Quinoa is one of the most healthy grains in this world 🙂
Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and one of the few plant foods that contain sufficient amounts of all nine essential amino acids. It is also high in fiber, magnesium, B vitamins, iron, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin E and various beneficial antioxidants.
I love this salad on any given day and the best thing is my kids eat it all up when I serve with a creamy guacamole.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup quinoa
5 Cloves of chopped garlic
1 can of black beans
1 small onion chopped
1 jalapeno chopped -optional
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 tsp turmeric
salt to taste
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
Evoo
For Guacamole:
1/2 onion chopped
1 avocado mashed up (save the outer skin of the avocados)
lemon juice from 1 lemon
Cilantro for garnish
salt to taste
Preparation:
For Avocado Salad Boats:
This is such a forgiving recipe that you can add any veggies you like to it. Take a pan and add 1 tsp of EVOO and transfer the chopped garlic, onion, jalapeno and zucchini. Mix well and saute with salt, turmeric and curry powder. Add in the rinsed black beans and mix well for about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup quinoa and toast for 3-4 minutes and mix. Now add 1 cup of water to the pan with all the ingredients and let it cook uncovered for about 10 minutes till all water evaporates. If quinoa seems uncooked, add another 1/2 cup water and let it cook uncovered. You want to cover it for the last 3 minutes with a lid so the quinoa turns out fluffy. Keep aside.
Cooked Quinoa with black beans, jalapenos, onions and zucchini
For Guacamole:
Take a bowl. Add mashed guacamole with salt and lemon juice and mix well to a creamy pulp. Then transfer chopped onions, salt to taste and garnish with Cilantro.
Plating:
For plating, transfer quinoa salad into the outer skins of avocados and place these boats with guacamole.
We try and eat healthy for the most part but we are all human:) and love to sink into those delicious goodness of carbs once in a while!
I make a dish which my whole family loves and await for me to finish cooking so they can dig in. Its very popularly called as “Chaat” in India. Its a dish which you find in the streets of Mumbai popularly and I am going to share an easy recipe today with you. ALOO TIKKI CHOLE CHAAT means Potato patties with chickpeas in a curry sauce along with some tamarind sauce and cilantro chutney with chopped up onions as garnish! You may squeeze some lemon for acidity if you like.
Ingredients:
For the potato patties:
Potatoes- 3/4 medium cooked by boiling or steaming peeled
Onions-1, Tomatoes -1, chopped up garlic ginger, 2 cloves, 1/4 tsp of cinnamon powder, 2 cardamoms,
Coconut or any oil
Salt to taste
Cayenne as per spice level
Preparation:
I usually like to boil my potatoes first and peel them and transfer to a bowl which has all the above mentioned spices to make the patties with salt and cayenne in it. I then mash up the potatoes with all the spices until dough like consistency. Then I cover it with a damp paper towel and stick it in the fridge for atleast 3-4 hours.
Now while the potato mix is inside the fridge, I prepare my chick pea or chana curry. You may use canned chickpeas for this. (I soak mine overnight and cook it in a pressure cooker until 3-4 whistles).
Take a pan and add 1-2 tsp of coconut oil over medium flame. Add chopped garlic, onions and saute with all the spices mentioned above for the chickpea curry along with salt and cayenne for about 5 minutes. Now transfer the tomatoes and add 1/4 cup water and cook covered for 5 minutes as well. Add the canned chickpeas and mix well and let it cook for another 5 -10 minutes.
Once this is done, take out a pan and add 2 tsp coconut oil over medium flame. Now is the time i take out my bowl with the potato mix from the fridge and add rice flour. The main reason to adding rice flour is to get perfectly crispy surface. Quick tip- I usually oil palm of my hand and make patties so they dont stick to my hands and slide it on the pan and cook them till the surface is golden brown.
Final step is Plating. If using a bowl, add chickpea curry first, then the patties on top then if available store bought tamarind and cilantro sauce. For garnish – add finely chopped onions for crunch, some green chilis and cilantro leaves.
