Best Cabbage Thoran

 Without much ado, I want to post some recipes from the web here that we have ended up using a lot. This is the first of such recipes. Adding here for easy reference. 

This is an unbelievably yummy 'thoran'. It gets its taste from marinating the veggie before cooking. Yup, you heard that right, veggies can be marinated! Another charming feature is the uber short cooking time. Shouldn't take more than 4-5 minutes! Here you go.

In The Mix

Mix 1

cabbage - 1 head, washed and sliced

shallots - 2, peeled and sliced round

green chili - 2, sliced round

curry leaves - 2 sprigs

salt - to taste

Mix 2

coconut oil - 3 tbsp

mustard - 1 tsp

curry leaves - 2 sprigs

dry red chili  - 2 halved 

grated coconut - 1/2 to 1 cup

How To Do

Prepare all of the Mix 1 ingredients and mix well by squeezing well together.

Set aside to marinate for at least 30 min.

On a crunch, you can prepare Mix1 with all except the salt the day before and keep in the fridge overnight and cook the next day after mixing with salt first.

Heat oil in large pan. Break mustard once oil heats up and the add cumin.

Mix in curry leaves and dry red chili and now add Mix1.

Cook uncovered on medium to high heat for 1-2 min, then stir together.

Cook for another minute, then add the coconut and mix well.

Gather the mix together in pan and cook for 1-2min.

Now remove from heat and keep covered for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy!!

THANKSGIVING 101 : Part2/3 The Preparations

                            

I went with the turkey breast again this year instead of the full bird. The absence of the roasted bird was felt on the table when the cooked breast looked more like ham than turkey. But with enough white meat for all and comparatively less effort to clean and brine, this will be the go to from now on. 

Preparations

OK, now that our shopping is all done, let us start with the preparations that one can do before the actual day of cooking and dining. The best part about organizing this is the fact that Thanksgiving (TG) is always on a Thursday. So we can start with that in mind. Starting from Sunday here are the various steps you can do to prepare ahead.

Sunday

Buy the Turkey 

Pickup or buy the whole turkey or turkey breast on the Sunday before TG. If you are ordering online, do that a week or two before so that you can pickup on the day of your choice. Bring it home and keep refrigerated. 

Buy TG groceries 

Make sure to have enough space in the fridge before you go shopping. Make use of the shopping list from my previous post. Take a list with you when you go to get the turkey. The list must include a brine mix because you will need that first.

Monday

Relax.

That is right. This is a step free day. Unless you want to switch today with Sunday.

Tuesday

Prepare the Brine 

Dissolve the brine mix into 1.5 gallon of water, boil for a few minutes and set to cool. You can add some orange peel for extra flavor while boiling. Keep refrigerated once cooled. Make sure you have at least 2 trays of ice in the freezer and tell the family not to deplete it before Wednesday.

Wednesday : (Start around 6 or 7 PM)

Make Creme Brûlée for dessert (optional)

  

Since we are not big pie fans, we opt for various desserts like creme brûlée, snicker doodle cookies or pound cake. This one is rather easy to make if you have 8 ramekins and a butane torch.  Preheat oven to 325F. Heat some water in a large pan/kettle. Now bring 1 quart heavy cream with one vanilla bean and its pulp to a boil on medium high heat and set to cool for 15 min while you whisk together 6 egg yolks and 1 cup sugar. Add the cream mix gently while stirring, pour into ramekins and place in a larger pan with hot water poured to reach half the height of ramekins. Bake at 325 for 40-45 min, take out while the middle is jiggling and set to cool in the fridge. Layer with sugar and torch the top when ready to eat.

Make Cranberry Sauce 

This is the right time to make cranberry sauce if you are planning to have it homemade. Wash & drain the cranberries, boil once with 1 cup sugar dissolved in 1 cup of water. Add orange peel & 1-2 crushed cardamom. Keep it on medium heat and stir occasionally until jelly like consistency is reached. You can do the next step while this is going on.

Roast Chestnuts

My stuffing requires chestnuts so I roast 8-9 chestnuts in the air fryer after making an X on the flat side with a knife. Add these to the air fryer at 390 or oven at 425 and roast for 20 min. While chestnuts are roasting, go on to the next step.

