Chunky Watermelon Salsa

Its so hot this evening. Absolutely I don’t feel like cooking or staying in kitchen. For me, Summer means a season for fresh, simple, quick easy no cook food. After coming home from work, I feel like having something little crunchy, tangy, sweet etc., etc., and I also love to bring more colors on my plate. So I made this for my evening snack.

Preparation Method: Simple, Easy

Preparation Time: 10-15  mins

Ingredients:

Watermelon – ¼ slice (Preferably seedless)
Green, Yellow or Red Bell Peppers – ½ piece each (I used multiple colors, you can use only one as your choice)
Jalapeno Pepper – 1  (Make a slit and remove the seeds and chop into small pieces)
Mango – Peel and dice into small cubes (I used a small piece of mango)
Avocado – ½  piece ( Remove the shell and seed, chop into small cubes)
Red Onion – ¼ piece
Mozarella cheese – 3 small (Optional)
Salt – ½ spoon or as per taste
Fresh ground pepper – ½ spoon
Lime – ½
Basil Leaves – 2 or 3 (for garnishing)

Preparation Method:
Remove the outer part, Slice and dice the watermelon into small chunky cubes. Rinse Bell Peppers. Cut and Remove the seeds, Slice into small cubes. Make a slit in Jalapeno Pepper, Remove the seeds in slice into small cubes. Peel Mango, cut into small cubes. Remove the shell and seed in Avacado, chop into small cubes. Peel the skin of Red Onion, chop into small cubes. Tear mozzarella cheese into small pieces. Mix all the chopped fruit and veggies in the bowl. Add mozzarella cheese, Salt and Pepper into the bowl. Squeeze the lemon. Add chopped Basil Leaves. Toss it. That’s it. A chunky, Colorful, healthy, fresh salsa ready. You can have it as a salad or a side of roti or Tortilla chips or breadsticks or a Side of any Protein (Chicken or Meat). 

Keep Salsa in fridge if you make the salsa ahead of party. Serve it cold.  

Mini Egg Muffins

Super Duper easy breezy breakfast recipe I found for myself. For Myself…Yeah… Sometimes my mornings are so crazy, especially when I get up little late, but still crave for super yummy delicious breakfast before I step into my hectic schedule. I found this recipe is a super easy, can do many things in parallel, no need to stay in kitchen, yet can enjoy the healthy, tasty breakfast.  I thought of sharing this for kids too… Yep, most of the kids like Egg and Toast.  They may get bored of same stuff daily.  Changing the shape and structure, and put few colors, and add veggies to it,  make them feel good, interesting to eat healthy.  You can just use any vegetables that you have in fridge, and any cheese as Kids like. I prefer No cheese for me… so here is the recipe with veggies what I have for today.

What you need: A Muffin Tray

Preparation Time: 5-10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients: Eggs – 3 eggs
Milk – 1 tbl spoon (Optional)
Potatoes – 1 – Peel, Chop into small cubes (You can also use frozen hashbrown potatoes)
Mushrooms – 1 small cup
Spinach – 1 small cup ( I used fresh spinach, Pls Thaw when you use frozen)
Red Bell Pepper – A Small piece, Chop into small cubes
Green Bell Pepper – A Small piece, Chop into small cubes
Onion – 1 small (Peeled, and Chop into small pieces)
Butter or Oil  – 1 spoon
Cooking Spray – to grease the muffin tray
Salt- as per taste
Black crushed Pepper- As per taste
Cheese – Optional (Please use grated cheese what ever kids like)

Preparation Method: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tray with cooking spray. Heat a skillet, add butter, add all veggies, add salt and Pepper, Saute for 2 mins. In a large bowl, add eggs, little salt and pepper, add milk, whisk it together. Spoon the sautéed vegetables in muffin cups, and pour the egg mixture on top the veggies till half of the muffin cup.  Sprinkle the cheese on top of egg mixture.  Note, eggs puff up little bit, so make sure you pour only till ½ of the muffin cup. Let it bake for 10-15 mins (Depending on the oven) or till it turns golden on edges.  You can also test with toothpick or fork. Insert a tooth pick or fork in the middle of muffin, muffins are done when the toothpick comes out clean. Serve the kids with a side of toast or a fruit. 
Tip: You can make it as a party appetizer or you can also make it as batch, keep it in fridge and serve by heating in a microwave for the next day.

