Eggplant Parmesan

American Eggplant Large - 1

Marinara sauce - 1 1/2 cups

Mozzarella/Goat cheese - Few slices

Parmesan cheese - 1/4 cup

Eggs - 2

Milk - 4 tbsp

Seasoned Italian Bread crumbs - 1 cup

Mustard - 1 tbsp

Salt and pepper - to taste

Oil - 1 tbsp

Wash and slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch discs. In a bowl, break the eggs and add the milk, mustard salt and pepper and whisk until well incorporated. In another bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and some pepper.

Dip the eggplant slices in the egg mixture, and then in the crumbs. Remove and set aside. Complete this step with all the slices. on a griddle, drizzle some oil, and fry the slices in a single layer, turning once half way. Cook till crisp on both sides.

Pre-heat the oven to 400F and places the slices on a baking sheet and bake for another 10 min.

On another sheet, place one slice, top with some marinara sauce. Top with another slice and repeat the process for 3 to 4 slices. Top with some mozzarella cheese and sprinkle some parmesan too.

Place in the oven until the cheese melts. I used 1 tbsp crumbled goat cheese for each of the stacks.

When the cheese melts, remove from the oven.

Serve with pasta or a salad.

Another veggie burger

Had to post this one, this is a gorgeous burger and tastes great.
The veggie patty is from Trader Joes's and it tastes strikingly close to the cutlets we get in India. It's called the Masala Veggie Burger, and is available in the frozen section.
Broil for a few minutes until crisp, or pan fry till crisp.
I also used my favorite hummus from the same store. Use any veggies of your choice for toppings.
For home made veggie patties, check out my recipe in the blog for the same.

Roasted red peppers

Roast the peppers under the broiler until they are completely charred on the outside. Turn around occasionally. This will take about 7 to 8 min.

Else use the burner to do it. Charring the peppers on the flame or the grill tastes even better.

Place the charred peppers in an air tight container, and let them cool down.

Peel the skin and remove the seeds and the stem. Cut into strips or any size of your choice, and drizzle with a tbsp of olive oil.

Use them in sandwiches, pasta, make sauces or hummus. This is really versatile.

Stir-fry bread

I learnt this dish from my aunt. She made it for us a long time back, and I remember we thought it was very fancy back then. She would fry the sliced bread in some ghee, for taste and texture. I used crusty bread here, hence avoided this step. Trust me, this is a great carb fix.

French baguette/Any crusty bread - 1/2 loaf
Onion - 1
Green chilis - 2
Garlic - 2 cloves
Heat the oil in a pan.
Bell pepper - 1
Tomato - 1
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
Tomato ketchup - 1/4 cup
Hot sauce - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp

Break the bread into bite sized pieces. Slice the onions, garlic, green chilis and capsicum.
Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, garlic, and green chilis. Add the capsicum and fry till soft.
Slit the tomatoes and squeeze out the seeds. Add to the pan, and add the hot sauce, soy sauce, ketchup and salt. Add the bread pieces and mix till the bread is coated well. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Tomato baath/Upma

Sooji/Rawa - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Green Chili - 4
Tomatoes - 3
Potato - 1 big
Ginger - 1 inch
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin and mustard seeds - 1 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig'
Cashews broken - 3 to 4
Salt - to taste
Water - 3 cups

Chop the onions, tomatoes, ginger and green chilis. Peel and dice the potatoes into bite sized pieces.
In a pan, heat the oil and splutter the cumin and mustard seeds. Add the curry leaves and cashews.
Add the onions, chilis, ginger and saute till the onions are soft. Add the potatoes and stir fry till half done. Add the tomatoes and salt. Cook till soft and pour the water. When he water starts to boil, reduce heat and stir in the sooji slowly, stirring all the time, to avoid any lumps. Close and turn off the heat in a couple minutes.
Serve with chutney or sambar.

Tofu and hummus bagelwich

I used store bought baked tofu and hummus. I love love love Trader Joe's and there is some great stuff in there, to have on hand for a quick meal when you are strapped on time. This sandwich tastes amazing, and the lesser the toppings, the better it tastes. I can never get baked tofu as amazing as the one at Joe's. It tastes amazing.

Bagel thins - 2

Tofu - 1/2 pack from picture

Hummus - 2 to 3 tbsp

Chopped lettuce and onions

Slice the tofu and heat through on a non-stick pan. Toast the bagel halves and generously spread the hummus. 

Place the baked tofu slices, onion and lettuce and top with some hot sauce if desired.

Whole wheat Naan

 I buy fresh whole wheat pizza dough, thinking of making a pizza. But it so happens that I either run out of some of the necessary ingredients, or am just not in the mood to have pizza. Since it is fresh dough, it would not last more than 3 or 4 days. Making naan is a good way to use up the dough, and it also feels like we put in a lot of effort into making them.

Whole wheat pizza dough
Finely chopped garlic - 2 cloves
Jalapenos - 2
Cilantro - few sprigs
Butter/Ghee - 1 tbsp (Optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 425F. Make softball sized portions of the dough and flatten into a triangle. Sprinkle with the crushed garlic, sliced jalapenos and cilantro leaves. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, or until the naan starts crisping at the edges. Remove and brush with butter/ghee. Serve hot with a side of your choice.

