Chinese style sauteed snap peas

Here is a very quick Chinese style sauteed snap peas.  I picked up a package of these from an Asian store and all I had to do was give them a quick rinse, string them and break up the larger pieces in half.


I first blanched them for 2 minutes in boiling water and then rinsed them in cold water to preserve the springy green color.

Drain them in a colander, add a tablespoon of olive oil, add some chopped garlic, ginger, crushed red chili flakes and a slug of tamari or soy sauce and a few drops of toasted sesame oil.  Before you get ready to serve, add a splash of rice wine vinegar.   Serve this hot with rice or noodles as soon as it is prepared.  It doesn't really do well re-warmed.

french toast pudla

You all know how much I love pudla and how much I love breakfast.  One, because it's delicious and healthy, but secondly, it's low in carbs!   I love the idea of French Toast, so I thought why not use pudla batter in its place?  So much for the carbs lol.

The end result was so good!  I used a 7 Grain bread and dipped it in the pudla batter and then pan fried it on medium-low for about 4 minutes on each side.  The bread stayed quite crispy.  It was so comforting and filling.   I'll be making this all the time now!

Basic pudla batter used here:

• 1 cup besan (AKA gram flour/chickpea flour found at any Indian store)
• Add 3 spoons of plain yogurt and enough water to make a pancake batter consistency
• Add salt, pepper, 1/2 tspn of turmeric and chili powder
• Optional - Add a teaspoon of ajwain (carom seeds)
• Optional - Add in a diced tomato, onion, serrano and 1-2 cloves of garlic

strawberries in a champagne mustard viniagrette

My darling cousin, Jima, has recently started blogging at sugaRush.  I think she is mainly going to be focusing on salads and smoothies.... Yummmmmm! I am really looking forward to all her recipes!  Please do visit her.

In honor of her blog, I made this strawberry salad the other day for lunch.   No recipe, just tear up some mache and romaine in a bowl, add some nuts and crumbled feta if you like and some light dressing and you are ready to devour.

The dressing I used to top this luscious lunch is your basic viniagrette.  Just mix everything in a bottle and shake to eumulsify:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1-2 tbspns champagne vinegar
• 1 tbspn dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey
• whatever herbs you have on hand (mint and oregano are lovely)
• salt & black pepper

Quick sprouted bean stirfry

I was at my local market browsing through the salad area and found a small package of sprouted beans - adzuki, lentil and peas.  Wow, when did they start selling these?  All that protein in a ready made pack.   I brought them home and the poor things sat and sat in the veggie bin for over a week.  Finally one night, thinking they may not survive any longer, I decided to give them a go. 

I wanted to keep the nutrients intact as much as possible, so I decided to give them a quick stirfry.  This is what I did, it took about 15 minutes to get it on the table.  I would serve this as is, or for a more filling meal, serve it as the star course with some crusty naan, yogurt or rice.

• Heat up some olive oil in a saute pan on medium
• Do a tarka of mustard seeds, cumin seeds and asafeotida, let sizzle and pop
• Throw in some curry leaves and the package of sprouts... You can also add a tomato if you want at this point
• Add salt and spices:  turmeric powder, black pepper, cumin powder, coriander powder and some red chili powder
• Add a cup of water and stir and let cook on medium for 10 minutes
• Garnish with chopped coriander and a squeeze of lime

The results were absolutely superb!  This came out just amazing.  It was light and nutty, but at the same time kept me filled for a long time.  I will be looking for these all the time now!

10 minute pulao

Seems lately that I'm always in a rush.  Got a million things on my mind and anxious to hurry and do them all, lest I forget one.  I'm so forgetful!   So what's the easiest and most delectable thing to make in a few minutes that requires no attention or fumbling with a ton of chopping or ingredients?  

For me, this almost always involves my wondrous pressure cooker and rice. 

