Grilled Artichoke

This is a beautiful vegetable. It resembles a flower and belongs to the sunflower family. I used to pass this vegetable by, every time I visited the grocery store. But the only way I had used it was via its canned form-the canned artichoke hearts. I finally saw this on the menu of a restaurant that is famous for its cheesecakes and decided to try it. Ever since that day, I have picked it up in the grocery section instead of passing it by. It's an extremely healthy vegetable, high in Vitamin C. Though many methods list a tedious way to cook it, the following method is a no fuss way to cook it, so that it can be enjoyed often.

Ingredients
1 Artichoke
2 tbsp white vinegar
salt to taste
1 tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
1 large pot of water (enough to submerge the artichoke completely)
Dressing of your choice to serve with the artichoke

Method
Take the pot of water and add the vinegar to it. Start to heat this mixture. To prepare the artichoke, cut off about 1 inch of the top of the artichoke. Remove the stem and peel it. Add the artichoke and stem to the water prior to boiling. Artichoke will tend to float but we want it to be completely submerged in water, so that it cooks properly. To achieve this, cover the artichoke with a small strainer or sieve and place a small weight (heavy plate/small vessel, etc.) on the strainer. Let the water come to boil and let it boil for about 20-30 minutes. To check if it is completely cooked, insert a knife into the base where the stem was attached. If it goes in without any resistance, then it is completely cooked. Remove the artichoke and the stem.

Artichoke, being from the sunflower family, has a center thistle surrounded by the green leaves. This resembles small needles and is not edible. It must be removed. To do this, cut the artichoke into two halves lengthwise (not along circumference). You will see the thistle at the base just above the artichoke heart. Use a spoon to scoop this out. Make sure that you remove all the needles. Now, use a brush and cover the artichoke and stem with a layer of oil and sprinkle salt. Grill the halves or you can broil it. Remove it when it has a nice grilled/charred look.

How to Eat this
Serve the grilled artichoke with your favorite dressing. Italian and ranch go well with artichoke. Peel off each leaf, dip in the dressing, and scrape off the pulp from the leaf using your bottom teeth. The bigger outer leaves are very fibrous and may not have a lot of pulp. As you work your way towards the center, the leaves become more tender and the amount of pulp increases. The bulk of the artichoke is the heart and the stem, which are citrusy and delicious.

Tips
The artichoke will start oxidizing and will turn brown as soon as you cut it. It's necessary to get it into the acidic water as soon as possible. The color of the artichoke will tend to change a little after it is boiled. It will turn brownish green. You can eat the artichoke after boiling as well without grilling.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

These days we are surrounded by calorie information about everything we eat, making it difficult to avoid the numbers and are aware of the high calorie foods. So when I decided to bake a batch of muffins to share with my friends, I decided to go with a healthy recipe, so all of us could enjoy it guilt free. I also made some cream cheese frosting for those who preferred the decadent taste. It was a great hit with the calorie conscious crowd as well as those with a sweet tooth. I am immensely happy with recipe and hope you try it too.This is a modified version of the carrot walnut cake recipe.

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tbsp wheat bran
1.5 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup yogurt, fat free
2 eggs
1.5 cups grated carrots
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup cream cheese
2-3 cups confectioners sugar, to taste

Method
Sieve together all the dry ingredients - flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder. Add the bran and mix together. In another bowl whisk together the oil and sugar, add the eggs and whisk them together. Add in the carrots and the yogurt. Add the flour in parts to the wet ingredients mixture and fold it in. This mix may need to be thinned out to a consistency where it can be easily poured into the baking pan with a couple of tablespoons of milk. Fold in the raisins.
Grease the muffin pan (this recipe makes 12) and pour the batter in. Bake this for about 30 minutes at 350 F.

For the frosting
Whisk the sugar and room temperature cream cheese together. Spread it on the muffin for a sweeter taste.

Tips
Use a sharp knife or a toothpick to test for doneness. Pierce the center and if it comes out clean, your muffins are ready.
Enjoy it for breakfast or as a snack. A glass of warm milk or even hot tea goes great with it.

Sending this recipe to Siri's Healing Foods event hosted by Suma at her veggieplatter blog

Veggie and Beans Taco

It has been really hot for the last couple of weeks and I was not upto slaving over a hot stove last weekend. So I asked my husband what he would like to eat and ended up vetoeing all the suggestions he made like fried rice, dal fry and aloo paratha. He finally said "why don't you make a burrito?" So we went to the grocery store to get the required ingredients like tortillas and hot sauce. I hadn't ever tried a mexican dish at home before, so I was really looking forward to it. We reached the tortilla aisle and realised that all the burrito size tortillas came in really big packs and we would never be able to use all of those. While I was wondering what to do, my husband was exploring the aisle and found a small pack of about 10 taco size corn tortillas. That decided it - tacos it was! I must say it was light and refreshing and made a wonderful Sunday lunch.

