into 1" pieces.
Heat the remaining oil in the kadhai and add the onion stalks.
Add salt and turmeric powder. Mix well.
Cover and cook until done. I left mine crunchy, cook longer for a softer texture.
Add in the cooked brinjal and red chilli powder.
Mix well and stir fry for 2-3 minutes.
Serve hot with rice and dal or with rotis.

Valentine's Day Persian Love Cake Recipe | Almond Semolina Cake (Eggless) [Video]

Rose and Cardamom flavored cake made to celebrate LOVE!!
In a hurry? Jump to Video or Jump to Recipe

Rose and cardamom flavored semolina almond cake with an orange syrup

Persian love cake is an eggless rose and cardamom flavored cake made with almond flour and semolina. Brushed with an orange syrup and topped with chopped nuts.

Happy Valentine's Day people!!!

Okay, I know it isn't Valentine's Day yet, but I'm sure you have already started planning something special for your special someone. Right?

A lot of people shrug away Valentine's day thinking it is only for those newly crazily in love who can't keep their hands of each other types.

But with 10 years of relationship under my belt, I can tell you it does matter even for those who have quietly slipped away into a routine. And maybe more than the newfound lovers.

When Raj and I started out, we had so much to talk to each other about, we did special things for each other, we strived to remember each other likes and dislikes. Roses were given, chocolates too. Gifts and cards and plushy toys. Now 10 years later, the conversation usually revolves around what happened in the day or what is happening around the world. We already know so much about each other, nothing is new. In a strange way that is comforting, but there is a lack of surprise. We don't strive to remember the likes and dislikes, because it is now etched away in the subconscious mind. Gifts have less whimsy and more practicality. A lot of people call it the boring married life, I too sometimes. But there is comfort in this "boredom", in knowing there is someone who cares for you. Someone who will be there for you when you need it.

But comfort tends to make one complacent and we miss out appreciating each other as often as we probably should. Hence, days like Valentine's day are required along with anniversaries and birthdays, just to celebrate the love you have for each other.

So, I made this Persian Love Cake, a while ago just to celebrate love. I thought it was perfect to share right around this time. It is a delicious cake made with almond flour and flavored with middle eastern flavors like cardamom and rose. This is then topped with citrus syrup and nuts. You can use nuts like pistachios or almonds. Hazelnuts or cashews may be delicious too. I also added saffron to the citrus syrup to give a more orange hue.

This cake is one of the simplest I have ever made. No whipping, no creaming. Just mix all the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Allow it to rest. Then bake it. Prepare the syrup while the cake bakes. Brush brush brush and top with nuts. It is a simple yet flavorful cake. My family loved it, and I hope yours does too.

I substituted half the almonds with semolina considering the cost of almonds. To get a richer and gluten-free cake, just use almonds.

You can serve this cake with whipped cream or Greek yogurt or your favorite vanilla ice cream. Or just plain, like I did.

P.S. Not all our gifts are practical. The man got me this little fella from Thailand cause I always wanted a tiger cub!! Isn't he adorable?

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Video Recipe

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Persian Love Cake | Almond Semolina Cake

Persian love cake is an eggless rose and cardamom flavored cake made with almond flour and semolina. Brushed with orange syrup and topped with chopped nuts. Persian love cake is an eggless rose and cardamom flavored cake made with almond flour and semolina. Brushed with orange syrup and topped with chopped nuts.

Recipe Type: Dessert

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Yield: Serves 4-5

Ingredients:

0.75 cup Yogurt (thick Curd)

4 Tbsp Oil

3 Tbsp Rose Water

1 tsp Cardamom Powder

0.75 cups Fine semolina (Chiroti Rava)

