Chicken Curry With Coconut Milk

Ingredients:
*4 pieces of Chicken Breast cut in cubes or 4 lbs leg/thigh meat (if you like)
*1 can of regular (15oz) coconut milk
*1 Tablespoon Butter
*2-3 Tablespoons of Extra virgin Olive Oil
*1 chopped Medium/large size yellow Onion
*1 Clove Garlic (Crushed) or use quarter Teaspoon of Garlic Powder
*half inch piece of fresh Ginger (Crushed) or use quarter teaspoon of Ginger powder
*2-3 Table spoons of Tomato Paste
*1Table spoon Sea Salt
*1 tea spoon Cumin Powder
*3/4 tea spoon Turmeric Powder
*1 tea spoon Red chilli powder (You can use a half tea spoon each of cayenne and paprika instead)
*1 tea spoon of Coriander Powder
*1/4 teaspoon of course or table grind black pepper

Omit the black pepper if you don’t like it, but I find each pepper adds a distinct and a different note of flavor. It hits a different spot on the tongue. Plus, do you know that when you add black pepper along with turmeric and oil, you make anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric bio-available for your body?

Recipe:
Saute onions in your mix of butter and olive oil (omit butter if you’re making it dairy-free, but know that adding butter/ghee brings saturated fat that makes your olive oil stable to the high heat) until the onions turns golden brown in color.  Saute ginger and garlic if using crushed otherwise add them with the rest of spices.  Add all dry powdered spices now and let them sautee with onions up to a minute or until they release their aroma (it’s called blooming the spices so they make a smooth paste in your curry rather than being chalky and powdery). Keep on stirring it.  *Note: Don’t let them over cook for more than a minute as you might burn them.
Add chicken and saute with your spices and onion mix for a minute or two. Add a quarter to half cup of water if it seems to dry then cover the pan. Let the chicken cook for 15-20 minutes.
After the  chicken is almost tender, it’s time to add tomato paste.  Add tomato paste according to your desired color or consistency.  I added 3 table spoons and hence got a rich orange color after adding coconut milk but two might be sufficient if you like light pale orange and thinner consistency. Cover the pot for 2-4 minutes more until tomato paste cooks and mixes with the rest of the ingredients in synergy.
Last but not the least, it’s time to add the coconut milk. Uncover the curry and add the coconut milk. Mix and let it simmer for a couple minutes more. Serve it on a bed of basmati rice and enjoy.

Aromatic Quinoa Pilaf

Ingredients:
*One chopped medium size Onion
*One chopped small Garlic Clove
*2-3 chopped medium size roma tomatoes
*Handful of chopped parsley/cilantro (whatever you have on hand)
*Half teaspoon of cumin seeds
*Half cup of Olive oil or coconut oil or butter
*One levelled teaspoon of sea salt
*half teaspoon of Red chilli powder
*Half teaspoon of Coriander powder
*Half teaspoon of Cumin Powder
*Quarter teaspoon of Turmeric Powder
*One chopped green chilli (Serrano, jalapeño) (its optional, if you don’t like spicy then omit it)
*one packet of 12oz Quinoa or 1.5 cups of dry Quinoa

Sauté onions in your choice of oil/fat until they turn slight pink then add cumin seeds and cook for a minute or two, add garlic  & tomatoes and let it cook for a minute more.  Add all the dry powder spices like salt, pepper, cumin, coriander, turmeric powder and dry herbs such as parsley/ cilantro (Only put dry herbs at this point, if you’re using fresh cilantro/parsley then add it along with green chillies towards the end of cooking process).   Add quinoa and mix it well with all the other ingredients and add about a cup of water or until all the quinoa is at the water level.  Let it all boil, once it starts boiling, cover the pot with lid and turn the heat down to medium to low for about 5 minutes.  Add fresh herbs (if you like) and fresh green chillies (skip if you don’t like spicy food), mix and lower the heat down to simmer for 5 more minutes.  After 5 more minutes, turn the heat off and DO NOT OPEN THE LID at this point, otherwise all the beautiful steam and aroma will escape from the pot, leave the pot alone for 5-10 minutes and then open and serve.

