Vegan Oats & Almond Meal Coconut Raisin Cookies

If you include grains like Oats, you should definitely try this cookie out. With Oats, Almond Meal, Coconut, Raisin, Maple Syrup these cookies are absolutely delicious. I used to make these cookies frequently before oats, wheat & barley were eliminated from our house hold. I still continue to make these for people who eat this high fiber grain and baking couple of batches to be put in gift boxes to be distributed for the New Year. If you are looking for vegan cookie recipe, this one is a must try. Happen to try this, let me know how you liked it. Will be very happy to know the feedback.



Cooking Time - 15 minutes

Preparation Time - 10 minutes

Yields - Around 20-24 Cookies depending on the size





Ingredients



Oats Flour  - 1 1/4 Cup(Grind 1 1/4 Cup of Oats into a fine flour in a food processor)

Quick Cooking Oats – 1 Cup

Almonds - 1 cup

Maple Syrup - 1/2 cup

Coconut Oil – 1/3 Cup

Thawed grated coconut – 1/2 Cup

Raisins – 1/3 Cup

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Baking Soda – 1/2 Tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp





Method





1) Place the almonds in a food processor and grind into a a coarse meal

2) Combine the Oats flour , Almond and the rest of the Oats, Salt, baking soda and Cinnamon powder.

3) Add Oil, Maple syrup, grated coconut , raisins and  mix thoroughly to form a dough.

4) If the dough is very sticky chill in the refrigerator for 5 minutes, if the dough is dry add little bit of more oil. Because I used coconut from the freezer, it had a little bit of moisture content which will help to bind the flour. So depending what type of coconut you are using adjust the dough.

5) Preheat Oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit and line a cookie tray with parchment paper.

6) Roll the dough into small balls and flatten them in your hand and place them in the cookie tray one after another leaving enough space between the cookies as they will expand.

7) Bake for 10-15 minutes until well baked, they get baked quickly so keep a watch on them otherwise you will get brown or burnt cookies.

8) Cool them and transfer to a airtight container.

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Mango Jelly using Xylitol

 

I hope all of you are having a great Holiday Season. Happy Holiday wishes to all my readers and friends. Life is become so hectic with all the holiday gift shopping, school vacation, work, year end Doctor visits so blogging has been pushed into back seat. But hoping to be quite regular in a few days. It is been a while since I posted any recipe and to end this void thought of publishing this unseasonal post. This has been lying in my drafts from Summer. I love mangoes so much,  I make mango puree and freeze them in season which I use in various recipes when this lovely fruit is not in available.  So whenever you can get hold of this yummy fruit or if you also freeze the pulp like me, do  try out this Jelly. I used xylitol as the sweetener and I loved it but you can go ahead and substitute the sweetener of your choice.

Preparation Time – 15 Minutes
Cooking Time – 15  Minutes


Ingredients


Mangoes – 2 Big or 3 Medium sized
Water – 1 Cup
Xylitol – 1/4 Cup (Increase the sweetener measure based on the sweetness of your mangoes)
Lemon juice – Juice of 1 lime
Salt – pinch
Agar agar flakes – 2 Tbsp

Method


1)  Soak the agar agar flakes in half cup of water and let this sit for few 15 to 20  minutes.
2) Peel, cube the mangoes and puree to a fine pulp by adding half cup of water. Add xylitol to this and keep this aside.
3) Heat the soaked agar agar flakes and boil till the flakes are completely dissolved, now add the mango pulp and cook for 10 minutes. Switch off the flame and add the lemon juice and mix thoroughly.
4) Leave this aside to cool for 5-10 minutes, while it is hot pour into containers and leave it aside to set.
5) Keeps in refrigerator for at least a month.

Events

Sending this to Zesty Palette’s New You Series 3 hosted by Vardhini.

