Women’s Day Special: 10 Recipes by Our Female Chefs

March is the month when the world celebrates Women’s Day. The campaign theme for International Women’s Day, which happens to be on 8th March 2024, is Inspire Inclusion. This International Women’s Day, 2024 we’re raising a toast to the bold and the beautiful. New-age women are picking up their kitchen knives, breaking through the culinary boundaries of a traditionally male-dominated industry, and cooking up a storm.

10 Great Recipes by Best Women Chef featured on Women Fitness:

Pea & Potato Samosas

by Chef Romy Gill MBE, a celebrity and renowned Indian chef

There are many ways of making samosas and samosa fillings – this is the way I like best. Depending on the quality of the flour, you might need slightly less or slightly more water to make the dough. You can fry the samosas in sunflower oil, rapeseed oil, or ghee.

​Makes: 10–12 samosas

Ingredients:

For the pastry

• 200g plain flour plus more for dusting
• ½ tsp. salt
• 6 tsp. sunflower oil
• 100ml room-temperature water

​For the filling

• 2 tsp. sunflower oil
• 1 tsp. crushed fennel seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 75g peas
• 1–2 green chillies, chopped finely
• 2 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. amchoor (mango powder)
• 4 medium potatoes, peeled and diced small, then cooked in water until soft but not mushy, then drained
• handful fresh coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground ginger

Sunflower oil, for deep-frying

​Instructions:

• First, make the pastry. Sieve the flour for the pastry into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt and oil. Rub the oil into the flour with your hands, then add the water and bring everything together. Knead briefly until it forms a ball, it should be smooth and soft. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave to rest at room temperature for 1 hour.​
• Make the filling. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the fennel and cumin seeds. Once they start sizzling, add the peas and cook for a few minutes. Add the green chili together with the ground coriander, ground cumin, and mango powder, and cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked potatoes into the pan mix well and cook for 2–3 minutes.
• Add the chopped coriander and salt, and keep cooking for 2–3 minutes on a low heat. The vegetables should be well coated with spices. Check the seasoning. Remove from the heat and allow cooling.
• Heat a frying pan over a very low heat. Divide the rested pastry into 5–6 equal-sized balls. Roll each ball into a circle on a lightly floured work surface to approximately 3mm thick and 16cm in diameter. Cook the rolled chapatti warm both sides on the pan then cut in half.
• Brush the edges with water. Bring the straight edges together to make a cone and stuff with the filling. Pinch and seal the open edge and then push it with a fork. Repeat until all the remaining dough is made into samosas.
• Heat a deep heavy-based pan and fill halfway with sunflower oil. Bring the oil to a temperature of 180C. Deep-fry the samosas, two at a time, for 4–5 minutes until light brown and crisp. Rest on kitchen paper to drain any excess oil. Fry the remaining samosas two at a time.
• Serve with a mint and coriander chutney.

Roasted Stuffed Butternut Squash with Tri-Coloured Quinoa, Kale, Chickpeas, Toasted Pine Nuts and Pomegranate Seeds

By Chef Serena Poon, CN, CHC, CHN

Butternut Squash is one of Serena’s favorite foods because of its health benefits, its sweet & nutty taste, and its versatility in the kitchen. She includes them in her breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and even dessert sometimes!

This recipe is delicious! It is more time-consuming than some, but, worth every minute! “I recommend making this the next time you have friends or family over – they will be so impressed with the aesthetic and taste of the dish!” shares Celebrity Chef Serena Poon.

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 75 min

Total: 85 min

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• 2 medium butternut squash, halved, seeds removed
• 4 tsp. avocado oil
• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 C tri-colored quinoa (any other quinoa is fine too)
• 1 1/3 C vegetable broth, homemade or low-sodium
• 1 bunch curly kale, stems removed, leaves roughly chopped
• 2 ea. fresh thyme sprigs
• ½ tsp. pink Himalayan salt or sea salt, to taste
• ½ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• ¼ tsp. fresh ground white pepper, to taste (optional)
• 15 oz. cooked chickpeas (if using canned or bottled, rinse and drain)
• 1 ea. medium orange, zested
• ½ each juice of half of the zested orange above
• 1/3 C fresh pomegranate seeds
• ¼ C pine nuts (raw or toasted, optional)

Instructions

• Pre-heat oven to 425F, place rack in the middle of the oven
• Arrange the butternut squash halves, cut side up on an unlined sheet pan
• Drizzle and spread 1 tsp. of avocado oil on each of the 4 cut halves of butternut squash, light salt, and pepper on each half
• Bake uncovered for 55-60 minutes, or until fork tender.
• While the butternut squash is baking, use a fine mesh sieve to thoroughly rinse the quinoa under cold water until the water runs clear.
• Place the quinoa in a medium saucepan with the broth and bring to a simmer.
• Cover the saucepan with the quinoa with a tight-fitting lid and reduce heat to maintain a low simmer. Cook for 15 minutes.
• Remove the quinoa from heat (keeping covered with the lid) and allow sitting and steaming for another 3 minutes. Remove the lid and fluff with a fork.
• Using a large skillet, 1 tsp. of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat.
• Add to the skillet the torn kale leaves and cook until just slightly wilted, about 2-3 minutes and reduce heat to medium-low.
• Add to the kale the thyme sprigs, salt, and pepper, to taste. Heat until slightly fragrant. Remove thyme stems.
• Add to the skillet the chickpeas, and the cooked quinoa, squeeze juice from the half orange, and add the orange zest. Remove from heat.
• Once butternut squash is fork tender and slightly caramelized on the edges, remove from the oven and allow cooling (while still on the pan).
• Using heat-protective gloves, scoop out the flesh of the butternut squash, leaving about a 1/2-inch border around the sides. Reserve this for later use.
• Add the pomegranate seeds and pine nuts to the kale and quinoa mixture and toss to combine. Ready for filling!
• Stuff the butternut squash halves with a heaping amount of the kale and quinoa mixture. Ready to serve!

Champagne Blackberry Chillers

Chef Devin Alexander

I love this cocktail around the holidays! It makes me feel festive and allows me to participate in the party without over-consuming alcohol. The berries keep the champagne chilled, so you won’t need to drink it quickly. Plus, they’ll turn the champagne a red color to keep with the spirit of the season! Cheers!

Ingredients

• 16 frozen blackberries
• 1 cup chilled champagne
• 2 cocktail sticks

Instructions

• Divide the frozen blackberries between 2 champagne flutes (3/4 cup capacity). Pour the champagne over the blackberries, ½ cup in each flute.
• Add a festive cocktail stick (to use later for spearing any berries that remain in the bottom of the glass). Serve immediately.

Serves: 2

Serving Size: 1/2 cup champagne + 8 blackberries

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Disclaimer
The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.