Mediterranean Style Oven Roasted Veggies

While researching,  I found that the phrase "Mediterranean Diet" is actually defined as a noun (in English Language) as "a diet of a type traditional in Mediterranean countries, characterized especially by a high consumption of vegetables and olive oil and moderate consumption of protein, and thought to confer health benefits." 

A Mediterranean diet incorporates the traditional healthy living habits of people from countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, including France, Greece, Italy and Spain. Our hostess Archana for this week at #FoodieMondayBlogHop has suggested #222MystiqueMediterranan as the theme.  

I love buying and prepping veggies a lot, and as a family, soups and salads are always on the menu plans as a stand alone snack or appetiser. Today's dish is a baked crisp (or chips if you prefer). Its completely vegan and GF and can be added to your #Thanksgiving or #Xmas meal spread. My kids loved the crisps and it just flew off the baking tray. I have mildly spiced it, but you may add any spices that you / your family prefers. 

Prepping the veggies and marination is the only time consuming task here, else the winter veggies are a perfect time to make this Gluten free , vegan snack.

Similar flourless bakes on the blog include:

Baked Falafels

Baked Tandoori Gobhi

Baked Vazhakkai Varuval (baked raw plantain chips)

Baked Gobhi Mussallam

Prep time - 20 mins, Baking time - 17 mins approx. per batch*, Serves - 2

PIN FOR LATER

(*Baking time differs from oven to oven*)

Carrots - 100 grams
Beets - 100 grams ( I used 1 really large beet)
Sweet potato - 100 grams
Potato - 1 large (cut into wedges)
Olive oil - 3 TBSP
Salt  - to taste
Spices and herbs (all to taste) : sumac, dried rosemary, dried chilli flakes, white pepper, black pepper, dried oregano, 

Peel and wipe the veggies of all extra moisture with paper napkins. Let them air dry on tissues for 5-7 mins. 
Cut the veggies into long strips / batons. In a bowl, add the veggies, spices and half the oil+salt and mix well. Cover and marinate for 30 mins. 
Preheat oven to 170C. grease the lined tray with 1 tsp oil. 
Spread the marinated veggies without overlapping on the baking tray. Sprinkle remaining oil and salt and bake for 17-18 mins (or until they are crisp) , turning them over midway.
(Airfryer also works for this dish)
Serve immediately as is or sprinkling more pepper / red chilli flakes on top. Enjoy :)
   
       

Pazham Vaattiyathu – Caramelized Plaintains : A Guestpost by Rafeeda | Guestpost Series #21

In the world of Virtual friendships, its often assumed tht the real is virtual and the virtual is real. Blogging since 2011 has taken me virtually to so many cuisines, so many kitchens and so many hearts. 

One such amazing person is Rafeeda who shares her lip smacking heirloom recipe - Pazham Vaattiyathu - with us on this month's edition of Guestposts here at SizzlingTastebuds. If you are a newcomer to this blog or curious to read earlier heirloom Guestposts by many of my wonderful blogger friends , head here.

Rafeeda is a wonderful blogger bringing both world cuisine and her family style Malabar style cooking at her blog -
The Big Sweet Tooth

She so kindly consented to do this amazing recipe and guestpost and shares with us some wonderful memories in her inimitable, friendly banter. Thank you Rafeeda for doing this.. Over to her in her own words...

***********************

A very big hello to the readers of “The Sizzling Tastebuds”… 

I am excited to be on Kalyani’s space as a guest this month. Kalyani’s is one of the earliest blogs I had followed when I was hit by the cooking bug, way back in 2012, if I am not mistaken. I had bookmarked a lot of interesting vegetarian recipes during that time from her blog and even cooked some. In fact, I must say that hers was among the handful of blogs which actually motivated me to start my little space. When her email came with an invite to be a guest on her space, I blinked tw-ice, just wanting to believe that I have actually received an email! So here I am… :-

A little about myself – my name is Rafeeda, a Keralite who has been bought up in UAE, which is literally my second home. I am a working mother of two fast growing girls. My blog, “The Big Sweet Tooth” was started just to keep my interest in cooking, since I am a very lazy cook and can get bored very fast. I have been blogging for five plus years now and it has been a roller coaster ride so far. My blog, though has variety of recipes, tries to focus of keeping a note of Malabar recipes as well as Emirati cuisine as well.

