Food Post #203: When Life gives you Lemons.....

...... set them aside on the countertop for a bit, go back to your refrigerator, open the door, take the container with leftover black beans from the previous night out, shut the refrigerator door, place the container on the countertop beside the lemons, and then just stare at the lemons, and the container with the leftover black beans. Continue staring for a few minutes. Take your time, no rush, it's all good! After a few moments the loud chattering in your brain will slow down, and soon you might experience the brain shutting down, which will result in sheer bliss. And then all of a sudden, it arrives- the eureka moment! You wake up from the blissful stillness, nice and fresh. With that same bliss still lingering inside you, you head to the kitchen drawer where you have stashed away some luscious dark chocolate. You take it out of the drawer, look at it very lovingly, rather lustfully, and then snap a piece off the bar. You know exactly what to do. You know exactly what to make. You put a couple tablespoons of black beans into your nifty blender. There's no need to add any seasoning or flavor to that, because you had already jazzed it up last night.  You go right ahead and process it into a nice thick saucy consistency. You transfer this black bean puree into a tiny pot, get the heat going, and slowly add that dark chocolate into it. As you stir the two together, the chocolate will melt into the black bean puree, and soon you will have created a beautiful dark chocolate colored luscious, delicious, sexy dip. Perfect with some warm tortilla chips, or warm bread sticks, or with sesame toast. Yum! As for those lemons, you have a few options:

Option 1: You pick them all up one by one, and put them back in the fridge. They'll still be there, though, mind you!

Option 2: I guess you could make lemonade, and drink it up.

Option 3: Even better, make margarita. It'll go well with that black bean chocolate dip and warm chips!

Black Bean Chocolate Dip 

Food Post #200- Just Do It

Slightly altered blogpost title from "Daily Food Post (#8)" to Food Post #200. This is my 200th post here! Finally! I started off very enthusiastically way back, and then slowly became irregular, then kinda stopped completely, and then did some intermittent posting- it took a lot of effort on my part, really. And then just last week I decided that I just gotta do this. I remember saying to people when I'd mention this food blog- "Oh, I don't post regularly. I post when inspiration hits me." Okay- that's a whole load of, err, rubbish. I realized that if I continue waiting for that "inspiration" to "hit" me, it'll never happen. And therefore, I told myself- woman, just do it!

Corn Upma 

It is only recently that I got re-introduced to corn upma. I like the simplicity of the dish. It's simple, quick, and delicious, as well as healthy. Wait, then again, that's how most of my cooking is. 

Ingredients: 

Frozen Corn kernel- 2 cups

*This dish will taste way better with fresh corn kernel rather than frozen. If using fresh, it may require using a little bit of water to aid in cooking the corn. It will also take a bit longer to cook

Onion- 1 small, chopped

Green chilis- 2-4 (or 6!), slit and chopped

Coconut- grated, 1/4 cup

Mustard seeds- 1/2 tsp

Asafetida (hing)- a pinch

Oil- 3-4 tsp

Salt to taste

Cilantro to garnish

Lemon juice- a dash

Delicious Corn Upma

Method: 

1. Heat pan with some oil. Add a pinch of asafetida (hing), splutter mustard seeds, add chopped onion, green chilis, and fry for about 5 minutes, or until cooked. 

2. Throw in the corn, add salt to taste, stir fry for another 5 minutes. 

3. Add grated coconut, and cilantro. Mix. Squeeze some lemon juice, and it's ready! 

Yummy! 

It takes under 10 minutes to whip up. It's almost like corn salsa. I like to eat it as it is. It could possibly be eaten with tortilla chips, or in tacos. The fried onions, and the heat from the green chilis, and the coconut make this dish delicious. And it's corny!  

Daily Food Post #2: Chicken and Waffles

The other day I suddenly got this unexplainable craving for some chicken and waffles. I opened the freezer and found an old frozen waffle package. There were exactly two waffles in there, hidden somewhere behind the thick ice that had formed over who-knows-how-many-months. But hey, after chipping off that ice, I found the waffles to be in perfect condition. Definitely 'toastworthy' and edible, whispered the foodie from within me. Now what about the fried chicken? No problem! I am one hecka smart person. And so I picked up the car keys, wore those dorky running shoes that I use for walking, sat in the minivan, ignited the minivan (okay, I just wanted to use the term ignite like that) and headed straight to the nearest McDonald's. Picked up a four piece crispy chicken tenders, and rushed back home. I was excited!! 

