Spaghetti with Veggie balls

Spaghetti with Veggie balls is the best ever Vegetarian spaghetti dish you will ever taste. The tomato sauce and spaghetti are match made in heaven and when they team up with spicy veggie balls, they are heavenly.

This dish is an obvious vegetarian version of "Spaghetti with Meat balls" but no less tasty than the meat version. I had a thought for this dish from a long time but could finally make this last weekend. Making Spaghetti dish is very easy and this is one of the simplest recipes for spaghetti. Naveen and I both love pasta dishes so most of our brunches are pastas.

This dish is a lot healthier than the meat balls version not only because of calories but because of the other health benefits you get from veggies, mainly from tomato sauce. Tomatoes are one of the world's healthiest foods and rich in vitamins and minerals. They are good for skin and bone health. They are also known to prevent cancer. It is an excellent source of Vitamin C, beta-carotene, manganese and Vitamin E. Now, we do have to consider the calories at some point of time right? They are only 18 calories in 100 grams of tomatoes. How good is that? /:)

I got the Veggie balls idea from the Indian dish "Malai kofta" , a curry with veggie balls which are made of potatoes, paneer and few other vegetables. The tomato sauce I have made is a simple Italian spaghetti sauce (with some green chillies) and it is the most delicious sauce you will ever taste. You will need both tomato puree and chopped tomatoes but you can skip any one of them. I have baked the balls to make it a "less-fat" dish but you can deep fry them if you like it that way.

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	250		Calories
Fat	4		%
Carbohydrates	18		%
Dietary Fiber	21		%
Sodium	20		%
Vitamin A	16		%
Vitamin C	52		%
Calcium	2		%
Iron	5		%
Protein	9.9		Grams
Sugar	2.8		Grams

Ingredients: For veggie balls
Potato	1 large
Peas	1/4 cup
Gram flour	1/2 cup
Corn flour	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Chilli powder	1/2 teaspoon
Coriander leaves chopped	1/4 cup
Oil	2 teaspoons

Ingredients for sauce
Oil	2 teaspoons
Onion finely chopped	1 small
Bell pepper finely chopped	1 small
Green chillies finely chopped	2
Tomato finely chopped	1
Tomato Puree	2 tablespoons
Water	1 cup
Salt	to taste
Dried Oregano and basil (optional)	1/2 teaspoon

Ingredients for Spaghetti
A pot of water	to boil spaghetti
Salt	3 teaspoons
Oil	1 teaspoon

* Cook, peel and mash the potato. Also cook peas in a small pot of water and drain it.

* Mix Gram flour, corn flour, Mashed potato, salt, chilli powder, coriander leaves and cooked peas.

* Roll the dough into small balls and place them on a baking place lined with aluminium foil. Preheat oven to 320 F. Drizzle oil on the balls and bake them at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes until they are crispy.

* In a pot, heat oil and add finely chopped onion, bell pepper and Green chillies. Fry till the raw smell of Onion and bell pepper stops.
* Add chopped Tomatoes and salt. Cook on a low flame until tomato chunks turn soft and mushy.
* Add tomato puree and water. mix and boil for 8-10 minutes under low flame.

* Add oregano and basil and give it a mix. Check for taste and remove tomato sauce from the flame.
* Also check if the Veggie balls are baked enough. If yes, take them out from oven and let them cool. You can even serve them with a dip. They taste delicious.

* Boil a pot of water and add 3 teaspoons of salt. Place the spaghetti carefully in boiling water (Make sure the spaghetti is covered with water)
* Cook for 5-7 minutes or as per the package directions. When it is cooked enough, drain water and drizzle some olive oil/vegetable oil.
* To serve, Place pasta on serving plate and then put the crispy Veg balls. Pour the hot sauce over Veggie balls and serve.

* You can drizzle butter on cooked spaghetti for extra creaminess.
* You can replace Basil and oregano with a handful of chopped coriander leaves.
* You can also add Carrots and other veggies to the sauce.
* Make sure the sauce is hot since spaghetti and balls are served warm.

