Almond Pilaf

Recently, One of my friend was diagnosed with diabetics. When we were talking about what to eat and what not, she gave me some recipes which was suggested by her dietitian. One of them was Almond Pilaf which was of Low Carbs and it's very healthy for everyone not only the diabetic patients. This pilaf is very easy to make and I thought of posting this recipe in my blog.

This also gives me an opportunity to make my entry to JZ's Lets Go Nuts: Almonds - March 31st event started by Aquadaze of Served with Love

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups Brown rice
• 3 cups Water
• 1/4 cup raw Almonds,raw and grounded
• 1/4 tsp Garlic powder, to taste
• 1 tsp Parsley,dried
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, to taste

Method

• In rice cooker, place all of the ingredients in a rice cooker.Cook until the water evaporates, about 30 minutes. or as per your cooking instructions in the package
• Fluff cooked rice with a fork. This dish goes very well with grilled/baked fish or chicken.
• Add a large green salad to complete the meal.

Note

• If you are using microwave, place all ingredients in a large, covered, microwave-safe dish.Microwave on 80% power for 33 minutes.
• For more interesting, you can also mix in cooked vegetables, toasted almonds,raisins or cashews to the pilaf.
• I served with Dilled Salmon Cakes and stir fry vegetables.
  
  

  Link to this post

  
  
  Dilled Salmon Cakes : Simply Spices
  

One Thing Today

Image created by simplyspices

Some people spend 90% of their time organizing their time.


Some tackle to-do lists peppered with insignificance that stretch a mile long.


And still, there are others who refuse to do anything at all.


As for me, I am committed to doing one thing a day, and that has made all the difference.


From Marc At MarcandAngelHackLife.com:

Pink Lemonade

This refreshing cooler is perfect for a hot summer day. I thought of posting this in summer but I wanted to make an entry to Priya's FIC: Pink/Rose event started by Sunshinemom so here it is.

In our home any pink food/toy/dresses are allergic to my little boy. That's the boys world until they grow up! If I wear pink dress he says....phew...girly girl! I often tell him that you are a having pink tongue and you like pink lemonade and strawberry smoothie, but he says boys are okay to have pink tongue and can drink their favorites he always loosen his rules if he likes....that's kids right. Like that I think, it's okay to drink this lemonade in spring. :)

Okay, Here is the simple recipe I used to make the pink lemonade.

Ingredients

• 1 cup white Sugar
• 4 cups Water
• 1 cup fresh Lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Cranberry juice
  

Method

• Combine all ingredients (sugar, water, lemon juice and cranberry juice) in a pitcher.
• Stir to dissolve sugar.
• Chill for an hour, or serve over ice to serve immediately.
  

Note

• This recipe used 1 cup cranberry juice.
• Make sugar and water adjustments to taste.
• Reduce sugar if using sweetened cranberry juice.
  

Keywords: Old fashioned pink lemonade with fresh squeezed lemon juice, simple syrup of sugar and water, and cranberry juice for color.

Spaghetti in Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce

This recipe off to Earth Hour 2009 event hosted by Anna . I used to submit my recipes to her events when I had my website. Recently she invited me for this.I'm delighted to submit for Earth Hour 2009.

It was really hard to decide what to cook for this event.So many conditions...:) Very less packaging,transport and energy consumption. I have to mix and match everything,found some leftover fresh basil in my refrigerator. Instead of throwing away after a week I can use them now.

Here is the recipe for Spaghetti and Pesto Sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 cup Vegetables(Carrots,Broccoli),steamed
• 2 cups Whole-Wheat Spaghetti
• Homemade Basil Pesto Sauce(recipe below)
• Salt to taste
  

Method

• Steam 10 -15 min all your favorite vegetables to go with spaghetti.
• Boil the water; add salt and cook spaghetti in salted boiled water for 18-20 minutes.
• Filter the water and mixed with prepared pesto sauce.
• Toss cooked vegetables into it.
  

Basil Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh Basil leaves
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese,grated
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/3 cup Walnuts or Pine nuts
• 3 Garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

• Pulse chopped walnuts few minutes in food processor.
• Add basil leaves into the processor.
• Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.
• 2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on.
  
• Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended.
• Add a pinch of salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Note

• I forgot to take a picture of sauce, picture shown here is leftover.
• Toss favorite veggies into the sauce, place those on baking sheet; bake 350^o for 15-20 min or until tender.
  
• Add a splash of lemon juice to the sauce spread on fish/chicken and grill/bake until thoroughly cooked well.

Fish Names in Tamil

This weekend I prepared fish curry. I want to list out the fish names in our regional language.I did a research through Google & wiki finally find out some names and made a list so that it is useful for me and everyone. Some of the names may match exactly, some are not. May be close to the same family/variety.By the way,names may differ from area to area.


Please share the names in your language so that I can add another column.Feel free to point out the corrections.

English	Tamil	Notes
Anchovies	Nethili
Butter fish	Viral	I think so...
Barracuda	Sheela
Carp	Kendai
Cat fish	Kelluthi
Crab	Nandu
Cod	Panna
Cuttle	Kanawai
Eel	Vilongu
Halibut	Potha
Leather skin fish	Theera
Little Tunny	Soorai
Mackerel	Kanangeluthi
Malabar Trevally	Paarai
Pomfret	Vavval
Red Snapper	Sankara	When I searching for the names, I found this article about Ciguatera Fish Poisoning.More in detail....
Ribbon	Vaalai
Shark	Sura Meen
Sardines	Mathi Meen
Seabass	Koduvai Meen
Saw / Gur	Kola Meen
Squid	Oosi Kanawa
Shrimp/Prawn	Eral
Salmon	-------	I think we don't get this in India. When I google, found that "Rawas" in Hindi(Is that correct!)
Seer / King fish	Vanjaram
Tilapia	Kari / Neyyi
Whit fish	Kilanga Meen
Yellow Tuna	Keerai

Okie... dokie...We got names but where is the food? Here is the yummy recipe for Spicy Fried Fish from Poornima

Banana Bread

This banana bread is one of my favorite recipe. Everyone in my family and all my friends love this. My baking skills started with banana bread.This recipe came to me from my friend Shobha.Thanks a lot to share this wonderful recipe with me.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup Butter,melted
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1 Egg, beaten
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 3 or 4 ripe Bananas, smashed
• 1/4 cup Walnuts, fried/raw.(optional)

Method

• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• In a large mixing bowl, mix melted butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla.
• Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in.
• Mash the bananas with food processor/blender; Mix bananas in a large mixing bowl.
• Add the flour into the prepared mix;add walnuts in and mix.
• Spray non-stick cooking spray into the loaf pan; Pour mixture into a pan.
• Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from a pan; slice it and serve.

Note

• I use same mixture for muffins & call it as a Banana Nut Muffin.
• Instead of non-stick spray you can buttered your loaf pan.

Collard Greens with Dal

I have some left over leaves from my collard greens bunch. Now a days , I made myself not to waste.Usually for any new greens/keerai, I used to add some dal with cumin seeds. I like the flavor of cumin & pepper. Sometimes I add pepper too...(some of you may say , what? pepper in the greens!? you crazy...!) But in this recipe I didn't.....

Ingredients

• Collard Greens , 4 or 5 leaves, chopped , tough stems discarded
• 1/2 cup Moong dal
• 1/2 cup Onion, chopped
  
• 1/4 cup Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Green chili
• 2 tsp. Cumin seeds
• 1/2 tsp. Mustard seeds,&urad dal
  
• 1 tsp. Turmeric powder
  
• Curry leaves
• 1 tsp. Oil
• Salt to taste
  

Method

• Cook moong dal, collard greens, tomatoes and turmeric powder with 3 cups of water, for 3 whistles in a pressure cooker.
• Once the pressure subsides, remove the lid and let it cool for a while.
  
• Add salt to the cooked dal and mix well.
• Using a hand blender, lightly blend dal, till the greens and tomatoes are chopped into smaller pieces.
• Heat oil in a pan, splutter mustard seeds and urad dal; add green chillies, cumin seeds and curry leaves. Add to the cooked dal mixture.
• Serve hot with rice and any spicy dry curry/vegetable.

