Geetha's Kitchen

A delicious pizza using homemade pizza dough, it can be quick too if you already have the dough prepared ahead. You could use either of the pizza doughs: the cold-rising dough or the quicker one. Pizzas using either of the doughs are equally delicious. I like roasting the veggies a little before putting them on the pizza to not only give them a flavor boost but also make them more tender. You can add other veggies such as fresh mushrooms. 4 servings Ingredients: 1/2 recipe Pizza Dough II or 1/4 recipe Pizza Dough 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 small Zucchinis, sliced 1 Bell Pepper, any color - thinly sliced 1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced Salt and Freshly ground Pepper 1 cup Tomato Sauce a handful of your favorite Olives, sliced (optional) 4 oz. grated Mozzarella or Provolone Cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese Fresh herbs: thinly sliced Arugula, Basil Method: Preheat oven to 450 F. Prepare a large baking pan with a little oil or cooking oil spray. Combine all the veggies with a li...

Here is a wonderful starter which is surprisingly simple to prepare and simply delicious. I have made it for so long that making it requires no thought at all. Although deceptively simple to prepare, rich tasting, and delightfully delicious, they always elicit lots of oohs and aahs whenever these mushrooms make their appearance. Ingredients: 8 oz. Button Mushrooms 4 oz. Cream Cheese. at room temperature 2 Tbsp Milk or Cream 1 pinch Red Chili Powder (Cayenne) or to taste 1 small clove Garlic, mashed or 1 pinch Asafoetida about 1 Tbsp unsalted Butter, at room temperature or olive oil Method: Bring the cream cheese to room temperature by keeping it out of the fridge for about 30 minutes. Mix the cream cheese, chili powder, and garlic/asafoetida with a little cream to make a soft (but not runny) spread. Remove the stems from the mushrooms by gently twisting and pulling them off. Wash quickly and dry the caps. Using your hands lightly butter/oil the outsides of the mushrooms and fill th...

I am sure that many a recipe owes its existence to the pure necessity of availability of ingredients as in the saying "Necessity is the mother of invention." I "invented" this pizza dough when I discovered that the only flour available was bread flour; I used it and was amazed with the results. With its high gluten content, the bread flour produces a wonderfully delicious crust. This recipe produces dough ready for use quicker than the slow/cold-rising pizza dough. One still needs to plan ahead as it will require about 2 hours from mixing to baking. This dough will yield fabulous pizza as well as rolls too. Of course, if you wish, this recipe can be modified to make slow/cold-rising dough also; just follow the directions in my earlier post on Pizza Dough . 2 large thin-crust or 2 medium thick-crust pizzas. Each pizza contains (without any toppings) : 398 calories; 9.8 grams fat; 9.5 grams protein; 67 grams carbohydrates; 3.2 grams fiber. Makes 16 ...

We call this soup Roots & Fruits Chowder because of the ingredients: all the root and the fruit veggies such as the yam/potato, carrot, squash, pepper, corn, etc. This delicious and warming chowder is perfect for a cool Autumn or Winter day and goes together rather quickly. All of the vegetables contribute to the wonderful flavor and color of this soup. Of course, as always, you can choose just a few or all of the veggies listed - just increase the amounts of the veggies you do choose if you eliminate some. I like using butter since we add cream to the chowder; but the oil is fine too especially if you are using soy or other non-dairy cream. Ingredients: 1 medium white/yellow/brown Onion 2 or 3 ribs Celery with leaves 1 sprig fresh Sage (about 4 or 5 leaves) + more for garnish 3 to 5 sprigs fresh Thyme + more for garnish Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Unsalted Butter 1 small Butternut Squash, pumpkin or other winter squash 1 medium Potato ...

