Baked beans cookie sticks

Who says cookies have to be round? After seeing these cookie sticks/ fries I am in love with them and I want all my cookies to be shaped like this. They are the perfect shape to dunk it into your tea/coffee if you want to.

Also instead of making the regular chocolate chip cookies I added Bush's Vegetarian Baked beans in them. Oh Gosh...so yummy. You will not taste the beans but you will not be able to resist these cookies. sooooooo goooood.

Baked beans cookie sticks (Chocolate chip cookies in the form of a stick with baked beans)

Chocolate chip cookie sticks with baked beans

Chocolate chips cookie sticks

 Ingredients:

1. 3 cups all purpose flour
2. 1-1.5 cups Bush's vegetarian baked beans (drained as much as possible) and mashed
3. 1 stick butter
4. 2 eggs
5. 1/2 cup brown sugar (if you like it sweeter make it 3/4 cup)
6. 1-2 tablespoons hot water
7. 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Mix the room temperature butter with the mashed beans and add the eggs and sugar and beat them up for 2 minutes. Add the flour and mix well. If the dough looks too tight (dry) add 1-2 tablespoons hot water. Fold in chocolate chips.

Spread the dough in a 8X8 tray into a 1/2 inch flat and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Pre heat oven to 325 degrees (even for dark pans)

Cut it into 1/2 inch thick 4-5 inches long stick, place them on a parchment paper. Bake for 20-22 minutes until golden brown. 

Cool on a wire rack for  10 minutes before consuming. :) Enjoy

Ravva Uttapam

This is one of the speedy lunch/dinner ideas ever. And it is super delicious. I made it a little more healthy by adding vegetables in the batter itself

Ravva Uttapam(Indian Pancakes with Semolina)

Ravva Uttapam

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup sooji (coarse, semolina)
2. 1/2 cup yogurt 
3. 1/2 cup each of cabbage finely grated, finely grated carrots, bell pepper chopped fine,  tomatoes chopped fine
4. 1 Tbsp each of cilantro ,green chili, ginger 
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
7. oil for frying

Mix sooji, salt, green chili, ginger, cabbage, carrot and yogurt, and add water as needed batter should be little thicker than dosa batter. Set it aside for 20 minutes
Add more water if needed and add the baking soda and mix well. 
Heat the skillet over medium heat and lightly grease the skillet. Pour about 2 large spoons of batter and spread consistency should be of thick then dosa. Sprinkle with some chopped oni ons, bell pepper ,tomatoes and cilantro and press it lightly into the batter.
Pour about 1 teaspoon of oil around uttapam and cover it and let it cook for about 2 minutes and turn them over, uttapam should be golden brown from bottom making crisper, and top should be cooked well but not brown. Uttapam should be cooked over low medium heat.
Uttapam is ready to serve. 

Enjoy with Peanut chutney

4 ingredient peanut butter cookies

These cookies are sooooooo easy to make and they are ready in a jiffy and super delicious.

Best for the days when you want to eat a cookie but don't have a ton of butter to use.

4 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies

4 ingredient peanut butter cookies

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup peanut butter
2. 1/3 cup (of 1/2 cup if you like it sweeter) sugar
3. 1 egg
4. 1/2 cup rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all the ingredients together until well blended.

Drop with a scoop or with a spoon 1 inch apart and flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness.

Bake for 11-12 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes on a wire rack and enjoy

Beetroot Dal Tadka

This is one of the most yummiest dal recipe ever. And this is super high in nutritional value also . This is a great vegetarian option and if you eat eggs increase the nutritional value that much by adding egg to it.

Beetroot Dal Tadka (Lentils with beetroot)

Beetroot dal anda tadka

Ingredients:

 

1. 1/2 cup of finely chopped onions
2. few curry leaves
3. 2 dried red chillies
4. 1 can shoestring cut beetroot (or 1 -2 cups fresh beetroot chopped and boiled for 1 whistle)
5. 1/4 cup each of chana dal and green or yellow moong soaked in water for 30-60 minutes
6.  2 tablespoons oil divided
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of ginger-garlic paste, cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, chilli powder, coriander powder, salt and asoefitida.

2 Eggs if using eggs (Non vegetarian option)

Pressure cook the dal for 3 whistles and set aside.

