Quinoa Black Bean Salad

                          

Quinoa Black Bean Salad is a quick, easy and healthy dish to prepare. This salad has a wonderful taste, nice aroma of garlic, olive oil and lime flavor. The brightness and color of the salad is best for parties. We love the quinoa salad at Costco and was eager to try this salad at home. Basically my husband is a soup and salad lover. I prefer making chickpeas cranberry pomegranate salad or black eyed pea salad or apple salad but wanted to give this a shot for a change and it worked wonders. Quinoa lovers, please refer our quinoa pulao posted earlier. Here's my version of the Costco's quinoa salad...

Ingredients 

• Quinoa - 1 cup (soak for 30 mins in water and wash well before use)
• Water - 1 1/2 cups
• Green bell pepper (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup 
• Red bell pepper (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup 
• Jalapeno (finely chopped) - 1
• Onion (finely chopped) - 1/2 cup
• Black olives - 1/3 cup 
• Black beans (I used tin) - 1/2 cup

For dressing 

• Garlic (finely chopped) - 3 cloves 
• Lime - 2
• Olive oil - 1/4 cup 
• Lime zest - 2 tsp
• Salt as needed 
• Pepper as needed 

Method 

• In a kadai, cook the quinoa with 1 1/2 cups of water. Once quinoa cooked, allow it to rest for sometime and fluff it with a fork. Keep it separately.
• Take a wide mixing bowl -  add onions, green & red bell pepper, jalapeno, black olives. 
• Drain water from black beans in the tin and wash it several times to remove the preservative smell.  
• Then add black beans to the bowl along with cooked quinoa.

                            

• Now start preparing the dressing for the salad in another bowl by adding the ingredients mentioned under " for dressing" one by one. Mix well. 
• Add the dressing to the bowl. Toss well with the quinoa.
• Quinoa black bean salad is ready to be served. 

                             

Tip 

• You can replace black bean with chickpeas or  black eye peas.
• You can add tomatoes without seeds. Its optional.
• You can add all colors of bell pepper to make it colorful.

     

Masala Pori/ Spicy Puffed Rice

One cold rainy evening, my friend and I were staying indoors at my friend’s place trying to study for an upcoming test. The weather outside was just not cooperative. It was getting as gloomy as it can get. All we wanted to do then was toss away the books, munch on something crunchy while sipping on a cup of hot tea and then sleep burrowing our heads inside a cozy blanket (of course, after praying that the test should get cancelled due to heavy rain!) 

As a wise man once said, “When you truly want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”, there came my friend’s mom with a bowl of this crunchy snack – ‘Masala Pori’ and a warm cup of tea! It was just the perfect timing…like the universe heard our prayers. Oh don’t give me that look and say it is an exaggeration. You should know what I am talking about, if not, you are not doing something right! Every time I eat this snack, I will be reminded of my friend and her mother. This is easily one of my favorite snack as it is not only tasty but also healthy and can be prepared in a jiffy.

P.S – We did toss away our books and did sleep like the dead after munching on these, followed by of course some gossip time (thanks to the tea), thinking the universe is on our side. But damn, we never knew that the universe can at times be the husband who fails to pay attention to the complete sentence!

(We did have the test. Can we just stop with that and not ask about the results? Thank you!)

Here is the recipe of ‘Masala Pori /Spicy Puffed Rice’, in case you are wondering why I started telling you this story!

How To Remove Carpet Stains

I know people with carpeted floors would agree with me when I say that maintenance is no easy job. And with pets at home?? No joke at all! Our ever so hyper puppy once hurt himself while playing and before we can even attend to him, he was running around all crazy. The result of which - Blood stains on carpets!

As luck may have it, I happened to come across a solution to remove carpet stains only recently. I gave it a try and know what, it worked like magic.

I think we are now friends enough for you to trust me when I say, this is the same carpet area as above. Yes it really worked. The difference in carpet color and texture in second picture is because of rubbing the mixture and dabbing it wet.

So here are the things you will need for the magic potion -

1. Baking Soda
2. Dish Washing Liquid
3. Wiping Cloth

Method:

1. Mix baking soda and dish washing liquid to form a thick paste.
2. Dab the washing cloth in the paste and gently massage through the stained area.
3. Using another cloth wet with water, clean away the residue that may be left.

Tips:

1. There can be some white stain left but that goes away after you clean it with a wet cloth (step 3)
2. Test a small section of your carpet area to check if it has a negative reaction which I don't think will be. But as always, precaution is better than cure.
3. Try to do it immediately after stain. I tried it when it was a fresh stain and not later. So I am not sure how effective it is later.