Appi's Chicken and Waffles 

Here's how you satisfy that sudden out-of-the-blue craving for chicken and waffles: 

Ingredients: 

Frozen Waffles- 2 

Crispy chicken tenders from your nearest McDonald's- 4 piece 

Syrup of choice OR when they ask you what sauce you want at McD's, ask for honey! ;) 

Method: 

1. Toast the waffles 

2. Place a crispy chicken tender or two on each waffle

3. Drizzle some syrup, such as agave or maple or good old honey, all over the chicken and waffles

4. To fancy it up a bit, sprinkle some smoky chipotle pepper powder 

5. Eat, and enjoy! 

YUM! 

 

    

Daily Food Post #1: Warm Yellow Corn

Considering the rather infrequent posts around here, the reason behind which is that I don't cook extravagantly every single day. I am not a famous chef in any snooty restaurant, or heck, in ANY restaurant, snooty or otherwise. I am just another regular home cook. Now that the disclaimer has been taken care of, I have decided to go the Instagram way. And so here is today's food post:

Warm Yellow Corn, a perfect quick meal for a cold rainy afternoon in Seattle  

Ingredients: 

Frozen yellow corn kernel 1 cup

Salt to taste

Freshly ground pepper 1/2 tsp

A pat of butter

Lemon juice- a squeeze

Method:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, pour in a cup of frozen yellow corn kernel straight out of the package.

2. Run it on high for a couple minutes, until it is nice and warmed up.

3. Add salt to taste, some freshly ground pepper, and a pat of butter. Mix it, and run it on high for another 30 seconds to a minute.

4. Mix, add a squeeze of lemon juice, and eat away!

Quick Recipe 3: Flatbread Pizza with Spinach and Mozzarella

Sometimes, actually most times of late, I don't know what the heck to cook! When I complain over the phone to my dear brother, he says: Go eat some grass off your backyard. 

You know what, I just might in fact do that one of these days!! 

Flatbread pizza is a great idea for people like yours truly. I mean, it is not even a "recipe" really, but it turns out pretty damn good. It's quick, easy, delicious. 

Ingredients: 

Flatbread- any kind such as pita, naan, roti, parantha, lavash, etc. 

Marinara sauce- I love Trader Joe's marinara, it's delicious

Mozzarella cheese- grated

Baby spinach- a few leaves

Method: 

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. 

1. Top flatbread of your choice with marinara sauce, followed by spinach, and grated mozzarella. I like to add a dash of salt and pepper on top of the spinach before the mozzarella. 

Top it up

2. Place on a baking sheet (doh!) and place on the middle rack in the oven heated to 425 degrees F. Bake for 3 minutes. The cheese will have melted. 

3. Then switch off the bake feature, and switch on the broil feature. Broil on high for 2 minutes, or just until the cheese starts browning. 

That's it! Sprinkle some oregano or a little bit of dry Italian seasoning, and eat away! 

Delicious Roti Pizza! 

Quick Recipe 1: Basil Chili Infused Oil

Over the next few weeks, I shall be posting real easy, super quick, and delicious recipes that incorporate very few ingredients, and will take under 5 minutes to whip up. Wait, I take that back. Let me make that 15 minutes or less, just to be on the safe side. 

This week, I present Basil Chili Infused Oil. All you need are five ingredients, four of which all of us almost always have somewhere in the house.... definitely in the kitchen pantry.... ;)

Ingredients: 

Note: There are no exact quantities to be used here. It's just personal preference. So adjust accordingly:

1. Oil of your choice (I like olive oil and avocado oil)

2. Fresh basil leaves

3. Garlic powder (fresh garlic may be used)

4. Chili flakes of your choice (I like reaper, scotch bonnet, ghost pepper, etc....)

5. Salt to taste

5 Ingredients

Method: 

1. Take a bowl and put in the five ingredients (as shown in picture) into the bowl.

2. Place in microwave and heat for about a minute to 75 seconds (75 seconds= 1 min 15 secs.... ;)). The oil will have boiled and the flavors will have nicely infused into it.  

