Cheesy veggie bowl in salsa

When you crave for Pizza, but want to keep a check on your fitness, this one would be a very good idea. Those who love veggies can get the feel of having a Pizza, but not adding that extra unhealthy calories from the flour crust. The thick layer of veggies and topped with grated cheese (Cheddar is what I used) and with olives, jalapeno and pickled paprika.

I had all my favorite veggies in it and they are lightly sauteed before the layering process. I used to think before that, Eggplant is just a healthy vegetable and cannot be grouped under tasty food. I remember my days as a kid hating it and my mom convincing me to eat it saying, "If you eat eggplants you will get nice thick hair", and I would eat for the sake of hair :D See I was beauty conscious from then :P

But I was all wrong about you Eggplant; It just turned out to be the tastiest vegetable among my favorites now, and its so flexible that it gets along with any dish, yes I meant it. Recently I had a veg steak from Smokehouse Deli and to my surprise, they served the Cottage cheese steak on top of Eggplant bed, which tasted so like my Eggplants in this dish, with the tangy tomato flavor. See they have replaced the Starchy mashed potato with Eggplants, a really great idea.

The sauce in this recipe is similar to Pizza sauce which I made at home, which is a cooked Salsa, as this dish was part of my Mexican spread day. Anyways, I am glad that even the core non vegetarians loved this dish. I got good reviews from everyone who had a chance to taste this, and I am serious, I couldn't stop picking the veggies and licking my fingers until the plate was clean :P

Ingredients:

Veggies - I used eggplant, mushrooms, zucchini, green , red and yellow bell peppers, white onions. Add diced.

For Salsa

Tomatoes - 2 big
Shallots - 7 nos
Garlic pods - 7 nos
Green chillies - 5 nos
Cumin powder - 1 tsp
Chilly/paprika - powder - 1 tsp
Pepper powder - 1 tsp
Salt to taste
Crushed coriander corns - 1 tsp (this was the secret ingredient for the day, which the Mexican food doesn't demand. This was an addition from me which has given the dishes a wow factor. So try yourself and see.)
Lemon juice of a half lime
Tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp (this is again an addition from Mexican ingredients. I added to regularize the intensity of spices

Topping

Cheddar cheese, grated - 1/2 cup
Black olives , split- 3 to 4
Canned Jalapeños - 3 to 4 pieces
Canned Paprika - 3 to 4 pieces

Method:

Grind all ingredients for salsa except powders, lemon juice and tomato sauce to a smooth paste. Pour this mixture to a pan and add the powders. Add lemon juice to it. Cook till the gravy thickens and raw taste of tomato is gone. Add tomato ketchup to it, mix and remove from heat.

In a pan pour olive oil and sesame oil. Add egg plant first and cook for 2 mins. Add zucchini and mushrooms second. Cook till water from mushrooms are gone. Now add white onions, sauté for 2 mins. Add bell peppers and a little salt. Cook for a minute. Now add cooked salsa and mix it well.

Put the contents to a bowl and add grated cheddar cheese and top with other toppings. The ideal way is to bake it in oven. But, since I don't have an oven I did a double boiler method, for the cheese to melt.

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