Strawberries are available year-round at all grocery stores, but the local strawberry season has been brief and is nearing its end. I've been trying to do as much as possible with these sweet and juicy berries before I'm forced to buy the tasteless ones off the supermarket shelves.
Recently, I was looking for a recipe where I could do something different with strawberries, but after going through a whole lot of recipes on the Internet, I finally decided to just tweak a Martha Stewart recipe that I'd tried a few months back.
Ingredients:
Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F and grease your baking dish of choice. I used my 9" springform pan for this.
In a bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In another bowl, beat together the egg, softened butter, sugar, buttermilk, and vanilla extract. Stir in the flour mixture in small batches and mix well after each addition.
Add the chopped strawberries (I tossed the fruit pieces in some flour first to prevent them from all sinking to the bottom of the batter) and chocolate chip morsels and mix well.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down, and sprinkle the remaining sugar over the strawberries.
Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. The insides of my cake were done in 45 minutes but the surface looked uncooked, so I carefully broiled it for 5 minutes.
Slice and serve.
I have been making a lot of salads lately. Here's a delightful and refreshing one I made recently to add to my collection of salad recipes. The lime juice adds a nice zing and a hint of freshness to the couscous.
Ingredients:
(for 2 large servings)
3 cups cooked couscous
1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped into cubes
1 cup of cooked black beans (I used half a can of beans after draining and rinsing)
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
2-3 scallions, chopped
4-5 chives, minced
For the dressing:
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 3 limes
1 Tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp roasted cumin powder
Salt & Pepper
Method:
Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the packet. I used Near East's Toasted Pine Nut flavored couscous. Fluff it up with a fork after cooking and let it cool.
Throw the couscous along with the rest of the salad ingredients into a large bowl.
Add all the ingredients for the dressing into a small bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Sprinkle with chives before serving.
This salad, my twist on the desi chana chaat, is something that I make very often. The salad is easy to prepare and the whole thing comes together in a cinch- especially if all the ingredients are prepped in advance.
Here's what I used for approximately 2 servings.
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 celery sticks, chopped
½ cucumber, cut into cubes
2 scallions, finely chopped
6-7 baby carrots, cut into small pieces
½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¾ cup grapes, halved
½ mango (ripe), cut into small cubes
For the dressing:
Juice of a lemon
1-2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp chaat masala
Salt
Pepper
Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Mix well, chill and serve.
Every now and then, H makes an excellent salad using cottage cheese. The salad is not only healthy and tasty, but also quite filling- unlike most salads I've eaten. Adding cottage cheese to what is otherwise an ordinary salad turns it into a tasty and substantial meal. There is no dressing used here except for a good squirt of a juicy lime. The cheese helps bring the salad together. This is a very versatile salad and lends itself to many variations, so feel free to use whatever vegetables you have available.
Here's what went into my salad-
Ingredients:
(Serves 2-3)
Green bell pepper, thinly sliced
Red bell pepper, thinly sliced
Onion, thinly sliced
Cucumber, diced
Cherry tomatoes, halved
3-4 green chillies, minced
3 cups salad mix
1 ½ cups Cottage cheese (I used low-fat)
½ cup cooked Rosematta rice (optional- I only used this because I had some leftover from the previous day)
Juice of 1-2 limes (about 4 Tbsp)
1 Tbsp honey
Salt
Pepper
Method:
Place the chopped vegetables and the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the cottage cheese only when ready to serve and fold into the rest of the salad. Serve cold.
Blend together strawberries, a handful of apricots, honey, milk, yogurt, and a splash of vanilla extract for flavor. Chill. Serve.
I'm sending this across to the Happy Cook for her event, Strawberry Feast.
I made these cupcakes last night as an after-dinner treat. I’d made a dozen of these yesterday but I only have four left now, less than a day later!
The cupcakes have a wonderful flavor and a fresh, tart taste that comes from adding both lemon zest and lemon juice to the batter.
(For 12 cupcakes)
Dry Ingredients:
1 and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
Wet ingredients:
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup oil
¼ cup buttermilk
Freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 2 lemons)
Grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
For the topping:
Greek Yogurt (I used this)
Honey
Lemon juice
Lemon zest
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, make sure it's all incorporated.
Spoon the batter into the muffin tray, filling each paper-lined cup till it is three-fourths full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or so till the tops of the cakes are nice and golden brown or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool a bit before topping.
For the topping, combine Greek yogurt, honey, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a bowl. Mix well till smooth. Spread over the tops of the cupcakes.
It was almost dinner time and I had not made a thing. We were starving but did not want to eat the leftovers from the day before, again! That's being saved in the freezer for another day. ;-)
Rummaging through my kitchen cupboards, I came across a packet of couscous that I'd bought a while ago, obviously after seeing something that had interested me on one of the blogs. I never got around to making whatever it was, and finally just decided to use it in a salad. I used whatever vegetables I had on hand. I do not have any measurements for this one as I just eyeballed the ingredients, as I do for most salads, and just kept going till it tasted right.
Here’s what I used-
Ingredients:
Couscous
Cherry tomatoes, halved
Cucumber, peeled & diced
Radishes, sliced thinly
Chives, snipped
For the dressing:
Red wine vinegar
Honey
Olive oil
Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Salt & Pepper
For topping the salad:
Toasted walnuts
Parmesan cheese, grated
Method:
Cook the couscous according to the instructions on the package. As a rule, a 1/3 cup of dry couscous will give you one cup of cooked couscous. Cool slightly and fluff with a fork.
Add the chopped vegetables and mix everything.
Whisk together the vinegar, honey, lemon juice and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the couscous and mix well. Top with toasted walnuts and grated cheese.
