WHAT DO I MAKE...

We realized today that our blog crossed 10,000 page visits...yayy us! I had to write a post to celebrate that! Although to be fair to us, we installed the counter only recently. So, the actual number of page visits is higher than that. Nevertheless, a milestone achieved and a reason to celebrate! Before I get to my recipes, I want to (quickly) take this opportunity to thank all our readers for visiting our blog and sharing your views and feedback with us. We love to hear from you and hope to have your continued support as we aim for loftier goals! Thank you, readers! Asparagus Soup One of my favorite soups, and I made it today after a very long time! Here is the RECIPE . I made a slight modification to the original recipe and added a jalapeno pepper to give it that spicy kick. I used half a jalapeno that was deseeded, deveined and chopped. I added it to the pan along with the onions. Feta Cheese Pasta The inspiration to mix feta cheese and tomatoes came from Zoom Yummy , th

Recipe adapted from  my brain... yes, I take all the credit for this recipe ;) ;) I wanted to make an eggless pie and I just went with - what I thought was - a sensible combination of ingredients in my refrigerator! The basic ingredient - 1  pie crust . Leave it out to thaw for about 30 minutes. The crust is usually folded in the box so make sure it is completely thawed before you try to open it. If the crust is even partially thawed, you run the risk of breaking it. Of course, you can always press and paste it together but it's better to keep it in one single piece! Filling - heat some EVOO , saute mushrooms, grated garlic  and salt. When the mushrooms are done, remove and set aside. In the same pan, saute some onion (till translucent),  spinach (till they wilt) and some crumbled tofu (till all the water evaporates). I also added some crushed pepper and finely chopped fresh basil and thyme. Grated cheese - I used about 1/2 cup of manchego Mitica from Whole Foods. Any chees

Here comes our maiden Mexican dish in this blog! I have been wanting to make Mexican at home for a very long time but somehow ended up focusing on baking and "cooking" other cuisines. To help me remember, I made sure to add the Mexican ingredients to my grocery list this time. Of course, I was not going to wait for too long once I bought them so, a Tex-Mex mainstay for our dinner tonight ....  vegetable fajitas served with cilantro rice. A few things I learned about fajitas ( fə-hee-tə)  ....while the credit for the concept and recipe goes to the Mexicans, the name  fajita  is said to have been coined by the Americans, the original Mexican term for grilled skirt steak is arracheras. Well, the true fajitas are supposed to be made from skirt steak! Now, back to our vegetarian version.... Vegetables: Red onion - 1/4, cut into thin long strips Green capsicum - 1/2 of a big, cut into thin long strips Mushrooms - 4 medium, sliced Garlic - 3 pods, thinly sliced Marinade:

Tonight was one of those nights when I wanted to try something not-so-healthy for dinner. I wanted something uber cheesy, followed by something uber sweet. Of course, a trip to a fast food restaurant would have been an easy solution to all my cravings, but in a hypocritical way, I wanted to make this 'something' healthy! We settled for those puff pastry spinach and cheese rolls, the recipe for which is on the puff pastry box. Now since I had to 'own' the recipe, I followed the directions on the box loosely, as to include the spinach and cheese, but added a slew of other ingredients as well. Final result: yummy savory rolls! For the sweet rolls, I used the other pastry sheet from the box (used one for the savory rolls), and added raspberry sauce and sour cream. I baked both the sweet and savory wheels together. So, my dessert cooled off while I devoured the piping hot spinach rolls. I have to add that a dash of whipped cream goes beyond-great with the sweet rolls; the

I made this muffin a while ago with ripe bananas and walnuts. The recipe was adapted from a sweet pea chef . The only change I made, I used 3 instead of 4 bananas. Thanks Lacey! Here are some pictures.

A hearty, healthy and protein packed soup perfect for the low temps!  17 bean & barley soup Ingredients: Trader Joes' 17 Bean & Barley Mix - 2 cups Vegetable stock - 4 cups  Onion - 1, chopped, fine to medium Garlic - 3 pods, chopped and crushed a bit Tomato - 1/2 (I used 1/2 a tomato cos I ran out of tomatoes and later on added a tiny bit of tomato ketchup for the tang. It didn't harm my soup in anyway but for next time I'd go with 2 medium, RIPE tomatoes!) Cinnamon - 2 sticks of 2" each Bay leaves - 2, medium  Fresh thyme - 1 bunch, about 5-6 sprigs (I added a "bunch" so it will be easier to remove later) Tofu - 6-10, 2" cubes (you could use other methods to thicken the soup or you can skip this step if you prefer a clear soup!) Salt to taste Butter or EVOO - 3 tbsp Vegetables: Cauliflower - 1 cup, tiny florets Potato - 1 medium, chopped to small chunks Capsicum - 1, chopped, fine to medium Carrots and celery are some other options Prep

Look where we got featured! At dinnertool ! This is a new service that has just been launched and we were selected to be in the 'friends' list! :-) Hopefully, we will get featured in one of their front page recipes too soon!

For this year's holiday dinner, I decided to stick to a pasta dish for the main course and I wanted something filling yet not too heavy. Nalini suggested a creamy-pesto pasta with roasted corn and grape tomatoes. Her sauce made a yummy base, she prepares a roux and adds some home made pesto to it. The whole milk and home-made pesto give it a rich taste and texture and needless to say, the pasta was a BIG HIT at the party!  This week I wanted to recreate that pasta but did not have time to make the sauce from scratch. I came across a recipe that used mayonnaise for a creamy pink sauce. Well, absolutely no comparisons to Nalini's original home made version but this definitely makes for a quick-fix creamy pesto sauce! Creamy-Pesto Pasta with Mayonnaise Ingredients: Mayonnaise - 2-3 tbsp, I used a light mayo  Pesto - 2 tbsp, I used Costco's Warm 2% milk - 1/4 cup or less  Add the above according to your preference. Add more milk if you like a more saucy pasta! Grape to