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.

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3 Day Detox Diet -- Detox Salad with Beets & Arugula

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Detox Diet

Dish: Detox Salad with Beets & Arugula Salad

I have to admit I was a little skeptical to start a detox diet. I've never done a detox or a diet in my life and the thought of not eating what I want to eat for 3 days was a little disturbing. But I just wanted to do something for myself -- something for getting healthier.

It took me about 1 week to clean up the fridge and pantry of the mega marathon leftovers and then another week the body for the cleanse. It is best to go easy on coffee, dairy and gluten about a week before you start the actual detox diet. Alcohol and cigarettes are a big no-no a week before and during the cleanse.

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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.

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Brown Rice Bowl with Tofu and Veggies

Blogging Marathon# 61: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Meal Ideas

Dish: Brown Rice Bowl

My second meal idea after yesterday's South Indian meal this brown rice bowl with crispy tofu and vegetables. As I said yesterday, all of my dishes this week are centered around rice. We have started eating more brown rice these days, so I'm always in the look out for more recipes using it. This rice bowl recipe is from America's Test Kitchen newsletter.

This is a balanced meal with carbs, protein & veggies all served in one bowl. The list of ingredients is quite long but most well equipped kitchens will have all of the ingredients or a quick trip to the grocery store will do the trick.

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Avocado Breakfast Sandwich

Blogging Marathon# 59: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Instant Breakfast

Dish: Avocado Sandwich

Day 2 for Instant breakfast and I have another bread based breakfast. Today is a savory sandwich with avocado and other optional toppings.

The idea for this sandwich came from a TV show I watched about an year ago. They had a segment on healthy breakfasts and this avocado sandwich was one of them. I have been making this ever since for myself and enjoy it very much.

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Avocado Mango Salad

Blogging Marathon# 58: Week 3/ Day 2

Theme: Salads

Dish: Avocado Mango Salad

After a super simple moong dal salad yesterday, I have yet another simple, no-cook, easy to make Avocado Mango salad. I made this salad in July, during the peak mango season. But somewhat good-quality ripe mangoes are available in grocery stores all year long. So there is no reason to wait for summer to make this dish.

Recipe is from 'Vegan Eats World' By Terry Hope Romero. All the recipe needs is some chopping and mixing and that's it, you have a delicious salad in no time. Adding cashews adds a nice crunch factor to the otherwise creamy salad.

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Green Quinoa Salad with Peas and Avocado

After a week of Indian dishes, here's a healthy Quinoa salad with peas, avocado and lots of herbs. I like to make this kind of simple dishes when I'm cooking for myself -- everything goes into 1 bowl, mix and eat -- that's it, no fuss, no mess.

This recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine and I made it as soon as I saw the recipe. It is definitely going to be in rotation in my home going forward.

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Jicama-Avocado Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette

I love trying new vegetables and the latest one I tried is Jicama (spelled as hi-ka-mma). Actually I bought it couple of times before, but I was hesitant to use them right away and by the time I was ready, they rotted :-( So this time, I made sure I had a recipe ready and I made it right away.
Jicama also known as Mexican yam or Mexican turnip is an edible tuberous root of a native Mexican vine. I was surprised that it is from a bean family because it almost looks like it belongs to the potato family. Another interesting thing is that the remainder of the jicama plant (except for the root) is poisonous.

Out side of a jicama is yellow and papery and needs to be peeled. Inside is crispy and resembles raw potato or pear. It tastes a little like apple but is not not sweet -- like a bland apple. It is usually eaten raw in salads and sometimes cooked in soups and stir-fried dishes.

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Banana Avocado Chocolate Pudding using Sunwarrior Protein Powder

I have recently started taking exercising more seriously and started doing P90X exercise routine. My aim is not sculpted abs or major weight loss but to get more flexible and have a toned body. There were some exercises that were very tough in the beginning but have now become little less tough. I still have a long way to go in terms of becoming flexible. But I'm happy that I've started doing some exercise and taking care of myself.
After starting the exercise regime, I have been thinking of adding some more protein in the diet by using protein powder. I was researching on the different protein powders available in the market and lo and behold, Sunwarrior sent me a Starter kit to try.