Ingredients
8-10 corn tortillas - taco size
1 can black beans - rinsed (alternately, you can soak 1 cup of beans, pressure cook it and add a little salt to it)
1 cup shredded iceberg lettuce
sour cream
shredded cheese mix

For the salsa
2 tomatoes diced
1 red onion diced
1 avacado diced
2 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
1 chilli finely diced
1 lemon

For the grilled vegetables
1 corn cob or 1 cup frozen corn- thawed
1 yellow onion sliced
1/2 green bell pepper sliced
1/2 orange bell pepper sliced
1/2 red bell pepper sliced
1/2 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Method

For the salsa
Mix together the diced tomatoes, red onion, avacado. Add the juice of the lemon, salt and pepper and mix well. Lemon juice should be added after the avacado to retain the green color or it will turn brown. Mix in the chilli, per taste.

For the vegetables

Heat oil in a pan. To this add the sliced onion. Stir fry this for 3-4 mins till the onion is transparent. Then add the bell peppers and the corn. If using frozen corn, add the corn after the bell pepper has been stir fried for 2-3 mins. Add the cumin and salt to this.

To assemble the taco

Cook the tacos on a pan, a couple of mins on each side. To this, add the beans, followed by salsa and the grilled vegetables. Add a dollop of sour cream and cheese. Top with the shredded lettuce.

Tips

Serve with hot sauce.
The simplest way to peel the avacado, is to cut it around the length into two pieces, remove the inner seed and then use the spoon to scoop out the avacado.

This is a great meal to-go. Just pack it as shown below and you have your next day's tasty lunch ready. It is easy to assemble just before you eat. I have added some jalapenos to the salsa and grilled vegetable mixture here, since my husband likes it a little spicy!

I am submitting this recipe to Susan's MLLA which is hosted here by Siri this month.

Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

After my first successful foray into the world of baking bread, I decided to make whole wheat bread (which just sounds healthier). I am not really sure what the difference between all the different wheat flours is nutritionally, but just by looking at the textures of the different flours, it seems that whole wheat probably has more fiber than the more processed all purpose or bread flour. My first attempt was just not good, and I had to throw it away. I didn’t count on the dough doubling up in size so fast, so the next time I made it, I cut back drastically on the amount of yeast. A couple of other tweaks and the end result was very tasty. We have been enjoying this with bread and jam for breakfast this week.

Ingredients
¼ tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp sugar
1.25 cups warm water
1/3 cup milk
¼ cup canola oil
1/4 tsp salt
3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
½- 1 tbsp oil to grease bowls

Method
Heat the water and milk mixture in the microwave for a minute, or on the cooktop till warm. To this add the salt, sugar and yeast and set aside for 5-10 mins. This mixture will turn slightly frothy after 10 mins. In a mixing bowl, take the wheat flour, and add the yeast mixture to the flour. Mix these ingredients well and set aside for 10 minutes. The resultant mixture will be sticky dough. Knead this well for about 10-20 minutes. The dough will be smooth and at the end of the kneading, you should be able to stretch a small piece of dough into a thin sheet without tearing easily. It should be thin enough that it looks like a membrane that light can be seen through. Transfer this to a bowl which has been greased with oil and cover the bread dough with a moist towel. Set this in a warm place for about 3-5 hours till the dough has risen and is double in volume.

Take this risen dough, shape it into a dough roll and put it into a well greased bread pan. Let the dough rise for the second time till it is double in size. At this point in time, you are ready to bake your bread. The second rise time can vary and it took me about 2 hours for the dough to rise.

Bake the bread at 375 F for 25-35 minutes. It took 30 minutes for the bread to look completely done. It was well browned on the top and sides as well.

Tips
The water-yeast mixture must be frothy before it’s added to the flour. However, since we haven’t added a lot of yeast as a starter, it will be slightly frothy and bubbly. This helps you gauge the effectiveness of your yeast if it is old before you add it to the flour. If it doesn't become frothy, you need a new packet of yeast. A longer rise time may be needed if the surrounding temperature is cooler than 75F. You can assist the dough rising process by keeping the dough in your oven with the light on to provide a warm environment for the yeast. The longer you knead the dough, the lighter your bread will be. The stretch test is the best way to determine if you have kneaded the dough long enough. Gluten bonds are developed via kneading and the more you knead the dough, more bonds develop in turn making the dough more elastic.