Pasta Pulao

Pasta Pulao is a tasty and aromatic dish perfect for a holiday brunch. This dish is very healthy since it has veggies and spices.

I wake up at 7:30 or 8 when Naveen does not have to go to office since he works from home often. If it's weekend, I will still be sleepy and light headed because of all that heavy and junk eating on Friday night. It will be past midnight by the time we hit the bed every Friday night and the next day is wasted by being lazy and sleepy.(:|

Every weekend when I open my fridge, I find the stocked up Veggies looking at me forlorn, unused and some of them crying for help.  That is when I make up my mind for the dish that I should prepare for brunch. I prepared this Pulao which is filling, amazingly tasty and is a pure indulgence, trust me once on this. I like to experiment on Pasta a lot because it is the tastiest and interesting of all the raw Ingredients. You can just pan fry with butter, salt and pepper and it still tastes amazing. 

Pasta is healthy only if you choose "Whole grain Pasta" since the normal pasta is made of Plain flour/Maida and is harmful for health. The veggies added to pasta dish makes it more colorful and each flavor stands out making the dish more lovable by all age groups. 

You can add all the veggies you want or skip one or two of those I have added. It tastes best when it is hot so serve and eat before it gets cold. If serving for kids, Garnish with some cheese or paneer and they will love it! 

Nutritional Information  (Approx) (per serving)
Energy	200		Calories
Fat	2		%
Carbohydrates	14		%
Dietary Fiber	8		%
Sodium	1		%
Vitamin A	20		%
Vitamin C	25		%
Calcium	0		%
Iron	10		%
Protein	7		Grams
Sugar	2		Grams

Ingredients: For masala
Green chillies	3
Fennel seeds	1 teaspoon
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Garlic cloves	3
Cinnamon	1 small stick
Cloves	2
Cardamom	2
Coriander leaves	1/4 cup

Ingredients
Mixed Vegetables of your choice chopped	1 cup
Onion chopped Bell pepper chopped	1 1
Oil	2 teaspoons
Cumin seeds	1 teaspoon
Lemon juice	1 teaspoon
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves	to garnish

* Boil all the Veggies except Onion and bell pepper. Cook only till the veggies are only half boiled.

* Gather Green chillies, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, Garlic cloves, Cinnamon, Cloves, cardamom and Coriander leaves in a mixer.

* Grind the masala to a smooth paste.

* Boil a large pot of water with little salt. Add Pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta until tender and drain hot water and keep it aside. Make sure the pasta is not overcooked.

* Heat oil in a pot and add cumin seeds. After a minutes, add chopped onion and saute till onion looks transparent.

* Add bell pepper and cooked vegetables and fry for another minute.

* Add the ground masala, salt and lemon juice and mix.

* Add cooked pasta and give it a good mix.

* Cook for 2-3 more minutes and remove from heat. Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

Stuffed Sweet potato Gnocchi

Stuffed Sweet potato Gnocchi is healthy, filling and when made with a good stuffing, it makes a good choice for Sunday brunch.

This is a masterchef inspired dish and is very tasty. I made apple sauce to go with this Gnocchi and it tasted best. Click here for the recipe for tangy Apple sauce.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	240		Calories
Fat	17		%
Carbohydrates	10		%
Dietary Fiber	8		%
Sodium	9		%
Vitamin A	4		%
Vitamin C	0		%
Calcium	4		%
Iron	4		%
Protein	5		Grams
Sugar	8		Grams

Ingredients
Whole wheat flour	2 cups
Sweet potatoes cooked	2
Salt	to taste
Egg	1
Pepper powder	1/2 tsp

For stuffing
Olive oil	1 tsp
Onion chopped	1
Bell pepper chopped	1
Potato cooked and chopped finely	1
Garam masala/Taco masala powder	1 tbsp
Salt	to taste
Mozarella cheese	1 cup

Peel the skin of cooked sweet potatoes and chop them. In a bowl, mix flour, salt, pepper powder and egg.
Add sweet potatoes and mix well.

