Strawberry-Arugula Salad with Fruity Jam Dressing

I'm a huge fan of food related shows and competitions on TV. I used to watch a ton of cooking shows before, but with the kiddo taking over the TV and the busy work-life schedule, I don't get to watch my favorite cooking shows anymore. But any chance I get, Food Network & Cooking Channel are the channels I spend most time watching. 

CheeseCake Frozen Yogurt

For the last day of the marathon under the "Calcium Rich dishes" theme I made this decadent cheese cake flavored frozen yogurt. Yogurt and milk are great sources of Calcium. 

Here's the Calcium content of the ingredients used: Greek Yogurt (1 cup - 25% DV), 2% Milk (1 cup - 297mg), Mascarpone cheese (1 oz. - 3% DV).

Spinach, Black Beans & Cheese Enchiladas

Today's Calcium-rich dish is a very creamy, filling and delicious Mexican dish: Spinach, Black bean & cheese filled tortillas baked with creamy enchilada sauce and more cheese until gooey. This is a great make ahead dish -- make the filling, roll it up in the tortillas, pour in the sauce - freeze at this stage and when ready, bake until cheese melts and everything is heated through.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's site. Original recipe had a no-cook filling, but I cooked them briefly.

Brown Rice - Vegetable Bowl with Tahini Dressing

We start the 4th and last week of Blogging marathon for this month today. My theme for this week is "Calcium Rich Foods". Here's some information to know about Calcium intake.

Calcium is the most vital mineral for strong bones. It is also essential for blood clotting, muscle contraction, and nerve function. If we don't take in enough calcium, our body uses the calcium reserves in our bones to supply the muscles, heart and nerves. So it's important that we take the required daily dosage of calcium -- milk and other dairy provide over 50% of dietary calcium, it is also found in beans and legumes, some green vegetables, such as spinach and broccoli, and nuts and fruit.

Vitamin D is vital for proper absorption of calcium and produced when the skin is exposed to sunlight. About 15-20 minutes of sunlight a day on the face and arms during the summer months enables the body to store enough vitamin D to last the rest of the year. 

High intake of protein and sodium (salt) increases the excretion of calcium in the urine. Also high intakes of caffeine can reduce the absorption of calcium. 

Chocolate Fudge Pops

For the last day of the marathon, I made these yummy Chocolate Fudge Pops, recipe courtesy from Everyday Food Magazine. This summer I made quite a icy and creamy treats to beat the heat, some old favorites like my Mango Ice cream and some new like these chocolate pops. I also tried my hand in making ice cream brownie sandwiches and frozen yogurt. Will try to post the recipes for these soon (hopefully before Summer ends).

 

Chocolate Pizza (Grilled)

Chocolate & Pizza are two of my son's favorites (or can I say, any kid's favorite), so what perfect way to combine these two than make a Chocolate Pizza. I made this chocolate pizza on the grill using the goof-proof grilled pizza recipe I posted the other day. But this can be made in the oven with any of your favorite pizza crust or even store bought pizza crust to save time.

 

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

We begin the 3rd week for Blogging Marathon today and my theme for next 3 days is "Kid Friendly recipes with Chocolate" for Kid's Delight event. I know first hand how much my kid loves chocolate. I mentioned about his LOVE for all things chocolate a number of times here and so when I saw the theme with chocolates, I thought this what could be better than making more chocolate delicacies for my son.

Since all these recipes are going to Vaishali's Kid's Delight - Chocolate event, they have to be eggless. So for today's chocolate delight, I made this "Double chocolate Zucchini Bread" from King Arthur flour site. The original recipe had eggs, but I used egg replacer to make it eggless.

Grilled Pizza

I don't want to say it aloud, but the fact of the matter is we have almost come to the end of summer in our neck of woods. It is still feels hot not, but it won't be too long before the leaves start to change color and the wind starts to get chilly. So, before ALL of that happens, I want to post from Grilling Recipes that we have been enjoying in the warm weather.

