Guacamole with Ciabatta toast

Ingredients:

Avacados - 1 Big

Tomatoes - 1/2 cup pieces

Onion - 1/4 cup pieces

Corriander/Cilantro - 1/4 cup chopped

Yogurt - 2 Tbsps

Lemon juice - 1 Tbsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Pepper - 1/2 tsp

Green chillies - 2 small chopped

Ciabatta Rolls(hand full size) - 2 per person

Method:

• The avacodo has to be ripe and soft to make a creamy guacamole, Pressing with a finger should leave an impression on the skin to ensure its ripe. Cut it into half, pit out and scoop out all the soft stuff into a bowl, can make it chunky by pressing with a fork or knife.
• Add lemom juice and salt, pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, onions, chillies and yogurt and mix well.

Ciabatta toast:

• Cut the ciabatta into half like a burger bread..drizzle little olive oil and toast in a toaster or toaster oven until they turn nice brown.
• Rub each slice of bread with a raw garlic clove to infuse an intense garlic smell to the bread.
• This crunchy and chewy toast goes good with the guacamole.

Cucumber yogurt Salad

This is an Indian style salad, which is very pleasing to the toungue with a touch of crunchy tempering.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers - 2

Carrot - 1 long

Chick peas - 1 15 oz can (425 gms)

Yogurt - 1 cup

Tempering:

Mustard - 1/2 tsp

Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Chana dal - 1 tsp

Red chillies - 2 long

Green chillies - 2-3 chopped finely

Curry leaves - 1 sprig

Spring onions/onions - a hand full chopped

Oil - 1 tbsp

salt to taste

Method:

• Chop cucumbers and carrots into thin slices and save them in an easy to mix big bowl.
• In a tempering pan heat the oil, add mustard and let them crackle, then add cumin, half split red chillies and chana dal, let them fry in low flame. Now add the chopped scallions, green chillies and curry leaves, fry for 5 mins until they wilt/cook.
• Let the tempering cool and add it to the big bowl of vegetables, salt them and mix thoroughly. At this stage its kind of ready to eat.
• Add the chick peas and yogurt for an extra creamy taste.

Stuffed Chilli peppers

This is one of my own creations. I always get this long n thick chilli peppers during my vegs shopping, because of my craving for that nostalgic street food in India called "Mirchi bajji". This dish kind of replicates taste of the sour chillies inside the bhajjis. Here is what all u need to do..

Ingredients:
Long n thick chilli peppers - 6/7
Sesame seeds - 2 Tbsps
Peanuts - 2 Tbsps
Cumin - 1/2 tsp
Tamarind - a fist full
Onion pieces - hand full
salt - 1 tsp
Oil - 1 Tbsp

Method

• Toast peanuts, sesame seeds and cumin and grind to a chunky mix. Then add the tamarind and salt to make a thick paste.
• Cut the chillies into 2 inch pieces and make slit lenth wise to stuff. With a sharp spoon or knife try to remove the seeds and extra flesh that might be very spicy to eat.
• Stuff the peppers and drop them into an oiled flat pan that can accomadate all the chillies.
• Let them fry in medium to simmer flame...turn the chillies to other side after they are done one side. Now sprinkle onion pieces all over the pan and close the lid, let the onions too wilt/fry.
• Now the dish smells like the street bajjis pack you open.
• Can eat this as a side dish for chapathis or rice with rasam/sambar/dal.

Pepper Mushroom Chicken

Ingredients:

Chicken Thighs - 8 count

Bell Peppers - 1 medium size

Mushrooms - 8 approximately

Garlic - 2 Tbsps chopped

Cumin - 1 Tbsp

salt - 2 tsps

Red pepper flakes - 1 Tbsp

Canola oil - 3 Tbsps

Method:

• Grind garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes and salt into a chunky style marinade.
• Cut off extra fat on the skinless chicken thighs and rub the marinade on all sides of each piece.
• Add oil on a flat pan that fits atleast 4 of the thighs and just add the pieces and fry until the bottom side turns nice golden brown. Turn the other side and add half of the peppers and mushrooms which were chopped thinly, and cover the lid.
• Keep tossing the vegetables with a thong, turning sides letting the vegs cook. Since vegs have no salt just drizzle some salt on them with a salt shaker.
• Once both sides of chicken is done, drain out the pieces onto a flat platter.
• Repeat the same steps for remaining half of the pieces.
• This dish can be eaten like an appetizer or an entree (with little quick cooking flavoured rices/pastas).

Tomato Dip and Crostini appetizer

This is an Indian style Tomato dip which goes good with bread crostinis, its a little variation to the Italian Bruschetta.

Ingredients:

Thin baguet of bread - 1 (garlic bread would be excellent)
Vine ripe tomatoes - 2
Mutard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Fenu Greek seeds(Methi) - 1/2 tsp
Curry leaves - 1 sprig
Red Pepper Flakes - 1 tsp
EVO Oil - 2 Tbsps
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Garlic - 1 tsp

Method:

• Slice the bread into 1/2 inch slices at an angle to get oval shaped slices. Toast them in a baking sheet or in a toaster (dab the slices with lil oil for extra taste) Crostinis are ready.
• For the dip, microwave chopped tomatoes with salt for about 4 mins or until they are cooked.
• Put a small tempering pan on stove and heat 2Tbsps oil and add the mustard seeds first. Be patient enough to let the mustard crackle, all the taste in this dip is with those fried mustard.
• Slightly beat the fenugreek seeds in a hand pestel or roll them under a rolling pin. Let the stove be in simmer and add garlic and the coarsely ground fenugreek.
• Add the red pepper flakes.
• Next minute add the chopped curry leaves and switch off the stove. Add this tempering to the cooked tomatoes.
  Dip is ready.
  
  Enjoy it as a Brunch or Snack.

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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 .

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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.

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