Brown Rice Sambar Sadam(Brown Rice, Pegion Pea in Vegetable Stew)

Know what you Eat - Brown rice is good source of complex carbohydrate. It provides 15 essential nutrients, including B-vitamins, niacin and potassium. Brown rice is a very good source of selenium, which is essential for thyroid hormone metabolism and immune function. Pigeon peas are nutritionally important, as they contain high levels of protein and three important amino acids.

This is a one pot of South Indian dish prepared with rice & lentil. But i replaced the white rice with brown rice. This dish is a well balanced dish with complex carbohydrates, protein and the goodness of all the vegetables. Even though it has so many ingredients, when planned right it is the simplest dish with all the nutrition I normally soak brown rice and tamarind overnight, while the brown rice and dal gets coooked, i make the tempering, sambar powder, garnishing and boil the vegetables and keep it ready. Once the cooker is open, then combine all the ingredients and leave it in the stove top and the dish is ready.

Preparation Time - 10 mins
Cooking Time - 30 mins
Serves - 6

Ingredients

Brown Basmati Rice - 1 Cup
Toor Dal - 1 Cup
Water -5 cups
Turmeric powder - 1 tsp


For the sambar

Tamarind - Gooseberry size ball
Pearl Onions - Around 10
Bell pepper Green, Red - 1/2 each
Carrot - 1
Peas - 1/4 Cup
Pumpkin Chopped - 6 (each 1 inch piece)
Green Beans chopped - 1/2 cup
Water for sambar
Salt to taste
Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 tsp


Sambar Powder

Channa Dal(Bengal Gram) - 2 Table spoons
Coriander Seeds - 1 Table spoon
Red chilli - 4 or to taste
Cinnamon Stick - 2(each 1 inch piece)
Fennel Seeds - 1 tsp
Grated Coconut - 2 table spoons
Oil - 1/2 tsp

Tempering

Oil - 2 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1 tsp
Fenugreek seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asaofoetida powder - pinch
Green chilli - 1
Curry leaves - 2 tbsp

Garnishing

Ghee(Clarified Butter) - 2 tsp
Cashew - 2 tsp
Roasted Peanuts - handful
Cilantro - handful

Method

1) Soak Brown Basmati Rice atleast for an hour in warm water or you can soak it overnight too, soaking improves digestion and includes one more amino acid profile to the nutrition contents.
2) Soak Tamarind ball in little bit of water and keep it aside.
3) Add Toor dal, turmeric powder and water put in pressure cooker and leave it for 4 whistles and simmer it for 5 minutes and switch off.
4) While the brown rice is getting cooked, add 1 tsp of oil in a pan and heat it.
5) Once the oil is hot add the pearl onions and saute for 5 minutes, then add all the vegetables, salt, turmeric powder and just enough water to cook it.
6) Once vegetables are 3/4 cooked add the tamarind pulp and let it boil for 5 more minutes then switch off.
7) Heat a pan, add 1/2 tsp oil then roast all the ingredients for the sambar powder except the coconut. Once all the ingredients are slightly browned then add the grated coconut, saute for 2 minutes and then switch off. Let this cool for a while and grind it into a fine powder and then add it to the boiled vegetable mixture.
8) Now let us finish of the tempering, heat 2 tsp of oil, add mustard seeds, once they stop spluttering add asafoetida, green chilli, fenugreek and curry leaves and then add it to the vegetable mixture. (Adding green chilli to tempering enhances the flavor)
9) Once the brown rice and dal is cooked, remove it and mash it with a masher and then add the vegetable mixture which has the sambar powder and tempering and leave it in the stove top for 5 minutes till all the spices are well mixed and switch off.
10) Garnish with ghee roasted cashews, roasted peanuts and cilantro and serve with Raita of your choice.

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Carrot & Cucumber Raita(Pachidi)

Know what you Eat - Carrots are very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Potassium, Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate and Manganese. They are rich in carotenoids, lessens the chance of cardiovascular problems. The bad part is sugar, so if you have to watch out your carbohydrates & Sugar content in the diet, don't over indulge in carrots. Cucumber is a fruit which is widely used as vegetable in cooking. The silica in cucumber is an essential component of healthy connective tissue, which includes muscles, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Cucumber juice is often recommended as a source of silica to improve the complexion and health of the skin, plus cucumber's high water content makes it naturally hydrating—a must for glowing skin.