This is my take on a French dish inspired by Jaques Pepin the legendary French Chef whom I respect and admire a lot. I have been wanting to make this dish for quite some time now and finally found the time and a great recipe for a mouth watering carrot puree.
So here goes:
Ingredients:
For Carrot & Potato Puree:
2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 teaspoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon melted butter/ olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For poached egg:
1 egg
2 teaspoons white vinegar
small bowl
salt to taste
1/2 slice of Brioche bun toasted in olive oil or butter
Preparation of Potato Carrot Puree:
Add the chopped carrots and potatoes in a pot of salted boiling water and cook for about 30 minutes till they turn soft. Then transfer the cooked carrots and potatoes to a food processor. Add mayonnaise, salt, turmeric, ground cumin, garlic powder, curry powder and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle olive oil or butter and process for 20- 30 seconds until creamy.
Preparation of Poached Egg:
First bring water in a saucepan to almost boiling. If the water is already boiling, lower the heat until it is no longer boiling. At this point, you can add one or two teaspoons of vinegar to the water, if you want. The vinegar will help the egg whites to come together more easily.
Crack an egg into a small cup, then place the cup near the surface of the hot water and gently slide the egg into the water. With a spoon, nudge the egg whites closer to their yolks. This will help the egg whites hold together.
Turn off the heat. Cover. Let sit for 4 minutes, until the egg whites are cooked.
Lift eggs out of pan with a slotted spoon.
Plating:
Take a plate and using a spoon place the carrot potato puree in the middle and spread to form a circle. Then place the poached egg on top of the carrot potato puree and the toasted brioche bun on top with some cilantro as garnish.
As promised, I am posting some pics from my  cooking demonstration at Williams Sonoma in Short Hills Mall, NJ on March 23rd. It was a lot of fun and
like always I had a wonderful audience. This time, I must confess that I had this one lady who came up to me and asked me how I could stay vegetarian for so long? and
if I missed eating meat? I said to her ” Not really since I love to cook with veggies and put a ton of flavor in it and share my secrets with everyone:)”
She was so thrilled she sat in a chair and watched me as I cooked away my dish. She had a pen and a book and was making a note of whatever I said.
So the dish I made was an Eggplant Tapanade with cilantro chutney served on a cracker. Lot of people walked in tried my dish and appreciated the flavors!
It was a truly memorable experience since the manager of the store at Williams Sonoma, Short Hills walked up to me, ate my dish and said to me” There was this lady who walked up to me and said that you did a great job answering all her questions, she loved your dish and thought it was great. That must mean a lot  to you”.
And yes it did, I was so happy to merely listen to something like that and would consider myself lucky and all my efforts seemed to have paid off. This is the most rewarding job that I ever had – not in terms of money but in terms of happiness and appreciation! Nothing can beat this:)
Thanks again to all who walked in and tasted my dish- for all your kind words and time.
As promised, I am posting some pics from my  cooking demonstration at Williams Sonoma in Short Hills Mall, NJ on March 23rd. It was a lot of fun and
like always I had a wonderful audience. This time, I must confess that I had this one lady who came up to me and asked me how I could stay vegetarian for so long? and
if I missed eating meat? I said to her ” Not really since I love to cook with veggies and put a ton of flavor in it and share my secrets with everyone:)”
She was so thrilled she sat in a chair and watched me as I cooked away my dish. She had a pen and a book and was making a note of whatever I said.
So the dish I made was an Eggplant Tapanade with cilantro chutney served on a cracker. Lot of people walked in tried my dish and appreciated the flavors!
It was a truly memorable experience since the manager of the store at Williams Sonoma, Short Hills walked up to me, ate my dish and said to me” There was this lady who walked up to me and said that you did a great job answering all her questions, she loved your dish and thought it was great. That must mean a lot  to you”.
And yes it did, I was so happy to merely listen to something like that and would consider myself lucky and all my efforts seemed to have paid off. This is the most rewarding job that I ever had – not in terms of money but in terms of happiness and appreciation! Nothing can beat this:)
Thanks again to all who walked in and tasted my dish- for all your kind words and time.
