Spinach dip Christmas tree

Its always a great day when the whole family, both your childhood family and your grown up family comes together. It is always great if you can sit with people with whom you have shared the childhood and grown up. You know exactly what was funny in those days. What annoyed who and its amazing to see the young cousins playing together. Some day they will come together for holidays and cherish "this day" which will be long past.

The original recipe called for a pizza roll but I did not have it and all I had were Pillsbury Crescent rolls. So I used them. The original recipe is from itsalwaysautumn.com

Spinach dip Christmas tree

Ingredients

1. 1 can chopped baby spinach, squeezed out of water, as much as possible
2. 6 oz cream cheese softened
3. 2 bug garlic cloves chopped fine
4. 2 tablespoons onion finely chopped
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, chilli powder
6. 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
7. 1/2 cup your fav cheese grated
8. 2 tablespoons butter
9. 1 tube refrigerated thin crust pizza or crescent roll

Mix all the ingredients together until creamy and smooth.

Unroll the crescent roll or pizza crust. Cut it into a triangle. Spread the spinach dip .

Lay the 2 pieces of triangles cut upside down and lay on it to cover the spinach dip.

Cut 1 inch strips leaving 1 inch in the middle intact.

Bake according to the package directions + 2 minutes. Enjoy

Spinach dip potato salad

I got these crab cakes the other day and I was looking for side dishes to go with them. And I found the best potato salad recipe to go with it.
The potato salad has spinach, black beans and artichoke. It is super filling and delicious on its own. The leftovers are awesome. The original recipe is here
So, my dinner was crab cakes, Spinach and artichoke dip potato salad and Orzo pasta


Spinach Artichoke Dip Potato Salad

Crab cake dinner with potato

Spinach with artichoke dip potato salad

Ingredients:

1. 11/2 pounds small red potatoes scrubbed clean or peeled
2. 4 oz baby spinach cooked in microwave for 2-3 minutes
3. 4-oz or 1/2 package cream cheese, softened
4. 1/3 cup mayonnaise
5. 1/4 cup plain yogurt
6. 1 tablespoons white wine vinegar
7. 2 garlic cloves, minced
8. 1 teaspoon each of  dried Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
10. 6 oz (mine was 81/2 oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped), 2/3 jar
11. 3/4 cup chopped red onion
12. 1/2 cup cup black beans drained (optional)

Boil the potatoes for 20-25 minutes. Let them cool and chop.

Mix all the ingredients together and add the artichokes and black beans (if using).

Fold in the potatoes and enjoy 

Kaddu jhinga

Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals. Incorporate more veggies in your meals

So, this recipe is one of the dishes where I am trying to "Incorporate more veggies in my meals"

Kaddu jhinga (Bottle gourd with Shrimp Curry)

Kaddu Jhinga

Ingredients:

1. 12 oz large or medium shrimp peeled and deveined
2. 1 medium large bottle gourd peeled, cored and cubed
3. 1 cup chopped onions
4. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
5. 1 teaspoon salt divided
6. 1 teaspoon turmeric divided
7. 1 tablespoon oil
8. 1 teaspoon each of cumin powder, coriander powder, chilli powder

Marinate the shrimp with 1/2 of salt and turmeric and set aside. In the mean time peal,core and cube the bottle gourd.

In a heated pan fry the shrimp for 5 minutes, drain and set aside.

 Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions till they start changing to dark brown. Add ginger garlic paste and mix well. Add the bottle gourd pieces and all the spices and cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add the shrimp and cover and cook for 10 more minutes. garnish with a handful of chopped cilantro and enjoy with steamed rice

Squash Kheema

Kheema is nothing but ground meat...ground beef, ground lamb, ground chicken or ground turkey. Use whatever is your favorite ground meat for this recipe. It is super fast to cook and super great to serve with either rice or roti

Squash Kheema (Ground meat cooked with yellow squash)