 In a pan heat 1 tablespoon oil and make scrambled eggs with little salt. Drain and set aside (Non vegetarian option)

In a pan heat the remaining oil and add cumin, mustard seeds and 2 dried chillies and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add onions and fry for 5 minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add bettroot and all the powder ingredients and stir well. Add the pressure cooked dal and scrambled eggs (Non vegetarian option) and stir well. Simmer for 5-7 minutes. Garnish with coriander and enjoy with Tavva Paratha

Rolled Oat Crackers

This is an awesome snack and quite easy to make also. Since the snacks you get from outside last only so long when everyone is staying home all day long and all week long and every month long :(

Rolled Oat Crackers (Savory Baked Crackers with rolled oats )

Crackers with rolled oats

Ingredients

1. 3/4 cup Rolled oats
2. 1 cup all purpose flour + more for kneading
3. 1/8 cup finely chopped onion
4. 1 green chilli finely chopped
5. 1 tablespoon each of finely chopped Coriander leaves , mint leaves
6. Plain yogurt 1/3 cup
7. 2 tbsp Butter softened
8. 1 teaspoon each of Salt, cumin seeds, carom (ajwain) seeds
9. 1 tablespoon Sugar 
10. 1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
11. Water as needed

Mix all the ingredients except water and add water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Roll the dough into 1/2 cm thick disk on a floured surface and cut it into 1-1/2 inch squares or the shape of your liking. 

Pre heat oven to 300 degrees F and place the crackers on a prepared sheet.

Spray the top of the crackers with vegetable oil and bake for 30 minutes. Let them cool completely and enjoy

Aloo Besan squares

Besan is Chick Peas flour. It is super delicious if you know how to cook with it and make sure it is cooked through.  This is similar to Aloo Bonda  but instead of  deep frying these I made the batter like a crepe and add the potato curry to it and toasted it again. Yum yum.
And I serve this deliciousness with beet root chutney

Aloo Besan Squares (Potato curry wrapped into a chick peas flour and toasted again with mustard seeds)

Potato curry for the stuffing

Potato stuffed chickpeas squares

Ingredients

1. 3 cups chick peas flour or besan
2. 1 cup plain yogurt
3. 3/4 teaspoon each of salt, baking powder
4. 1/2 teaspoon ajwain (optional)
5. oil for frying
6. 1 teaspoon mustard seeds

Beat the yogurt along with 1/2 cup water and salt. Add the besan to it and the ajwain if using and stir to combine and make the batter a little thinner than pancake batter. Set aside.

Heat a griddle.

Take a ladle of batter and drop it into the center. With light pressure and outward motion spread the batter into a circle 6 inches wide. Drizzle some oil on the perimeter. Cook in medium flame for a min till the edges start to rise. Flip the "dosa" and fry for a inute. Flip again. Add 2 tablespoons of cooked potato curry into the center and close it into a square. Set aside and continue with making the others.

Add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to a pan and add the mustard seeds to it and cover on a medium flame. Let all the mustard seeds splutter. Add the besan squares seam side down and fry for a minute. Enjoy with Beet root chutney

Beetroot Chutney (Beet root dip for Dosa and idly)

Beet root chutney

Ingredients:

1. 1 can beetroots drained
2. 1/2 tablespoon urad dal
3. 1 tablespoon chana dal
4. 2 red chillies
5. 1 inch ginger
6. 2 garlic
7. 1 small piece of tamarind soaked in 1/4 cup water
8. 1/4 cup dried coconut flakes
9. 1 teaspoon salt
10. 1 tablespoon oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the urad dal and chana dal and the red chillies for a couple of minutes. Add ginger and garlic and coconut and fry for a minute. Add the drained beetroot and cook for 5 minutes. Cut the heat and let it cool.

Grind all the ingredients along with the tamarind + water and salt to a smooth paste. Serve as is or temper it with 1 teaspoon oil + cumin + urad dal+ red chillies+ curry leaves and enjoy

Pretzel hot dogs

You remember the olden days when you would go to a mall and eat pretzels along with the most saltiest dips there are on the planet . Sometimes instead of the plain pretzels you would get hot dogs in pretzels...yeah these are the ones I made today. But I made the pretzels without yeast and they were super delicious. I served them with spicy mustard and the Boar's Head Deli Style Mustard with White Wine. They were so delicious.

