Holiday Pinwheels (Green and Red Pesto Pinwheels)

These pinwheels are so easy to put together, so delicious and are the perfect party appetizers.

And in the spirit of holidays, I chose to make them with holiday colors of green and red -- making them the perfect holiday pinwheels!

Recipe:

1) Make (or buy) basil pesto - grind together basil leaves, olive oil, parmesan cheese, roasted pine nuts, one clove of garlic, salt & pepper - set aside

2) Make sundried tomato pesto - grind together sundried tomatoes (I used once packed in oil), a clove of garlic, parmesean cheese, salt -  set aside

3) Thaw puff pastry dough per package instructions. Each package contains 2 sheets. One sheet will give you about 10 pinwheels.

4) Generously flour a large cutting board or work surface, spread the puff pastry dough. Spread basil pesto on the bottom half of pasty in a thin and even layer (leaving half an inch of each side bare to roll). Spread thin and even layer of sundried tomato pesto on the other half, again leaving about half an inch on each sides bare for rolling.

5) roll the sheet from one side upwards making a log. Gently press the edges to seal. Using a shap chef's knife cut about 10 pinwheels.

6) On a pre-heated 375F oven, bake on a parchment paper lined baking sheet for 10-12 mins.

7) Remove from oven and serve hot.

A Rainy Party Menu...

We hosted a birthday party at our home recently. And as is expected with any December parties, one way or the other they evolve into holiday parties - there is just so much holiday spirit around!

I have used restaurant catering for every single event of 30-40 people we hosted so far. And after each event I resolved to cater the next one myself. Well, for one reason or another it never materialized.. that is until this one.

The day turned out to be stormy and rainy. When the weather forecast didn't show signs of budging, what best to do than to make use of it --- change the party menu to evolve around the rainy foods and warm, homy aromas! So that's exactly what I did.

Drinks:

We had the wine and the beer and the coke, but the warm drinks which greeted the guests were spiced mulled apple cider (love it!! and so easy to put together) and of-course a large thermos full of ginger chai. We also kept a hot water dispenser and a couple of bagged teas: jasmine, spiced chai from Trader Joe's and lemon orange tea for the green tea lovers.

Appetizers:

It was the day of appetizers. All of my appetizers were oven cooked and served hot which meant I ended up spending the first hour of the event in the kitchen warming by the side of the oven, sipping hot cider and chatting up a storm with friends while a steady flow of warm appetizers went in and out of the oven. It was soooo much my happy place :)

(Excuse all the photos - I tried to take them with a phone during the event, often asking a friend to hold eating for a minute! I am a blogger, they understand :) )

I made sweet potato fries - cut sweet potato wedges, drizzle olive oil, salt & pepper - roast at 420F for 15-20 mins, keep checking to ensure they don't burn. And very important that you spread a thin single layer in baking pan and don't crowd them or else they turn soggy.

Second and perhaps the most in demand appetizer was the holiday pesto pinwheels sporting the red and green holiday colors. Recipe upcoming soon.

And caramelized onions with sage mushroom squares - which were my favorite! Love the mushroom sage combo. Picture is a mug shot which does it no justice - just take my word for it.

We also made a couple dozen frozen mini-samosas, just bake and serve on the day.

And none of my parties would be complete without a cheese platter. I can make a perfect meal anyday with just the cheese, crackers, fig butters and wine! This time our cheese platter had a blend of spanish hard cheese (manchego, cabra al vino and ibreco (sp?)), a soft garlic and herb goat cheese served with pumpkin and cranberry crackers and fig olive crackers with soome fig butter on the side.

Main course:

Rain demanded paav bhaji, and lots of it, for which I used my trusty recipe from One Hot Stove.

A pasta salad also has a guaranteed place on my party menus - it's versatile with ingrdients and seasonal flavors; mild to taste and kids generally love it. I added avocados (yes, they go so well in place of cheese in cold salads), sauteed mushrooms, red onions, 3 coolor peppers tomatoes and seasoned with meyer lemons juice and zest - perfect!

I also made a small quantity vegetable Biryani - in hindsight I should have made more of it; this was the first dish completely cleared off the table.

And we did takeout of idli & vada platter from a nearby South Indian restaurant.

Dessert was a banana cake with chocolate filling and vanilla cream cheese frosting -- my next adventure is going to be to try to make the cake on my own.