Roasted Veggie Frittata:

Roasted Veggie Frittata:

“They eat all this egg, fruits, cereals, milk, bread toast’ …..When my friend said about kids preferences, I simply decided to make few easy simple things with those ingredients. It is a perfect easy recipe for a group of people without spending longer hours for kitchen. I used the vegetables which are in my fridge. You can use any kind of vegetable as per your choice.  Being a working woman, I prefer very easy recipes and prefer the cooking to be simple, quick yet healthy and delicious.

Additional Equipment You need: Cast Iron Skillet or any over-safe skillet.  (I used 8 inches round pan)

Preparation time: 10 mins

Cooking Time: 10-15 mins
Serving Size: 2 people

Ingredients:
Eggs – 2  large
Potato – 1 small size – Peeled, Cubed into small pieces
Onion – 1 small- peel and chop into small pieces
Red Bell Pepper – ½ or a small piece , Seeded and diced into small pieces
Green Bell Pepper – ½ or  a small piece, seeded and diced into small pieces
Scallions – 1 small- washed and diced into small pieces
Asparagaus – 3 small
Oil – 2 table spoons
Butter – 1 table spoon
Salt – as per taste
Freshly ground Black Pepper – ½ tea spoon or as per taste
Parmesan Cheese – 1 spoon – Optional


Preparation Method: Preheat over at 350 degrees. Heat the Skillet, Drizzle Oil, place all the chopped vegetables, sprinkle salt and pepper. Fry for two mins. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Add little salt and little pepper to egg mixture. You can also add grated parmesan cheese. Pour the egg mixture on top of the vegetables, let it cook for 2 mins withoiut stirring. Place the skillet into oven, and let it cook for 10-15 mins.  Remove from oven, serve hot.

Breakfast for Kids

I don’t have kids. Well, I am single, so all my recipes are only related to my own appetite and my own passion in trying to new techniques to satisfy my stomach cravings. It just happened that few of my close friends kids turned 4, and my friends repeatedly mentioned how fussy the kids are in eating breakfast, how difficult for them to enjoy vegetables…I also met someone who is so special, also need of some good recipes for the kids (I think so, but I am not sure)… so I thought of exploring few creative and delicious, healthy recipes for kids. Yes, I don’t have kids, there is no one sit next to me for dining, enjoy or comment or waste the food etc..etc.. But how does it matter as long you have heart to see what kids want… so, friends, here you go, few recipes are for you. Try for your kids…hope they enjoy…these recipes are for naughty, cuty, cranky, chubby, lovely kids….

Oats Crusted Fried Eggplant

I am not a health freak. I hardly eat Oats and I hardly follow any trendy healthy options . It just happened for me to see many varieties of Oats at one of my friend’s place on a sleepover. She is so sweet, really made me remember my forgotten love for Italian and mexican food, explained her passion about oats and other healthy options. With in few weeks span, I had to go for lunch with one of my friend, who simply loves Italian food, especially for Eggplant Parmesan. I thought of creating a recipe which can satisfy both of them, a modified version of eggplant parm, which can be healthy yet delicious, also can be used for traditional eggplant parm (I will make it soon). As I am single, with small stomach, my recipes always goes for only one person. You can modify accordingly to your need.

Ingredients:

Eggplant: 1 medium size
Oil – 3 spoons (I used Canola Oil. You can use Canola Spray or Olive Oil or Butter)
Whole Oats – 1 cup ( I used Quaker Old Fashioned)
egg – 1 large egg
Salt – as per taste
Black Pepper – ½ spoon
Red Pepper Flakes – 1 spoon
Ricotta Cheese – 2 spoons (Optional)
Basil Leaves – 2 leaves (Chopped ) for garnishing (Optional)

Total Time: 15 - 20 mins

Preparation Method:

