Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Grilled Pineapple in my sandwich maker

Ingredients
1 fresh pineapple - peeled, cut into 1 inch rings
Olive oil to coat the pineapple slices / butter
1 tsp crushed pepper
salt to taste
1 tbsp honey

Directions
I used olive oil to grease the sandwich maker. You can grease the pineapple slices also.
Grill the slices in the sandwich maker till the grill marks appear. The sandwich maker also cuts them into wedges making it easy to serve and eat!
In a bowl, add the grilled slices, pour honey, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
This was delicious, and it makes an easy side dish to any meal. Can be served with ice-cream / pancakes / simply as dessert!

Oven-baked veggies

Last night's dinner menu-
Pancakes with Betty Crocker pancake mix (Check here)
Oven baked veggies
Grilled pineapple
Diced Avocado

For oven baked veggies-
2 cup mixed veggies (I used 1 onion, 1 capsicum, 8-10 cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup diced beans, 2 carrots, 1 medium potato)
2 tbsps grated cheese
1 tsp each of parsley and oregano
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tbsp powdered mustard seeds
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil to coat the veggies- 1 tbsp

Diections-
Mix all the ingredients together. Combine well. Add to a baking dish and bake in the oven at 180 deg for 30 mins. Serve along side pancakes.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Veg Au gratin

Ingredients-
1 cup boiled mixed vegetables (I used carrots, capsicum, beans, peas)
1/2 cup grated / cubed cheese
salt and pepper to taste
2.5 cups white sauce
(Mix 1.5 cup milk, 1 cup water, with 2 tbsp cornflour and 2 tbsp butter)
Or can use this recipe here.


Directions-
Make the white sauce as per directions.
Drizzle vegggies with olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix them in the white sauce, Mix well to combine. Mix with grated / cubed cheese. Save some for the top if you like!

Transfer mix to a baking dish. Bake at 180 deg for 20-25 mins. Serve hot.

Here's an old pic of Veg Au gratin and Cabbage rolls served with corn bread, they were mouthwatering!

Monday, July 11, 2011

Grilled chicken in my Sandwich Maker

Today I used my sandwich maker to make grilled chicken. It turned out crisp and brown, just the way we love it!

My recipe-
Chicken- small pieces, washed, cleaned, marinated with turmeric, salt and steamed
(use the pressure cooker or steamer basket in the rice cooker)
Parsley, oregano- 1 tsp each
Mustard sauce- 1 tsp
Lemon juice from half a lemon
Olive oil

Directions-
Grease the sandwich maker generously using olive oil. Keep the chicken pieces in the pockets, turn on the heat. Let them turn crisp, I shut the lid and let them be for 10 mins. The aroma was awesome, and so was the taste. Serve hot. I think they would taste yummy with some green pudina chutney.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Sweet potatoes and cheese pie

I was in no mood to make the usual dinner today. I wanted a shortcut, because Yashi has a cold and would cry for attention any minute. Thought of baking something easy.
Here is my recipe for sweet potato cheese pie-

Ingredients:
200 gms of sweet potatoes cleaned and boiled
(I had them boiled, you can also clean and use raw, they will take longer to bake, that's all)
1 medium chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
1 soup packet- I used Knorr Corn soup (Mast masala)- mixed with lukewarm water / milk as directed on the packet with no lumps
1/2 tsp each of Oregano and parsley
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese cubed
Can use pepper too
salt to taste (I skipped both salt and pepper, because the soup has enough salt)
olive oil- 1 tbsp
Directions-
Use a deep baking dish. I didn't have one, so I used my regular one.

Combine potatoes, onion, tomato, olive oil and herbs. Mix well. Add the soup to this mix and combine. Top this mix with the cheese cubes. Micro for about 8 mins till the soup is bubbly. 
If you have a microwave that you can set to convection, bake for 20 mins if using boiled sweet potatoes and about 40 mins if using raw. Stir in between to combine the cheese.
If using a simple micro, once the soup is hot and bubbly, micro for a couple of mins more, till the soup is cooked. Cover and keep for about 15-20 mins and reheat before serving.
Goes well with plain rice. I served it with organic scented rice which I cooked in the rice cooker. Made my dinner in minutes today. Needless to say, we overate! and sat on vajrasana for a complete 10 mins!

Next time, I have to try it with tomato soup :)

I am sending this to MEC- Potato feast (afterall it is sweet potato!) hosted at Sinamontales. Check Valli's announcement page here.

Edit- 11th July 2011

I tried this with a mix of raw banana and boiled potato, and I used tangy tomato soup from Maggi this time. It turned out well too. This looks like an easy subb for our daily sabzi! I am going to experiment more :-)

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Sandwiches

Sandwiches are an easy meal. They are healthy too. We get very good brown bread from a local Iyengar bakery here and the bread from here tastes better than the one we get from Daily Bread.

I cooked my stuffing a bit, because Niket will fuss if Yashi eats the raw veggies.

My recipe for sandwiches-
1 pack of brown bread
1 onion, 1 tomato- chopped finely, Can also use- Capsicum, carrots and French beans
2 potatoes boiled and mashed
handful of roasted peanuts
Oil for cooking (I used olive oil)
1 cucumber - cut into rounds or chopped- as you prefer
Salt to taste
a pinch of turmeric
Mustard sauce for smearing on sandwiches, can use / skip
Tomato Sauce: For serving

Method-
Prepare the stuffing-
Heat oil, add onions. Let them turn soft and translucent. Add tomatoes. Cook till done. Add salt, turmeric and the mashed potatoes. Cook a bit till they mix well and the raw smell is gone. Add the peanuts and the cucumber. Mix well to combine. Keep aside.

I used my Sandwich maker for sandwiches. Smear oil on the tops of bread slices. Smear the other side of bread (which will be in contact with the filling) with mustard sauce. Add the filling, making sure you add enough cucumber and potatoes to each. Close this slice with another sauce smeared slice.

Cook in the sandwich maker as directed. Remove and serve with ketchup.

I am sending this to Sandwich Mela at Valli's. 

Friday, July 1, 2011

Mango halwa

I have lots of mangoes everyday from my neighbour's tree whose branches hang over our fence. That evening, I created magic with sooji and mangoes!

Here's my recipe-
2 cups mango pulp (can be blended, I didn't need to, since the mangoes fall and blend themselves!)
1/2 cup semolina / sooji / rava
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsps ghee
1 cup water
Optional for garnish- roasted cashews, raisins etc.

Heat a wok, add semolina and roast without the ghee. The semolina roasts evenly like this. If you add ghee before adding the sooji, it sticks together and does not brown uniformly. Once it changes color, remove on a plate.
Heat the water in a deep pan and add the sugar to it. Cook for a couple of mins till it gets a thicker consistency. To this syrup, add the semolina and the mango pulp. Mix well. Keep on stirring in between till it is done. Takes aboout 8-10 mins or more. Add the ghee and mix well to combine. Add the garnish on top and serve warm or cold.

Sending this to Mango recipes event hosted by Dr. Sameena.