Quinoa Mango Salad for #Food of the World

This month's country for 'Food of the World' event is Senegal, a country located in West Africa. I wasn't familiar with Senegal or Senegalese cuisine until I started looking for recipes for this event. I made this simple quinoa salad with mango from here.

Since Senegal borders the Atlantic Ocean, fish is a very important component in the cooking. Most other meats are also popular except for pork due to the nation's large muslim population. Peanuts are the primary crop of Senegal along with couscous, white rice, sweet potatoes, lentils and various vegetables.

Read more »

Quinoa-Lentil Falafel

Blogging Marathon#66: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes 

Dish: Quinoa Lentil Falafel from Food52

Today I have a yummy variation to traditional falafel. This is made with quinoa and lentils instead of chickpeas and fava beans. I bookmarked the recipe from Food52. Original recipe used whole mung beans but I subbed them with some French lentils.

These falafel are baked and are healthier than the traditional deep fried version. Adding quinoa makes them more substantial and filling. Along with quinoa and lentils, chickpea flour or besan is added to bind the falafel and also to impart a nutty flavor.

Read more »

Avocado-Palak Roti

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 3/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Lunch Box Recipes

Dish: Bean Burrito with Potatoes
For the final day of this week's marathon, I have a healthy roti for the kids lunchbox. I was planning to make Nalini's Avocado roti but then had some baby spinach in the fridge that needed to be used up, so that's how these avocado-spinach rotis were born.

Avocados are very healthy and provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, vitamin E and folic acids. I like it quite a bit but my husband is allergic to it, so I usually eat it by myself but never make it for the family. But I wanted to at least see how the kids like it.

Read more »

Laotian Eggplant with Tomatoes for #Food of the World

We are visiting Laos this month for the Food of the World event. I made this Laotian Eggplant with Tomatoes and Mint recipe from Vegetarian Times magazine.

Laos is a landlocked country bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the West. I've heard about Laos, but had very limited knowledge of the country or the cuisine. A little googling later, I learnt (from Wiki) that steamed sticky rice is the staple food of Laos and they eat more sticky rice than any other country in the world.

Read more »

Chettinad Beet Kola Urundai (Indian style Beet Croquettes)

Blogging Marathon# 65: Week 3/ Day 3

Theme: 1 Vegetable -- 3 Dishes

Dish: Beet Kola Urundai

For the final day of this week's marathon, I made these delicious Chettinad style Beet kola urundai. Some of my BM friends have made them during the last mega marathon and I thought they were very interesting but I wasn't sure how they would taste.

These urundai can be made by soaking and grinding dal like in Gayathri's recipe. But I wasn't really prepared to make this dish the day I made them, so went with Nalini's recipe for an instant recipe which uses ground roasted gram to hold them together.

Read more »

Indian Style Beet Salad

Blogging Marathon# 65: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: 1 Vegetable -- 3 Dishes
Dish: Indian Style Beet Salad

We are starting a new week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is to pick 1 vegetables and make 3 dishes. My favorite eggplant and the family favorite potato were fighting to get into the spotlight this week, but I wanted to give the less favored Beets a chance, so this way I can add new recipes to my repertoire.

I am not a big fan of beets but at the same time I don't completely dislike it. The whole family is against it -- the color doesn't attract them at all, I think it actually make them go the other way. Anyway my husband liked this beet salad that I made during the detox diet (I guess he was forced to like it after eating the same dishes 3 days straight), so that is one of the main reasons for picking Beets for the week.

Read more »

Vegan Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Filling and Ganache for Blog Anniversary

I started this blog in 2006 to share the recipes I was trying at home and at the time I wasn't even thinking of how long I would keep doing it. I am actually surprised that I have been doing this for 10 years already. So here's a chocolate cake recipe to celebrate the occasion.

Even though I remember about the blog anniversary, with everything else going on in life, I wasn't actually planning on making anything special. But the BM group pushed me to get off my lazy behind and make this delicious chocolate cake. This is dedicated to the BM group, all my blogging buddies, my readers and my family who inspire me to keep blogging. Thank you all for your support without which this wouldn't have been possible.