Squash Kheema

Ingredients

1. 1 tablespoon oil
2. 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste or finely chopped garlic
3.  1/2 lb ground meat (any kind)
4. 1 large or 2 small yellow squash or zucchini cut into 1 cm cubes
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilli powder, cumin powder, coriander powder
6. 1/2 cup chopped onions

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onions till they start getting dark brown. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute. Add the meat and cook with all the spices for 10 minutes. Add the squash or zucchini and cook for 7-10 more minutes. garnish with cilantro and enjoy with Chickpea Quinoa Rice

Quinoa Rice with Chick Peas

Quinoa being the latest fab here,people have been making different dishes with quinoa in it.
The latest is a one pot dish which is super simple to make and is super flavorful and delicious. So, here you go

Quinoa Rice with Chick Peas (Chickpeas cooked with rice and quinoa)

Chickpeas with rice and quinoa

Ingredients:

1. 1.5 cups long grain rice
2. 1/2 cup quinoa washed
3. 1/2 cup chopped onions
4. 1 heaped teaspoon finely chopped garlic
5. 2 cups chicken broth + 2 cups water
6. 1 can chickpeas drained
7. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder, chilli powder
8. 1 teaspoon salt, coriander powder, sumac
9. 1 tablespoon olive oil

In a pan heat the oil and fry the onion till they start getting browned. Add garlic and stir well. Add rice and stir well for 2 minutes. Add the spices and mix well. Add the liquid and bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes before adding the washed quinoa. Cook for 15 more minutes. Add the chickpeas and stir to combine. Garnish with more sumac if desired and enjoy

More Quinoa recipes
Quinoa pudding
Coconut Vegetable Quinoa
Quinoa Wheat Roti
Veggie Quinoa and Brown Rice
Chicken Quinoa Rice

Till ka khatta with Simple okra curry, okra fry

If you came here searching for "Till" or Sesame seeds recipe then you should also check out kaccha khatta . The kaccha khatta recipe is an amazing recipe and it is a staple in my house and this till ka khatta is an extension of it. I made a simple okra curry to go with it but I am also including my favorite okra fry recipe also.


 Simple okra curry (Okra stir fry with onions)

Okra curry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb okra ends cut and cut into about 1 inch pieces
2. 1 medium small onion chopped
3. 1 green chilly chopped
4. 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of salt, chilly powder, cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric
6. 2-3 tablespoons oil

Mix the plain yogurt into the okra pieces and set aside for 30 minutes (This step will prevent the okra from getting slimy)
In a pan heat oil and fry the onions till tender. Add all the powders and fry for a couple of minutes and stir. Add okra and stir to combine. Cook covered for 20 minutes stirring occasionally until okra is cooked. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or roti


Till ka khatta (Sesame powder cooked in tamarind juice)

Till ka khatta

Ingredients:

1. 1 teaspoon sesame seeds dry roasted and powdered
2. 1 tablespoons oil
3. 1/4 cup chopped yellow onions
4. 1 green chilly chopped
5. 1/4 teaspoon cumin
6. 3 cups of juice from tamarind the size of small lemon
7. 1 tablespoon each of cilantro, mint chopped fine
8. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
9. 2 red chillies broken
10. few curry leaves

Mix the sesame seed powder into onions, chilly pieces, cilantro and mint and add it to the tamarind juice and salt. In a pan heat oil and add cumin, red chilly and curry leaves and fry till they start to splutter. Add the tamarind water to it and bring to a boil and boil for 3-5 minutes. Cut the heat and cover and set aside. Serve after an hour or so for better taste


Simple Okra fry (Fried okra with cumin)

Okra fry

Ingredients:

1. 1 lb okra ends cut and cut into 1 inch pieces
2. 3 tablespoons oil
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin, salt, chilly powder, turmeric
4. 1 teaspoon coriander powder

In a pan heat the oil and fry the cumin for 3-4 minutes. Add okra, cover and cook for 10 minutes stirring occasionally. Take care so as not to mash the okra. Add the rest of the ingredients stir and fry without covering for 10 minutes more. Garnish with cilantro and serve with with rice