Oil plus salt, garlic, chili flakes, and basil

Ready!

Serve with rustic bread. Can drizzle over pasta too for extra deliciousness.

Extra: The basil leaves will have crisped up- delicious!

Delicious! 

Egg-in-the-Hole

May is National Egg Month and apparently, June 3rd was National Egg Day. Well, how would I know- I mean, out here, pretty much everyday is egg day! I think that every human being should know how to cook an egg. If you haven't taught your children how to cook an egg, I suggest you wait no more, and teach them!

Here's an easy, quick, healthy, and delicious recipe for egg-any-time-of-the-day, simply called Egg-in-the-Hole:

Yield: 1 serving

Ingredients: 

Bread- 1 slice 

Egg- 1 

Cooking oil or Pam- a few drops/1 good spray

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1. Spray your pan with some Pam or put a few drops of cooking oil. Get the heat going. 

2. Cut a "hole" in a slice of bread. You can make it fun by cutting out different shapes such as heart, mickey or minnie mouse, or a skull! Save the cut-out bread piece. 

3. Place this slice of bread with the hole onto the heated pan. Then crack an egg into this hole. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place the cut-out bread piece very gently back into the hole with the egg (avoid pressing it). Cook for about a minute on low flame, and then flip. The bread will have become nice and brown and crisp on that side. 

4. After flipping, cook for an additional 30 seconds to a minute. If you like the yolk runny, half a minute will do. 

5. That's it, egg-in-the-hole is ready to be enjoyed! 

Psst: if nobody is watching, you may lick the plate clean! ;) 

The Hole

Egg cracked into the hole

Salt and Pepper

Place the "heart" back to cover the hole

Golden brown and crisp, then flip

Ready to eat! 

Delicious yolk under the "heart" 

Mm mm! 

Dunk and eat!

Last bits.....

Devoured! 

Fried Egg on Rice

My daughter introduced me to this very simple yet delightful dish- where you take some hot steamed rice, and top it with a beautiful fried egg. That's it, there is nothing else to this dish. However, you are sure to fall in love with it- for its simplicity, and taste.

You need: 

1. Plain steamed rice- white or brown, your choice

2. 1 or 2 eggs- fried (poached will work too)

3. Optional- Soy sauce

Method: 

All you gotta do is take some nice, hot steamed rice in a bowl and place your fried egg(s) on top. Add a drizzle of soy sauce, if you'd like and maybe some freshly ground pepper. 

Then comes the best part- use your spoon to poke the part with the yolk inside, and the yolk starts oozing out, and seeps into the rice..... mmm! That is delicious!! And you are overcome with this unexpected feeling of comfort with every spoonful of that rice, egg, and soy sauce. Yes, really! 

My daughter told me that this is a Korean dish. Korean or not- she and I love it! 

Swiss Chard Chips- Take One

Remember the beautiful swiss chard I grew in my very own backyard, and was so proud of? I was going to make something fantastic with it. I thought why not try swiss chard chips? Kale chips seem to be the in-thing in recent times, and so I decided that swiss chard chips ought to gain some popularity too......

Aim: 

To make swiss chard chips, that will taste fantastic.

Ingredients: 

1. Swiss Chard- nice and clean

2. Salt

3. Pepper

4. Garlic powder (or a couple cloves of crushed garlic)

5. Olive oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

2. Spread the leaves on a baking sheet.

3. Sprinkle salt, pepper per taste, as well as garlic powder. If you use crushed garlic, just sort of distribute it evenly over the leaves.

4. Drizzle some olive oil all over, and toss everything together.

Swiss Chard with seasoning, all set to get into the oven

5. Set inside the 250 degree oven on the middle rack for 20 minutes.

6. After 20 minutes, remove it from the oven.

Expected Result:

Nicely crisped up leaves.

Observation and Result: 

Nicely wilted (down) leaves. Not to forget, all reduced to barely a spoonful! Sheer disaster!

:( 

Upon Tasting, however: 

Delicious, real delicious!

Back-up Plan:

I added the wilted, yet delicious swiss chard (chips!) into the matar paneer that was cooking on the stove. And well, it was matar-swiss chard paneer for dinner that evening, that tasted just fine.

