tofu taco

lately a lot of experiments happening with tofu!!!
Sounds like what would i be doing actually but turns out tofu is a fun food condiment...i put it in that category as it got me thru the entire last week.
Lovely, i shall share my experiments with all of you.

So let's get down to the business:
Ingredients:
8 ounce firm organic ( extra rich in protein tofu )
1/2 shallot or onion finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped mushroom
1 cup beans of your choice ( cooked)
1 cup salsa ( spicy i prefer, to kick up the flavor)
lettuce chopped 1/2 cup
1 avocado finely minced
Salt to taste
teaspoon of cayenne pepper,
teaspoon of cumin
teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic minced
oil to cook
cilantro to garnish
yogurt to top it with


method:
heat the pan, put some oil in it and add onions or shallot .
cook until they turn translucent ,add crumbled tofu - let it cook for atleast two minutes then add mushroom at this point. let it cook, do not stir them too much they will become very tough, do not salt them yet.
once they start to loose water salt them, add garlic add beans. add the cumin powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper.
Leave the mixture on the heat for another minute to simmer.
When the mixture cools start assembling your taco.
Warm your choice of tortilla, spread a layer of the vegetable - bean mixture, top it with salsa, avocado lettuce and cilantro. top it with yogurt.

Unfortunately i do not have any picture to share because we ate it up all so quick and we finished it all!!
But promise u next time , i will get a snap shot of it...

Enjoy

Turkey or no turkey

Hmm...
i have been getting all this questions around from friends: turkey or no turkey for the thanksgiving.
Its totally a personal perspective but should not be loathed on anyone.
Be respective of others wishes.

I just found few of these pointers that i guess i won't mind sharing:
# keep a positive attitude about you being vegan. Instead of arguing
 about it speak positively about the things that were positive in your life for being vegan.

# please , please  dont get preachy. encourage people to explore vegetarian / vegan lifestyle by the way you live. Just set an example.

# enjoy the meal with friends and family...no matter what its a fun times..so enjoy, relax turkey or no turkey we are thankful to a lot of people around us who play a very important part in our lives it starts from the youngest family member of our home who teaches us patience everyday,.. to the mail man who teaches us not to stop working not matter what weather ...to that old lady in that senior center who says its gonna be a great day today-positive attitude.
My salute to all of them and many more...this thanksgiving to all you very many thanks.

ENjoy the fun times.

GIft for your host...

Hi all:

I was browsing around sites about this crazy black friday deals, i don't get it. 

Well here's something i saw would be a perfect little gift for your host on the thanksgiving day.

Its the cranberry and orange sauce:

 oh my i love it so much. it taste so holidayish !! i know its not a word but just could not resist myself.

i got it from .Crabtree-evelyn.com . 

Hope you like it too.

ENjoy

Happy darling days!!

How would you spend your happy day? alone or with someone special or go out for a treat for bunch of friends, family ,or just make it girls night out? gosh so many choices. I am planning to do family time out. 

I feel like deceiving my old girlfriends, thinking back in school we were the fantastic four and had enormous amount of fun going to the malls after school , eating out, hanging out at someone's home ..fun old times need to do it again. Now that we have different priorities in our lives it happens that we just keep finding excuses to now be able to sneak out time for ourselves.

Here's to my darling girlfriends..love you all and see you soon this holiday season.

Cheers,

Ishita

Awesome Corn Chaat

Hi all,
 I am so happy so share this corn chat with you all.
I promise you will love to share it with your friends and family the next time you are having a gathering.

Ingredients:

2 cup corn
1 cup chopped onion
2 teaspoon garlic , finely chopped
1 teaspoon chili pepper
chopped coriander to garnish
salt and lemon juice to taste
one teaspoon oil

Method:
In a hot pan put a teaspoon of oil and add onion, garlic  to saute until onion is translucent.
Let the mixture cool and now add the corn and chili powder, salt to taste and lemon juice to taste.
Garnish with coriander and serve with a nice warm cup of tea/ coffee.

Enjoy the rainy day snack.

Cheers,
Ishita

Silent features of Heart Attack !!

Hi all,

Recently came across this article about heart attack would love to share with all my fellow moms.

Heart attack is the number one killer in women.

As a girl, friend, sister, daughter, mom....we all need to learn about it.

Take care,

Here is the link:

These Four Silent Heart Attack Symptoms Happen Right Before a Heart Attack 

http://www.goredforwomen.org/about_heart_disease_and_stroke.aspx

Love ya all

Warm soup in a jiff!

Hi all,
 Cold weather is approaching, time to bring out our slow cookers! Yay!

Here is a quick recipe for this nice warm yummy soup, its a mixture of lentils, carrot and butternut squash.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup yellow lentil
1/2 cup green split lentil
1 cup lentil ( it just says lentil on the packet , u may get it from Safeway or trader joe's)
2 cloves garlic finely minced
1/2 cup roughly chopped carrots
1/2 cup roughly chopped butternut squash
1/2 cup onions( or celery ), chopped
4 cups of broth / water
salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon oil

Method:
Preferred if you can soak lentils for few hours (at least 4 hours)
Do not drain the liquid, save it.
Heat a pan, put one tablespoon of oil.
Add onions / celery cook until translucent.
Add garlic , immediately add all the soaked lentils, stir for a minute add carrots and butternut squash.
In the mean time place another pot to boil water or your vegetable broth.
Transfer this lentil and vegetable mixture to you slow cooker add your vegetable broth to your slow cooker.
Turn on your slow cooker to high for three - four  hours, depending on your slow cooker.
When ready add salt and pepper to taste.

