Paneer is a soft fresh Indian cottage cheese made by simply using acid and no rennet. From sweets, to snacks, curries and even flat breads, one or the other form of this cheese is used in North Indian cuisine extensively. Paneer can also be used in kebabs and tikka as an addictive vegetarian option. No one is going to miss the meat!

"Paneer", or cottage-cheese, is as well-known amongst Americans as Indians. And I personally have friends who love it so much, they make me take them to Indian restaurants for lunches whenever possible. So here's a simple paneer recipe called "Shahi Paneer" that you can easily make at home! It is also by names like "Paneer makhani" or "Paneer makhanvala". So no matter what name you are looking for, the technique remains the same:)

Paneer, or Cottage Cheese, can be enjoyed in various forms, and I can totally relish eating just raw fresh paneer, but the avenues that it provides to cooking are just amazing! Add these cubes to any veggie curry and it transforms into something rich and delicious. So here's another rich and creamy variation that involved shredded paneer, and its my husband's absolute favourite. It's called Akbari Paneer. I first tasted it in a desi restaurant in california, and have been a fan ever since. It has now become a regular paneer delight in our house as it's simple to make and tastes great with any naan, bread or jeera rice!

"Variety is the spice of life"- this shows how important spice is in anyone's life, so today we salute the ingredient which brings spice into our lives, literally. "Chillies" are available in various forms, shapes, sizes and colours, but the end result is always the same, something tasty and spicy. Today I share with you my recipe of Chilli Paneer. Its a favourite amongst elders and youngsters alike. With the succulent paneer (cottage cheese) coated and flavoured in soy sauce and green chillies, this dish is perfect to enjoy with rice or bread/parathas. And simple to cook, it takes not more than 15-20 mins!

Tandoori Paneer Tikka - the name itself makes my mouth water!! Succulent cubes of paneer marinated and grilled or baked in a "tandoori oven", then served with grilled vegetables, is enough to tempt anyone on earth. But this time around, inspired by combining the Indian and Asian tastes in one dish, I have tried a variation which still uses a spicy yogurt marinade, but the final Paneer Tikka is then served hot, drizzled with a home-made sweet and tangy mango dressing, and serves to be a perfect side-dish to an Indian meal. Sounds inviting, right? Just wait till you've actually tasted it, maybe you wouldn't like leaving any for your guests!

If you are craving for a simple yet tasty Paneer recipe that won't take hours of preparation, and which you can savor with Rotis/Parathas/Naans or Rice, look no further. Kadhai Paneer is a healthy, nutritious, protein-rich and almost fat-free Indian curry that will leave you satisfied at the end of your meal. Flavored with kasuri-methi, ginger-garlic and a blend of mild Indian spices, it can be ready in a jiffy and can be a perfect accompaniment to bread or rice for a fulfilling weeknight dinner! Sending this over to Srivalli for Monthly Mingle, featuring Kid's Lunches this month!

I can eat Paneer Butter Masala almost every day, but this saturday, our cravings were at a peak-time high as there was light rain outside. Everyone knows I just love Paneer Recipes, and this weekend I decided to make the eternal favorite Paneer Butter Masala, that velvetty-smooth gravy that has all the goodness of indian spices combined with cubes of cottage cheese and garnished with cream and coriander! Now do I have your attention??! Paneer Butter Masala is similar to other paneer gravies, except that as the name implies, it is more rich due to butter and the gravy is thickened by using onions, tomatoes and cashew paste rather than just cream. You cannot go wrong with this, try it for yourself and see!

Believe me, paneer is such a versatile ingredient in Indian cooking, you could make an entire meal using just this, right from appetizers to main course to dessert! Hey maybe they should choose paneer as the next secret ingredient for Iron Chef!:) Till then, try this mouth-watering recipe (adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor's cookbook) at home and enjoy its taste as it lingers on your tongue and your senses!

PANEER TIKKA RECIPE

CHANAR DALNA RECIPE

Gooey, spicy quesadillas are an inexpensive, hangover-abating and crowd-pleasing snack. But crispy ones, like the kind you find in bars? They're hard to come by at home.
The key to making them pub-worthy is having an appropriate cheese-to-tortilla ratio, a bit of oil, and high heat. Yes, you can cook them in the oven at 400 degrees, eliminating the oil and replacing it with a double-sided spray of Pam, but the results won't be as good.
And if you're worried about a bit of cheese oozing out, don't: it's the best part.
That under-utilized George Foreman grill works wonders on quesadillas, but because they need to be cooked one at a time, keep them warm and crisp in a 200°F oven, laying finished ones on a baking sheet in a single layer.

