Roasted curried cauliflower-corn soup

When life gives you cauliflower, you tend to make Aloo Gobi, Gobi masala or Gobi paratha as a devout Indian home chef. That was me until I was fed up of the first two options and lacked the time and patience for the stuffed Gobi paratha option. And that is how this soup was conceived!

Ingredients

• Cauliflower florets (frozen or fresh)- 2-3 cups (or 1 cauliflower head)
• Frozen or fresh corn kernels (I use roasted corn)- 1/2 cup
• Onion- 1 medium chopped into large pieces
• Coconut milk reduced fat- 1/2 cup
• EVOO- 1 teaspoon or more to roast
• Vegetable broth- 1 cup
• Roasted cumin powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Garam masala powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Turmeric powder- 1/2 teaspoon
• Smoked paprika- 2 teaspoons
• Balsamic vinegar- to garnish
• Salt/pepper to taste
• Cilantro/parsley chopped to garnish
• Smoked gouda or goat cheese - per taste
• Tortilla strips to garnish

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Spread the chopped cauliflower florets and the onions on a non stick sprayed cookie sheet. Coat them in EVOO lightly and sprinkle some salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes rotating the sheet once in-between. Blend the roasted veggies with vegetable broth and roasted corn. Heat the soup on a stove top on medium to low medium heat and add the coconut milk and the seasonings. Let it simmer on low for a few minutes. Serve the soup hot garnished with cilantro/parsley, cheese, balsamic vinegar and tortilla strips. Enjoy with sour dough bread or Avocado toast.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/LZ71fcmjarkV5XDm6

Super food energy bars

Energy bars, protein bars, granola bars are all so handy for that quick source of much needed energy after a work-out or a mid-day snack or a meal replacement on a super busy day at work. With a gazillion variety available in the stores, it's a hit or miss. Some are high in sugar, others high in calories, some have a long list of strange ingredients you can barely pronounce! 

Inspiration to try my hands at these nutrient pack delicacies came from a neighbor and I started experimenting with my own ingredients until I found a happy medium! Or did I? Well, I suggest you find out for yourself and tweak as you please as long as you can share your version as well!

Ingredients

• Almonds- 1 cup
• Cashews- 1/2 cup
• Walnuts- 1/2 cup
• Chia seeds- 1/4 cup
• Oats- 1 cup
• Dates chopped- 1.5cup
• Almond butter- 1/2 cup
• Semi sweet chocolate chips- 1/3 cup
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of cinnamon and nutmeg 
• Almond milk- as needed for binding
• Vanilla protein powder (plant based)- 1 scoop
• Stevia (if needed for more sweetness)
• Dried unsweetened coconut flakes for garnish

Roast the nuts on a low flame. Roast the oats lightly for 3-4 minutes. Grind the nuts and oats coarsely. A food processor can be used on a "pulse mode" to bring all the ingredients together into a dough like consistency. Spread the mixture on a greased cookie sheet; sprinkle some coconut flakes and bake in a 350 F preheated oven for about 12- 15 minutes. Let it come to room temperature before freezing it for about 30 minutes. Alternately, refrigerate for an hour or so and slice. The refrigeration ensures crumble free pieces. (I learnt it the hard way!)

Spread in the cookie sheet

Store in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy as u please!

Chocolicious chia seed pudding with a hint of orange!

Chia seeds have been the talk of the town for their "super food" label in health food circles. Anything that purports health benefits and lend that crunchy, bubbly texture catches my attention. I tried the overnight chia seeds and oats pudding that my SIL recommended and enjoyed it for a nice breakfast variation at work. I had enjoyed chocolate chia pudding at a local restaurant, "Lyfe Kitchen" and had found the texture's uniqueness beyond the scope of my kitchen! Boy, was I wrong!

The ease of this recipe is just the icing on the cake: the no-dairy, no-sugar aspect and all the healthfulness of chia seeds makes it almost too good to be true! Except that it is true!

