WHAT DO I MAKE...

One of those days when you get back from work and have no patience to cook an elaborate meal. All you wanna do is just mix up whatever you got and still create a palatable dish! So, I saw the pre-cooked whole wheat rotini in the refrigerator and said "yes, I am making a quick pasta salad for dinner!". Of course, my favorite Kirkland Pesto (Costco brand) came to my rescue. Note: if you use the Kirkland Pesto, make sure to freeze it once opened although the label says you can keep it in the refrigerator till the date on the bottle! So, all I really did was, bring the pasta to room temperature. In the mean time I preheated the oven at 375 degF. I arranged some fresh broccoli florets and sliced fresh tomatoes on a baking tray, sprinkled some EVOO and baked it till they were slightly char-grilled (the tomatoes will get done faster so have the oven light ON and keep an eye!). In a salad bowl, add the pasta, vegetables, pesto (for 1/2 a box of pasta I would add 4-5 tbsp of pe...

Ingredients : Garbanzos (chick peas): 1/2 can Garlic - 3-4 pods (I used a tbsp of my homemade ginger-garlic paste instead) Broccoli florets - 4-5 medium Salt Lemon juice - 1 tbsp EVOO - 4-5 tbsp Grind the chick peas, garlic, broccoli and salt along with 3 tbsp of oil. Grind it to either a complete/coarse paste, according to your choice. Take it out in a bowl/plate, pour over lemon juice and remaining oil, sprinkle some red chili powder and serve!

Finally, found some time and a good idea for the excess ginger and garlic in my kitchen. I made this for the first time today, love the end product! I am hoping it will stay fresh for at least a 2-3 months. Ingredients: Ginger - 1/2 lb, peeled and cubed Garlic - 30 pods (approx.) peeled Turmeric - 1/2 tsp Oil - 1/3 cup (and a little more) I made sure the garlic cubes were dry, so I patted them dry with a kitchen cloth. Grind the ginger first with some turmeric. Take it out and then grind the garlic pods. I did not grind them to a complete paste, I wanted it to look "grated". Add the ground garlic to the ginger, add oil and fold it in. Now, transfer the mix into a DRY, air tight jar and refrigerate. (I thought it could use some more oil so I poured about 2 tbsp of oil on top and roughly mixed it before refrigerating.) Ginger and Garlic 16oz. jar

If you have been following the current season of The Next Food Network Star , you definitely know Aarti and you probably also belong to the "majority" that is rooting for her to become the next Star! I have literally been following Aarti (well, online!) ever since the competition started. While she is competing to have her own space in FN she is quite ubiquitous and popular on cyberspace - be it on You Tube or Facebook or through her BLOG - Aarti certainly knows how to Parti with her eat-giggle-repeat mantra!!! So, while she gears up for the big finals this Sunday, I decided to try one of her recipes - Green Chicken Curry (with a vegetarian twist) - definitely a winner!!! Ingredients: Cilantro leaves - 1.5 bunches Mint leaves - 1/2 a bunch Medium red onion - 1 Garlic - 4 pods Ginger - 1.5" piece Salt and fresh ground black pepper Medium red onion - 1/4, finely chopped Extra Firm Tofu - 1/2 a block, cut into 1x1 cubes Turmeric powder, Red chili powder, Dhania powder, ...

Another Sunday baking adventure, I added an apricot twist to this Vegan Banana Cake ! Notes: I added 2-3 tbsp of chopped apricots to the final batter. I stuck to 1 1/3 cups of sugar since I was adding an overly sweet topping!! For topping, I just poured over some fudge. The second topping is a swirl of cheesecake frosting. The mini green decorations are pearls rolled out of store-bought fondant. I used a 9X5X3 loaf pan to bake the cake. You could also bake cupcakes with this recipe but make sure to reduce the baking time to 15minutes, test them at this stage before baking any further. Mine were done in 15! The Cupcake version :)

Back to blogging ... finally!!! During this long hiatus, I managed to flag a few recipes that caught my attention. Here's one such dish ... a great BREAD RECIPE from one of my favorite blogs. The whole process took me a little over 2 hours and 15 minutes, I am glad I reserved this for a Sunday. Notes: I followed the recipe to the T. For my topping, I used sliced jalapeno peppers a cheese mix (shredded monterey jack and yellow cheddar). When it comes to baking, I always make it a point to make 1/2 the quantity mentioned in the original recipe (I learnt this the hard way!). So, I made exactly 2 of the 8" loaves. I had to repeat the "yeast acitivating" process a couple times. That is probably a worthwhile exercise since this first step pretty much decides the texture and taste of the final product. Although the consistency of the baked bread was excellent, I would probably remove the bread a little earlier next time so my bread is a tad bit softer. On 2/23/...

Ingredients: Whole wheat spaghetti - half box (150 gm) Baby spinach - cut -1 cup Onion - diced - 3/4 cup Red bell pepper - diced - 1/2 cup Green bell pepper - diced - 1/2 cup Dried cranberries - 1/4 cup Olive oil - 4 tbsp All-purpose flour - 1 tbsp Milk - 1/2 cup Method: Boil spaghetti pasta as instructed on the box. In another pan, saute onions in olive oil. When translucent, add green pepper and stir for a few minutes, add red pepper and spinach and a stir for a few more minutes. Add all-purpose flour, cranberries and 1/4 cup milk and cover and cook for 6-7 minutes at medium heat. Add pasta and stir for additional few minutes. Add remaining milk and switch off the heat and cover the pan for a few minutes before serving. You may add grated cheese on top before serving if you wish.