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Sugar free Almond Flour Cookies(Gluten, Grain & Egg free)

I make cookies only with Almond Flour nowadays for my family,  they are not alone gluten, grain free but also high in protein and very nutritious. But you will still see some cookies with whole wheat, oats etc in future posts which were all done in my earlier attempt few years back and which I still bake for people who are on a nut free diet.  In all my almond flour cookie recipes I use maple syrup as sweetener which is all natural and doesn’t cause cavities like sugar does. So they are safe for dental health but still they are sweetener which will increase blood sugar for people with diabetes. So I tried using Stevia and Xylitol as the sweetening agent couple of times before I nailed down this recipe. Stevia definitely had an after taste and with xylitol the taste was good but with almond flour which is gluten free and no eggs, the cookie didn’t have a structure and was all crumbly.  Bean flours are used as binding agent in lot of gluten free cooking and taking that as an inspiration, I tried to combine almond flour and split chick pea flour(besan) with xylitol and the cookie was much better than the stevia and the earlier xylitol version. If you are on a low glycemic diet do try this one out and do let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 10 to 12 Minutes

Makes Around – 10 to 12 Cookies

Ingredients

Almond flour - 1/2 Cup

Besan(Split Chick Pea flour) - 1/3 Cup

Vanilla extract - 1/4 tsp (Saffron & cardamom, Cinnamom, Cardamom & Rose Water, Orange extract & Orange rind are the different flavors I tried and liked them all)

Xlitol powdered - 1/4 cup

Clarified butter - 1/4 cup

Baking Soda – pinch

Salt – pinch

Almond flakes – 1 Tbsp

Method

1)  Combine the almond flour, split chick pea flour, powdered xylitol, baking soda and salt.

2) To this add vanilla extract and clarified butter and make a smooth dough.

3) Preheat an oven to 350 degree Fahrehiet and line a cookie tray with parchment paper.

4) Make 10 to 12 equal sized balls out of the cookie dough and with your hands press them gently into flat balls and place them with equal distance in the baking tray. Take some flaked almonds in your hand and gently top each cookie with few flakes and press with your finger so that the flakes touch the dough and hold on without falling.

5) Bake for 10-12 minutes till the cookies are slightly browned, remove the tray and let it sit out for 2-3 minutes and then remove the cookies and cool in a wire rack.

6) Store in an airtight container once completely cooled and keeps good at room temperature for 4-5 days.

Events

Sending this to Julie’s Christmas Delicacy Event

Sending this to Cookie Love- Blog Hop guest hosted by Raji of Vegetarian Tastebuds.

Sending this to Cakes and More - Cookie Fest.

Off to Spicy Treat’s Bake Fest #2 an event started by Vardhini.

Off to Edible entertainment’s Jingle all the way.

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Spinach, Peas & Paneer(Cottage Cheese) Brown Rice

Brown rice was the every day food in my house couple of years before. It’s been almost two years since Quinoa, replaced this wonderful grain. There are lot of posts still lying in my draft with brown rice as the star ingredient. I love this grain and even though I don’t cook with it very often like before now, I do make dishes occasionally using this high fiber grain.  If you include brown rice in your diet do try this recipe out and I am sure you are going to love it.  Do not forget to presoak your brown rice, I normally soak it for 12-18 hours.



Preparation Time – 20 Minutes

Cooking Time – 30 to 45 Minutes

Serves – 3 to 4





Ingredients





Brown Basmati Rice – 1 1/4 Cup(Soaked for 12-18 hours, rinsed and drained)

Spinach – 1 Bunch(Rinsed, drained, thick stalks removed and chopped)

Frozen thawed peas – 3/4 Cup

Paneer(Indian style cottage cheese cubes) – 3/4 Cup

Coconut Oil or clarified butter (ghee) – 1 Tbsp

Turmeric powder – 1/2 Tsp

Yogurt Sour – 1/3 Cup

Salt – 1 Tsp or to taste

Green Chili  & Coriander Paste (Handful of coriander(cilantro), green chili 2 or to taste, 1/2 tsp fennel seeds ground into a coarse to fine paste)

Water – 3 Cups

Cashews – 1 Tbsp

Cinnamon stick, Star Anise, Clove – 2, 1, 1 each

Method





1) Heat a Tsp of oil in a thick bottomed pan, add the cinnamon stick, star anise, clove and once they are slightly brown and fragrant add the green peas and saute for  5 minutes.



2) Now add the spinach and saute for 2-3 minutes. Now to this add the soaked and drained brown rice, water, salt, turmeric powder, chili & cilantro paste, yogurt and cover and cook stirring in between.



3) Once the rice is 3/4 Cooked and still with some water add the paneer(cottage cheese) cubes and cook till the rice is well cooked and the water is all absorbed.