Ingredients

• Unsweetened vanilla Almond milk 1.5 cups
• Chia seeds 1/2 cup
• Raw Cacao powder (or baking cocoa powder) 1/4th cup
• Maple-Agave syrup blend (or Maple syrup)- 3 tbsp 
• Orange zest- 2 tsp
• Pinch of salt
• Vanilla extract- 1 tsp (optional if using vanilla flavored Almond milk)
• Raspberries and graham cracker crumble (or any berries) for garnishing

Makes about 5-6 small dessert cups

Mix all the ingredients except the berries and graham crackers in a mixing bowl making sure there are no lumps of the cocoa powder. Blending will make the pudding smooth for those who prefer the smoother texture. I think what makes this pudding extra special is the texture of the chia seeds so tastes great without blending. Set in the refrigerator in individual serving cups. Pudding will be ready to serve in 5-6 hours. Garnish as you like and serve cold. 

Low guilt choco-orange walnut brownies

Who doesn't like warm chocolate gooey brownies with some good old vanilla ice cream! I have experimented with many recipes/ingredients with varying degrees of deliciousness and nutrition value! I just tend to be slightly picky about what goes into the food that goes into my kids' growing bodies and brains. The more nutrition I can squeeze in while still keeping the taste, the better I feel about that dish! And this applies to desserts as well.

Kahan, my 7 year old is a foodie and takes on his mom. He is very curious on what's cooking in mumma's kitchen and if the aromas arouse his interest, he will want to pitch in some help climbing on the little step stool. And so here we were, the mommy-son duo whipping up some choco-orange goodness right before homework time! The results were mouth watering (plural because it's hard to stop at one!) minus the refined flour, sugar, oil, butter and eggless in case we want to recreate this for Nani (my mom) some day!

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3rd cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4th cup Stevia-sugar baking blend
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1/4 cup roasted chopped walnuts
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut
Zest of 1 orange
1/4th cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Pinch of salt (to round out all the flavors)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3rd cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
1/3rd cup coconut oil
3/4th-1 cup water (Almond milk or milk can be used as well) to bring it all together to a batter

Mix all the ingredients except water really well. Add water (or almond milk) slowly as needed to get the thick brownie consistency. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Pour the batter in a greased baking pan. Bake for 25-29 minutes depending on your pan and oven; checking in between. Let it cool before slicing. Enjoy with a dollop of your favorite vanilla ice cream.

Peanut-dates energy bars

Chilly winter mornings conjure up childhood memories of a glass of warm milk and mom-made "peanut laddoos"! Here's an attempt to recreate that memory with a slight twist for my kids and to be honest, for me too! The "gingery notes" pair up perfectly with peanuts and jaggery imparting a special aroma that is sure to tantalize those refined taste buds!

Ingredients 

2 cups roasted unsalted peanuts

1/2 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup chopped jaggery

3-4 tbspn dried coconut flakes or pieces 

3-4 tspn dry ginger powder or fresh grated ginger 

A dash of nutmeg

1 tbsp Ghee or coconut oil

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor or a high power blender like Vitamix/Blendtec. Empty into a mixing bowl and mix some ghee/coconut oil to bring it all together to bind it. Spread it in a greased dish and let it cool before cutting into pieces. Alternately they can be rolled into laddoos or rolls. Store at room temperature in a air-right container.

A quick on-the-go snack is ready for those crazy school mornings or right before that soccer practice or dance class in the evening!

Protein parfait bowl with a twist!

That feeling when you can barely walk straight, your body is shaking and the stomach has cramps- does this feeling sound familiar? It's the feeling after an hour of intense strength training work-out and the hunger pangs that ensue after! It's easy to give in to that most natural instinct to dig into something from the pantry. But if you can curb it for an extra 5 minutes, you are sure to be rewarded with this bowl of intense pleasure and health! This sums up the birth of my parfait bowl this morning!

The base is inspired by "Deliciously Ella's" protein shake recipe. Freezing ripe bananas is a fairly recent but consistent habit in my kitchen ever since I discovered how it lends the creaminess to shakes/smoothies sans the richness of some of the dairy products.

Ingredients 

Smoothie/shake

1 frozen banana chopped

1 ripe mango

Handful of spinach leaves

3/4 cup unsweetened cold Almond milk

1 tbsp Almond butter

1 tbsp vanilla flavored whey protein powder

2-3 ice cubes

Mix-ins

4 large strawberries

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

1/2 cup good quality muesli or granola

Serves-2 

Method

Put all the shake ingredients in a high power blender (I use Breville Boss, my most used kitchen appliance after the stove/microwave!). Pour it into individual bowls and top with the "mix-ins". Enjoy the parfait smoothie/shake bowl right away and feel even better about that work-out you just did!