Nutty, chewy, and good for you to boot, farro is a great grain. It can be slowly simmered and stirred in place of rice for risotto, tossed with veggies and chilled as a salad, or fried into crisp little patties for these Farro and Mushroom Burgers.

Paneer Paratha or Cheese Paratha as the name indicates is a stuffed bread. Here the stuffing is cheese which can be spiced up or just leave it plain. This is a good brunch item. It tastes yum with ketchup, Pickle, Yogurt or any gravy side dish.

Crispy Paneer is a spicy starter. This deep fried Paneer or cottage cheese is an excellent recipe for any cocktail snack as well. Serve this tempting dish with some raw Onions and mint Chutney.

Popular in Israel, this shakshuka works for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

This is one of the simplest and fastest Indian dishes I know. Start to finish, you'll have dinner on the table in a little over half an hour. Cubes of cheese and strips of peppers are briefly blistered over high heat before meeting a tomato gravy as easy to assemble as any basic Italian tomato sauce. The secret ingredient is fenugreek, both leaves and seeds—it's bittersweet and complex, making this simple, homey dish feel rich and luxurious. Just be sure to go heavy on the lime juice to balance out the sweetness.
If you can't get paneer, other firm frying cheeses will do. Hispanic markets often carry them (though they may get a little melty on you), and many mainstream supermarkets sell halloumi, a salty grilling cheese. Or you can make your own: Scald some milk, add some lemon juice, and strain the coagulated curd in a cheese cloth for a couple hours before pressing it into a block. You'll need a gallon of milk to make a pound of cheese.

Tikka Masala is a famous Indian dish usually served with chicken, but for a twist on this classic dish, it can be adapted for vegetarians by using Clawson Paneer cheese. The texture and buttery flavour of the Paneer really compliments the lightly spiced, tangy tomato sauce for a tasty meal with a fusion of flavours. Anjum Anand reveals how to best to serve the dish: “The Paneer Tikka Masala is a great dinner party meal that both vegetarians and non-vegetarians love and is best served with rice or Naan.”

Paneer Pizza

Sweet Red Chilli Paneer

This unique dish is a quick nutritious, filling and really satisfying one pot meal. You can use lots of vegetables in this recipe, Anjum suggests aubergines, broccoli, peas or even mango or lychees if you like fruitiness in your curries but you can use whatever you have at home. Anjum gives her top tip for making this curry: “The staple food in this dish is Clawson Paneer cheese, but if you buy a good quality red curry paste and coconut milk, the rest is easy. You can also make the curry without the noodles and serve with Jasmine rice.”

Fresh Ricotta

This easy, cheesy bread from Paul Hollywood makes a fabulous snack and a truly tasty accompaniment to all manner of meals

This is quite a popular North Indian style dish. It can be prepared for just a simple meal or on any special occasions. Surely it's going to be a feast for Cheese lovers - why not try it in your home?

Kadai Paneer is a mildly spiced Paneer (Indian Cottage Cheese) dish. It is generally served in Kadai (a circular deep vessel) and hence the name goes. This can be eaten with Naan or Roti.

Chilli Paneer is a spicy dish served as a starter. Paneer being plain tastes delicious with this hot Capsicum flavoured sauce. This can be eaten as it is or even with Fried Rice or Veg Noodles.

Paneer is a home-made Indian cheese, similar to ricotta cheese but with a drier texture and less salty taste. It is a popular ingredient in many Indian dishes and is an excellent source of protein in many vegetarian meals.

Mutter Paneer is a delicious curry of peas and home-made cheese cubes (paneer). Once again - it's a Punjabi dish - and is extremely tasty when served with roti - or pitta bread: you can choose! And again - it's really easy to make.

Here’s a recipe we’ve used for years. My daughter, a senior in college, is addicted to it. While it isn’t like the Kraft thing, we find it good on potatoes, rice, or steamed broccoli and cauliflower as well as on noodles.

Boil the noodles. (We prefer those multicolored spiral noodles, as they hold more sauce.)

