Procedure 1 Switch on the oven to 400F. In a large cookie sheet (use the one which you think will fit the pizza dough) add all the ingredients except the pizza dough. That is, the thinly sliced peppers, onion, garlic, oil and the seasonings. Mix it well and spread it on the baking sheet.

2 Cook it for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. I also broiled it for another 5 minutes, keeping the oven door open. Transfer the caramelized vegetables to a plate or wax paper.

3 Usually while baking the pizza dough you have to oil the baking sheet. Since we have roasted the vegetables already you can see that the baking sheet is already greased. So simply remove the dough from the can and unfold it on the cookie sheet. Spread it evenly to cover the cookie sheet. The dough may tear, but don’t worry, because you can always repair it using your fingers to stretch the dough and cover the holes.

4 Top the dough with the cooked pepper and onion mixture evenly.

5 Bake it for 12-16 minutes, until the bottom turns golden brown and the top is also baked enough.

6 I did not want to scratch my baking sheet while cutting the pizza, so removed it from the cookie sheet before cutting it.

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This is yet another low fat pasta recipe from the book 1001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes. Earlier I had prepared the Curried Pasta and Vegetables from this book. This pasta dish is also very simple to prepare, healthy without heavy sauces and cheese, but at the same time very flavorful also.

As most of you know, throughout last week I was worried about my mom’s safe journey to US and now that she has arrived I’m a little busy, so I have not been able to visit all your blogs or reply individually to all your lovely comemnts.  So please excuse me, I’ll catch up with you guys very soon! 

This week I tried RedChillies’ pasta and beans soup.  The soup is very simple to make but has a lot of flavors going in from the peppers, celery, garlic and oregano.  I didn’t have mini peppers, so used a combination of regular size red pepper, yellow pepper and green pepper.  I also used extra 3 cups of vegetable broth. (Look “My Notes”)  Thank you for the recipe RedChillies.

My Notes:
I always prepare my pasta and beans soup directly in a pressure cooker.  I don’t cook the pasta separately.  I add all the ingredients for the soup, including the pasta and extra water or vegetable broth as required and leave it for 1 whistle and turn off the stove.  The pasta is cooked to perfection and also has the flavor of all the vegetables, tomatoes and herbs because it is cooked with it instead of plain salted water.

Since I made the soup in a pressure cooker directly, I’m sending this to Archana’s One Dish Meal Event.  The cooking time is approximately 30-45 minutes inculding prep time and the measurement yields 4-5 servings easily.

JZ at Tasty Treats has passed me the Rocking Girl Blogger Award. 

Thank you very much JZ.  I would like to pass this award to
RedChillies
Roma

I saw this recipe in Woman’s Day magazine under Heart Healthy Recipes category.  I wanted to try this recipe because it had bulgur wheat as the main ingredient, which I have not tasted before.  I use cracked wheat regurlarly, so I always have it in home.  I thought that both were same.  So before using it in the recipe, I wanted to be sure and check if there was any difference between bulgur wheat and cracked wheat and found out the following; (Source: www.epicureantable.com)

Bulgur Wheat:
Partially hulled whole wheat kernels that are soaked, then steamed (hence pre-cooked if you will), dried and then crushed are called bulghur.  It requires no or little cooking.  Though modern processes involve oven drying or roasting some villages still sun dry bulghur on their rooftops. 

Cracked Wheat:
Raw whole wheat berries that are crushed to varying qualities of texture are called cracked wheat and require cooking.  These are also found in 3 grades of coarseness: fine, medium and coarse, the choice of which depends on use and preference.

To simplify it even more bulgur is wheat cracked after cooking and drying, whereas the wheat is cracked in raw stage for cracked wheat.
 
Are they interchangeable? 
This depends on whether the recipe requires cooking or not and your own degree of purism.  A salad recipe such as tabooli is uncooked, and so requires true bulghur as do recipes where bulghur is brought to the boil, cooked for a moment then left to rest off heat to swell as in a pilaf.   Recipes requiring longer cooking times or coarse grain bulghur can be replaced with cracked wheat, but will need more cooking time.
 
But both bulghur and cracked wheat are excellent sources of fibre, minerals and vitamins for your diet.

Moving on to the recipe,  I have scaled down the measurements given in the original recipe; still we had a lot of chili.  I made it for dinner and it was very filling.

Ingredients:
Water – 3 cups
Bulgur Wheat – ½ cup
Olive Oil – 2 teaspoon
Onion, chopped – ½ cup
Red Pepper, chopped – ½ cup
Chili Powder – 1 tablespoon or as per taste
Garlic, minced – 1 tspn
Ground Cumin – 1 tspn
Water – 2 cups
Crushed Tomatoes – 1 cup
Pumpkin Puree (canned) – 1 cup
Zucchini, medium, diced – 1
Frozen Corn, ½ cup
Black Beans (canned), drained and rinsed – 1 cup
Cilantro, chopped – ¼ cup

Accompaniments/Optional:
Reduced-fat Cheddar
Reduced-fat sour cream

Procedure:
1.  Put 3 cups of the waer and bulgur in a medium microwave-safe bowl.  Cover and microwave on high until bulgur is tender, about 13 minutes.

2.  Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet.  Add onion and pepper; saute 5 minutes.

3.  Add chili powder, garlic and cumin; saute until fragrant.

4.  Add remaining 2 cups water, the tomatoes, pumpkin, zucchini and corn; bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

5.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender.

6.  Stir in beans and bulgur; heat through.

7.  Remove from heat and stir in cilantro.

My Notes:
My husband loved the chili.  The only thing I didn’t like was the flavor of the red pepper.  I will be trying it without the red pepper next time.