Feel full, not foolish

New Year resolutions are aplenty. And some I know I will forget.

But the most important one this year is to eat healthy. And by healthy I mean a completely balanced diet - a diet of inclusion and not exclusion. A plate should be made of the rainbow and be consumed intelligently. Food is meant to be thoroughly enjoyed, bite by bite and in moderate quantity. The body should be able to process everything that is put into it - not just the 'healthy' stuff.

As somebody said, "eat just enough that you feel full and not foolish". Maybe that 'somebody' is just me.

Happy and colourful 2016 everyone!  

Recipe: Fiery yogurt dip

Saturdays are for recovering from the excesses of Friday. And for testing your 'healthy resolve' by watching the latest season of Masterchef all day while snacking on carrots and olives! So, in keeping with the 'challenge accepted' mood, here's a recipe for a yummilicious dip worthy of accompanying mouth-watering Masterchef episodes. In the words of Matt Preston, this spicy dip left my 'mouth awash'. ;)

Ingredients -

• Dahi/ yogurt
• Garlic slivers
• Finely sliced red chillies
• Salt
• Coarsely ground pepper 
• Dash of mustard
• Olives 
• Onion powder (or finely chopped slices of onion)
• Feta cheese (purely optional)

Mix dahi well till fluffy and smooth

Add salt, most of the garlic, mustard sauce, half of the red chillies and feta. Mix well. 

Top with remaining sliced red chillies, remaining garlic pepper and olive

Serve with carrots, olives on the side, cucumbers sticks, celery stalks, nachos, whatever you please!

If you try it, do let me know!

Recipe: Veggie lettuce wrap

Been trying to eat healthy of late so that means no desserts, no sugar in tea/coffee, no sodas or colas, cutting down on meat intake, next-to-no eating out on weekdays, consuming lots of fruits and vegetables, multiple refills of green tea and mugs and mugs of hot water!

Of late we've developed a great fondness for lettuce wraps, especially Thai and Vietnamese style. However, the new 'go healthy' lifestyle doesn't allow for frequent meals of minced pork/ beef albeit wrapped up in fresh, healthy, green leaves. So, last night I decided to make spicy veggie lettuce wraps and see how that works out.

It. Was. Good.

Without further ado, here's the recipe -

Ingredients
Lettuce leaves, duh!
Mushrooms
Bellpeppers - I used red and green
Baby corn
Onions or onion powder
Green and red chillies
Garlic
Tofu or paneer
Cumin powder (jeera powder)
Salt and pepper
Chui-chow chilli oil (hoisin sauce or even chilli sauce will do the trick) 
Olive oil
Soya sauce
Boiled rice

Prep
Finely chop the mushrooms, bellpeppers, onions (if using), green chillies and baby corn
Cut the garlic in long slices

Heat the olive oil in a non-stick karahi (wok) and add green chillies and garlic once the oil is hot
Saute on a medium flame till the garlic starts changing colour
Add the baby corn and let cook till the corn is slightly soft and breaks easily
Add the bell peppers and saute on a medium high flame
Add salt and chui chow chilli oil
Mix well till the vegetables are cooked but crunchy
Crumble the paneer in a separate bowl
Add in the mushrooms and paneer
Let cook and simmer till the water from the paneer and mushrooms almost dries out but don't let it get too dry. 

Once done, add a generous helping of soya sauce and top with some pepper
Mix well and take off heat
Peel the carrot into strips using a vegetable peeler

And the ingredients for your wrap are ready!!

Now, to make your wrap - on a lettuce leaf, spread some chui-chow chili oil, add rice and top with the vegetable mince. Wrap and go for it!

You can believe me when I say it was good because I didn't even have time to take quality pictures... (much to my dismay) Vishal insisted that I ditch the phone and focus on the food instead! :)

Do let me know if you made the wrap and if you liked it. You can add a whole lot more and substitute what you don't like. Just enjoy the cooking journey people! :)

Smoothie surprise: A recipe

Simple, instant, filling, nutritious, delightful, breakfast in a glass.

