Category Archives: For Picky Eaters

Recipes to suit picky eater’s palate

Roasted Butternut Squash and Kalonji Paratha

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Super soft Roasted Butternut squash Paratha speckled with Nigella seeds

Butternut squash paratha

Recently when I was reading this, I realized just how well we, my daughter and I, fit into the foodie mom-picky eater child paradox that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I often resort to sneaking vegetables and fruits, vegetables mostly, so that my almost-five-year-old gets her nutrition while fussing less about new food she’s not comfortable eating or even touching.

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Rosemary and Garlic roasted Purple Potatoes

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Right from the time I first saw them on Discovery or some such channel  I was quite fascinated with them. Years later, very recently I was thrilled when I got to buy them at whole foods. That was the first time ever that I held a purple potato in my life. You must be surprised at the way I talk about this rare (at least to me) vegetable as if it is worth its weight in gold.

So incredible is the feeling of discovering/exploring a new food ingredient!

Ever since I started blogging, everyday is a discovery of something new to me, blogging has left the doors of learning wide open. Now I always have my eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary when I stroll around the food market.

Nature displays her sense of color in fascinating ways. There is something magical about food in unusual colors, a pure delight.

Contrary to popular skepticism, purple potatoes even as they appear outlandish, are not genetically modified. Thank God!
Purple potatoes it seems were among the first to be cultivated in the Peruvian Andes by the Incas, reserved as a special treat for the kings.
Potatoes are off-late the most frowned upon food for their high starch content and for being just what they are, ‘carbs’. Purple potato with its vivid deep navy blue mixed purple color is both bold and beautiful, bold in hue and beautiful in looks and just like blueberries, it is supposedly rich in antioxidants.
Now that I have revealed the good news, aren’t there more reasons to pick up this purple tater than its whiter namesake?

I know exactly what’s on your mind now. What about its texture and taste? I am coming to it right away.
Some say they taste just like potatoes. I felt they taste quite purple, in a nice way, really. I don’t know if it was just me or the potatoes themselves.
The texture is creamy with a velvety feel to the bite, a tad bit sweet with a skin thinner. Some even say it is subtly nutty with a grassy note, may be it just depends on the produce or the season.
They are smaller, cook fast and turn almost an elephant grey on cooking.

I guess you can cook them in all the same ways as you would the regular spud but I wanted a recipe as flamboyant as their looks.
My least favorite way to eat them is all mushy in mashed potatoes. I feel slices and chunks flatter them better and thus roasting came as the natural choice.
Next time around, I’d love to explore them in a mixed bag along with their gold and rose counterparts as the contrasting colors sound rather interesting.

They are a bit pricey compared to the regular ones, but hey! I feel they are worth the premium. They are more nutritious and I love to eat them.


Rosemary being intensely aromatic perfectly accentuates this purple tuber united with the characteristic pungency of garlic.
Intensely flavorful and deeply satisfying, these healthy roasted purple potatoes are the perfect recipe to replace french fries. Neither the calories nor the guilt!
Purple potatoes are not something you see often served in a restaurant or in someone’s house. Hope you got a new recipe to share some good-eat moments with friends and family.
Do have your eyes out when you hit the farmer’s market this spring/summer.
May be I should grow them in my balcony garden…

 My next exploration would be purple potatoes with lavendar and fleur de sel in place of sea salt for a whimsical taste with perfect saltiness, another time. A pinch of food for thought, eh?
 Have you ever had a rendezvous with purple potatoes? How would you describe its taste?

Rosemary and Garlic roasted Purple Potatoes Recipe

recipe adapted from epicurious.com
Printable Recipe
Things you’ll need:
  • 1 lb purple potatoes
  • 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 tsp fresh rosemary leaves (about 1 sprig), minced
  • 2 garlic cloves or per taste
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • sea salt
Others
  • baking tray
  • aluminium foil to line the tray
How it’s done:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Line baking tray with aluminium foil and either brush or spray some olive oil.
Wash, dry and quarter the potatoes into wedges. To easily release rosemary leaves, hold the end of the sprig in one hand and pull the leaves backwards in a swift motion. Hold them all together to chop.
To easily mince garlic, let’s use the “smash the garlic clove with the knife” trick. Place the chef’s knife sideways on the garlic clove with one hand and smash it against the cutting board with the other palm as the hammer. Then peel and run your knife back and forth like a saw to chop/mince it.
In a large mixing bowl, quickly combine all the ingredients, salt being the last (to avoid sogginess) making sure that all the potato wedges are well coated with olive oil, herb and spices.
Arrange the wedges facing up on the baking tray and bake for 20 mins or until edges are brown and crisp and fork tender.
Do not over bake or leave the potatoes in the oven longer than the baking time or they’ll shrink.