Into matar paneer

Matar-Swiss Chard Paneer

Conclusion: 

1. Gotta make sure that every swiss chard leaf is DRY. Yep, yours truly was too excited, and did a pretty sloppy job of it.

2. Gotta use LOTS of it, if you want a decent amount of end product.

3. Perhaps I was a bit too hasty in the baking cycle. I found out later that after the first 20 minutes, you must turn the leaves over, and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

4. Perhaps my garden swiss chard was a little too tender, and not suitable for making chips.

5. Therefore, next time, I will just buy that bunch of that humongous swiss chard from the store- that'll definitely make good chips.

Final Note: 

Take Two coming up. I already know that it will be successful! ;)

Sabudana Vada

Low temperatures and clouds in the sky,
Equate to a hot cup of chai,
And pakoras with some ketchup on the side,
And I kind of lost that whole rhyming thing......
But hey, that's beside (the point).
OK, now, people, do not snide,
For fall is here! And don't we all,
Simply love fall?!

Uh, yes, I shall set aside my poetic genius for now, and jump right into the subject of this post. Sabudana Vada is one of my favorite kind of pakora/fritter. Made of sabudana, i.e. tapioca pearls, also referred to as sago pearls. In fact, I have an older post on Sabudana Khichdi that I would like you to skim through. Note down the first part of the recipe, "Prepping those Pearls." That is exactly what you would do to start off with the fritter recipe. Also get those peanuts ready (in the same recipe).

While the sabudana prepping is going on, cook a few potatoes. I like to use my pressure cooker to cook potatoes- the job gets done in 5 minutes.

Ingredients: 

1. Sabudana

2. Cooked potatoes- 2 or 3 (or more, depending on the quantity of sabudana)

3. Green chilies, sliced or chopped, your choice. Qty per your liking.

4. Salt per taste

5. Red chili powder (optional)

6. Pinch of sugar (secret ingredient!)

7. A pinch of asafoetida/hing (good for the tummy)- if you have it

8. Cumin seeds (jeera)

9. Coarsely ground roasted peanuts

10. Chopped fresh cilantro/coriander leaves

Method: 

1. Mix up the soaked sabudana with the cooked potaoes and all the other ingredients. Mash it all up together. Give it a taste, and adjust accordingly.

Note: Potatoes are basically the binding agent here.

2. Make little patties of the whole mash-up. You could make little balls too.

Sabudana vadas- ready to be fried

3. Take a kadhai/wok/pan/pot, pour in a good amount of cooking oil, and get the heat going.

Tip: I just make a very tiny ball with the sabudana-potato mash-up and throw it into the oil. If the tiny ball immediately floats up, I know that the oil is nice and hot, and ready to go.

4. Start frying those patties/balls. You know they are done, when they are nice and golden brown in color. Ladle them out with one of those slotted spoons/ladles onto some paper towel(s), so as to drain of excess oil.

Frying the sabudana vadas

Golden brown delicious sabudana vadas

Yum yum! 

Eat away!! 

Serve immediately with some ketchup, or mint chutney.

The perfect sabudana vada is cripsy on the outside, and soft, and almost gooey on the inside. Best when served hot, off the oil. The coarsely ground peanuts and the cumin add that crunch, and well, I am salivating right now.......

Don't forget that cup of chai! Happy Fall, y'all!

Not your ordinary french fries!!

Here's a neat recipe for Sweet Potato fries, that my family loves, and of course, I love! 

Yes, yes, I know, that seems to be a very matter-of-fact start to this post..... so, here, a few words on the very cool Sweet Potato: Literally a super-food, packed with a ton of vitamins, and fiber. Check out some facts on this awesome site! I also read that it has a pretty low glycemic index (GI), like 17 or something, as compared to a regular potato, that has a GI of 29. Yeah, hard to believe, what with the two taboo words for a diabetic- Sweet & Potato! And no, I am not yet a diabetic, but there are a fair number of diabetics in the immediate family...... and therefore just a bit more alert....... 

And here is that recipe: 

You Need:

1. Sweet Potatoes (as many as you want!)

2. Seasoning- such as salt, pepper, herbs, garlic powder (or some crushed garlic)

3. A drizzle of oil

Super-food!

What you do: 

1. Prep the sweet potato(es) by washing, and then chopping, with skin on please, in any way you want. Since we are talking french fries, I just try to julienne--- though, I don't do a very uniform job of it, and so here's what I get:

Look at that color!