Cooking Time - 2 mins
Preparation Time - 10 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients
Carrot - 1 (1 medium sized one)
Cucumber - 1 (1 medium sized one)
Yogurt - 2 1/2 cups
Salt to taste


Tempering

Oil - 1 tsp
Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Asafoetida - 1 pinch
Green chilli -1 or to taste
Curry leaves - 1 tbsp

1) Grate cucumber and leave it aside and meanwhile grate the carrot, after a while you will see lot of water oozing out, just squeeze out the grated cucumber (don't discard the juice, you can drink it as it is or add little bit of butter milk, salt and pepper and gulp it down and you will see how soothing it will be, in my house i make salad every day and so i get to taste lot of different kinds of these juices, cucumber, celery, radish to name a few) and transfer it to a bowl and add the grated carrot also.
2) Add the yogurt and salt to the grated carrot and cucumber.
3) Heat oil and then add cumin seeds, once they stop spluttering add asafoetida, green chilli and curry leaves and transfer it to the raita.

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Spinach Celery Soup in Coconut Milk

Know What You Eat: Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin A (70 percent of daily requirement), vitamin C (25 percent of daily requirement) and iron (20 percent of daily requirement). Spinach also provides vitamin K, which helps blood coagulate and which, along with calcium, vitamin D and phosphorous, is important for strong bones. Celery is a plant in the parsley family with edible roots, research has shown that celery contains blood pressure reducing properties. Celery contains active compounds called Pthalides which relax the muscles of the arteries that regulate blood pressure allowing these vessels to dilate. It is rich source of Vitamin C.

I hate to do shopping(grocery ) that too to stand in the line to pay for the items purchased when people come in with a big bunch of coupons to be sorted out, all the sorting is done at the cash counter making people wait. To get over it, i quickly graze through the magazines(especially the food related ones) kept near the billing counter. The bad part it sometimes you will be half done and your turn would have come. This is one of the recipe i came across but couldn't go through the whole recipe except the title, so i made my own by adding celery as i just love its flavor and it did turn out nice.

Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 25 mins
Serves : 4

Ingredients:

Spinach - 1 bunch (medium sized)
Celery - 1 1/2 cups(Chopped)
Coconut Milk - 1 can (120z)
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Salt
Pepper
Water
Oil - 2 tsp(i used coconut oil)

Method

1) Wash, rinse, drain and chop the spinach.
2) Wash the celery and chop into fine pieces.
3) Heat a pan, add 1 tsp of oil and then add the chopped spinach and celery pieces.
4) Saute till they are tender.
5) Let this cool and then transfer to a food processor and puree it adding enough water.
6) Now peel the ginger and cut into thin strips.(Always peel the ginger and use the inner part alone).
7) Heat 1 tsp of oil and once hot add the ginger strips and fry till you get a nice aroma.
8) Now add the pureed spinach and celery mixture and coconut milk and let this simmer for 10 minutes.
9) Add salt and pepper to taste and serve it hot with your favorite bread.

Event Participation:

This dish is our contribution to SWC- Cooking with greens event.

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Blackbean and Barley Soup

Know what you Eat - While all beans are exceptionally healthy foods when it comes to their protein and fiber content, it's the color coat on black beans that makes them particularly interesting in contrast to other beans. Researchers have found at least 8 different flavonoids in the black bean's color coat. Flavonoids are color-producing phytonutrients pigments that have great anti-oxidant potential. Barley and other whole grains are a rich source of magnesium, a mineral that acts as a co-factor for more than 300 enzymes, including enzymes involved in the body's use of glucose and insulin secretion.

I just love black beans because it is so healthy and when added to soup along with all the veggies and whole grains like barley it is a one pot dish with all the ingredients from different food groups.

Preparation Time - 15 mins
Cooking Time - 40 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients

Black Bean - 1 cup
Whole barley(not pearl barley) - 1 cup
Chopped vegetables( i used beets,red,green,orange bell pepper, scallion and celery) - 4 cups
Salt - to taste
Lime juice - 1 tsp or to taste
Garlic - 4 cloves
Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Dry parsley - 1/2 tsp
Fresh ground black pepper - 1 tsp or taste
Mint leaves - handful
Oil - 2 tsp
Water

Method

1) Soak black bean and barley in hot water for at least 4 hours.
2) Add salt and little bit of water and pressure cook bean for 3 whistles.
3) Add enough water and salt and cook barley on stove top till tender stirring in between.
4) Rinse and drain black bean and barley and keep it aside.
5) Heat oil and add the chopped garlic and saute till becomes golden.
6) Now add the mint leaves and all the chopped vegetables, salt and cover it and cook till tender.
7) Add 3/4 of the quantity of black beans, all of the cooked barley to the vegetables.
8) Mash the remaining black beans with a masher and add it along with water to the desired consistency to the above.
9) Now add the oregano, parsley and simmer for five minutes, stirring thoroughly so that the spices are well mixed.
10) Switch of add fresh ground pepper and lemon juice and serve hot.
Water

