Saturday, February 23, 2008

Paav Bhaaji






Ingredients:
chopped Red/Green Bell Peppers - 1 cups
chopped Potatoes - 1 cup
Chopped green beans - 1 cup
Chopped carrots - 1/2 Cup
Chopped Onions - 1 cup
chopped Tomatoes - 1 Cup
Whole wheat burger breads - 4 to 6
Butter spread(butter flavoured light margarine) - 3 Tbsps
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Corriander leaves - 1 cup
Salt & chilli powder
Garam masala or pav bhaji masala - 1 tsp
Method:
  • Heat the oil in a pan and add all the vegs and cook until they are very soft and mushy...mash them until no veg piece has its shape.
  • Add the salt, chilli powder and masala and cook for 4-5 mins with enough water in the pan, so that the mashed vegs dont get thick and burn.
  • Once its cooked and becomes a nice gravy, add a Tbsp of butter spread and corriander leaves and mix them into the gravy.
  • Now separate the breads and apply little butter and toast it on a hot pan. (Or) just use a bread toaster to toast them.
  • Serve the breads immediately with the gravy topped with another dollop of butter and chopped onion, corriander & a lemon wedge besides.

Goodness in this dish:

  • Good amounts of colourful vegetables.
  • Whole wheat bread instead of the white buns
  • Light margarine with "Zero Cholestrol and saturated fat" and has some good fats like "polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats", which would improve your good cholestrol. Please read the nutrition facts while purchasing this. The brand i liked was Fleishmann's .

Sponsored by http://www.movers.com/ - moving companies

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Broad Beans - Minced chicken Meal



Ingredients:

Broad Beans - 1 lb
Minced chicken(99% fat free) - 1 lb
Tomato - 1/2
Any Bread - 3 hand fulls of pieces
Garlic - 2 big pods
Red Pepper - ur spice level (1 tsp approx)
Cumin - 1 tsp
EVO Oil - 2 tbsps
Shredded Mozarella cheese(2% or fatfree) - 2-3 Tbsps

Method:
  • In a pan heat oil and add cumin, once they start to splutter add the 1 inch pieces of bread beans, keep frying and cooking until they have semi cooked.
  • Make a space in the center of the pan, pushing the broad beans to the eges, add the minced chicken and keep beating it and fry until cooked. Cover lid to cook the chicken.
  • Now add the thinly chopped garlic and red pepper flakes, chopped tomato and salt...cover lid and cook until the tomato wilts.
  • Chop the bread into bite size pieces and add to the dish and stir until all the bread pieces gets coated with the tastes and flavours in the pan.
  • Finally add the shredded cheese and cover the lid and let it melt, 2 mins hardly.
  • Serve hot, as the kids enjoy the cheese strings streching from the bowl to the mouth.
Goodness in this dish:
  • Lots of Green vegetables
  • Lean and fat free chicken protein.
  • Less carbs compared to rice based meal.
  • Calcium rich fat free cheese, good for your bones and teeth.
  • Garlic, reduces cholestrol.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Sandwich


Ingredients:

Whole wheat mini bagel - 1
Hazel nut chocolate spread - 1 tsp (Nutella)
Peanut butter - 1 tsp
Green apple - few thin slices

Method:
  • Toast the bagel and spread nutella on 1 slice and PB on the other slice
  • Place thin slices of any favourite fruit in between to make an interesting and healthy sandwich for kids.
  • Bagels could be replaced with whole grain bread.

Goodness in this Dish:

  • Whole grain
  • Nuts (Peanuts & hazel nuts)
  • Fresh fruit

Sponsored by http://www.movers.com/ - moving companies

Shrimp & Vegs Meal


Ingredients:

Jumbo Shrimps - 15
Broccoli - 1 head florets or 1/2 bag frozen florets
Bread - Preferably hard baguet, any bread will do
Garlic - 2 big pods
Cumin - 1 Tbsp
Red Pepper flakes - upto your spice tolerance (around 1 tsp)
Salt - upto u
EVOO(olive oil) - 1 Tbsp

Method:

  • Clean & devein the shrimps, or just defrost ready to eat frozen shrimps.
  • In a deep pan, heat the oil and let the cumin splutter, then add pepper flakes and shrimps..add lil salt and fry them for 4 mins turning sides.
  • Add Broccoli, and thinly chopped garlic and fry more, cover lid and let them cook. Never over cook broccoli, the beauty in broccoli is its crunch.
  • Chop the bread to ur favourable bite size and add to the shrimps.

  • If bread is too hard, just mix 1/3 tsp salt to 1/3 cup of water, dissolve and sprinkle the liquid to the cooking stuff in the pan. Dry bread would soak up lil and gets moist with all the flavours in the dish...serve hot.

  • This is a total meal.

Sponsored by http://www.movers.com/ - moving companies

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Sesame Vegetables


Ingredients:

Broccoli - 1 head
Asparagus - 10-15 stems
Mushrooms - 10
Bell Pepper - 1
Onions - 1 big
Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Soy sauce - 2 tbsp
salt
green chillies - 5 approx
Corn Starch - 1 tbsp
Sugar - 2tbsp (Optional)

Method:

Cut all the vegetables. Heat a Wok, add oil and fry the green chillies first, this would turn the oil to a chilli flavoured pungent oil. Then add all the vegs, keep stirring and frying until they are half cooked and have little crunch left in them. Toast the sesame seeds in a seperate pan. Add salt, soy sauce & sesame seeds to these vegs..stir for sometime, place a lid and let the flavours blend into the vegs. In a small bowl mix half cup of water and corn starch without lumps, add it to the vegs and keep stirring over high heat for 2-3 mins. The corn starch will cook and form a creamy layer on top of the vegetables. If u like these veggies to be "sweet" like the ones we get in the chineese takeouts, add sugar to the dish and let it melt. Done.