Moroccan Carrot Salad

A few weeks back, this Moroccan Carrot Salad with Black lentils seemed to be all over Pinterest. I finally gave in and tried this recipe. I did however make my own dressing with yogurt, curry powder, lemon juice, salt, pepper, cumin & coriander powder. I also finally got to use the black lentils (also called the vegetarian caviar) I got from NY last year. The salad turned out to be really good and the dressing was yum!

 

Spinach with Tofu & Peanuts

Last weekend we brought back a variety of produce from the farmer's market and on Sunday I spent quite a bit of time in the kitchen and made enough food for the week! We also ate out one night and did take-out on another and the week went by really fast and busy. Now about 20 of my paintings are ion exhibit at the Historic August Weber Haus in Cedarburg, WI. I did another event at the International Hostel in Madison on Friday night, had my booth at the Edgerton Community Market this morning and will be live painting for the first time during a concert next week. Life is busy!

 

Here is a quick greens / tofu scramble recipe. I made this dish with Amaranth - a delicious find at the Dane County Farmer's market.

Ingredients: Spinach / other greens - 2 cups chopped, Onion - 1/2 chopped into small pieces; Tofu - 16 oz scrambled; Peanuts - 1/3 cup roasted;  Green chillies -  2 diced; Mustard, Cumin, Yellow split peas - 1 tsp for tempering; Salt & pepper - to taste; Curry Powder - 3 tbsp; Olive oil - 1 tbsp.

• In a pan, add olive oil and once hot, add the mustard, cumin and yellow split peas an wait for the mustard to pop. Then add the onions and saute till translucent. Season with salt & pepper
• Add the peanuts, cook for a few more minutes. Add the tofu and spinach.
• Saute for a couple of minutes, add the spices. Cook about 10 minutes or so till spinach is tender and the tofu is starting to brown a little. Serve warm with toast for breakfast or with rice and roti!

She is a Beauty

I just finished this piece yesterday and am hoping she would go to the home of an inspiring friend. This friend has a yurt for a second home which is so heavenly and is adorned with blue & sparkly stuff. This henna-style peacock painted on wood would fit in perfectly and I can't wait for my friend to see this piece next week. 7x15 inches - acrylic on wood. Check out my works at www.artbybala.com and also do like my FB page at www.facebook.com/artbybala for regular updates!

 

An Easy Crowd Pleaser

Sometimes even failed experiments can turn into something wonderful! That's certainly the case with this crowd pleasing Almond Cookies I made for Shankar's birthday party. I was going to make a meringue, but over-beat the egg whites. So, I added ground almond and powdered sugar with the egg whites and baked it as cookies. They were a huge hit at the party, as they were gluten free too. We used the frosting (coconut + pecan + sugar + cream cheese) to sandwich the cookies and it was yum!

 

Maple, Dates & Pecan Scones

One of the first thing I do when I go to work is to throw scones in the oven for 13 minutes and ice them. Yesterday was my day off and what do I do first thing in the morning? Bake a batch of delish scones and glaze them! I love my work :)

I have a standard scone dough recipe - the most simplest - I think it was adapted from the Joy of Baking. I then add whatever flavors I think of to this basic recipe. I use my food processor in making the dough, and add the buttermilk or cream as I keep mixing and hence no standard measure for this ingredient. 

Ingredients (for 8 scones): Flour - 2 cups (I use a mixture of all-purpose, whole wheat and whatever else I find appealing); Sugar - 1/2 cup (brown, white, fine); Butter - 5 or 6 tbsp; Baking powder - 1 tsp; Baking soda - 1 tsp; Salt - 1/4 tsp; Dates & Pecans - 1 cup (chopped); Maple syrup - 2 tbsp; Buttermilk or Cream - as needed.

• Pre-heat the oven to 375F
• In the food processor add all the dry ingredients (except the dates and pecans) and pulse a few times 
• Add the butter, sliced into small pieces and pulse till the dough is crumbly
• Add maple syrup, run the processor and slowly add the buttermilk till the dough is soft, but not wet
• Add the dates / pecans, pulse once of twice and transfer the dough to cutting board
• Shape into a large round and slice into 8 pieces or use a mold. Sprinkle some sugar on top
• Bake till golden (15 - 20 minutes)!
• For the maple glaze, I mixed powdered sugar with maple syrup and a little water - heated for 30 seconds in the microwave and brushed on top of the scones.

Now there is healthy breakfast to go for the rest of the week!

Iced Chai - Concentrate

I brought back this wonderful growler (for a locally made Kombucha) from work today and taking a leaf out of my work kitchen, decided to make a chai concentrate. This is a concentrate that can be mixed with 1:1 milk for a delicious iced chai. I basically used my Cuisinart Coffeemaker to brew my tea and added sugar and spices. In the coffeepot, I added cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and dried ginger. I added the tea leaves in the filter, and in my coffee maker you can steep by removing the pot (the pause and pour stuff). So, I would let the leaves soak in hot water, insert the pot, and remove for the next round. After about 5 rounds, here is a half gallon of chai concentrate.   

Curried Chickpeas with Butternut Squash Soup

I made this soup for a vegan special yesterday, for about 15+ servings over a hot plate. Comfort food :)

Ingredients: Onion - 1, chopped into small pieces; Diced Tomatoes - 2 cans; Butternut squash puree (from imagine) - 3 packs;  Carrot -  2 diced; Chickpeas - 1 large can; Salt & pepper - to taste; Curry Powder - 3 tbsp; Paprika - 1 tbsp; Coriander + Cumin Powder - 2 tbsp. 

• In a pot, add olive oil and once hot, add the onions and saute till translucent. Season with salt & pepper
• Add the carrots, cook for a few more minutes. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes.
• Saute for a couple of minutes, add the spices. Cook about 10 minutes or so till the veggies are tender.
• Add the squash puree. Simmer for about 10 minutes and adjust the seasoning.
• I used a hand blender to puree part of the soup and left about 1/2 of it chunky. Serve with warm bread!

Cookie Time

I will be visiting my brother and a few friends this weekend and made a bunch of cookies today to take with me. My brother wanted chocolate chips in the cookies and so here are delicious White chocolate almond raisin coconut cookies with oats! Quite a mouthful :) 

 

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Mix the wet ingredients: 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 stick butter, 1/2 cup ghee (I ran out of butter hence substituted ghee) -- cream together. Add 2 eggs, flavor (I used Kentucky bourbon sorghum vanilla syrup!).
• Add the dry ingredients while mixing: 2 tsp baking soda, 2.5 cups of flour, 1/2 tsp salt.
• Stir in the add-ons: 1/2 cup chopped toasted almonds, 1/4 cup raisins, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 1/4 cup coconut flakes, 1/4 cup rolled oats.
• Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
• Use a ice-cream scoop, space them well apart and bake for 12-15 minutes till golden
• Cool and enjoy!

With these amounts and a standard scoop, I got about 52 cookies.