Do not knead the dough too much since it makes the gnocchi sticky.

In a pan, heat oil and add onion and bell pepper. Fry till the onion looks transparent. Add the cooked potato and mix.

Sprinkle the masala powder and salt. Mix well and remove from the heat.

Divide a portion of the dough and dust it with some flour. Roll out the dough into a thin sheet.

Place the filling on the sheet and top it with some grated cheese.

Wrap the filling into a roll and cover the ends by pressing the ends. Place the roll on Aluminium wrap/foil and wrap the roll. Also cover the sides.

Boil a pot of water. Place the rolls in the boiling water and cook for 15 minutes.Take the rolls out once cooked and let them cool. Unwrap them slowly. Cut the rolls for serving. Serve hot with any sauce.

I made apple sauce to go with this Gnocchi and it tasted best. Click here for the recipe for tangy Apple sauce.

You can also fry the cut rolls on some butter on a pan.

Simple juicy Pasta

As the name of my blog says, I am lazy and I look for easy dishes. Here is one type of pasta dish that can be prepared very easily with very less number of ingredients and it is Indian style. It is healthy, juicy and filling.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)			(per serving)
Energy	200		Calories
Fat	5		%
Carbohydrate	17		%
Dietary Fiber	16		%
Sodium	9		%
Vitamin A	10		%
Vitamin C	10		%
Calcium	10		%
Iron	10		%
Protein	9		Grams
Sugar	12		Grams

Ingredients:

Pasta (Any)
Onion chopped 1
Bell pepper chopped 1
Green chillies chopped 2-3
Tomato purée/Tomato ketchup 2 tbsps
Salt to taste
Oil 2 tsps
Water
Coriander leaves chopped

Boil a large pot of water with Salt. Add Pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta until tender.

Save a cup of water from cooked pasta, drain the rest and keep it aside.

Make sure the pasta is not overcooked.

In a pan, heat oil and add chopped onion and green chillies. Fry till the onion is transparent.

Add the bell peppers and fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add pasta water and bring to boil.

Simmer the flame and add tomato purée or tomato ketchup. Cook the with lid covered for another 2-3 minutes.

Add salt and mix the pasta.

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot.

• Bell peppers and Green chillies are optional if you are adding Tomato ketchup. 
• You can also garnish with some cheese if you like.

Gnocchi with Onions and Bell peppers

To make a home made Gnocchi, check the recipe here.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)
(per serving)
Energy	250		Calories
Fat	18		%
Carbohydrate	11		%
Dietary Fiber	8		%
Sodium	22		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	6		%
Calcium	4		%
Iron	7		%
Protein	4.44		Grams
Sugar	1.82		Grams

Ingredients
Gnocchi cooked	2 cups
Onion Chopped	1
Tomato chopped	1
Red or Green Bell pepper Chopped	1
Pepper powder	1 tsp
Garlic chopped	2 cloves
Water	2 tbsps
Oil	2 tsps
Salt	to taste
Coriander leaves Chopped	1/4 cup

Heat 1/2 tsp oil in a pan and fry the chopped tomato for 5 minutes. Transfer it to a bowl, let it cool and grind it to make a paste.

In the same pan, heat the remaining oil and add onion and Bell pepper. Fry till the onion looks transparent. Add  garlic, tomato paste,  Gnocchi, salt, pepper powder  and water and cook it for 3-4 minutes with the lid covered.

Garnish with Coriander leaves and serve hot.

Home made Potato Gnocchi

Gnochhi is a traditional italian dish and are little Pastas. It has a light and fluffy texture and goes well with any sauce.

