Cooking recipes

This is my favorite greens dish. My mom usually makes this on weekends to go along with fish. The ingredients used here are very less and my mom only uses amaranth greens for this dish. I couldn’t find those here in US, so I have used baby spinach. Baby spinach is very mild and doesn’t taste bitter. Any other greens like Swiss chard or regular spinach can also be used, but bitter-tasting greens should be avoided since tamarind is not used here.

INGREDIENTS:

1. Greens like amaranth or spinach, 1 big bunch.

2. Garlic, 1 clove.

3. Green chilies, 2.

4. Salt, as per taste.

5. Dried red chilies, 2.

6. Cumin seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

7. Mustard seeds, ¼ teaspoon.

8. Grated or dried coconut, ¼ cup. (low-fat dried coconut powder can also be used here)

PREPARATION:

Clean the greens well and remove the thick stalks. The greens need not be chopped. Peel the garlic and keep aside. Steam the greens along with the garlic and green chilies by adding a little bit of water. I usually add everything in a pan and let it simmer closed for 5-10 minutes until the water evaporates and the greens wilt. Let it cool. Once cooled add the contents to a blender, along with some and grated coconut and blend into smooth paste. If needed, some water can be added for the desired consistency. Transfer the contents to a bowl. Heat a small pan with a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot enough, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the cumin seeds and dried red chilies (can be broken or left whole) and fry for a few seconds. Pour the seasonings over the pureed greens, mix well, and serve with rice.

Merluzzo is Codfish in Italian, and I just thought it would look cooler in the title. In case youve never heard of a "Puttanesca" sauce before, its Italian for "in the style of the whore." I know, it sounds appetizing doesn’t it? But, it really is a fantastic and fast pasta sauce that can be prepared and tossed on plain pasta, or used as a base for a more complex recipe as I have done here. Ive taken the basic Puttanesca sauce and added fresh codfish and Arugula to create a very nice, and quite healthy seafood pasta. By the way, it tastes much better than it looks! The black olive tapenade I added makes for a sort of grey and muddy looking sauce, but when you dress it up with a little parmesan on top and more red pepper flakes, it suddenly becomes much more attractive (insert your own prostitute joke here).

Now, as far as the story behind the Puttanesca sauces origins, there are many stories, some more "colorful" than others. It is pretty much agreed upon that Naples was the birthplace, but thats about all that people dont argue about. What follows are the most common explanations of this delicious sauce; the ladies of the night made this pasta sauce because the irresistible aroma would help draw in customers. It was created as a quick and cheap meal the ladies could eat in between customers. It is hot, spicy, and fast, as are the woman for whom its named.

Regardless of the true origin, its a great sauce, and one that should be part of your regular pasta rotation, no matter what your own personal level of virtue happens to be. Ive made this version much lower calorie by reducing the usual amount of olive oil and replaced it with stock and wine. Enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 pound fresh cod
2 cups chicken or fish stock (or water)
1 pound pasta
1 cup white wine
2 tbl anchovy paste
2 tbl red pepper flakes
6 cloves garlic
2 tbl olive tapenade or chopped olives
1/4 cup capers
1 bunch Arugula (about 2-3 cups)
2 tbl olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan