Corn spinach cheese sandwich

   

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

  

Makes about 10 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 20 - Bread slices
• 6 cups - Spinach
• 3 cups - Corn kernels
• Amul cheese - per your preference 
• 1 - Finely chopped onion
• 4 - Garlic cloves
• 2 tsp - Wheat flour
• 1tsp - Black pepper
• 2-3 - Green chillies (if you need spicy)
• 1 Tbsp - Butter for the stuffing
• Butter to grill the sandwich

Preparation:

1. Wash the spinach leaves and chop them
2. Boil the corn kernels
3. Heat oil in a pan
4. Add grated garlic and sauté
5. Now add finely chopped onion, chopped green chillies and sauté 
6. Add wheat flour and sauté till the raw flavor is gone
7. Now add the chopped spinach and allow to cook
8. Add corn kernels and mix well. Cover the pan and allow to cook for 4min
9. Add salt and pepper. Mix well. Turn off the heat and let it cooled
10. Once cooled, take a bread slice and apply the filling
11. Grate cheese and cover with another bread slice
12. Heat a griddle and cook till golden brown on both sides

Korean vegetable pancake

  

PREP TIME

20 mins

COOK TIME

40 mins

TOTAL TIME

60 mins

  

Makes about 30 small sized pieces

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup - Rice flour 
• 1/2 cup - All purpose flour or use Besan/Chickpea flour for healthier version 
• 1/4 cup - water to make the vegetable mix and stick well
• 2 medium sized - Finely lengthwise sliced Onion
• 2 green chillies - Finely chopped
• 2 cups - Finely lengthwise sliced cabbage
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced carrot
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced bell peppers
• 2 cup - Finely lengthwise sliced potato
• 1 cup - Chopped spring onions
• 1 tsp - crushed black pepper
• Cilantro
• Salt to taste
• 2 Tbsp or more to cook - Oil 

Preparation:

1. In a large bowl, combine all the lengthwise sliced vegetables. Make them as thin as possible (pic for example)
   
   
   
2. Add salt, rice flour and chickpea flour and mix well with a very little water. The flour should be just the right quantity to bind all veggies together (see video for example)
   
   
3. Heat a pan and add little oil
4. Make small pancakes and cook on both sides.
5. Serve with chili oil or ketchup

Beetroot tomato sabji

 

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

30 mins

  

Serves 3-4 people

Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium size beetroot 
• 2 medium size tomato
• 10 leaves kadipatta
• 1-2 green chillies or dry red chillies
• Cilantro 
• 4 tsp oil
• 2 tsp - Cumin seeds or Jeera
• 2 tsp - Mustard seeds or Rai
• 3 tsp - Sesame seeds
• 3 tsp - Urad dal
• 2 tsp - Hing
• 1/2 tsp - jaggery
• 2 tsp - Dhaniya-Jeera powder 
• Salt to taste

Preparation:

1. Cut the beetroots into halves and pressure cook them
2. Peel and chop the beetroots into cubes of size of your choice
3. Cut tomato into cubes
4. Also chop the cilantro 
5. In a pan/kadhai, heat oil
6. Once hot add mustard seeds and allow to splutter
7. Then add Jeera, Sesame seeds and allow to splutter
8. Now add urad dal and roast till golden brown. Make sure the dal is brown, else it does not taste as good
9. Now add chillies and kadipatta and roast well
10. Now add the cubbed beetroot and tomato
11. Add salt, jaggery, Dhaniya-Jeera powder to the pan and mix well
12. Garnish with cilantro and serve with chapati

      NOTE: This can be mixed with yogurt to make it a raita as well or eaten just like that with chapati

Suspicious sandwich/Veggie wraps

This recipe has an interesting story behind its name. My son started calling it the "suspicious sandwich" because every time I made it for him, he was surprised by what was inside. The sandwich always had a burst of different flavors that he enjoyed every single time, making it one of his favorites. It's also my go-to recipe when I'm short on time but still need a healthy, filling meal. I've experimented with several variations of this recipe, and I'll share one in detail in this post, along with other variations in the notes section until I can create a separate post for them.

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

10 mins

TOTAL TIME

25 mins

  

Makes 5-6 sandwiches

Ingredients:

• 1 packet ready to make roti's or tortilla
• 1 cup - Shredded Cabbage 
• 1 cup - Sliced onion 
• 1 cup - Sliced Tomato
• 1 cup - Spinach leaves
• 1 cup - Cucumber
•  Bitchin' sauce
• Salt to taste
•       Crushed black pepper
•       3 cubes - Amul cheese (Any other cheese can be used as well)
•       Olive oil to grill the sandwich 

 Preparation:

1. Heat a griddle on medium flame till hot
2. Half cook the roti/tortilla and let it cool
3. Now fold the roti/torilla twice to make a quarter/triangular shape
4. Open it back and make a slit half way through (see the video for details)
5. On one of the quarter of the roti apply the bitchin' sauce (I used pesto), you can use any other of your choice. Also this can be replaced with Mayo, Indian mint Chutney, traditional pesto, hummus etc
6. In the remaining 2 quarters add the veggies. The veggies can be placed in layers. I love it loaded with veggies
7. In the last quarter, add grated cheese
8. Now, starting with the quarter with the sauce - Start placing the quarters on the next quarter and continue to do that until we have the sandwich in the shape of a quarter(triangle)
9. Apply some oil or butter to a heated griddle
10. Place the sandwich on the griddle and cook till crispy and brown
11. Flip around and cook the other side as well
12. The sandwich is ready to be served with ketchup, Indian mint chutney or can be just eaten as is. All have its own flavor burst

NOTE:

• This is just one variation of the sandwich. We can use different sauces, different veggies and make it with your own preferences
• For added protein content, we can also roast and add a slice of paneer, Tofu along with vegetables

Dry shenga/peanut chutney

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

0 mins

TOTAL TIME

15 mins

 

Ingredients:

• 5 cups roasted and de-skinned peanut
• 1 tsp jeera
• 1 tsp sesame
• 8-10 leaves kadipatta
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 6-8 garlic cloves
• 2 tsp Asafetida
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp red chilli powder (or more if you like spicy)
• 1/2 tsp powdered jaggery
• 2 tsp dhaniya -jeera powder

Preparation:

1. Dry roast peanuts and de-skin them. I use store roasted ones to save time.
2. On a hot pan, add few drops of oil. Then add Jeera, sesame and kadipatta and roast well
3. In a mixer jar add, add the above ingredients except oil and pulse it coarse. 
4. Once the mix is coarsely ground, Add oil and grind till desired texture
5. Serve this chutney with idli, dosa, paratha with dahi or even with ghee chapati roll or with rice. All the combinations are my family's favorite. 

NOTE:

If I am in a hurry and need a quick chutney, I skip the first two steps and just all other ingredients and grind. That one also is tasty and super quick 

Lasuni (garlic) moong dal palak (spinach) khichdi

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

35 mins

TOTAL TIME

50 mins

Ingredients:

1 Cup white rice (short to medium grain)

⅓ Cup yellow moong dal

1 ½ teaspoon salt or to taste

¼ teaspoon hing (asafoetida)

½ inch cinnamon stick

2 ½ Cup water

1 teaspoon red chilli powder

½ teaspoon Garam Masala 

For palak puree:

2 Cup spinach leaves (palak)

1 green chilli

1 tablespoon chopped ginger

4 garlic cloves

For tadka: 

2 tablespoon ghee

1 tablespoon fine chopped or sliced garlic

1 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)

4 dried red chillies (preferably Kashmiri Red Chilli)

Preparation:

1. • Combine dal and rice in a bowl. Rinse them with water 2 – 3 times. Soak them in clean water for 15 minutes.
   • To blanch the spinach first, clean it and rinse with water to remove dirt particles. Next, place a bowl of ice-cold water ready.
   • Boil water in a saucepan with a teaspoon of salt. Once the water starts boiling, add the cleaned spinach leaves to the hot water. Cook for about 40 – 50 seconds until the colour of the leaves turns bright green. Turn off the heat.
   • Transfer the leaves immediately to the bowl of ice-cold water. This step stops the cooking process and retains the leaves green colour.
   • Make a smooth puree of blanched spinach, green chilli, ginger, and garlic using one to two tablespoons of water. Keep it aside.
   • Drain all the water from the soaked dal and rice. Transfer them to a pressure cooker. Add salt, asafoetida (hing), water, and cinnamon stick. Pressure Cook for two whistles over low heat. Release the steam manually.
   • Open the lid, add spinach puree, and stir to combine. Simmer over low heat. Meanwhile prepare the tadka.
   • For tempering, heat ghee, add dried red chillies, cumin seeds, and sliced garlic. Fry over low heat till garlic turn light golden. Turn off the heat.
   • Pour lehsuni tadka over the palak khichdi. Stir to combine.
   • Lehsuni Palak Khichdi is ready to serve.
     Recipe Notes:
   • After adding spinach puree do not cook the khichdi for too long. Simmer over low heat only for 5 – 6 minutes for flavours to combine. 
   • Blanching spinach removes its raw taste and give the puree a beautiful green colour. 
   • If the khichdi is too thick, add more water while simmering it to get the desired consistency.
   • This is a medium spicy khichdi. Adjust the quantity of red and green chilli to get the desired level of spiciness. 

Beetroot raita/salad

 

PREP TIME

15 mins

COOK TIME

5 mins

TOTAL TIME

20 mins

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp Oil
• 2 small sized Beetroot 
• 1 medium sized Tomato chopped
• Curry leaves or Kadipatta -  4-5 leaves
• Chopped cilantro
• Green chilly - 1 or 2 based on spice level
• 2 tsp - Jeera
• 2 tsp - Mustard seeds
• 2 tsp - sesame seeds
• 2 tsp - Split urad dal
• 1tsp -Asafetida
• 4 cups - Yogurt
• Salt to taste 
• 1/2 tsp - jaggery

Instructions:

1. Pressure cook the beetroots until soft. 2 whistles and 10min is what I do
2. Once cooled, peel and dice into small cubes or grate (whichever you prefer). I love to keep them diced
3. Chop tomatoes and cilantro
4. Beat the yogurt. Add salt and jaggery and mix
5. Add chopped Beets and tomato to the yogurt
6. Also add cilantro
7. In a takda kadhai, heat oil
8. Once oil is hot add mustard seeds and allow to slutter
9. Then add Jeera and sesame
10. Now add asafetida 
11. Then add green chilly and kadipatta. 
12. Once fried well, allow it to cool down
13. Add this tadka to the yogurt and mix well
14. Serve with chapati and sabji of your choice

Ragi (Finger millet) drink (Ragi Ambali)

Finger millet  is considered one of the most nutritious cereals. Finger millet contains good amount of proteins, Calcium, dietary fiber, Minerals and potassium.

Being non-glutinous, finger millet is safe for people suffering from gluten allergy and celiac disease. It is non-acid forming, and hence easy to digest. 

 Finger millet  could be enjoyed in different forms and preparations. ragi roti, ragi dosa, ragi porridge, ragi upma, ragi cakes, ragi biscuits are few popular dishes of finger millet (ragi).

PREP TIME

5 mins

COOK TIME

15 mins

TOTAL TIME

20 mins

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

Ragi flour - 2 Tbsp

Water - 3 cups

Salt to taste

Buttermilk or milk based on the taste

Cilantro (optional)

Jeera powder (optional)

Crushed garlic (optional)

Onion - finely chopped (optional)

Procedure:

1. In a small bowl, take half cup of water and mix the ragi flour and see that there are no lumps
2. In a big deep dish pan boil remaining water and add salt to it
3. Add the ragi mix to boiling water
4. Keep continuously stirring and cook for 10min
5. The mix will thicken
6. Let the mix cool down a little
7. Now add buttermilk or milk as per your taste and have it warm or cold after refrigerating 
8. You can add cilantro, Jeera powder, crushed garlic, finely chopped onion. Mix well and serve 

Rainbow Salad

Ingredients:
Sprouted green gram
Red bell pepper
Orange bell pepper
Yellow bell pepper
Red or green grapes
Brussels
Cucumber
Broccoli
Corn
Strawberry
Pineapple
Oranges
Walnuts
Olives few
Few leaves of crisp lettuce broken with hand and toss in the salad at the end
Avocado
Ground black pepper

Dressing:
Lemon juice ( 1 or 2. Depending on quantity )
Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Olive oil

How to make the dressing:

• Add all the dressing ingredients in a bottle
• Shake well and add keep this aside

Making the salad:

• Chop red, yellow and orange bell pepper finely chopped into tiny bites
• Cut grapes into halves or four pieces 
• Cut the brussels and broccoli into half and shallow fry in a pan with some salt
• Cut cucumber in small cubes
• Cut Strawberry, pineapple, orange into small pieces 
• Cut Avocado into cubes to add at the end
• In a large bowl, mix all the above ingredients. 
• Add the dressing prepared 
• Sprinkle lot of ground pepper, toss well 
• Add avocado and serve fresh

Avacado-spinach salad with Olive oil and sesame dressing..

