‬ Quinoa and blackbeans salad

Ingredients:

1 cup Quinoa

1 cup boiled black beans ( soaked for 5-6 hours and boiled)

1/4th cup sliced almonds and walnuts

1/4th cup dried cranberries

salt as per taste

1tsp cinnamon powder

black pepper to taste

cumin powder 1tsp

1 bay leaf

1cup chopped bell peppers

1 cucumber peeled and chopped

cherry tomatoes or a medium size tomato chopped

around 2tblsp chopped spring onions

2tblsp EVOO

Method:

Heat a pan on medium heat. Slight toast the almonds and walnuts till golden. Add the quinoa and toast a few more minutes till brown in color. Now add 2 cups of water to it. Adjust salt, Add cumin powder, cinnamon powder, bay leaf, dried cranberries. Cover and cook for 15-20 min till the quinoa is tender but still chewy and white spiral-like threads appear around each grain. Now mix the black beans..mix well. let it cool. 

In a serving bowl add chopped bell peppers, tomato, cucumbers, green onions sprinkle some black pepper and at last add 1tsp EVOO..mix well and Enjoy....

Falafel

Falafel  is a traditional Middle Eastern food made from ground chickpeas . Raw chickpeas are used to Prepare Falafel that have been soaked for 6-8 hours to tenderize them.  Combine all the ingredients in a food processor add some spices and deep fry it...Taddaaa.. Delicious falafels are ready... You can bake it too. Just Spray olive/ canola/ vegetable oil over the falafels so they get crispy on the outside and bake for about 20-25 mins at 350 until the falafels are lightly browned on all sides.
These are commonly served in a pita, which acts as a pocket, or wrapped in a flatbread. The falafel are topped with salads, pickled vegetables, hot sauce, and drizzled with tahini-based sauces. Falafel balls may also be eaten alone as a snack or served with rice, salad and tahini dip.

Here is how you can make it at home...

Ingredients

1 cup dried chickpeas soaked overnight
2-3 cloves garlic chopped
5-6 spring onions finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
red chilli powder to taste or chilli flakes
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
salt to taste
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon baking soda
1tblsp flour/ maida
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice or as per the taste
1tblsp sesame seeds
 Oil for deep-frying


Method:

Drain the chickpeas and transfer to a food processor with all the remaining ingredients except the oil.
Pulse until minced but not pureed. Add water if necessary  but keep the mixture as dry as possible.



Taste and adjust seasoning, add  sesame seeds, flour ,lemon juice as needed.
Heat oil in a pan for deep frying the falafel. Fry the falafel on a medium heat until golden and crispy. Strain on a kitchen towel and serve with yogurt dip or tahini dip.

Mixed bean soup with pasta & veggies

This recipe is perfect simple to prepare, wholesome, filling hot meal. I always love to eat the healthy foods & this is the perfect simple meal. You can use anything you have in your kitchen pantry for this soup. A healthy soup packed with healthy source of protein, low in fat and cholesterol, high in fiber & lots of flavors too.  

Try this at home & I’m sure you will love it…so here we go…

Ingredients:

½ lb assorted dried beans( you can find it in any American stores)
1 onion- chopped
2-3 green chillies- chopped
1 tsp minced ginger 
1tblsp minced garlic
2tblsp veg oil
Chopped Vegetable (carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, celery)- 1cup
Corn, peas- 1/4th cup
Ground pepper- 1tsp
Lemon juice- 1tblsp
2 medium size tomatoes chopped
½ tsp turmeric powder
Boiled pasta- u can use any type of pasta , but I hav used penny pasta.
Italian herbs - 1tsp
 basil leaves- 1tsp

Method:

 Soak the beans for at least 7-8 hours or overnight.
 Now clean them well. Keep aside.


Heat oil in a cooker. Add chopped onion, minced green chili, ginger & garlic. Sauté till onions are translucent. Now add the soaked beans to it. Add 2 cups of water to it. Add salt, turmeric powder to it. 
Cover & cook for 3-4 whistles till the beans are tender. 

On the other hand take a pan. Heat oil. Add the chopped veggies carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, celery, corn & peas. Sauté till they turn light brown. 