Brine the Turkey

Line a bucket or large container with a brining bag, add half of the cold brine and some ice cubes. Then add the washed and cleaned turkey without giblets etc. and pour over the remaining brine and ice cubes, tightly close the brining bag and keep refrigerated or in the garage if it is cold enough. Make sure turkey is fully immersed with a weight on top if necessary. Keep breast meat in the net that it came in.

Finishing Up

If the chestnuts are done, keep them wrapped in aluminum foil for 5 min while you attend to the cranberry on the stove.

Remove cranberry from heat, discard orange peel if any and refrigerate in serving container once cooled. 

Wear food grade gloves and peel the chestnuts while hot because that is the easiest way to get it out. Halve the chestnuts and keep them wrapped in the foil for Thursday. No need to refrigerate.

Take a large pan, add enough water and keep on the stove for Thursday's mashed potatoes.

Make sure you have 5 lbs. of potatoes ready. Place dry sherry and red wine bottles within easy reach for stuffing and gravy needs. Keep stuffing mix (10-16oz) and chicken broth (2 boxes of 32oz) also within reach. Set hot sausage to thaw in fridge if frozen and go to sleep.    

Teriyaki Chicken with Rice & Spinach #coronatime #campuscravings

My son's been missing some aspects of campus life ever since he came home and online schooling started. One day while we were talking, something reminded him of this teriyaki chicken bowl he used to eat at one of the many eateries close to the campus. Seeing how easy it was to make it, I gladly signed on. It was good that we had some chicken and spinach conveniently on hand. With long lines at grocery stores and lack of enough delivery slots at Amazon for WholeFoods, every food decision had to be made with some thought into the availability of ingredients. Turns out this is an easy to make dish where even the home made teriyaki sauce is easy to do!  Checked quite a few sauce recipes and finally settled on this one from cookingclassy  Made some spinach and basmati rice to go with it was a winner in the household. This wholesome meal is definitely here to stay!

In the Mix

boneless chicken breast - 1.5 lbs (chicken thighs are apparently more authentic)
olive oil - 1 tbsp
green onions - optional (I didn't have any)

For Homemade Teriyaki Sauce
soy sauce - 1/4 cup
water - 1/4 cup
honey - 2 tbsp
brown sugar - 1 1/2 tbsp
sesame oil - 1/4 tsp
garlic - 2 cloves minced
ginger - 2 tsp minced
rice vinegar - 1 tbsp
corn starch - 2 tsp

How To Do

Cooking rice ahead of time helps to serve everything hot once chicken and spinach are ready to go.

Wash, drain and cut the chicken into 1" cubes and set aside. Dry with paper towels

Mix the corn starch with rice vinegar in a small bowl and combine with no lumps. Transfer this and the rest of the teriyaki sauce ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk all together and set aside.

Heat oil in medium high heat and add the diced chicken. Cook on one side for about 3 minutes and flip over.

I turned each one over religiously. After about one minute into the second side, pour the prepared sauce over the chicken. Let cook for about 30 seconds before stirring. Cook to a total of 3-4 minutes on the scond side or until the sauce thickens to your liking.

Serve with spinach or any vegetable mix over rice and enjoy! My daughter likes spinach and so it worked out great for both kiddos. Below is a quick note on how to make this particular spinach.

Spinach (3 lbs. washed and drained) - 2 minute recipe
Saute' 3-4 cloves of crushed garlic in 1-2 tbsp of olive oil on medium high heat in a bowl large enough to hold all the spinach.
Add spinach and mix well together. Cover and cook for 1 minute.
Open, mix well again, cover and cook for another minute.
Add salt at the end, remove and serve hot after draining excess water.

Oven Roasted Potatoes

2018 has been a very busy year but that is not an excuse not to do at least one post! For the life of me I cannot find a picture to go with this roasted potatoes recipe but I am posting anyways. HAunt had sent us an air fryer and I now use that more than the oven. To cook this in the air fryer, use an air fryer basket and bake at 390F (~200C) following the same steps.

Roasted red potatoes are always popular around here. I thought I had a post on this somewhere among the thanksgiving posts but couldn't find it when I was looking for it recently. So this is a must to add it here. As all other oven recipes, this is also easy but not as fast as I'd like it to be. We'll solve  that problem at a later time. Now it it time to record this tried and tested recipe.

