Cauliflower Jeera (Cumin) Rice

Cauliflower rice is a nice grain alternative to sop up delicious curries. This vegetable can be easily turned into fried rice with a bit of a crunch or a melt-in-your-mouth risotto. However, these preparations take some time and need several ingredients. On the other hand, plain cauliflower rice can be extremely bland. Jeera (cumin) fried cauliflower rice is a wonderful solution to these problems - it tastes good and can be whipped up in a few minutes without much prep! This flavorful “rice” is inspired by the traditional jeera fried rice recipe from India and goes very well with curries.

Ingredients: (3-4 servings)

1 medium-large head of cauliflower

2 tsp ghee (ghee or clarified butter gives it a beautiful aroma, but can use oil if you don’t have any ghee)

1.5 tsp cumin seeds

Salt to taste

Cilantro to garnish (optional)

 

“Rice” the cauliflower by using a coarse grater or pulsing florets in a food processor for a few seconds.

 

Heat ghee in a pan over medium heat. Add cumin seeds and fry them until they sizzle and turn slightly darker, releasing a lovely aroma. Add the riced cauliflower and sauté for 3-5 minutes until it’s cooked to your liking. I like to keep it somewhat raw.

 

Take off the heat and season with salt. It’s best not to add salt while cooking as the cauliflower would release water.

 

Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm with your favorite curry!

~Gayatri


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Mango Relish

Growing up in India, summer was synonymous with playing in the sun, coming home with parched throats to drink cool water from earthen pots, and most importantly - mangoes! I literally can’t stress enough the excitement over Alphanso mangoes. Ripe Alphanso mangoes are beautifully bright yellow, have a tender texture that’s not as fibrous as a lot of other varieties, and the taste is really what rightfully gives them the title of ‘king of mangoes’.

 

Out here in the US, you can buy really expensive Alphonso mangoes, but I typically settle with other varieties that are more easily available, and honestly - fairly delicious! A ripe, sweet mango is particularly suited for making a sweet and sour relish. This quick and  simple recipe uses ripe mangoes for sweetness, lemon juice for tartness and cilantro & ginger to bring out the freshness of all the ingredients. My favorite way of eating this is with avocado toast, but it makes a wonderful dip for chips and crackers, or can be used as a relish for topping grilled chicken, fish, or tofu.

Ingredients: (Makes ~ 1 cup)

½ cup chopped ripe mango

¼ cup chopped onion

1 Tbsp chopped cilantro

⅛ tsp grated ginger

½ tsp lemon juice (or to taste)

1 small Roma tomato - deseeded and chopped

1 small pinch of red pepper flakes (or to taste)

 

Mix all ingredients. Adjust red pepper and lemon juice to your liking. Serve with tortilla chips or crackers. For sweet and sour mango-avocado toast, spread mashed avocado on toasted multigrain bread. Top it with mango relish and enjoy!

~Gayatri

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Chai Oatmeal

My weekday breakfast typically involves something quick like oatmeal, fruits or smoothies, while the weekends call for more elaborate preparations such as pancakes, stuffed omelettes, fresh squeezed orange juice etc. However, once in a while oatmeal sneaks back into weekend breakfasts with some delicious flavors such as carrot cake oatmeal, or this chai flavored oatmeal. I have seen several recipes for chai spice oatmeal, but they seldom are made with chai, which really means tea. This recipe has very little spice (just cardamom), but is made with fresh brewed black tea and milk, just like Indian chai. If you’re a chai lover, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this!

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

½ cup freshly brewed black tea (unsweetened)

1 cup skim milk

¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 tsp cardamom powder

1-2 tsp brown sugar - optional

Chopped fruit - optional (I used apples)

Chopped nuts - optional (I used walnuts)

Mix tea and milk and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add oats, cardamom powder, sugar and cook stirring occasionally for ~6-8 minutes until the oats are cooked. Remove from heat and serve warm topped with chopped fresh fruits and nuts.