Now put the sautéed veggies to the cooked beans, add the boiled pasta, chopped tomatoes to it. Let it boil for another 4-5 mins. Adjust salt, pepper. Add the herbs & Now add the lemon juice. 
 Mix well & switch off the flame. Your bean soup is now ready to devour.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

Perfect recipe for Meatless Monday ….Sweet and sour tofu.  You can also add broccoli pieces to this for better taste. As I’m not a broccoli fan so I didn't add.. Goes well with brown rice & stir fried noodles. So here is what I did….

Ingredients:
2 tblsp sesame oil
1tblsp Minced ginger
1tblsp Minced garlic
Minced onion- ½ cup
Sesame Seeds for garnishing

For Sauce
1 tblsp Vinegar
1 1/2 tblsp soya sauce
1 Tbs Ketchup
1/4 Cup Water

2 tsp Sugar & 1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 Tbs Cornstarch + 2 Tbs water

How to proceed:


Wash the tofu & Slice the tofu into small cubes. Keep them on a paper towel.
Heat oil in a pan. Toss the tofu till they turn light brown in colour.
Heat a pan. Add minced onion, ginger garlic. Sauté for a min. 

Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl. Throw in the sauce. Mix well. 

Now mix cornstarch, sugar , honey, salt & water into a small bowl and whisk until sugar and salt is dissolved.
Add cornstarch mixture and whisk until the sauce thickens. If you leave the sauce unattended now it will thicken and burn, so keep an eye on it. When thick, place gently tofu in sauce and toss to completely coat.
Top with sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Note. You can also deep fry the tofu (marinate the tofu pieces with the flour, soy sauce and salt) till they turn golden brown before adding them in the sauce.

Oats and Apple crumbs

Ingredients:

2 pound apple peeled, cored and sliced
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
2-3 brown sugar to mix with apples
½ cup brown sugar
1/2  tsp cinnamon powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup rolled oats (uncooked)
¼ cup pecans chopped
1/3rd cup all-purpose flour
4 tbsp unsalted butter (cut in to pieces)

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degree F. Coat a 8*8 inch pan with butter. Keep aside.

Take a pan boil the apples with 1 tbsp sugar for 5-10 mins. Don’t make it too soft.
Now remove from heat & strain. Keep aside for 10-15 mins. Let it cool. 

Take a bowl. Mix together butter, brown sugar, flour, oats, salt & pecans until evenly combined.
With your fingertips mix all until small clumps form & the butter is mixed well.
Keep aside. 

Now take another bowl. Combine apples, brown sugar and cinnamon, salt & toss well to coat. Place the apple mixture to the prepared baking dish.

Now sprinkle the topping evenly over the apples & bake for 45-50 mins till the toppings are crispy & apples are tender. Let it cool properly before serving. 

Chicken sandwich

Chicken sandwich a healthy & Totally rocking dish for a dinner..

It’s gr8 to be back & blogging again. Due to my little one now a days full busy.. full day I have to engage with her. Its hard to get time for blogging. Last week I started craving for a sandwich having chicken filled with cheese & the fresh green flavors. So thought of making it in my home. Believe me it was awesome. The husband loved it too. You can use crab or any fish such as tuna, salmon for the filling.. So friend here is the recipe..



Ingredients

1 packet potato hoagie rolls
1/2 cup cream cheese ( or you can use mayo, ranch)
2 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 cup cut lettuce leaves
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breasts (cut in cubes)
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Red chilli flakes/ Paprika 1tsp
Butter- 2tblsp for pan fry the rolls
Garlic salt – 1tsp
Salt as per the taste

Preparation


 Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with pepper & salt. Add chicken to pan. Cook 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. 
Whisk together cheese, celery, onion, pan fried chicken, chilli flakes, pepper, garlic salt in a medium bowl. 

 Cut the rolls in half lengthwise. Spread butter on both sides of rolls. Warm large skillet over medium heat . Place the rolls in preheated skillet and toast until golden.
 Spread lettuce & cheese & chicken mixture over cut sides of rolls & serve hot. The taste will be doubled when you serve it with any hot soup.

