Cooking from other blogs #8

It's been so long since I posted a round-up of recipes that I've tried and loved from other blogs.... Whenever I am running low on ideas or have a craving for something new, all I need to do is do a quick rundown of my bookmarked recipes or browse around to either get inspiration from or even better - get tried and trusted recipes that are sure to please my family...   So, a big thank you to all for giving me these fabulous recipes.

1) First, this is something I tried from Sailu's food blog which has some pretty amazing recipes. This Broken Wheat Spinach Pongal is very satisfying and also great to serve kids since it's a one pot complete meal... as you can see, I've added quite a bit of spinach when I made this... great with yogurt or even pickle.

2) This Bok Choy Kootu from Priya's blog is now something of a regular at our home and from me being the only one who eats bok choy (as a stir-fry), it has now become something that the entire family eats and is quick and easy to prepare for weeknight dinners as well. The only modification I make is to substitute the flax seeds with almonds since that's what I usually have in my pantry...

3) For a tasty appetizer made of soy that even my chicken loving husband liked, I'd recommend Vegan Popcorn Chicken from Soma's blog. I pretty much followed the recipe except for increasing the spices and baked them instead of deep frying... They had a lovely crunch coating and this is definitely something I'll make often.

4) I bought black cardamom from India just to try out Anita's famous Punjabi Chhole recipe and it didn't disappoint... the fresh masala powder was great and i added some jaggery too to tone down the spices a bit.... definitely a keeper of a recipe.

5) Onto the sweeter things, I tried a batch of Nandita's heathiest cookies which are made with oats, nuts, chocolate chips, bananas and coconut.... Initially I thought that only I would enjoy them (since they were the healthy kind)  but the entire family loved it and the ripe banana taste combined with coconut and the chewy texture of oats with a generous dose of chocolate chips was such a winning combination.

6) I tried these milk powder burfis from Aarthi's blog since i had pack of milk powder that I wanted to use up and it seemed really simple and easy... I just went a bit easy on the sugar (than what the recipe called for) since the milk powder was already sweet and the resulting fudge was very tasty, especially when warm and had great texture and my friends and kids loved it.

7) Also, these tasty Eggless Nutella Cookies from Treat and Trick's blog, a simple fuss free recipe using Nutella which can be whipped up in no time and results in irresistible crunchy, cookies...

8) These healthy Oats Adais from Lata akka's blog which was such a tasty twist on usual adai and the evening I made them, I had a surprise visit from friends and they loved the adai too and they weren't even big on oats - so a definite winner even if you have someone who doesn't like oats.

9) Also, Quinoa Mung dosai from Usha's veg inspirations.... a great way to get everybody to eat quinoa - even those who don't particularly have a taste for it. Unfortunately no pictures for these 2 items... will update this post when I make these next. 

I'd like to also post the picture of the breakfast I had a few days ago... it was absolutely delicious and had an avocado-tomato salad (with lemon juice, salt and pepper) and a curried hardboiled egg (no mayo) made with onions and carrots and to scoop these up, some fresh, crisp lettuce leaves and half an apple to finish off the meal.

Quinoa Mung Salad

I think this is my first post with Quinoa (Keen-wah)... although I've been including it my diet... the rest of the family did not follow suit. It definitely wasn't love at first sight but since I had read that it is pretty healthy combined with the fact that it has a fair bit of protein, I gave it another try when my mom made ven pongal with it, substituting quinoa for rice  and loved it... my parents also liked it though my husband refused to even give it a try. Later I found this Quinoa-Mung dosai recipe and that was something that the whole family (husband and kids included) ate with no complaints - thanks to Usha.

One day when I had some sprouted mung beans, I decided to combine it with some quinoa for a salad since I had tasted something similar at Costco.  Added veggies and wanting some sweetness added some orange segments as well... I forced my husband to taste it but after the first bite he was hooked. I then served it with the pita chips (remember this recipe? and yes we still had some left, bags from Costco are humongous) for him and he liked the crunch from the pita chips and now he has been asking me to pack this for his lunch :) I'm glad this recipe made a convert of him.  I have made this salad several times since then and is very easy and perfect for hot summer days (when you don't want to be in the kitchen) since there's very minimal cooking involved and it's easy to change up the veggies and fruit so you can have a tasty variation each time. Makes a great dish for packed lunches or picnics too.