In The Mix

Small red or white potatoes - 1 1/2 lbs
Olive oil - 1/8 cup
Kosher salt - 3/4 tsp
Freshly ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp
Garlic cloves, minced - 3 /1 tbsp
Fresh rosemary leaves, minced - 2 tbsp

How To Do

Preheat the oven to 400F. I like using the small toaster oven for this.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarter so all sizes are even. Combine all the above ingredients in a bowl and toss the potatoes until well coated. Place the potatoes in a single layer to a foil lined cookie sheet. Roast for about an hour. Flip every 20 minutes using a spatula for even cooking. Keep an eye during the last 5-10 minutes to avoid over browning.

Let sit for 5-10 minutes and enjoy as a snack or with some form of meat protein to balance out this delicious carb.

Caesar Salad

This awesome caesar salad is my son's creation. He had loved caesar salad ever since he first came across it. It is a pleasure to see his happiness when this salad is on the menu when we go out. It got to a point where he simply had to have it whether we go out or stay in to eat. I tried to make it as a chicken caesar salad but the chicken never came out just how he liked it. Later on he started to prefer the salad without the chicken at all. So when he gets a craving for this he will make a special request that we go grocery shopping. He himself will pick the romaine lettuce and the specific brand of croutons and the all important caesar salad dressing. Once home he can't wait to get the cutting board out and get things going. Of course the classic caesar salad differs quite a bit but do we care? No worcestershire sauce here either. When some things are tasty the way they are, there is no need to change. eh? Here is how kannan goes about it.

In The Mix

romaine lettuce bunch - 1 

shaved parmesan cheese - to taste

caesar salad dressing - as needed

croutons - as needed

How To Do

Once the above items are gathered, separate the lettuce leaves, wash and drain well.  Remove unwanted parts if any and slice into salad sized pieces. Place them into a bowl. Add salad dressing by gently pouring over the lettuce. Sprinkle the croutons and the shaved cheese over it. Voila! That was quick. Bring out a fork and go for it!

Orange Magic!

My original title was just 'carrots'. But it felt so weak up there I changed it to 'orange magic' because that is what they are. This all time favorite veggie (only veggie that is acceptable to all)  in our household is magic indeed I say. I suspect its natural sweetness has something to do with the popularity:-)

I had despaired of ever growing carrots because they just only grew so much last time after taking care of the 6 plants that we had bought.. But this year I took the advice of a colleague who grew up in a Panjabi farm and had seen carrots grown all his life. Bought seeds in a packet and strew the seeds on my prepared veggie bed where there is mostly sunlight and some shade. Didn't replant to give them space. That could be why some of them were small but still there was only so much effort and the yield was so good! Preparing a soil bed that was loose and well fertilized helped a lot too. This way the carrot root can grow downwards without obstacles. Like I had suspected, the ones that had flowered yielded tough carrots with roots growing all over. Those had moved on to the seed producing stage. Apparently the weird  hot-one-week cold-one-week weather made some of them think winter is already here or something like that. Luckily only a few got confused and the rest of them yielded fine. Celery was just ok. See the pic below. They could be used to boil in soups but were not tender enough for snacking. Knowing when to harvest is the trick. Onions didn't grow as well but there is always a second time.  Tomatoes are the one surefire thing here in sunny California.

BTW, Happy 4th of July to all! My littlest nephew is also celebrating a birthday back home on July 4th. Happy Birthday kunjunni! 

We were all set to go camping on this 3-day weekend but cold, cough and throw-ups dictated otherwise. So I am chastely staying home looking up home remedies for cough as most over-the-counter medicines only tend to make the kiddos suffer more. Looks like green or regular tea with honey, lemon honey hot water (I knew this one!) and essential oil rubs are way better than the worthless medicines I keep buying in hopes of faster turnarounds. The cough symphony between the kiddos had reached a crescendo but is slowly subsiding and the home is quietening much to our relief. Each cough had felt like a stab at times esp when that is all you hear in the dark. I hate it when those little bodies rack up with coughs and I feel so helpless. What works for one may not work for the other. Steam inhalation works wonders and while my boy thrived on honey lemon water, my girl got relief only after having her pillows elevated at night. So much for the sick news. Hope it will be all over by the time we are setting sail (er.. flying) to Italy. Yup, we are visiting Rome, Florence and Venice this month. It is HAunt's 60th birthday this year and bless her heart she wanted that trip to Italy in lieu of celebrations. I took straight to that idea as it was so appealing:-) This is also the last summer that my son will be free for a while as he is going into high school and summers get very busy from what I know. It is just unfortunate that a project milestone decided to land right smack in the middle of the vacation. But hey I am not going to care (I hope) and will be enjoying Michael Angelo's Rome, Da Vinci's Florence and Vivaldi's Venice to the fullest. So what if it is sweltering hot in Italy this month? The ancient edifices, mesmerizing paintings and just plain history sleeping on those streets will make up for all that. Italia qui veniamo! 