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Mint-Bengal gram/Brown Rice/Quinoa Dosa/Crepe

Know what you Eat- Mint is a strong diuretic and therefore, helps in eliminating toxins from the body. When included in the diet on a regular basis, mint reduces the growth of bacteria and fungus in the body. The antifungal properties associated with mint help in curing asthma and other allergic conditions. Bengal gram, brown rice and quinoa all the three are low in glycemic index. Bengal gram and quinoa are high in protein, quinoa is an extremely nutritious seed. It has a protein value that is extremely high (12-18%) and the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids.

Cooking Time - 20 mins
Preparation Time - 15 mins
Serves - 4(Makes around 14-16)

Ingredients

Bengal gram(Channa dal) - 3/4 Cup
Brown Rice - 3/4 Cup
Quinoa - 3/4 Cup
Mint - 1 bunch
Onion - 1
Salt - 1 tsp or to taste
Green Chilli - 2 or to taste
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Oil

Method

1) Soak Channa dal, brown rice and quinoa for 4 hours.
2) Once soaked, rinse the above ingredients add green chilli, ginger,salt and grind to a fine paste addding little bit of batter. The batter shouldn't be too thick or too watery.
3) Rinse mint thorougly, drain and chop into fine pieces. Remove hard stalks if any before chopping. (The mint i used here was home grown so it was very tender and without any hard stalks).
4) Add chopped onions and mix thoroughly.
5) Heat a griddle and once it is hot pour the batter and spread evenly into a round shape.
6) Pour a tsp of oil around the dosa, once the dosa is well cooked remove, flip and cook the other side also.
7) Once cooked on both sides transfer to a serving plate and serve with chutney or sambar of our choice.

Event Participation

This dish is our contribution to SWC – Cooking with Greens, hosted by Sowmya, originally started by Lakshmi.

This dish is our contribution to JFI: Mint, hosted by Ashwini, originally created by Indira of Mahanandi.

This dish is our contribution to GYO(grown your own) hosted by Dee.

This dish is our contribution to Show me your Breakfast hosted by Divya Vikram

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Vegan Fatfree Pineapple Coffee Cake

Know what you Eat:

Pineapple is an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential cofactor in a number of enzymes important in energy production and antioxidant defenses.In addition to manganese, pineapple is an excellent source of vitamin C and a good source of vitamin B1, copper, dietary fiber and vitamin B6. Among the many benefits of vitamin B1 is its ability to increase blood circulation and provide a greater supply of oxygen to the blood cells. In addition, vitamin B1 is known to help with the proper metabolism of carbohydrates, making it vital to good digestion.

I wanted to send something for tried and tasted: fatfree vegan kitchen event and found this recipe in fatfree vegan kitchen. I didn't deviate much from the original except for cutting down the sugar from 1/2 to 1/4 cup and using whole wheat pastry flour instead of whole wheat flour. The pastry flour gives a lighter texture than the regular whole wheat flour. I also baked it in muffin mould as it will bake quicker (also you know, how many you are eating) and my job was done in around 20 mins.

Preparation Time - 5-10 mins

Cooking Time - 15-20 mins

Serves - Around 10 cakes

Ingredients

Oat Flour - 1 Cup

Whole wheat flour - 1 cup

Raw sugar - 1/4 cup

Baking powder - 2 teaspoons

Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon

Ener-G Egg Replacer - 1 1/2 teaspoons

Salt - 1/2 teaspoon

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Water - 3 tablespoons(if required add this, i didn't add as the pineapple juice was sufficient enough).

Apple cider vinegar - 1 tablespoon

Crushed pineapple in pineapple juice - 1 cup

Unsweetened Applesauce - 1/2 cup

Topping

Demerara sugar - 2 tablespoons

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Method

1) Put the oats in the blender and grind until fine thoroughly.

2) Combine oats powder, whole wheat pastry flour, salt, cinnamon powder, baking powder, baking soda, ener-g egg replacer, sugar.

3) Now add the crushed pineapple in pineapple juice, apple sauce, vinegar and water if required.

4) Stir to mix thoroughly.

5) Spray a muffin mould with cooking spray and fill till 3/4 .

6) Combine the topping ingredients and sprinkle it on the top and bake in a preheated oven set to 350 F for 15-20 mins until a knife inserted comes out clean.

7) Once baked, let it cool for couple of minutes and enjoy these guilt free snack.