Rava-Oats idli with Zucchini-tomato rasam and cilantro-coconut chutney

Sunday dinners ought to be quick and enjoyable, the former because you are probably tired from the weekend activities and have to get things ready for a busy week ahead and later because it's an effective technique to combat the upcoming "work-week Blues"!! 

The lone zucchini kept staring at me when I opened the fridge for inspiration as if it was pleading to be used before it aged to the point of no-return! And those handful of cherry tomatoes were wondering if they could pair up with the green zucchini and keep it company! "Sure enough, be my guests!" I thought! And the rasam idea below was born. As for the Idlis, there was no prior prep with grinding/fermenting the batter so it had to be instant. I make Rava-vermicelli Idlis sometimes but thought of making it super nutritious with oats. Grinding the oats took under 30 seconds in the small blender (Ninja/Magic Bullet or what have you!). Sooji Idlis often tend to be dry and adding oats seemed to have eliminated that little flaw from these fluffy moist Idlis!

Rava (Sooji)-Oats Idli

Ingredients 

Sooji- 1 cup

Steel cut or any oats ground into flour-3/4 cup

Plain yogurt- 3/4 cup

Salt to taste

Eno (or other fruit-salt)- 2 tsp

Non-stick cooking spray 

Warm water- 1 cup or more for the right consistency 

Prep time- 5-10 minutes

Cook time-10-12 minutes

Makes 15-17 Idlis. 

Method:

Mix all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and until the desired thick consistency of the batter is achieved. It keeps getting thicker on standing as both Sooji and Oats absorb water, so more water may be needed. Add Eno right before steaming. Put water in the idli steamer and spray the idli trays with non-stick cooking spray. Pour the batter into the mound and steam the Idlis for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the trays and enjoy steaming soft Idlis with Rasam/sambhar and chutney!

Zucchini-tomato rasam

Ingredients:

Toor daal - 1/3 cup

Zucchini diced into small cubes-2/3 cup

Cherry tomatoes halved- 1/2 cup (can substitute with regular tomatoes.

Garlic chopped- 3 cloves

Cilantro chopped- 1 tbsp

Rasam powder - 1tbsp (or more per taste), I use MTR brand 

Tamarind paste- 1 tbsp

Turmeric - a pinch 

Salt to taste 

Water- about 4-5 cups for the thin consistency 

Tempering 

Canola oil- 2 tsp + Ghee-1 tsp

Mustard seeds- 1 tsp

Urad daal- 2 tsp

Curry leaves 8-10

Whole red chilly- 1-2

Asofetida- 1/2 tsp

Prep time- 10 min

Cook time-20-25 min

Serves 4

Method:

Soak the toor daal in water for an hour or two before pressure cooking with salt and turmeric.

Add water and mix it well with the hand blender till it is smooth and evenly blended. Heat the oil + ghee in a sauce pan on medium high heat and add the all the tempering ingredients except the asofetida. When the mustard seeds begin to crackle, lower the heat and add the asofetida followed by the garlic, zucchini and the tomatoes. Saute the veggies for about 2 minutes and add the tamarind paste and the rasam powder. 

Add half a laddle of the daal mixture so that all the veggies and flavors come together and do not stick at the bottom of the pan. Cook for 2-3 more minutes and add the thinned out daal mixture. Add salt and let it simmer on low flame once it reaches a boil for about 10-15 minutes.  Add chopped cilantro for garnish and serve hot. 

Coconut Cilantro chutney

I always like to have some kind of cilantro based chutney in my refrigerator and often use it as a base to make other chutney variations depending on what I am cooking. 

This versatile chutney is great for South Indian dishes and can also be used with Gujju dishes like Handwa, Muthiya or spread onto the bread for a delicious veggie-cheese sandwich. Believe it or not, I have even used it to make salad dressing and I promise I will post that yummy salad recipe soon!  I did not temper this one but you can temper it with ghee and the usual temperings if you prefer. 

Ingredients:

Cilantro washed and rough chopped- 1 bunch

Fresh or frozen coconut- 3/4 cup

Tamarind- 1 tbsp

Daaliya or chana or peanuts- 1/4 cup

Sugar or jaggery- 1-2 tsp

Green chilly- 1

Salt to taste

Water- as little as needed to grind

Prep time- 5 minutes

Makes about 1.5 cups of chutney 

Method:

Put all the ingredients in a high functioning blender and grind. Remove and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. I add some water and thin it before using as needed.