I was very excited to try the various products in the kit. I made this Avocado, Banana, Chocolate pudding aka ABC pudding using Sunwarrior Vanilla Classic Protein powder. What is nice about this Sunwarrior protein is that it is 100% plant based and provides a complete, balanced array of essential amino-acids. Sunwarrior uses an old-world, low temperature, enzymatic process that includes the whole grain of brown rice, including the germ, endosperm, and bran. This unique process captures a protein that's silky smooth and mixes well and tastes great too.

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Coconut Ceviche (Vegan Recipe)

I used to love watching Food Network. But with kids running around it has become almost impossible to watch any TV. Now a days I found the best time to watch my favorite channel is when I'm folding the laundry. So during one of my laundry folding session, I saw a new cooking show on Cooking Channel. It's called 'How to Live to 100' with Jason Wrobel as the host. I really liked the way how the host took a ingredient, transformed it into 3~4 different dishes and then talked about the benefits of using the ingredient.

In the episode I watched, Jason took Coconut as the ingredient and made this Vegan Ceviche using flesh from young coconut. It sounded delicious and looked pretty easy to make. So on my next grocery trip, I bought a young coconut and made this right away. It tasted great with tortilla chips or just as is.

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Homemade Tortilla Chips with Creamy Avocado Dip

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 3/ Day 1
Theme: Kid's Delight - Summer Special
Dish: Homemade Tortilla Chips with Avocado Dip

We begin our 3rd week of Blogging Marathon# 30 today and my theme for this week is 'Summer Special' dishes for Kid's Delight event being hosted by lovely Chef Mireille @ Gourmet Global. Valli @ Spicing Your Life is the brain behind Kid's Delight event. 

We are currently experiencing a heat wave in our neck of woods and it has been might hot outside. Kids and I are staying inside and only get out if it is absolutely necessary. I guess that's the joy of being a stay at home mom. It has been a challenge feeding a picky eater who's home for summer vacation and he says he's hungry ALL the time. So I've been looking for some quick and healthy snacks to feed my little one.

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Avocado Raita

I recently borrowed 'My Indian Kitchen', by Hari Nayak from the library. This is one of the beautiful Indian cookbooks I've ever seen. All the food photos are so colorful and well captured that it makes me want to cook each and every recipe in the book. I've to return it soon, so I'm trying to cook as many dishes as I can.

This avocado raita caught my attention because it sounds so different and tasty. Creamy avocado with yogurt and some spices, that's it--that's all there is to this simple Raita, but it tastes amazing. Author suggests serving it with Kebabs and Rotis, but I've eaten it with rice and just as is -- it tastes great any way.

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Chickpea & Vegetable Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing

Blogging Marathon# 26: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Soups & Salads
Dish: Protein Based - Chickpea Salad

We are onto our 2nd week of marathon for this month. My theme for this week is "Soups & Salads" and to add interest and make the theme a little more challenging, Valli wants us to make soups & salads that use one star ingredient for each dish. Today's dish has a "Chickpeas" as the star protein rich ingredient.

I picked this theme because with my husband travelling on business for the past couple weeks I've been cooking for just myself. Salads fit right in since making a single serving salad is much easier than cooking something. 

This salad is full of fresh crunchy vegetables and fruits and the dressing is yogurt & tahini (ground sesame paste) based. I love adding sweetness to my salads in the form of fresh or dry fruits. Blueberries, sliced strawberries, chopped apples, pears, grapes are great in salads and so are dried cranberries, raisins and other not too sweet dry fruits.

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South Western Couscous Salad

For Day 3 of BM# 17, I made this very quick and easy South Western Salad with couscous. I think any grain can be used instead of couscous and the salad would taste equally delicious. Using couscous cuts down the cooking time considerably. Recipe is from Whole Foods website.

This is a very colorful and healthy salad. Ingredients can be easily substituted with what you have on hand. A perfect dish for summer BBQs and the leftovers taste great chilled the next day for quick lunch.

