Southwest sweet peppers Pinwheels

At the super market there was a good deal on mini sweet peppers today. I have always wanted to try them, so I thought today was a good day to try them and I got them. The recipe I choose to make with them was pinwheels. This is my own recipe and the pinwheels were quite popular at my house hold. They were all gone and I am happy

Southwest sweet peppers Pinwheels 

SouthWest Mini Pepper Pinwheels

Sweet pepper pinwheels

Ingredients:

1. 4 oz  cream cheese,( 1/2 package) softened
2. 1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
3. 6-8 sweet peppers roasted
4. 4 deli slices turkey (optional)
5. 1/4 cup canned southwest corn with pablano
6. 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper
7. 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, lemon juice
8. Lettuce and sliced cucumber 
9. 2 of your fav flavored tortillas (I used sun dried tomato tortillas)

Pre heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the sweet peppers into halves and seed them. Spray a cooking spray and lay the pepper haves and roast at 15 minutes . Chop them peppers.

Mix all the ingredients except the cucumbers and lettuce. Heat the tortillas for 15 seconds. Spread half of the cream cheese spread on the tortilla, layer with lettuce and cucumber and roll them carefully.

Cut them about 1/2 inch to 1/3 inch slices and your pinwheels are ready to be enjoyed 

cauliflower dal

I have been searching for recipes to incorporate more vegetables into my little man's diet. He loves dal and rice so I have been making different dal (lentil) recipes with vegetables in them and the following recipe is one of the best ones' yet

Cauliflower Dal (Lentils with Cauliflower)

Cauliflower Dal

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup lentils
2. 1 to 1.5 cups cauliflower cut into small florets
3. 1 tomato chopped fine
4. 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, fennel seeds, mustard seeds, kalongi (nigella seeds), ginger garlic paste, turmeric
6. 1/4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 3/4 teaspoon salt
9. 2 green chilli chopped

Cook the dal with 3 cups Simmer until the dal is tender, about 20 to 35 minutes. Set aside.
Heat oil in a pan and add all the seeds and fry for a minute. Add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes. Add ginger garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the tomatoes, cauliflower, add half of the salt cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Add cauliflower to the dal and simmer for 10 minutes. Also add the green chillies. Garnish with cilantro and serve hot.

Orzo With Shrimp Salad

The kids were having break from the school and I decided to take them for a picnic. And of course picnic calls for some picnic food to be packed in a hurry. I made this delicious salad with orzo pasta and shrimp. It was great and packed with so many textures and flavors, it was super yummy

Orzo Pasta with Shrimp Salad

Orzo pasta with Shrimp

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup tri colored orzo pasta
2. 1 cup medium or small shrimp are better
3. 2 teaspoons olive oil
4. 1 medium large tomato chopped
5. 1/4 cup chopped red onion
6. 1 big or 2 small garlic pods chopped fine
7. 1/2 teaspoon salt
8. 1/4 teaspoon pepper
9. 1/4 cup chopped pickles, fresh or frozen corn (thawed)
10. 1/4-1/3 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper
11. 1/4  cup small cubed paneer (optional)
12. 1/4cup dill weed

Boil with pasta according to the package directions.

In a pan heat the oil and fry the shrimp 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and fry 1 more minute. Drain and add the onions and bell pepper and paneer if using into the same pan and stir well. Cut the heat. Add all the ingredients to the pan and mix well. Enjoy warm or at room temperature

Carrot zucchini muffins

I have been trying to find a good recipe for breakfast muffins and haven't found one yet but I found a sweet muffin which has a ton of vegetables and a ton of flavor in them. Bingo. Next time I am going to reduce the amount of sugar a little bit more and will serve as breakfast muffins. The kids love it and I like it because of the veggies in it

Carrot Zucchini Muffins

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups grated carrot
2. 1 cup grated zucchini
3. 1 cup wide grated apple
4. 1/2 cup coconut flakes
5. 1/4 cup almond slivers
6. 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
7. 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
8. 2 eggs lightly beaten
9. 1/2 cup canola oil
10. 2 teaspoons baking soda
11. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
13. 3/4 cup sugar
14. 1/2 teaspoon salt

Toss together the carrots, zucchini, apples, coconut flakes, almond flakes, poppy seeds and set aside

Beat together the eggs, vanilla, oil, sugar and salt for 5 minutes. Add the flour and baking soda to this and mix. Fold in the veggie mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (375 for light colored pan)

Greece the muffin pan and add the muffin covers and divide the batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes. let cool for 10 minutes and serve

Mixed dal Punugulu

Pesara punugulu is one of my fav items and they were one of the fav recipes one of my great aunts would make during the month of Ramadan. The green gram fritters (punugulu) once eaten, you will not feel hungry for some time. I don't know what it is but they will make you feel full for a long time. So during Ramadan fasting they are one of the best things to eat.

But today I made punugulu with 1/2 green gram and 1/2 black gram. They are quite delicious and they flew off the counter pretty fast.

Mixed Dal Punugulu (Black and green gram fritters)

Pesara Minapa Punugulu

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup each of urad dal and green moong dal (green gram and split black gram)
2. Oil for deep frying
3. 3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, ajwain (carom seeds)
5. 1 green chilli chopped fine
6. 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped ginger, baking soda (optional)

Soak both the dal separately overnight. Take the skins of as much as possible.