2. I spread this on a baking sheet, season it all, and drizzle some oil, and give it a quick mix, so as to get  the seasoning and oil all over.

All seasoned up, and ready to go into the oven

3. I place this in a pre-heated oven set to 375 degrees F, and bake for approximately 15 minutes first. Then I remove it from the oven, mix it all up once more, and pop one in my mouth, to taste. Hey, you gotta do that! And then throw it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

And you got yourself some beautiful french fries! Eat them plain, or with ketchup, or alongside a nice, juicy burger!

Sweet Potato French Fries! YUM! 

Oh yeah!!! 

The best thing about this is that you can make it any weeknight-- it is so easy to make. And no hassle of frying, and making a big mess either. Oh, and did I say, way healthier than that 99 cent bag of fries from that fast food place near where you live!! There, that should inspire you to try this tonight!

Drupe le Gourmet

Don't get all confused by the title- I was just trying to show off some of my Botany expertise there.........then again, I think it is an apt name for this lovely gourmet nutty delight.

Remember my nifty little recipe for peanuts (Peanut Maharaja)? Well, I have an equally nifty little recipe for almonds. Totally sticks to my policy of simple and quick and with the word GOURMET written all over it!

I take:

Almonds, salt, red chilli powder, lemon juice (yep, that's it!)

My method: 

1. I take the desired amount of almonds in a microwave safe bowl and run it in the m-wave for about 45 seconds to a minute, thereby toasting them.
2. Give it a quick shake and then add salt per taste, red chilli powder (you could use black pepper, if you want) and a dash of lemon juice. Mix it all up with a spoon.
3. Run it in the m-wave again for about 35-45 secs. Done! You have some very special and delicious gourmet almonds ready to eat!

Drupe le Gourmet

These almonds are perfect for a chilly late afternoon snack, toasty and crunchy and when they enter your mouth, they just explode with that lemony-salty-spicy zing. I suggest you go right ahead and try this today-- I promise you will love it!

Peanut Maharaja

I love peanuts! No, I don't use them in pretty much everything I cook, but I do use them often enough that I always have them in my pantry. One very famous peanut item in my family is what we call Peanut Maharaja (literal translation: Peanut The Great King). It is super-quick, super-simple and super-DElicious. My mom used to make it (especially as an appetizer for her lavish parties) and now I make it too.

Sometimes toward the evening, you know how you get hungry all of a sudden and crave for a snack and you keep opening all the cupboards in your kitchen with the hope of finding something good to munch on? Well, that is exactly what happened to me a few hours ago and so I decided to make myself some of that awesome Peanut Maharaja. Of course, I had to share it with the husband and the son.

Needed:

Peanuts of course, onion, tomato, green chillies, cilantro, salt, lemon juice, maybe some red chilli powder.

What I do:

1. I take the desired amount of peanuts in a m-wave safe bowl. Run it in the m-wave for about a couple minutes--- you will know when to stop the m-waving...... basically roasting the peanuts (that traditionally is done in a nice hot pan on the stove).
2. Meanwhile I finely chop the onion, the tomato and the green chilli(es). (Today I did not have any cilantro.........)
3. Then I throw in the chopped onion+tomato+green chilli(es) into the hot m-wave-roasted peanuts. This step is cool coz it makes this lovely sound......you know, cold stuff falling onto hot stuff......followed by a dash or two of lemon juice, salt to taste and a little dash of red chilli powder. Mix it all up with a spoon. 
4. For me step 3 would be the last step. But my husband prefers the onion-tomato mixture to be "cooked" some more. Therefore I run the entire thing once more in the m-wave for about another minute. 
5. That's it. Garnish with fresh green cilantro and eat away!! 

 Peanut Maharaja. Too bad I was out of cilantro- it sure would have added a nice green color--yummy, nevertheless!

Peanut Maharaja is a great snack item. I mean, packed with over 30 essential nutrients (OK, OK- that was from Wikipedia.....!) as well as the dose of lycopene from the tomato (this one I knew!) and the good stuff from the onion (don't want to go overboard with the list)..........this stuff is way better than a bag of junk chips! So go ahead and make this the next time you crave for a quick and satisfying snack.