We had a fabulous food and fun filled Thanksgiving week, with endless festive food, meeting friends and shopping. After consuming little too much Thanksgiving inspired savory and sweet treats, all we wanted to have a light, plant based meal to soothe our tummy. I made this Mator Dal diye Kumro/Yellow Split Peas and Pumpkin Stew for last night's supper. This comforting, lightly spiced stew is made with yellow split peas, yellow mung beans and some veggies, mostly sweet pumpkin, green beans and green peas served over brown rice. It's a delicious vegan stew packed with plant based protein, fiber and other nutrients.
Pie is an integral part of holiday dessert in America and so is cheesecake with seasonal festive flavors. I love to combine cheesecake with pie ingredients; they always turn out darn tasty. If I ever have to choose between pie and cheesecake, I will definitely go for cheesecake. I have shared Pumpkin Cheese Tart, Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Custard Pie and Pumpkine Pie. They all are amazingly delicious.
Pumpkins are in abundance in fall and I make both sweet and savory dishes. I grew up eating pumpkin as a savory food widely used in variety of vegetarian dishes through out India. Sometimes shrimp is added in vegetarian dishes as lean protein in Bengali cuisine. Its wonderful aroma adds depth and richness to any vegetarian dish. My Ma used to make this Chingri Kumror Dalna often with minimal spices and it's a keeper.
The Autumn festivals also known as Sharodutsov in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam, Tripura begins with Durgapooja celebration the victory good over evil followed by Laskmi pooja, the goddess of wealth. After two weeks, festival ends on new moon day with celebration of Kalipooja which symbolizes epitome of "shakti" the power and Dipaboli, the festival of lights.
This 2 lb. Largemouth bass was caught yesterday in a local pond in the evening after a long time. It is best to cook as soon as possible. But I was done with my cooking by that time; so I covered it with lots of ice and refrigerated to use for today's lunch. It's a wonderful versatile fish with mild flavor and firm texture. I normally make light curry served over rice. Today I roasted it with lemon garlic pepper seasonings along with sweet potatoes in a different pan at the same time for 30 minutes. While they were being roasting in the oven I stir fried broccoli and lunch was served quickly. This is one of the easiest lazy weekend's meals without making any grain dish because sweet potato is full of fiber and other nutrients. Try this gluten and grain free meal for lunch or dinner. It's amazingly delicious.