Serve warm or cold. It tastes better after being refrigerated for an hour or so.
However, we could not wait another minute to eat it.
I was never much of a salad person back home. I don’t ever remember having a salad in or as part of a meal unless it was in the form of some kind of a raita. During my initial years here, I was pretty rigid food-wise, and our meals comprised largely of rice along with curd/yogurt in some form or the other which was due, in part, to the fact that it was my all time favorite meal. Also, I was only just learning (rather unwillingly) to cook and that seemed the simplest thing to prepare. My eating habits have since changed over time, and I am a bit more flexible and open to new tastes now than I was when I first got here. There’s a lot more variety in the meals I make these days. However, curd-rice with pickles (the Indian kind) continues to remain my ultimate comfort food to this day.
If I’m making a salad, I prefer going for something that is hearty and filling. I put together this bean salad for dinner the other day, which we had along with some cold soup.
Ingredients:
1 can of Roman beans
½ cup frozen corn, thawed
½ cucumber, peeled & diced
1-2 scallions, chopped (white and green parts)
For the dressing:
1 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of a lemon
½ tsp lemon zest
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
Salt & Pepper
Method:
Place all the ingredients in a large bowl. Pour the dressing over it. Toss to combine. Chill and serve.
This goes to Lisa for the June edition of No Croutons Required. The theme this month is soups or salads featuring legumes.
One of my recent cookbook acquisitions is World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey, which has some 650+ recipes from around the world.
With the hot weather we've been experiencing over the last couple of days, it seemed like the perfect time to make something light and refreshing. I flipped through the pages of my new cookbook and came across her recipe for a soup that did not require any cooking. Just the thing I was looking for!
Here's my version of the recipe.
For 3 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups buttermilk
3 green chillies, chopped
½ - 1 tsp freshly grated ginger paste
Juice of a lemon
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp cumin powder (prepared by dry roasting cumin seeds and grinding it using a mortar& pestle)
1 ripe avocado, chopped
Salt
Chives (for garnishing)
Method:
Throw all the ingredients together in the blender and process until smooth. Chill and serve.
We had this tangy soup along with a bean salad.
I wanted to make a salad that was simple yet substantial, something we could have for dinner without feeling ravenous a few hours later. I had to use up an expensive avocado that was purchased a few days ago along with some basil and cherry tomatoes. I did a quick Food Blog search for avocado and tomatoes, and Kalyn’s blog was the first one that popped up. I have been following her blog for a while now. After checking out the recipe, I realized that I even had all the ingredients on hand, including the pinto beans!
Here's a simple summer salad that can be put together in minutes.
The Power of Schmooze Award is for bloggers who "effortlessly weave their way in and out of the blogosphere, leaving friendly trails and smiles, happily making new friends along the way. They don't limit their visits to only the rich and successful, but spend some time to say hello to new blogs as well. They are the ones who engage others in meaningful conversations, refusing to let it end at a mere hello - all the while fostering a sense of closeness and friendship."Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter
This was something I had seen recently on Giada's Everyday Italian on the Food Network. I just love her recipes for their simplicity. A number of her recipes are really quick to make, healthy and very satisfying. I have been waiting to try this particular recipe since I saw that episode and I went to the store just to buy some ravioli yesterday.
Ingredients:
Add the frozen ravioli to the water and cook till al dente. (Mine took about 10-12 minutes)
Meanwhile, in a small pan, melt the butter over medium heat, stirring & continue heating till the butter turns a nice golden brown color.
Set this aside. Cool for a minute or two and add the balsamic vinegar, honey, some salt & pepper. Mix well.
Toast some chopped walnuts in the oven. Toasting enhances the flavor of the nuts & gives a nice crunch to the dish.
When the ravioli are done, drain off the water and transfer onto a serving dish. Add the balsamic brown butter to this and mix well. Sprinkle the toasted walnuts and grated Parmesan cheese on the top.
Garnish with some mint.
I could not believe that something so simple could taste so good! I loved how the balsamic brown butter tasted. I was getting a little tired of seeing/eating pastas with the same old tomato based sauces. This was a nice change & I am going to make it often.
Cantaloupe Smoothie
To complete our meal, I also made a smoothie from some fruits that were begging to be consumed. (yeah, I know! ravioli & smoothie???)
Ingredients:
4 cups of peeled & diced cantaloupe
5-7 strawberries, washed & hulled (these need not be added. I had to get rid of some old strawberries)
1 cup yogurt (vanilla yogurt would have been great, I did not have any!)
3-4 drops of vanilla essence
2-3 tsp honey (depending on sweetness)
Method:
Place all the ingredients in a blender & blend till smooth.
Garnish with some fresh mint & serve chilled.
Here's a recipe for smoothie lovers & coffee lovers.
It's a great healthy breakfast by itself when you're pressed for time, serves as the perfect morning energizer or can be had just any time of the day.
Ingredients:
2 bananas
1 cup coffee (I made it by boiling a cup of milk & adding 1/2 - 1 1/2 tsp coffee powder to it & chilling it well before making the smoothie but do adjust according to your taste.)
1 cup cold milk(this is in addition to the milk used to make the coffee)
2 Tbsp yogurt
3-4 drops vanilla essence
Sugar as needed
Method:
Combine the ingredients & blend until smooth.
Couldn't get any simpler than that now, could it?
This makes 2 servings.
Ingredients
10 -12 strawberries
1 banana
1 cup yogurt
1/2 cup milk
2-3 tsp. sugar
Method
Blend all the ingredients really well until smooth.
Serve chilled. Enjoy!
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