Apple Salad

Hey Lovelies,

Remember me? I know it's been 5ever since I blogged, not sure if anyone missed me or even noticed but I feel I'm such a bad blogger. I've been busy lately, mostly due to packing,moving, all such boring stuff  and partly due to shopping. It was a smooth move, our friends helped us with abundant supply of yummy food, moving, unpacking and what not? Totally blessed with awesome friends.

 I was not in a mood to cook elaborate meals for  a month or so I guess..hence the 'easy&quick meals' board on my Pinterest happened and found this Apple salad recipe somewhere but I din't pin it then cos I dozed off.. With whatever I remembered, I recreated this salad for brunch. AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! I know I say that very often but I'm a foodie like that! The crunch of apple with the sweet-tart flavor of honey-lime dressing is just out of the world..
 Don't like apple? Try this!
 Big fan of apple?*hi5* Try this now, like right now!!
 Okay Okay off to the recipe now.. 

Ingredients

• Apple- 1 (chopped into chunks)
• Spinach- handful 
• Walnuts(optional)- 1/2 cup(lightly crushed)
• Salt- to taste
• Pepper- to taste

For dressing 

• Honey- 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice- 2 tbsp
• Canola Oil- 1 tsp
• Sugar- a pinch

Method

• Mix all the ingredients under 'dressing' and shake well.
• Combine all the ingredients and pour the dressing over and shake well.
• Enjoy!

Chickpeas Cranberry Pomegranate Salad

                             

Looking for an easy & quick salad recipe? Here I come with a simple salad recipe that I hope you all will like :).

This is a healthy and colorful salad. The crunchiness of veggies, sweetness of cranberry and  pomegranate fruit with dressing of lemon juice will be awesome in taste for salad lovers . Enjoy!!

Quick tips for making a good salad, 

• Salad must have the correct level of salt and pepper. 
• Always toss the salad in a big wide bowl.

Ingredients 

• Channa/Chickpeas - 1 1/2 cup
• Pomegranate - 1 
• Colored bell pepper - 1 1/2 ( I used green, red, yellow & orange)
• Dry cranberry - 2-3tbsp 
• Lemon - 1 (squeezed)
• Onion - 1/3 cup (finely chopped)
• Cilantro chopped - 2tbsp (finely chopped)
• Salt as needed
• Pepper as needed

Method

                         

• Soak chana over night and pressure cook for 3 whistles.
• Toss all the ingredients together in a wide bowl along with salt, pepper and lemon juice. Mix well.

                              

 Tips

• You can also add green mango. 
• You can also add one slit green chilli to make it little spicy.   

Eggless Strawberry Mousse

                          

"Let's party! Summer is here 

and strawberries are blossoming like red roses"

Strawberry mousse is an easy and delicious dessert which can be made with ingredients in your refrigerator. I made this dessert without using eggs or gelatin. Do you know the best part about this dessert? this doesn't require cooking. 

This is a simple and quick recipe for a family get-together or potluck with friends or even a pleasant surprise for your loved one.. anyway it's a treat not to be missed which will make you feel satisfied and refreshing.

You can make this mousse with different fruits like raspberries, blueberries or blackberries. Here you go with the recipe.

                          

Ingredients

• Strawberries - 1 small box (may contain 10-12)
• Sugar - 4tbsp
• Vanilla cookies - 10 (you can use any eggless cookies)
• Chocolate grated - 3 tbsp (for garnish) 
• Heavy whipping cream - 2 cups 

Method 

• Wash strawberries well and take off the leaf part. Then chop the strawberries roughly and throw them into the blender along with a tbsp of sugar. Puree them and keep aside.
• Now start grating chocolate bar and keep aside. In another blender add vanilla cookies and blend them to powder. 
• Take a mixing bowl, add heavy whipping cream with a tbsp of sugar. Beat the cream with a help of hand-mixer until soft peaks form.

                                 

• Add little strawberry puree to the whipped cream, mix well and reserve rest for later use.
• Now to the serving glass add first layer as vanilla cookies, second layer as strawberry puree and third layer as whipped strawberry mixed cream. Finally garnish with chopped strawberries, grated chocolate and strawberry puree. 
• Repeat the process for rest of the glasses. Keep it in refrigerator until served.

                          

                                               Enjoy!

Tip

• You can add powdered sugar also.
• Adding cookies is optional. 
• Add sugar according to the tanginess of the berries. 
• Allow it to set for an hour before serving.  

Check our other mousse recipes also mocha-mousse| nutella-mousse| mango-mousse|

      

Lemon Rice

Lemon Rice is one of the easiest South Indian dish that can be prepared in no time. And the best part is, it works so well (if not even better) with leftover rice. 

I couldn't emphasize enough on how little I knew about cooking during my initial days in kitchen. Cooking everyday lunch was a great ordeal to me. And recipes like this were God sent.

It is perfect for lunch box or even to pack for travel. So the next time, you are clueless on what to pack for lunch or too lazy to cook – you now know what to do!

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice : 2 cups ( cook rice such that grains are separate and not mushy. Allow it cool completely. Leftover rice works best)
Lemon Juice: freshly squeezed from 2 to 3 lemons
Peanuts: 1 tbsp
Mustard seeds: 1/4 tsp
Channa Dhal: 1.5 tsp
Urad Dhal: 1.5 tsp
Turmeric Powder: 1/4 tsp
Hing/Asafoetida: 1/4 tsp
Curry Leaves: 1 sprig
Dry Red Chillies: 3
Cilantro: for garnish (optional)
Oil: as required
Salt: as required

Preparation:

1. Add freshly squeezed lemon juice to the cooked rice along with salt. Keep it aside.Give it a taste test to adjust the quantity of lemon juice and salt.

2. Roast the peanuts in little oil till they get crisp and turns brown.

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan and when hot, add mustard seeds. 
2. When the mustard seeds splutter, add channa dhal and give it a quick stir for 30 seconds.
3. Add urad dhal, red chillies, turmeric powder, asafoetida and curry leaves.
4. Fry for few seconds until the lentils change color. Make sure you do not burn the lentils.
5. Turn off the stove and add the rice to the pan along with fried peanuts.
6. Mix very well but gently making sure the color and spices are evenly mixed without breaking the grains of rice.
7. Garnish with cilantro and it is ready to serve
8. Serve with papads or it goes very well with potato fry.

Tips:

1. You can fry cashews and add to the rice.
2. You can also add ginger and green chilli while tempering.