Paneer Butter Masala

                       

Paneer butter masala is a popular Indian dish. It is a delicious, rich creamy gravy cooked with onion and tomato. This gravy goes well with corn pulao, jeera rice, pulka, naan or roti. Ideal for special dinner or parties. During my school days, whenever I go to a restaurant I will order paneer butter masala and butter naan without even looking at the menu. I make this gravy quite often when I have family (or) friends coming over to our place and its an instant favorite among kids. Here you go with the simple but rich recipe.....

                           

Ingredients 

• Paneer - 1cup (Cut into small cubes and then soak in hot water until used)
• Onion - 1cup (roughly chopped)
• Tomato - 1 1/2 cup (roughly chopped)
• Green chilly - 1 (slit into two)
• Ginger - 1 inch 
• Garlic - 4 cloves 
• Cashew nuts - 6
• Cream - 1/4 cup (its optional, you can replace with milk also) 
• Kashmir red chilli powder - 1/4tsp 
• Turmeric powder - 1/2tsp 
• Coriander powder - 1tsp
• Salt as needed 
• Honey - 1tsp
• Kasoori methi - 1tsp 
• Butter - 2tbsp
• Oil - 1tsp 
• Cardamom - 1
• Clove - 1
• Cinnamon - 1small piece 
• Bay leaf - 1

Method 

• Heat a pan with tsp of oil, add whole garam (cardamom, clove and cinnamon) when it starts to splutter, add onion fry till golden brown color.

                            

• Add tomato, cook till mushy then add ginger, garlic, give a quick mix. Add turmeric, red chilli and coriander powder, give a toss. 
• Once the raw smell goes add cashewnuts. Give a quick stir. Switch off the flame and allow it to cool. Grind them to a smooth paste.

                             

• Heat a pan with butter, add bay leaf and onion tomato paste. Cook till oil separates. 
• Now add salt, honey, kasoori methi and paneer. Cook until the gravy coats paneer. 
• Finally add cream and cook in low flame for 5 minutes.

                             

• Paneer butter masala is ready to be served. While serving add chopped cilantro. 

                             

Tips

• You can use milk instead of cream. It's your call. 
• You can also replace cashew with almond.
• You can also shallow fry paneer and add to the gravy.
• Adding kashmir red chilli powder will give you that restaurant color. I never prefer adding color to my food. 
• Always remember after adding cream cook in low flame or else it may curdle. 
• Spicy level should be mild because its paneer butter masala.   

Bread Upma

At times, I am this over ambitious person when it comes to meal planning for the week.  And I miserably fail every time when it comes to breakfast. Most of the times, my Plan A would be some elaborate menu which outright-ly screams ‘FAILURE’. But knowing me better, I keep my Plan B, Plan C… Plan Z ready with Plan B – having a loaf of bread handy so I can make a quick toast or a sandwich. But more often than not, I will be forced to Plan Z almost every day – fruits! Come on, I told you I am a total failure with breakfasts. And then I get those angry glares from the bread loaf making me as guilty as possible.

Enough of failure stories. It’s time to brag a success story! It was one of those ‘The bread glares till I die of guilt’ days. And I knew how exactly to deal with them. I made this Bread Upma for evening snacks that used up the entire loaf. Yes, finally done with them all at once and they can never be happier as they cannot be any tastier.

It came out absolutely delicious if I can say so myself. Husband and I loved every bite of it. Give this recipe a try and I am sure you will not be disappointed.

Ingredients:

1. Bread - I used one loaf of bread completely. You can use as much as you want.

2. Mustard Seeds - 1/2 tsp

3. Urad Dhal - 1 tsp

4. Channa Dhal - 1 tsp

5. Onion - 1 large

6. Tomato - 2 medium

7. Ginger Garlic Paste - 1/2 tsp

8. Sambar Powder - 1 tsp (Homemade Recipe here)
9. Red Chilli Powder - 1/2 tsp (adjust to taste)

10. Coriander Powder - 1/2 tsp

11 Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp

12. Turmeric Powder - 1/4 tsp

13. Salt - as required

14. Oil/Ghee 

15. Lemon juice- optional

16. Cilantro - for garnish

Preparation:

1. Cut bread slices to squares or roughly tear them to smaller pieces.

2. Slice onions lengthwise.

3. Chop the tomatoes roughly.

4. Heat some oil/ghee in a pan and roast the pieces of bread to golden brown.

5. Transfer the roasted bread pieces to a plate.

Method:

1. Heat some oil/ghee in a pan.

2. Add mustard seeds and allow it to splutter.

3. Add Channa Dhal and give it a 30 seconds head start.

4. Add Urad Dhal and fry the lentils until golden brown.

5. Add Onions and fry until transparent.

6. Add Ginger Garlic paste and saute for 30 seconds until the raw smell goes.

7. Add the chopped tomatoes, turmeric powder, sambar powder, red chilli powder, coriander powder, garam masala, salt  and give it  a good mix.

