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

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

This soup is pretty much like the Masoor Dal - White Chana Soup except this has barley and all kinds of vegetables I had in the refrigerator, this is more like a Kitchen Sink soup!!! Again, instead of tomatoes I used two small cans of V8 tomato puree. I have listed some of the ingredients here, for the remaining, follow the above link to the masoor soup!!! Barley - 1/2 cup Water - 2.5 cups (I added 1.5 cups initially, I let the barley and vegetables cook and added more water as required to achieve the desired consistency) Vegetables - yellow squash, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot (or any combination of your choice) Tomato puree - 2 cans of 5.5oz cans of V8 Click HERE for the nutritional facts on barley and HERE for some barley recipes.

Serving Size: 3-4 I am sure you've noticed that a lot of my recipes are adapted from some great chefs that have inspired and continue to inspire me. Yeah! one of my hobbies is to browse for recipes and food blogs. If something looks good and is doable in my mind, it gets tagged as a "must try". I hope these chefs don't mind me posting their recipes on my blog. Of course, I make sure to give them the due credit and like they say Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery !!! So, here goes one more dish inspired by a recipe I found online. It's THE perfect soup for a cold rainy day! Click HERE for the original recipe and read below for my twists and notes! I used 1/2 cup of canned white chana (chick peas/garbanzos) instead of the black eyed peas. I added the chana in the end after the masoor was done Vegetables - I used 1 cup of frozen vegetables and 1/2 cup of small-medium frozen broccoli florets Green Chili - I used 1 serrano pepper finely chopped. If you don

The motivation for this dish was my sheer determination to use up the big box of spinach that was occupying all the space in the refrigerator!! Again, a similar story with mint and finally, the cucumber touch was inspired by a show on Food Network. Oh! btw, basil was clearly Niti's influence!! The next time, I wanna try adding rice to this soup :)) Ingredients: Fresh baby spinach - 1/2 - 3/4 lb Onion - 1/2 of a big onion, roughly chopped Frozen peas - 1/2 cup Fresh mint leaves - roughly 25-30 leaves Dried basil - 1/2 tsp (I think fresh basil - about 5-10 leaves - will be a good substitute!) Coconut milk - 1/4-1/2 cup (this depends on how green you want your soup to look!) Vegetable stock - 3 cups (water works well too!) Salt, pepper - to taste Fresh cilantro, hot sauce - to garnish Cucumber - 1 small, finely chopped EVOO - 1 tbsp Heat oil in a pan, add onions, mint, basil and saute till the leaves wilt and the onions turn translucent. Mix in the frozen peas and afte

Now here's a dish that my mom loves and actually requests me to make, well I consider myself lucky that I have at least one such dish in my repertoire!! The recipe probably comes from a vegetarian cook book that I looked up a few years back, this one is definitely a tried, tested and approved dish! Ingredients: Fresh Asparagus - 1 pound Red Onion - 1/2 of a big onion, roughly chopped (or) Shallots - 6, roughly chopped All-purpose flour - 1 tbsp Water (or) vegetable stock - 2.5 cups Milk - 1 cup Salt, fresh ground pepper - according to taste Lemon juice - 2 tbsp Butter - 3 tbsp Wash the asparagus and separate the tips first and save them for garnishing. Now, chop the rest of the asparagus into 1 inch pieces till you hit the tough, hard bottom, make sure to discard this hard bottom part. In a non-stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of butter and add the onion/shallots. Saute till it's soft and add the chopped asparagus and saute for about 5 minutes. Now, fold in the flour and m