4) Heat the rest of the oil and fry the cashews till golden and transfer the cashews with the oil to the cooked rice and mix gently and thoroughly with a fork and serve hot with raita(yogurt dip) of your choice.

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Vegan Chocolate Banana Pancake(Gluten & Grain free)

If something is gluten free does it mean it is healthy? Nay, lot of gluten free mixes are made up of high starchy ingredients and the taste is also not that great. So far after trying lot of different gluten free mixes and with still half left in each one of them and unnecessarily occupying my pantry space, I have decided not to spend any more money on them. But the gluten free substitutions that really works for me is almond flour for cookies, cheese cake crusts, pancakes. But for bread and cakes I still haven’t nailed out a good recipe to share with but I am seriously trying to. One thing I found in this process is lot of these gluten free mixes have some bad tasting bean flour as one of the ingredient, but the split chick pea flour that is used in Indian cuisine in lot of dishes including sweets is such a great binder. So when a saw a ripe black banana, I was all set to try this pancake with besan and it did taste good. My kids liked it and  I didn’t face any questions from my elder one, who normally ask  “Why aren’t we eating normal food"?”  when something doesn’t taste good. If you have tried out gluten free baking with not so starchy ingredients sans eggs, please do leave a comment. I would love to try it.



Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 10 to 15 Minutes

Serves – makes 5 Pancakes



Ingredients



Besan(Split Chick Pea Flour) - 1 Cup

Banana - 1

Water - 3/4 Cup

Chocolate powder - 2 Tsp

Powdered Xylitol - 1 Tbsp

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp

Baking powder - 1 Tsp

salt - pinch

Vanilla extract - 1/2 Tsp

Cinnamon powder – 1 Tsp to cover up the besan smell

flaked almonds -  5 Tbsp

Coconut oil – 5 Tsp



Method 



1) Mix the besan, salt, baking soda, baking powder, powdered xylitol, chocolate powder, cinnamon powder.

2) To this add pureed banana, water, vanilla extract and mix with an egg beater without lumps.

3) Heat a Iron griddle and once it is warm, take a ladle full of batter and make a medium sized circle and take a handful of almond flakes and slightly press it on the top of the pancake batter, drizzle some coconut oil around it and cover and cook.

4) After 1-2 minutes open the cover and see if the top portion is not sticky and well cooked, now turn over and cook the other side. Repeat the same thing for the rest of the batter and serve it with butter, honey, maple syrup or anything of your choice.

5) I served it with some home made strawberry preservers sweetened with xylitol.

 

Events

Sending this to Kid's delight - deceptively delicious hosted by Pavani an event started by Srivalli.

Also going to Julie's Christmas Delicacy event.

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Almond Flour Coconut, Cashew Cookies(Gluten, Grain, Egg Free)

Cookies are definitely a must in after school snacks along with some protein rich nuts, veggies, fruits and a glass of milk in my household. It is been a while since my kids touched store bought cookies, so I have to make them something interesting each week. This time I decided to add some coconut to the cookie flour and they were so good. Made with protein rich almond flour, casein free clarified butter, coconut and studded with cashew, these are very easy to make and tastes absolutely delicious. I know this is the time of season to bake all different kinds of cookies and cakes. So if you are looking for a gluten free and a delicious and healthy cookie, do try this out  and let me know how you liked them.

Maple syrup is all natural and is taken out of tree sap and doesn’t cause any cavities like sugar, so between sugar and maple syrup the latter is a definitely a better choice. But if you are looking for a sweetener which will not elevate blood sugar xylitol and stevia are the best choice of natural sweeteners.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 12-15 Minutes

Serves – Makes around 30 Cookies depending on the size

Ingredients

Almond flour - 3 Cups

Coconut - 1/2 Cup (Grated, frozen, thawed to room temperature)

Maple syrup - 1/2 Cup

Clarified Butter(Ghee) - 1/3 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 Tsp

Salt – 1/4 Tsp

Vanilla extract – 1/4 Tsp

Cashews - 30

Method

1) Combine almond flour, baking soda, salt, to this add maple syrup, clarified butter, vanilla extract, grated coconut and make the cookie dough.

2) If you think the cookie dough is too sticky to handle refrigerate for 10 minutes(not more than that).