All in all was a great day - both food and weather wise. It was mostly drizzling throughout party hours and when the weather outside is frightful, chatting with friends over warm foods and a cozy fire is truly delightful :)

Christmas Cookies

Continuing with our own cooked up mother-daughter tradition of 2013 and 2014, this year also we baked many cookies, shared them with friends and family during a holiday get together and ate them in delight!

This year we made a mix of sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies with the focus on cookie decoration. Sugar cookie recipe was the same tried and trusted one from here - proportions quartered. Gingerbread cookie recipe was from here with the only difference that I completely cut the white sugar and added local wildflower honey instead. Cookies weren't sweet per say, which is what I wanted, but had just a bite of sweetness from the icing and were perfect with a hot cup of coffee (huge plus!). I'll probably go back to using molasses in gingerbread cookies next year, for the intense sweetness and the color.

As for the decoration we used the standard tubes of holidays colors green and red from grocery store with plain white icing leftover from a birthday cake decoration.

My daughter had a lot of fun decorating the cookies this time! The one on the top with happy, sad and angry pumpkins are decorated by her; she called them "pumpkin moods cookies" :) and the gingerbread men ofcourse which she loves to decorate.

All in all it was a great mother-daughter evening spent together making the dough, tasting it, watching anxiously for the cookies to rise in the oven and of-course decorating it! 

Baking is sooooo relaxing and therapeutic to me and I honestly can't think of a better way to stop worrying about work and daily chores and get into holiday mood than finding yourself a partner in crime and baking these holiday goodies! Enjoy and have a very happy holidays!

(Excuse the poor quality photos - I have decided to not let photo quality prevent me from blogging more these days :) )

Easy breezy pad thai

I have always had a love-hate relationship with pad thai.

My first taste of pad thai was at a Thai restaurant in San Diego. An evening out on a student budget used to be a huge treat then! A group of us visited a decently good bus accessible Thai place we used to pass en-route to university. As it was our very first Thai experience, we asked the waitress to order whatever she likes within budget and she ordered this extremely tasty spicy pad thai followed by coconut ice-cream! I absolutely loved the flat rice noodles drenched in a tangy, hot and sweet sauce with crunchy peanuts on top.

Over the time though I realized that a good pad thai is hard to come by. Many times either the sauce is too strong or the whole dish is oily.. After a few unfortunate encounters with pad thai I switched my go-to Thai dish from pad thai to a green curry which probabilistically is always decent (yes, I calculate probabilities when ordering food).

But the cravings for a that San Diego pad thai was always there! Then recently I came across this Mark Bittman's minimalist column urging people to think about pad thai as a make-at-home option and I wondered why I never thought about making pad thai at home. The recipe seemed easy enough, was uber-flexible and luckily I had all the ingredients at hand.

I made this dish on a weekday evening. It came together fairly quickly. You make the sauce (which is just putting things together in a bowl), soak the noodles in hot water and meanwhile stir fry the ingredients and bring everything together in a wok. Easy breezy!

The pad thai was extremely tasty. We enjoyed it with a hot cup of peach flavored dragonfruit tree. All-in-all a pad thai dinner well-served at last!

Recipe:

Source: adapted from here

makes 3 medium servings or 4 small servings

Ingredients:

8ounces flat rice noodles

Sauce (adjust according to taste):

4Tbsp tamarind paste (taste your tamarind paste; every one is different. If its very tart, use less to begin with and then add more as you go. For 8ounces noodles, I needed 4Tbsp Joy tamarind concentrate)

3Tbsp rice wine vinegar

4Tbsp sugar

3Tbsp fish sauce

3/4C warm water

Stir-fry:

2 cloves of garlic - minced

14oz extra firm tofu

4 bok choy or some chopped chinese cabbage

1 egg (optional)

peanut or canola oil

Garnish:

handful of roasted chopped peanuts

chopped scallions

bean sprouts

lime or orange wedges

crushed red pepper

Recipe:

** Fish sauce is not vegetarian. It has fermented anchovies. You can get a fake 'fish' sauce which is vegetarian or just omit that ingredient and adjust the other flavors accordingly.