(Rinsing and soaking the Quinoa is optional, its always better to rinse and soak as it maximizes its nutrients but when in a pinch I skip this process 🙂

Traditional Toor Dal (also known as Pigeon Peas Lentils)

This particular recipe reminds me of my childhood and the days when I used to come back from school starving and looking for food.  I was always pleased by the aromatic fragrance coming from the kitchen.  I could always conspicuously tell that it was my favorite Toor dal made with the traditional redolent Tarka (Indian seasoning).  It’s a simple recipe with not much prep involved, and if you can soak your lentils first in water for at least 15-20 minutes before cooking, it could cut the cooking time into almost half. Moreover, soaking lentils or grains maximizes nutrients. Basically, soaking renders the nutrients in grains to be more digestible and easily assimilated by our bodies.  Use of a pressure cooker is optional, but if you have one, using it would cut down to only 10-15 minutes of cooking time. Otherwise, it generally takes about 25-45 minutes on a stove top.
(Note: If using a pressure cooker, put a table spoon of olive oil or butter as it helps to reduce the foam from rising up, keep the skins of the lentils popping off, and clogging up the vent tubes of the pressure cooker).

Ingredients for Dal:

*2 cups of Toor dal or pigeon peas (washed, soaked and drained)
*3 cups of filtered water
*1 levelled teaspoon of red chilli powder (use less if you don’t like spice that much)
*1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder (I use 3/4 teaspoons of turmeric since I never skip on the opportunity of using this miraculous healing spice)
*1 to 1 and 1/2 teaspoon of good quality sea salt (don’t use table salts, they damage your health and are stripped away from powerful minerals)
*1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

Ingredients for Tarka:
*1/2 cup of Ghee or clarified butter (substitute Olive Oil if you’re vegan)
*1 teaspoon of cumin seeds
*5-10 whole round dried red chilli peppers (you can use the long ones too)
*5-7 garlic cloves (cut in slices either horizontally or vertically)
*5-7 leaves of fresh or dried curry leaves

Recipe:

Transfer washed and drained lentils to your choice of cooking pot, along with all the ingredients needed for Toor Dal above.  Let it boil first, then turn down the heat to low-medium simmer and don’t cover the lid fully as it can boil over from foaming. Cook until it’s soft to touch and breaks easily. In a regular cooking pot it will take between 20 to 40 minutes depending on your stove top, heat, quality of lentils and cooking pot, so keep checking.  If you’re using a pressure cooker look at the instructions above and basically cook for 12 -15 minutes.

When the dal is soft,  add the Ghee in another cooking pan along with garlic slices and let it cook until the garlic turns light brown. Then add cumin seeds, red dried chilli, and curry leaves and let it all cook for another minute. Turn off the heat beneath the lentils and carefully add the hot Ghee with all of the seasoning on top of the dal.  (This process can be a little intimidating for beginners as it makes a *chuun* sound when added to the lentils and its better to stay away from the pan and hold it away from your body when doing it)  You can also have the lid of the lentils pot in the other hand so when you’re adding the Ghee in the lentils, you can cover the other half with the lid and quickly pour all of the Ghee over and cover the lid entirely so it won’t splash and the aroma stays in.  All of the action of your Tarka will subside in a minute. Then you open the pot, smell the fragrance and serve your traditional Toor lentils.

You can either eat it with white basmati rice, traditional naan bread, a tortilla, or by itself like a warm soup.  It’s your choice. Enjoy!  🙂

Read health benefits of Toor lentils here.