My, My, How Have They Grown!

Herbs, celery, onions, tomatoes, carrots, they are all growing and adding green to our backyard!

Checking in because if I don't June too will disappear before I know it and I do like to post a thing or two in this favorite place of mine. Just like the garden, the kids are also growing up. And so is our cat, Zeus. My 8th grader graduated from his current school and is going into high school next year which starts this August. He was given the student of the year award much to our happiness and now it is summer holidays for the kiddos. My girl will be going into 5th grade next year. This is the first year when cheta will not be in the same school with her. To pickup from two different places before 6PM when working full time means the circus of balancing life and work just got a bit more hectic. Molu is doing her first dance performance next week. I am excited. When she negotiated to quit piano and start Indian classical dance, she had promised she will not drop the ball and I am glad to see that she does a rather good job of it. Just that the paraphernalia associated with dancing and performing is not my cup-a-tea. Guess I will have to get used to it since she seems to be taking to it.

Back to the veggie garden. We get lettuce for my son's sandwich from the garden, rosemary and lemon thyme add flavor to my cooking and I can't wait for the onions and carrots to be ready for harvesting. Looks like the carrots are ready! This year's carrots are coming along nicely. Look!

Have you seen a carrot flower? Probably means it is going over the harvest time. Molu and I need to start digging them out.

How about an onion flower? Isn't that a beauty?

Maybe a bud instead?

And chilies of course. That staple of curries far and wide.

For his part, H is experimenting with a self watering system this year and it seems to be going well. Look at the tomatoes! See the little white pipe inserted into the pot? That does the job.

With all that green is it any wonder that we spend more time outside these days. That is, only when it is not blazing hot. What IS with the weather these days? Hot one day and cold another. Ciao until next time.

Muringa Ila/Drumstick Leaves Thoran

H's birthday was coming up sometime back and I was looking to do something that can deliver the most happiness quotient with the least effort. Who but HMom to the rescue! While chatting on the phone one day she mentioned how H had always loved muringa ila and was happy to recite her recipe to me. I typed it down on my iPhone notepad - quite handy eh? no need for papers or pencils anymore... - and saved it for d-day. The leaves were available at the not so local Kerala grocery store and I hid'em all the way on the bottom shelf of the fridge. All for naught! Guess who had to pull out everything on that shelf the day before his birthday and spoil the surprise? Yup, H did it. But it was still sort of a surprise when I made the actual thoran 'cos it came out almost as good as he remembers it and we had never made it here before. So it fulfilled my requirements for a sweet and simple thing to do. I also consulted Mrs. KMM's book to fill in some gaps in my notes.

In The Mix
toor dal - 1/4 cup
muringa leaves - from two bunches (cleaned and separated)

for curry mix

fresh grated cocunut - 1 cup (gently crush this if you don't want to grind it all)

jeerakam/cumin seeds crushed - 1/2 tsp
garlic - 1 pod
turmeric - 1/4 tsp
chili powder - 1/4 tsp (this is for color)

for seasoning
olive oil - 2 tsp
mustard - 1 tsp or less
shallots - 1 or 2 sliced and diced big
curry leaves - a sprig or two
dry red chilies - 2 or 3 torn in halves

Salt to taste - My discovery is that, veggie taste is enhanced if we don't add any salt at all. For non-veg controlled amounts of salt may be good than no salt at all.


 How To Do
 Boil just enough water in a large pan and cook the toor dal. Once cooked through, add muringa leaves, cover  and cook for 5 minutes. The result should not be watery. Combine all the items in the curry mix together. Add this to the pan and stir well together. Add enough salt to taste. Now close and steam for 3-4 minutes on high.