Event Participation

This goes to the tried and tasted : Vegan Kitchen hosted by Vaishali originally started by Zlamushka's Spicy Kitchen.

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Frozen Mango Yogurt

Know what you Eat - Greek Yogurt the protein content is much more than the regular yogurt. With protein, calcium, magnesium, riboflavin, vitamins B-6 and B-12, and active cultures yogurt is more nutritious and better than milk as the active cultures help digest the naturally occurring sugar (lactose) in milk that can cause bloating and diarrhea in some people.

Mangoes are a good source of Dietary Fiber and Vitamin B6, and a very good source of Vitamin A and Vitamin C.

From the time i saw mixed berries frozen yogurt in Parita's kitchen i wanted to try it out. Any time i prefer frozen yogurt to icecream, and in this recipe instead of berries added mango and i just loved it, thanks Parita for your recipe.

Preparation Time - 10 mins
Serves - 4

Ingredients

Greek Low fat yogurt - 16 0z
Mango puree - 16 oz ( I took mango pulp from 4 medium sized mangoes and made 2 cups of puree).
Sugar - to taste ( I didn't add sugar at all, the sweetness in the mango pulp was just enough for me, but if you want a sweeter version add it to your taste).

Method

1) Peel chop mangoes and put in a blender to make a smooth puree.
2) Blend together mango puree and yogurt until creamy and smooth.
At this point taste and if you want add powdered sugar and combine well.
4) Cover and freeze the yogurt in a plastic container with wide bottom.
5) Churn this mixture using hand blender every 30 to 45 mins when it starts to set a little for about 4 to 5 times.
6) Serve chilled with your favorite fruits(optional) as a guilt free snack or dessert instead of sugary icecreams.

l This is our entry to Mango Masti event hosted by Neha.
l This is our entry to Mithai Mela hosted by Srivalli.

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Healthy Granola Cereal with magic seeds

Know what you Eat : Studies show that eating chia seed slows down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrate calories into simple sugars.The chia seeds may have great benefits for diabetics so they are considered as magic seeds. Eating the seeds helps dieters by making them feel fuller faster so they will be less hungry. Oats an excellent source of iron, dietary fiber and thiamin. They also contain antioxidants that are believed to protect the circulatory system from diseases such as arteriosclerosis, which affects the arterial blood vessel.





Cooking Time : 20-30 mins

Preparation Time : 5 mins

Serves : 4 to 6



Ingredients



Extra thick rolled Oats - 2 cups

Almonds - 3/4 cup (Crush or pound them)

Grated Coconut - 3/4 cup

Chia(magic) seeds - 1/2 cup

Wheat Germ - 1/4 cup (You can use wheat rava with small pieces of broken wheat & bran)

White Sesame(Til) seeds - 1/4 cup

Raisins - 1/2 cup

Brown sugar - 1/4 cup (If not using brown sugar, substitute it with honey)

Honey - 1/4 cup (Increase this if you want the granola to be sweeter)

Oil - 1/4 cup

Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Water - 1 tbsp



I love granola but the store bought ones are too sweet, so i thought of making them at home as you can control the amount of sugar and add the ingredients you want and like. You just can put it in the oven, stir once in while and get on to your other things and a healthy breakfast will be ready in a few minutes. Now let us get on to the recipe.



Method



1) Preheat oven to 35o degrees F.

2) Crush or pound the almonds with a thick bottom pan or hammer, rolling them in a paper towel and putting them in a ziploc bag.

3) Combine all of the above ingredients except the raisins and bake till the oats slightly browns and the rest of ingredients are crunchy.

4) Remove and add the raisins and serve with milk and fruits of your choice.

5) During the bake time keep stirring and keep a close watch so that it doesn't get overcooked.

6) Do not forget to crush the almonds as smaller kids will have harder time to chew and eat them.

7) You can mix and match any ingredients, add baked sweetened banana chips, cranberries, apricots, dried apples, walnuts, cashew, dates, Peanuts etc. Don't add the dry fruits when baking but combine after baking.

8) With the addition of chia seeds, this keeps you filled up for hours.

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Mixed Vegetable Appam

Know what you Eat : Choosing dark green vegetable ensures calcium and other nutrients, while red and orange veggies give us beta carotene, lycopene and other antioxidants. Now we know the importance of colorful vegetables; it turns out there are thousands of phytochemicals that pour the benefits into our food. Don't forget the onions, the allium family of vegetable is instrumental in addressing elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol, as well as bacteria and yeast infections.

Preparation Time : 10 mins

Cooking Time : 15 mins

Serves : Makes around 10 appams.