Yum, yum yum...serve hot with nice crusty bread or eat it just by itself.

Have a very great weekend!

It's flu season.......

Hello fellow mom's and friends,
I cannot believe this year is just flying by for me !! well its flu season.
Be sure to vaccinate your little ones and your spouse  and yourself. Of course the elderly would definitely benefit from this vaccine.
Today i went to Costco..and the amount of people sneezing and coughing already made me scared.. definitely getting all of us vaccinated this coming week.........
Also as you know the best way to prevent is proper hand washing and use of hand sanitizer, its CDC (deparment of disease control) approved.
Teach your kids going to day care or school the proper technique of hand washing....best way is make them sing " Happy Birthday.." song..and by the time the song is over their hand washing should be done. They will be happy singing the song and you will be happy making sure they cleaned properly. otherwise we know how they wash their hands , at least my little one, he counts one , two  three all done! really? , so i had to taught him to sing !
Also remind them to wash hands after :
  - coming back from play ground
  - before and after eating food
  - after using bathroom / potty
  -if u sneeze / cough
and the list goes on..

http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

Here's the link i am posting for more information..
Be safe with the little ones as the weather has been changing a lot lately..especially this weekend feels like fall already in full bloom..so cold. All my cold accessories are out with extra's in the car for emergencies...haha. Also started to give kids ginger and lemon water..(in a sneaky way) to prevent cough.

Take care
Enjoy
Ishita

PLan for the weekend!

This weekend oakland is having a eat real fest.....looks a great way to spend a day out.
Will try to stop by there at some time...hope to see you there, if you can

http://eatrealfest.com/event/Oakland/California/2011

Have a great weekend.

Enjoy
Ishita

Heart healthy

Hi all ,
I found this article that i really wanted to share with you all. Please share with your loved ones too and take care !


http://health.yahoo.net/caring/5-foods-that-can-trigger-a-stroke


~ Ishita

Celebration!!

This year my little girl started Kindergarten and today was her very first official spelling bee test and she did great and was crowned Spelling queen of the class!! So its celebration time..

How do you celebrate your special days?

We made her favorite fries and milkshake but home version.
We decided to make sweet potato fries.

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato cut into long strips
oil for frying
salt for taste

Method:
Bring the oil to heat.
Start frying your precut sweet potatoes until golden brown color.
Sprinkle salt for taste.
Serve with ketchup or your favorite dip.

ENjoy and have a great weekend ahead !

Just thinking !

I wanted to thank all my reader friends for supporting my blog.
This blog is dedicated to all of you out there, all my fellow moms and food lovers. I would love to hear what do you think about my blog and is there anything you would like me to add on or change.
Enjoy your rest of the evening.

Green Pasta

Hi all,
Yesterday i was experimenting with my garden herbs basil, cilantro...and ended up making one delicious pesto.
Here's how i did. We made a green pasta out of it and also i made some green sticks out of it for my daughter's snack for school. Hope you all like it.

Ingredients:
1 cup walnut ( i liked the walnuts better than the pine nuts in this combination for pesto)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese ( grated)
1 clove garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 cup spinach ( fresh)
1 cup basil
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (u can substitute with parsley if desired)
salt to taste

Method:
In a food processor, begin first pulsing your walnuts until bread crumb consistency.
Next add finely chopped garlic (this will prevent getting large chunks of garlic in your dish)
Add spinach, basil and cilantro.
Start the food processor on medium speed and from the top add olive oil to blend the pesto.
Once the mixture starts to look like paste add Parmesan cheese and salt to taste.
Blend for another minute or two.

This pesto can be made days ahead and freezes well.

Now for Green Pasta:

Boil the pasta of your choice according to the package direction.
Before draining pasta, reserve some fluid and drain the rest off. This reserve liquid will help you make pesto sauce.
Now in a large pan place one teaspoon of oil and add your drained paste, mix the amount of pesto you like and to get it mixing add reserved pasta water as needed to make the sauce.
Serve with garlic bread on the side.
Enjoy.


Green stick:
You will need a home made bread dough or store bought pizza dough.
Bring the dough to room temperature.
Roll it out on a large surface by sprinkling some flour on the surface ( to avoid sticking).
Now spoon out our pesto mixture on the bread as a layer, sprinkle some fresh finely chopped basil if desired.
Roll it in a twisted shape. Bake it at 375 for 10 minutes or until the bread sticks start browning.
Let it cool before serving it.

This is a great school snack or after school snack and so healthy that kids will ask for more.

ENjoy

Capsicum Rice

Hi,
Today I am going to share a rice recipe that i love.

Ingredients:
2 cup basmati rice
1 cup finely chopped onions
1 and half cup roughly chopped green bell pepper
2 teaspoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 table spoon butter
salt to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala
Water

Method:
Take a heavy bottom pan
Start with 2 tablespoon butter, once it starts melting add onion, ginger garlic paste. Once the butter starts to separates add bell pepper, let it cook for a minute and add tomato paste. Cook the mixture for another minute.
Add the rice .
Add salt to taste. Add water. (now rice has a 2:1 ratio with water, for every 1 cup of rice 2 cups of water)
Bring to boil, then reduce to medium heat and cover and let it cook until rice is done.
At this point add garam masala and stir.