Even with all of the rich ingredients that goes into baked mac and cheese, more often than not, there is something about the final dish that is bland. Somehow the sharpness of the cheese gets buried in the bechamel base, resulting in a side that's rich in texture but lacking the rich flavor we're looking for. To counter this blandness, Ruhlman has turned the bechamel base into an oniony soubise for this Mac and Cheese with Soubise, a baked mac and cheese that is never wanting for deeply warm, cheesiness.
The soubise here is best described as a bechamel enlivened with softened shallots, caramelized onions, heady sherry, warm and hot spices including nutmeg, cayenne, smoked paprika, mustard, and the unexpectedly genius addition of a tablespoon of fish sauce that does wonders boosting the savoriness of this particular mac.
Instead of solely relying on the cheese this dish, Ruhlman builds a complex flavor base before the cheese is even incorporated. And when it is, you can taste the difference immediately; the soubise somehow makes the cheeses even cheesier, sharper, and more nuanced. Of course, topping the mac and cheese with a gooey, crunchy layer of buttery panko and Parmigiano doesn't hurt either.

When I think of polenta, I think soft and creamy cornmeal served warm from the pot, a delicious northern Italian staple. But polenta also comes in another form, where it's allowed to cool and firm up to be cut into shapes and re-cooked. Polenta in its soft form has always been my go-to—mostly because a grilled piece of cornmeal never much enticed me—until I came across this recipe in Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, where it's breaded and shallow-fried.
It sounded like a fine way to accompany some handmade sausages I'd picked up at an Local, an artisanal butcher shop in Michigan. The recipe also mixes in sharp cheddar and scallions to the cooked cornmeal to give it a savory bite before spreading on a baking sheet to cool. Dipped in an egg wash and then breadcrumbs, the croquettes come out crisp on the outside and creamy on the inside.

Here's a super easy recipe that produces super tasty treats.

A taco is a small corn tortilla stuffed with just about anything on hand. In Mexico they are never fried crisp in the style popularized by American fast food outlets and Mexican-style restaurants, so just heat your tortillas in a dry skillet, over hot coals, or even in the microwave for an authentic Mexican treat.

Three-Cheese Baked Macaroni (Adapted from Emeril and Everyday Food)

You can make this recipe in a single baking dish for a homestyle presentation, or in individual ramekins or scallop shells for a more elegant appearance.

Not all cheeses are born equal, at least not when it comes to melting. Young varieties, such as fontina or mozzarella, have a high moisture content, melt at a relatively low temperature, tend not to "break" and stay creamy and smooth. More mature cheeses such as gruyère and some cheddars can split when they melt, and turn greasy and gritty. That's why the former are superior when grilling or melting. Still, the queen of all is taleggio, a wonderfully soft cow's milk variety from northern Italy. It has the strong aroma of a mature cheese that intensifies as it spreads and coats what's underneath. Serves four as a starter.

Preheat oven to 350. Have prepared a 2 qt casserole. In a large saucepan, start water boiling. When water boils, add between 1/2 pound and 1 pound pasta of your choice, depending on how saucy you l...

Tori, these two recipes were forwarded to me some time ago from an article in the NY Times, if I remember correctly. Dana was on the hunt for them a bit ago, so he can probably tell you whose recip...

If you have access to a top-notch cheese purveyor then you should be able to get a good quality Gorgonzola dolce from Italy. If not, then any good quality blue cheese will make an excellent substitute.

Create a comforting veggie dish from your storecupboard staples with this easy cheesy bake

I did not grow up eating capirotada. Truth be told, I had never even heard of it until a few years ago when I was at a Mexican restaurant on a Lenten Friday. “Hay capirotada,” was written on a chalkboard and curious what it was, I ordered some. The waitress brought me a small plate with a dessert made of toasted bread slices drenched in a sweet and spicy syrup. It was soft and sticky, but there were crunchy almonds, chewy raisins and a creamy tang to keep it from becoming cloying. Capirotada? I was in love!

These taste amazing! I’ve tried a few different cheese cracker recipes over the years and these are the lightest, crispiest, fastest and best tasting! They are quick to make if you cut them into squares and luckily my daughter prefers the squares over the animal shapes! They taste more like a Cheese Nips cracker to me but have the light texture of a Goldfish cracker.

Baked Bow-Tie Pasta with Mozzarella (Adapted from Everyday Food)

Chipotle macaroni and cheese with bacon (adapted from the NY Times)