QUINOA MUNG SALAD - 3 to 4 servings

Quinoa Mung Salad

Ingredients:
 Dry Quinoa - 1/3 cup cooked
Green Mung Beans- half cup dry, soaked overnight or sprouted.
Onion - half of a small one, chopped
Tomato - half of a medium one, chopped
Cucumber - half cup, seeded and chopped
Orange - sections of 2 oranges, cut into pieces
Bell pepper (raw or roasted, green or red) - 1/3 cup chopped
Spinach - big handful of raw, chopped finely
Coriander leaves / Parsley - 2 tbsp, chopped
Lemon Juice - juice from 1 lemon or to taste
Extra Virgin Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Lemon - Pepper seasoning (optional) - few shakes
Butter - 1 tsp
Salt & ground Black pepper - to taste



Method:

1) Heat a small deep pan on medium, add quinoa and water in the ratio 1:2 (so 2/3 cup in this case), add a tsp of butter and a few pinches of salt (better to undersalt at this stage). Once the water starts to boil, reduce flame to a simmer, cover with a lid and allow to cook until dry (about 10 to 15 mins). Once done, stir gently and keep aside. The key is not overcook quinoa so it has a slight crunch and that gives the salad great texture. 


2) Since the green beans were soaked, they needed only a few minutes in the microwave. Add beans, a bit of salt and a tbsp of water and cook for about 5 to 6 minutes until cooked but still has a bite to it. The skins may peel off but no need to discard. The water had fully evaporated for me, but if not drain it. 


3) In a large bowl, combine the cooked quinoa, mung dhal, onion, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper (I used red), spinach and coriander leaves. 


4) In a small bowl combine the extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice, salt, black pepper and some lemon-pepper seasoning if using (I had the Mccormick brand that i'm trying to use up) and stir this into the quinoa-mung salad.


5) Finally stir in the orange segments (I even added some of the orange juice i got when cutting into the orange). Chill this for about 15-30 minutes to allow the flavours to mingle. Tasty quinoa salad is ready.

Thai Curry (Red/Green)

I can't believe I haven't posted this dish so far since this is something I make very often.. atleast once every 2 weeks especially when I'm hard pressed for time... this may have a lot of veggie chopping involved but it still works out to be a fast dish and a wholesome one since it has an array of vegetables and tofu simmered in spicy thai curry infused coconut milk.  Initially I used to make the pastes myself but after I found the Maesri brand of canned thai curries, I've stopped doing that... this brand has no shrimp paste included (something i always check for) and is fully vegetarian and tastes just perfect. Also, with most restaurant dishes that I recreate at home, I love the fact that I can add a ton of veggies. Feel free to vary the vegetables you use based on your preferences and what you have... I've used eggplant, beans, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, sugar snap peas, bell peppers etc. in all kinds of combination and have never been disappointed.

I love the red curries while my husband is partial to the green curry... my daughter loves them both and infact she gets so excited when she gets a whiff of the fragrant curry and comes to the kitchen asking "Are you making my favorite curry?" While eating dinner she keeps claiming that she wishes she could eat this everyday... She even tolerates the spiciness of the dish just cause she loves it so much. I  try to mix in more rice and even some ghee to make it less spicy for her and my son.... I usually add the entire can of the curry paste but if it's too much (read spicy) then you can add according to taste and store the remaining in a bottle in the refrigerator and use the next time or add to noodle dishes such as this.

THAI RED/GREEN CURRY

Ingredients:
Tofu - 16 oz, drained and pressed down with paper towels for an hour.
Veggies of choice - about 4 to 5 cups raw ( I've used eggplant, beans, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, carrots, sugar snap peas, bell peppers)
Maesri brand Red Curry/Green curry paste - 1 small can (4 oz) or to taste
Coconut milk - 1 to 1.5 cups
Salt - to taste
Chilli powder - half tsp (optional)
Oil - 1 tbsp, divided



Method:

1) Cut the well drained tofu into small cubes. Heat a wide skillet on medium and spray some oil or add a tsp of oil and spread evenly, place tofu cubes in a single layer and sprinkle some salt and chilli powder. Alternatively, toss tofu cubes with salt and chilli powder before browning them in the skillet. Allow to cook until the sides are browned slightly. Keep aside.

2) In a big pan, heat the remaining oil and add the veggies, saute them for a few minutes with a tiny bit of salt. Next add the curry paste and a few tbsp of water and stir until it coats the veggies uniformly. 

3) After about 5 minutes, add 2-3 cups of water (or as required to form a thin gravy) and half cup coconut milk, when the mixture begins to boil, reduce flame, cover and allow to simmer until veggies are tender crisp. 

4) Finally add 1 cup of thick coconut milk and the pan fried tofu cubes and keep on a slow simmer for another 5 minutes  or so. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
 
5) Fragrant Thai curry is now ready to serve with rice.