Occasionally we start out to do one thing but allow ourselves to go with the flow and end up with something amazingly fantastic. This chowder is an example of one of these events. Serendipity! I started out making a 'leek-potato soup' and Chellu wanted to help. It was fun cooking together and the spirit of adventure was high. Before long Chellu was bursting with suggestions of additions or substitutions ( what if we add some of this and what if we added this instead of that ... etc) which sounded pretty good to me and that is how we ended up with this Cheesy Potato Corn Chowder also known as "What If Soup". It was so delicious that Paji said we should write it down so we could make it again. So here it is. Enjoy! Serves 8 Ingredients: 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 Large Fresh Leek 1 small Stalk Celery 1 tsp Sea Salt 5 or 6 Sprigs Fresh Thyme 1/4 to 1/2 tsp Dried Red Pepper flakes 1/2 tsp Turmeric Freshly ground Black Pepper, to taste 3 Large Potatoes 1 pkg ...

It is amazing how a few simple ingredients can turn out into something so delicious! Use this spread with your favorite veggies and bread slices for a lovely snack; or serve as a dip with fresh veggies and/or your favorite chips. If cilantro is not your favorite herb, others such as Italian flat-leaf parsley, basil, dill, mint, etc may be used. Ingredients: 2 Cups plain yogurt 1 clove Garlic, minced 1 small bunch Cilantro, finely chopped 1 small green chili, deseeded and finely chopped 1 pinch of Salt Squeeze of lime of lemon (Optional) Method: Dip a large clean square of muslin cloth such as a large cotton napkin in fresh water and wring out well; shake out and place in a colander set over a bowl. The cloth should be large enough to hang over the colander. Place all of the yogurt on the napkin in the colander and bring the ends together and loosely tie together. Set the whole thing in the refrigerator so that the yogurt can drain undisturbed for several...

This soup has only 7 ingredients but tastes awesome. A good soup to make when one does not want to chop, dice, or mince anything. Makes 4 Servings Ingredients: 1 cup split peas (green or yellow) 1 small handful barley (about 1/8 cup) Salt to taste 1/4 tsp Turmeric 1 tsp Ghee or Canola Oil Freshly ground Black Pepper 1/2 to 1 tsp Cumin seeds, freshly crushed Method: Check peas for any debris or discolored beans. Combine barley and the cleaned peas and rinse well. Place peas and barley with about 3 cups of water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Stir in turmeric and salt to taste. Turn down the heat and simmer partially covered until soft and creamy; add more boiling water to thin soup if you wish. Heat a small pan with the ghee/oil and add a generous amount of freshly ground pepper and the coarsely ground cumin seeds; swirl and cook for a few seconds until fragrant. Pour the aromatic ghee with the spices into the soup and allow to rest for about 5 minutes. Serve hot with your favori...

The adventure of making this soup reminded me of the old Indian Tamil saying of how a woman attempting to make Dosa, a pancake, asks her husband to use a bowl instead of a plate :). Yes, you guessed it, Dosa had ended becoming mush. For those who might appreciate the Tamil original saying, here it is: "Dosa varthu koozha pochu, donnai theyyum brahmana". I had aimed on making chundal; I soaked the dried whole peas and then pressure-cooked them for what I thought would be the right amount of time. To my utter dismay, I found porridge instead when I opened the cooker to proceed. The peas were too soft for anything but soup; so soup it became and a delicious one at that! It is so simple and yet absolutely delicious - better make plenty of it as it gets gobbled up pretty quickly; Yum! Although I used whole dried peas, regular split peas can be used as well. Whole peas are available in Indian markets; split peas are available in most markets. 6 Servings Ingredients: 2 cups wh...

Garlic Pesto or Spread is fantastic to have on hand to spice up sandwiches and stir into pasta, soups, etc. I love to stir a spoonful of this wonderful spread into whatever I am cooking without having to stop and chop 1 or 2 cloves of garlic every time I cook. Once you try it, I am sure you will find your own special uses for this delicious spread. For perfect garlic bread, slather a generous amout of the Garlic Pesto on a split baguette or Italian or other bread and toast in a hot oven and golden and watch it disappear in seconds! Spread some on grilled sandwitches or mix a spoonful into veggies before roasting them - so useful and delicious. Garlic Pesto could be added to salad dressings also.  The word pesto is often synonymous with the popular Basil Pesto ; but it is anything that is pounded or pulverized! Here are a few others to try: Pistachio Pesto , Cilantro Pesto , irresistible Chile Pesto , and the amazing but deceptively simple Kerala Style Shallot-Chile Pesto....