Guacamole

An apple a day keeps the doctor away, I wonder why apple got picked for this proverb. Why not Avocado a day keeps the doctor away, yes avocado technically a fruit but used as a vegetable has tons of nutrients like Vitamin E, K , B, C and mono unsaturated fats. With so many health benefits it is good to include at least one avocado a day either in salads, smoothies or simply make this guacamole. Guacamole is an avocado-based sauce that originated with the Aztecs in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete (mortar and pestle) with sea salt.  You can use guacamole as a dip, salad or condiment. Guacamole with some whole grain chips and salsa serves as a good snack or starter. Or if you are looking for a grain...

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Brown Rice Pulao/Pilaf

Summer time. Beautiful  flowers blooming all around, fresh colorful produce flooding the farmers market, no heavy winter clothing to wear and making life whole lot easier to move around and with kids out from school there is no reason to waste even a single minute in this wonderful season. So I settle down to easy to make, healthy and filling one pot meal dishes like this.  This brown rice pulao tastes simply fantastic with all the spices and herbs thrown in and seasoned with some pan fried cottage cheese(paneer) and cashews. Served with some spiced kidney beans(rajma), they are so tasty and filling and keeps you going for hours. If you include brown rice as a part of your diet, you should try this pulao and I am sure you will happy...

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Home made Roasted Almond Butter

Summer vacation, kids at home, lot of cooking, snacking, running around, no time for yourself. I am sure I am not alone and this is what all the Moms experience. With kids at home, I am really kind of stocking up on lot of different healthy snacks. This is one such combo and comes very handy. Not alone they are healthy and natural but also tastes awesome together. Fruits because of the water content keeps you full and fat and protein content in almond butter curbs the craving and serves as quick and healthy snack. If you are some one you buys the pricey Almond butter in the store, then you should definitely read this recipe. Such a simple and easy one and home made almond butter just costs a fraction of what you buy in the store. If you happen...

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Whole Wheat Date & Nut Cake(Eggless)

Baking is definitely therapeutic, if you love to bake you know what I am talking about. I used to bake a lot few years back when gluten was still a part of our diet. It is definitely lot of fun and very easy to bake with flours containing gluten. So I seriously look forward for opportunities to bake with wheat and make it for people who include them. My Parents include wheat in their diet and I baked these cup cakes few months back and sent it to them. This recipe I saw in a magazine  few years back and the recipe was for making the cake in Microwave. This is such a simple recipe and a definite keeper. I have changed the recipe slightly replaced the all purpose flour with whole wheat,  added more dates, as I had ton of them and cut...

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Black Chick Pea Snack(Kala Channa Chat)

Black chick peas are a good source of protein and Iron and of course complex carbohydrates.  They are nutritionally superior than the light colored garbanzo beans. As a quick snack I prepare sundal a traditional South Indian seasoned and stir fried snack with grated coconut. When I was half way making this dish, my elder one said asked me if, I can make something else instead of sundal.  After a little thinking I changed the supposed to be Sundal in to a much healthier snack by adding veggies and coconut and spiced it up with the sweet and spicy chutney.If you are looking for a low carb snack you should definitely try this, the veggies like cucumber, tomato, onion are safe for people who count carbs in their diet. Coconut is good...

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Mixed Bean & Vegetable Rice Flakes(Aval/Poha)

Of late my week ends are becoming more hectic than the week days. Especially Saturdays with too many activities for the kids, the day is very busy and exhausting too. So Sunday morning, I  try to relax from the previous hectic day/week, wake up little late than usual.  Every body is hungry including me and I open the refrigerator and have a little bit  of different vegetables and don’t have any kind of batter to come up with a quick breakfast. With pretty much no options and some left over veggies and boiled beans in my refrigerator I came up with this quick and well balanced breakfast. I always have some kind of boiled beans kept  either in the refrigerator or freezer to whip up some thing quick on un-predictable days...

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Dahi Bhalla/Bhalle (White Lentil dumplings in yogurt sauce – not deep fried)

Which do you think is the challenging meal of the day? I think it is snacks that too when you have to make a different snack every day for hungry kids back from school and at the same time not to indulge on sinful ones. In my quest to make not so sinful snacks, I modify some of the recipes and try to make it little guilt free and this is one such one. If you are familiar with Indian cuisine, this bhalla/bhalle is a slightly jazzed up version of the South Indian Thayir vadai. If you are not familiar with Indian cuisine Soaked and ground white lentil dumplings are deep fried and soaked in yogurt pepped up with red chili powder, tangy and sweet chutneys. Even though I seriously don’t have anything against fried snacks, I normally stay away from...