Take Half a cup of oats and grind into a coarse powder. Place in a plate. Season the Oats flour with Salt and pepper.  Take another bowl, whisk the egg, season it with Salt and Pepper. Keep the rest of the oats in another plate. Wash Eggplant. Cut into ½ inch thick round slices. Sprinkle little Salt and pepper on both sides. Dip Each slice into Oats flour, shake off if any excess, then dip into egg mix, and finally into the oats. Take a Pan, grease it with Oil or Oil Spray, place the eggplant slices into the pan. Let it fry 3-4 mins on one side, flip and then from 2-3 mins on other side. (You can also bake the eggplant slices by placing in a baking sheet, 350 F about 20-30 mins. I fried because it’s a small batch, and was in need of making something real quick. ) Remove the fried eggplant slices, apply Ricotta cheese as spread, sprinkle Chopped Basil Leaves. Serve it with a Side of Salad or Ketchup. For me, It's a perfect Appetizer or an evening snack or a simple dinner . I had it with a fresh salad made with Butter Lettuce, Avacado, Cucumbers, Radish and Baby Corn.

Coconut Shrimp Curry

I am not a great fan of Seafood. Well, to be honest, I am the only one in my family atleast give a try to eat sea food. Either my dad or my sister don’t like sea food at all.  My friend Deepthi made me to taste Shrimp often. She only eat either fish or Shrimp, and she is an excellent cook, so I started exploring those two items in different ways to make her happy.  I am not sure which cuisine this recipe belongs to, I tried to add Jamaican/ Cuban/ Thai flavors to traditional South Indian recipe. It resulted the most succulent, delicious, mildly flavored Shrimp Curry.

Total time: 25-30 mins

Ingredients:

Shrimp – 15 count, fresh/ frozen , uncooked, Peeled, Deveined  (You can also use frozen, uncooked)
Onion -  1 small, peel, chop into small pieces
Ginger Garlic Paste- ½ tbl spoon
Tomato – 1 small – wash, cut onto small pieces
Fresh grated Coconut – 1 small cup – (Grind and make a coarse paste)
Red Bell Pepper – Small or ¼ portion – Remove the Seeds, Cut to Long thin Slices (Optional)
Green Bell Pepper – Small or ¼ portion – Remove the seeds, Cut into Long thin Slices (Optional)
Salt – 1 tea spoon (As per taste)
Crushed Pepper – ½ tea spoon
Turmeric – a pinch
Red Chilli Powder – ½ tbl spoon (As per taste)
Coriander powder – ½ tbl spoon
Mustard Seeds – ½ tbl spoon
Jeera Seeds – ½ tbl spoon
Bay Leaves – 2  (Optional)
Basil Leaves – 2 or 3 (Optional)
Oil – 3 tbl spoons

Preparation Method: I used medium size, uncooked Shrimp. You can use any size, cooked or uncooked shrimp.

Take shrimp in a small bowl, mix it with Salt ,  Turmeric and crushed pepper . Take a Pan, add a spoon of oil, let it get hot. Add Shrimp and cook them for few mins. Cook 2 -3 mins at one side, flip and cook the other side.  Cook them until a little pink color. Remove from the pan and keep them aside.  If you use cooked shrimp, you don’t have to fry in the beginning.
Add two spoons of oil, heat the oil, add mustard seeds, jeera seeds. Fry for a min, and add chopped onion. Fry the onions till turns to golden brown color, add ginger garlic paste, red bell pepper, green bell pepper pieces, salt, turmeric, Red chilli powder, Coriander Powder. Fry for 2-3 mins. Stir to make sure not to burn the spices. Add shrimp, mix well, fry for a min. Add chopped Tomato, Coconut Paste, Bay Leaves, stir well. Close the lid, let it cook for 5-10 mins, bring it to simmer. Stir in the middle if required. Add chopped Basil leaves at the end to enhance the sweet flavor. Serve hot with Steamed Rice or Roti. 

Veggie Basket (Fully Loaded Veggies in a Bread Basket)

This morning was so beautiful, rain, fog, woods…made me feel so good, and made me to crave more delicious breakfast than usual. My cravings this morning resulted this recipe with a kind of a Toast with Sauteed Vegetables. I used the vegetables which I have in my fridge. You can use either eggs or any vegetables as per your choice.  

