A Soup and A Stir-Fry

I often make this combo for a vegetarian Dinner.

It is vegetable Soup and Broccoli Stir-Fry.

The recipe of the soup comes from the kitchen of Rachael ray with slight variations and the broccoli stirfry is just a simple Indian variation for a vegetable that I like very much!

All in all this combo is very healthy and low cal.

For the Vegetable Soup-

You will need-

1 big Onion

2 Tomatoes

1 tsp chopped Garlic

1 cup chopped Celery

2 Carrots

A hanful of Green Peas

A handful of Green Beans

1 Potato

Salt

Black Pepper Pwdr

Poultry Seasoning(optional)

Olive Oil

Method-

Chop all the vegetables roughly.

I normally follow-chop and drop principle.

In a big vessel, heat 1 tbsp Oil.

Saute Onion and Garlic for a while.

Add Celery and Tomatoes.

Mix well.

Add the Carrots,Potato, Green Beans and Peas.

Keep stirring it occasionally.

Add salt and pepper and 1 tbsp poultry seasoning.

Instead of poultry seasoning you can also add Italian seasoning or any other combination of herbs of your choice.

Roast well and then add 2 glasses of water.

You can also add vegetable stock.

Boil well and serve immediately.

You can also add pieces of boneless chicken in the soup if you like.

And instead of vegetable stock you can add chicken stock too.

The Broccoli Stir-Fry is a very easy, quick and healthy dish.

You will need-

1 head of Broccoli chopped into florets

1 medium Onion, chopped

1 tsp Cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Mustard seeds

1 tsp Red Pepper flakes

Salt and Black Pepper pwdr

1/2 tsp Garam Masala pwdr

1 tbsp Oil

Method-

Heat oil in a skillet.

Splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Add the onion.

Saute till it turns pink.

Add the broccoli florets.

Put in all the spices and salt.

Cook on high flame till all the spices coat the broccoli well and it is just tender,but still has a crunch to it.

Serve immediately just like that or with Rotis or Rice.

Black-Eyed Beans Curry

Ingredients-

1 cup Black-Eyed beas/peans/Chawli(dry)

1 big Onion, finely chopped

2 Tomatoes, finely chopped

1 Green Chilli, chopped

1 tsp Ginger-Garlic paste

2 tsps Coriander Pwdr

1 tsp Cumin Seeds

1/2 tsp red Chilli Pwdr

1/2tsp Cumin Pwdr

1/2 tsp Garam Masala pwdr

1/4tsp Dry Mango Pwdr

1/4tsp Turmeric

Salt to taste.

Cilantro to garnish.

Oil.

Method-

Soak the black-eyed peas for around 3-4 hrs in water.

Heat 2 tbsps oil in a Pressure-Cooker.

Splutter the cumin seeds.

Add onion and the ginger-garlic paste.

Saute till the onion is light brown.

Then put in the chopped tomatoes and green chilli.

Add turmeric and salt.

Cook till well blended.

Then put in all the other dry spices and mix well.

Then add the soaked chawli(without the water).

Roast for 5 mins.

Then put in a glass of water.

Close the lid and give 2-3 whistles(till the beans are soft).

Open the lid when the pressure drops and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Serve with Roti or Rice.

Since these beans do not need overnight soaking, ,unlike other beans. you need not plan in advance to make this dish.

This is one of the reasons, apart from its good nutritional value and good taste, I like these beans a lot!

Corn Salad

Asha suggested to me that I must forward this recipe to Hima for her event of What's your Favourite with the theme of Diet Food this month. Thanks Asha.

So this is my contribution for the Diet Food event, Hima.

Corn salad has approximately-
200 calories
2 gms Total Fat
0 mg Cholesterol

Corn Salad is one of the easiest and likeable salad/ side dish/ snack.

It is very nutritious too.

It is also called as Corn Bhel.

I make this salad quite often.

You can make it using fresh corn or the frozen variety.

I always have some corn in my freezer, So I quickly make this as a snack in the evenings often.

To make Corn Salad you will need-

2 cups of frozen or fresh corn kernels

1 Onion

1 Tomato

1 Green Chilli

Juice of half a Lime

Half a cup Cilantro, finely chopped

Salt

1 tsp chaat masala pwdr

Method-

First of all, cook the corn in the microwave on high for 5 minutes.

You can also boil it in the pressure cooker.

For that, fill water in the bottom of the cooker, about an inch and place another vessel in the cooker with corn in it. so that the corn does not become too moist. And pressure cook on high for 5 minutes and then let the pressure drop on its own.

Chop onion, tomato and green chilli.

Mix these chopped veggies in the corn.

Add all the Chaat masala pwdr, salt and lime juice.

Garnish it with chopped Cilantro.

Serve it right away or it tastes great chilled too.

Masala Rice

My favourite way of using the leftover rice for a quick and easy and ofcourse tasty lunch.

This rice is made in different ways.

It is called by various names too!

But the end product is somewhat quite similar!

Whenever I make plain rice for dinner, it has to remain!

For I purposely make some extra so I can make masala rice the next day!

What I do to make this Rice is-

Slice an Onion

Slit a couple of green chillies lengthwise

Chop a handful of coriander leaves

Slice a capsicum, if I have one

Heat oil in a pan.

Splutter 1/2 tsp Mustard seeds.

Add 1/4 tsp Hing, 1/4 tsp Turmeric, a few Curry Leaves and the slit Green Chillies.

Then drop in the sliced Onion.

Let it turn pink.

Then put the sliced capsicum.

Add salt.

Saute for around 3-4 minutes.

Then add 2 cups of cooked rice.

Mix well.

Saute for another 5 minutes.

Garnish it with coriander leaves.