One of my favorite Grill recipes that I tried this summer is this Grilled Pizza, recipe courtesy Vegetarian Times magazine. This is one fool proof recipe to make excellent grilled pizza. The trick is in pre-baking the crust in the oven to set it and then finish with the toppings on the grill. Pre-baking helps in easy transportation of the loaded (or should I say overloaded) pizza from the table to the grill and there is no way your pizza is going to sag over the hot grates.

 

Soy Bean Dosa

For Day 3 of "Cooking from BM Blogs -- Valli's Spicing your Life", I chose this protein rich, healthy breakfast dish: Soy Bean Dosas. Once the dosa batter is fermented overnight, it is ready to be used and including the chutney making time, this whole breakfast can be completed in less than 30minutes.

To accompany the crispy I made Valli's Red Bell Pepper and Tomato chutney. This tangy and spicy bright red chutney is the perfect accompaniment to the dosas.

Vegetable Poha

For today's "Cooking from Valli's blog" theme, I decided to make this super quick and healthy breakfast/ lunch dish, "Vegetable Poha". Valli used the thin poha and was able to finish her dish in 10 minutes, but I had only the thick variety on hand and mine took about 15-18 minutes. 

Tomato Biryani

Yet another week flew by and I'm back for this month's 2nd edition of Blogging Marathon. For this week, my theme is "Cooking from BM Blogs". It was really difficult to settle on one blog and I had 3 recipes picked out from almost all of the marathoner's blogs and finally made 3 dishes from Valli's "Spicing your Life". 

Valli is the master mind behind Blogging Marathon and I'm always amazed on how she manages to be a full time working mom of 3 young kids, an active blogger AND organize blogging marathons, cooking melas and Indian Cooking Challenges. Blogging marathon has given me a chance to try variety of dishes and also keep my blog active at least 2-3 times a month. So big Thanks to Valli for being an inspiration to me.

For today's post, I made Valli's quick & delicious "Tomato Biryani" that goes with the "30 minute meal" theme. I bookmarked it the minute I saw it on her blog, but haven't had a chance to make it until now.

Chicken & Spinach Curry

If you are confused from the title, rest assured this is still a vegetarian blog. Today's recipe is made of meat-free 'Chicken' (I used Gardein brand) and meaty mushrooms in a creamy and rich green spinach gravy. Even with meaty, creamy and rich in the description of the dish, this happens to be a Vegan dish that tastes amazing.

I've been meaning to make this dish from Vaishali's (Holycow Vegan) blog for a long time now. "Cooking with Greens" theme for BM and choosing a combo with a gravy dish, finally made that happen. 

Dill & Spring Onion Roti

For Day 2 under "Cooking with Greens" theme, I made these Dill and Spring onion rotis. To be honest, dill is not one of my favorite greens, I feel that it have a overwhelming flavor. But knowing that this fern looking green is packed with anti-oxidants and a ton of health benefits, I wanted to give it another try. 

I used about ¼ cup of the chopped dill along with spring onions to make the rotis. I was pleasantly surprised that I actually liked the mild dill flavor and even more surprised when my son asked for seconds.

Mexican Green Rice (Arroz Verde)

Here I am for another edition of Blogging marathon (BM# 19). This time I signed up for all 4 weeks since the themes were very interesting, thanks to our brilliant organizer Valli for that. It has been really busy past few weeks -- too much work at office and home. With my husband travelling continuously for the past 2-3 weeks, once I get home, I can't even find time to turn on the computer. But things are looking up and hopefully this madness will end pretty soon.

The theme I chose for the first week is "Cooking with Greens" and I picked the combo with Indian bread, Rice & a Gravy dish. So that is what is coming up for the next 3 days. As I said before, life's been a little crazy and I couldn't prepare the dishes in advance, like I usually do. Me and my son will be like Popeye eating spinach and other leafy greens for the next 3 days.