This rice dish is good by itself or can be served with yogurt and onions.

Enjoy.

Paratha - carrot, paneer and a sweet surprise

Hi,
For me its very easy to hide all the vegetables i want my kids to eat in the paratha.
Anyways so i decided to try a different combination usually potato and paneer are versatile so i just kicked up a notch and substituted potato for sweet potato and carrot.
I hope your family will enjoy this recipe as mine.

Ingredients:
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup boiled and mashed sweet potato
1 cup shredded paneer ( indian cottage cheese)
6 -8 Precooked roti or tortilla of your choice depending
1 cup shredded or small cubes of mozzarella cheese
salt to taste
1 teaspoon garam masala
2 teaspoon ginger - garlic paste
oil to cook

Method:
Mix in a large bowl carrot, paneer and mashed sweet potato, add ginger garlic paste and salt to taste.
Now on a board/plate start assembling your paratha - first place your cooked roti on the plate and layer the veggie mixture on it. On top of it place your cheese just like you would be making quesadilla.

Now fold it in to half. Mean time heat a nonstick Tawa, place your paratha on it.
Now your ingredients does not need much cooking time and your roti is cooked too. So here we are just melting the cheese.
Add a little oil to get the nice golden brown color.

Cut in to triangle and serve hot with a dollop of salsa or hummus of your choice.
This serves as a great meal, after school snack or even better send it in your kids school lunch box. Very nutritious and healthy.

Enjoy

Chili with corn cake

Hi all,
During my recent trip i had a chance to try more varieties of food choices that i would less likely look to try here. We had a tasting of vegetarian chili, let me tell you it was so yummy..so bring back the memories I came up with this almost similar chili recipe that i hope you all love and make it your favorite too.

Ingredients:
1 cup of overnight soaked black beans and kidney beans ( combined)
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
2 cups mushroom( portbello) chopped
1 cup onion chopped
1 cup carrot chopped
3 cups tomatoes chopped
2 cloves of garlic finely minced
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder
salt to taste
2 tablespoon oil
1 cup of water or broth of your choice

Method:
Place a heavy bottom pan and place oil in it and start by adding onions, when they are turning translucent go ahead and add veggies ( except tomatoes) and garlic.
Cook it a little until oil separates. Now add all the spices and salt to flavor.
Cook another one minute.
Now add tomatoes and overnight soaked beans with the water that you soaked it in, stir the mixture and transfer the mixture to a slow cooker.
At this point add an additional half cup of water.
Cover the lid. Turn the slow cooker to high for 4 hours and you are done.

Now if you are not using a slow cooker. Please continue in your heavy bottom pot the rest of the cooking. Please stir in between to avoid the beans to stick to the bottom and burn.

Enjoy with the side of corn bread or a sourdough bread.
Garnish with cilantro and avocado.

Yum, dinner is served.
Enjoy.

Quick trail mix

Planning a day out with kids and having handy things on hands so easy-breezy. But that's all in books in reality half of the times we ( I ) even forget their water, just to take a u turn and come back home for it. How many of you agree happened to you?
Well anyways, today i was trying certain combinations and found this one so much loved by my family would love to share with you. Do you have any that you can share with me? Please do so....

 Chex mix:
The one from store has so many things in it that my kids certainly don't like and then i end up eating them :(
So we made this:
4 cups of honey chex mix cereal ( gluten free)
2 cups M &M peanut butter flavor ( if allergies can substitute to plain chocolate M&M's)
2 cups yogurt pretzel
2 cups dried cranberries

mix all above ingredients in a large bowl fill out in individual  snack bags. Snacks are ready . You know what went in there and so healthy and so yummy. No leftovers !!!

This will make four 100 calorie snack pack Ziploc full quantity.

Let me know what are your favorite trail mixes and how do you make them or which do you buy?
Until then
Enjoy

Paratha - mixed vegetable

I know for me its a question every now and then what would be a healthy but quick fix for my kids. While talking to my mom the other day she reminded me of this Paratha that I would love to share with you.

Total start to finish less than 30 minutes...i love it already!

Ingredients:
3 cups of finely chopped spinach
1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
1/2 cup boiled and mashed peas
1 cup boiled and mashed sweet potatoes
2 cloves garlic mashed
1 green chili, finely chopped
3 cups wheat flour
1 cup gram flour ( Besan)
2 tablespoon yogurt
Salt to taste
Oil to cook

Method:
Mix everything in a large mixing bowl except oil.
Let the dough sit for 3-4 minutes covered with wet muslin cloth.
Heat the griddle.
Now roll the dough in to the quarter size balls and roll them out on the counter to the size where they are medium thin. Since your griddle will be hot by this time, place your paratha on it
Cook each side for about 1-2 minutes until you see slight golden brown spots on it and then flip for the other side.
Before the third flip put some oil in the pan..hear the sizzle, press it a little with the spatula to cook evenly on both the sides and your first paratha is ready.
 Continue doing the rest of the paratha's in this manner.
You will get about 12-15 paratha's depending on your size of the dough balls.

I promise everyone will ask for the seconds...
Enjoy.

Yum Yum Mum

I cannot believe my kids ate lunch so fast without even making me say please eat.....makes me giggle..
Today's recipe is from leftover rice, white or brown they both would make this recipe a yum yum.

