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Black Bean and Mango Quesadillas

After a fun, relaxed weekend, getting back to the weekly routine is slightly boring. Our week started with these easy to put together vegetarian Black Bean and Mango Quesadillas. Spicy jalapenos and fruity mangos make this lazy meal quite flavorful. Black Beans: Dry Black Beans - 1/2 cup Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt Mango Salsa: Mangoes (medium chopped) - 1 1/2 cups Red Onions (finely chopped) - about 1/3 cup Mini Red Bell Pepper (finely chopped) - about 1/2 cup Jalapeno Pepper - 1 Cilantro/Coriander Leaves - few sprigs Lime Juice - 2 tbsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tsp Salt Whole Wheat Tortillas Grated Pepper Jack Cheese Butter or Oil Sour Cream Avocado  Guacamole How to make Black Bean and Mango Quesadillas: Black Beans: Soak dry black beans in plenty of water for 6 - 8 hours. Wash the soaked beans well. Heat 5 - 6 cups of water in a pot. Add washed beans and cook until beans turn soft. Add salt, chili...

3 Bean Salad

I like to cook simple and easy, nutritious, wholesome meals. Leafy salads are one of my favorites, but they lack protein. Today's Three Bean Salad has both veggies and protein rich beans. I have used white and red beans. You can make it more colorful by adding black beans, pinto beans and so on. Hope you like this easy, flavorful salad. Ingredients: Green Beans/French Beans - about 2 cups Dry White Beans - 1/4 cup Dry Red Kidney Beans/Rajma - 1/4 cup Red Onions (finely chopped) - about 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar - 2 tbsp Olive Oil - 1 1/2 tbsp Spicy Brown Mustard - 1 tbsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Salt How to make Three Bean Salad: Soak dry white beans and red beans in plenty of water overnight. Cook them in about 5 cups water in a pot until soft. Add salt and bring it to a boil.  Drain all the water. Save the cooked beans for later. Use any dry beans of your choice. Canned beans work fine too. Set aside a bowl of ice cold water to add the cooked...

Eggless Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Cookies

When it comes to baked goodies, we like cookies / biscuits more than muffins or cakes. Cookies are my favorite mid afternoon snack. Today, I baked some Eggless Chocolate Chip cookies for us. We like the White Chocolate Chip ones.  And to make it healthy, I used whole wheat flour and crunchy almonds. Hope you all love it too. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup White Chocolate Chips - 1 cup Light Brown Sugar - 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened) - 1/2 cup (1/4 pound) Whole Milk - 1/4 cup Almonds/Badam - 1/4 cup Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Vanilla Extract - 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp Salt - 1/4 tsp How to bake Eggless White Chocolate Chip Cookies: Crush the cardamom seeds to a fine powder in a mortar pestle. Instead of cardamom, you can use any other spice like cinnamon or nutmeg as well. Roughly chop the almonds. You can use any other nuts or dry fruits of your choice. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Line an ungreased b...

Gobi (Cauliflower) Tikka Masala

What's cooking in your kitchen? At our place, its a vegetarian menu. Grilled cauliflower curry with soft, fluffy phulkas. Nutty protein rich almonds add a nice creaminess to the curry, enhancing its flavor. Ingredients: Cauliflower/Phulgobi - about 1 pound Lemon Juice - 3 tbsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Onion - 1 medium Tomatoes - 2 medium Dry Red Chilies - 5 Garlic - 5 big cloves Ginger - an inch piece Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1 tsp Cumin/Jeera Powder - 1 tsp Tandoori Masala - 1 tsp Whole Almonds/Badam - 15 Milk - 1/2 cup Coriander/Cilantro Leaves - few sprigs Oil - 4 tbsp Salt How to make Gobi Tikka Masala: Soak almonds in water for about an hour or so. Discard the almond skin. Blend the soaked almonds with milk to a fine paste. In a big bowl, add lemon juice, turmeric, chili powder and salt. Mix all the ingredients well. Add cauliflower florets to the bowl. Coat the florets well with the marinade. Cover with...

Spinach (Palak) and White Bean Curry

What is your idea of a wholesome healthy meal? For me, it must include vegetables, proteins and complex carbohydrates. Plus, the food must be cooked in very less oil. Planning a tasty meal keeping these things in mind is not always possible. But, whenever I do, you guys will get to read all about it. Here is a simple yet delicious spinach and beans curry with Jowar flatbread . Ingredients: Baby Spinach Leaves/Palak - about 5 cups Dry White Beans - 1/2 cup Onion - 1 medium Garlic - 4 big cloves Tamarind/Chinch/Imli Paste - 1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder - 1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder - 1/2 tsp Kitchen King Masala or any other spice mix - 1/2 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Oil - 2 tbsp Salt How to make Spinach and White Bean Curry: Soak dry white beans in plenty of water overnight. Wash the soaked beans and cook them in 2 - 3 cups of water until soft. Add more water if required. Alternately, you can pressure cook them as well. Or canned beans work fine too. Finely chop onions....

Baked Bharwa Bhindi / Stuffed Okra

Bhindi, locally well known as Okra is our all time favorite vegetable. No one makes a fuss about eating okra at my place, be it a simple Bhindi stir fry or the saucy Bhindi Masala or the crisp pan fried  Bharwa Bhindi . Today I made a baked version of Bharwa Bhindi - okra stuffed with chickpea flour. If you haven't tried baking Okra yet, you must. Baked Okra turns equally tasty with far less oil. Ingredients: Okra/Bhindi/Lady's Finger - 25 medium size (about 1 pound) Besan/Gram Flour/Chickpea Flour - 1/2 cup Red Chili Powder - 1 tsp Coriander/Dhania Powder - 1 tsp Ajwain/Owa/Carom Seeds - 1 tsp Garam Masala - 1/4 tsp Turmeric/Haldi - 1/4 tsp Lemon/Lime Juice - 1 1/2 tbsp Salt Oil How to bake Stuffed Bhindi in an oven: Wash the okra well. Pat them dry with a kitchen towel. Set the okra aside. Stuffing: In a mixing bowl, add chickpea flour, chili powder, coriander powder, carom seeds, garam masala, turmeric, lime juice and salt to taste.  Add more or l...

Instant God Appe / Sweet Paddu / Paniyaram

Since I brought a mini pancake pan, Appe has joined our list of breakfast menu. So far, I have posted savory recipes. You guys might have read about Udid Methi Appe   and also an instant version of Gluten free Appe .  Today I made God Appe for breakfast. Sweet appe or paddu or paniyaram are made either with rice or wheat. Wheat flour is the instant one as compared to the rice paddu. Hope you all like these sweet pancakes with bananas. Ingredients: Whole Wheat Flour - 1 cup Flattened Rice/Thin Poha - 1/2 cup Grated Jaggery/Gud/Gul - 1/2 cup Shredded Coconut (fresh or frozen) - 1/4 cup Ripe Bananas - 2 big Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2 pods Oil or Ghee/Clarified Butter How to make Instant God Appo: Blend flattened rice, grated jaggery, coconut and bananas to a slightly coarse paste in a food processor or a blender. If jaggery is not available, brown sugar is a good substitute. Based on the sweetness you like, add more or less jaggery. Crush cardamom seeds...