Ingredients:

Green Bell Pepper – 1 medium size, washed, remove seeds and chop into small cubes
Red Bell Pepper – 1 medium size, washed, removed seeds and chop into small cubes
Potato – 1 medium size , washed, peeled and chop into small cubes
Green Peas – 1 small cup
Onion – 1 small- Peel and chop into small pieces
Garlic – 1 small pod – peeled and chopped  (Optional)
Jeera Seeds – 1 small tbl spoon (Optional)
Mustard Seeds – 1 small tbl spoon (Optional)
Oil – 2 spoons  (to sautee the vegetables)
Salt – 1 tbl spoon (as per taste)
Crushed Pepper – 1 tbl spoon (as per taste)
White Bread – 6 slices
Butter – 1 small cube ( bring to room temperature) – (Optional, You can use any Vegetable Oil)

Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese – 2 spoons – (Optional)

You also need a Muffin Tray for this recipe.

Preparation:

Preheat Over at 410 °F. Spray the muffin tray with cooking spray or with grease with butter.

Stuffing Preparation: Heat Oil in the pan, add jeera seeds, mustard seeds, let it splatter. Add chopped Onion, fry for two mins till it leaves the raw smell (Or fry till turn little brown color), add chopped garlic, chopped vegetables (Bell Peppers, Potato) and peas. Add salt and pepper, sautee the vegetables for 5 mins or till vegetables leaves the raw smell.

Take the bread slices, Remove the edges. Cut Diagonal and make every slice into two pieces. Apply Butter to both sides of the slices. Place the slices in each muffin cup by pressing in bottom and sides as a cup.  Take a spoon and Fill the cup with vegetable stuffing. Sprinkle Chedder Cheese on top of the vegetables. I am not a cheese lover, so I just sprinkled a little. Also I used Sharp Chedder Cheese. You may use any cheese as per your choice.

Place the muffin tray in the pre-heated oven and let it bake for 10-15 mins. The baking time varies depending on your oven settings.  You can check the oven till the bread turns brown.

Remove the Tray from oven and let it cool for 5 mins. Remove the baked veggie cups from tray with the help of knife or fork and serve hot. Enjoyy !!!

Mini Palmiers - A French Dessert/ Breakfast

Viennoiserie--- It’s a French word for baked goods such as Croissant, pastry, Palmier, Snail rolls, Danish Pastry….list goes on… for various varieties of breakfast or snack French recipes . For some ‘buttery’ , ‘cheesy’ reason, I fell in love with Italian and French cuisines. But the amount of butter, sugar and wine needed for most of the recipes made me to stay away from making those at home. PAUL – A new branch of Authentic French bakery opened recently in the mall. The richest aroma or the cheese made me to stop at Pauls almost store closing time. I was so disappointed that they ran out of every variety and I hardly got a chocolate croissant. It made me to dream about the Palmier all night long, and my dreams forced me to made these mini varieties of Viennoiserie J for my breakfast J

For this recipe, I used ‘Pepperidge farm’ Puff Pastry Sheets. This recipe is only for Palmier.

Ingredients:

Puff Pastry Sheets – 1 sheet ( I used Pepperidge Farm’ Puff Pastry Sheets, store bought)
Sugar – ½ cup
salt – a pinch
Powdered Cinnamon – 2 spoons (Optional) – I prefer Cinnamon in these recipes, but it is your choice.
Butter – 3 spoons or 1 small cube 
Egg  - 1 large
Milk – 1 spoon (To prepare Egg Wash)

Preparation:
This recipe is very easy to make. Technique is only in the folding of the sheet. You can also make it ahead, throw it in fridge and keep it in oven 20 mins before your guests arrive. Thaw the Pepperidge Puff Pastry Sheet as per the instructions given in the packet. For Egg Wash- Mix Egg, Milk and a small pinch of sugar in a small bowl using spoon or fork. Heat Oven 400°F . Mix Sugar and Cinnamon Powder. Sprinkle Sugar and Cinnamon Mix on the floor or plain wooden board. Unfold Puff Pastry Sheet on the Sugar mix. Roll the pastry sheet to make it with smooth surface. Apply Egg wash on the surface of the pastry sheet. Sprinkle Sugar and Cinnamon Mix.