Ingredients:
2 cups of rice ( cooked)
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1/2 cup carrot shredded
1/2 cup cabbage shredded
1/3 cup finely chopped green onions
2 table spoon cilantro
1/2 cup yogurt
5 tablespoon besan flour
4 tablespoon wheat flour
Salt to taste
2 green chilies ( u can opt it out but add it in your recipe for little spicy version)
Oil to cook

Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl except oil.
Let it sit for 2-3 minutes.
In the mean time heat your non stick tawa / pan.
Now slightly oil your hands and make thin flat patties about your palm size and place it on your hot nonstick pan with little oil sprayed on it.
Continue making those patties. You will get about 8-10 of those depending on the size and thickness.
Serve it with ketchup or chutney of your choice.

Enjoy the quick fix.
Have a wonderful, relaxing weekend.

Dahi Bhindi

HI all,
Dahi Bhindi the name itself is so...so mouthwatering to my mouth that reminds me of my childhood days, when my mom used to make it and we wouldn't even wait for dinner but just eat them by itself. Hope it becomes your favorite too.

Ingredients:
1 lbs bhindi ( lady finger) , cut slit in the middle ( try not to cut it into half)
2 table spoon chana besan
1/2 cup crushed peanuts
1/2 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 teaspoon dhania jeera powder
2 teaspoon sugar
salt to taste
vegetable oil for cooking
yogurt to serve with
green chillies chopped (optional for heat level)

Method:
Wash and dry bhindi and cut slit in the middle careful not to cut bhindi into half.
In the mean time in a bowl mix all of the above ingredients except yogurt and make like a dry thick stuffing mixture. If you have allergies to nuts ....please avoid peanuts.
Do not add water keep it dry it helps it cook evenly.
Now stuff this mixture in the bhindi and in the mean time heat a big non stick coated pan and add oil to it.
When the oil heats up add all the bhindi in it. Careful, do not overcrowd the pan.
Cook until the bhindi is crispy on both the sides. It takes about 8-10 minutes to cook a batch of 8-10 bhindi on medium heat to the perfect crunchiness.
Serve it with a dollop of yogurt on the side.
Your Dahi bhindi is ready. This will serve a 4 adult servings.
Enjoy
Happy Weekend

Cook for three days in one effort

Hi all,
I always love roasted vegetables any time for the year...just love it.
A lot of vegetables roast excellent and they event freeze well for the next meal.
Three recipes follows three variations: roasted vegetable wrap, vegetable soup and vegetarian calzone.
The vegetable options include red bell pepper , green bell pepper, onions ( red or white your choice), garlic, zucchini, yellow squash, potatoes.

Recipe # 1
Roasted Vegetable Wrap :
3 cup big chunk pieces of red bell pepper
3 cup big chunk pieces of chopped green bell pepper
3 cup cut onion into 4 pieces ( first cut in to half and then another half)
4 medium sized zucchini cut into half long slit
6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 table spoon of chopped jalapeno ( optional for spiciness)
olive oil to rub the vegetables
salt and pepper for seasoning

Method : Mix all the vegetables in a large bowl with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Put all the vegetables in the preheat oven for 15 - 20 minutes depending on your oven .
Now the above quantities you may want to divide in three containers use one for this recipe and save the remaining for the other two recipes.

Lets begin the first recipe of Roasted vegetable wrap
.
I like to keep it simple and since my vegetables are already roasted with olive oil and butter i try not to add too much condiment but yes I prefer to use the roasted tomato-spinach tortilla. Just warm the tortilla spread your veggies, sprinkle some cheese ( pepperjack works perfect) voila your dinner is ready. One healthy dinner for all.

Next recipe follows as Vegetarian Calzone:
Ingredients:
2 cup of each above roasted vegetables
1 and a half cup of marinara sauce
1 finely chopped small tomato
italian seasoning
mozzarella cheese
olive oil to brush the bread
bread dough prepackaged 16 oz 2 packets

Method:
Bring the bread dough to room temperature.
Roughly chop all the roasted vegetables and heat a medium pan and throw them all to reheat.
Now add chopped tomato and marinara sauce and the italian seasoning. At this point check for salt/pepper if needed.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Roll the bread dough in to flat bread  ( circle shape) and cut it into half making it a semi circle.
During this time your vegetables will be nicely heated and at the same time the sauce will be thick enough to add to your calzone dough.
Now to the dough start by using the half portion of the semicircle as you will be folding your calzone into a triangle. Make the first thin layer of  mozarella cheese and on top add a layer of vegetable mixture followed by another layer of cheese.
Follow the above method and make four more calzones.
Just  before putting them in oven make a slit in the center with the knife to let the air escape. Brush the top with the olive oil.
Cook them in the oven for 15 minutes.
Serve with marinara sauce.
Enjoy


Meal # 3 Vegetable soup:
Method:
Use all the remaining roasted vegetables  with garlic.
You will need a slow cooker. Put all the ingredients to your slow cooker.
Add 4 cups of vegetable stock and a cup of cannellini bean
1 can of tomato chopped.
Turn the cooker to low hear for 4-5 hours.
Soup will be ready in no time.
To serve garnish with Parmesan cheese and a basil leaf.

Enjoy your dinner.

Chickpea Soup !!!