Multi bean and grain Adai

This adai/dosa is really rich in protein and tastes good too. I used Usal mix from the Indian store. Any kind of a bean mix can be used here.



Usal Mix - 1 cup
Boiled Rice - 1 cup
Urad daal - 1/2 cup
Chana daal - 1/4 cup
Toor daal - 1/4 cup
Red chilis - 8
Salt - to taste
Ginger - 1 1/2 inch
Cumin seeds - 2 tbsp
Cilantro - 1 handful

Soak the daals, beans and rice for 3 to 4 hrs. Grind with the rest of the ingredients and water. The consistency should look like a thick dosa batter.
Adai takes a little longer to cook than a regular dosa.

Veggie Quesadillas

 A perfect recipe to finish any leftover veggies in the fridge. All we need is tortillas, any kind of melting cheese and some veggies. I had a few bags of corn, carrots and beans, broccoli in the freezer, and each had a handful or less left. This was a great recipe to finish them all.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat tortillas/rotis - 3
Pesto/Salsa - 1/2 cup
Pepper jack/cheddar/Mozzarella cheese - 3/4 cup
Onion - 1/2
Garlic - 2 cloves
Assorted frozen/fresh veggies - 1 cup
Jalapeño - 1
Black pepper and salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 tbsp
Tabasco sauce - to taste

In a pan, heat the oil and add the sliced onion, jalapeno and garlic cloves. Fry till soft and add the veggies. I used diced carrots, corn, broccoli and capsicum. Fry till soft and add the salt and pepper. Keep aside.
Heat the tortillas and cook on one side. Lay the uncooked side down and spread some sauce on each tortilla. I used leftover cilantro and basil pesto from my previous post. Spread the veggies on top and top with cheese. Sprinkle some tabasco sauce on top. Fold int half and cook on a grill or a pan. Turn and cook till crisp on the other side, and until the cheese melts. Slice and serve hot with toppings of your choice. Guacamole, sour cream or salsa works great here. Substitute the veggies with cooked and sliced chicken or any filling of your choice.

Jewelry organizer (Handmade)

This is my first non food related post. I was frustrated with looking for accessories in various places and ending up using the same ones over and over due to not finding the rest. I came up with this idea for  an organizer, and guess what? It cost me 4$ and a half hour to do it. This might be something that a teenager would do, but hey, I am glad none the less.  My sis-in-law has this cool metal one, to hold all her earrings. She has tons of cute ones :) I was looking for something like that, but didn't find one. I saw a few tips online for stuff from an arts and crafts store. I have not seen any such store in my neighborhood, and the closest to such a store were the few isles in walmart that have these supplies. I did not find the stuff that they mentioned, but I did find others and got them. Here's what I came up with. This works well for hoop earrings, but not for the regular studs.

You will need the following:

Foam sheets or any thick cardboard. I found ones that had adhesive at the back, ad all I needed to do was peel and stick them on the wall. Bell pins or board pins, and twine.


Fix the board pins into the foam and tie the twine as in the pics, to create rows for earrings. For the other stuff like bracelets, chains and watches, just push the pins into the foam and hang them.

Ravioli with cilantro and basil pesto

Ravioli is available in most grocery stores, and is an ingredient that works great store bought. Just boil them like the regular pasta and serve with a sauce of your choice. I made pesto with cilantro and basil. Although pesto calls for a lot of olive oil, I omit this step. So this could also work as a chutney.

Frozen Spinach and artichoke Ravioli - 1 pack

Cilantro - 1 bunch

Basil - 1 handful leaves

Green chili - 1

Black pepper - 1 tsp

Salt - to taste

Pinenuts/Peanuts/Almonds - 1/4 cup

Parmesan cheese - 2 tbsp

Lemon - 1 tsp

Garlic cloves - 2

Blend all the ingredients for the pesto in a blender with a little water, to a smooth paste.

Boil a large pot of water and salt generously. When the water starts to boil, add the ravioli and cook till tender. Drain and add to the pesto.

Serve topped with some Parmesan cheese. I topped mine with some hot sauce.

Tapioca Pearls/Sabudana Khichdi

Sabudana - 1 cup
Onion - 1
Ginger - 1 inch
Green chilis - 4
Potato - 1
Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Cucumber - 1/2
Red Chili powder - 1 tsp
Salt - to taste
Oil - 1 tbsp
Cumin seeds - 1 tsp
Lemon - 1/2
Cilantro - to garnish

Soak the sabudana with enough water to just cover the top of the pearls. Close lid and leave soak for 2 hrs. The pearls will absorb all the water, and plump up. This is tricky, as too much water will make them soggy and mushy. Too little and they won't plump up.
Chop the onions, ginger and green chilis. Peel and chop the potato and cucumber into bite sized pieces. Crush the peanuts.
Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds. When they splutter, add the chopped onion, ginger and green chilis. When they are soft, add the potatoes. When the potatoes are soft, add the salt and red chili powder, and mix.
Add the pearls, crushed peanuts, and mix well. cook till the pearls are translucent and mix in the cucumber and cilantro. Squeeze the lemon and serve.