Cream of Broccoli Soup

Broccoli reigns the vegetable kingdom with its high nutritional value.It is rich in Vitamin A,Vitamin C,fiber,folic acid,iron,magnesium,zinc,thiamin,riboflavin etc etc.The dark colored florets contain more beta carotene and Vitamin C than those with the lighter ones.So this explains why broccoli has to be included in our regular diet,eventhough it is a bit on the bitter side.

But my family(not me,I love it !!) simply hates this vegetable,I’ve tried out different recipes and there was no way I could make them eat it.Then I found this lovely soup recipe at SaffronHut.The picture itself was so appealing,and i couldn’t resist the craving.To my surprise,my little one loved it..and me too..!!And now he has even started eating broccoli added in fried rice or pizza.Still my husband is in broccoli haters club and i’ll continue to look out for interseting broccoli recipes to drag him to our group.

Thanks dear Saffron for this recipe..

Ingredients:-

Broccoli chopped very fine -1 cup
Butter – 1 tbsp
White onion chopped – 1 tbsp
Garlic chopped – 1/2 tsp
All purpose flour – 1 tbsp
Milk – 2 cups ( I use 2% reduced fat milk)
Salt & Pepper – to taste

Method:-

Heat butter in a pan,add onion and garlic and saute till translucent.Now add the flour and fry it until it turn light brown with a nutty aroma.Add finely chopped broccoli and saute for a while.Now pour in the milk and stir it to avoid lumping.Heat/boil until it attains a desired consistency.Don’t forget to stir in between.Add salt & pepper to taste.

You can always blend or puree the soup at this stage,if you don’t like the tiny bits of broccoli in it.

As Saffron suggested,garnish it with a small microwaved broccoli and serve hot with garlic bread.

Dahiwala Bharta

A different eggplant deliccacy from Suvir Saran’s Indian Home Cooking cookbook ,which tastes like an Indian baba ghanoush.This smoky and mushed eggplant when combined with yogurt can be served as a vegetable side dish or even as  raita.

Ingredients:-

Eggplant – 1 large
Red onion chopped – 1 medium sized
Plain yogurt – 2 cups
Fresh grated ginger – 1 tbsp
Hot green chilly chopped – 1
Coriander leaves chopped – 2 tsps
Garam masala – 1/4 tsp
salt – to taste
Oil – 3 tbsps

Method:-

Roast the eggplant directly on the burner of a gas stove over medium heat,turning often until the skin is completely blackened and the flesh is softened,about 10 minutes.Or roast eggplant on a cookie sheet in the oven at 500F,until blackened,about 20 minutes.Once cooked,allow it to cool enough to handle,and then peel off the skin using your fingers,rinsing your hands under running water as your work.Cut off the stem and discard it.Put the eggplant in a bowl and mash it to a puree,you can use wooden spoons or potato masher for this.

Heat oil in a pan on medium heat and add onion and salt into it.Saute it till onion turns translucent.Add mashed eggplant and cook it until dry,stirring in between.Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool.

Whisk the yogurt until smooth in a bowl.Add grated ginger,green chilly,coriander leaves and garam masala into the whisked yogurt and mix well.Pour this yogurt mixture into the cooled eggplant,stir well.Chill it and serve cold.

Pidi

Shynee from Indianadoc had posted an authentic Pidi (a Jacobite Christian dish made using rice flour)recipe few days back.I’ve given it a try and it was soo great.I’ve only heard about its marvellous taste before,but till now didn’t get a chance to have it.Now with her recipe,I finally had Pidi for the first time in my life.Thanks a lot Shynee.

Pidi with Chicken curry

I think i’ve been very loyal to her recipe and it goes like…

Ingredients:-

Finely ground Rice flour -2 cups
Boiled water – 5 to 5 1/2 cups to mix the flour
Water – to boil the dumplings
Cumin seeds – 1 tsp
Grated coconut – 1 cup
Chopped shallots – 1 cup
Minced Garlic – 3 tsp
Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves – 2 sprig
Salt – to taste

Method:-

Dry roast rice flour,coconut,half of cumin seeds and half of garlic till a nice aroma is spread and keep it aside.Boil water by adding salt,3/4 th cup of shallots and 1 sprig of curry leaves.Now add the boiled water slowly into the roasted rice flour and mix it well using a spatula.When the dough gets cooled mix it again using hand into a smooth dough.
Again boil water in another vessel by adding salt,turmeric powder and rest of the cumin seeds,curry leaves,shallots,and garlic .Now divide the dough into small lemon sized balls and immerse them in boiling water.Cook till they are well done.Serve them hot with any spicy curry of your choice.

As shynee suggested,I also prepare a soup using the leftover thick fluid in which the rice dumplings got cooked.I added some chicken stalk,some frozen veggies ,1tsp of cornflour and a little pepper into the fluid and allowed it to boil for few minutes .The end product was simply delicious and spicy rice soup.Thanks again,Shynee for such an informative post.

Rice roup made as a bye product of Pidi

All Natural Salad

A tip for your weight loss program -Heavy salad before each meal . Its easy to preach everything,huh?I don’t do it often,as I cannot eat fresh veggies or fruits as such.But somehow I love the combination of this salad,when veggies are cut very thin.And to my surprise everybody liked it here.So i thought to share it with you too. Natural Salad See how this is done…

Ingredients:-

Finely chopped Lettuce -1 cup Finely chopped Cucumber- 1/2 Sliced Grape tomatoes- 8 to 10 Chopped Onion – 1/2 Chopped Pineapple chunks – 1 cup Salt – to taste Pepper – to taste Lime juice – 1/2 tsp(Optional)

Method:-

Mix all the ingredients together and serve cooled.

Posted by Annita

Roses on Raita

When I thought of posting something different other than the usual recipe stuff,these tomato flowers came into my mind.Presenting a dish in an appealing way is also an important aspect of cooking.Rose flowers using tomato skin, is quite easy to make and looks great.You dont need any extra talents for making it..its really that simple.As in the “LA Weight Loss ” commercial ad “If I can do it ,you can do it”.

All you need is :-

One Tomato One Sharp Knife & A Little Patience…

Method:-

1.Just peel off the whole tomato skin like a ribbon ,starting from one end to the other.You have to rotate the tomato for doing it.Its fine if it breaks a little,but try to peel it without any breaks…just like a long ribbon. 2.When you reach the other end ,cut the skin a little thicker and wider ,almost in a circular shape.This should be the base of the flower on which the petals has to rest. 3.Now just roll the tomato skin till the end,like rolling a ribbon.This is considered to be the rose flower petals. 4.Allow the petals to rest on the circular base . And that’s it..Rose flower is ready …..Now arrange it along with mint leaves stem. I’ve preapred raita with onion,tomato,green chillies,beaten curd,salt and 1 tsp of Mayonaise(I like the flavour of Mayonaise in the raita). Sprinkling a pinch of chilly powder along with the flower decoration adds extra beauty to it.What do you think?

Posted by Annita