Hawaiin Macaroni salad

 There used to be a restaurant in Los Angeles which used to serve Hawaiian food. One of the side dishes was a macaroni salad which was a bit sweet. I used to like it. Its been so long time ago that we had it. Finally I made it the other day, to go with my store bough coconut shrimp and yum...dinner was ready in no time

Hawaiian Macaroni salad

Hawaiian Macaroni salad

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups macaroni cooked according to package directions in salted water
2. 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3. 1 medium carrot chopped or shredded
4. 1/4 cup each of onion finely chopped, milk, mayonnaise, sweet relish
5.  1-2 teaspoon sugar
6. fresh ground black pepper
7. chopped green onions

• Mix all the ingredients together to form nice smooth consistency. Add the over the paste and mix well. Give it a taste test and add bit more sugar and/or salt according to taste. Chill in the fridge for 1 hr to let the ingredients mix well together and serve as a side dish

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots

 The other day, I got beautiful scallops. I needed a side dish which would compliment the "Butter Garlic Scallops" I was making. So I found the recipe here. To make it a meal, I got store bought cheese tortellini which were ready in minutes. It was a yummy dinner ready in 35 minutes

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots

Garlic Parmesan Roasted Carrots

Ingredients: 

1. 3 large carrots, peeled and cut into 2-3 inch pieces, halved or quartered to make 1/2 inch sticks
2. 1/4 cup olive oil
3. 2 large cloves garlic, minced 
4. 2 tablespoons each of grated Parmesan cheese, Panko bread crumbs,
5.  1/2 teaspoon Salt
6. 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
7. 1 tablespoon dried Parsley

Preheat oven to 400°F . Then I reduced the heat to 375 degrees as I have a dark baking pan. Spray a baking sheet with cooking oil spray.

Arrange carrots on baking sheet. Mix the olive oil, garlic, Parmesan, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Toss all ingredients together to completely coat the carrots. Spread out and bake for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Toss the carrots half way through.

Remove from oven and serve immediately. 

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 

Lamb in Biryani Gravy

One of my most popular recipes on this blog is Gravy for Biryani. It has the most peple visiting my blog.

Anyway, so today I made a lamb curry with this gravy and it is super delicious and I served it with pulao.

Lamb in Biryani Gravy (Lamb in gravy made of tomato and Coconut

Lamb in Biryani Gravy

Ingredients

1. 1 lb lamb cubed
2. 1 cup sliced onions
3. 2 medium tomatos cut into quarters
4. 1 tablespoons oil
5. 1 heaped teaspoon ginger garlic paste
6. 1 cup coconut milk

Ingredients for marinade

1. 1 teaspoon chili powder
2. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
3. 1/2 teaspoon each of cumin powder/coriander powder, garam masala
4. 1/2 cup plain yogurt

Ingredients for paste

1. 2-3 tablespoons desiccated coconut
2. 1 teaspoon khus khus (poppy seeds)
3. 1 teaspoon broken cashew 

Marinnade the lamb cubes with all the ingredients in the marinade for a minimum of 15 minutes. After that add the yogurt and mix and let rest for atleast 15 minutes.

Dry roast the ingredients for paste and let them cool. Grind it to a smooth paste . (I used coffee grinder)

In a pressure cooker heat the oil and fry the onions till translucent. Add ginger-garlic paste and fry for a minute or two . Add tomato quarters, and marinated lamb and fry for a few minutes . Cook with 1/2 cup water for 3-4 whistles. Cut the heat and let the steam escape. Open the cooker and add the ground paste and the coconut milk. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve with Peas Pulao or just Pulao

zappy English Pea Salad

Today this is one of my side dishes for the turkey day. It turned out to be super delicious with some zapp to it

Zappy English pea salad 

English Pea Salad

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup frozen peas thawed or canned peas drained
2. 1 hard-boiled eggs, whites chopped and yolks crumbled
3.  1/4 cup red or yellow or any other color bell pepper, finely chopped
4. 2 ounce(s) (1/2 cup) Cheddar cheese, shredded
5. 2 teaspoons each of  mayonnaise and sour cream
6. 1 teaspoon dried basil
7. 1-2 tablespoon(s) finely chopped red onion
8. 2 teaspoon(s) chopped pimiento
9. 1 teaspoon(s) apple-cider vinegar
10. 1 teaspoon(s) sugar
11. 1 teaspoon(s) soul-food seasoning or seasoned salt
12. 1 teaspoon(s) granulated garlic
13. 1 teaspoon Boar's head mustard with white wine (I love this one) (If you don't have it, use any mustard but not the regular yellow mustard) (or just skip it)

Mix all the ingredients together except the peas. Stir in the peas and mix to combine. Leave it in the fridge for atleast 2 hours. Leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes before serving and serve at room temperature.