If you want to make the pretzel the traditional way here you go Soft Pretzels

Pretzel hot dogs (All beef hot dogs baked in a yeast-less pretzel)

NO Yeast Pretzel dogs 

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups all purpose flour
2. 1/2 cup plain yogurt
3. Water for mixing the dough
4. 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
5. 1 teaspoon each of baking powder, baking soda
6. 1 tablespoon sugar
7. 3/4 teaspoon salt
8. 8 hot dogs

Ingredients for boiling water:

1. Deep pan with atleast 5 inches of water
2. 3 tablespoons salt
3. 1 teaspoon baking soda

Beat the yogurt along with lemon juice, sugar and salt. Sift the flour with baking soda and baking powder and mix into the yogurt mix. Add some water at a time until the dough comes together and it starts raising. Set aside for 15 minutes. Cut the dough into 8 parts.

 Start boiling the water the ingredients mentioned under boiling water.

Roll each piece of dough into an 8 inch log. Roll the hot hot diagonally so that most of it gets covered by dough. Drop it into the boiling water and try it a couple times within 1 minute. Drain onto a baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brush the top of the pretzel dog with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse salt if desired and bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown top is formed.

Enjoy with your  favorite mustard or cheese sauce

Since "a" person in my house does not like hot dogs I made a pretzel pocket for "the" person with deli turkey slices and provolone

No Yeast Cheese Turkey Pretzel Pocket

Chicken Cauliflower fry

This chicken cauliflower dry is pretty similar to Chicken 65 but is a little more healthy , all thanks to the added cauliflower. Just to sneak in some vegetables into every one's plate.

Chicken Cauliflower fry (Chicken and cauliflower stir fried with spices)

Chicken Cauliflower fry

Ingredients

1. 2 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into small cubes
2. 1 tablespoons corn starch
3. 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
4. 2-3 tablespoons oil
5. Handful of curry leaves
6. 2 big or 3 medium garlic pods chopped
7. 1/2 of a large size cauliflower cut into florets
8. 1 teaspoon coriander powder

Ingredients for Marinade:

1. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
2. 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
3. ½ teaspoon each of turmeric, red chilli powder
4. ¾ teaspoon salt

Marinade the chicken with the ingredients in marinade and set aside for at least 45 minutes. Add the all purpose flour and corn flour and stir to coat well .

In a non stick pan heat the oil and add the curry leaves and after 30 seconds add chicken in one layer and on medium low flame fry the chicken  for 5 minutes. Add the cauliflower and coriander powder and stir to combine and cover and cook for 15 minutes.  Give a taste test and adjust the salt if needed. Garnish with cilantro and enjoy with hot steamed rice and Palak Dal

Yeast less Stromboli

Stromboli is one of my favorite foods...going back to the first time I had it, over 12 years ago. Over the last few years I have become an expert at baking buns

Tuna Buns
Eggless buns (These don't look golden because I even skipped the egg wash for the top)
Meat stuffed pockets

So, this recipe for Stromboli is for a day when you want to have a Stromboli but do not want to wait for yeast to do its thing. These days sitting at home, cooking all three meals, while managing kids school work, while working...who has time for that.


Yeast-less Stromboli

Stromboli with Turkey

Ingredients

1. 2 and 1/2 cup of all purpose flour
2. 1/3 cup each of oil, milk and hot water (plus more as needed).
3. 1 tablespoon sugar
4. 3/4 teaspoon salt
5. Optional (1 teaspoon each of poppy seeds, sesame, onion powder, garlic powder) or 2 teaspoons everything mix

In a bowl beat together the liquids well for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead on a clean surface until it forms a smooth ball. Set aside for 20 minutes. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and roll into 6 inches wide by 4 to 5 inches wide oval. 

Layer with your favorite stuffings for stromboli

I used turkey, provolone, spinach, mushrooms and 1-2 tablespoons marinara sauce.

Roll the dough on the long side to form a log. Tuck the edges in and on a prepared baking sheet, lay on the seam side down.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Finish making the rest of the Stromboli. With a knife slit the tops across 4 places. Brush with either egg wash or oil and bake for 35-40 minutes.

Let it cool a bit and serve with marinara sauce