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Tabbouleh with Guacamole in a Tortilla Wrap

This morning my son, who just woke up, asked me why doesn’t our town have “nowhere”. I was searching for words for a little bit and said there is nothing called “nowhere”. He retorted back, then how did Lightning Mcqueen (the race car in Cars movie) get lost in the middle of nowhere???? Every town should have a "middle of nowhere". I was thinking to myself, how the heck am I supposed to know that, ask the people at Disney who made the movie. Phew, these kids make you sweat sometimes.. 

Well since the day started with a LOT of thinking, I decided not to think too much about dinner and to keep it simple and easy. Keeping with the “Cooking from the cookbook” theme I made Bulgur tabbouleh with guacamole from The Ultimate Book of Vegan Cooking, wrapped them up in a tortilla and called it a day..

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Salad with Homemade Croutons & Avocado Dressing

Salads make for an excellent 30minute meal. Salad greens already washed and packed in a bag make meals even more convenient. Open the bag, add some toppings (tomatoes, onions, olives etc.) and toss with dressing - dinner can be served in no time. But if you want to make it a little fancier with homemade croutons and dressing, then it might take up to 30 minutes, which is perfect for a weeknight meal. This is my 2nd day post for 7-day Blogging Marathon.

I made this Savory Christmas bread from KAF blog. But the bread seemed a little dry (may be because I used reduced fat milk and cheese-not sure) , we enjoyed some of it fresh the day I made it, but for the next day I decided to turn the leftover bread into croutons to toss with salad.

Recipe adapted from KAF catalog.

Ingredients:

Partially stale Bread - 4 cups, crusts cut off and cubed

Olive Oil - 1tbsp

Salt - to taste

Herbe de Provence - ¼tsp

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Combine oil, salt and herbe de provence, and toss with the bread.
• Spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet (lined with foil-for easy clean up).
• Bake for 20 to 24 minutes, turning every 8 minutes until browned and crisp.

While the croutons are baking, make the dressing. I love avocados for their creamy textures and neutral flavor. I think they pick up any flavor you want them to pick up. I love to make chocolate pudding with avocado, unsweetened cocoa powder and some agave nectar-I think it tastes divine. There's not much of a recipe for this dressing, since it's nothing but smooth guacamole thinned out with water to dressing consistency. Here's how I made it.

Ingredients:

Avocado - 1 ripe, pitted and flesh scooped

Jalapeno pepper - 1

Garlic - 2 cloves

Scallions - 3, chopped

Lemon juice - 2-3 tbsp

Mint leaves - 3tbsp, chopped

Coriander leaves - 3tbsp, chopped

Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:

• Blend all the ingredients until smooth without adding any water. Just before tossing with the salad, add just enough water to thin out the dressing.
• Without adding water, the dip will stay fresh in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.

Putting the Salad together:

By this time, you should have your salad greens out of the bag and in a large bowl mixed with some chopped tomatoes, green onions, cucumbers or any other veggies that you favor. Add some protein with some cooked chickpeas or any other beans, chopped boiled egg, chopped cooked veggie burger (we love Morning Star vegetable burger in salads). I added some cooked store-bought veggie meatballs.

Then add the dressing, mix well and finally add the croutons and some cheese (feta or queso fresco are my personal favorites, but cubed pepper jack or mozarella are yummy too). Now it's time to enjoy your salad creation!!!!!

Don't forget to check out what my fellow marathoners are cooking up today!!

30 Minutes Meals:
Priya Mahadavan
Pavani

Seven Days of Salad:
lla
Divya Vikram

For Ongoing 7 Events:
Priya Suresh
Harini
Suma Gandlur

Kids Friendly:
Vatsala
Jay
Kamalika

Seven Days of Rice:
Veena Krishnakumar
Priya Vaasu
Padma Rekha

Recipes for my Cinco de Mayo feast

This post has been due for quite sometime, I posted my pics for Cinco de Mayo feast on Cinco de Mayo day (1st of May). So better late than never, here are the recipes.