Shrimp / Prawn Curry /Royallu Iguru

Shrimp is one of my favorite seafood.Here is the simple recipe I used to prepare this curry.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Shrimp, de-veined & cleaned (notes added : How to clean the shrimp)
• 1 cup Onion, chopped
• 1 cup Tomato,chopped
• 1 tsp. Ginger garlic paste
• 2 Green chillies
• 2 tsp Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp Coriander powder
• ¼ tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Black pepper powder
• 1 tsp Cumin powder
• 1 tsp Garam masala powder
• ½ tsp Salt or to taste
• 5 tsp Oil
• Curry leaves
• Cilantro leaves for garnishing
  

Method

• Heat oil in a pan, splutter curry leaves,
• Add the chopped onion and green chillis and fry till transparent.
• Add chopped tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste fry for a minute.
• Add turmeric powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, blackpepper powder, cumin powder, garam masala and salt to it and keep sauteing until the masala thickens and turn brown.
• Add cleaned and de-veined shrimp/prawn to the masala and cook just until the prawns cook tender about 3-5 minutes.
  
• Garnish with coriander leaves and serve.
  

Notes

• Do not overcook for more than 5 minutes, then shrimp will become hard/rubbery kind of texture.
  

Here is the way I used to clean the shrimp.

• To remove the shell from the shrimp, hold the tail and gently remove the shell around the shrimp body, then the tail can be detached completely by just pulling it.
• To remove the vein, make a shallow cut lengthwise down the outer curve of the shrimp's body using a paring knife(use finger tip/nail), pick out the dark ribbon-like vein running lengthwise along the shrimp's back.
• Rinse the shrimp in cold water. store it freezer for later use or cook them immediately.

Collard Greens

I like Irish music,stories....since we already baked the bread(Irish Soda Bread), made a trial attempt with Green Punch, you know the result was not sooooooo....good. (Yesterday night by 10'o clock we went to wal-mart and bought Hawaiian punch for my little sugar's class.) We don't have any food in Green color. I got collard green and thought that color would be perfect for today!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Ingredients

• 
  1 bunch Collard greens, chopped , tough stems discarded
• 
  1 cup Onion, chopped
• 
  1/2 tsp. Cumin seeds
• 
  1/4 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 
  1/4 tsp. Urad dal
• 
  1 Red chili
• 
  1/2 tsp. Coconut, shredded
• 
  1/2 tsp. Oil
• 
  Curry leaves
• 
  Salt for taste

Method

• Heat the pan with the oil; sputter the cumin seeds, mustard seeds,urad dal,red chilli and curry leaves.
• Add chopped onion; fry till slight golden brown.
• Now,add the chopped leaves,salt.
• Cover and cook until tender, 10-12 minutes.
  
• Add shredded coconut. Mix well.

Note

• Jazz it up by adding chopped (2 or 3 )garlic cloves with onion.

Whole-Wheat Irish Soda Bread

Irish Soda Bread
Originally uploaded by simplyspices

In my little sugar's school they are celebrating St.Patrick's day tomorrow. So we thought of prepare Green Punch on sunday(If it is came out well I thought of prepare more on Tuesday for the whole class)! but we ended up with Irish Soda Bread (instead of muffins this time!) fyi: he loves to bake with me!



It's kind of dry bread. Personally me and my little sugar we both don't like caraway seeds. So we didn't add. Some people add both caraway and raisins.In this recipe we used golden raisins.Any kind of raisins we can use. Alternate with all purpose flour or 1:1 with wheat and all purpose flour. We can mix and match......




Same mix I used to make muffins.