Ingredients

Idli Batter - 1 Cup

Chopped vegetables - 1 1/2 cups (Onion, bell pepper(green,red,orange,yellow), carrot, beans

Chopped coconut - 1 tbsp (chop coconut into small pieces(don't grate) will give a crunchy taste)

Grated ginger - 1/2 tsp

Chopped curry leaves - 1 tsp

Chopped Cilantro leaves - 1 tsp

salt to taste

Oil - 2 tsp

Method

1)Heat 1 tsp of oil and add curry leaves, ginger, onion, beans, carrot, bell pepper, salt and saute till they are half cooked.

2) Now add the half cooked vegetables to the idli batter, cilantro leaves and chopped coconut pieces and mix thoroughly.

3) Heat the appam pan and put a drop of oil in each of the groove and pour the batter evenly in all of them.

4) Cover and cook till one side turns golden in color (covering will make the appams to cook quickly).

5) Flip over and leave till the other side is well cooked, remove from appam pan.

6) Serve with chutney, sambar or ketchup of your choice as a quick guilt free snack.

This South Indian snack  is our entry to WYF Quick Meals event hosted by EC.

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Vegan 4 Grain Strawberry Muffin/Cake

Know what you Eat : Strawberries have higher levels of vitamin c, fiber, folate and potassium than most other fruits like bananas, apples and even oranges. A recent study has shown that eating one serving (about 8-10 strawberries) a day can significantly decrease blood pressure, which may reduce the risk of heart disease.

I love to bake and baked goodies but after baking and eating them i really feel guilty of the amount of sugar and the carb in them. Now a days, i am trying to substitute all purpose flour with whole grain flours. For sugar with apple sauce and fruit juice, in this recipe i added 1 table spoon of beet pulp but really got scared at the color but after baking the color was all gone.


Cooking Time: 30mins
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Serves – 12 muffins

Ingredients

Chopped strawberries - 1 and 1/2 cups
Oats - 1/2 Cup
Whole barley - 1/2 Cup
Whole wheat pastry flour – 1/2 Cup
Brown Rice flour – 1/2 cup.
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Chia powder - 2 table spoons (chia is very good egg substitute, instead of chia add 1/2 tsp more of baking soda and 1 tbsp of apple cider vinegar)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Apple Sauce - 1/2 Cup
Beet Pulp - 1 tbsp
Raw Sugar - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Oil - 1 table spoon
Water - 1 Cup

Method

1) Grind whole barley and oats into powder
2) In a bowl combine Oats, whole barley, brown rice flour, Whole wheat pastry flour, Baking soda, salt, Cinnamon powder, Chia powder and sugar.
3) Mix the dry ingredients well and add Oil ,apple sauce and beet pulp.
4) Now add the chopped strawberries and add water and mix the batter well.
5) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
6) Pour this batter to 3/4 of muffin mould and bake for 20 to 30 mins till a knife inserted comes out clean.
7) The muffin was slightly sweet if you have a sweet tooth add more sugar or serve with fruit preserves sweetened with fruit juice and fresh strawberries.

Event Participation

This dish goes to Whole Grain Baking Event - Barley hosted by Madhuram.

This dish is our contribution to Srivalli's Mithai Mela hosted by Cooking 4 all Seasons.
This goes to Strawberry Feast @ My kitchen treasures.
This dish goes to Original Recipes - Monthly Round up event hosted by Lorie.

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Sweet Potato Curry

Know What you Eat : Sweet potato is rich in dietary fiber, naturally occurring sugars, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitamins A and C, iron and calcium. It contains twice the recommended daily allowance of vitamin A, 42 percent of the recommendation for vitamin C, four times the RDA for beta carotene, and, when eaten with the skin, sweet potatoes have more fiber than oatmeal.


Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 15 mins
Serves : 4


Ingredients

Sweet Potatos - 3 medium sized
Coconut Oil - 1 tsp
Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp
Split Urad dal - 1/2 tsp
Grated jaggery - 2 tbsp or to your taste
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Grated Coconut - 2 tbsp
Curry leaves - 1 tbsp
Water - 2 tbsp

Method

1) Wash, rinse and cut potato into cubes.
2) Heat oil and add mustard seeds, after they splutter add urad dal and curry leaves.
3) Once the urad dal slightly browns add the cubed sweet potato ,salt and water .
4) Cover it and cook in medium heat till the sweet potato is thoroughly cooked by stirring now and then. Add water if required little by little as this is a dry curry.
5) Once the sweet potato is completely cooked add jaggery powder and grated coconut, mix thoroughly and switch off and serve.

This dish is our contribution to Srivalli's Mithai Mela hosted by Cooking 4 all Seasons.

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