3) Preheat oven to 350 Degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

4) Take out the cookie dough and make 30 equal sized balls and press them gently to form a circle, on top of it stud with a cashew.

5) Bake for 12-15 Minutes till cookies are slightly browned and baked. Cool in a wire rack and store in an airtight container. Holds good for 4 to 5 days at room temperature.

Events

Sending this to Julie’s Christmas Delicacy Event

Also going to Srav’s Holiday Baking Event.

Sending this to Cookie Love- Blog Hop guest hosted by Raji of Vegetarian Tastebuds.

Sending this to Cakes and More - Cookie Fest.

Sending this to Let’s Cook#10 - Radhika’s Let’s Cook Baked Goodies.

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Ragi(Finger Millet), Black Chick Pea, Green Mung Bean Porridge

I totally agree with the fact that, we eat with our eyes first. But lot of times appearance are deceptive. This porridge might look dull and in not so pleasing color. But I assure you it tastes great and more than that it is too good for the body. If you are looking for a gluten free, high protein and low carbohydrate breakfast and that is easy and quick to do. Then this is surely for you. This porridge can be made by adding yogurt or without it, seasoned with green chilies, ginger, raw onion and grated cucumber. This is such a wholesome breakfast. Do try this out and let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time - 5 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10 Minutes

Serves - 1 to 2

Ingredients

Ragi, Mung Bean and Black Chickpea flour mixture - 1/2 Cup

Sour Yogurt - 1/2 Cup (for vegan diet replace with 1/2 Cup water)

Water - 2 1/2 Cups

Asafoetida - small piece(avoid this if you have gluten intolerance)

Cucumber - 1/2 (Half of a cucumber, peeled and grated)

Onion - 1 (Small, peeled and chopped)

Green chili - 1 to 2 as per your taste

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Lime - Juice of 1 if you are using all water or cut down to 1/2 if using sour yogurt

Coconut Oil - 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Chopped curry leaves - 2 Tbsp optional

Chopped ginger - 1 Tsp

Chopped Cilantro – handful

Method

1) Combine the yogurt if using, water, salt, ragi flour mixture using an egg beater and combine till smooth without any lumps.

2) Heat a wide mouthed, thick bottom pan and once the pan is hot add the coconut oil. When the oil is warm enough, add the mustard seeds. After the mustard seeds stop spluttering add chopped ginger, green chili, curry leaves, asafoetida and add the ragi mixture.

3) Keep stirring and cook till the mixture thickens. Switch off and add the chopped onion.

4) Once the mixture is cooled  little bit, add the chopped cilantro, grated cucumber and lemon juice and mix thoroughly.

5) Serve.

Notes - I make this porridge atleast couple of days a week, so in a 10 lb container. I mix 6 parts of ragi flour, 2 parts of black chick pea flour, 2 parts of whole green mung flour and combine thoroughly and keep it ready. All these 3 flours can be found in the Asian Indian grocery store.

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Eggless Whole Wheat Tropical Banana Bread

I hope all of you had great week end and those of you in US had a great Thanksgiving and long weekend. Even though I avoid gluten because out of four people in house hold,  two are on a gluten free diet because of various health reasons. But I love to bake and I jump on opportunities when I have to bake it with gluten based flours and have to give it out to others. The moment I saw this tropical banana bread recipe in the good house keeping book – recipes for children which my elder one had got it for me, I was totally tempted to bake. I baked this quick bread for one of my friend few months back and got a great review. Do not be intimidated with the long list of ingredients, once you get a grasp of the ingredients this is very easy to make.  If you are not on a gluten free diet, do try this out and I am sure you must be surely happy with the out come.
Preparation Time – 15 Minutes
Cooking Time – 30 to 40 Minutes
Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour - 1 3/4 Cup
Bananas - 3 (Small to medium)
Juice of 1 Orange
Coconut - 3/4 Cup
Pecans - 1/2 Cup
Yogurt - 1/4 Cup
Ener-g or Corn Starch - 1 1/2 Tsp + 1 Tbsp Warm Water
Baking Soda - 1 Tsp
Baking Powder - 1 Tsp
Oil or Melted butter or clarified butter anything will work - 1/4 Cup( I used clarified butter)
Salt - 1/4 Tsp
Apple Cider Vinegar - 1 Tbsp
Raw sugar - 1/2 Cup(Optional and I left it out as the sweetness of banana was just enough)
Water – 1/4 Cup(Check point 4)
Flaked Almonds – Handful to put as a topping
Method
1) Combine whole wheat flour, pecans, salt and keep it aside.
2) Squeeze out the orange from orange juice. Add 1 Tbsp warm water to the ener-g egg replacer and beat till frothy. Puree the ripe bananas.
3) To the yogurt add the baking soda and baking powder, combine and leave this for some time and you will see the yogurt mixture has started bubbling out. To this add the orange juice, banana puree, raw sugar(if using), ener-g egg replacer mixture, clarified butter and combine thoroughly till well mixed.
4) To the wet mixture add the grated coconut and wheat mixture and combine thoroughly without over beating the mixture. The consistency of the mixture depends on how ripe the banana is and also the size of the orange you are using. If the orange is big one and the banana is over ripe the batter should be just fine. But if you find the batter too thick, then add 1/4 cup more of water.
5) Now add the apple cider vinegar and mix till well incorporated. Pour the batter in a loaf pan and add handful of almond flakes on the top and spread it evenly. Baket for around 30-40 minutes in an oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit till a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Events