That's a smoothie for you!

Ingredients

• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• 1/2 apple cut into cubes
• Honey
• Yogurt
• Milk
• Cinnamon stick

Preparation

Chop the fruits into chunks. Place in a blender.

Add honey

Add yogurt

Add milk

Add cinnamon stick broken into several pieces. Blend!

 

Breakfast in a glass... all good things!

 

A berrilicious Sunday

It's been a while since I've made a 'Sunday breakfast' and I missed the absolute lethargy, lull and feeling of contentment which follows a Sunday brunch. So today was the day!

Although the dark, foggy, brooding weather (see the cloud covered hill in the background?) doesn't suggest it, we are in the middle of HK spring and what better way to celebrate the season than have a 'berry' themed meal!

A pitcher of hot 'berry' green tea followed with (very experimental) french toast in berry puree seemed like a great idea.

And then I thought, spring is about all things green and new, leading to a fresh grape and lettuce salad brainwave!

Now that I am stuffed full and sated, on to my guilty pleasure - a 'Koffee With Karan' marathon (!!) while the husband heads to a Sunday in office.

Happy Sunday everyone... see you on the other side of the week! :)

Soupy love: A Recipe

On some days, all you need is a mug full of hot, thick tomato soup to make you feel loved, comfortable, cared for and superbly cozy. And the best bit? The soup keeps well as well - so you can enjoy the soupy goodness day after day!

For days like those, here is my favourite tomato soup recipe -

Ingredients

• 4 big ripe tomatoes
• 2 big onions, chopped
• 2 medium size carrots, chopped
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 2 bay leaf
• Salt, as per your liking
• Pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• Low fat fresh cream
• Water
• A pinch of sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation

• Blanche tomatoes in boiling water
• To blanche tomatoes, bring a pot full of water to a rolling boil and drop the whole tomatoes into it, cover
• After 20 minutes, remove the lid, pour out the water and run under cold water
• Peel the tomatoes, the peel should already be shrinking off the tomatoes by now  
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a pan and on medium heat, saute onions, carrots, celery till onions are brown and veggies are soft
• Add bay leaf
• Chop the tomatoes into chunks and to the pan with veggies and let cook till they shrink in the pan and the juice flows
• Let cool
• Once sufficiently cooled, remove bay leaf and blend in a mixer till it becomes a smooth paste
• Add the paste back to pan

• Add water and make it as thick or thin as you like your soup to be
• Bring to a boil
• Add butter and cream
• Add pinch of sugar

• Let boil and bubble for a minute and turn off gas
• Serve hot with croutons

Enjoy soupy love!! :)

Recipe Alert: Homemade Caesar salad

Best thing abt home cookiing? Can customise it!

Of late, I have developed a fondness for Caesar salad but the anchovies and chunks of chicken really do put me off (very difficult to get veggie Caesar salad in HK for some reason!). And the time had come to address my craving with some efforts at home.

It's surprising how simple it is to put together a good Caesar salad without using anchovies,  chicken, raw eggs and mayonnaise!

Ingredients

• Caeser romaine leaves
• Croutons
• Crushed garlic
• Salt 
• Pepper 
• Olive oil 
• 2 spoons Greek yogurt
• Lemon and lime juice
• Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preparation
Wash and put the salad leaves in a large bowl 

For the dressing - combine all the other ingredients, except croutons, in a bowl and mix well. Let sit for an hour or so.

Add croutons to the salad leaves just before eating.

And pour the dressing on the leaves, mix well. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top, if desired.

Your healthy, yummy, low calorie salad is ready! Eat immediately after preparing else the leaves will lose their fresh crunchiness.

Do let me know of other low calorie substitutes for salad dressings! Hope you liked the recipe and will try it out sometime soon! :)

Slow Sunday breakfasts

Sunday - breakfast in bed day.

This week's Sunday breakfast required zero effort - it was a combination of all the food made over the week! :)

Tzatziki and hummus were made way in advance and stored in the fridge - a strategic move to prevent myself from snacking on junk food, and from bingeing on my favourite Doritos. The baby carrots were bought keeping in mind the ease of access and to assure my lazy self that low calorie food was within easy reach!