Hi All,
I was just thinking what to do with the chick peas. I love hummus so was wondering to get creative.
You will want to make an extra batch as kids will love it too and will serve as an emergency meal on those cranky days.

Ingredients:
4 cups  partially cooked chick peas
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1/2 cup green bell pepper finely chopped
1/2 cup red bell pepper finely chopped
1 clove of garlic finely minced
salt and pepper to taste
italian seasoning about a pinch
4 cups of vegetable stock
broken pieces of spaghetti

Recipe:
This recipe will serve about 4 -6 adult servings of soup.
You will need your slow cooker for this recipe. Mix all the ingredients except the spaghetti and 2 extra cups of water and put it on high for three hours or on low for 6 hour.
Just about to the end mix the broken pieces of spaghetti and let it simmer and cook until the needles are cooked.
Serve with tasted sourdough bread. Yum!!

Enjoy the dinner.
This meal will be a very good source of protein as we have chick peas as the primary ingredients.

Long weekend grilling plan !

   Portabello Mushroom

Recently I came across this amazing burger. I could not resist but to share with you guys. 

Ingredients:

• 4  portobello mushroom caps, stems and gills removed
• 4 slice sourdough bread, cut in half
• 1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers
• 1/2 cup chopped tomato
• 1/4 cup crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese
• 2 tablespoon chopped pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cup loosely packed mixed baby salad greens
• 1 teaspoon garlic minced
• 2 table spoon olive oil

Method:

• Preheat grill to medium-high.
• Mash garlic and salt on a cutting board with the side of a knife until it's a smooth paste. Mix the paste with 1 tablespoon oil in a small dish. Lightly brush the oil mixture over portobellos and then on one side of each slice of bread.
• Combine red peppers, tomato, feta, olives, vinegar, oregano and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a medium bowl.
• Grill the mushroom caps until tender, about 4 minutes per side; grill the bread until crisp, about 1 minute per side.
• Toss salad greens with the red pepper mixture. Place the grilled mushrooms top-side down on 4 half-slices of the bread. Top with the salad mixture and the remaining bread.

Enjoy my darlings and a very happy long weekend.

Paneer Pasanda

Hi all,
Kids love Paneer. Paneer is an Indian cottage cheese just the similar consistency of Tofu, very rich and creamy and also yummy if you can get creative. I can keep going on and on about paneer but i am going to cut it short and give one yummy quick cooking recipe for paneer.
Serves four..best if made fresh. I do not recommend freezing this dish turns curdled when defrosted.

Ingredients :
1 lbs  paneer cubed
1/2 cup cashew grinded into paste
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped tomato
1 tablespoon oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Cilantro for garnish

Method :
Start with a pan . Put it to heat and add oil and start to saute onions and tomatoes unitl oil seperates. Add 1/2 cup grinded cashew paste and milk to make the gravy base. Add salt and  pepper to taste.
Finally when the curry starts to boil add paneer cubes turn to simmer for 2-4 minutes until everything blends together and Serve hot. Serve with hot paratha or rice.
When serving garnish with a sprig of fresh cilantro for the fresh spring look.
Enjoy.

soup of the day

Hi all,
Its spring already..time for spring cleaning and spring cleanup for your dear refrigerator friend too.....
So i came up with this spring soup of the day recipe. Use all the little left over fresh vegetables and those frozen ones too.
And this is a slow cooker recipe too........yea......so much better chop drop turn it on and forget about it until dinner time !

This recipe is a keeper and make double batch as it freezes well and ready to use next time when you are ready.
Ingredients :
1/2 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup zucchini cut / diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup finely chopped carrots
1 can cannelloni beans ( i prefer but you can choose any beans of your choice )
4 cups vegetable broth
salt pepper to taste

Method :
Put all of the above ingredients in the slow cooker and turn it on either high for 4 1/2 hour or 7 hours on low setting.

Serving suggestion :
Serve in a bowl with garlic toast and sprinkle your choice of cheese ( i prefer Parmesan cheese ).

Enjoy this is a whole meal in itself.

Creamy corn pepper masala

Hi all,

Today i tried this very quick version of corn pepper masala but creamier version. Best part start tot finish time 20 minutes and serves four adult portion. Love it !
Ingredients :
4 medium sized poblano peppers
1 medium potato
1-2 cups of frozen corn ( depending how much you prefer )

For curry :
1/2 onion chopped roughly
1 cup dry roasted peanuts
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half ( if nothing available substitute with 1 cup of regular milk )

Method :
For curry heat the pan and stat with adding all the above ingredients except the heavy cream and cook partly until peanuts and sesame seed have a crunchier look. Let the mixture cool, blend the entire mixture in the blender until fine paste.
In the mean time in the same pan take a teaspoon of oil and add potatoes and poblano pepper chopped a size of 1 inch and cook them thoroughly. Now add corn and the salt and tumeric powder to taste. Once the flavours have blended add the pureed creamy mixture and then simmer until the curry merries well with the vegetables.
Serve with hot rice and naan bread.
Enjoy this quick cooking dish on a busy day.

health !!

Dear friends and followers,
Due to my current health status i will not be able to post you updated recipies. Will be back soon with more food recipies and fun facts.
Till then take care
Enjoy
Ishita

Tawa Sabzi

Hi all,
Hope you are having a good time .With weather changing again for this weekend cold, dull and freezing again.
Today we will be talking about tawa sabzi.
Tawa sabzi is typically made with stuffed sabzi's on the hot tawa and then served on the hot tawa too ! Delicious right .