Nutritional Information  (Approx)
(per serving)
Energy	250		Calories
Fat	18		%
Carbohydrate	11		%
Dietary Fiber	8		%
Sodium	22		%
Vitamin A	0		%
Vitamin C	6		%
Calcium	4		%
Iron	7		%
Protein	4.44		Grams
Sugar	1.82		Grams

To make the dough:

Ingredients
Big Potatoes Cooked	2
Salt	1 tsp
Pepper	1/2 tsp
Egg beaten	1
Flour (Whole wheat or refined wheat)	2 Cups

Peel the potatoes and mash them with a fork and keep it aside to let it cool down. In a bowl, mix flour, salt and pepper powder. Add potato mash and egg ans mix together with a spoon till the dough starts coming together.

Knead the dough with your hands and add more flour if the dough seems too soft and sticky.

Cut the dough into small parts. Take one part and roll it into a rope gently pressing with your fingers. Sprinkle some flour on the surface before rolling.

Cut the rope into small pieces. In the traditional Italian recipe, they roll these cut pieces with a fork. I usually give it a press with the fork just to give it a traditional Gnocchi look. You can roll it, press it or just leave it the way it is because the shape doesn't really matter.

Dust the pieces with some flour and keep them till you are done with enough Gnocchi. You can store the left out dough for future use by refrigerating it in an air tight container.

To cook Gnocchi:

Ingredients Water Salt 1 tsp

Boil a large pot of water and add salt to it. Add the Gnocchi to the boiling water. They rise and float at the top after a while. Cook them for 5-6 minutes.

Remove them from boiling water, toss them in any sauce of your choice, cook for few minutes and serve hot.  You can even try my recipe for Gnocchi with Onions and Bell peppers to go with this home made Gnocchi. 

I even tried baking these Gnocchi with sprinkled salt and pepper and they came out very crispy and fluffy.

Quick Pasta

Sometimes, when am too tired or lazy to cook, the one thing that comes to my rescue is Pasta. You may have heard that Pastas are not good for health when eaten regularly. That is not 100% true if you know how to choose Pasta.

Make sure you buy Pasta by checking the Ingredients. It should be either "Whole wheat flour" or "whole Durum wheat Semolina" and not "Refined Durum wheat Semolina".

Both "Whole wheat flour" and "whole Durum wheat Semolina" are high in protein. So, Pasta is healthy and this recipe is easy to cook and tasty too.

I have kept it simple and basic but you can add Mushrooms, carrots, peas , green beans and any Veggies you want. Now, for this dish, we are not adding any cheese so that it can be low in calories, easy to digest and satisfy our Indian taste buds too. Bon appétit !!! :)

Nutritional Information (Approx)
Energy	290		Calories
Fat	11		%
Carbohydrate	40		Grams
Dietary Fiber	3		Grams
Sodium	432		Mg
Vitamin A	7		%
Vitamin C	4		%
Calcium	13		%
Iron	26		%
Protein	11		Grams
Sugar	5		Grams

Ingredients
Pasta (Any)	2 Cups
Onion sliced	1 Small
Cauliflower/Broccoli florets	1/2cup
Capsicum	1/2 cup
Tomatoes sliced	1/4 cup (Optional)
Pepper powder	1/2 tsp
Garlic grated	5 cloves
Cumin	1/2 tsp
Yogurt	2 tbsp
Salt	to taste
Water	1/4 cup
Oil	1 tbsp

Boil a large pot of water with little salt. Add Pasta to the boiling water. Cook the pasta until tender and drain hot water and keep it aside. Make sure the pasta is not overcooked cos nothing is as bad as an overcooked pasta.

In a large pan, heat oil and add cumin seeds, onlion, garlic and fry. Once the onion is cooked, add Capsicum, Cauliflower/Broccoli and tomatoes and Mix. Cook for 2 minutes with closed lid.

Add Yogurt, Pepper powder, salt and water and Mix well. Once the mixture starts boiling, Add pasta and stir to cover the pasta with the mixture and Serve hot.