September 2008 Archives

September 29 Sheer Khorma : An Eid Delicacy



September 29 Methi Khakhras(Crisp Fenugreek Snack) with Achari Dip(Spicy Yogurt dip)



September 27 Qubooli(Lentil Biryani) With Kaddo Dalcha(Pumpkin lentil soup)



September 26 Broccoli Soup


September 23 Cheese Apple Souffle with Caramelized Peach Sauce


September 22 Fish Vegetable Cutlets



September 20 Sweet Focaccia with Fruits(Italian Bread)



September 19 Lemon Almond-Ricotta Cake with Yogurt Cheese



September 17 Beet Cheese Treats



September 16 Are You getting daily dose of Calcium? : Dairy,Vegetables,Lentils and Seafood Recipes



September 12 Tears in Patience : Nabeel's Battle with Asthma



September 12 Whole Grain Blueberry Almond Banana Muffins



September 9 Ramadan and Charity



September 8 Mutton Dopayaza(Lamb Onions with Flaky Parathas(Flat Bread)



September 8 Kheema Vegetable Sevia(Minced meat Vermicelli)



September 8 Broccoli Kheema


September 8 Lamb Chops


September 8 Methi(Fenugreek) Onion Pakodas


September 4 Ramadan and Diet

Tried and Tasted Jugalbandi: Avocado Veggie Parathas

Jugalbandit's Veggi-mole Parathas was an easy pick for Zu's Tried and Tasted. Never made my parathas so nutritious before ,with super foods like spinach and Avocado these parathas are healthy ,spicy and tasty . Truly admire healthy ideas and recipes of Jai and Bee.

Ingredients Needed
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ripe Avocado ,mashed(or 1/2 cup leaf over guacamole)
1/2 cup blanched spinach
1 green chilly chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon chilly powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon Olive oil

Method
Blanch spinach by dropping in boiling water and after a minute drain and squeeze out excess water.
Make the dough by mixing all the ingredients. Knead well and let rest for 5 minutes.

Heat a pan or tava and roll the parathas single or layered. Spread some olive oil while roasting the parathas. Serve with any curry.

Turkey Sprout Wraps

Turkey Sprouts Wraps
Sprouts Salad(Without the Snap peas) is an excellent stuffing for a sandwich .Adding some low fat protein like smoked turkey along with leafy lettuce can make a fulfilling wrap on the go.

Gingered Egg Plant and Snap Peas Pasta.

Eggplant chutney adds a spicy kick to this colorful concoction prepared using fresh snap peas and your favorite kind of pasta.
Ingredients Needed
1 lb Whole Grain fussilli or penne pasta
1/2 cup of Egg plant chutney
3/4 lb of Sugar snap peas or snow peas
1/4 cup peas.
1 teaspoon freshly minced ginger.
1 tablespoon chopped Basil.
2 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 teaspoon sea salt

Method
Fill a large pot three-quaters full of water and bring to a boil. Put the peas in the boiling water and simmer for a minute. Remove the peas using strainer or spoon and rinse under cold water and set aside.
Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al-dente(with a bite to it),8-10 minutes.Drain thoroughly.
In a large bowl whisk together olive oil,chopped basil,minced Ginger and the egg plant chutney. Stir in peas and pasta. Toss gently to combine and coat the pasta evenly with the dressing and serve.

I'm submitting this recipe to Weekend Wokking, a world-wide food blogging event created by Wandering Chopsticks celebrating the multiple ways we can cook one ingredient. This month's secret ingredient is the EGGPLANT
The host this month is Marija of Palachinka.

Its Celebration Time! : A Birthday and Awards

A Birthday
Each year of good health is a true blessing. Why not celebrate with a healthy cake loaded with chocolate. I found the recipe of Zucchini Cake in the book Zucchini and Chocolate and also at Joy of Baking.
I baked this cake countless times before and on many occasions gifted it to my friends and my son's teachers. Who ever tasted the cake never knew a cake could be so delicious with zucchini in it.
I usually bake with Olive Oil but just this time I'm making it more rich with butter. The zucchini makes the cake moist and fluffy while chocolate gives it a deep flavor.
Ingredients Needed

2 medium Zucchini ,Shred 1 1/2 of Zucchini with peel on and Slice rest for Garnish
1 1/2 cup of All-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch-Process Cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Baking powder
1 cup firm packed brown sugar
1/2 cup bitter sweet chocolate chips.
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick(1/2 cup)of butter at room temperature or 1/2 cup Olive oil
3 large Organic Eggs.
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Method
Preheat Oven to 350F and grease a 10 inch cake pan with butter.
Prepare the Batter
Sift all the dry ingredients(flours and powders) in large mixing bowl.Mix in the chocolate chips and toss to coat the flour on the chips.
In another mixing bowl whisk together softened butter or oil and sugar until creamy. Crack the eggs and whisk some more, stir in vanilla and shred zucchini. Do not over mix.
Bake
Now combine wet and dry mixtures. Pour in the baking pan and set in the oven for 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Let cool for at least 2 hours on a rack. using a table knife loose the edges of the cake and flip in a plate. Flip again on a serving plate and garnish with reserved slice of zucchini(you don't have to eat them,though) or more melted chocolate.



