Red Cabbage and Beet Salad with peppered with roasted Pumpkin seeds

I don't think anything I've made has ever looked this good. And I can't even take any of the credit for it. This salad is quite the looker. And how can you go wrong, when you're working with such vibrant colors and delicious flavors? It's a simple recipe (adapted from here) that's hard to mess up, and still comes out on top, effortlessly.

Ingredients:

1/2 a red cabbage, chopped

2 medium sized beets

1/4 onion chopped

pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds

4-5 basil leaves

3-4 thyme sprigs

2 tsp olive oil

chili powder

salt to taste

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 Tbsp balsalmic vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 Tbsp mustard

1/2 tbsp honey

salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Chop up the beets into small cubes and place on a baking sheet. Add the olive oil, thyme sprigs and salt to taste. Bake the beats for about 30 minutes until cooked. 

2. In a toaster oven, toast the pumpkin seeds with some chili powder and olive oil to coat. Toast for about 10 minutes. 

3. Once baked, combine the beets with the red cabbage, onion and basil leaves.

4. Combine ingredients for dressing, and mix into the salad. Throw in the roasted pumkin seeds. 

No-sugar Carrot Cake

I've been toying around with the idea of substituting natural sugars for processed cane sugar. I was somewhat skeptical at first, but I think I might try these tricks with other dessert options as well. Why use heavily processed white sugar, when you can just easily derive sweetness from natural sources? I still have to tweak the recipe further, to achieve the right consistency and sweetness, but this was a decent start to a whole new world of baking. Next time, I might experiment one step further, and eliminate the egg too. Clearly the possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:

2 cups wheat flour
1 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup combination of dates and raisins
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water
almonds or other nuts

Directions:

1. Cut up the dates into smaller bits and combine and dates and raisins with the water and bring to a boil  in a saucepan. Let it simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the dates and raisins are soft. Drain the excess water and pulse the date raisin mixture in a food processor to produce a pulpy consistency.

2. Sift the flour with the baking soda, baking powder and salt and set aside.

3. Beat the eggs with a whisk or in mixer until lightly fluffy and add in the date-raisin mixture, the flour mixture and the rest of the ingredients. Combine well. Empty dough into well-greased cake pan.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F, and bake for 50-60 mins.

Vegetarian Kheema (Minced Vegetable Curry)

Yes, it's been a while since I last posted. Almost a year, actually, and that's a little bit ridiculous. This year has just flown by. I remember going out on New Year's Eve like it was just yesterday. Over the past year, I've managed to keep up the cooking and experimenting, but haven't done a very good job of documenting all the various recipes and taking pictures of them. I did take a few pictures with my not-so-great but passable iPhone camera, so until I resume taking pictures with my fancy dSLR, we'll have to make do with these. 

As is probably true with most people, my admiration and interest in home cooked food(especially my Mom's style of cooking) has grown exponentially as I've grown older. I find that my taste has developed to appreciate simplicity and minimal ingredients. I still have my sweet tooth, but I tend to be a little more discerning with my choices. Not to mention, it's also a conscious effort to develop a taste for healthier options. I used to believe that taste was mostly inherent. As in, either I liked x, y, and z or I didn't. I envied other people's healthier proclivities but didn't believe that taste could be adapted to. In just a few months of healthier eating, I find myself naturally gravitating toward salads, fruits and lots of veggies. Which, for me, is a HUGE sign of encouragement!

Coming back to the Kheema, I found that it's a pretty simple no-fuss curry to be eaten with chappati or naan. I actually like eating just the curry without anything to necessarily go with it, but I suspect that might just be me. 

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, diced
1 medium sized Cauliflower cut into small bits
3-4 carrots thinly shredded
1/2 can tomato puree or 2 tomatoes, diced
1 cup peas
4 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
1 cup yogurt
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander seeds
salt to taste
coriander leaves for garnish

Method:

1. In a saucepan, sautee with cauliflower and carrots with about 2 tbsp oil for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are somewhat cooked. Set aside.

2. In the same saucepan, sautee the onions and garlic in another 2 tbsp oil until the onion is soft and browned. Add the chili powder and turmeric powder and sautee the mixture for another 5 minutes or so. Add in more oil, if needed.

3. Add the diced tomatoes to this onion mixture and cook for another 5-6 minutes under med to high heat. Throw in the ground cumin and ground coriander seeds.

4. Blend the yogurt into the onion and tomato mixture and stir for a minute or so. Add the cauliflower an carrot mixture with cooked peas to this and let cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt to taste.

5. After the vegetables are cooked, garnish with the fresh coriander.