Ingredients:
1 lbs Bhindi
1 lbs Small eggplant round
1 -2 cut long slit  bitter gourd (karela)
2 medium potatoes cut slit long about 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 tablespoon chopped chili
2-3 tablespoon gram flour
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
salt to taste
oil for cooking ( approximately 2-4 tablespoon per batch )

Method:
Mix turmeric, chili powder, gram flour, salt to taste and ginger garlic paste with chili paste and leave it aside to marinade.
Cut slits in eggplant, bhindi and stuff it with the above marinade.
Put oil on a shallow nonstick pan add stuffed bhindi in the first batch. Cook until crisp.
Repeat same for stuffed baigan and cook on low heat until cooked thoroughly from inside.
Finally cook the cut slit bitter gourd and potatoes.
At the end mix all the vegetable and when ready to serve and heat the tawa hot and put the vegetables back on the tawa, sprinkle 1 teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice  and serve with hot chappati.

Enjoy

baigan kadhi

Hi all,
Kadhi is a very famous food in Gujarati thali. Often served with khichadi or pulav rice or plain rice too.
This is one of my favorite made by my mother in law. Its my hubby's favorite too...Baigan kadhi.
Very simple, very easy and yet delightful. Hope you all enjoy.
Traditionally kadhi is made from gram flour and yogurt with tadka of ghee but this has a twist.

Ingredients:
1 cup yogurt blended with 3-4 cups of water
2 -3 tablespoon gram flour
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoon ginger garlic paste
1 1/2 cup finely chopped eggplant ( Chinese eggplant works just fine )
salt to taste

For tadka :
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 pinch asafoitida powder

Method:
Mix gram flour with yogurt and water with finely chopped garlic, ginger garlic paste and salt to taste. keep it aside.
In a wok heat 1 tablespoon oil when hot put mustard seeds, let it crackle and add asafoitida. Now add finely chopped eggplant. Let it cook. Add 1 teaspoon of turmeric and salt to taste. When cooked well add gram flour yogurt mixture. let it boil until cooked throughly.
Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with hot rice.
Enjoy.

Sweet potato !

Well weekend is approaching and i am sure like me we all have that something lingering in the pantry that we don't know how to use it at this very present moment.
Here is a great recipe that i recently tried and we all loved and and your family ( especially your picky eater will say yummy! ) coz the secret ingredient is sweet potato. So the recipe is sweet potato kofta curry.

Ingredients :
1-2 baked medium sized sweet potato ( to bake preheat the oven to 350  and coat the potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and cut slits thruoghout with fork or a knife. leave in the oven for 20 minutes and they r ready )
1/2 head of garlic finely minced
1 chopped green chili
1 table spoon ginger
1 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes.
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon red chili powder
1 teaspoon garam masala
1-2 tablespoon cashew paste
1 cup of torn day old bread soaked in 1/2 cup of milk
oil for deep frying

Method:
First let's start by making the gravy. Its the basic recipe of  you favorite gravy.
Take 2 table spoon of olive oil in a pan , turn the heat up and add onion, tomatoes and garlic (1 table spoon ) and ginger paste.
Let it cook for 2 minutes then add turmeric powder, chili powder, garam masala powder and salt to taste.
Cook it thorough until the oil separates out .At this point add cashew paste to thicken it out. Your gravy is ready and you can either use it as a chunky version or can blend it and use a thin version.

OK lets move on to the secret ingredients section. We eat the kofta's in the restaurant that are usually made with potatoes well here is the way to take it up a notch and substitute potato for sweet potato.
So start with the 2 medium sized baked sweet potatoes and bread crumbs (day old bread works just fine, just crumble them soak them in milk for 5 minutes ) add salt pepper to taste and green chili if desired for spiciness.
Mix all the ingredients and deep fry them for 1-2 minutes and your kofta's are ready to serve either by itself of just serve them over the curry and enjoy your dinner !

Have a great weekend !

Vegetable Tortilla Soup

Hi all,
Lately the weather has been not so co-operative ...rain, cold ..and along comes feeling tired, sick and what not.
Well, lets warm up to hot hot soup. This soup is so refreshing and  delectable that even kids love it .

Ingredients :
1/2 cup each medium sized diced vegetables - yellow onion, red bell pepper and  roasted green chili ( you can roast this over the gas range or broil it under the broiler at high for few minutes watching it constantly making sure it does not burn )
1/2 cup canned tomatoes
4-5 cups vegetable broth
2  table spoon finely chopped garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup frozen corn
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Lime wedges for garnish
Monterey jack cheese for garnish ( or any cheese of your choice )
Salt to taste
Crushed tortilla chips

Method :
Just gather all the ingredients and mix them in the slow cooker except the garnish  and crushed tortilla chips.
Put it on for 4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low settings.
After the cooking time check vegetables and add salt to taste as broth may have some salt.
Serving suggestion - Laddle the hot soup in the bowl and garnish with crushed chips and cheese and lime wedges.
Voila ! your soup is ready . Enjoy.

Stuffed bhindi

Hi all,
Happy Valentine's Day to all of you my friends.
Today's featured food is Stuffed Bhindi ( Lady's Finger ). My favorite food of all.

