Saturday, August 11, 2012

Basil and Walnut Sauce with Broccoli and Baby Corn


There's nothing more inspiring to me than a crisper full of fresh vegetables! My tastiest dinners are always made on the evenings my Towness groceries come home.

Town Essentials is a gem of an online grocery store that was recommended to us early this year by our friends Amrita and Vijay of Vegan India! They told us that the quality of vegetables and fruits was very impressive and the service is great. Towness turned out to be all that and much more. The veggies are truly hand picked and so very clean and fresh. And their customer service is hands down *the best* compared to any other Bangalore store we've shopped at or ordered from. They are extremely dependable when it comes to delivering at the promised time and they take very good care to ensure that the veggies reach us in perfect condition.

All other stores seem to be lacking in service when compared to these guys. They've really spoiled our shopping experience for life! :oP

One Towness veggie that I'm most happy with is Broccoli. It isn't always easy to get good, clean Broccoli here in Bangalore. There's usually a lot of effort involved in cleaning it before it's in an acceptable condition to cook with. But Towness magically seems to get its hands on super fresh Broccoli that can be quickly washed, cut and used.

This time, apart from Broccoli, I ordered Baby Corn and Italian Basil from the 'exotic vegetables' section and the moment they hit my kitchen counter, the gears started turning in my head and I found myself whipping up a simple and delicious dinner.

I find local (Naati) Tomatoes to be most flavourful and use them in a lot of my cooking. For a less tangy sauce, use Plum (Hybrid) Tomatoes.

This is a fairly mild sauce but if you like to spice it up a bit, add a fresh Green Chilly while blending the sauce.

Basil and Walnut Sauce

Handful Italian Basil Leaves
Handful Walnuts
1/4 Onion
3-4 Garlic Cloves
2 Medium Tomatoes
Turmeric (a pinch)
Pepper
Salt

Baby Corn (sliced)
Broccoli Florets
Capsicum (sliced)

Lime Juice
Freshly Crushed Pepper

Steam or nuke the veggies with a pinch of salt and keep aside.
Meanwhile, blend the first eight ingredients together into a smooth sauce, using a bit of water if required.
Pour the sauce over the veggies and cook for a few minutes (I microwaved for 3 minutes but if you prefer, you can just boil it in a pan while stirring).
Let it cool for a minute and then add lime juice and mix well.
Crush pepper on top and serve hot.

I served this Basil and Walnut Sauce over Kodo Millet but it will go very well with Rice or Bread.

Enjoy! :)

15 comments:

  1. I love great service like that too. Plus great produce! This dish you posted looks amazing! Thanks for sharing. :)

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    1. Thank you Adi. :) It's ot always easy to find service like that.

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  2. This looks great Susmitha. I am thinking I'll make a sauce like this and throw it together with some pasta and vegetables. I am going to try Town Essentials, too. Ciao!

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    1. Thanks Niru. Oh yeah, this sauce will be great with pasta! :) I'm sure you're gonna really like Towness. :)

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  3. The colors in this photo are so pretty. I might just have to pair this with some quinoa this week. Great post.

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    1. Ooooh this should be a delish combo with Quinoa, Gi!

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  4. oooooh that picture!! sauce exotic veggies. i am game:)

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  5. Your blog is amazing? Love the pics in them.

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  6. Hi! My name is Maria, and I work for crazysexylife.com. We would love to feature you and this recipe in an upcoming newsletter. We just need your permission. You can email me at maria@crazysexywellness.com. Thanks!

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  7. This recipe has me all salivating right now. Can't even wait to try it. I am definitely making this before the weekend. Where can I get Italian basil leaves in Bangalore?

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    1. Haha good to know you want to try it right away, Akash. :)

      As I've said in this post, I order my basil and other veggies and fruits from Town Essentials. Http://Towness.co.in

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