Quick Spinach Pasta

One of my favorite, simple and quick. 🙂

Ingredients

2 bunches spinach

2 or 3 cloves garlic

Salt to taste

8 oz. fusilli, corkscrew, or rotini pasta (any pasta you like)

1 cup chopped capsicum

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (optional)

1 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese

DIRECTION

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain Pasta.
2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-low heat.
3. Add crushed garlic and continue to cook until fragrant.
4. Add spinach, capsicum, season with salt, pepper, and basil, and cook until spinach is wilted; about 1 minute or so.
5. Add the drained pasta and mix well.
6. Top with Parmesan and serve hot.

Almond Biscotti

Everybody loves biscotti, kids especially. So yummy and crunchy filled with roasted almonds.The idea that I had, was to make these oil/butter free. And it was a success. 😀

Almond biscotti 🙂

Ingredients

2 large eggs

1 cup  almonds (blanched skin off or skin on) chopped coarsely

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated white sugar*

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

a pinch of salt

Direction

1. Preheat the oven at 300 degrees F(150 degrees C).

2.Line baking tray with some oil and flour or with parchment paper.

3. In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients APF, sugar, baking powder, salt. Stir in the chopped almonds.

Dry ingredient mix

4. In a separate bowl add eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract, whisk nicely.

5. Slowly add the egg mixture to the dry mixture and mix until a dough forms.

Dough on baking tray

6. Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface into a 7 inch(apx) log. Transfer the log into baking sheet and bake for about 35 minutes or until its firm to touch.

i can’t wait no more 😛

7. Remove from oven and let it cool down for about 10 -15 minutes.

8. Transfer logs to a cutting board and, using a sharp knife, cut log into slices about 1/4 – 1/2 inch (6-12 mm) thick on the diagonal.

9. Place the slices of biscotti on the baking sheet and bake about 10-15 minutes, turn slices over, and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until firm to the touch.

Happiness..crunch crunch !!!

**I have used skin on almonds for this.

*lessened the amount of sugar to make these little more guilt free.

Sesame Crusted Tofu

I love tofu, it’s always a treat in my house since I don’t cook it very often. My Mr. Doesn’t like it so it’s rarely cooked.
But he loved this experiment of mine, as it was crispy and delicious.
One thing I love about tofu is you can easily experiment with it, different flavours, seasoning there are so many possibilities.

INGREDIENTS

1 block of extra firm tofu(14oz)
2 teaspoon of rice vinegar
2 tablespoon of oil*
4 teaspoon soy sauce
2 large garlic cloves, chopped finely
1- inch piece ginger, grated finely
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoon flour( I have used chickpea flour/Besan, you can use any flour you like)
2 tablespoon sesame seeds, Toasted
2 scallions, chopped green and white part for garnishing

DIRECTION
1. Drain the excess water out of tofu by covering it with a paper towel and weighing it down with a heavy object like a large can of beans or tomatoes for 30 minutes.

2. Whisk together 1 tablespoon of oil( keeping other tablespoon for cooking later), vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and black pepper In a bowl.

3. Cut tofu into half and slice each block into equal slabs; put each slice into the mixture and let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, keep stirring it occasionally.

Tofu in the mixture, ready to rest for 30 minutes.

4. Add flour and sesame seeds in a bowl, coat both side of tofu in this mixture.

5. Heat oil in a nonstick pan over medium high heat; add tofu and fry until golden brown on both sides.

6. Serve garnished with scallion.

Sesame Crusted Tofu, Garnished with scallions.

*The original recipe calls for sesame oil, i have used olive oil.

Muffin Nut Loaf

A fun recipe for lazy weekends 🙂

 

INGREDIENTS

8 oz chopped mixed nuts
1 onion chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 cup broccoli, chopped
1/2 cup spinach, chopped
1/2 cup green bean, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 oz regular, unbleached whole wheat flour
2oz sprouted wheat breadcrumbs **(recipe to follow) or rolled oats
5 oz vegetable stock
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
Salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. Heat oil in a skillet and sauté the onions for few minutes.
3. Add green pepper, spinach, broccoli and green beans, sauté for 2 minutes.

Onion, Brocolli, Beans and Spinach

4. Add minced garlic to it and fry for another one more minute.
5. Remove from the heat, add flour and stir.
6. Add vegetable stock, nuts, breadcrumbs, thyme, oregano and salt and pepper to taste.

