My Favorite Recipes: Pasta Salad, Caprese Salad, Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

I don't know I am not usually a food blogger, but the vegeterian shepherd pie, I tried couple of days back wanted me to write this one..hehehe...I am not a recipe by measurement person, so most of my recipes won't include exact measurement of things to put it...If you still need exact measurement, let me know and next time I will try to remember it and update this blog accordingly..Also next time I will remember to take pictures of them to upload here...So here are my favorite non indian recipes so far:

Pasta Salad:
This is one of my and Priyanka's favorite italian/meditterean dish and now some of our friends too...It is very simple to make and different variations are possible and everytime it turns out just as delicious...
You could use penne pasta, or tri color rotini or shell pasta or combination of three. Cook pasta as usual, I normally take a big pot of boiling water and add pasta, salt and little bit oil to it. Do not overcook the pasta, otherwise they would taste sticky...After boiling for about 8-10 minutes depending on the amount of pasta(check the cooking time on the box), drain the pasta and add about 2-3 tbsp of olive oil(My favorite is bertoullis so far). Add garlic salt and crushed black peper, and some cut basil(I love fresh basil for all my italian dishes). Mix the pasta and let it refrigerate(half hour to one hour is sufficient). In the meantime, cut long thing stripes of about 2 tomatoes, 3/4 red onion, 1/2 red capsicum(bell pepper), 1/2 yellow capsicum(bell pepper) and 1/2 green capsicum(green pepper), 1/2 cucumber if you like. Mix all these with the refrigerated pasta. Add about 5-6 tbsp of fat free feta cheese with mediterrean herbs. Add olive oil, salt and pepper and some lemon as per taste. Add about 10-12 (or more if you like) ripe pitted olives. Mix well..You can garnish it with more basil and some coriander.
Some variations can be adding salad dressings( my favorites are fat free italian, fat free ranch, french onion) or adding jalapenoes, fried onions etc.

Caprese Salad:
This italian recipe if another of our favorites.
You need fresh mozzarella cheese, baby or roma tomatoes and basil.
You can drain the mozzarella cheese out of the box and cut it into about 1/4" thick round slices. Cut the tomatoes into same size if using Roma tomatoes other cut the baby tomatoes into half...
On a plate arrange the cheese and tomatoes alternatively in a circle....
Cut about 10-12 basil leaves and spread on the plate....Sprinkle about 3 tbsp oliveoil, garlic salt mix, salt and pepper and little bit of lemon juice.

Vegeterian Shepherd's Pie:
I had never heard of Shepherd's pie till we visited "The Londoner" for one of our friday lunches from work...About 50% of my colleagues had ordered that dish...It was beef and some potatoes..Over the weekend at Barnes and Nobles I came across a vegan cooking book and found vegeterian shepherd's pie recipe and it was so simple, I thought I did give it a try...I googled the recipe next day and found several versions, I made a variation of my own and it turned out yummy....It all healthy and nutritious too...

You will need the following:
5-7 slices of french bread
Mixed lentils(tuver, masoor, chana, split green peas) about 1.5 cups soaked for about 3-4 hours
Potatoes(Idaho variety works good so does russell)-about 5-6
Tomatoes-3-4 (cut them into about 1/4 x 1/4 cubes or even smaller is fine)
Red Onions-1 or 1.5(cut them into about 1/4 x 1/4 cubes or even smaller)
Green, Red and Yellow Capsicum(bell pepper), (cut them into about 1/4 x 1/4 cubes or even smaller)
Garlic 3-4 cloves or more if u like
Fat free sour cream about 3 tbsp
cheese- 1/4 cup or more if you like
coriander- as much as you like
wheat or cornflour- 4 tbsp
garam masala-1 tbsp
ginger
turmeric powder, chilly powder, dhania powder and salt

Soak the dals together and then boil them in an open pot till it thickens and most of the water has vanished...
Make dal fry style dal with it...My recipes is take oil, fry finely chopped garlic and ginger, mix in the onions(leave about 1/4 for potatoes mixture), and all the three capsicums(leave about 1/4 for the potatoes mixture) and saute till onions turn brown..add the flour and let it will with the veggies..after a paste is formed, saute in the tomatoes(leave about 1/4 of them for the potatoes mixture). Add the dal to the pan. Let it mix for sometime, add garam masala, salt, turmeric, chilly(you can use fresh green chilles too) and dhania powder. let it boil and thicken into a paste.
Add coriander if you like to the paste

In the meantime, boil the potatoes and mash them after removing the skin..add cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper, some olive oil if you like and the remaining onions, capsicum and mix well..

Heat the oven around 300, in a baking pan, spray with cooking canola or olive oil. spread the french toast at the bottom, spread the dal mixture on it and top with a layer of the potato mixture. You can sprinkle bread croutons powder or fried onions at the top if you like. Let it bake for atleast 20-25 minutes...

The potatoes layer at the top will turn slight brown.........

You are ready to eat now...Yummy..

When I read the recipes, most of the people said they wished they had made more to be eaten as a leftover and I think I wish the same..It was so yummy we finished most of it that night...:)
If you guys are aware of dhanshaaaaak, it is similar to that with addition of toast on the bottom and potatoes at the top.....