Kalyani had mentioned that she would like me to bring along a forgotten/ rare recipe that my family cooks. I had a hard time trying to figure out what I would give her. After brainstorming lots of ideas, my mind suddenly went to this super simple dish umma used to make when we had impromptu guests. Now, every Keralite home would have stock of nenthrapazhams/ ripe plantains at any given time. It serves as a quick breakfast if you wake up late, a perfect snack for afternoon tea-time or even a filling dinner if you are not in a mood to feast! We either boil our plantains till soft, or make them in this form, or fry them up – an international favorite! The recipe is actually too simple, that I was a little ashamed to give this as a post. But thinking about it, I realized that sometimes it is the thought and feeling that matter behind a recipe, more than the recipe itself at times!

Umma would cut the nenthrapazhams into strips. She would then heat up generous amount of RKG ghee or coconut oil, depending upon what is available. She would fry up both the sides, sprinkling sugar as she goes till it gets a very caramelized appearance. I have noticed that nowadays people post this recipe calling them banana coins, where the pazham is sliced into roundels or if sliced long, then rolled up in a fancy shape and held on with a toothpick. Whatever it is, the method of making still remains the same. Super simple, yet so addictive…

I sincerely have no clue what this dish is called, so I call it Pazham Vaattiyath for naming sake. We would call it “naavu”, which means “tongue”, since they do look like them. And like all kids, we would wait for the guests to return back the plate with something in it so that we could attack it. Alas, it would come back empty because the combination of it hot with a cup of sulaimani is unparalleled! We would then nag her and then she would lazily make some just for us. Despite being really simple, umma would refrain making it for us citing how unhealthy it is due to the amount of ghee and sugar that goes into making this. :D

Lurking for some time in my thoughts, I decided to make this for the girls and HD. Thank God for instant home delivery, I landed up with a couple of nicely ripe plantains and quickly made them. As soon as the shot was done, the plate was wiped clean by them. HD then remarked, “I remember umma making this very long back. Why haven’t you made it in such a long time?” I gave him the same response that umma would give us. ;)

Pazham Vaattiyathu – Caramelized Plaintains

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 ripe plantains

1 tbsp ghee

Sugar as required

Method:

Peel the plantains and cut them into long strips.

Heat the ghee in a frying pan and layer one side of the plantains. Sprinkle some sugar on the top side and flip after a minute.

Sprinkle some more sugar on the flipped side and cook both sides till sufficiently caramelized.

Drain onto a plate and serve hot.

Notes:

You can use ghee or coconut oil for frying.

We sometimes sprinkle some freshly grated coconut and a sprinkling of cardamom powder for added flavor.

Thank you so much Kalyani for waking up something that was so conveniently forgotten… J I am still feeling guilty of keeping it really simple, but I sincerely hope you will like this post. Wishing you only the best in your blogging journey forward, and once again thank you for having me around here…

Roundup of MLLA 132 with 9 delicious Protein-based dishes..

It's always a delight to host MLLA (My Legume Love Affair) that's steered superbly by Lisa over the years...

  In the past, I had hosted editions 130, 97, 91 and 58. Simple, everyday protein dishes (using lentils / legumes). This is a roundup of my hosting edition 132   

Thank you Lisa, for another opportunity to do this. We have entries from 9 wonderful bloggers who have pitched in with their wonderful recipes. and the recap is under.. 

Thank you once again for all your dishes, and look forward to your delicious entries in the forthcoming editions too ! 

Cheers,
Kalyani

In alphabetical order of Blogger (first) names, we have:

Archana's  Kala Channa Sundal : a perfect snack (Vegan too !!) for the 4 pm hunger pangs or a Navratri offering / Naivedyam

Kalyani's dish (from my blog) Andhra Tomato Pappu - a simple, delicuous Vegan, GF tangy dal that will perk up your everyday meal.

Lisa's Urad Dal with Coconut and fried Shallots is a gastronomical delight with so many textures all playing their part well in this proteinaceous dish ..

Narmadha - Curry leaves powder : a healthy, vegan condiment with steamed Rice / Idli / Dosa that is sure to fancy up your breakfast or lunch

Priya Iyer's Karuppu Mochai  Sundal is surely a colourful vegan snack that you won't mind make making frequently as its filling, nutritious and low carb too !

Priya Vijay's Chataka Chole is assuredly a dish that will leave your tastebuds tingling ! 

Who said Lentils can be used only in Savory ? Check out Renu's Besan Ladoo - a festival favourite sweet that's made even more delicious with so many helpful tips that Renu has shared. 

I personally love stews and broths at this time of the year when its slightly nippy towards the evening, so Shaheen's Veg and Chickpea Tagine recipe is at the right time 

Sublime comfort is the tagline for Swaty's Sookhi Urad Dal - a dish that's surely gonna make you go for second helpings with its simple, fuss-free flavour.