Wheat Flour Dosas / Godhumai Dosai

My mom would often make these when we ran out of idli/dosa batter or if we needed a really quick meal since these are super instant (no fermentation or waiting time required) and quite tasty too. However, I was never a fan of these godhumai dosais - I can't really think of why specifically... Now that I do like quite a few things I didn't enjoy as a kid... e.g. upma, I decided to try these out on a whim. I didn't quite expect them to turn out light and crispy like rava dosais so I was pleasantly surprised with the result.

It's best to make the batter when you want the dosas instead of making them ahead of time. It's fairly easy to whip up a second batch if you notice that the family seems to like it :)

WHEAT FLOUR DOSAS / GODHUMAI DOSAI

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Flour / Atta - 1 cup 
Water - 1.5 to 2 cups (or as required) to make a rava dosai like batter
Salt - to taste
Cumin seeds - a pinch
Black pepper powder - I ground some using my pepper mill
Green Chillies - 1 to 2, minced finely
Curry Leaves/Coriander leaves - few, chopped
Oil - to cook dosas

Method:
1) In a bowl, blend together the flour and water (I used a whisk to ensure the batter was lump free) until smooth. The consistency should be thinner than regular dosa batter and must be similar to rava dosai batter... so it will look kind of watery (like buttermilk).

2) Season the batter with salt, pepper, cumin seeds, green chillies and curry & coriander leaves. 

3) Heat an iron griddle pan (dosaikkal), and when hot (sprinkle a few drops of water, they should sizzle and evaporate almost immediately), drop a few tsp of oil and rub the entire pan. If you have a well seasoned pan, there will be no issues with the dosas sticking. 

4) Scoop a ladleful of batter from the top, after stirring the batter well, and pour on the hot pan, dropping it from a few inches high. This kind of batter cannot be spread out like usual dosai batter so you just have to pour the batter from the outside in and it will immediately form a lacey pattern. 

5) Drizzle some oil along the edges of the dosa and allow to cook until golden brown. This does take a bit more time than usual dosas & rushing them will result in torn dosas... when ready, the dosai will be easy to flip over. Cook for a few more minutes after flipping for tasty, crispy dosai. We had ours with milagai podi. 

Thai-style Peanut Noodles

 I wanted to make something different than the usual Vegetable Noodles recipe and when I saw this pack of spaghetti, decided to try a peanutty version....  The last time I made something similar was inspired by the thai red curry, so I added some red curry paste and a touch of coconut milk but this time it was coated in a smooth peanut sauce and delicious. Once the veggies are cut, this dish will be ready real fast. You could add some pan-fried tofu cubes, along with the noodles but since I didn't have any in stock, I skipped them this time.

THAI STYLE PEANUT NOODLES

Thai Style Peanut Noodles

Ingredients:
Spaghetti/Linguini - 8 to 10 oz, dry
Veggies of choice (Red Onions, Carrots, Broccoli, Red & Green bell Peppers, Cabbage) - 2 to 3 cups
Tofu - 1/2 cup (optional) - cut into cubes and tossed in a pan with some oil and salt
Peanut Butter - 1/4 to 1/3 cup
Sriracha Chilli Sauce/ Chili Garlic Sauce/ Sambal - 2 tbsp (or to taste)
Soy Sauce - 1 to 2 tbsp
Lemon Juice - 1 tsp (optional)
Ginger - 1 tbsp, minced finely
Garlic - 3 to 4 cloves, minced finely
Oil (Sesame or Canola) - 1 tbsp
Spring onions / Cilantro leaves - 1 tbsp for garnish

Method:

1) Heat plenty of water in a big pan and when boiling add about half tsp of salt and drop the noodles. Cook until al dente or follow package directions. Drain the noodles , reserving some of the pasta water.

2) In a wide kadai/skillet,  heat oil and add ginger, garlic & whites of spring onions (if using) then add the veggies and saute them till tender crisp. Don't add salt since the peanut-butter and soy sauce have plenty of sodium.

3) In  a small bowl combine the peanut butter, soy sauce & chilli sauce and add a few tbsp of the pasta water to make the peanut sauce. 


4) Add this sauce to the veggies and mix well before tossing in the noodles (and tofu, if using) &  allowing the sauce to coat them uniformly.Garnish with coriander leaves or spring onion tops.

Faux Dahi Papdi Chaat

Wanting a quick snack over the weekend, I decided to put the rather large bag of baked Pita chips that my husband got from Costco, to use.... We had some of it plain, some with hummus but lately we had been ignoring it... so an idea to use those chips instead of the regular papdis came into my mind... They were crunchy and sturdy so would be a perfect replacement. Having store bought tamarind date chutney and green chutney in the fridge always makes snacks like these a breeze... I boiled a few potatoes and had some cooked white peas (vatana) after making ragda patties so used that but a can of chickpeas would also work... Another good substitute for the papdi would be tortillas cut into circles (with a cookie cutter) and baked in an oven for about 10-15 mins till crisp.