0.5 cups Whole Almonds or 0.75 cups Almond Flour

0.75 cup Powdered Sugar

0.25 tsp Baking Soda

0.75 tsp Baking Powder

1-2 Tbsp granulated Sugar

1-2 Tbsp Water

Few Saffron strands

Oil to grease the cake tin

Flour to dust the cake tin

Chopped pistachios for decoration

Dried rose petals for decoration

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk oil, yogurt and rose water until combined.
Add in the cardamom powder, semolina and powdered almonds.
Add 3-4 Tbsp of the powdered sugar and mix well until combined. Add more sugar if required.
Mix well. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celcius.
Add the baking powder and baking soda and mix well.
Spray the cake tin with oil or rub oil in it using paper towel or your fingers.
Dust it with flour.
Pour in the cake batter and bake for 30-40 minutes.
Remove from the tin after 2-3 minutes and keep aside to cool.
Juice the orange.
Add sugar and 1-2 Tbsp water to a pan on stove and cook until the sugar dissolves.
Add the orange juice and saffron.
Boil for 3-5 minutes until the syrup thickens. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Brush the cake with the syrup.
Decorate with chopped pistachios or almonds and serve.

If you liked this, you may also like:

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Vegan Date Walnut Cake

Honey Cake

Healthy Miso Noodle Soup

This 30 minute vegan healthy Miso Noodle soup is perfect for those cold winter nights!!

Vegan healthy soup made with white miso, wholewheat noodles and fresh vegetables

Miso Soup... I'd read about it, seen it but never got a chance to try it. Reason? It usually contains fish. Even the ready to eat soup packets have fish in them. So I knew the only thing I could do was make it myself, without fish, of course. But for that I needed Miso Paste. Hard that it may sound, but not many people have actually heard of Miso Paste, not just in India but in a lot of South East Asian countries as well. I looked for it high an low in everywhere nope, I did not find it. It is more apt to say I did not find it in the quantity and the cost that I was actually looking for. I did find it in a Japanese store in Cambodia but it was over 1 kg in quantity and with everything written in Japanese on the cover, I was completely lost on what the ingredients were. It is available in India, however, it is either not too good or way too expensive. I finally purchased my first batch in Whole Foods, Chicago and have been loving it. It is fish free, salty-sweet and delicate in flavor. I could it just by the spoonful.

Miso is a paste of rice and soybeans that has been fermented using koji. Shiro Miso is the mild light colored one and also the one I used in this recipe. It just adds a hint of flavor but a lot of health to the soup. It is a great source of iron and protein. You can replace it with the red miso or Aka Miso, but definitely reduce the quantity as that is much stronger than the white miso.

Traditionally, the base of a miso soup is a Japanese stock called dashi which is made from sea kelp (kombu) and fish flakes (bonito flakes), but that is not something I would eat. So I skipped that totally and made it vegan. If you can find some sea weed like wakame or nori, add it to enhance the umami of the soup. I would have loved to, but I did not have any.

I know all my talk is about Miso here and it is a Miso soup, but even if you cannot find a good miso paste, don't be disheartened. Make the soup anyway, just call it Noodle Soup :) The soup is very healthy because of all the vegetables it contains. It is also super low in calories, with one serving being under 150 calories. All the more reason to make it, don't you think? It is absolutely guilt free. And if you thought it won't fill you up, let me warn you right away, you are wrong. I could never drink/eat 2 whole servings because all that fiber from the vegetables filled me up right away.

I used whole wheat noodles in the soup, you can substitute it with soba noodles. Udon noodles wouldn't be bad as well. This soup is the healthiest thing you can have on a cold winter night. And the best part, it takes less than 30 minutes to make.

If you like this recipe, do not forget to share it with your friends and family!

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Healthy Miso Noodle Soup

Vegan healthy soup made with white or shiro miso, wholewheat noodles and fresh vegetables.

Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Japanese
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

3 tsp Shiro Miso Paste
50gms Wholewheat Noodles
1.5 Tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Sriracha Sauce
30gms Tofu, cubed
4-5 Mushrooms, sliced
3 baby Bok choy, chopped roughly
0.5 cup Broccoli florets
1 small Onion
1 cup Cabbage, shredded
1 small Carrot, julienned
3 tsp Oil
1 liter Vegetable Broth or Water
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:

Cook the noodles as per instructions on the packet. Drain and keep aside.
Heat oil in a deep pan and fry the onions until they are translucent.
Add the broth or water and bring to a rolling boil.
Dissolve the miso paste in half cup of water and add it to the pan.
Add the soy sauce, sriracha sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
Boil for 2-3 minutes.
Add the bokchoy, broccoli, mushrooms, cabbage and carrot and boil for another 2 minutes.
Add the noodles and tofu and serve hot.