~Gayatri

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Goat Cheese, Tomato and Arugula Crepes

As winter is coming to an end, so is the indoor winter farmers’ market in town. I picked up some lovely fresh greens at the last market for this season on Saturday. Crisp arugula leaves - perfect for a salad! But there was enough to use in another recipe as well. So I decided to add some arugula to my brunch crepes along with goat cheese and tomatoes. It’s mild bitterness worked perfectly with the sweetness of tomatoes and the tartness of the balsamic drizzle. Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you - this is a really simple crepe recipe which can be easily customized per the ingredients you have at hand. This version is especially quick since the filling doesn’t have to be cooked, but if you’re in the mood for more elaborate crepes, try our crepes with caramelized onion and mushroom filling and Bechamel sauce.

Ingredients:

Crepes (~4-5 crepes)

½ cup flour (whole wheat or all purpose)

1 egg - beaten

½-¾ cup milk (adjust to get a thin consistency)

1 tsp melted butter (optional)

1 Tbsp chopped spring onions (optional)

½ tsp minced garlic or garlic powder (optional)

Salt to taste

Oil or butter to grease the pan

 

Filling

~2-3 Tbsp soft goat cheese

2 tomatoes -sliced

Freshly cracked pepper

Fresh arugula leaves (~6-7 per crepe)

 

Balsamic reduction

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

Mix all the crepe ingredients and adjust the amount of milk to get a thin batter consistency such that it can spread and coat the pan as you twirl it.

 

Heat a nonstick pan over medium heat. Add a little bit of oil/butter to grease the pan. Add ¼-⅓ cup batter in the middle of the pan. Twirl the pan gently for batter to spread. Cover and cook until bottom is slightly browned. Flip the crepe over and cook uncovered until golden brown on the other side. Repeat with the remaining batter.

 

While the crepes are cooking, make the balsamic reduction by heating the vinegar and honey on medium-high. Let it come to a boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for another minute before taking off the heat. It will get thicker as it cools. If it is still too thin heat a bit more; if it’s too thick, add some water and reheat to combine.

 

Spread goat cheese on half of a crepe. Top it with tomato slices, cracked pepper and arugula leaves. Drizzle some balsamic reduction. Fold over the other half of the crepe. Drizzle more balsamic reduction (optional) and serve warm.

~Gayatri

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One Pot Macaroni With Creamy Spinach Sauce

Pasta might not be considered the healthiest of foods, but a nice weekend workout deserves some warm, comforting pasta with a delicious creamy sauce. Especially so, if you are able to sneak in a lot of nutrition in the pasta meal! Here’s one way of doing that - this creamy one pot pasta is cooked in the sauce itself. The starch from the pasta helps thicken the sauce without having to add any cheese or cream. Pureed spinach adds a good dose of vitamins and a bright pop of color to the meal. I used broccoli and corn, but any other vegetables can be added to the pasta. To complete the meal with protein, serve it with boiled eggs or grilled chicken.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

2 tsp olive oil

2 cloves of garlic - minced

1 cup chopped broccoli

¼ cup corn

4 oz elbow macaroni - uncooked

1 cup water

1 cup packed spinach

½ cup skimmed milk

Salt, ground black pepper, chili flakes (to taste)

2 boiled eggs (optional)

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Lemon juice (optional)

Heat oil over medium heat. Add the veggies and garlic, saute for a couple minutes to let the garlic cook. Add the uncooked pasta, and saute for a minute. Add 1 cup of water, deglaze the pan, add salt, pepper and/or chili flakes and cook covered for 2-3 minutes. While pasta is cooking, add the spinach and milk to a blender and puree until smooth. Add the pureed mixture to the pasta, and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally until pasta is cooked. Add more water or milk if required.

