Kidney Beans Pasta

Last year I got the honor to visit Italy with my family. We went to Rome and Venice. And it does not take long to fall in love with such great cities. Rome is known for its historical significance and Venice is such a romantic place that it has become our favorite destinations in Europe ever.

We also got attached to the place, cause our son (now 3+ years) saw the sea for the first time in his life! And he was blessed to see his first of the seven wonders of the world i.e. the great Colosseum! He was sleeping half way through the entire tour but shhh... don't tell him :-). 

So in the memories of our Italy trip I thought to give it a try to the humble pasta, but with little bit of a twist :-).

Pasta is first boiled and then mixed with the tomatoes and onion mix. Topped with kidney beans and pumpkin seeds :-). Flavors turned out to be great! You must give this dish a try!

Ingredients 

• Freshly boiled or Tin kidney beans
• 2 onions cut into long strips
• 1 large tomato cut into long strips
• 2 tsp Pumpkin seeds 
• 1 tsp Coriander powder
• Boiled pasta
• 2 green chili finely cut
• 2 cloves garlic finely cut
• 1.5 inch ginger piece finely cut
• Black pepper as per taste
• Red chili powder as per taste
• Soya sauce
• Oregano 
• Olive oil
• Salt to taste

Method

• Take a pan on medium heat. 
• Add 4 tsp olive oil. 
• Add fresh ginger and garlic. 
• Add cut onions. And saute them till they are translucent. 
• Add tomatoes. Saute them for another 10 minutes. 
• Add pumpkin seeds for the crunch factor.
• Add soya sauce. Stir.
• Add kidney bins. 
• Add salt, black pepper, coriander powder.  
• Saute for another 5 minutes. 
• Add boiled pasta.
• Add oregano.
• Mix them well and serve hot.

#MNoExpert, but I hope you will like it.

All American Chicken and Italian Pasta Salad

India is a land of culture, cast and creeds. A lot of religions live together with peace and harmony. Or at least try to :-).

It is election time these days in Delhi. Even in politics different parties with different ideologies often join hands to form government.

With that in mind, a person from the largest democratic country in the world will show you how to mix up different ingredients from different countries to come with a killer dish which my wife and I fondly call - All American Chicken and Italian Pasta Salad :-). It is our wedding anniversary tomorrow, so I had to bring her name :-).

BTW it was her invention :-). And I am trying it for the first time.

Lets get to it. 

Ingredients:

• Kidney beans canned - ready to eat.
• Corn canned - ready to eat.
• Any pasta of your choice - penne, fusilli.
• A small size onion finely chopped.
• Chicken boneless. Cut into small chew able pieces. Vegetarians can skip chicken. Or add boiled eggs. Or add any other veggies of your choice. For example bell pepper, capsicum, cottage cheese etc.
• 1 large tomato chopped. 
• Salsa sauce. Generous quantity.
• French salad dressing. Generous quantity.
• Mayonnaise. 
• Salt to taste.
• 2 tsp Garam Masala.
• 2 tsp Black pepper.
• Salad leaves (optional).
• 1 tsp Sweet chili sauce (optional) to taste.
• 1 tsp Red chili powder.
• 1 tsp Sugar or honey.
• 3 tsp curd.
• Peanuts in generous quantity. 

Cooking Process: 

• Boil pasta in boiling water. Should not take more than 20 minutes.
• Either cook the chicken pieces in a pressure cooker or grill them. Should not take more than 20 minutes.
• Mix them together in a bowl. 
• Add all other ingredients.
• Mix them well.
• Refrigerate it for an hour.
• That's it. Eat cold.

Let's plate up

Hey I am no expert but I hope you will like it. As always your comments & feedback are most welcome :-). 

I tasted it, but my wife cooks it better than me. You guys know why I wrote this ;-). 

Happy Wedding Anniversary sweetheart :-).