This amazing and easy pulao will feed 2 hungry people with some leftover for lunch the next day...
In your pressure cooker, heat some oil and:

• throw in a couple of cloves, whole black pepper and a cinnamon stick (this step is optional) 
• do a tarka (seasoning) by adding half a teaspoon of mustard and cumin seeds and a pinch of asafeotida... let the seeds pop and sizzle
• add 1 1/2 cups rice and saute for a few minutes on low-medium.  Add half a teaspoon of garam masala and saute again for 2 minutes
• add an optional diced potato and a handful of thawed peas and if you're like me - a huge chopped green chilli
• add salt and 2.5 cups of water and secure the pressure cooker lid
• let cook on medium for 2 whistles or 10 minutes

easy tofu stirfry

First off, I must apologize for my food pics as of late.  They were taken on my phone.  I was waiting to get this Sony NEX5 after Thanksgiving, but alas, it was not on sale anywhere.  *sigh* Hopefully for Christmas!!  

This was a really quick tofu and red pepper stirfry I made the other day.  It was inspired by a bunch of Indo-Chinese recipes I had been reviewing.  Of course as always, reading recipes makes me hungry so I took to the kitchen and looked around to see what I had that could somehow fit into this category.   I had some tofu sitting in the fridge for a few days that I really didn't know what to do with.  I took it out and set it on the counter and then continued to dig around the veggie bin and came across a red pepper.  I usually almost always have onions and garlic on hand so a stirfry was born.



Basically, I just pan fried the tofu and then set it aside for a minute.  In a wok, add some groundnut oil and turn the heat to high.  Add a couple of broken red dried chilies and stir around for a few seconds.  Then add a chopped onion and stir that around for a minute.  Add a couple of chopped garlic cloves, ginger and one chopped green chilli and stir that around for 20 seconds, then add a chopped red bell pepper and let it char and blacken a bit.  Add the pan fried tofu and season with salt and pepper, light soy sauce, a pinch of Chinese Five Spice and of course, my favorite - SriRacha!   Serve over noodles or steamed brown rice. 

labneh lemon tart

i know, i know, i know my new profile pic is probably creepin you out. so i was messin' with my new phone's camera capabilities and ended up sorta liking this one. anonymous, but you get a glimpse. looking back through all my blog entries, i realize that i've probably already said too much, revealed even more. do you guys ever think you've exposed a little too much about yourselves? not that i mind, but it is nice to be somewhat mysterious at times.

so what has all that to do with my lemon tarts? oh, nothing. anyways, i had bought some labneh this past weekend when i was at the fabulous new Phoenicia. i planned to use it as cream cheese to spread on my whole grain bagels because i like the way it tastes and it's way better for you... oh, it's not? well, i never got around to getting the bagels, so the poor labneh just sat in the fridge. had i seen michael's post earlier i would've made this. but since my sewing machine got in the way of my blog hopping, i just saw it today.

so i had these beautiful meyer lemons and i decided to make an instant lemony cheesecake tart.
you can mess around with the recipe and try different flavor combinations. it's pretty much limitless. and it's sort of embarrassing to use these processed products which i normally don't have around but this was the easiest and fastest way i could make these yellow beauties. they only take 10 minutes to make and a few hours to chill. they're actually perfect for tea parties or special dinners. and no matter what anyone tells you, everyone loves their own dessert! why do you think cupcakes are so popular? everyone wants to have their own cake and eat it too, that's why!

labneh lemon tarts
serves 10-12
prep time: 10 min, plus 3-4 hours chilling time

vip's:

• 10-12 tart shells, baked and cooled completely
• a packet of 3.2 oz any flavor instant pudding (i used vanilla; cheesecake would be good too)
• 1 cup labneh
• 1 tub fat free whipped topping
• lemon zest & juice of one lemon

the play:

• cream the labneh until smooth and creamy
• stir in the pudding, lemon zest and lemon juice
• fold in the whipped topping
• chill mixture covered for a few hours up to a few days
• fill the tarts right before serving
• garnish with zest, lemon balm or mint

Listening to: a recommendation by my dear friend A - War's 'Four Cornered Room' from the album, The World is a Ghetto (1972)... love it A, thanks!!