Serve hot topped with boiled eggs. Sprinkle fresh lemon juice and grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

~Gayatri

Note: 
Other one pot pastas you might like -
Spaghetti in a tomato based sauce with spinach and mushrooms
Pasta with creamy garlic sauce

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Candied Pecans

I often get mid-afternoon snack cravings - especially if I’m working at my desk and not doing something more interactive. Although I feast on an occasional muffin or chocolate (or pie if it's Pi(e) day at work!), I try to keep these snacks on the healthier side. Nuts are perfect to curb these cravings - rich in protein and the fibre is filling. Raw or toasted nuts are probably the best, but it’s fun to have flavored nuts once in a while. However, the store bought ones typically use a lot of oil for roasting - be it sweet or savory. In addition, the savory ones can have a lot of sodium and the sweet candied ones can often be way too sweet. Not ideal for a workday snack unless you want to risk a sugar crash!

The solution - make your own candied nuts at home with reduced sugar, without any added fats (the nuts provide enough healthy fats), and at a much lower price. The best part is how quick and easy this is. You’d go from plain old pecans to super delicious candied pecans in 5 minutes flat!

Ingredients

1 cup pecan halves

¾ - 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1-2 tsp water (enough to dissolve the sugar and make a thick concoction)

A small pinch of salt (optional)

½ tsp vanilla essence (optional)

Mix the sugar, water, salt, vanilla in a small bowl. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

In a nonstick pan over medium heat, toast the nuts for ~3 minutes stirring continuously until you get a nice nutty aroma. 

Take the pan off the heat and add the liquid mixture. It will start to evaporate immediately, so stir quickly to coat the nuts. Put the pan back on the stove and keep stirring for another minute or so until the liquid has evaporated and the sugar just begins to crystalize.

Take the pan off the heat and spread the nuts on a plate/cookie tray. Let them cool down completely before storing in an airtight container.

 

 ~Gayatri

 

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Low sugar candied pecans with no added fat..http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/03/candied-pecans.html
Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Monday, March 14, 2016

Baklava Ice Cream

A few months ago, Karla and I hosted an elaborate 3 course meal with mini spinach pies as appetizers and sliced/stuffed eggplant beautifully fanned out for the main course. As the menu started coming together over the weeks leading up to the dinner, we realized that the flavors we were putting together kind of had a Mediterranean flair. So, that’s the direction we decided to go with for the dessert course as well. The obvious choice was Baklava, but we wanted something quicker and easier. What could be quicker/easier than a tub of store bought ice cream!? Well, being the control freaks that we are (we are both Controls Engineers by the way), we couldn’t go with a dish that we had no control over. So we decided to start with the pre-made ice cream and then tweak it to fit the menu.

Baklava is incredibly delicious - crispy, sweet and nutty! Add to it the creaminess of ice cream, and you have the perfect dessert! Using frozen Phyllo sheets and pre-made ice cream, this beautiful dessert can be put together very quickly, and is most certainly a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:

Vanilla ice cream

Phyllo sheets (use 5 sheets to make 6 cups)

Melted butter

Pistachios and/or any other nuts you like - crushed.

Honey

Heat oven to 350F.

Lay down one phyllo dough sheet on a cookie sheet. Brush the sheet with melted butter, and carefully place another sheet on top. Repeat until you have stacked 5 sheets. Cut into 6 squares. Repeat the process if you’d like to make more cups.

 

Grease a muffin pan, and place one phyllo sheet square in each cup, pressing down with your hands to form a pastry cup. Bake for ~10-15 until the phyllo cups are golden brown. Let the cups cool completely before serving.

 

While the cups are baking, place another sheet of phyllo dough on a cookie sheet and bake it in the oven until golden brown and crispy. Once cooled, crush the baked phyllo sheet and mix it with the crushed pistachios.

Take one scoop of vanilla ice cream, and roll it in the crushed mixture of nuts and crispy pastry. Place it on a plate or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you have enough scoops of ice cream, and place the coated ice cream balls in the freezer until ready to serve.

Place a phyllo cup on a plate, add a prepared scoop of ice cream, drizzle some honey on top, and dig in!