Sending this to Breakfast Club #17 - Breads hosted by Krithi's Kitchen an event started by Fuss free Flavors.

Sending this to Edible Entertainment’s Jingle all the way.

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Tindora(Ivy Gourd) Quinoa

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers and friends. I am sure every body would have started on their Thanksgiving menu and meal ideas already and  if you are still trying to figure out an option for the main course and which needs to be something nutritious, guilt free and something you don’t have to worry about after indulging. Then do include this high protein pseudo grain in menu.  Very easy to prepare and nutritious. Do try it out and let me know, how you liked it.

Ivy gourd(Tindora) can be found in Indian(Asian) stores and is very low in carbohydrate and in alternate medicine it is believed to regulate sugar metabolism. Looks like a small miniature cucumber and crunchy and crispy in taste.

Preparation Time – 15 Minutes

Cooking Time – 20 Minutes

Serves – 2

Ingredients





For the spice powder

Coriander seeds - 2 Tbsp

Split Channa Dal(Kadali paruppu) -1 Tbsp

Dry red chilies - 4 or as per taste

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Fennel seeds - 1 Tsp

Tamarind - 1 inch long piece

Coconut - 7 one inch pieces

Cooked Quinoa - 1 Cup

Tindora(Small gourd) – Around 12 to 15(Chopped into small pieces)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Coconut oil - 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Urad dal - 1 Tsp

Peanuts - 1 Tbsp

Chopped cilantro - 1 Tbsp







Method

1) Dry roast the ingredients given under the spice powder section until fragrant and once cool enough to handle, make a coarse to fine powder and keep this aside.

2) Heat the pan, add a tsp of oil and roast the peanuts till slightly brown, remove the peanuts and then add mustard seeds. After the seeds stop spluttering add the urad dal and leave it till slightly browned.

3) Now add the Tindora pieces, add the salt and turmeric powder and saute till well cooked. Cover and cook and this will take any where between 8-10 minutes. Now add half of the spice powder saute for a second and add the quinoa. Add one more tsp of oil and mix thoroughly.

4) Garnish with toasted peanuts and chopped cilantro and serve with raita(yogurt dip) of your choice.

Note – I made this spice powder and used up half of it to prepare Eggplant Quinoa and the used the rest in this dish. So based on the quantity required, half or double the spice powder measurement.

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Eggless Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are not health food to do a write up about the nutritional value. But they are any time better than the store bought one with no preservatives and additives.I have been baking these chocolate chip cookies for a long time and continue to bake them when I have to do a nut free baking.  This is the recipe which you can find in the Nestle Chocolate Chip Bags and I just substituted with whole wheat instead of refined flour and raw sugar instead of white sugar and are egg free. Personally I prefer my Almond Flour Chocolate chip cookies over these but I had to make these for some body who is allergic to nuts. So if you are looking for a chocolate chip cookie recipe to bake this holiday season do try out this one and do let me know how you liked them.

