February 6, 2007

SOUTH OF THE BORDER FARFALLE!





South of the Border Farfalle is my contribution to Kalyn's "Weekend Herb Blogging",who is also the hosting this week at 'Kalynskitchen'.Thank you Kalyn. The herb I am using today is Cilantro.





Cilantro:





Cilantro/Coriander leaves is the leaf of the young coriander plant,an herb in the parsley family.Cilantro and Coriander seeds from the Coriander plants are traditionally used in Middle Eastern,Mexican and Asian cooking extensively.
History Of Cilantro:
Coriander is probably one of the first herbs to be used by mankind, perhaps going back as far back as 5000 BC. It is mentioned in early Sanskrit writings in India dating from about 1500 BC.The Romans spread it throughout Europe and it was one of the first spices to arrive in America!






Cilantro should be used crushed or chopped in the dishes in small amounts as it has a strong flavor.Cilantro is a perfect addition to Mexican and Indian dishes.Add Cilantro to salsas and bean dips, in sour cream and use it as a topping for chili, tacos,enchiladas and most Indian dishes as well.(www.culinarycafe.com) More info here.

South of the Border Cilantro-Cream Cheese Farfalle Pasta:


You Need: Serves Two

1 cup Farfalle(Bow Tie) pasta,1/2 of 8oz block of 1/3rd fat Cream Cheese(Neufchatel),1 tbsp minced Jalapenos,1-2 tbsp minced Cilantro,1 tsp Garlic pd,3 tbsp Green Onions chopped,1/2 cup Spinach chopped and cooked,1/4 cup 2% milk,1 tbsp low-fat Sour Cream,salt.

How to:


In a bowl,take Cream Cheese and bring it to room temp..To this add 1 tsp minced Jalapenos,1-2tbsp minced Cilantro,1 tsp Garlic pd,3tbsp Green onions chopped,,1/2 cup frozen Spinach cooked,1/4 cup milk,1 tbsp Fat-Free Sour cream, pinch of salt,mix well.



Warm the above mixture in the microwave with 50% power if you have it just for a minute or two until warm, NOT SIMMER OR BOIL.Adjust the seasoning.
Cook 1 cup Farfalle or Bow Tie pasta,drain,let it cool a bit and add to the Cream Cheese sauce and mix well.




Note:
1. You could add more Cilantro if you like or replace it with Dill or Parsley.
2. The above block of spicy Cream Cheese you see in the photo,I usually make it without adding milk or sour cream,mould to a rectangle and chill in the fridge.Tastes great with Bagels.

Your spicy and Tangy "South of the Border Farfalle"
is ready to be served!




Enjoy the quick and delicious Pasta!:)

33 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Asha,

Delicious and lowfat sauce! Thanks for sharing :)

USHA said...

Wow!looking delicious and awesome....

I think you can write a cookbook Ashaji.How are you able to insert such lots of varieties in your brain? Everytime i see, i would find a awesome rich receipe,which i never heard or tasted before...

Mishmash ! said...

My goodness! I wish we were in the same neighbourhood !!! Really appreciate your passion for food and cooking.

Yes, it's quite frigid here and condition is going to get worse with accumulated snow in the eve. But ppl are in high spirits with the COLTS victory here. Feel nice to be part of all this:)

Shn

Prema Sundar said...

Yes Asha Cilantro is a pefect addition in Indian dishes.. If i do not have cilantro in the fridge it is very difficult for me to cook many Indian recipes..especially rasam.. I could not make rasam without cilantro.
South of the border farfalle(ooh long name for the recipe i guess)looks wonderful and pretty easy to make it too.Thanks for sharing a lovely recipe Asha

Chickoo said...

Yummy! Eega thane oota agide, but nim recipe nodi matthe hasivo hasivu :)

FH said...

Thanks Linda.My DSL went this morning,just got it back!Enjoy!:))

Usha,thanks.I buy too many cookbooks already, to write one addding to crowd would be a waste of my energy!Try this recipe and enjoy!:D

Hi shn,it's cold here too but not like there indeed!Great day to fry some Pakoras!:D Enjoy the victory.It rained the whole game too in FL!What a evening that was!Thanks.

Prema,you are right!;D Name is too long,just call it Bowtie Pasta! Tasted good,hope you try.My fridge always stocked with Cilantro,it is a must for me too and also Dhania in the pantry for making powders!:)

Deepa,ratri ootakke athava weekend nalli yavagaladru madidroo chennagirutte!Hope you try! ;D

Kalyn Denny said...

Sounds very interesting. Of course I love anything with cilantro.

Anonymous said...

AAAHHHH!!!!!!! The colour of the dish looks awesome!!!! Cilantro in paste!!! Lovely combo :)

Anjali Koli said...

Asha it looks as if the greens are inside the farfalle. I kept staring at the pictures amazed. Must try it on the weekend. Thanks buddy.

FH said...