Ingredients:
Fresh Bhindi 1 lbs with slit cut in the the middle for stuffing
Roasted peanuts 1/2 cup crushed
1 table spoon ginger garlic paste
4-5 green chillies chopped / or fine paste
2 table spoon gram flour
( gram flour is a chick pea flour, found commonly in indian grocery store )
Salt to taste and crushed  black pepper

Method :
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Make a slit in the bhindi and stuff it with the above mixture.
Put 2 table spoon of oil in a nonstick tava and place the bhindi's in it and let it cook until nice and crispy.
Garnish with cilantro.

Enjoy ! and Happy Valentine's Day .

corn and cabbage

Hi all,
Lately things had been too delayed for me and was very different that i could not make it to writing the recipes as often as i did. But dear friends i am back.
I always had a thought to use corn and cabbage together and found a way without frying it. Make a paratha. Kids love it and so will you.
Recipe follows :
2-3 cups cabbage finely chopped
1-2 green chillies finely chopped ( optional )
1 cups of corn ( defrosted )
salt according to taste and  flour as needed to make the dough

also optional is  - ginger garlic paste and  boiled potatoes

Method :
Start by mixing all the veggies and add salt
Make a dough to the way that you can roll pancake like round paratha.
Heat the griddle and then when hot put the rolled dough and place it onthe griddle, cook it on one side for 1-2 minutes each and then flip it to the other side .
Add butter  (prefered for richness ) to make it nice red and crunchy.
Serve it with butter and yogurt and fried green chillies.
Enjoy my dear friends.
Have a great weekend and will see you next week on Valentine's day

Something you might like :

Valentine's Day Gift Ideas: 7 Totally Free Ways to Win Her Heart

have a great weekend

Last weekend was crazy with kids getting sick and just not great weather. Hopefully this week be better. Looking forward to work as usually. So what are your plans. Watching the little ones practice ABC's and 123's and may be some "sight " words. Wow never knew that would have to go back and read and practice so much before u can teach your preschooler. Also the vowels and the sounds they make.  Will try to do as much as can and see you all next week.
Enjoy your weekend !

what's for dinner tonight ?

Isn't that what your little one ask and very rarely you get a nice response back !
Every night same question and never ending query. Does everyone feels that or is it just me ?
This is the recipe for chola daal dhokla. Dhokla is a very common Gujarati snack but when made with nutritious daal like chola daal makes it a meal some for kids. I found this recipe a very long time ago when i moved here in US, missed my home and mom a lot and the way she cooked Dhokla. Fortunately i found something similar @ a cooking website and here is something similar from my old notes.


Ingredients


1/2 cup chola daal, soaked overnight and drained
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/2 cup chopped fenugreek


2 tsp ginger and green chili paste
1/4 tsp asafoetida
1 tsp eno (fruit salt)/baking powder
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp oil for greasing

Method

1. Combine the chola daal, spinach, fenugreek leaves and ginger green chilli paste and blend in a mixer to a smooth paste, using enough water.
2. Add asafoetida and salt and mix well.
3. Just before steaming, sprinkle the fruit salt over it.
4. When the bubbles form, mix gently and pour spoonfuls of batter immediately into the greased idli /muffin molds.
5. Steam for 15 to 20 minutes or till the dhoklas are cooked.
6. Let it cool and serve immediately garnished with shredded coconut.

Enjoy. Will be back tomorrow with more.

no cheeseey

Hi all,
Tuesday run quite a bit busy for me. So decided to go for the same old Mac and Cheese combination. But if you
are a healthy freak mom like me thinking that that's not nutrition in that store bought mac and cheese box this is something worth while. When its done outcome ..it looks exactly..trust me ..exactly like the regular mac and cheese but with almost no cheese. Here's how it goes :
Start with the 1 cup of macaroni pasta or any short pasta.
1 and 1/2 cup of butternut squash chopped into small cubes.
1/3 cup of whole milk
salt and pepper to taste
for the final touches  2-3 tablespoon of your choice of cheese.

Method :
Boil butternut squash cubes into a pot of boiling water with some salt just for the taste. It takes about 4-5 minutes to cook it thoroughly. In the same manner  cook the paste of your choice according to the package directions.
Now in the mean time your  squash might have cooled down enough for you to handle . So go ahead and drain it and blend it in a food processor or even just mash it with a fork to get the pureed consistency. Mix the milk to make it creamier.
Now add your pasta to this mixture and add milk if squash looks to thick to handle.
At this point you can turn the broiler in your oven to preheat and  when your oven is ready go ahead and sprinkle your cheese as a garnish and put it in the oven until the top browns.
Your kids will ask you seconds and you will never have the guilt of feeding them cheesy food.

I would really like to hear from you, if you had sneaked in any veggies for your kids in any of your favorites to make it theirs and have turned out like they just loved it. Do let me know. Enjoy the rest of the sunny day and will see ya all tomorrow.


Something you might like :

http://www.macaronicheeserecipes.com/
. 

peasome carrotsome ..plzz

OMG ..this weather ...had a bad weekend, rain, fog and cold and now today little sunny. Its so difficult on kids with this constant change in weather, just too much to take. But it being sunny in afternoon had a chance to take kids out in the sun and get some Vitamin D ( as my daughter says) ..yippy!
Well how was your weekend, hope you all had fun doing something.
This week i am planning to put some recipes that kids would love to eat and can be made with groceries on hand. Please let me know anything that you might want me to address in this blog . Will be happy to help you out with.
Well so finally decided to make some hot soup for the kids last night..turned  out yummy but kids did not really know the ingredients and ate it !
So made peas and carrot soup with tiny elbow macaroni pasta and goldfish crackers..