Roll one side of the pastry sheet like a pleat (One over other) and bring it to center. Roll the other side (Opposite) similarly like a pleat and bring it to center. Fold both the sides like a book. Slice the rolled dough into ½ inch pieces. Apply butter to the baking sheet and place the slices in baking sheet (Make sure the cut side is up). Apply Egg wash with brush on the upper portion of each slice. Sprinkle sugar little bit on top of each slice.

Keep it in pre-heated oven and Bake it for 6-10 mins. Time varies depending on your oven. Remove when the pastries turning to caramelized brown and let it cool. Serve with Hot Coffee or Tea. This is perfect for breakfast or evening snack.

Tip: Use the same recipe with a little twist to make the rolls. Sprinkle semi sweet chocolate chips or dried raisins along with sugar on top of pastry sheet. Instead rolling the pastry sheet like a book, roll spiral role. Cut into small one inch pieces. Place it in the oven by keeping the cutting side up. bake it for 6-10 mins or till the rolls turn golden brown. Serve with Coffee or Tea. 

Step By Step Preparation (Including How to roll the sheets):

Raw Tamarind Chutney (Chintakaya Pachadi)

Raw Tamarind Chutney (Chinatakaya Pachadi):

I found Raw Tamarind pods and Sugar Cane in Indian Stores. I felt happy and posted the picture in my facebook. My friend laughed like anything and said she hasn’t had any of these ingredients, and she is so curious to know what I make.

I make few varieties with Raw Tamarind Pods. Today I made a tamarind chutney. This recipe needs tender tamarind pods. Matured pods contains seeds and the shell also is very hard. It doesn’t taste good if the seeds are matured. Removing seeds or shell from Matured pods are very tedious.

Ingredients:

Raw Tamarind Pods – Washed and cut into small pieces – 1 cup
Mustard Seeds – ½ spoon
Cumin / Jeera Seeds – ½ spoon
Coriander Seeds – ½ Spoon
Urad Dal – ½ spoon
Chana Dal – ½ spoon
Red Chilies – 4
Salt to Taste
Turmeric – ¼ spoon
Garlic Cloves – 3
Oil – 2 spoons

Preparation: Fry Mustard Seeds, Jeera Seeds, Coriander Seeds, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Red Chilies till turns to golden brown color. Transfer to the mixer, grind coarse. Add tamarind pods to the pan, Saute for 3-4 min. Cover with a lid and let it soft for 2-3 mins. Add tamatind pods, salt and turmeric to the mixer and make it as a coarse paste. Heat oil in the pan, Saute garlic cloves for a min in low heat. Mix the Oil and Garlic to the TAramarind Paste. Serve with Hot Steamed Rice. 

Raw Green Mango Rice (Mamidi Kaya Pulihora)

Raw Green Mango Rice (Mamidi Kaya Pulihora):This is one of my all time favourite, the most simplistic yet delicious recipe. Mangos…I eat ripe or unripe raw mangos. Raw Mangos are Tangy in Taste, high in B and C vitamins, very good for health. It is difficult to get really Tangy raw mango in USA. I prefer making many varieties with Raw Green mangos when I get those. This recipe is one of the festive recipe in South India, People make this mostly during the festival of Ugadi (New Year for Telugu people in India). 

Ingredients:

Cooked Rice – 3 cups (Use Left Over rice too)
Mango – 1 Raw Green Mango (Small or Medium Size) – Peel and grate
Salt – for Taste
Turmeric – ¼ spoon
For Tampering:
Oil – 3 spoons
Ginger – ½ inch, grated into a thin pieces
Green Chilies – 2 , Washed  and slit long
Mustard Seeds – ½ spoon
Jeera Seeds – 1/2spoon
Urad Dal – ½ spoon
Chana Dal – ½ spoon
Red Chilies – 2
Cashews –8
Peanuts – 8
Curry Leaves – 8-10
Coriander Leaves – 1 spoon for garnishing