~Gayatri

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Baklava Ice Cream - Soft and crispy, sweet and nutty dessert!http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/03/baklava-ice-cream.html

Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Saturday, March 5, 2016

Goat Cheese Marinara Dip

Cold days call for warm comforting snacks. A hot cup of soup, colorful warm spinach salad, delicious roasted potatoes are just a few of the many quick and simple options. Another tasty snack is warm toasted garlic bread with marinara sauce for dipping. If you’re feeling especially chef-y, here’s a way to kick it up a notch with some melty delicious soft goat cheese in every bite!

Ingredients:

Your favorite Marinara sauce (See note below for a quick & easy recipe)

Soft goat cheese (I used herb goat cheese)

Quantities to be adjusted as per your liking - if you’d like to make the dip reallllly cheesy, use a shallow baking dish so you can add a lot of goat cheese slices on top to get a better goat cheese-to-marinara ratio.

Pour marinara sauce in an oven proof bowl/dish. Slice the goat cheese about ¼ inch thick, and place the slices on the sauce. Broil on low in the oven until sauce is bubbly and cheese is golden brown on top. This only takes a few minutes, so watch closely! Serve hot with some crusty toasted bread (garlic bread for more deliciousness!) to scoop up the delectable goat cheese and marinara sauce.

~Gayatri

Note:

Quick homemade marinara sauce - Heat 1 tsp olive oil over medium heat. Add ¼ cup chopped onion and 2-4 minced garlic cloves. Saute until onions are translucent, then add 1 can of crushed tomatoes. Season with salt, black pepper, red chili flakes (optional), and add about 1 tsp each of dried basil and oregano (or use chopped fresh herbs). Let it come to a boil and take off the heat.

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Goat Cheese Marinara Dip - cheesy deliciousness of goat cheese added to bubbly hot marinara sauce!http://cooksofcakeandkindness.blogspot.com/2016/03/goat-cheese-marinara-dip.html

Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Caprese Tart

A light and crispy savory tart can be a fun snack or a nice appetizer to begin a meal. The inspiration for this caprese tart comes from a tomato tart recipe by our friends at Breaking Naan. The tomato tart consists of a baked puff pastry, topped with mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and herbs - simple ingredients and easy steps, especially if you’re using a pre-made frozen puff pastry sheet. In this recipe, the toppings are modified just a little by switching fresh basil for chives and adding some tart balsamic vinegar to contrast the creaminess of the cheese.

Ingredients:

1 puff pastry sheet - defrosted if frozen (I used Pepperidge Farm frozen puff pastry)

Toppings:

2 large tomatoes sliced very thin (I used Roma tomatoes)

1-2 low moisture mozzarella cheese slices

2-3 fresh basil leaves

Salt (optional - I didn’t use any)

Black pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)

Dressing:

Extra virgin olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Minced garlic

Heat oven to 400 F. Cut the puff pastry sheet into 3 parts lengthwise. The one I used comes folded in thirds making this very easy. Place the puff pastry on a baking pan. Gently roll the edges and seal the seam by pressing down with your fingers. This is an optional step but the slightly raised edges keep the tomato juice from leaking out and it also makes good presentation. Using a fork, poke holes in the pastry (except for the rolled edges) to keep it from rising too much.

Bake for ~15 minutes until the pastry is golden brown. Don’t brown it too much because it will be going back in the oven with the toppings.

To make the marinade, mix 1 part olive oil with 2 parts balsamic vinegar. Add minced garlic (to taste).

Tear the mozzarella slices into small pieces and spread them evenly on the baked pastry sheets. Layer the tomato slices on top - I got about two layers of thin slices. Spoon over the dressing, add black pepper or pepper flakes (if using), and broil in the oven for about a minute until cheese melts.

Chiffonade or coarsely chop the basil and sprinkle on top of the prepared tarts. Slice and serve warm as an appetizer or a side.

~Gayatri

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Crispy Caprese Tart - inspired by the tomato tart by out friends at Breaking Naan...

Posted by The Cooks of Cake and Kindness on Sunday, February 7, 2016