After adding vegetable stock and other ingredients.

7. Grease the inside of your muffin cup tray with olive oil or you can also use the regular loaf tin. I wanted to make it bite size so I used muffin tray. 🙂
8. Press the mixture into the tin, with a spoon.
9. Bake for around 35 minutes.
10. Let it cool for another 5 minutes before serving.

**Sprouted Wheat breadcrumbs: Toast two slices of Ezekiel or other sprouted whole wheat bread to
Medium brown. Pulse it in a food processor until broken up.

Wheat Taco Bowls

Taco bowls ready to be served

These wheat taco bowls were as tasty as they were adorable and healthy. The original recipe had beef filling in them, I don’t like beef so i have replaced it with vermicelli. I wanted to keep them basic so you could easily customize them based on your preferences. You can add any of your favorite taco toppings to these, I have actually put a little light sour cream and Minty chutney.

INGREDIENTS

6-6″ Tortillas(I have used Extra thin wheat tortillas)

2 cups Vermicelli

1 medium Onion, Chopped

1 medium Green Capsicum, chopped

1/2 cup Cabbage, Chopped

Salt to taste

1/3tbsp Pepper (Red)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Sprinkle each tortilla with water and stack them on a plate. Cover the top with another plate turned upside down and microwave the tortillas for 1 minute or until warm.

3. Turn muffin tray upside down. Spray each tortilla lightly with cooking spray. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Muffin tray upside down with tortillas

4.Heat five cups of water, bring it to a boil, add vermicelli, salt and two tablespoons of oil. Cook for one minute or till slightly underdone. Drain, refresh under cold water and keep aside. 

5. While the tortilla bowls are baking, spray a skillet with cooking spray and add chopped onion, cabbage, green capsicum and and saute for four to five minutes

Onion,Cabbage,Capsicum in a skillet

6.Add cooked vermicelli, salt, red chilly and stir gently. Cook for five to six minutes. Remove from heat. 

7. Let the tortilla bowls cool for few minutes after removing from the oven. In each bowl fill in the cooked vermicelli.

8. Serve with sour cream and mint chutney on the top.

Crustless Quiche

A weekend treat.

Easy and quick crustless quiche. I serve this in the summer for brunch with a side of  fresh fruit bowl or a green smoothie.

Onion, Mushroom and spinach

INGREDIENTS

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion finely chopped

1 package spinach, chopped

5 eggs,  beaten

3 cups shredded cheese Muenster or cheddar

1/2 milk

salt to taste

1/8 teaspoon ground pepper

1 chopped green pepper

1 cup chopped mushrooms

*you can also use low-fat feta cheese or light Parmesan cheese.

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Grease a 9 inch pie pan.

3. In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat.

4. Once the oil is hot add onions to it and cook, until soft. Add in spinach,mushrooms and green pepper, cook until excess moisture had evaporated.

5. In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, cheese, salt and pepper.  Add the mushroom and spinach mixture, stir to blend. Pour into greased pie pan.

6. Bake until eggs have set, about 30 minutes.

7. Let cool for 5-6 minutes before serving.

*Instead of one large quiche, you can also pour the mixture into the bottoms of a greased muffin pan, a little less than half full. It makes bite sized portions that are perfect for a party.

Quiche ready to be served

Spinach Quinoa Muffins

I’m a quinoa lover, its so full of fiber and protein. So, here I have mixed it with spinach, oregano and cheese to make a delicious, yet nutritious snack.

Quinoa spinach muffins in greased muffins tins, ready to put in oven.

Garnished with cilantro before serving

 

INGREDIENTS

1 cup uncooked quinoa (I have used Red quinoa)

2 Large eggs

1 chopped onion

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup chopped spinach

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

Salt to taste (I have added 1/2 teaspoon)

1 green pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

DIRECTIONS

1. Place the quinoa and two cups of water in a pot, cover it. Bring it to boil and then simmer it till the water dries and quinoa becomes tender.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3.. In a bowl mix together all the ingredients.

4. Distribute the mixture evenly into greased muffin tins, and press down gently to compact.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Keep checking in between.

6. Let the muffins cool down before removing from tin.

7. Serve with sauce and garnish with cilantro.

Ready to eat, served with sauce and garnished with cilantro