Preparation: Cook Rice and make it fluffy by separating the rice with a fork. Spread it in a plate or bowl to cool. Heat Oil in a pan, add Mustard Seeds, Jeera Seeds, Urad Dal, Chana Dal, Cashews, Peanuts and red chilies and  fry till it gets  golden brown. Add Green chillies, Grated Ginger, Grated Mango, curry leaves and saute for 2 to 3 mins.  Don’t cook grated mango. Over cook spoils the mango taste and kills the tanginess. Add salt, turmeric and coriander leaves.  Add cooked rice and mix it gently with a spoon until the rice fully covered with the mango mixture on low heat. Serve with Papad or Curd.

Stuffed Eggplant- Stir Fry ( Gutti Vankaya Fry)

Stuffed Egg Plant – Stir Fry (Guthi Vankaya Fry) with Fairy Tale Eggplants:

I found beautiful purple ‘fairy tale’ egg plants in farmers market. These eggplants are very tender, tiny , tear drop shaped, purple striped eggplants. I simply smiled when I read the label. I make many varieties with eggplant, but I simply observed that eggplant lose its color when cooked. I just don’t want to cook in a regular way for these fairy tale eggplants and lose the gorgeous color. So I decided to use ‘Oil Blanching’-a very rare technique which I have seen in one of the Iron Chef program in food network. This technique I used only to retain the color and texture of the eggplant. Oil Blanching is a real quick deep fry of the ingredients in hot Oil. The vegetable has to fry just a min and quickly to be removed from oil.

Ingredients:

Eggplants – 10-12 in number  (preferably small or medium size)

For Stuffing:

Methi seeds – ½ spoon

Coriander seeds – 2 spoon

Jeera seeds – 1 spoon

Peanuts – 2 spoon

Sesame Seeds – 1 spoon

Poppy seeds – 1 spoon

Dry Shredded Coconut – 2 spoon

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 spoon

Red Chillis – 4 or Red Chilli powder – 1 spoon (as per taste)

Tamarind – a small lemon size (soak it in a very little water and use the water by removing the pulp)  (add ½ spoon of tamarind paste if you use paste)

Turmeric – ¼ spoon

Salt – as per taste

Oil – 3 cups of Oil (for Oil Blanching) – Optional , Exclusive for this recipe to retain the color of the eggplant

For tampering:

Oil – 3 spoons of oil for stir fry

Curry Leaves – for garnish

Coriander leaves – for garnish

Jeera seeds – ½ spoon

Mustard Seeds – ½ spoon

Preparation: Roast Methi Seeds, Coriander Seeds, Jeera Seeds,  Peanuts, sesame seeds, poppy seeds and shredded coconut separately till the seeds turn golden brown in color. Grind all these ingredients into coarse mixture. Add salt, turmeric, ginger garlic paste and tamarind paste and mix into a coarse tight paste.  Do not add water to make the paste liquid.

Wash Eggplants, pat dry with paper towels.  Make two slits for each eggplant (Like a plus sign, one is vertical and the other horizontal) starting from the bottom towards the stem. Keep the stem on if the stems are fresh.

Take a small amount of stuffing and stuff inside the eggplant without breaking the eggplant. Stuff all eggplants and keep aside.

(Oil Blanching (This is Optional): Oil Blanching is the technique I used in this recipe to retain the color of the brinjal. This step is not necessary.  Take a wok or deep fryer, pour oil and bring the oil to medium hot. Take one or two eggplants at each time, deep fry quickly for 1 min in the oil and then Keep aside on paper towel. This allows the flash cooking of eggplant without losing the color and texture.) Please make sure you have prior experience in frying with oil when you try Oil Blanching method.

Heat 2 spoons of oil in the pan. Add Mustard seeds, Jeera seeds, Curry Leaves and fry till gets brown. Add the stuffed egg plants (oil blanched) slowly to the pan, cover it with the lid, let it cook on low- medium heat for 10-15 mins (Till the egg plants get soft). Remove the lid and stir the egg plants under high heat for few mins (1-2 mins). Garnish with Coriander leaves, serve hot with Rice or Roti.