Sprinkle juice of half a lime for a tangy taste.

Serve hot with pickle or curd.

It tastes great!

Gobi Paratha

Parathas are an all-time favourite at our home.

So I try to make different kinds of parathas every now and then.

Recently I have been making Gobi -Parathas a lot!

I dont follow any particular recipe, but whatever I feel like adding ..goes in!

So this is just a basic guideline you can alter the ingredients according to your taste.

To make 4 Gobi Parathas, You will need-

2 cups grated Cauliflower

1 green chilli, chopped

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

1/2 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 tsp cumin pwdr

1/4 tsp garam masala pwdr

1/4 tsp dry mango pwdr

salt to taste

2 cups of wheat flour

Water

Oil.

First of all knead the dough adding salt and water.

It should neither be too soft nor too hard.

Keep it aside for half an hour.

Take a bowl and put in the grated cauliflower, onion, cilantro and all the dry masalas.

Add salt at the end when you are about to roll out the parathas.

Mix all the ingredients well.

Divide this stuffing into 4 equal parts.

Divide the dough also into 4 parts.

Make a ball of one part and roll out a little.
Fill it with stuffing in the centre and roll out again to make a paratha.
Cook on a hot griddle putting oil or ghee on both the sides.

Serve hot with curd or pickle or sauce.

Enjoy!!

My simple lunch today

Usually for lunch I always have some leftovers from the previous night and I just have to make chappati or rice to go with it.

But at times there are no leftovers or there are days when I feel like making something fresh and simple, even though its for me alone.

Today was one such day!

I decided to make a Gujrati Lunch.

So I made 'Gobhi Sambharo' i.e.cabbage vegetable and 'Gujrati Dal' to go with it.

When I was in school, I often visited my Aunt to spend my vacations with my cousins.

And they were in Gujrat. I enjoyed the train journey from Bombay to Gujrat as much as the stay there. My aunt would make all types of gujrati dishes and farsans like sev tomato, Undhiyo, Carrot sambharo, Khaman Dhoklas, Dhabheli, Kachoris and the list is really endless.Though I was not much interested in cooking then, but I did help her in the kitchen often. And so now I try to recreate those dishes in my way for my family and remember those times!

For the Cabbage Vegetable-

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

2 Green Chillies, slit

1 tsp Mustard seeds

1/2 tsp Asafoetida(Hing)

1/2 tsp Turmeric Pwdr

1 tsp Coriander-cumin Pwdr

Salt to taste

Oil

Cilantro to garnish

A pinch of Sugar

Juice of half a lime.

Method-

Heat 2 tbsps of oil in a pan.

Splutter mustard seeds.

Add hing and green chillies.

Put in the chopped cabbage.

Cover and let it simmer till the cabbage is half done.

Keep stirring in between so as it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Then add the coriander-cumin pwdr, salt, sugar, turmeric and mix well.

Cook for a little bit more timetaking care that the cabbage a still crunchy and not over cooked.

Garnish it with cilantro and lime juice.

For making the Dal-

1 cup Yellow Lentils(Toor Daal)

2 Tomatoes, chopped

1 green chilli, chopped

5-6 Curry leaves

1 tsp mustard seeds

1tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp Asafoetida(Hing)

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp red chilli pwdr

Salt to taste

Sugar, a pinch or more according to your taste

Juice of half a lime

Cilantro to garnish

Water

Oil.

Method-

Pressure cook the dal in 2 cups of water till its done.

Then mash it with a wooden churner or hand blender.

Heat oil in a pan.

Splutter mustard seeds and cumin seeds.

Add the curry leaves,hing, tomatoes and green chillies.

Saute for a while.

Then add turmeric, red chilli pwdr, salt and sugar.

Put in the mashed dal.

Mix well.

Add water for the desired consistency and let it boil well.

Garnish it with cilantro and lemon juice in the end.

I had my dal and vegetable with chappatis for a nice, simple and satisfying lunch!

Chicken Cigars

One of my favourite hosts on Food Network is Rachael Ray.
I like the way she cooks and talks!
This recipe comes straight from her kitchen.

It is usually served as an appetiser.
But in our home it is not uncommon to make a meal out of appetisers.

So we had this for one of our quick night dinners!

The only changes that I made were-
Substituting Parsley with Cilantro.
And Grilled Seasoning with chicken tandoori masala.

I used Athens Phyllo dough Pastry sheets.

To make a vegetarian version of this dish I think Soya granules would be a nice choice and also grated paneer would go well.

For making these you will need-

1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons black pepper pwdr
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons Red chilli powder
2 teaspoons Chicken Tandoori Masala
2 tablespoons chopped Cilantro
4 sheets phyllo dough
4 tablespoons butter, melted
Salt

Method-

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Place chicken in a bowl and mix with spices and Cilantro and salt.
Place a piece of phyllo on a nonstick cookie sheet, butter it and top with a second sheet.
Divide the chicken in half.
Form a 1-inch thick log the length of the long side of the phyllo dough.
Roll the log in phyllo tightly.
Cut the chicken filled phyllo into 4 "cigars" and brush with a dab more butter.
Repeat to make a total of 8 chicken and phyllo roll-ups.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden.
And its ready to serve.

I served it with Thai Sweet Red Chilli Sauce.

And now its time for the Awards-

Archana of TriedandTested Recipes was really very kind in forwarding these awards to me-

The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who “effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don’t limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship.

“The Rocking Girl Blogger Award is for bloggers who “are girls or women who blog and who Rock!!!“

I dont think that I really deserve these Awards but nevertheless they are a great source of encouragement.

Thanks Archana for being so thoughtful.

And Now I would like to pass on these Awards to all those bloggers in the blogosphere who have not received them yet!

Enjoy!!