Note

Dried rosemary should be fine too, though fresh works best. If it is your first time with this highly aromatic herb, here’s a handy video on how to chop Rosemary.
Thyme can also be used along with or instead of rosemary.
Fingerlings and gourmet potatoes work equally well with this recipe and result in crisp on the outside and buttery on the inside wedges.
White and red skinned potatoes work fine as well but not the russet potatoes.

Rosemary and Garlic roasted Purple Potatoes is my favorite post in April and hence sending it off to Your Best Recipe Roundup for April held by Nancy of Spicie Foodie

Also sending it as my entry to Hearth and Soul Hop volume 46 at the hub

Hearth and Soul Hop at the Hearth and Soul Hop Hub

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Acorn Squash and Apple Soup

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Fall appears to have dwindled much before I could brace the splashing  golden-yellow to dark maroon hues of withering leaves and an unwelcome winter has already set foot in. As if it was not grim enough, the last few days have been no better than dull and depressing thanks to the dark amalgam of gloomy overcast clouds, icy cold winds and the diminishing daylight.
Yet, I can smell the festivities in the air. Thanksgiving is only a week away and just about every TV show is grooving to the tunes of cooking thanksgiving dinner with nothing short of a twist. Notwithstanding a compelling melancholy outside the door, I set out to warm up this particularly listless end of autumn day in the spirit of  Thanksgiving.
And what added fuel to my cooking fire is this Butternut squash soup recipe from Parents magazine Nov 2010 edition that came as part of their food solutions for simple suppers.
As I had all the time and was in the mood for experimentation, I conjured up the ingredients while I puttered in the kitchen. I didn’t have Butternut squash, so I decided to make-do with what I had at hand, an Acorn Squash instead. Besides, we seldom think of Acorn squash from the soup angle, so imagining that an Indian spin wouldn’t hurt the recipe, I replaced butter with Ghee, cilantro with dried mint leaves and introduced turmeric in the hopes of capturing the beautiful fall color in a bowl. Granny smith apple adds some tart to the otherwise faintly sweet Acorn squash and white or Vidalia onion interweaves itself with the delicate squash and apple flavors sans the pungency. What you get is a mildly aromatic scrumptious bowl of soup fit to brighten up a dreary day.
And I used it to count for the veggie servings in my toddler’s diet as well today.
Things you’ll need:
  • 1/2 Acorn Squash peeled, seeded and diced
  • 1/2 Granny smith apple peeled, seeded and diced
  • 1/4 white or vidalia onion chopped
  • 2-3 tsp Ghee
  • ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp dried mint
  • pinch of garlic powder
  • pinch of turmeric
  • 2-3 tsp heavy cream
  • 1 tsp chopped spring onion
  • salt

How it’s done:


  • Heat ghee in a medium sized pot over medium-high heat. When the ghee is just hot enough, add the chopped onions, dried mint, garlic powder and turmeric in that order and sauté until onions turn translucent.
  • Add in the diced acorn squash and granny smith apple and sauté for a bit. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper and cook until the veggies turn soft.
  • Add just enough water to cover the veggies, about a cup or so and cover and cook until tender. Allow to cool once cooked.
  • In a blender puree until smooth and return to the pot. Warm it up and adjust with more salt and black pepper if required.
  • Serve warm dressed with heavy cream either whipped or as is and garnished with chopped spring onion greens.