8. Cook the tomatoes until soft and all the masala is absorbed.

9. Toss the roasted bread pieces and mix well to make sure the masala is evenly coated on all the bread pieces. 

10. Squeeze some lemon juice and garnish with cilantro.

11. Serve Hot.

Tips:

The ingredients listed are just to give you the basic idea. You can adjust it to your taste.

Removing the brown ends of the bread is optional although I removed it

Blueberry syrup for pancake

                             

Are there any blueberry lovers out there? I personally love blueberries and would pick them up whenever I go to get my groceries. I'm not a fruit eating person and finally found a way to enjoy the fruit which I love without actually eating them ;-)

I decided to make a homemade blueberry syrup. It's very easy to prepare and delicious. You can use this syrup to top your eggless pancake, waffles, homemade lychee ice cream, cakes, eggless french toast, french toast etc.

You're out of syrup? and you want to try something new.. this would be a life saver..
                         

Ingredients 

• Blueberry - 1cup 
• Sugar - 1/2cup 
• Water - 1/3cup
• Corn flour - 1tsp

Method 

• In a sauce pan add blueberry, sugar and water together. Mix well. 
• Cook in medium flame and keep mixing continuously until the fruit softens.
• When the fruit starts to soften, mush little of them. Add corn flour and mix.
• After adding corn flour the syrup starts to thicken at that stage switch off the flame.
• Blueberry syrup is ready to be served with pancakes or waffles or plain sponge cake, anything of your choice.

                      

Health benefits of blueberry 

• Low in fat. One cup of blueberries are 80 calories.
• It contains dietary fiber.
• Helps in building healthy immune system. 
• It has required amount of vitamin C and excellent source of manganese. 
• It has high amount of antioxidant. 

You can refrigerate this syrup for 7-10 days.  

Check our Blueberry Lemonade     

Karamani/Lobia/Black Eyed Pea Salad

We take our evening snacks a little too serious at my home.  Both husband and I are not much of a breakfast person. We usually go with fruits and smoothies. But we definitely need something to munch in the evenings. As much as I would love to have an extravagant evening snack and keep the dinner simple, time is not being my best of friends these days. So I am forced to keep my snacks simple. Black eyed peas salad is one such snack that is healthy, delicious and can be prepared easily. With no further ado, here is the recipe.

The ingredients mentioned here are just the ones I used and to give you an idea. You can be creative as you want or customize it to suit your taste and availability of the ingredient.

Peach Smoothie

Peach is one of the grand total of 3 fruits that my husband likes. We got a big box of peaches from Sam's club, so we're binge eating it. We usually eat it as a dessert post dinner. Today I was in mood for some smooothayyy, so peach smoothie it is! 
Remember my avocado milkshake that I raved about? it was THAT creamy only more flavorful. 

 It is.. umm..
Creamy
Sweet
Refreshing
A tad tart
Tropical
Very filling
Yes that's what it is.. and the bonus is it's color! So pretty right? Or is it just me? o_O
Anyhoo, let me give you guys the "recipe". 

Ingredients

• Peach - 1
• Milk- 1/2 cup
• Honey- 1 tsp

Method
Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.And that's it!! Serve it with chia seeds/ peach chunks/ a drizzle of honey.

Tips

1. You can also add a banana to make it even more creamy & healthy.
2. You can also add some ice cubes.
3. You can also drink right out of blender, no one's gonna judge you.

Are you a smoothie addict too? Check out our other smoothie recipes here.

Capsicum pasta in red sauce

As most of you, I'm a big fan and marathon watcher of "FOOD NETWORK". I watched this recipe and then tried it several times in my world. You might think what is my world? Its my 'kitchen'. 

It's an easy, delicious, flavorful pasta. When I made this pasta, it was a big hit. My hubby is crazy about pasta. He wants to try different flavors and kinds of pasta.