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Quinoa Pulao(Pilaf)

If you are in quest to adapt a low carbohydrate and high protein vegetarian diet, then you should definitely try 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. You can buy Quinoa in your local health food store or you can order online and ordering in bulk works out much cheaper than buying it in store in pounds. When you use quinoa take care to soak and rinse it thoroughly because some of the bitter saponin covering on the grain can still be present even though most quinoa is washed before being sold, you should thoroughly rinse the dry grain until the water...

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Ragi, Green Mung, Kala Channa Sweet Puttu using Coconut Palm Sugar(Finger Millet & Bean flour steamed sweet)

Ragi or Finger Millet is a staple in the part of the Country I am coming from. Ragi porridge is one of the first semi solid food an infant is introduced to in our house holds.  This healthy and cheap pseudo grain is a rich source of Calcium, Iron, Protein, Fiber and other minerals. The cereal has low fat content and contains mainly unsaturated fat. It is easy to digest and does not contain gluten; people who are sensitive to gluten can easily consume Finger Millet.  The break fast porridge using ragi was one of the time tested one in lot of house holds in the Southern districts of India. Unfortunately now I see lot of house holds are replacing this with Oats. Oats surely is healthy, but ragi is much much more superior in terms of...

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Green Apple, Cucumber, Onion Salad/Chat

What do you think is good combination Banana with peanut butter or Apple with Almond Butter. Even though I like the second one much better than the first one, I was totally getting bored with the sight of loads of green apple lying in my refrigerator and snacking on them with nut butters. I some times make pickle out of these tart apples and for a change and as a easy and healthy snack tried this green apple, cucumber, onion salad spiced up with red chili powder. I wanted to give it a little more twist and  added little bit of black salt and chat masala which you can get in the Indian grocery stores with a dash of lemon. The result was a very interesting and healthy snack. Next time make sure to pick some tart green apples and try this...

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Asparagus Curry(Stir Fry)

  Asparagus is a very nutrient dense vegetable with loads of anti-inflammatory phytonutrients and also is a very good source of Vitamin C, beta-carotene and vitamin E. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant nutrients are some of the best risk reducers  for common chronic health problems including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. With all these health benefits this is such a tasty vegetable and very easy to cook and is also very versatile. You can make salads, steam, stir fry or bake. The lesser the cooking time, the better nutrients the veggie will retain, so I prefer to make stir fries with this wonderful veggie. The addition of coconut makes it even more healthy and tasty. Don’t forget to grab a bunch of these healthy vegetable when...

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Eggless Spinach & Cheese Muffins with Whole Wheat and Almond Flour

If you love cheese then you will surely like these muffins.  This was lying in my drafts for a long time and was the time when we started eliminating Wheat from our diet and started to try out recipes with Almond flour. So I had used a combination of Wheat and Almond flour. These muffins make a perfect substitute for bread rolls or bread along with some soup. Much more nutritious than regular bread because of the cheese, milk and almond flour. If you do include Wheat as a part of your diet, do try this out and let me know how you liked it. Preparation Time - Cooking Time - Serves – Makes around 18 Ingredients Butter - 2 Tsp Small red onion - 1/2 small    Whole Wheat flour – 1 3/4 Cup (Original recipe uses 2...

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Kadhi Pakodi/Pakora(Baked Gram flour dumplings in Yogurt Sauce)

Kadhi Pakodi or pakora whatever name you call, is an Indian side dish made with tangy yogurt and besan(split chick pea) flour with spices and fried besan and onion dumplings and normally served with steaming hot rice and clarified butter(ghee).  Believe me they taste so good by itself or with hot cooked quinoa mixed with some ghee or even finger millet flat breads. What ever the main dish is this side dish is heavenly.  I love fried food but I  make fried snacks very rarely and try to bake or use the Aebleskiver Pan as the alternate method of cooking. Believe me the dumplings after they are soaked in the Kadhi, you cannot make out if it is fried or baked. Now coming to the recipe, I used to have a Nanny couple of years back...

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Vepampoo(Neem flower) Pachadi

Tamil New Year’s day is celebrated in accordance with the solar calendar and is celebrated by preparing  many festive treats.  Vepampoo(Neem flower) Pachadi is a mandatory dish prepared on the Tamil New Year's day in our house hold. This is made with neem flowers which have a bitter taste and the addition of tamarind juice, jaggery, green chili, salt to this dish gives it a bitter, sweet, sour, salt and spicy taste depicting the different tastes life has to offer in one’s life.   Interesting right ? One has to get acquired to taste of this dish in order to enjoy this unique dish . Preparation Time – 10 Minutes Cooking Time – 15 Minutes Serves – 4 Ingredients Vepampoo (Neem flower) – 3/4 Cup Tamarind – Gooseberry...

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