Yellow Lentil and Raw Mango Salad/ Kairi Chi Dal

Its summer and that translates to mango season. The hot and bright sun reminds me of long gone summer vacation days and other events. One that stands out most is a ladies together that my grandmother used to have every summer (also called haldi-kunku in Maharashtra). All the ladies used to be dressed in their finery, my grandmom used to put on her best sari with her best jewelry and the atmosphere used to be very festive. I would run to her house after school dressed in my best clothes and help her setup the place. The food used to be delicious, the gossip engrossing and it was the only time when she made certain delicacies. The two I remember the most are mango panha which is raw mango juice and delicious “kairi chi dal” which can be best described as raw mango and yellow lentil salad. I was thinking about those “get togethers” a lot for the past couple of weeks and decided to try my grandmother’s recipe for the lentil salad. Quick consultation with mom and I realized that it was a simple recipe. Next was a visit to the store to pick up a few green raw mangoes and I was on my way. Unfortunately the raw mangoes I bought were not very sour, so I had to add some lemon juice but my first bite transported me back to those carefree days of childhood and the special time spent with my grandmom. This will surely be a treasured recipe.

Ingredients
1 raw mango – cubed (deseeded)
1 cup split yellow lentil/chana dal (soaked overnight)
¼ cup fresh coconut pieces
2-3 green chillies (to taste)
Salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp oil
4 red chillies
8-10 curry leaves
1 tbsp cilantro finely chopped
1-2 tbsp water (optional for grinding)

Method
Grind together the mango, chillies, chana dal, salt and sugar to a coarse consistency. It shouldn’t be too fine. Add a little water 1 tsp at a time if needed to assist the grinding process. Heat the oil, and add the curry leaves and red chillies to it. Pour this over the ground mixture. Mix well and top with chopped cilantro. Serve cold.

Tips
This tastes great with Panha/Mango juice which I will try out soon. If you have frozen grated coconut, do not add to blender. Mix this in after the dal and mango has been ground together. You can substitute the fresh coconut with desiccated coconut as well. The dal must be soaked for 4-5 hours at the least. To soak the dal, cover it with enough water so that all the dal is submerged and there is about ½ to 1 inch depth of water above the dal.

Sending this to Suma's Side Dishes event

Homemade White Bread

I  had been wanting to bake bread for a while. So, I finally decided to pick up some bread flour (well it made sense that bread would need bread flour) from my farmer's market. I came home and began my search for simple white bread. Now, I had heard that making bread is cumbersome and a laborious process, so I was prepared to find really long and daunting recipes. To my dismay, I did find several recipes, but none for simple white bread and even fewer that used bread  flour. After searching online for about an hour, I decided to call Mommy dearest.  And as usual I wasn't disappointed. I did refer to the allrecipes website too and between recipes there and my mom's help I baked a wonderful loaf of white bread.

I also made a fresh batch of strawberry jam. The combination was just scrumptious and both were ready just in time for our afternoon snack. My family really loved the bread and  I know for sure that I will be baking bread more frequently now. I plan to try all the different variations that I came across during my search.

Ingredients
1 packet (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast
1 tbsp and 1.5 tsp sugar
1.25 cups warm water
1 tbsp and 1.5 tsp canola oil
1.5 tsp salt
3-1/4 cups bread flour
1 tbsp oil to grease bowls
 

Method
Heat the water in the microwave for a minute, or on the cooktop till its warm. To this add the sugar and yeast and set aside for 5-10 mins. This mixture will turn frothy after 10 mins. In a mixing bowl, take 1.5 cups of bread flour, add the salt and oil to this. Stir these ingredients well. Add the water and yeast mixture and mix well. The resultant mixture will resemble a mesh of dough, look frothy and will be very sticky. To this add the remaining flour about half a cup at a time and incorporate this while kneading the dough well. Once all the dough has been incorporated and the dough comes together in a ball, knead this for about 10 mins. Transfer this to a bowl which has been greased with oil and cover the bread dough with a moist towel. Set this in a warm place for about 1- 1.5 hours till the dough has risen and is double in volume.
 

Take this risen dough, deflate it and knead it turning it inside out for another 5-8 mins. Grease your baking tin or bread tin well and transfer the dough to this. Let the dough rise for the second time till it is double in size. At this point in time, you are ready to bake your bread. The second rise time can vary and it took me about 2.5 hours for the dough to rise.

Pre-heat the oven to 425 F and then bake the bread at 375 F for 30-40 minutes. It took me 40 minutes for the bread to look completely done. It was well browned on the top and sides as well.

 
Tips
The water-yeast mixture must be frothy before its added to the flour. This helps you gauge the effectiveness of your yeast if it is old. If it doesn't become frothy, you need a new packet of yeast. It is not easy to knead dough made from bread flour, as it is a hard wheat flour. However, the longer you knead it, the better the gluten bonds and the lighter your bread will be. You can assist the dough rising process by keeping the dough in your oven with the light on to provide a warm environment for the yeast.