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Saturday, October 31, 2009

MYOB(MakeYourOwnBurger): Red Bean, Beet and SweetPea Burger

It seems like this is a Burger week at my home. I have been making patties almost everyday this week.Today I wanted a pinkish burger and I was thinking what ingredients to mix and match. So this was a trial and error for this combo pattie. I kept my fingers crossed till I tasted the first one. I was so overjoyed that it came out so good, I took pictures and didn't want to wait to post about it.

Ingredients:
  • Red Bean - 15 ounces, canned or freshly cooked
  • Beet - 1 , shredded
  • Garlic - 3 Cloves, minced
  • Red Onion - 1, small, diced
  • Salt - for taste
  • Cracked Pepper - 1 tsp
  • Sweet Peas - 1/2 cup, roughly smashed
  • Stale Pumpernickel Bread - 3-4 slices, ground into crumbs,for binding
  • Olive oil - 4 tbsp
  • Choice of Bread or Rolls
  • Mixed Greens
  • Fixings - Choice of Ketchup, Pickles, Dijon Mustard, Cheese singles, Avocado, Tomato etc etc
Procedure:
  • In a bowl, smash the red bean coarsely. 
  • Add the salt, pepper, cut onions, minced garlic, smashed peas to the bowl.
  • Add the ground breadcrumbs to the bowl and mix gently using hands.
  • Divide the mixture to 6-8 even balls and form patties. The dough shouldn't unravel. If it does, add more breadcrumbs and form a thick mixture.
  • In a skillet, heat the olive oil and cook the patties in batches 3-4 minutes per side on a medium flame.
  • Patties can be consumed just as is or on burger buns.
Enjoy!
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Friday, October 30, 2009

MYOB(MakeYourOwnBurger): ChickPea, Oat N Oat Bran Burger

This burger is out of the world. Believe me, it is. I have no other words to express its wholesome goodness. It was love at first bite for me. I usually make this with just the chickpea, oats and eggs but I experimented with oat bran in place of eggs this time and it was such a hit in the house. Note: The burger is Vegan but the fixing(s) are not.
Ingredients:
  • Quick Oats - 1 cup
  • Unprocessed Oat Bran - 1 cup
  • Chick Pea - 15 ounces, canned or freshly cooked
  • Carrot - 1 , shredded
  • Garlic - 5 Cloves, minced
  • Red Onion - 1, small, diced
  • Salt - for taste
  • Cracked Pepper - 1 - 1 1/2tsp
  • Cilantro - finely chopped
  • Olive oil - 4 tbsp
  • Choice of Bread or Rolls
  • Mixed Greens
  • Fixings - Choice of Ketchup, Pickles, Dijon Mustard, Cheese singles, Avocado etc etc
Procedure:
  • With very little water cook the oatmeal on a stove top or microwave so it isn't soggy but cooked and plumped.
  • In a bowl, smash the chickpeas coarsely. To it add the salt, pepper, cut onions, minced garlic, oat bran and mix gently with hands.
  • Add the cooked oatmeal to the mixture and knead gently to form a coarse dough.
  • Divide the mixture to 10 even balls and form patties. The dough shouldn't unravel. If it does, add more oat bran and form the patties.
  • In a skillet, heat the olive oil and cook the patties in batches 3-4 minutes per side on a medium flame.
  • Patties can be consumed just as is or in burger buns.
Makes 10 patties.

Enjoy!
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RecipeReplica: Ghoulish Halloween Treats

Firstly, let me start off by saying that these lovely and healthy recipe ideas were replicated from Disney's FamilyFun Website but some ingredients have been changed. I want to make these for the Halloween Night, so I did a dry run today. I just picked 4 of the 15 hauntingly healthy recipe ideas. They are awesome!Do try it out. And, HappyNSafe Halloween to my fellow bloggers and loyal followers. Read about "Halloween History" here.

Wicked Witch of the East(is a character in the fictional Land of Oz created by American author L. Frank Baum in his classic books. She rules the Munchkin Country)
Ingredients:
  • Ice Cream Cone - 1, for hat cone
  • Chocolate chip cookie - 1, for hat rim
  • Pear - 1, halved
  • Thin Apple Wedge - 1, bottom flattened, for mouth
  • Thin Pear Wedge - 1, bottom flattened, for nose
  • Carrot - 1/2, shaved using the peeler, for hair
  • Raisins - 2, for eyes
  • Chocolate Chip - 1, for the wart
  • Swiss Cheese softened - 1 tbsp, for binding facial parts to the pear
Procedure:
  • On a flat work surface, place a halved pear.
  • Glue the raisins on the pear using a bit of Swiss Cheese as a glue.Do the same for wart, nose and mouth.
  • Arrange the carrot shavings around the top end of the pear for the hair.
  • Cut the chocolate chip cookie into 3/4 and 1/4 pieces. Stick the flat end of the bigger piece to the work surface on top of the pear using some cheese.
  • Perch the cone on top of the hat rim gluing it the surface with leftover cheese.Done!
Monster Mouth: It looks like these monsters have poor dental hygiene. They seem to be missing a lot of teeth. Is that a cavity that I see in the mouth of that left-monster??