DAHI PAPRI CHAAT

Faux Dahi Papdi Chaat

Ingredients:
Pita chips/ Baked tortillas - as required
Potatoes - 2 medium, boiled and peeled (I microwaved them with water for about 7 minutes)
Cooked / canned chickpeas or cooked yellow dried peas (vatana) - 1 cup
Chilli powder - half tsp,
Salt - to taste
Green Chutney
Tamarind - Date Chutney
Yogurt - 1/4 cup, preferably thick
Sev - for garnish
Red Onions - 1/4 cup, chopped
Coriander leaves - 2 tbsp, chopped

Method:
1) Cut potatoes into small cubes and toss with some chilli powder and salt.

2) When ready to serve/eat, spread pita chips on the serving plate as a single layer.

3) Top with the potatoes, then the peas or chickpeas

4) Drizzle the green chutney and tamarind date chutney followed by required amount of yogurt.

5) Top with the chopped onions, coriander leaves and sev. Enjoy immediately.

E.A.T. Sandwich

I already shared this avocado-tomato open faced sandwich that I quite love and this sandwich is essentially similar but it just incorporates a few more ingredients to make it even more satisfying - the key ingredients are Eggs (whole or just whites, your preference), Avocado & Tomato hence the name E.A.T.

When it comes to Avocado, though it has a lot of fat, it's the good kind (mono-unsaturated) which helps improve HDL levels (good cholestrol) - so it's definitely healthy in moderation. I particularly like the Hass avocados and it may take a few tries to start liking avocado and even for those who are new to it, this sandwich is a great way to introduce this buttery fruit. I sometimes add spinach leaves as well in this sandwich (either fresh or cooked lightly in olive oil) - very versatile.



For a portable variation.... skip the bread and wrap all of these in a warm whole wheat flour tortilla, you may want to replace the tomatoes with some salsa too for a mexican twist.


EGG, AVOCADO & TOMATO (E.A.T.) SANDWICH



Ingredients: (for 1 sandwich)Hass Avocado - one half, pitted and sliced
Tomato - 4 slices
Egg - 1 or Egg whites - from 2 eggs
Whole wheat bread - 2 slices, toasted
Chili sauce or Hot and Sweet sauce or Ketchup - 1 tspLemon Juice - few drops
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:
1) Spray a small pan with some oil and make an omlette with the egg or egg whites (depending on what you prefer), with some salt and pepper.

2) To assemble the sandwich, spread the chili sauce on one slice of bread, top with slices of the avocado and tomato slices, sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper and few drops of lemon juice on them.

3) Next add the omelette and top with the other slice of toasted bread. Cut into 2 halves and enjoy the crunchy bread with the smooth, creamy avocado with the protein power of the egg complemented by the slight tang from the tomatoes. Eat your sandwich :)

Greek Salad

Like I've mentioned several times before we are not really salad people - although I truly wish I was for the sake of my figure (or rather the lack thereof) :)

However there are some salads that even appeals to us such as the few that I've blogged about before and this is another one that we can add to our repertoire. When I saw some tomato basil feta cheese at the grocery store, I dreamt of a yummy pizza with spinach, red onions, garlic and this feta cheese... however when I reached home and found leftover iceberg lettuce (after making these tofu wraps) and some cucumber I decided to make a salad instead (I was so happy and this time I dreamt of a thinner version of me). I figured I would have enough leftover for lunch the next day as well since I didn't quite expect my husband to like it but I was so surprised when he almost finished the salad and kept mentioning how tasty it was.

GREEK SALAD


Ingredients:

Lettuce - 3 to 4 cups, chopped into 1 inch pieces (I used iceberg)
Cucumber - 1, big, peeled & chopped [ I didn't remove seeds but you could if you want]
Tomato - 2 small, chopped
Sun dried tomatoes - 2-3, chopped (I used the ones packed in oil but without the oil)
Red Onion - 1/4 of a big one, chopped
Reduced Fat Feta cheese - 3/4 cup (crumbled - I used Athenos brand Tomato Basil Feta - 3.5 oz)

Dressing:Reduced Fat sour cream - 1 tbsp (or use thick yogurt)
Olive oil - half tbsp
Lemon Pepper Seasoning - to taste (Or use some black pepper and squeeze in some lemon juice)

Method:

1) Combine all the ingredients for the salad in a bowl.