Ingredients

• 2 cups Whole-Wheat Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 1/2 Tblsp. Sugar
• 4 Tbsp. Butter
• 2/3 cup Raisins
• 1 Egg, lightly beaten
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 2 tsp. caraway seeds(optional)

Method

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
• In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and sugar.
• Using fingertips, work with butter into the flour until the consistency is the same as that of small peas. (resembles like coarse meal)
• Stir in the raisins (and caraway seeds if you like them); mix well.
• Make a well in the center of the prepared flour mixture.
• Add beaten egg and buttermilk to well and mix with a wooden spoon until dough is too stiff to stir.
• Knead the dough for 1 to 2 minutes.Make a rough ball.
• Shape the dough into a round loaf and place on a greased baking sheet.
• Cut an X on the top and over the sides of the loaf.
• Bake for 45 minutes.
• To check the bread, insert a long skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, bread is ready.
• Serve Warm.

Note:

• If the dough is too sticky to work with, add in some more flour.
• Gently knead dough in the bowl; Do not overknead.
• If the top is getting too dark while baking, tent the bread with some aluminum foil.

Aval Upma

Aval Upma
Originally uploaded by simplyspices

Ingredients

• 2 cups Aval/Poha
• 1 cup Onion,chopped
• 1 cup Vegetables (carrots,beans,peas)
  
• 1 tsp. Urad dal
• 1 tsp. Chana dal
• 1 tsp. Mustard seeds
• 1 pinch hing
• 1 tbsp. Oil
• Salt to taste
• Curry leaves

Method

• Heat oil in a pan, add green chillies, urad dal, chana dal, mustard seeds, hing and curry leaves;Fry them for couple of seconds.
• Add chopped onion, and let the onion become translucent.
• Add vegetables,salt and water;cover and cook well.
• Wash the aval ; remove the water.
  
• Squeeze out the excess water; drop the aval into the pan.
• Mix everything well on medium heat.
• Serve with coconut chutney.

Note

• If you use "Thin Poha" - Soak the poha and washed just before adding it into the cooked vegetables.If you use "Thick Poha", soak the poha for 5 min.
• To make a rich taste add 1 tbsp cashews and 1/2 cup chopped Tomato.
• This recipe used "Red Thin Poha".
  

Good Coupons - What I Used

Hello Everyone,

Today,evening I got some coupons.I thought of pass it around so that anyone can use.

1. FREE $5 Gift Certificate! Use Coupon Code 5gift. Expires This Week - So Shop Now! (Restrictions Apply)
   
   
2. Pre-Spring Swimsuit Sale!! Get an Extra $10 Off your Purchase with Coupon "3333". Shop Now!
   

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Breast

Grilled Chicken BreastOriginally uploaded by simplyspices

• 1 lb. Chicken Breasts,skinless and boneless,
• 1/2 cup olive oil,
• 1/4 cup Lemon juice,
• 1 Tbsp. Salt,
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. Black pepper, crushed,
• 1 tsp garlic powder, or 1 clove Garlic, minced
  
• 1/4 tsp dry Basil leaves,
• 1/4 tsp dry Oregano leaves,
• 1/4 tsp Cumin powder,
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper powder (optional)
  

Method:

• Combine olive oil, lemon juice and dry ingredients(salt,pepper,garlic powder,basil,organo leaves,cumin and cayenne pepper powder) to create marinade.
• Marinate chicken breasts in a covered dish and refrigerate up to 24 to 48 hours, refrigerated ; Make sure each side of the chicken breast is covered in marinade.
• Place the breasts onto a heated grill for 3 min. on each side;cook about 10 min.
  
• Grill chicken for about 8-10 minutes each side, or until thoroughly cooked.
• 
  

Note:

• When you poke a hole in the breast, the juices run clear means that cooked.
  
• If chicken is not cooked the liquid that comes out will have pink or yellow hue.
  
• If you overcook the chicken will become hard, make sure to check often.