Heat oil in a small pan, break mustard, saute the shallots, curry leaves and dry red chilies for the seasoning.
Add to the cooked mix and combine. Serve over hot rice with buttermilk curry or yogurt. Drool!

Healthy, nutritious, easy and pleasing! What is there not to like?

BTW, see below for a corn/tomato picture Our veggie garden is slowly winding down to rest in winter. I am trying to setup some herbs in the kitchen. Just moved to a new company so life's a little hectic and I hope to make it to India this year somehow to see my Mom and everyone else.

Garden Sambhar

I bet you hadn't seen this one coming.  Yup almost all ingredients came from our garden (hence forth to be referred as the G). Except maybe the sambhar powder and drumsticks. Er.. maybe the dry red chilies for seasoning, potatoes and toor dal also didn't come from there... What are you, the food inspector? If I say it is from the G, then it is ! On the fun side, half the okra, all beans, onions and green chilies came from the G. Isn't that still good? We thought we could feel the freshness throughout. The onions were the best. Yes, they didn't reach their full potential because we were too lazy to separate the plant clusters. But the resulting size was perfect to replace the pearl onions I normally use for sambhar. Some friends donated squash and zuchini from their garden which also went into the sambhar. I have to say no other curry represents G as well as a sambhar. We did make bean and lettuce leaf thoran earlier which was pretty good. Them beans grow a plenty when paired with the corns. Native Americans knew what they were doing...

Before the veggies went into the curries we made some patterns with the onions, chilies etc and the donated squash. Didn't use the bell pepper in sambhar. Enjoy!

H and my girl did the arrangement below. Neat. Eh?

The beans have been harvested more than once.

Lettuce leaves show no sign of giving up and keeps on growing despite constant harvesting.

Tomatoes galore are coming up and will be ready soon.

Chilies and beans After harvest:

Corn is a longer than anticipated wait but is the most lush in the patch.

Until now I didn't know that corn has a male branch that shows up first.

The female branch shoots up later under it, to be pollinated from the top by the wind!!

And I thought the corn like flowers on the male branch was the actual corn because in the beginning it looked a lot like a corn. See what I mean?

Have no idea what the carrots are doing down there but we go on in the belief that they too are doing what they need to do:-) Okra is the one disappointment. Not thriving as we'd hoped but there are a few coming up to keep us happy.

That's it today for news from lan's garden. See you next time.

Bounty From The Garden

It is a little strange to consume the lovingly brought up green beauties but it is harvest time in the lan household. No, the beans and corn are not ready yet. Neither are the tomatoes, chili etc (I wish!) But the lettuce leaves are. I wouldn't have realized that they ready, had it not been for visiting HAunt asking what we are waiting for! So took a basket, collected leaves from the mixed variety and made a salad with a quick dressing recipe poached from PW's website. Here is the know-how:

In The Mix

Veggie patch in your backyard : 1
Basket to hoard the green goodies : 1
Green lettuce leaves ready for plucking - as many as you want
cherry tomatoes - a handful cut in two
herbs  - a sprig or two ( i used cilantro and spearmint ehem.. from my garden)

For the Dressing
( With slight changes from PW)
olive oil     - 2tbsp
lemon juice - from half a lemon
garlic - 1 clove
salt - 1/4 tsp
pepper - as much as you want
sugar - 1/4 tsp
paprika - a pinch
parmesan - didn't use this as i didn't have some at hand.


How To Do
Place all ingredients for the dressing in a jar. Shake well. Store in fridge for 24 hours and it is ready. I used a glass and covered it up with plastic wrap. Peel the garlic before adding but no need to crush or slice. Didn't have enough time to let sit the first time but still tasted pretty good. Sitting for a while obviously infuses more flavors and next time I might add the cheese to see how it differs.

Cut the aforementioned salad green as small or as big as you want. Throw in a sprig or two of the herbs of your choice torn to desired size. Add halved tomatoes and dressing and toss well in a bowl before serving. Good for the body, good for the mind:-)

Oh Glorious Spring!

The smoothie in the glass if you can see it is with water melon, banana and milk, generally following this recipe. Yes spring is here in all its beauty!