Preparation Time – 10 Minutes

Cooking Time – 25-30 Minutes(10 – 12 Minutes for each batch)

Serves – Makes around 3 1/2 Dozen Cookies



Ingredients



Whole Wheat Flour – 2 1/4 Cup (The original recipe used All purpose flour)

Butter – 1 Cup(2 Sticks)

Raw sugar – 3/4 Cup(Original used 3/4 Cup White Sugar + 3/4 Cup Light brown sugar)

Semi sweet chocolate chips – 1 Cup

Vanilla extract – 1 Tsp

Baking Soda – 1 Tsp

Salt – 1/4 Tsp(1/2 Tsp if using 1 1/2 Cups sugar as per original recipe)

Warm Water – 3 Tbsp

Ener-g egg replacer or Corn flour – 3 Tsp



Method





1) Beat the ener-g egg replacer by adding the warm water till frothy and keep it aside.



2) Beat the butter till creamy, add the sugar, egg replacer + water, vanilla essence and keep it aside.



3) Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips and add it slowly to the wet mixture and combine thoroughly.



4) Preheat a baking oven to 350 Degree Fahrenheit and like cookie trays with parchment paper.



5) Take the cookie dough with an ice cream scoop or a spoon and spoon out equally with enough distance between each of them. Slightly flatten the cookie dough with your fingers after spooning.



6) Bake for 10-12 minutes till the cookies are completely baked. Cool in a wire rack and store in a airtight container.



Note – The original recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar and I halved it and with 1 cup of chocolate chips this sweetness was good enough. But if you have a sweet tooth, then stick on to the original recipe of 1 1/2 cups and also you can add 1 cup of chopped nuts to cookie dough. Because the kid for whom I was baking had nuts allergy, I couldn’t add any nuts.

Events

Sending this Krithi's Kitchen - Serve it Series Sweet an event hosted by Kirthi and Denny's

Sending this to Simply Food's Let's Cook for Christmas Red and Green Event.



Sending this to Edible Entertainment's Jingle all the way.

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Mixed Bean & Raw Banana Cutlet

How often do you do pantry audits? I do once in couple of weeks and when I did, I had small amounts of four different varieties of beans lying around and also had few raw bananas, onion, little bit of mixed vegetables lying in my refrigerator. In my attempt to clean up my refrigerator and my pantry and  before I stock up on fresh new produce. I wanted to use up  all these little bit of everything and  make something out of it.  Finally ended up in making these healthy and delicious cutlets, you can make them more tasty and sinful by adding some boiled and mashed potatoes and powdered bread crumbs and of course deep frying them and making it more interesting and delicious. But I decided to stick on to the high protein, low carb and baked version and enjoyed them with some spicy cilantro and sweet date chutney. Do try this out and of course do let me know, how you liked it.



Preparation Time – 20 Minutes

Cooking Time – 30 Minutes

Serves – Around 10 Cutlets depending on the size



Ingredients



Black eyed beans – 1/4 Cup

Black beans – 1/4 Cup

Roman beans – 1/4 Cup

Split channa dal – 1/4 Cup

Raw banana – 1

Powdered Chia seeds – 1 Tbsp(or flax seed powder)

Besan(Split chick pea flour) – 1 Tbsp

Onion – 1 Medium sized

Chopped mixed veggies – 1 1/2 Cups(Bell peppers, cabbage, broccoli)

Coconut oil – 1 Tbsp(for brushing melted)



Seasonings ( I used Indian spices, but feel free to use the spice of your choice)



Red chili powder – 1 Tsp or adjust to your taste

Salt – 1 Tsp or to taste

Turmeric powder – 1/2 Tsp

Garam Masala powder – 1/2 Tsp

Chopped cilantro - handful

Amchoor powder(dry mango powder) –1 Tsp

Coconut Oil – 1 Tsp



Method



1) Soak the black beans, black eyed beans and roman beans over night. Add the split chick peas and cook in a pressure cooker for three whistles.  Cut the raw banana into two pieces and cook that also along with the beans.



2) Drain the water from the beans, peel and slice the raw banana and keep this aside.



3) Heat the oil, add the onions and saute till translucent. Now add the veggies and the seasonings and saute for 5 minutes and switch off.



4) Preheat a baking oven to 400 Degrees Fahrenheit and like baking sheets with parchment paper.



5) Place the beans, raw banana pieces, veggies with the spices, chia powder and split chick pea flour in a food processor and process till well combined into a coarse mixture.