The schools are closed for the summer holiday and I'm sure your kids will love this pasta. This is a  super quick idea for dinner or lunch with a side of garlic bread and a glass of fresh juice of your choice. That would make it a complete meal. I have also posted some more pasta recipes like spinach pasta, vegetable pasta, do try those recipes as well. Stay tuned for more kids recipe ;)

                           

Ingredients 

For the red sauce 

• Tomatoes - 6 (Blanch tomatoes in hot water, peel the skin and blend to smooth paste)
• Basil leaves - 4 (roughly chopped)
• Garlic cloves - 3 (finely chopped)
• Black olives - few 
• Salt as needed 
• Sugar - 1 tsp (to subside acidity in the tomatoes)
• Pepper as needed 
• Olive oil as needed 
• Italian herbs - 1 tsp 

Method 

• Heat the pan with olive oil, add garlic. Saute in medium flame for few seconds. Add blanched tomato puree and give a quick mix. Cook in medium flame for 10 minutes.

                        

• When tomato puree boils, add salt, sugar, pepper, Italian herbs, basil leaves and black olives. Give a stir and cook for 5 minutes in medium flame.
• Now red sauce is ready. Keep it aside. 

For capsicum pasta

• Pasta - 2 cups (any shape you can use)
• Capsicum - 1 1/2 cups (all color)
• Basil leaves - few roughly chopped 
• Black olives - few 
• Pepper as needed 
• Salt as needed 
• Onion - 1/2 cup finely chopped 
• Garlic - 4 (finely chopped)
• Italian herbs as needed 
• Mozzarella cheese for garnish   

Method 

• Keep a water in pan and bring it to boil. Add salt and olive oil, then add pasta to it. Cook it in high flame for 10 minutes. Once done strain the water from pasta and keep aside. 
• Heat pan with olive oil, add and fry garlic till raw smell goes then add onion saute till transparent pink color.

                         

• Add capsicum and give a quick toss, add salt, pepper, italian herbs, black olives and basil leaves. Mix and cook in high flame for 3-5 minutes.
• Now add pasta to the tossed capsicum. Mix well.
• Add the tomato puree to the pasta and cook for 10 minutes. 
• Capsicum pasta with red sauce is ready to be served hot with garlic bread and choice of your juice.  Garnish with cheese when hot and serve.

                         

                    

Tips

• If you want pasta to be cooked faster, you have a trick - soak pasta in water for few hours before cooking.
• Don't over cook the capsicum. It should be crunchy.
• You can avoid cheese and have as such. 

      

Eggless French Toast

You all know that every kid loves a little snack. If you feed them with yummy and tasty snack they will love it.. One such snack is this eggless french toast. 

I tried this recipe for the first time when I had to baby sit a couple of kids who are vegetarian and they don't even add eggs to their food. This fresh toast was tasty, looked like a regular french toast and easy to prepare with 5 ingredients available in your pantry. 

The kids adoration for the toast was out of the world. It made my day looking at their smiley faces. ;-) .. My husband loves french toast and when I told him over the phone about this eggless french toast, he couldn't believe his ears.... I was waiting for him to come back home to make him this french toast. When he had the toast, he was enjoying and relished with praise. 

You will enjoy this sweet version of eggless french toast. I will soon post the savory version. Here you go with the simple & easy to prepare recipe :)

                           

Ingredients 

• Bread - 6 (I used white bread)
• Milk - 1/2cup
• Vanilla custard powder - 2tsp 
• Sugar - 2tsp 
• Butter - as needed 

Method 

• In a pan boil milk in medium flame. 
• Take the warm milk in a wide bowl. Add sugar and vanilla custard powder. Mix well.
• Heat a pan with butter. Dip both sides of the bread in milk. 

                           

• Toast both sides of the bread on a pan until golden brown color. Add more butter if it's sticky.
• Hot eggless french toast is ready to be served with maple syrup and a bowl of fruit for breakfast. 

                                 

Tip

• If you don't have custard powder, replace it with cornflour and vanilla essence which will also give same taste.
• You can sprinkle cinnamon while serving. 
• You can also make with wheat bread.
• While dipping the bread slices in milk do not let it stand for long time otherwise it would become mushy.    

Check out our french-toast post.

   

Garlic Butter Sautéed Asparagus

Have you guys tried asparagus? Only last week I tried it for the first time- I know, right?!I feel like I have been living under one big rock, how did I NOT know that asparagus was this delicious and healthy! 

Anything that's healthy AND delicious automatically becomes my favorite.. This is such a easy recipe, takes hardly 10 minutes to cook and can be served as appetizer or as a side to any rice or pasta. I wanted to serve this as a side to burnt garlic fried rice but the buttery, garlic-ey aroma wafted throughout the house, got tempted and we had it as an appetizer. It goes well with: cilantro-lime rice, tofu fried rice, spinach pasta.. It's gonna be a regular at my place but too bad I realized this at the end of its season! Try it, you guys!

