Sunshine and warmer days have returned which means less time in the kitchen and more time outside having fun with family and friends. Though I love spending time in the kitchen, I also don’t want to miss out on the sun and fun by staying indoors or spend money eating out. The only way to do this is to have simpler meals that come together fast. This Sprouted red lentil, quinoa nourish bowl meets all the requirements for a simple healthy meal. It has got protein powered lentil, whole grain, lemony kale, crunchy raw vegetables, and a herby mint chutney. It is bright, satisfying, incredibly nourishing, and super easy to make.
Healthy
Coconut Pandan Black Sticky Rice with Mangoes
My daughter came over yesterday and said, “Mom you haven’t made anything with mangoes this season”.
“We’ll change that tomorrow”, I said.
There’s no end to the goodness in my kitchen when I bring home mangoes. I am seriously addicted. I eat one mango everyday (that’s what makes me gain weight in summer). I love manila mangoes very much. Even their smell is superb! The flesh is super sweet and has almost zero fiber. To me this readily available fruit is as close as I can get to mango heaven. I knew exactly how I was going to use these in a recipe. We went to a Thai restaurant for my daughter’s birthday and since then the black sticky rice pudding was on my mind. Often served with mango, this is a totally exotic dessert that is so easy to make. I love the creaminess of the pudding, and the color contrast between the black sticky rice with the white coconut cream and golden yellow of the mango.
Pithaud with Chaunke Matar / Gram flour Cakes with Masala Peas
I have more than a dozen gluten-free flours stored in my fridge and pantry, but the bag of besan (gram flour) is the one that needs to be restocked most often. There are many, many ways you can use gram flour in your cooking. Its characteristic nutty flavor gives besan the ability to create tasty, simple dishes that stand on their own with few ingredients. Take this Pithaud recipe for example. It looks simple, right? Well, it is! The delicate golden brown crust and silky smooth interior of pithaud really shines through in this easy dish and is well complemented by simple tomato curry and seasoned sweet green peas. I made this for my friends on Yoga retreat day and they couldn’t stop talking about how good it was.
Simple Millet Crepes
Food evokes memories and many a times they give birth to recipes that have resemblance to their origins but modified to dietary restrictions. I got the inspiration for these crepes from my mother’s “sour dough cheelas”. I can hardly contain my excitement to share that this recipe is not only gluten-free, but also dairy-free, egg free, soy free, and nut-free. Just like its name suggests, these crepes are super easy and can be prepared ahead of time. Serve either as an accompaniment to a main dish or for breakfast with chutney or treat them like soft tacos and fill with whatever you like.
Black Chickpea (Kala Chana) Pulao with Candied Carrot Strips
This pulao combines a tasteful combination of black chickpeas and brown rice. Being low in fat, high in dietary fiber, black chickpea is an excellent source of protein. It can be a good choice to add them to your diet, especially if you are a vegan or a vegetarian. This pulao is my mother’s recipe. My only change to the original is the addition of candied carrots. It is beautifully flavored and deliciously fragrant. The stock is the key ingredient which gives the rice it’s black color and flavor.
Khatta Meetha Teekha Kaddu/ Sweet, Sour & Spicy Squash
Every time I go back to India in the winters I load up on vegetables as much as I can. Breakfast, Lunch, dinner and snack will all have some amount of vegetable. The reason is because a wide variety of vegetables are available in the winter and they are the freshest and tastiest. After coming from India my body was still going through intense vegetable cravings. So, I cooked the best known winter squash, butternut in Indian style. It is one of my favorite and very simple to prepare. In India it is made with a different squash which is not available here but any sweet and firm flesh squash works for this recipe. This dish has a nice balance of tart, sweet and spicy that will engage all of your senses. It goes really well with roti (Indian flatbread), poories (fried puffed bread) and as a side with lentil and rice alike.
Aval Ladoo / Red Rice Flakes Balls
Diwali is not far away and I hope my Indian friends are all geared up for the festival. It is the festival of lights. Both Hindus and Sikhs celebrate it with pomp and style, from decorating the house to lighting traditional lamps, to bursting fire crackers and to gorging on yummy sweets.
So, during Diwali, many different snacks and sweets are prepared in nearly every house-hold, to be enjoyed and distributed to friends and family. I wanted to make all sweets as healthy as possible this year with no sugar or with healthy alternative options. So after the success of my sugar free coconut burfi I made aval ladoo.
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