Hi Kalyn.Thank you.Cilantro is one of my fav herb too! Enjoy!:))

Coffee,thanks girl.Color comes from cream cheese and greens mixture which of course beautiful.I am cooking for your event today!!!:)

Anjali,hello.How are you? Thanks buddy.Hope you try this weekend not just stare!HeHe!!

Sia said...

thats a pretty long name:) looks delicious... my experiment with pasta makes me hide hide my head in sand... may be i will try ur recipe and make hatrick;)
waiting for ur weekly post in FH:)
will catch u later... hope ur blog works fine...oh god!!! plese let it work fine this time....:)

FH said...

Sia,you are good at Pasta too!They are all easy.I saw you at FH!!YESSSS!!! It's seems to be working for everybody this week,so it's not something I did but blogger problem!YAY!!Thanks girl,hope you try this one,easy and tasty!:))

Linda said...

this looks wonderfully creamy, hearty and delicious. the sauce is such an interesting combo. thanks for posting this!

Susan from Food Blogga said...

What a great blog you have here! Beautiful photos and tempting recipes.

Thanks for the delicious and informative post!

Susan from Food "Blogga"

FH said...

You are welcome Linda.Something different than the usual is always good!:))

Hi Susan of "food blogga"! That's a cool name!:)) Thank you,glad you liked my blog and you are always welcome to come back.

SeePearrl said...

mmmmmmhhh..looks yummy!

Nabeel said...

the blue fork adds so much color to the dish :)

KF said...

Looking delicious!!!!!!!!!!
My kids are fond of these kind of food.Thank u for ur nice recipe

Anonymous said...

Asha, I'm back here to say what a neat post in FH! Loved to learn a little more about you (we have a few things in common there!) and also, great tip about dipping tortillas in sauce for enchiladas. I always thought they were so dry after baking, but will try that next time. Yum :)

Mona said...

Hello Asha. I have always wondered what cilantro meant. Now I know.We call it green coriander her as you must be knowing. The foodie jargon of foreign lands has me puzzed at times.For example, when I was in states I went looking for ladyfingers [ bhindi] which I came to know was called okra there.Even brinjals have another name [eggplant]. I wonder what they call 'Arvi' in english.
Thanks for visiting my blog & your comment there.

FH said...

Thank you White Forest!:)) I love your fairy profile!

Thanks Nabeel.I love colors!:)

Kids will love this dish,Kitchen Fairy.Cut down the cilantro if it's something kids don't like and add any other herbs.Thank you for visiting!:)

FH said...

Thank you Linda.I am sorry you still can't log on in there.It seems to be working for lot of ppl this week.Enjoy the Enchilada and thanks for commenting here,I will post it there.Hope the works soon for you!:)Have a great weekend.

Hi Mona,I always enjoy reading your posts which are longer than me for a change!;D I know about the confusion.After moving from UK to here,I had to re-learn spellings too like color,flavor etc and the pronounciations as well. Arvi is probably has some name here,I haven't seen one here though."Mini India" areas probably have plenty of those.Thanks girl and have a great rest of the week!:)

Helene said...

Hello Asha,
your recipe looks yummy, I give it a try.

Astrid (…and the kitties too) said...

Cilantro pasta - I love cilantro but do not use it very often 'cause I am the only one who really likes it around here. But your pasta seems to be quick and easy to prepare even if it's only for one person :)

thanks for sharing!

FH said...

Thank you Helene.Hope you give it a try and hope you like it!:)

Astrid,thanks.It's very easy to make this dish for one or make it for two, and save for a quick snack later!;D

Karyn said...

I can't wait to try this! It sounds really, really great!
Thank you for sharing it with us.

FH said...

You are welcome cowgirrlup!:)) Enjoy the recipe and have a great weekend.

Roshni said...

I'm going to do this in school, hopefully all turns out fine. We don't have a microwave in school. Warming it over a stove will be fine?
Any tips? Pointers? Thanks for your help.

FH said...

Hi Roshni,glad to hear that you are doing it in school!:))
You can heat it on the stove top on a low heat to avoid scorching the bottom.Use a non-stick pan if you can and cut down the cilantro if you can,Not everybody is a fan of cilantro!;D
This salad taste great warm or chilled for a while.Once you mix cheese with the Pasta,you can re-heat only in the microwave,bcos it will stick in the bottom unless you add tbsps of water to thin a little.
Well..that's all I can think of,any q's you have,do not hesitate to ask.Good luck!:))

Anonymous said...

Asha, excellent sauce to go with pasta.

FH said...

Hi Lera,good to see you here.Do try if you get cream chees there.It's delicious:))

Cham said...

Creamy cheese married with cilantro I would definetly dig for this one! Ah Asha none is there to beat your creations :) Happy Sivarathri (in advance)!

FH said...

Cham, it was so yummy, I couldn't believe myself I made that at first bite. It tastes so delicious, good that you tried and tasted a similar dish too! :)