Tomato soup was a mid-week left over, the remnant of a healthy soup and Ceasar salad (with Greek yogurt dressing) dinner.

Soup, vegetables and dips - the perfect, low calorie, healthy start to a cold and lazy Sunday, spent under covers, watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S.!

Recipe: Homemade Greek salad in 15 minutes!

Today is a holiday in HK and a long weekend warrants at least one big brunch!

The holiday brunch included baked beans with asparagus, french toast and my favourite, Greek salad.

Sometimes I wonder why I have Greek salad outside when it's so easy to make at home!

Here's the recipe for all you salad lovers and especially for my friend, Pragya Narang.

Ingredients -

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Reduced fat feta cheese
• 2 tablespoon lime juice
• Lettuce leaves
• 1 onion
• 1 cucumber
• 6 baby tomatoes or 1 whole tomato
• 1/2 bellpeppper; I used yellow bellpepper for the colour but you can use anything

How to make -

Dressing - Combine the olive oil, lime juice, crumbled feta cheese, salt and pepper and keep aside

Wash the lettuce leaves and make a bed of leaves in the salad bowl

Cube the onions and cucumbers. 

Cut the baby tomatoes into quarters. 

Finely chop the bellpeppers. 

Put everything together in a bowl.

Pour 1 tablespoon of the dressing on the vegetables and toss till everything's mixed together.

Now, transfer all the vegetables to the salad bowl. Pour the rest of the dressing on it and voila, your salad is ready!

I like my Greek salad cold so I tend to pop into the fridge and take it out just before eating. This ensures that the vegetables remain fresh and crunchy!

The thing I like most about the Greek salad? The lemon and olive oil juice right at the bottom. Scoop up the juice with the lettuce leaves and enjoy!

Can you see the juice?

Do let me know if you liked the recipe! What more can we add to make it even yummier? Would you like to share your favourite salad recipe? Let me know in the comments below!

Garlic broccoli bruschetta: super easy snack in 20 minutes!

After moving to HK, we have developed a healthy appreciation for green vegetables like asparagus, celery, broccoli amongst others. These vegetables were not very easily available back home and therefore we never really got to experiment with them much.

One of my favourite greens is broccoli. An extremely versatile vegetable, it cooks quickly and tastes great with any sauce.

Here's one of my quick and easy broccoli recipes, garlic broccoli bruschetta. It makes for a great starter if you have company or is a wonderful snack if you're in the mood for a healthy homemade bite!

Ingredients:

Five pods of crushed garlic

1 whole broccoli flower, cut into florets

Salt and pepper

Dried oregano, chilli flakes, parsley

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 tablespoon soya sauce

3 teaspoon lime juice

Bruschetta bread or toast bread and cut into square slices

Preparation:
Add the oil in a non-stick pan for 2-3 minutes on medium heat
Lower the heat to sim; add crushed garlic and oregano
Once the garlic starts changing colour, add the broccoli
Stir and cover with a lid and for for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally
You can add a little water if the broccoli starts sticking to the pan
Once the broccoli is cooked (tender but not soft), add salt, pepper, chilli flakes, parsley and lime juice
Mix well, adjust the taste as required
Add soya sauce, mix and turn off the heat
Place one floret on one piece of bruschetta or toast and serve!
Optional - You can also grate cheese and sprinkle on top

Do let me know if you enjoyed the garlic broccoli bruschetta! Did you make any changes to the recipe? Can we substitute the broccoli with some other green vegetables?

Perfection

Only once in a long long while comes a time when you're sitting across the table from your busy-at-work best friend right after a long, sweaty, tiring yet strangely invigorating work out, listening to a track shared by a friend and get completely surprised by the crunchiness, sweetness, ripeness, juiciness of the orange you have bitten into unthinkingly. Perfection.

P.S. - This post is about my continuing love affair with the orange, a fruit which can make everything taste perfect.