2) In a small bowl, mix together the sour cream and olive oil with the lemon pepper seasoning and toss that into the salad...

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

I'm sure many of you have tasted these tasty Tofu Lettuce Wraps from P.F. Changs... Wanting to re-create it at home I gave it a shot one day but tweaked it a lot by adding spinach and other veggies and put roasted chestnuts instead of water chestnuts since that's what I had at home... Though palatable, it did not taste like the one from P.F. CHangs at all. After that I tried this version and we were more than satisfied. It's spicy and the water chestnuts add a lovely crunch.. and when served with crisp, refreshing iceberg lettuce it makes for a wonderful dish. We had this as dinner with some mandarin oranges for dessert - a tasty & healthy meal indeed.

TOFU LETTUCE WRAPS


INGREDIENTSFirm Tofu - 16 oz
Water Chestnuts - 4 to 8 oz (I used the canned version)
Onion - 1/4 cup, chopped
Ginger - 1 inch piece, minced
Garlic - 3 cloves, minced (or use ginger garlic paste)
Spring Onions - 2 tbsp, chopped plus more for garnish
Soy Sauce - 1 to 2 tbsp
Sriracha Chilli sauce - 1 - 2 tbsp
Honey - half tsp
Corn starch - 2 tsp
Water - few tbsp
Salt, pepper to taste
Oil - 4 tsp, divided

Marinade for TofuSoy sauce - half tbsp
Sriracha chilli sauce - half tbsp
Corn flour - 1 tsp
Ginger garlic paste - 1 tsp
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp

Method:

1) Wrap tofu in a few paper towels and several sheets of newspaper and press down with a heavy weight (I put it under my wet grinder). After an hour or two, take the pressed tofu and cut into tiny cubes.

2) Toss the tofu with the marinade ingredients and set aside for 15mins to an hour.

3) In a shallow, wide pan add a tsp of oil and spread around, then put the marinated tofu and toss every few minutes until they get fried (Spray some oil if you find the tofu sticking to the pan). Remove and keep aside.

4) In the same pan, add 2 tsp of oil and fry the onions, ginger and garlic on a medium flame for a few minutes. Then add the drained and chopped water chestnuts and continue to saute for a few more minutes.

5) In a small bowl combine the soy sauce, chill sauce, honey, corn starch, water and black pepper.

6) Pour the sauces in the pan with the water chestnuts - the corn starch will act like glue and make sure the sauce coats the veggies evenly.

7) After a minute add the shallow fried tofu and combine everything together. Switch off the stove and stir in the spring onion tops.

8) Serve this with some iceberg lettuce that has been separated into leaves.

Beetroot Poriyal

It has been a rather busy month - workwise and also since we all were taking turns falling sick (inspite of the gorgeous weather we've been having). Haven't been able to post or blog hop much as a result but wanted to squeeze in this super simple recipe. Beetroots are usually not well received by my husband and I end up sneaking them in these vegetable cutlets, or in vegetable biryani or make burger patties with brown rice and beets. The only beet dish that he will eat as is, is when I make this beetroot halwa.... I plan to make this awesome chocolate cake from Sala's blog as another way to get beets in :) (hopefully someday soon)

Anyway I love beets and this poriyal is super tasty. I use a tip that I learnt from my aunt (K athai) where she peels the beets, after cutting of the ends and pressure cooks them before chopping them up. The beets are much softer and easier to chop and it also ensures that this poriyal only takes a few minutes since the beets are already fully cooked.

BEETROOT PORIYAL


Ingredients:
Beetroot - 2, washed, peeled and ends chopped
Shredded coconut (fresh or frozen) - 2 tbsp
Dried Red Chillies - 2 to 3, broken into 2 or 3 pcs each
Curry leaves - few (I didn't have any so skipped them)
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Urad dhal - 1/4 tsp
Asafoetida - a pinch

Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tsp

Method:

1) Pressure cook beets (that are kept in a bowl with no additional water) for 1 whistle on high + plus about 7 to 10 mins on low flame. I use the same time as rice since I usually put this as a layer on top when pressure cooking rice.

2) When beets are cool enough to handle, chop them into cubes. If there's any water with the cooked beets, reserve them.

3) Heat the oil in a pan and season with mustard seeds and urad dhal, when mustard starts to splutter, add asafoetida, curry leaves and dried red chillies. Soon after add beets with any water that may remain in the cooking process and add salt to taste.

4) Stir this and cover for a few minutes so the flavours mingle. Remove the cover and allow to cook until all the water has evaporated.. this shouldn't take much time since there will be only 2-3 tbsp of liquid to start with.

5) Switch off the flame and stir in the shredded coconut. The poriyal is now ready to serve.