Ingredients:
1 cup frozen peas,
1 cup chopped carrots,
1 cup finely chopped onions and teaspoon of ginger if desired
1 tablespoon of butter ( generous)
salt and pepper to taste
1 table spoon heavy cream to add creaminess ( optional)


Method:
Start with 1 table spoon of butter in a pot with heavy bottom and add onion ( and ginger if desired ).
Let it cook until onions softens a little bit and now add peas and carrots and cook covered for 3 -4 minutes or until the vegetable softens a bit.
Now at this point if you wish you can either add little heavy cream to add creamy consistency or just opt it out.
Let the soup cool a little bit, then blend it in the soup/ food processor . Add salt pepper to taste and guess what you have one yummy healthy food ready in minutes to serve to your kids or the entire family.
You could also boil the paste of your choice and add it at the end when the soup is ready and sprinkle some colorful goldfish crackers to make it more palatable  to the young ones.
Enjoy.


Be back tomorrow with some more.




Something you might like:


http://peasandthankyou.com/

Foggy weather !

What just happened ? yesterday was a nice summer day and today cool foggy could not believe it in the morning.. well need to cheer up still got the whole day ahead.
So thought of making something different. Today I tried the Secret Paratha (its a soft leavening bread like naan) and made it out of all mom's secret ingredients spinach, chana daal, carrot and corn ! . Its every mothers dream that my kid eat veggies every day. So this is to all the mom's out there . Good luck and savor the taste of victory, your kid will ask for more.


Ingredients :
2 cup fresh chopped spinach
1/2 cup soaked chana daal
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup defrosted corn
whole wheat flour varies on th consistency of the dough from 1-2 cups
salt to taste


for base :
1 table spoon ginger garlic paste
1/2 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoon oil


method :
Start with a little big pan . Put oil in the hot pan followed by onions and ginger garlic paste. Give it a minute to cook. Then add the chana daal , stir it, cover it and let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Do not add salt yet. Now add all the chopped vegetables , stir and cook uncovered until veggies are done. Now add salt to taste.
Let the mixture cool a little. Once cooled you can either used the chunkier version or can blend these ingredients in the food processor before kneading the dough.
Now start adding flour in the vegetable mixture and  knead the dough. The dough should be soft enough to roll in to the shape of pancake using the rolling pin.
Heat a flat pan and when hot put the rolled paratha on the pan give it a minute on each side and then cook it with 1 teaspoon of oil to give it little brown spots on the third flip.
Your secret vegetable paratha is ready.
You can serve it with yogurt and/ or fried green chillies.

Enjoy

Did you know that...

The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded after liftoff on this date in 1986, killing all seven crew members. After a comprehensive examination it was determined that cold weather contributed to an O-ring failure. ( www.wunderground.com)

Stew

So finally my experiments started with making one new thing everyday for dinner. Guess what i came up with the lentil stew.
A stew is somewhere between soup and a thick gravy. It can be made with all different varieties of ingredients it can be vegetarain or meat version too. But mine was vegetarian version.
So the ingredients were:
1 cup lentil ( now you can choose from a variety ..toor dal, chana dal)
I cup chopped onion,
1 cup chopped tomatoes and 1/2 cup chopped potatoes
1/2 cup choppes carrots
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 green slit chilli
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
and salt to taste

You will need to start by soaking the lentils for about half hour followed by boiling them to that point where they are half way done , later you add the chopped onions, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes in it and partly cover and let it cook. ( you could also use pressure cooker - if using so cook lentils in the open cooker until half way done and after vegetable added to it u can pressure cook it)
Next come tadka. Tadka is like a hot oil with indian spicies to wake up the flavour ofthe vegetables and lentil. So we take about a tablespoon of good olive oil and then when it gets warm to hot add mustard seeds,tumeric and greesn chilli and ginger and add it to the daal mixture.
Voila , your stew is ready. Add salt according to your taste.

Oh, just before i forget you can also do the entire above recipe production in your slow cooker just mix everything at once except the tadka part and forget abt it for four hours on high setting and then check and later you can add tadka and salt.

Enjoy
Will be back with more tomorrow.

meal plan

last night talking to my best friend came up with a thought of making a new dish everyday. It would be very difficult considering to super picky eaters in my home..well never late to try.
My work friends always adk me what is it like to be vegetarian ? well more on the vegan side though..as i am not so much into eggs and its not so bad..
many friends still think that i am missing a lot on the part of not eating meat but honey i got my proteins from large group of lentils that i grew eating up back in india....
more info can be found on the below link if anyone interested in finding vegetarian food choices..
http://www.vrg.org/

enjoy and see ya all t/m with a new food every day for 31 days...
namaste
ishita

my morning

hello california...
what a nice day..summer in mid winter..makes me want to make some yummy food starting morning..
As a kid i always had something warm breakfast made be my mom and thought to share with you all.i made "upma" (indian cuisine)not everyone may be familiar with this term- its made from coarse suji flour with boiled carrot and peas .oh heaven so yummy and kitchen smells like yum yum...this is my first blog so not sure if including recipes would make it more exciting or not ?