Baked Chicken 65 / Chilli chicken breast

Chicken65
Originally uploaded by simplyspices

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Chicken breast, boneless
• 4 tsp. Red chilli powder
• 2 tsp. Coriander powder
• ¼ tsp. Turmeric powder
• ¼ tsp. Garam masala powder
• 5 tsp. Lemon juice
• 2 tsp. Yogurt/curd
• 1 tsp. Ginger Garlic paste
• 3 pinch Orange red food color
• 1 tsp Salt or to taste
• 4 stks Cilantro leaves for garnishing (optional)

Baking:

• 4 or 5 Bamboo Skewers
• 1 oven proof tray

Method

• Wash and cut chicken into 1-1/2 inch pieces or desired size.
• In a bowl, prepare thick paste by mixing red chilli powder, coriander powder, turmeric powder, salt, garam masala, food, color, ginger garlic paste, lemon juice, yogurt and make a thick paste.
• Add chicken pieces into prepared paste; rub to coat the masala to all sides of chicken.
• Let this chicken mixture marinate for at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
• Preheat oven to 350° F.
• Thread marinated chicken cubes onto the skewers;place them on oven proof tray.
• Place the tray on the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes; rotate them and cook again for another 5 min.;When it is done, let it cool.
• Slightly twist the chicken before removing from the skewers, this would help them loosen up and come off easily without hurting fingers.
• Alternate, Heat 2 cups of oil in a deep pan and fry about 5-6 min. on medium high flame or until it turns dark brown on all side.
• Serve with lemon wedges.



Note

• Garnish with cilantro leaves,lemon wedges and fresh onion cut into rings.

Mushroom Mutter

Ingredients

• 1 cup Green peas (Mutter),frozen
• 1 cup Mushroom, chopped
• ½ cup Onion, chopped
• ½ cup Tomato, chopped
• 1 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste
• ½ tsp Cumin seeds
• 1 tsp Garam masala
• 1 tsp Red chili powder
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Oil
• Salt to taste
• Cilantro for garnishing (optional)

Method

• Heat pan with oil, sauté cumin seeds, onion, tomato and ginger garlic paste.
• Add turmeric,chilli, garam masala powder; sauté well.
• Add peas and chopped mushroom; sauté for 10 min.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro leaves.
• Serve the mushroom mutter with rice/roti.

March 05 2009 * Deals * Coupons

Hello everyone, today I want to give you new deals/coupons.

For more information please read the instructions on the coupon. If you need more coupons please visit my blog frequently and if you need coupons from a specific stores please write to me.

• Oneday only @ starbuckstore.com
• Buy One Get One Free! on select groceries delivered by Genuardis.com
• Get 1,000 Bonus DeliveryPoints with your first order from Delivery.com! - Redeem your points for cash and prizes.
  

Thank You!

Cabbage Vada/Vadai

Ingredients 1 1/2 cup Cabbage, grated 1 1/2 cup Bengal gram/Gram dal 1 tsp Fennel seeds 2 tsp Ginger Garlic Paste 2 Green chilies, chopped 1 twig Curry leaves 2 tsp Salt or to taste Oil for deep frying

Method Wash and soak dal for 3-4 hours. Keep 2 tbsp. dal aside for later use; grind the rest, coarsely without adding water. Mix all other ingredients(grated cabbage,green chilies,fennel seeds,ginger garlic paste,curry leaves), including whole dal. Heat oil, make pattie shaped rounds with moist palm. Let carefully into the hot oil. Fry first one side then the other till golden brown. Serve hot with coconut chutney/ketchup.

Note If you like onion, add 1/2 cup chopped onion. Alternate urad dal instead of gram dal to make cabbage urad vada/vadai.

Gobi 65 / Chilli Gobi

Ingredients 2 cup Oil for deep frying 4 cup Cauliflower , cut into florets 2 tsp Ginger garlic paste 3 tbsp All purpose flour 2 tsp Corn flour 1 tsp Red chilli powder 1/4 tsp White pepper powder ½ tsp Salt 2 pinch Orange food colour ½ tsp Vinegar/lemon juice 1 pinch Ajinomoto (optional)

Method Wash the cauliflower florets; cook with salt water for few minutes. Drain the water completely; pat dry with a kitchen towel. Mix these items all purpose flour, corn flour, salt, red chilli powder, white pepper powder, ginger garlic, vinegar, food color and ajinomoto. Make fine paste ; toss cauliflower in and coat it with the paste. Heat 2 cups of oil; fry the cauliflower florets. Gobi 65 is ready to eat.