I am beginning to enjoy the changing seasons here. Spring, of course is the best as it heralds the end of winter and fun time outside the house. This year is special because we finally decided to start that vegetable patch. Yes, you heard it right. V-e-g-e-t-a-b-l-e patch! My family will be so overwhelmed by this turn of events. The I-don't-want-to-get-my-hands-dirty girl is doing what? My oldest brother however is quite the green thumb and was probably happy to see this picture of our humble patch that I texted him.

For all humility our intentions for the patch are quite lofty. The following members are thriving in it so far: beans, corn, lettuce, chili, okra, onion aaaaand tomatoes. Our carrots however were not happy to be transplanted and some of them are giving up despite tender and constant care. Good that at least a few are planning to stay. The kids were out in full force helping till the soil, adding plant mix, food, digging holes and what not. The best loved activity is of course watering! It is pleasant and very relaxing to be in the presence of these growing things. Leaves moving gently in the wind always do something to me and I can watch this activity for all eternity. So I love watching the little beauties braving the hot sun and living it up with the backyard wind! Now I get my Mom's fascination with growing things although I had always appreciated that in her. I surprised myself by this sudden passion to grow things! I certainly hope at least a few of them will bear fruit so the passion will live on. My husband had always loved working with roses and other flowering plants but had put things off for a while. Now that I am in the melee he is having fun too. He is seriously trying to grow a muscat grape vine and I hope it will thrive. Grapes are not easy but he is confident. My Mom had brought up this grape vine in our garden in India by her constant vigilance and I still remember the few white grape clusters that grew on it and the joy! My oldest brother had brought the seeds for her. He texted me this picture of his rose garden.

There is not a veggie or fruit tree that he has not grown successfully in their ample backyard. My sister-in-law often talks happily of their yearly harvest which is always so plentiful. They are visiting us along with my Hfamily for my girl's first communion and I hope these little guys will be thriving by then. The weather is so weird this year! Just last week we had a day of hot hot sun, two days of rain and a few regular days! I hope we are not over watering them which happened the one time I tried this before. This time we are faithfully following the garden store lady's advice to the letter. I even tried to draw a picture! I know, I know. It was a passing fancy and I won't repeat it.  But this beautiful flower in our garden begged to be drawn and here it is:

Yes, it was on the back of a picture bingo game paper and you can see some of it showing up. What is great is that I got a precious award from my girl for the picture. Proudly I bring it to you my fellow Moms:

Wait till she grows up and sees it for all its shortcomings. Untill then allow me to bask in it....

t

Cauliflower Soup by Chef Tyler Florence from House Beautiful

 My kids were having their regular dentist checkups and I was whiling time away by browsing the magazines. This recipe and accompanying pictures in House Beautiful caused me to pause and take a closer look. Being veggie heavy in ingredients seemed like a plus and I decided give Chef Tyler Florence's recipe a try. So took some snaps of the recipe and came home where I had some of the ingredients. Recipe and method follows with the little that I changed.

In The Mix

Olive Oil                 3 tbsp

brussel sprouts       6, separated into petals.

unsalted butter        3 tbsp

cauliflower              1 head, separated into florets and cut to medium sized pieces

yellow onion            1/2 sliced

fresh thyme             5 sprigs (recipe asks for lemon thyme and since i didn't have it used regular thyme hoping to offset by using lemon juice)

bay leaves              2 (recipe asks for fresh, had to use dry as i didn't have fresh)

whole milk              3 cups

lemon juice             2 tbsp (recipe asks for 1, added 1 more tbsp in place of lemon thyme)

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

salmon roe (2oz) is requested by the recipe which I didn't have.

extra virgin olive oil and finely sliced chives to garnish (had oil but no chives)

How To Do

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the brussel sprouts petals and saute for 2-3 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Set aside to drain on a paper towel. 

Add butter to the same sauce pan and lightly saute the cauliflower pieces and onion. Cook over medium heat until tender. (2 to 3 minutes) Season with salt and pepper.

Make a cheesecloth sachet with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves and add it to the saucepan. I loved this step. Felt I was doing some serious 'chef'ing'  Now add the milk and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 10-12 min until cauliflower is soft.