Read more »

Vegan Rich Chocolate Mousse

Today I have a rich chocolate mousse recipe that is guilt free and sooo delicious. The secret ingredient in this mousse is soft silken tofu. I was initially skeptical about using tofu in a dessert because I've had some really bad experiences with tofu based desserts years ago and I have not gone back to it till now.

I saw this recipe in Vegetarian Times magazine and wanted to give it a second chance. I was pleasantly surprised how chocolaty and creamy this mousse turned out and there was no tell-tale sign of tofu. I made this last weekend to eat as a movie night treat and both my kids absolutely loved it.

Read more »

Vegan Lemon Cupcakes

We are cruising past May with jest speed, last weekend was my birthday and Mother's day. We had a fun weekend getaway to Connecticut and a beautiful Mother's day party at a dear friend's house. Hope you guys had a good Mother's day. But make sure to appreciate your mom not just on her special day, but every day of the week -- she deserves it :-)

I made these cute little mini lemon cupcakes for Mother's day last weekend. It is a variation of the basic vegan vanilla cupcake recipe, but instead of vanilla flavored with lemon zest and pure lemon extract.

Read more »

Mexican Chocolate Date Truffles (Vegan Energy Balls)

After doing the detox diet, I have been trying to avoid processed foods and refined sugar in our diets. But sometimes it is difficult to stop those afternoon sweet cravings. Instead of reaching to those chocolate candy, here are a much healthy and nutritious alternate -- these Mexican Chocolate Date truffles.

These little energy balls are made with medjool dates, nuts and cacao powder. They are no-bake, no-cook and are perfect when you are short on time. I used mixed nuts with almonds, cashews, pistachios and peanuts, but you can use any one nut or your favorite combination of nuts.

Read more »

3 Day Clean Eating Detox Diet -- My Experience and the Outcome

If you have been following my blog, then you already know I did a 3-day Detox diet and I've posted the recipes for the dishes to eat during the cleanse in the past couple of days. I wanted to do a post on everything that's involved with the cleanse, in case you are interested in doing it yourself. 

Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian or nutritionist -- I followed the Clean Eating detox program from Clean Slate cookbook and I'm simply giving what's written in the book. 

Other Detox Diets: You can google 'Detox Diets' and there are quite a few different ones available (there's Dr. Oz's detox, Gwyneth Paltrow's detox, then there's all-juice detox). Read through them and pick one that fits in to your lifestyle.

Read more »

3 Day Detox Diet -- Detox Soup with Carrot & Green Beans

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 1/ Day 3
Theme: Detox Diet

Dish: Detox Soup with Carrot & Green Beans

What I really liked about this 3-day detox diet is that we never felt we were dieting or eating less in the 3 days. The portions of all the meals are quite substantial and we are also allowed 2 snacks each day -- either 1oz. of nuts and/ or 2 pieces of fruit. Today I have the recipe for the soup that is served for dinner during the cleanse.

It is a simple soup with carrot and green beans. Make the full batch on the first day and you are good to go for the next 2 days. Hot soup is poured over fresh spinach and chopped dill and then steeped for 5 minutes for the greens to wilt.

Read more »

Zucchini Thoran (Kerala Style Zucchini stir fry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 4: Kerala Cuisine 

Day 25: Z for Zucchini Thoran

It is the last and final day of this month's mega marathon and time sure flew right by. For letter Z, I knew I had to make something with Zucchini, but it took me a while to finalize on what to make.

After discussing with Rajani about the possible zucchini dishes to make, I finally made this zucchini thoran from Kitchen Mishmash. Thoran is a very simple and basic Kerala dry curry that can be made with just about any fresh vegetable. I make cabbage thoran quite often, so I tried making zucchini thoran this time.

Read more »

Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 4/ Day 2
Theme: No Tomato Gravies
Dish: Mixed Vegetable Curry in Coconut milk gravy

After yesterday's yogurt based curry, today I have a coconut milk based curry that is creamy and delicious. Coconut milk is a great vegan alternate and is much healthier than using heavy cream.