Grind them with as little water as possible. Mix all the ingredients together and set aside. Heat the oil in a pan. Drop spoonfuls of batter and fry for 5-6 minutes. Flipping 3-4 times. Drain and serve with coconut chutney

Meatloaf and Dill Sour cream mashed potato

Meatloaf is one of those American dishes which is always shown as a "comfort food" and I love it .  I have never tried to make it before now, but this time I had all the ingredients so I had to make it.

And I served my meat loaf with dill herb mashed potato and baked vegetables and cheese bread I got from the super market

Meat Loaf

Meatloaf

Dill Mashed Potato

Ingredients

1. 1 lb lean ground beef
2. 1 large egg beaten
3. 1/4 cup minced onion
4. 1 teaspoon salt
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of celery salt, garlic salt, sage, fresh ground black pepper
6. 1 cup panko bread crumbs
7. 1 cup milk
8. 1 tablespoon each of  oil, parsley flakes

Ingredients for baked vegetables

1. 1 large or 2 medium carrots 
2. 1 large zucchini and yellow squash cut into circles
3. 1/2 teaspoon salt, black pepper
4. 1/2 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

mix all of the ingredients together and lay them around the baking tray

Mix together the meat with all the other ingredients. Form a loaf of meat in the middle of the baking tray surrounded by the vegetables. Bake at 50 minutes. The spoon ketchup or barbeque sauce if desired and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

Let rest for 10 minutes and serve

 Dill Sour cream mashed potato

Ingredients:

1. 3 medium large potatoes boiled
2. 4 oz sour cream
3. 1/2 bunch or about 1/2 cup fresh dill weed
4. 1 teaspoon or more to taste salt
5. 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
6. 1 tablespoon butter

In a pan mash the potatoes with all the ingredients on a low flame. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes and serve and enjoy

Vegetable Upma

The other day I got a heat and eat package of masala upma from the Indian store and man...that was good. I was no big fan of Upma in my childhood. I would cry every time Upma was made for breakfast in my house. But then...I married a man whose favorite breakfast is Upma. I couldn't believe it. For quite a number of years of my marriage, I would make upma my the man but I would eat something else...enter the kids. The second of the kids who is more like me than the other liked upma...AGHAST I couldn't believe it :(

But year after year, Upma's taste grew on me and now atleast I will eat it 50 % of the time. But I finally found the recipe I would like..love may be...we will see. But the point is, this vegetable upma was super delicious. Everyone should try it

Vegetable Upma (Wheat semolina with vegetables)

Vegetable Upma

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup upma ravva (coarse semolina)
2. 1 tablespoon or more cashew
3.  1/4 cup each of finely sliced potatoes, cabbage, carrots, peas and green beans
4. 1 tablespoon oil
5. 1 teaspoon clarified butter
6. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, urad dal, chana dal (soaked in water for 10 minutes), mustard seeds, grated ginger, turmeric
7. 1 teaspoon salt 
8. 2 dried red chillies
9. 2 green chillies
10. few curry leaves
11. 1/2 cup juice from a small lime sized tamarind

In a pan dry roast the upma ravva and set aside.

In  a pan heat the oil and ghee and add the cumin, urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, dried red chillies and curry leaves and cashew and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the green chillies and ginger with all other vegetables and fry for 5 minutes covered. Add turmeric and stir to combine. Add the tamarind juice and 1.5 cup more water and salt and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and add the semolina and stir well. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes . Garnish with cilantro and serve

Other Upma Recipes

• Semiyah Upma
• Puffed rice upma
• Kaaju Upma

Strawberry bread

The strawberries in Los Angeles used to be so fresh and yummy...living there virtually right by the strawberry farms about 40 miles away was great. We would great the freshest strawberries and they wouldn't rot as quickly. You would get enough time to enjoy a pint of berries.

But here in the South East, we are far from the strawberry fields and the freshest looking strawberries in the super market have barely any time before they rot.

Anyway...long story short I got a pint of strawberries from the super market and by the third day they started getting spoiled. So I have to use the left over 1/2 pint (and did I mention they cost 3 times of how much they costed in Los Angeles!!!) in a hurry. So I made this yummy strawberry bread. Its great...we had it for breakfast :) and the kids loved it

Strawberry Bread

Strawberry bread

Loaf of Strawberry bread

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 to 2 cups strawberries quartered
2. 2 cups all purpose flour
3. 3 oz cream cheese (softened)
4. 1/2 cup each of butter (softened), milk
5. 2 eggs
6. 1 cup sugar
7. 2 teaspoons baking powder
8. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
9. 1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda, salt

Cream together the cream cheese, butter sugar and vanilla. Add 1 egg at a time and continue to bead until the mixture becomes fluffy. Add milk to it and beat some more.

Pre heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift the flour with salt, baking powder and baking soda. 

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix together. Gently fold the strawberry pieces into the batter.

Grease a 9x5 loaf pan and add the batter. Bake for 50-60 minutes until a tooth pick comes out clean.

Let cool a bit and if desired serve with whipped cream