vegetable pot pies and apple tartlettes

recently, i made vegetable pot pies and some apple tartlettes, because frankly i didn't have much in the way of veggies. i was alone this weekend and i had a lonely little carrot, a zucchini and a red onion - oh, and some frozen peas. so i guessed you've figured the vegetable pot pies aren't really potpies, haven't you? no, they're tarts, so sue me, i just totally misled you. well, if i bothered to cover them with pastry dough, they would've been pot pies right? i knew you'd see my point of view. and as far as the apple tartlettes go, they just sound better than apple tarts. reminds me of this crazy lady who works here who keeps saying, "she's such a tart" in all that southern twang glory.

anywho, they look a lot more fussy than they are. they're very fast and i would highly recommend this for a dinner alone. who wants to be in the kitchen for an hour when they're by themselves? not me. i really only feel inspired when i know they're are mouths to feed. so, it took me all of 5 min of prep, 5 min to cook and then 25 min to bake.

vegetable pot pies

serves 2

prep time: 10 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 package of individual sized frozen tarts - mine had 8 in there - only use 4
• 1 zucchini, washed and diced small
• 1 carrot, washed and diced small
• 1 red onion, washed and diced
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1-2 tbspn oil
• pinch of cumin, coriander, red chili powders
• pinch of garam masala
• juice of 1/2 lemon

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrosted the tarts while you prepare the vegetables
• saute all veggies together in a bit of oil, add a pinch of coriander and cumin powder, red chili powder and garam masala. add salt and cook until cooked thru but still firm - about 5 min
• turn off heat, add lemon juice
• prick the tarts all over with a fork
• divide the filling among 4 tarts
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

apple tartlettes

serves 2

prep time: 5 min

bake time: 25 min

vip's:

• 1 small granny smith apple, peeled and diced
• 2 tbspn butter
• 1 tbspn brown sugar
• 1 tbspn toasted pecans or walnuts - you can microwave these for 30-45 sec
• 1 tbspn chocolate chips or butterscotch chips (optional)
• 1 tbspn pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice or a mixture of ground cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, allspice, ginger
• tiny pinch of salt
• a tiny squeeze of lemon juice

the play:

• preheat oven to whatever the frozen tart package says - mine said 375
• defrost the frozen tarts while you chop the apple and get the other ingredients together
• prick the tarts with fork
• add the chips to the bottom if you are using them
• mix the apples with brown sugar, nuts, spices, salt and lemon juice
• fill the 2 tarts with this mixture
• top with 1 tbspn butter cut up over each tart
• bake according to package instructions - mine were at 375 for 25 min.

Notes: for the veggie pot pies, use whatever firm veggies you have on hand like bell peppers, cauliflower, etc. (i think that line is in every post so far, lol). for the apple tartlettes, you can pretty much use any stone fruit, i'm sure peaches and nectarines would be divine.

Listening to: 'Nickel bag of funk', by the awesome awesome awesome Digable Planets, from their debut album, Rebirth of Slick (1992)... how can you not love their lyrics?

"Tell my pops i'm out earthbound with the crew

He said butterfly may the boogie be with you..."

whole wheat veggie wrap

saturday mornings are meant to be savored slowly, lazily and of course hungrily. this weekend, i made a quick stirfry using red potatoes and a yellow pepper i had in the fridge. they came together in a whole wheat wrap. the kick to the dish comes from the jalapeno and cilantro.

whole wheat veggie wrap

serves: 4
prep time: 10 min
cook time: 15 min

vip’s:

• 4 whole wheat tortillas
• 4 red potatoes, washed & chopped into cubes
• 1 yellow bell pepper, washed & chopped
• ½ onion, diced
• 2 jalapenos, washed & chopped – use per your personal preference
• few sprigs of cilantro, washed & chopped
• juice of half lemon
• pinch of mustard seeds & cumin seeds
• tspn cumin & coriander powders
• salt

the play:

• heat a wide sauté pan and add 2 tbspn olive oil, add mustard & cumin seeds; let pop
• add potatoes, bell pepper, onion & salt, stir & cover for 10-13 min on low heat until potatoes are cooked thru. The last 5 min, add the jalapenos.
• add cilantro & lemon juice, stir and let cook 2 more minutes

to serve:
in a flat pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and cook the tortilla on both sides till lightly brown, add the potato mixture and roll like a wrap, serve warm.

Listening to: the soulful groove of India Arie; "ready for love" from, Acoustic Soul (2001)