Remove the sachet and transfer mixture to a blender. Add 1 tbsp of lemon juice to the blender. Puree until smooth. Add more lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed. Remember, salt is not your friend:-))

Serve the soup in tea cups like I did if you don't have espresso cups suggested in the recipe. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil and a brussel leaf or two.Salmon roe and chives can be added if you have them.I am sure it will bring the taste to the next level as intended by Chef Florence.

The soup as it was, looked good and tasted good. As with all soups, remember to have it hot. Kids did not take to it much.I liked it enough to want to try it again with another vegetable and all required ingredients. How it looked was priceless!!

One Of a Kind Veggie Patty!

My husband has devised this veggie patty for his lunch needs so he won't have to face the multitude of salty yet tempting lunch choices at work. This is especially since he figured that his 'go to' lunch of the Subway veggie patty has more sodium than needed. We wish for Subway to make an unsalted version soon. Until then this veggie patty will do more than just fine. It is so healthy and full of goodness that just looking at it should be enough:-) Recipe follows.

In The Mix

mixed lentils and beans (dal) - little less than 2 cups (we keep this pre mixed in a jar - about equal amounts of black eyed beans, kidney beans, toor dal and masoor dal)
potato - 1 large or 2 medium sized peeled

red onion - 1 medium sized, finely chopped
fresh frozen veggie mix - 1 bag (16oz) of corn, green peas, green beans, carrots
fresh carrot - 1 peeled and chopped
red bell pepper - 1/2 deseede, chopped
green bell pepper - 1/2 deseeded, chopped
porta bella mushroom  - 1 large (4" to 5") chopped
button mushrooms - 5 chopped
jalapeno pepper - 2 large deseeded, chopped

regular oatmeal - 3/4 cup (crushed into crumbs in the blender) or can use bread crumbs instead
egg - 1
salt - add ( if you must... veggies have their own natural sodium and you won't miss the salt. trust me)

How To Do

Preheat oven to 350 F (180C)

First cook the lentils and potato in separate pots. Mash together the lentils once cooked. Mash the potato coarsely in the pan after draining any water. Combine together gently and set aside.

Now cook all the veggies including the peppers without adding any water in a closed container on medium heat. Frozen veggies have extra water in them which is OK.

Add cooked veggie mix to the lentil potato mix. Add a beaten egg and oatmeal or bread crumbs. Add salt to your needs and gently mix all well together.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Spread the mix on to the tray and flatten to desired thickness. We needed 1 1/2 cookie sheet space for the whole mix. Use a dinner knife or spatula to split to patty size. Makes about 18 patties. Insert into oven and bake for 5 minutes. This is so everything gels together since most of the stuff is already cooked. Take out and set to cool.

Freeze and use as needed by heating in the microwave. Thawing is not necessary but if you take it out of the freezer in the morning and heat it up at lunch that will workout just fine. Yum when placed between 2 toasted pieces of your favorite bread. Can add sauces to increase flavor but be warned that they are salty by nature. Follow this recipe for your sandwich needs and your one way ticket to the health wagon is on to a good start!

Waldorf Salad

I first laid my tongue on a forkful of Waldorf Salad at the Cafeteria of my previous workplace. I know, not the best place to taste any cuisine the first time. But the Chef at that time was really good and there were many items that I liked for lunch. On days the Waldorf was offered  if there was hot Panini to go with it they had a totally satisfied customer in me.

I guess it is common knowledge that Waldorf salad was developed by the maître d’ of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. I am glad it spread out of there. This saving grace for me among salads, has a special place in my tummy. The recipe has many variations and is easily available with an internet search. I'll just post what I did.

In The Mix
celery - 1 cup diced
granny smith apple - 1cored and diced
any red skinned apple - 1 cored and diced
mayonnaise - 3 tbsp or more
yogurt - 2 tbsp or more to sub for mayo (optional)
fresh squeezed lemon juice - 1 1/2 tbsp
salt - to taste
lettuce leaves - for decoration
seedless grapes - a bunch
raisins - a bunch to sub for fresh grapes (optional)

How To Do

Combine the diced apples with celery and toss with lemon juice. Mix grapes and raisins to this. Take the mayo in a separate bowl and merge all together. Add salt as needed. Serve on a bed of lettuce. Voila!