Mushroom Broccoli Quiche ( My 1st attempt)

Now this has turned a fav. Recipe of mine for breakfast –dinner-lunch (U can have it any time). This is one of the recipes that can be made in thousand ways. 
Last summer we went to Acadia national park in US & there for lunch we went to one restaurant called Jordan Pond House. There we had broccoli quiche for the first time. As that day was Friday & we don’t eat non veg on that day so we ordered brown rice, broccoli quiche & steamed veggies. No doubt it was very tasty & flavorful. we just enjoyed it.  There I kept on my mind to make the recipe when I will reach home. But somehow I missed it may be due to my small baby gal behind whom I have to run day & nite..:P 
So few days before I  was browsing my google & found this recipe. Immediately the ring bell on my mind & I thought today is the time to give the surprise to hubby by making this quiche. I run to kitchen & open the fridge. I found broccoli & mushroom. So thought to try with these two ingredients.
After so many Google search finally find the recipe & tried it..but one important thing I didn’t hav pie pan. So I had to bake in my square pyrex bowl. 
But this one turned out wonderfully. My husband also  liked it very much. It keeps well in the fridge & reheats well. 

so friends here is the recipe.

Ingredients

Ingredients for pastry 

1 cup  maida/ all purpose flour 

100gm unsalted butter  (grated)

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 egg

pinch of salt

For the filling:

1 ½  cup chopped mushrooms 

1 cup broccoli florets

1 large onion, chopped

1/2 cup milk

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 eggs

1 tsp ground black pepper

Salt to taste

1 tbsp olive oil

Italian herbs 

To Make Quiche:

For the pastry:

In a bowl mix flour, salt and baking powder together.  Add the grated butter & mix it well with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse  meal. Add the egg and bring the dough together. Add ice water in a slow ly if needed at this stage. Form dough in to a single ball. 

Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface about 2" large all around than your pie pan. Its fine even if its not an even circle or whatever. Just make sure the thickness is more or less even all around. (I didn’t have the pie pan so I have to make the quiche in a square pyrex bowl)

Next step is to gently transfer this rolled out dough to a greased pie dish.  Now put it in the refrigerator.  In the mean while we will prepare the filling.

Pre-heat the oven to 350F / 180C.

To prepare the filling:

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions until golden brown. Add the mushrooms nd broccoli florets and sautéon medium-high flame until soft & light golden brown. Adjust ground pepper and salt and mix well. Now switch off the flame & let it cool.

Now take small bowl. Break 2 and beat them. Add  milk to the eggs & again mix well. 

Now take out the prepared crust from the fridge. Lay the brocolli mushroom mixture evenly on it. 

And top off with the milk-egg mixture until it reaches almost up to the top of the crust. top off with  shredded cheddar cheese & some Italian herbs.

Bake until the top turns golden brown and patchy in parts and the crust turns golden - about 30 to mins. 

Now Enjoyyyyyyy hoootttt.

Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls

These rolls are superb…super soft, buttery & the garlic flavor is just heavenly. It was like one day in a tea party my friends were discussing about this. It sounded very interesting and as I never had them before so I made a note in my mind to find out about this recipe. After I came home, goggled about it and prepared in evening along with pizza. They were absolutely amazing combination. A must try side dish if you are bold to try something new. So friends here we go…

Ingredients: 
Plain Flour - 1.5 cups 
Luke Warm milk- 1/2 cup 
1tblsp water
Dry Yeast - 1/2 tbsp
Salt - 1tsp 
Sugar - 1 tbsp 
Olive Oil – 1/4th cup
For Garlic Spread:
Salted butter, at room temperature - 4 tbsp
Minced garlic - 2 tbsp
Dried basil & oregano - 2 tbsp (you can use chopped coriander leaves or other fresh herbs)

Method:
Preheat the oven at 450 degree Fahrenheit. Mix sugar with Luke warm milk. Mix flour, yeast, salt together. Slowly add warm milk (The milk should not be hot otherwise it will kill the yeast). Add oil and knead until you get a smooth, slightly stick dough.  


Cover it and allow the dough to rise by keeping in a warm place for about 45 mins. 

Now  make the garlic spread by mixing  butter, herbs & minced garlic .


Now  Grease a baking pan with oil or spray. Punch down the air in the dough and divide the dough into two equal portions. Now roll the dough using rolling pin & apply little flour to prevent sticking. Roll the dough in to a rectangle shape at least ½ inch thick.


 Spread about 2 tbsp of garlic spread on one side.  Roll from one end gently and firmly. Cut into half and then each half again into two halves to get 4 equal portions. Place the rolls with the cut side up in the greased pan. Repeat the same procedure for the remaining dough.  Spread a little milk on the rolls and add the remaining garlic spread & sesame seeds on top.
keep like this for another 20 min. to rise.
 

Now bake for 15-20 mins in the preheated oven. Serve hot nd njoy