Tips:
  • Just in case you need more twist to the sweetness, squeeze in some lemon juice, but before adding cream.
  • If you don’t have or don’t like Ghee, substitute with Olive oil
  • Do not burn the ghee or it will be fit only for the bin

Come join SoupaPalooza at TidyMom and Dine and Dish sponsored by KitchenAid, Red Star Yeast and Le Creuset

Beetroot Paratha

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Cooked Beetroot and potato stuffed flatbread

I can’t say Beetroot was one of my favourite veggies growing up, nor can I say I had a distaste for it either. Whenever it was made, I would quietly go about my eating business, but with no admiration whatsoever as my likely protest. In hindsight, there weren’t too many vegetables to think of, that I didn’t quite like.
Or, may be on second thoughts, it must have got to do with some parental pressures. If only parental pressure works the same way with next-gen kids!
Three decades and a toddler later, I am now in full realization that, anytime you stand your ground as a parent is when Newton’s third law of motion tends to weigh down on one side, with a more than equal and opposite reaction. And that your preschooler is as fiercely independent as she is assertive before she’s taller than a green chilli (metaphorically), does not make it any less harder to push your ways around. With such diametric intentions at play, the outcome is more often than not a tug of war, only tied.
Before I start to sound like I lost my way in the meandering roads of parenting woes, let me assure you, I have a point.
Beetroot has got a lot to do with how tricky it is to trudge the meal-time path, when you are on the other side of the fence, for once. One under 3 feet toddler is all it takes to drive you to your wit’s end. No amount of hard-selling or broker talk suffices to negotiate a simple deal, to eat.
Knowing that Beetroot boasts of considerable levels of iron and a fair share of antioxidants and is also super rich in Vitamin B, which parent would want to give it a pass, don’t you think?
Deal or No deal, the only option I am left with was to disguise Beetroot in a form acceptable to her whims and fancies. And my efforts to camouflage it smartly led to this tasty treat, which not only passed my toddler’s taste tests with flying colors but also exceeded our own expectations as well. The bloody turnip never tasted this good!
If there is anything like Beetroot heaven, this recipe surely gets a place just outside the pearly gates, IMHO* that is.
BTW, Did you know that Beetroot was known for its use as an aphrodisiac during Roman times?
*In my humble opinion
Things you’ll need:
For filling:
  • 1 medium Beet root grated
  • 1 medium Potato boiled and mashed
  • 1 tsp Jeera/Cumin seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Jeera/Cumin powder
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
  • 1-2 tsp Garam masala
  • 4-5 strands cilantro, finely chopped
  • 2-3 tsp oil
  • salt to taste
For paratha dough:
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour for dough
  • additional whole wheat flour for rolling/dusting
  • salt
  • warm water
  • oil for roasting
How it’s done:

{Beet root and potato filling and stuffing}

  • First, mix the whole wheat flour and salt to taste along with warm water and knead into a soft dough. The dough consistency should be softer than that for chapati/roti. Cover and set aside for at least 30 mins
  • Microwave the grated Beetroot for 2-3 mins to partially cook it and reduce its water content
  • Heat oil in a medium-sized kadai/skillet over medium-high heat.
  • When the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds and let splutter. Once spluttered, add the cumin powder and turmeric powder followed by the microwaved grated beet root and sauté for about 5-10 mins until the hissing sound dies down.
  • Add boiled and mashed potato, garam masala and salt and stir well to mix.
  • Sprinkle chopped cilantro, mix well and keep aside to cool.
  • Knead the dough well again and roll it into lemon sized balls.
  • With both your thumbs and fore-fingers, shape the dough ball into a bowl.
  • Place a spoonful of the beetroot and potato filling in the dough bowl. Bring together all the edges of the dough bowl to the center and cover shut. Now, on your palm, pat the dough flat at point of joining.
  • Dust it in the wheat flour kept for rolling and roll out flat using a rolling-pin.
  • Roast the rolled out paratha on a heated tawa/griddle on both the sides until brown spots appear. Do smear a little oil on both sides.
  • Serve hot with yogurt on the side.

{Beetroot paratha – from rolling to griddle-roasting}

Tips:

  • To check the consistency, make sure that the cooked filling can be shaped roughly into a ball
  • Be gentle and use your wrist to roll out the paratha as otherwise, the filling spills out.
  • Use water as you go to mix the dough, instead of pouring a lot at once.

Beetroot paratha served with greek yogurt