Preparation time:  15min
Cooking time: 0min
Serves 2 people

Ingredients:
Spinach - 1 bunch
Avacado - 1 big size
Olive oil - 2 tsp
Sesame seeds - 3 tsp
Salt to taste

Avacodo-Spinach salad with olive oil and sesame seed dressing

Method:

1. Wash the spinach well in water and chop them.
2. Clean the avacodo and cut them into pieces of your size of choice.
3. Mix together spinach and avacado in a bowl.
4. In a pan heat the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the sesame seeds and allow to splutter.
5. Now add the hot oil and sesame mix to bowl.
6. Then add salt and mix well and serve.

Tomato-onion soup with crostini

TOMATO-ONION SOUP

Preparation Time: 10 mins.
Cooking Time: 20 mins.
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Onion - 2 medium sized
Garlic - 6 to 8 cloves
Ginger - 1/2 inch
Butter - 2 tsp
Tomatoes - 3 to 4 medium sized
Wheat flour - 1 tbsp
Green chilly - 1nos
Salt to taste
Black Pepper powder

Method:
1. Cut the onion and tomatoes lengthwise.
2. Peel Ginger and cut into small cubes. Also peel the garlic and keep aside.
3. Cut the green chillies about 2cms in length.
4. Now pressure cook tomatoes, Onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies with some water. Let it cook very well.
5. Allow the above to cool completely.
6. Separate out the vegetables only and put it in the mixer-grinder with almost no water. Make it into very fine paste. Keep in mind that there should be very minimal water, else the vegetables will not grind into fine paste.

7. Now in a kadhai heat the butter and allow it to melt. Now add the Wheat flour and fry it till you get a good aroma.
8. Now add the ground paste to the kadhai. Add the water left out after we pressure cooked the vegetables. Let the soup boil.
9. Now add salt and pepper and stir it.
10. Serve the soup hot with some crostini or bread or breadsticks.




CROSTINI
Preparation Time: 10 mins.
Cooking Time: 15 mins.
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Panini bread or garlic bread or normal bread
Green chillies - 2nos (Depends on how spicy you need)
Green Bell peppers - 1/2 medium sized
Butter or ghee
Beetroot - 1/2 small sized
Garlic - 8 to 10 cloves
Tomato - 1 medium sized
Onion - 2 medium sized
Oregano
Salt to taste


Method:
1. Cut the bread into the shape you like. I cut into triangles.
2. In a Kadhai, heat some butter or ghee and allow it to melt.
3. Now add the chopped garlic and fry it for about 5min.
4. Next add bell peppers and onion. Fry till slightly brown.
5. Now add salt and mix well. Bring it down from the gas.
6. Cut the tomatoes in small cubes.
7. Grate the beetroot and keep aside.
8. Now arrange the breads. The toppings will be 1st onion-bell peppers mix, followed by tomato and then beetroot. Sprinkle the Oregano and serve with hot Soup.

Palak-Carrot soup

Ingredients you will need:
Coriander leaves - just few
Green Chilly - 2nos (Should not be very spicy)
Wheat Flour - 2 tbsp
Palak - 250gms
Carrot - 100gms
Garlic - 6 cloves
Pepper - to taste
Ginger - 1 inch
Butter - 1 tbsp
Onion - 2 small
Milk - 1/2 cup
Salt - to taste
Water


How do you proceed:

1. Separate the palak and coriander leaves from the roots. You should use most of the stem part for the soup. Wash it well and cut the leaves into halves .
2. Wash and peel the carrot skin and and cut them into cubes.
3. Cut the onion lengthwise.
4. Peel Ginger and cut into small cubes. Also peel the garlic and keep aside.
5. Cut the green chillies about 2cms in length.
6. Now pressure cook palak, coriander leaves, Carrot, Onion, ginger, garlic and green chillies using milk and some water. Let it cook very well.
7. Allow the above to cool completely.
8. Separate out the vegetables only and put it in the mixer-grinder with almost no water. Make it into very fine paste. Keep in mind that there should be very minimal water, else the vegetables will not grind into fine paste.
9. Now in a kadhai heat the butter and allow it to melt. Now add the Wheat flour and fry it till you get a good aroma.
10. Now add the ground paste to the kadhai. Add the water left out after we pressure cooked the vegetables. Let the soup boil.
11. Now add salt and pepper and stir it.
12. Serve the soup hot with some crostini or bread or breadsticks.

Health tip:

1. For a heathy living, drink lots of water throughout the day.
2. Drink atleast a glass of water before lunch or dinner.
3. Do not drink water immediately after lunch or dinner. Drink warm water (if possible add some lemon juice to it) after about half hour post lunch or dinner. This will help in proper digestion of the food taken in.
4. Have Apricot sized jaggery (gud) after lunch or dinner. This helps in digestion and will reduce acidity.

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