6) Take equal sized balls and press them into patties and brush with oil on one side and bake for around 10 minutes on one side. Turn it brush oil on the other side and bake for 10 more minutes. Now change the oven to broil and broil the patties for 10 more minutes.



7) Serve hot with spicy cilantro chutney and sweet date jaggery chutney.

Events



1) Sending this to Serve - It Savory Baked hosted by Krithi's Kitchen and Denny's.

 



2) Sending this to Veggie/Fruit a month- Raw banana hosted by Archana an event started by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan recipes.



3) Sending this to Fast food not Fat food an event by Priya of Now Serving.

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Spinach & Bean Soup

So planning to throw a holiday party ? Definitely include these kind of soups and salads, which are water rich and fiber rich to fills up and helps to cut down on the calorie rich main course. Spinach is such a healthy vegetable with loads of Vitamin A, Vitamin K, Iron, Calcium apart from a host of other vitamins and minerals. A low glycemic index food and will perfectly fit the diet list of weight watchers and carb watchers also. The addition of Cannellini bean in this soup, adds not only thickness to this soup but fortifies with additional protein.  This recipe is too simple and can be done in minutes, do try this out and let me know what you think about this one.





Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 10 to 15 Minutes

Serves - 4





Ingredients



Spinach - 1 bunch(Rinsed, Drained,  thick stalks removed, chopped)

Cannelli bean - 3/4 Cup(Cooked)

Coconut Oil -2 Tsp

Garlic - 2 Cloves(Chopped into fine pieces)

Crushed black pepper - 1 Tsp or to taste

Salt - 1/2 Tsp or to taste

Fresh lemon juice - 1 Tsp or to taste

Water - 4 Cups(Add more for a thinner soup)



Method



1) Heat a tsp of oil and add the spinach and saute till they are slightly wilted for 8-10 minutes on medium heat. Switch off and let this cool for few minutes.



2) In a blender add the cooked spinach, beans, salt and half of the water and blend till a smooth paste. Add the remaining water and puree one more time.



3) Heat a pan, add remaining oil and saute till the garlic browns and transfer the pureed content from the blender to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.



4) Switch off and add lemon juice and black pepper. Serve hot.

Events



1) Sending this to Soup and Salad Mela by Srivalli.



2) Sending this to Winter Carnival an event hosted by Radhika of Tickling Palates.

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Mixed Veg & Chick Pea Salad with Parsley & Yogurt Dressing

Do you love salads? I do, not just because they are so healthy and good for the body but also they are easy to put together in a jiffy. Most of the time no cooking is involved, add this and that. Come up with a dressing and toss things together and the salad is ready in few minutes. Starting the meal with fiber and water rich food like salads or soups with veggies fills you up and prevents from over doing the high calorie main course later. So give this colorful salad a try as a part of your Thanks giving meal and let me know how you like it. Now getting on to this super simple recipe.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - None

Serves - 4



Ingredients



Cucumber - 1 (Medium size, washed, peeled and cubed)

Tomato - 1 small chopped

Mixed bell peppers - 1 Cup(Red, yellow and green washed and cubed)

Salted & boiled chick peas - 1/2 Cup



Dressing



Greek yogurt or thick yogurt with excess water drained - 3/4 cup

Fresh parsley or cilantro - 1/2 cup (finely chopped, I just put them in my food processor with little bit of yogurt and blended till a coarse paste)

Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp or to taste

Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste

Black pepper - 1/2 tsp to taste



Method



1) Stir together yogurt, parsley or cilantro(works wonder with yogurt dressing too), lemon juice, salt and pepper. If you like crushed garlic add 2 cloves but I didn't.



2) Toss the cucumbers, tomatoes, mixed peppers, chick peas and add dressing, tossing to coat.

Serve.

Events



1) Sending this to Herbs and Flowers - Parsley an event hosted by Anu's Healthy Kitchen an event started by PJ of Seduce your taste buds.



2) Sending this to Soup and Salad Mela by Srivalli.