Lasagna

Ingredients:

*One packet of lasagna strips

*4-5 medium portebella mushrooms

*One medium eggplant

*Two zucchinis

*One medium to large size russet potato

*One big jar of Marinara sauce or your favorite pasta sauce

*Mozzarella cheese

*Monterey jack cheese

Slice all vegetables in thin slices or long strips like lasagna shapes.  Slightly sauté all vegetables in olive oil in large fry pan or roast in your toaster oven for a few minutes.  I sautéed them all in different batches for just 2-4 minutes until they start to look slightly translucent/half way cooked. I also turned all the veggies at about a minute or two minute mark.  Make sure not to over crowd the pan and put vegetables in one layer only at each time.  Once potatoes, eggplants and zucchini are all slightly cooked you start assembling the lasagna together.
Take a big size or lasagna size baking dish. Put lasagna strips and pour hot water on top add s few drops of olive oil and leave it covered for 2 minutes then turn the lasagna strips so they don’t stick together and become soft from all sides. Take another baking pan. Butter the pan nicely from all edges.  Spread a thin layer of pasta sauce , just enough to coat the bottom slightly. Spread one layer of lasagna and put a slight layer of sauce or spread just a teaspoon of sauce on each lasagna strip.

Add a layer of eggplants and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.
Add a layer of portebella mushrooms and sprinkle salt and pepper on top.  Add a slight layer of sauce then add a layer of potatoes and sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Add a layer of zucchini and sprinkle with salt and pepper according to your taste.
Add another layer if lasagna strips on top and coat it nicely with sauce and then put cut circles of fresh mozzarella.  Grate half pack of Monterey jack on top, covering the entire top of sauce and lasagna.  Put a few little chunks of butter on top ( you can easily omit the butter but I add it because it makes the top brown beautifully and add a nice crisp taste, in fact, you don’t even have to butter the pan either in the beginning and you can add a few drips of olive oil at the bottom of the pan and spread it with a brush.

Heat the oven at 350 degrees, start baking and set the timer for 30 minutes. When your timer starts beeping, turn the oven to broil and babysit the lasagna closely until it achieves the color and crust you like on top (I like it when it turns light brown on the top:)

Note: when it comes to pizza or Lasagna then sky is the limit for your toppings or layers….I have made this same lasagna many times with ground beef or ground chicken/turkey layer too.  For your choice of meat filling, I will cook the meat in a separate pan with some olive oil, salt, Cayenne, garlic salt and black pepper.  If you want to add more flavor, add some fresh herbs or dry herbs like parsley, basil, oregano and such.  All you have to do, is add a layer in the middle with meat and top it with sauce and continue with assembling the lasagna as usual.  If you want you can change different veggies to layer or no veggies at all, just meat, sauce and lasagna noodles,  whatever your heart desires.

Finally, I wanted to apologize to my sincere readers, who look forward to reading my recipes, and my really long absence but I promise to upload two new recipes a month now 🙂

I end it as Julia Child would say, Bon Appetit 🙂

Split Pea Soup

This recipe is easy and quick but sky is the limit with this soup, you can add, fennels, carrots, celery, spinach or whatever vegetables you can disguise with this aromatic green deliciousness.  Bonus point: once its blended, no one finds out what veggies you sneaked into the soup.

Ingredients:

*2 cups of Green Split pea lentils (serves 4  people)

*1 medium size onion (chopped)

*1 medium size clove of garlic (crushed, grated or chopped)

*Tiny piece of Ginger (grated or chopped)

*1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

*1/4  teaspoon of coriander seeds

*1 tea spoon of sea salt

*1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

*1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper

Start by soaking the split peas in water for at least 15 -20 minutes (but if you forgot this step then go ahead and start without it:), soaking has many benefits including it makes any beans or grains more digestible, while preserving its food value and nutrients, as well as cuts the cooking time shorter.

Wash and drain split peas, add them to a cooking pot along with about 3 cups of filtered water (better to avoid chlorinated and fluoridated tap water :).

Add onions, ginger, garlic, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, and 1 table spoon of EVOO (extra virgin Olive Oil) and  bring it to a boil.  Once its boiling, turn the heat down to simmer and cover the pot.  Add  cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper  according to your taste after about 10 minutes of cooking.  ( I have noticed that adding salt in the beginning stages takes longer to soften the beans/lentils so I add salt after atleast 10-15 minutes of cooking).  let it simmer for a total of 30 to 40 minutes or until it appears soft and mushy (you can do a taste test too to check :).  Puree it with a hand held blender and if its too thick add little bit more water or chicken stock for extra flavor until it reaches your desired consistency and cook about 5 minutes more then serve.