** Egg is optional.

** Tofu can be easily replaced with shrimp or any other protein if you prefer. 

Prepare the sauce:

Mix all the sauce ingredients. Taste. It should not be very tangy or very sweet. Adjust the ingredients per taste.

Prepare the noodles:

Pour warm water over the dried noodles in a large bowl. Cover and let stand for 10mins or so until the noodles are cooked through.

Prepare the stir-fry:

Chop tofu and bok-choy into small byte sized pieces. In a wok or a large non-stick pan, heat some oil on high heat. When the oil is very hot, add tofu pieces. Fry on each side for a few minutes until the tofu skins are crispy. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.

Add a little more oil to the pan if desired. Add garlic and bok-choy and stir fry for a few minutes on high heat. Add the egg and scramble for a few minutes.

Put everything together:

Add the noodles and the sauce back to the pan. Mix well; add some salt and cook for a few minutes until the noodles absorb most of the sauce (do not overcook).

Remove from heat. Add tofu and the garnish ingredients. Serve hot with your choice of hot tea.

Hope you all had a great weekend and a good week ahead!

Preschooler Lunchbox Tips and Ideas

The first time I faced the daunting task of preparing lunchboxes for my preschooler, I have to admit I was worried. I have been spending hours in kitchen for years, but let me tell you, pleasing a preschooler with his/her healthy lunchbox is not a simple task!

As always before starting a new endeavor, I scourged the web for tips and recipes. I found lots of good once for kids but not as many for preschoolers or 3-4 year olds. I wanted the lunchbox recipes to be healthy, home-made and quick with no more than 10mins in the morning to assemble!

So below is a compilation of my tips and some tried-and-tasted lunchbox ideas which I hope will come handy to other new moms faced with the daunting task of preschool lunchboxes :)

Some tips to make the daily lunch boxes hassle free:

• Bento style lunchboxes with a little bit of everything works best for preschoolers.
• I add one portion savory meal, one portion fruits, one portion vegetable, one portion dairy and a sweet reward for finishing lunchbox
• Kids always find something they like...
• Easy does it...
• If you are a busy person, accept that and stay away from fancy time consuming recipes for lunchboxes (that's what weekend meals are for!)
• Your child will love any meal you prepare with love taking in consideration his/her liking - no matter how fancy it looks.
• Plan in advance! Make lists! 
• Pick a time of the weekend to jot down what you will put in lunchboxes for the entire next week.
• Make a grocery list and shop everything over the weekend.
• Prep ahead
• I try to prep as much as possible ideally over the weekend or the night before.
• If your mornings are as crazy as mine, plan to not spend any more than 10mins on lunchbox in the morning, which will make the whole process sustainable and happy for both you and the kids!
• Add a reward!
• We do a carry over reward thing - if she finishes her lunchbox today, she will get a reward in lunchbox tomorrow.
• Reward can be anything from few M&Ms to a breakfast strawberry bar to a piece of chocolate or a mini muffin.
• They work like magic!!

Here are some ideas for preschool lunchboxes:

• Main course (lunch is usually served cold for preschoolers):
• Methi thepla roll with oil & chutney 
• Stuffed paratha - potatoes, cauliflower, peas paratha
• Steamed idli
• we buy prepared idli batter which makes the whole process < 6mins
• Dosa
• Rava upma
• PB&J sandwich
• Veggie sandwich
• TJ's masala burger works great!
• Pulav, tamarind rice, mango rice etc
• Rajma rice, chole rice
• Moong bean cheela
• Fruits:
• grapes, chopped apples, sliced banana, melons
• Dairy:
• Babybel cheese, string cheese
• Snacking:

• crackers, TJ's strawberry breakfast rolls
• Vegetables:
• Cucumber, sliced yellow/orange/red pepper, roasted broccoli w/ salt & pepper, roasted & mashed yam/sweet potato

Happy lunchboxing...

Couscous Mint Chutney Side

If you are in a hurry and want a healthy side or a big serving of a side-salad as your main course, this recipe is a great idea! 

If you are not familiar with couscous, it's a Moroccan/Middle-Eastern grain made out of semolina which is cooked by streaming. Yeah, just steaming and that too cooks in minutes! Making it an ideal pantry staple for every busy cooks who wants to put something healthy and home-cooked on table or in lunchboxes in minutes! 