This recipe is from Mallika Bhadrinath's 100 gravy recipes cookbook. Along with coconut milk, a freshly ground spice paste gives this dish creaminess and a nice spicy kick.

Read more »

Vegan Tuna Sandwich Wrap & The Florida Keys

Disclosure: I was selected as a member of Honest Cooking for this sponsored post on behalf of The Florida Keys. Some of the content and photos of Florida Keys have been provided by the sponsor.

Sunday was the first day of Spring and it SNOWED!! Oh I wish I was in a warmer place, how about Key West. It sounds just like heaven now. It was a favorite destination for Ernest Hemingway, Jimmy Buffett, and many more.

I have never been to Key West but I have heard a lot about its beautiful palm lined streets, it's distinct mixture of cultures and the island is not only home to a strong seafood scene, but a tantalizing fusion of cuisines. At night, the streets lite up with vibrant sidewalk cafes that lure in passersby with delicious scents of their specialties. Live music and hopping bars are the perfect pairings to watch the sunset into the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more »

Thai Coconut Lime Dressing (and a Salad) Vegan recipe

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Cook with Coconut

Dish: Thai Coconut Lime Dressing

Today's dish uses coconut milk in a very interesting way, in a salad dressing. I bookmarked this recipe from Food52 a while back and made it for this week's 'Cook with coconut' theme because who doesn't like creamy coconut dressing with Thai flavors and served with colorful veggies. I sure do :-)

This recipe could not be simpler, mix all the ingredients for the dressing, chop all the ingredients for the salad, cook rice and assemble. Original recipe used fish sauce in the dressing and I subbed it with low-sodium tamari (soy sauce would work well too). I'm sure fish sauce is much more flavorful than just soy sauce, so if you can your hands on some vegan or vegetarian fish sauce, by all means use that. This dressing is great for salads or as a dipping sauce for spring rolls or lettuce cups.

Read more »

Chocolate Banana Pancakes

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Kid's Delight -- Chocolate

Dish: Chocolate-Banana Pancakes

Today's dish combines 2 of my kids favorites -- chocolate and pancakes. I've made pancakes with chocolate chips before but never entirely with chocolate. Eating these feels like eating dessert for breakfast which I must admit was thoroughly enjoyed by all (including me).

Read more »

Aloo-Methi Paratha (Paratha stuffed with Potato and Fenugreek leaves)

Valli, Wish you a very very Happy Birthday!!!
It's our BM Commander-in-Chief, Valli's birthday today and to celebrate the day the BM group decided to cook any dish from her blogs and post it. Valli is our organizer, our motivator and our inspiration. Without her Blogging marathon event, I don't even know if I would be blogging so regularly or not. So big thanks to her for creating this group and leading it so efficiently for more than 5 years now.

Read more »

Spicy Tofu Sofritos

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from Fellow BM Bloggers

Dish: Tofu Sofritos from Smruthi's Herbivore Cucina 
For the final day of this month's blogging marathon, I made Tofu Sofritas from Smruthi's Herbivore Cucina. I bookmarked it when I saw it on her Top 15 recipes of 2015. This is a restaurant style dish that can be easily made at home.

If you are wondering what Sofritas is, then here's a nice infographic by Chipotle that explains how cooked and crumbled tofu combined with sofrito (a very popular Latin spice mix) makes this amazing tasting dish that they call Sofritas. I ate sofritas at Chipotle once and was planning to make it at home and then I saw it on Smruthi's blog, so finally made it myself.

Read more »

Coconut & Tamarind Rice

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 4/ Day 2

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes from Fellow BM Bloggers

Dish: Coconut & Tamarind Rice
Today I have a delicious variation to tamarind rice. I bookmarked this coconut tamarind rice recipe from Priya's blog the minute I saw it. I made it couple of weeks back and it tasted amazing, so simple to make but very flavorful and delicious.

Tamarind rice is one of the dishes that is made very frequently in my household, typically around the end of the week when I'm running out of veggies and also during festival season. Both my kids love peanuts, so I had a little extra for them in this dish.

Read more »