I like my soup with a generous drizzle of EVOO on top 🙂

For Benefits of Green Split peas, read here

Easy Peasy ChickPea and Spinach Stew

This is one of those recipes that I consider my family’s FAST FOOD!  you might wonder why?  well, its because its not “so much” thought over, or planned or elaborate dishes….its that one easy,super quick, just a handful of ingredients that you already have in your pantry and one pot meal that can the hit the table in under 20-25 minutes….Now thats even faster than ordering FAST FOOD 🙂

*One Can of Organic Garbanzo beans or chickpea

*One bag of Organic Washed Baby Spinach

*One Can of Organic Diced Tomatoes  (I used Muir Glen’s BPA free cans)

*One small sized chopped onion or half of a medium size onion

*tiny bit or a couple flips of Garlic salt

*1/2 teaspoon of Cumin Seeds

*Salt and pepper to taste

*Cayenne pepper

*Olive Oil

Start by Sautéing onions in Olive Oil, when onions turns translucent, add cumin seeds.  After a minute, add canned diced tomatoes, Garlic salt or Garlic powder, salt & pepper, and Cayenne pepper.  Add Garbanzo beans or chickpea, and let it cook for 5-7 minutes on medium low.  Add baby spinach and let it all cook for about 5 minute more.  Serve it with pita bread, warm Gluten free Tortillas, or white/Brown Rice.

Note:  To Avoid BPA exposure in lining of the cans, I always try to get BPA free cans like Eden foods or Muir Glen.

To Check out benefits of chickpeas/Garbanzo beans click here

My Favorite Quinoa Recipe

I have to admit that I am obsessed with Quinoa, in any way or form its something that fulfils me without giving me that heavy feeling no matter how much I eat.
Moreover, this is my favorite way to make it into a quick, healthy, nutritious and delicious meal anytime of the day.  I love how this recipe doesn’t need any extra prep time, esp in the mornings when you wake up, you put a pot of Quinoa on the stove to cook and raid your refrigerator and take all those miscellaneous produce out that was waiting to be used up.  Quinoa takes about 10-15 minutes to cook (just enough time for you to make a new salad) and a perfect meal is ready.  its so simple, easy and no fuss involved.  I also love to eat quinoa with the crunch of raw veggies and somehow I almost always try to incorporate Oranges in my salad to go with Quinoa, i think oranges add a new dimension to the simplicity of Quinoa.  Here is my go to recipe, anytime of the day:

*2 cups of Organic Quinoa

*1 and half cup water to cook

*2-3 teaspoons of Organic extra virgin Olive Oil

*1 teaspoon of sea salt

*Quarter teaspoon of black pepper

*Quarter teaspoon of garlic powder or 1 small clove of chopped garlic

*Quarter teasooon of Cayenne pepper

You can wash it in a strainer and dump the washed quinoa in a pot with Olive Oil, Salt, Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Garlic and water to cook.  Let it boil, then mix it and leave it covered to simmer on low heat for 10 more minutes.  In the mean time you cut up what ever you find interesting to make a nice salad and dress it with lime/lemon juice and Olive oil.  After 10 minutes, turn the flame off but DO NOT open or peek the quinoa at the point.  This is very important because you being impatient will result in not so yummy and fully bloomed Quinoa, if you leave it un touched for 5 minutes after its turned off, it was cook in that carry over time and steam to its perfection, and you will find every tiny grain of Quinoa, blossomed into perfection and retain all the nutritional value intact.  Now its time to enjoy the yummy quinoa with your favorite raw veggies and some citrus whether it be lemon or oranges.  Feel free to increase or decrease the spices as you like.