Ingredients

• Asparagus spears- 5
• Butter- 1 tbsp
• Garlic- 2 cloves, minced
• Salt & Pepper- to taste

Method

1. Cut the end part of asparagus and wash them.
2. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add butter.
3. Add garlic and saute until slightly brown.
4. Now add asparagus and sprinkle salt & pepper over it.
5. Let it cook until it gets tender.
6. Remove from heat and serve.

Eggless Chocolate Chip Cookies

What?!? It has been a month since my last blog post. I have always tried to be regular with my posts. Okay, at least, I don’t think there has ever been such a long gap before. No excuses whatsoever. I just did not have the right mind for it or to be more honest, I have been too lethargic. Trust me, I really feel so bad about it now. I made these cookies which now looks like forever ago and here, I am updating the recipe only now!  I am just hoping it never happens again.

Before I die of guilt, let me give the recipe of these delicious eggless chocolate chip cookies. It tasted just perfect. You can never guess that they are eggless. So let’s get started! Shall we?

Blueberry lemonade

With mercury hovering around 95deg F in Chicago, I badly needed a  ice cold drink to beat the heat.. Sometimes we crave for food which are labor-intensive but lemonade be so easy, so refreshing and let's not forget that it's healthy too and so Instagram worthy! This is perfect for picnics, parties, make it an adult drink and laze by the beach.. Ahhh! How I love summer!! If you aren't doing any of the above(I feel ya), just make this lemonade and chill at home!! 

Also, if you have kids or big babies aka husbands who dislike fruits, this is the easiest and subliminal way to include fruits in their diet. Or even better pour this into the Popsicle mold and freeze, you'll see them vanish in no time!! See 1 recipe, 2 ideas!! You can also try with strawberries, raspberries, watermelon..you name it!

Ingredients

• Blueberries- 1 cup
• Sugar- 1/2 cup
• Freshly squeezed lemon juice- 1/2 cup
• Water- 5 cups

Method

• Combine sugar and 1 cup water in a pan over medium heat.keep stirring until sugar dissolves.
• Pour in blueberries and wait until the blueberries soften and break down.
• Strain the blueberry mixture through a fine sieve.
• Once it cools down, add 4 cups of water and lemon juice and mix well.
• Let it chill in the refrigerator for an hour.
• Serve with ice cubes and blueberries.
• Enjoy!

Linking this post to:

Hearth n Soul bloghop

Green Pulao

Mint pulao or green pulao is so flavorful and easy to prepare. Mint is called as "Phudina" in Tamil. This recipe recalls my childhood memories when my mum used to pack my lunch box with the phudina rice & potato fry which I used to share with my classmates.

Whenever I prepare this dish, our home will be filled with nice aroma and inviting us for an early lunch. This dish goes well with any simple raita or veg korma. I'm happy to share my mom's recipe with you all :)... Enjoy!

   

                             

 

Ingredients

To grinding

• Mint (washed and roughly chopped) - 1bunch 
• Cilantro (washed and roughly chopped) - 1/2 bunch 
• Shallot - 7 
• Garlic clove - 5
• Ginger - 1 inch 
• Green chilli - 4 
• Sugar (to retain the color) - pinch 

For the rice 

• Basmati rice (soak in hot water for half an hour) - 2cups
• Onion (finely sliced) - 1
• Bay leaf - 1 
• Cardamom - 2
• Clove - 2
• Cinnamon - 1
• Salt as needed 
• Ghee - 2tsp
• Oil - 1tsp
• Water - 3cups

Method 

• Grind all the ingredients under the "to grind" into a smooth paste. 
• Heat kadai with ghee & oil, add cardamom, clove, cinnamon and bay leaf. Saute for few minutes then add onion, fry until it turns transparent pink color.

                             

• Now add green paste and saute till raw smell goes. 
• Drain the water and add soaked basmati, give a quick stir. Add water bring it boil. 
• Cook in high flame till water is absorbed by the rice. Now cover with lid and cook in low flame for 10-15 minutes without disturbing.

                           

• After rice is cooked, switch off the flame and wait for 5 minutes.
• Now fluff the rice with fork and serve it with raita and chips.

                         

                            

Tips

• You can get creative with the recipe and add tomatoes, paneer, soya protein, veggies etc as per your preference.

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.