Palak Thepla

For the last day of our week long blogging marathon, Valli paired us with a fellow marathoner and we have to choose a dish that fits our theme from their blog. I got paired with Jayashree @ Luvgoodfood and I found this healthy & delicious Methi theplas that are just perfect as picnic food. They are filling, nutritious and easy to pack AND eat.

I didn’t have enough methi in my container garden, but I had a bunch of spinach that was waiting to be used up, so I made palak/ spinach theplas instead. I changed the recipe a little bit because I was short of time and increased the ingredients. These were an instant hit at home and most of them were eaten before I took my pictures. I had one and half theplas left that I had to use for the pictures.

Ingredients:
Wheat flour – 3 cups
Besan (Chickpea flour) – ¾ cup (I used kala chana besan)
Spinach – 3 cups, finely chopped
Yogurt – 1 cup
Red chili powder – 1 tsp
Cumin powder – 1tsp
Salt – to taste

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients in a large bowl. Add warm water if needed to make a smooth and pliable dough. Cover with damp kitchen towel and let it rest for at least 30 – 45 minutes.
• Divide the dough into lemon size balls and roll them into slightly thick rotis.
• Cook on preheated griddle until brown spots are formed on both sides. Smear some oil or ghee if desired. Serve hot with yogurt or pickle of choice.

Big thanks to Jay for a delicious recipe. Thanks to Valli for organizing the Marathon and looking forward to the next edition.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up for the last day of BM#6.

Curried Brown Rice Salad

After indulging in some chocolate cupcakes & creamy egg salad, today I have a healthy brown rice salad that is perfect for picnics or make-ahead lunches. Recipe is from here. I followed the recipe to the T and the end result was a super hit at home. Slight sweetness from the dressing is complimented very well by the raisins and the addition of toasted almonds gives the required crunch to the salad. A must try for all salad lovers and also for those you are not into green salads (just like me).

I soak brown rice before I leave for work and cook it after I come back in the evening; I found that the rice has a better texture this way.

Ingredients:
Brown Rice – 1 cup (I used brown basmati)
Red onion – ½ cup, finely chopped
Red pepper – ½ cup, finely diced
Chickpeas – 1 cup (½ of a 15 oz. can), rinsed and drained
Cilantro – ¼ cup, finely chopped
Raisins – ¼ cup
Sliced Almonds – 2tbsp, toasted

For the dressing:
Lime juice – 3tbsp (from one medium sized lime)
Agave nectar – 2tbsp (original recipe used honey)
Extra virgin olive oil – 2tbsp
Curry powder – 2tsp (I used MTR brand curry powder)
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Cook brown rice and set aside in a wide bowl to cool. (I use 1:2 rice:water ratio-bring the mixture to a boil and simmer covered for 25-30minutes until all the water is absorbed and rice is completely cooked).
• Add all the other ingredients for the salad except for the toasted almonds to the rice and mix gently to combine. In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients listed under dressing.
• Pour the dressing over the rice and mix gently, taking care not to mush the grains. Garnish with toasted almonds and serve either at room temperature or chilled.

Let’s check what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up for Day 6 of BM#6 (Can’t believe we are almost at the end of the marathon—time just flies!!).

Egg salad with Caramelized Onions

Cole slaws, potato salads & egg salads are not highly preferred dishes for picnics since these are mayonnaise based and at higher temperatures mayo tends to go bad. But I could not stop myself from making this dish, since I love egg salad and caramelized onions and I was sure the combination of both would be delicious. I wasn't wrong; the end result was creamy, yummy and irresistible. You could serve it as is or with bread, wrapped or sandwiched. I enjoyed it with bread as a late afternoon snack with whole-wheat bread.

Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Times magazine.
Ingredients:
Eggs – 4, boiled, cooled and peeled
Onions – 2 medium, thinly sliced
Garlic – 1 clove, finely minced
Dried thyme – ½tsp
Mayonnaise – 2-3tbsp
Dijon mustard – 1tsp
Hot sauce – ½tsp (or more if you are adventurous)
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:

• Heat 1tbsp oil in a medium sauté pan; add chopped onions and cook on low flame, stirring occasionally until onions are nicely browned (not burned) and caramelized, takes about 15-20 minutes.
• Add the minced garlic and thyme; cook for couple of minutes. Season the onions with salt and pepper. If the onions start to stick to the pan, add a couple of tablespoons of water and scrape up the brown bits. Once completely cooked, set the onions aside until cooled.
• Cube the boiled eggs.
• Add cooled caramelized onions, mayo, mustard, hot sauce, salt and pepper to the eggs and mix gently to incorporate.

That’s it the dish is ready to serve or take-along. Make sure that egg salad is kept as cool as possible or eat it as soon as you can (just like I did, right after making it ;-))

Let’s check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up for Day 5 of BM#6.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Oreo Frosting

For Day 4 of the Blogging marathon, I have these sweet little cupcakes that I made for our picnic last weekend. These are rich chocolaty cupcakes with some oreo cookie frosting. I know I had to make these cupcakes when I saw the drool-worthy pictures on Kirbie's cravings blog. I was very excited when my host told me later that the kids really enjoyed these cupcakes with the frosting ending up on all their faces. :-)

I wanted to pipe the frosting neatly on the cupcakes, but as luck has it, I didn't have any heavy cream in the fridge and by the time I ran to the store and bought, we were almost ready to go to the picnic. So I ended up smearing the frosting on the cupcakes. So make sure you have enough time to frost the cupcakes beautifully like Kirby did.

Here's how I made these:

Ingredients:

Bread flour - ¾cup

Unsweetened chocolate - 3 oz. chopped

Dutch processed cocoa - 1/3 cup

Hot, strong-brewed coffee - ¾cup (or use ¾cup of hot water instead, but using coffee is advisable since brings out the chocolate flavor better)

Sugar - ¾ cup

Salt - ½tsp

Baking Soda - ½tsp

Vegetable oil - 6tbsp

Eggs - 2 large

Vanilla extract - 1tsp

White Vinegar - 2tsp

For the Frosting:

Heavy cream - small ½ pint carton, about 250 ml

Confectioners sugar - 3-4tbsp

Oreo cookies - 6

Vanilla extract - 1tsp

Oreo Cookies - 12, for topping

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350°F. Line the muffin baking tin with paper liners.
  
• In a large mixing bowl, add chopped chocolate and cocoa. Pour the hot coffee/ water and mix well until smooth. Set aside to cool completely or refrigerate to cool. I set it aside for about 15-20 minutes on the counter.
• In the meantime get all the other ingredients together for the cake batter. Whisk bread flour, salt, sugar and baking soda in a medium bowl and set aside.
• In a measuring cup, whisk together oil, eggs and vanilla. Pour this mixture on to the cooled chocolate and mix well.
• Finally add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and mix well until smooth.
• Divide the batter evenly in the prepared muffin pan, pouring to about ¾ full.
• Bake for 17 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cupcake comes out only with very few crumbs.
• Remove from the muffin pan after 5 minutes and cool completely on a wire rack before frosting.
• For the frosting: Blend the oreo cookies in a food processor into very fine powder, make sure that there are no pieces visible. Whip the heavy cream with confectioners sugar in a stand mixer with whip attachment or with a hand mixer until stiff peaks form.
• Add vanilla and the oreo cookie powder, mix very gently to incorporate.
• Put the frosting in a piping bag with a decorative tip and pipe on to the cupcakes (or if you are like me just smear using a spatula or bread knife).
• Decorate with extra oreo cookies on top.

Notes: Make sure that these cupcakes are kept as cold as possible in the picnic. Since the frosting is made of cream, under the sun frosting can easily melt.

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have been cooking up for Day 4 of our BM#6.