Rice & Beans:

Basmati rice – 1cup, rinsed and soaked for at least 15 minutes
Black beans – 1 cup, cooked
Chickpeas – 1 cup, cooked
Zucchini – 2 medium, chopped
Carrot – 1 medium, chopped
Onion – 1 large, chopped
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Tomato puree – 1 cup (I used canned crushed tomatoes with basil)
Cumin powder – 1tbsp
Chili powder – 2tsp (or to taste)
Lemon juice – 2 tbsp (optional)
Green onions – 2, for garnish

Method:

• Cook basmati rice and keep aside to cool.
  
• In a large skillet, heat 2tbsp oil on medium-low flame. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent.
  
• Add zucchini & carrots; cover and cook till the veggies are ¾th cooked.
  
• Add the beans; cover and cook till the veggies and beans are completely cooked through. Add tomato puree, cumin powder, chili powder & salt. Simmer for 6-8 minutes.
  
• Add the cooked rice, mix well making sure that the rice does not get mushy. Add lemon juice (if using) and mix well. Garnish with green onions; serve with guacamole, salsa (or guaca-salsa) and sour cream.

For Guaca-Salsa you need:
Avocado – 1 small, pitted and flesh roughly chopped
Tomato – 1 small, deseeded and roughly chopped
Red onion – 2 tbsp, finely chopped
Jalapeno – 1 small, deseeded and finely chopped
Garlic – 1 clove, finely minced (use garlic press, if you have one)
Lime juice – 1tbsp (or to taste)
Salt & pepper – to taste

• Mix all the ingredients in bowl and mash with the back of a spoon or a fork. Taste and adjust seasonings.

I made these quesadillas with Trader Joes Corn-Chile Tomato-less Salsa and grated sharp & milk cheddar cheese. All I had to do is layer them on corn tortillas and they were just perfect, sweet & tangy from the salsa and oozing cheese. Yumm.

Creamy Avocado-Cilantro Dressing

I love avocados, they are so creamy and delicious. I usually buy a 4 pack from BJs, I make sure that I pick slightly firm ones. I let them ripe on the counter for 2-3 days, use as required or refrigerate in plastic bag for future use, but make sure to use them up within 7-10days. I add them to salads, use them to make rotis (thanks to Indira for her awesome avocado roti recipe), make guacamole or make this dressing.

This makes a thickish dressing that’s great on a salad or as a dip. Inspired from Rachael Ray’s avocado dressing.

Ingredients:
Avocado – 2 ripe
Cilantro – 1 cup, roughly chopped
Red Onion – 1 small, chopped (or 2 medium shallots)
Juice of 2 lemons (more or less depending on the tanginess of the lemon)
Garlic – 2 cloves, minced
Jalapeno – 1, chopped
Olive oil – 2-3 tbsp
Salt & pepper – to taste

Method:

• Put all the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

I served it over salad greens with grape tomatoes and chopped scallions. This is my entry to JFI-Cilantro being hosted by Cilantro. Thanks to Cilantro for extending the date for sending in the entries. Indira @ Mahanandi is the brain behind JFI.

Bento Bowl

We had spicy tofu bento bowl for dinner tonight. Recipe is adapted from Vegetarian times magazine.

Ingredients:
(Serves 2 people)
For Spicy Tofu
Tofu – 12 oz. pkg, drained and cut into 1" pieces
Soy sauce – ¼ cup
Chili sauce – 3tbsp
Sesame oil – 2 tsp

For the Salad:
Brown Rice – 1 cup, cooked
Mixed Salad greens – 1 cup
Avocado – 1, sliced thinly
Soy sauce – ¼ cup
Ginger – 1” piece, grated
Lemon juice – 1 tbsp


Method:

• Whisk soy sauce, chili sauce and sesame oil in a bowl.
• Heat 2tsp oil in a large sauté pan. Dip tofu in the chili mixture and fry in the hot pan for 8-10 minutes, tossing to make sure that all sides are browned evenly. Remove and keep aside.
• To assemble the salad: Whisk soy sauce, ginger, lemon juice in a small bowl. Mound half the rice in a serving bowl, top with the mixed greens, avocado and tofu. Serve with the sauce.