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Eggplant Quinoa

Quinoa is a protein rich pseudo grain, meaning a seed actually used as grain and is of South American origin. With a slightly crunchy texture and a nutty flavor this can be substituted in place of rice in most of the dishes. Quinoa is available in your local health food store or online stores. This eggplant quinoa is super quick to make. With rice being a staple in the region from where I come, there are so many varieties of rice that are prepared and relished and this is one amongst them. But in my house hold since quinoa is a staple, I just substituted the rice with quinoa to make this protein rich one pot meal.  The spice powder  is the key to this flavorful and delicious dish and I make it before hand and this stays good for at least a week refrigerated.  Very easy to put together, just try out this dish and do let me know how you liked it.

Preparation Time - 10-15 Minutes

Cooking Time - 20 Minutes

Serves - 2



Ingredients





For the spice powder



Coriander seeds - 2 Tbsp

Split Channa Dal(Kadali paruppu) -1 Tbsp

Dry red chilies - 4 or as per taste

Cinnamon - 1 stick

Fennel seeds - 1 Tsp

Tamarind - 1 inch long piece

Coconut - 7 one inch pieces



Cooked Quinoa - 1 Cup

Eggplants - 1 big or 2 small Japanese eggplants(Chopped into small pieces)

Turmeric powder - 1/2 Tsp

Salt - 1 Tsp or to taste

Onion - 1 small(chopped into small pieces)

Coconut oil - 1 Tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 Tsp

Urad dal - 1 Tsp

Ghee roasted cashews - 1 Tbsp



Chopped cilantro - 1 Tbsp



Method



1) Dry roast the ingredients given under the spice powder section until fragrant and once cool enough to handle, make a coarse to fine powder and keep this aside.



2) Heat the pan, add a tsp of oil and once it is hot add the mustard seeds. After the seeds stop spluttering add the urad dal. Once it slightly browns add the onion pieces and saute for a few minutes till translucent.



3) Now add the eggplant pieces, add the salt and turmeric powder and saute till well cooked. Cover and cook and this will take any where between 8-10 minutes. Now add half of the spice powder saute for a second and add the quinoa. Add one more tsp of oil and mix thoroughly.



4) Garnish with ghee roasted cashews and chopped cilantro and serve with raita(yogurt dip) of your choice.

Events



1) Sending this to Healthy Lunch box ideas - Brinjal an event hosted by Priya an event started by Kalyani.



2) Sending this Healthy Cooking Challenge - Healthy Lunch Box Ideas by Edible Entertainment an event started by  My Tasty Curry

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Sweet Tender Pumpkin in Coconut Sauce(Parangikottai Paal Kootu)

Think Pumpkin people think the ripe orange color, but the young tender pumpkin is green in color with very tender seeds. I don't know how many of you have used it in your cooking, I rarely find that kind of young tenders ones in the grocery stores or farmers market here. This dish was made almost year and half before when my parents visited us. I love this young tender pumpkin and my sister who was in the west coast at that time, packed off couple of them from the farmers market there. The tender pumpkins have slight green color skin and the skin is also pretty edible because they are not thick like the yellow ones. A very simple dish made by adding jaggery(panela) & coconut, this dish absolutely tastes divine. So if you happen to see the young green pumpkin next time, do pick them up and try it out and let me know how you liked it. You can also do this with the yellow pumpkin if doing so, adjust the quantity of jaggery.



Preparation Time - 10 Minutes

Cooking Time - 15 Minutes

Serves - 4



Ingredients



Chopped Pumpkin pieces - 4 Cups

Powdered Jaggery(Panela) - 1/3 Cup or according to your sweet tooth

Grated coconut - 1/2 Cup

Rice flour - 1 Tsp

Salt - 1/4 Tsp

Ghee(clarified butter) - 1 Tsp



Method



1) Boil the chopped pumpkin pieces adding little bit of water and salt. Stir in between to cook evenly and add more water if required.



2) Grind the coconut and rice flour adding little bit of water into a fine paste and add this to boiled pumpkin pieces and simmer on low heat for around 5 minutes.



3) Now add the jaggery and simmer for 3-5 minutes till it completely dissolves and add the clarified butter and serve.



Note - Even though this is called paal kootu(paal meaning milk in my language) this version which we do in our house hold just uses coconut and no milk is involved.

Sending this to Halloween fiesta hosted by Vardhini of Vardhini's Kitchen.



Now to the answer of my previous post riddle, who carved the pumpkin. Check out the following pictures. I thoroughly enjoyed this carving and had to hide and click these photos.

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