Ingredients:
  • Apple - 1/2, cut into 2 wedges,makes 2 mouth
  • Pear or Green Apple - 1/2, cut into 2 wedges,makes 2 mouth
  • Slivered Almonds with jagged ends - a handful, for teeth
  • Fruit Jerky - for tongue
Procedure:
  • Using a sharp paring knife carve mouth-like cavity inside the wedges.
  • Insert the slivered almonds both in the upper and lower gumline.
  • Carve a U or strips from the fruit jerky to make a tongue or forked-tongue.
  • Stick it inside the cavity taking care not to disturb the teeth. Done!
Finger Chip:
Prepared Guacamole is used as a dip

Ingredients:
  • Guacamole - 1 cup
  • Cucumber - 1/2, cut into 4mm thick chips
  • Carrot - 5, the tapering ends only
  • Almonds -5, sliced bits
  • Swiss Cheese - 1/2 tsp, for gluing almonds to nail beds
Procedure:
  • Spoon the Guacamole into a serving bowl.
  • Arrange the cucumber chips by the rim pushing them partly into the dip.
  • Using a paring knife cut the tapering end at an angle for making nail beds.
  • Using cheese as a glue, stick the sliced almonds on the nail beds and dunk the fingers inside the dip.
Bloody Eyeball Soup:

Ingredients:
  • Egg - 1/2 of Boiled Egg
  • Fruit Jerky Bits or Olive Slice- For Eyeball
  • Tomato Ketchup - 2 tbsp, for soup
  • Swiss Cheese - pea-sized for gluing the eyeball to the the eye.
Procedure:
  • Pour the ketchup into a bowl.
  • Sit the egg in the center of the ketchup.
  • Using the cheese as a glue stick the olive or the jerky bits right at the apex of the eye.Done!
PS: I am taking my toddler to a Jack O'Lantern Festival in NewYork on Halloween/All Hallow's Eve. Will post pictures the day after.

Enjoy!
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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Black Eyed Peas & Vegetables Soup

Right after I made this yummy soup, I had to quickly take the pictures as I couldn't wait to slurp it.Its that good.I am sending this as an entry to My legume Affair Event started by Susan, guest hosted by Jeanne@ the CookSister! and to Cooking For Infants and Toddlers event hosted by RV @ SourashtraKitchen and Sudeshna's Cook Like a Bong.
Ingredients:
  • Black Eyed Peas - 2 cup, cooked and drained
  • Mushrooms -  1 cup, stalked and halved
  • Carrot - 1, crinkled or horizontally cut
  • Zucchini or Green Squash - 1/2, vertically cut to about 1 inch long
  • Crushed Canned Tomato - 3 tbsp
  • Bay Leaf - 1
  • Vegetable Stock - 3 cups
  • Garlic - 3 cloves, finely chopped
  • Red Onion - 1, medium, finely chopped
  • Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
  • Cracked Pepper - 1 tsp
  • Salt for taste
  • Parsley - 2 tbsp, chopped (optional)
Procedure:
  • In a medium saucepan, heat the oil and add the bay leaf, garlic and onions and saute until onions are browned.
  • Add the Mushrooms, Carrot, Zucchini, crushed tomatoes and saute until they lose a little of the rawness.
  • Pour in the stock and follow-up with pepper, salt.
  • Bring to a boil for 6-7 minutes until the liquid is considerably reduced.
  • Add the cooked Black Eyed Peas and cook further for 5 minutes.
  • Garnish with chopped parsley.
  • Ladle it into a bowl and dig in.
Makes 2 Servings.

Enjoy!
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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Spinach & Malai Kofta(Creamed Spinach & CottageCheese Dumplings)

'Malai' means Cream and 'Kofta' means dumplings. A dish for special occasions, Malai Kofta is the vegetarian alternative to meatballs and is generally made of cottage cheese in creamed gravy.For this recipe I used a combo of Spinach and Paneer(Cottage Cheese) to make the balls. Further, I tried it out in the microwave for the first time rather than the on stove top.

Ingredients:
For the Kofta Balls:
  • Fresh or Frozen Spinach - 1/2 cup, finely chopped, completely drained
  • Paneer - 12 ounces(about 2 cups), crumbled
  • Parsley - 2 tbsp, finely chopped
  • All-purpose Flour - 1 tbsp
  • Cracked Pepper - 1 tsp (optional)
  • Milk - 2 tsp
  • Salt  - A dash
For the Gravy:
  • Whole Milk or Cream - 1 1/2 cups
  • Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
  • Ground Pepper - 1/2 tsp
  • Salt - for taste
To Grind:
  • Tomato - 3, medium, chopped
  • Red Onion - 1, small, diced
  • Cashews - 1/2 cup
  • Garlic - 3 cloves
  • Ginger - 1 inch, skin removed
  • Red or Green Chilli - 4
  • Cinnamon - 1/4 of a stick
  • Cloves -3
  • Star Anise - 1/2
Procedure:
  • In a bowl, mix all the ingredients under "For Kofta Balls" and form a nice dough. Divide them into even small dumplings.
  • In a microwave safe bowl, add the kofta balls and microwave on HIGH for 1 minute. Set aside. 
  • Grind using the blender all the ingredients  under "For Grind" starting with the spices and cashews.
  • In another microwave safe bowl, add the ground paste and all the ingredients under "For Gravy" and microwave on HIGH  for 15 minutes. Lid the bowl partly to avoid splattering. Keep stirring every 5 minutes.
  • Check for taste and add the balls into the gravy and microwave on HIGH for another 3 minutes.
Makes ~9 golf-ball sized dumplings.

Note: Can be made on stove-top too.

Enjoy!
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