Enjoy

Here is a link for another amazing recipe of this miraculous grain along with its wonderful health benefits:

Best quinoa recipes

White Lentils or Urad Daal

This Urad Daal recipe comes from my mother, she always made it when I was growing up in Pakistan.  I tried making it the same way, and I think its pretty close to hers but I still believe that hers is the best 🙂

Here’s the recipe:

*Two cups of Urad Daal/white lentils (I soaked it for about 15-30 minutes)

*One Medium Size Onion (chopped)

*half teaspoon of Crushed Garlic

*3 Quarter teaspoon of Crushed Ginger

*1 levelled teaspoon salt

*1/2 teaspoon of whole cumin seeds

*1/2 teaspoon of whole coriander seeds

*7-8 Round Red chilli (Dried kind)

*few tablespoons of Olive oil and a tablespoon of Butter (you can skip the butter if you’re vegan)

Firstly, I washed the lentils and added them to a pot with about half cup of water to boil (I added a table spoon of butter because I like the way the taste more).

When it started to boil I added Ginger, Garlic and Salt and turned it low to simmer.  In another pan, I added EVOO and Onions, let it sauté until its golden brown or caramelized, then I added Cumin and Coriander ( I crushed them a little with my hands or mortor and pestle). Red Round Dry Red Chilli (easily available in Indian Grocery Stores or just used the Long dry red chilli or break them into little pieces of you like).  Add the Onion Mixture to your lentils and let it cook for 5 more minutes, Mix and Serve.

Its really easy and simple Recipe, whole cooking process takes about 30 minutes and turns out really yummy.  can be served with either white/brown rice or with Roti (indian bread) or eat with with a yummy salad if you’re grain free.  If you want to see benefits of Urad Daal, read here.

Delicious Vegan Okra stew

Did you know that Okra heal Diabetes, Asthma, and Cancer.   To learn more about Okra’s wonderful properties click here

Here is a Delicious Recipe of Okra:

*One Medium size yellow Onion (chopped)

*1/2 teaspoon of Coriander seeds

*1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds

*1 teaspoon of sea salt

*1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder

*1/2 teaspoon of coriander powder

*1/4 teaspoon of Turmeric Powder

*1/2 teaspoon of chilli powder

*1- 2 pinches of cayenne pepper powder

*Okra cut in small pieces (4-5 cups)

*Tomatoes cut in small pieces 4-5

*EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) 3-4 Table spoons

Sauté Onions in EVOO, until slightly golden  on Medium to low medium heat.  Add Cumin seeds and coriander seeds and let it sauté for a minute more ( you will smell a distinct aroma of cumin and coriander at this point). Add Okra in to the pan, mix well, cover and let it steam for 2 minutes.

Add salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, cayenne and turmeric, mix well and put the cover back on and let it cook for another 5-6 minutes on low heat. Last but not the least, add tomatoes and let it cook for 5 minutes more and then Enjoy with Brown rice or your Favorite Gluten Free Bread.

Allergy Information:

• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Corn-free
• Nuts-free/Peanuts-free
• Egg-free
• Dairy-free

Easy Sauted Spinach and Creamy potatoes

* One medium size chopped Onion
* One small Garlic Clove (chopped)
* 2-3 medium size chopped tomatoes
* 1lb baby spinach or one bunch of chopped spinach
* potatoes 4-5 medium to large size potatoes (chopped in cubes)
* 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds
* 1/2 teaspoon of coriander seeds
* sea salt to taste (I used half teaspoon or little more i think)
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper powder or chilli powder/cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon corriander powder
* 1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
* dash of turmeric powder or dash of curry powder.

Saute onion in EVOO until translucent, add chopped Garlic and cumin/coriander seeds. Add quarter cup of water with sea salt, cumin powder, coriander powder, red pepper powder/cayenne pepper and turmeric powder, along with tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Add potatoes and cook for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are little firm but mostly cooked. Add spinach at this point and cover for 3-4 minutes until all spinach is wilted, then mix it with spoon, let it cook for 2-4 minutes more. Then enjoy with white or BrownRice or brown rice Tortillas. Bon Appetite

For benefits of Spinach, click here

Allergy Information:

• Gluten-free
• Soy-free
• Corn-free
• Nuts-free/Peanuts-free
• Egg-free
• Dairy-free