Awards
Zainab and Meedo from the Delicious blog Arabic Bites have passed me the prestigious Arte Y Pico award.

The rules of the award are:
1. Choose 5 blogs that you consider deserving of this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and their contribution to the blogging community.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name of and link to the blog that presented her/him with the award.
4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize has to show the link of Arte Y Pico blog so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. Show these rules.

I would like to award it to

Very Generous Srivalli at Cooking for all Seasons

Lubna at Kitchen Flavors, my first blogging Buddy

Very Friendly Suma at Suma's Cuisine with huge collection of Crowd pleasing recipes

Kate/Kajal at AppleMint , who amazes me with her brilliant skills at photography.

Talented Sangeeth at Let us all cook

Few weeks back Lubna at kitchen flavors passed on to me the Brilliant Weblog award.

Brilliant Weblog is a prize given to sites and blogs that are smart and brilliant both in their content and their design. The purpose of the prize is to promote as many blogs as possible in the blog sphere. Here are the rules to follow:


1. When you receive the prize you must write a post showing it, together with the name of who has given it to you, and link them back.

2. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs (or even more) that you find brilliant in their content or design. Show their names and links and leave them a comment informing they were prized with ‘Brilliant Weblog’.

I'm passing this award to some of the brilliant web blogs and sites i know

Mona at Zaiqa

Sefa at Food is Love

Kevin at Closet Cooking

Nidhi at Sizziling Bites

Purva at Purva's Daawat

notyet100 at Asan Khana

EC at Simple Indian Food

Enjoy your awards everyone! :)

Fruity Chunky Chocolate Cookies(Vegan)

These low-fat all vegan cookies are decadent with Dark chocolate chunks in every bite ,sweetness from fruits and honey and could certainly become one of your favorite kind of Chocolate indulgence.
Ingredients needed
1 green or bosc pear.
2 ounce(about 50grams) Dark chocolate(i'm using the dark chocolate bar with nuts and fruits)
3/4 cup All-purpose flour unbleached
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 table spoon Honey
2 table spoon milk
pinch of Salt
3 tablespoon Olive oil.

Makes about 8-10 medium size cookies


To make these Scrumptious cookies
Poach the pears
Peel and core the pears.Cut the pears in 4 quarters. Bring 1 cup of water to boil in a saucepan and poach the pear quarters for about 20 minutes. Drain all water from pears and coarsely chop in a blender or food processor. Set aside in a bowl.
Prepare the Batter
Preheat Oven to 375F.
Break the Dark Chocolate in to big chunks.Sift flour and other dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix in the processed pears,chocolate chunks and stir in honey ,oil and milk. Add few more drop of milk if needed to bring the ingredients together.
Bake
Grease your cookie sheet and drop a spoonful of mixture about 1 inch apart in 2 rows.
Bake for 22-25 minutes until lightly brown on top. Serve warm with cold glass of milk.


These snacks are my entry for Hima's Sunday Snacks Event

Poached Pears With Ginger Dates Sauce

Ginger is one of the few spices which is used both in savory and sweets dishes.Poached pears are so simple to prepare ,along with the ginger dates sauce the flavor is intensely delicious .It can be served at any elegant dinner party.


Ingredients needed
1 cup water
1 inch piece of fresh ginger peeled
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoon Date syrup or Maple syrup or Honey
2 Green or Bosc pears, cut core away as you work
2 small scoop low sugar vanilla ice cream
Mint and Blueberries for garnish

Method
Poach the pears
Peel pears. Core pears from bottom, leaving stems attached. Slice the bottom so that pears can be placed upright.

In a saucepan, bring the water, ginger and sugar to a boil. Set the pears upright, and reduce the heat .Simmer the pears until very soft when pierced with a knife (but not falling apart), about 30 minutes.
Remove pears from saucepan place upright in serving dish or individual dessert dishes.
Prepare the Sauce
Remove the ginger piece from the juices in the saucepan.Mix date syrup or Honey or Maple Syrup stir into juices in the saucepan. Cover and cook on high heat setting about 5 minutes or until sauce is thickened.

Spoon sauce over pears.Add scoops of ice cream to the pears and garnish with mint and some fresh blueberries over each serving.

Learn more about Fabulous Ginger Spice here in my post.
This is my entry for Sunita's Think Spice...Think Favorite