Royal Eggplants from Paytpooja

 While I was sitting there reading and drooling over Paytpooja's Stuffed Eggplants & Potatoes I didn't think I could ever make this complicated dish. That too a vegetable! But all that is water under the bridge. Now I just love those veggies. Slowing metabolism spawns wisdom:-) I happen to have a soft corner for eggplants which was not a regular item at our home. The thing with eggplant is you either like it or you hate it. There seems to be no middle ground.

Hope Geets will not mind me renaming them the Royal Eggplants because that is what they are. Like it says in her post, a dish fit for Kings! My eggplant hater of a husband couldn't remember hating them ever after the first delicious morsel was in...

I took few more shortcuts and the outcome was still fantastic. Reduced the masala ingredients to fasten the process as it was my first time. Got enough to make it twice! Hope I got the right proportions. I also combined masala 2 into the main ingredients list so the storable masala is separate. I am reproducing Geeta's recipe here with the small adaptations I did for convenience:

In The Mix

japanese eggplants - 6 (washed & dried)
red potatoes - 6 ( i love these. peeled regular potatoes are equally good too as tried that too)
red onion - 1 meduim sized
fresh grated coconut - 2 tbsp
chili powder -  1/2 tbsp or less ( change according to your heat tolerance)
garlic cloves - 6 or 7 peeled and crushed
salt to taste
olive oil - enough to fry

for masala  - recipe needs >1 tbsp

mustard seed - 1 tbsp
whole cumin - 1 tbsp
split urad dal - 3 tsp
channa dal - 3 tsp
toor dal - 2 tsp
whole methi - 1/4 tsp or less
whole black pepper - 2 tsp
whole coriander seeds  - 1/2 tsp (didn't use it since i didn't ave it at home)


How To Do

to make masala
Recipe calls to fry each separately.  Being a little lazy and having clamoring kids around, I took a flat frying pan and fried the dals and cumin in separate clusters at the same time. Small quantities made this possible. Microwaved mustard, cumin and methi which is a great tip.First 10 seconds and then maybe 5 more taking care not to burn at any stage. Let everything cool.. Again small quantities helped me to grind it all together in our pepper mill.. Only a little more than 1 tbsp is needed for the recipe. Store the rest in an airtight bag/container. I had enough to make it twice. Once you have the masala, the second time is a breeze. Next time I will make more following the recipe measurements.
 
Preheat oven to 450F. This is the broil setting in my oven. Place the onion on a foil on the top shelf for 30 to 40 minutes. While onion is in the oven you can make the above masala if it is not already done. Roast the grated coconut till golden brown. Take the onion out at the end of designated time and peel off the black layers. Place the onion in a grinder along with the coconut. and grind to a smooth paste. Add about 1 tbsp of the prepared dry masala, chili powder and salt. Blend well.

Slit the eggplant with a sharp knife from the nose to the stalk  taking care to keep shy off about 1" from the stalk so the slit pieces can be held together there. Now generously spread the masala onto each layer of the eggplants making sure to keep all layers together in shape. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350F ( Open the door to bring down the temp from previous broiling step if necessary)


Time to tend to the potatoes.  Cut in halves if using red potatoes. Peel and cut into 2-3 pieces if using regular potatoes. Heat oil in a pan and fry the potatoes on both sides till golden brown. Fry red potatoes cut side first. A few minutes on each side  will do the trick. Take out, drain on paper towels and sprinkle with salt on both sides when hot . Potatoes will complete cooking in the oven so no need to over fry. Covering up the potatoes with any remaining masala makes it tastier as the recipe suggests. I leave some masala free for my girl who loves potatoes.

Remove some of the \oil if necessary and place the eggplants into the pan one or two at a time depending on the space.  Spread out the slit layers and fry onl all sides. Drain on paper towels.

Add the crushed garlic cloves to the oil for a few minutes and take out when soft.

Place the eggplants and potatoes in one or two baking dishes or cookie sheets lined with foil. Sprinkle with garlic cloves and bake for about 30 minutes. Wait! Hold your breath please. Out comes the most spenldid veggie dish I have seen in my entire life!!! Thanks paytpooja for this awesome recipe!

Potatoes will not keep for long but the eggplants can be frozen according to paytpooja. I have yet to do this because the egplants and potatoes vanish in no time. Perfect with hot rice or the breads.