Goat Cheese and Roasted Bell Pepper Panini on Sourdough Bread

I am in love with Trader Joe's 99% fat free whole wheat sourdough bread. Its been a staple in my kitchen for the last month. It tastes yummy and toasts really well. It makes an interesting base for sandwiches and tastes even better for breakfast with butter and orange marmalade. I whipped up this quick sandwich on a weekday when I had all the ingredients at hand and felt like eating a panini. It was a very tasty and quick dinner.

Ingredients:

1. Sourdough bread slices
2. Goat cheese
3. Pesto
4. Roasted bell peppers (I get a jar of this from Trader Joe's)
5. Sun dried tomatoes
6. Fresh basil leaves
7. Freshly ground pepper powder
8. Olive oil
9. Salt

Directions:

1. Take two slices of sourdough bread. Layer one with the goat cheese and other with the pesto.
2. Layer the sun dried tomatoes, roasted bell pepper and basil leaves.
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper as needed and sandwich the two slices of bread.
4. Brush on both external sides with olive oil and grill in a panini press.
5. Cut the sandwich into two halves if it is too big and enjoy with soup or a salad.

Leftovers Heaven - Fodni Chi Chappati and Fodni Cha Bhat

Leftovers are ingredients for a whole range of yummy dishes and some so good that you deliberately keep food aside to enjoy them in a new form the next day. Two of my favorite leftover dishes are fodni chi chappati (translated as tadka chappati) and fodni cha bhat (translated as fodni cha bhat). As a kid, I would avidly wait for there to be leftover chappati and rice so that mom could make these dishes the next day. I was always advised not to eat them as fresh food is more nutritious and that made these dishes all the more inviting:D. My eagerness to eat these made me try them with fresh ingredients instead of leftovers the next day and trust me they do taste better with leftovers. I was watching a Khana Khazaana episode dedicated to reusing leftovers and there were some lovely recipes like spinach rice, rice fritters which I am definitely going to try the next time if I can have enough of these two:). I have also made curd rice with tadka, pulihora and tamarind rice with leftovers before and they taste good too. Chappati is really a luxury for me today. I make it sometimes but most times I bring it from outside. So to save it for this dish is hard sometimes and I don't get to make it as often. I now really admire the effort my mom took to fresh food especially the chappatis on the dinner table and that too with 3 kids. Whew! These women of the older generations really were super women. On that thought, here are the recipes -

Fodni Chi Chappati:

Ingredients:

1. 4 or 5 stale chappatis - cut into small 1/2 inch size pieces, if possible do this by hand instead of a knife
2. Yellow onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
3. Curry leaves - 10
4. Fresh corriander - 2 cupes finely chopped
5. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
6. Oil - 1 tsp
7. Turmeric - 1 pinch
8. Green chillies - 1 finely chopped
9. Red chilli powder - 1 tsp
10. Mustard seeds - 1 tsp
11. Jeera - 1 tsp
12. Salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil and add mustard, jeera and turmeric.
2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies and curry leaves.
3. After a min, add the onion and saute till well done
4. Add the chappati, chilli powder and salt and cook till well done and the chappati start becoming a little crisp.
5. Add the coriander and lemon juice and mix well. Take the pan off the gas.

Fodni Cha Bhaat:

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups leftover rice
2. Oil - 1 tsp
3. Mustard - 1 tsp
4. Jeera - 1 tsp
5. Turmeric - 1/2 tsp
6. Hing - 1/4 tsp
7. Onion - 1 medium, chopped
8. Green capsicum - 1, cubed
9. Green chilli - 1 finely chopped
10. Red chilli powder - 1/2 tsp
11. Corriander - 1 cup, chopped
12. Lemon juice - 2 tsps
13. Salt

Directions:

1. Heat oil in the pan and add mustard, jeera, turmeric and hing.
2. Once the mustard seed sputter, add the green chillies.
3. After a min, add the onions until they are not totally cooked and slightly underdone.
4. Add capsicum and saute for 2 mins.
5. Add the rice, chilli powder and salt. Mix well and let the rice steam and get cooked thoroughly for a few mins.
6. Add the corriander and lemon juice and the dish is ready.

Note: When cooking with stale food, it is always important to make sure the dish is heated and cooked well.