If you are looking to be a bit carb conscious this year, then Quinoa, another wonder grain packed with protein is also a great substitute for couscous. Or the good old rice of-course works great. This is also a great lunch box meal.

Mint chutney is another staple at our home. I tend to buy 2-3 huge bunches of fresh mint whenever I see them in season. And then I make a big pot of this chutney, really "making" is an overkill, it's all about throwing things in blender :) Use half the chutney and freeze half. This chutney is so versatile making it a great pairing for sandwiches, topped over salads or as a side to parathas or daal-chawal.

Without further ado, here is how you would go about making this couscous mint chutney side.

Recipe:

Serves 4 as a side

Ingredients:

For mint chutney:

2 bunches of fresh mint leaves

1 small green chili

juice of 1 lime

1 small clove of garlic - peeled

salt

Recipe:

Blend all the chutney ingredients together and taste and adjust for taste. Set aside.

Couscous:

1C dried couscous

1.5C water (or as recommended by couscous instructions)

2Tbsp olive oil or butter

1 tomato - chopped

salt & pepper

Recipe:

Prepare couscous as per instructions. Mine said to boil 1.5C water, when water is boiling then turn off the heat. Add couscous and cover and let steam for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, add oil or butter and mix well. Then add few Tbsp of mint chutney, tomatoes, salt & pepper to taste and mix. Taste and adjust ingredients per taste.

Enjoy!

Black Eyed Peas Fritters (chavaliche bonde)

There is a really good reason behind why I never posted these fritters here even though I have made them countless times before. And that is because I never managed to get a photo. And there is a really good reason behind why I never managed to get a photo. And that is because everytime I make it, each and every one of them gets over in about 15mins after they are out of the fryer :)

So, I am going to post them today anyway even though I still don't have a photo. You just have to take my word for it that these are amazing and a sure to be crowd pleasers.

This is a fried snack which I make when we have guests over. If I am in the mood for fritters just for us at home, I make a baked version which is also noted below. Fried version of course gets a better crunch but other than that they both taste the same.

Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1C dried black eyed peas

2 strands green onions

handful of fresh cilantro

2 cloves of garlic

1/2tsp crushed ginger

2 green chili

1tsp cumin powder

1tsp coriander powder

1tsp carom seeds (optional)

salt to taste
oil for frying

Recipe:

1. Soak dried black eyed peas in enough water (~6C) for 4-6hrs or overnight. 
2. Drain all the water and add the soaked peas along-with all the other ingredients in a grinder or mixer and chop until fine.
3. Remove from mixer and make small balls using your hand
4. Deep dry the fritters
5. Serve with ketchup or tamarind chutney

Baked version: pre-heat oven to 375F. Coat oil on both sides of each ball, bake for 10-15mins on one side, flip them over, bake again for 10-15mins. If the fritters are cooked but are not crispy broil for another 5mins. Remove from oven, serve immediately. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup

Winter has finally made it's appearance loud and clear. Temperatures have been steadily dropping last few days, evenings are chilly, mornings are frosty and my hot cup of cocoa is just that much more warming to body and soul - and that means one thing in our household, lots and lots of soups!

On many winter weekend our quick lunch is a pot of soup with some thick crusted sourdough bread brushed with olive oil and broiled at high temperature with just a rub of a fresh garlic clove. Throw in some salad (my favorites are couscous with butternut squash and dried cranberries salad or quinoa salad or a simple greens salad topped with some fruits and nuts dressed with an easy olive oil red wine vinegerate) and it's my perfect meal any time of day any season of the year..

This soup is my favorite and there are endless variations I keep trying on it. The recipe below is a slight adaptation of an old recipe I had posted earlier (but no new photos this time - what with a warm aroma of soup and garlic bread wafting your way sometimes all you can do is eat!). 

Recipe:(Serves 4-6)

edited slightly from Nov'2009 version here

2 fresh red peppers

2 tomatoes
1 jalapeno pepper
4 cloves of garlic - unpeeled
1/2 onion
Olive oil/salt/pepper
Pinch of thyme
Splash of heavy cream or whole milk (optional)
lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 420F. 
2. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet. 
3. Drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. 
4. Roast for 30-40 mins (or until well roasted -- you will know by blackened patches of skin on red pepper and onion would be browned a bit). In between once after 20 mins of roasting flip the vegetables over for uniform roasting.
5. Remove from oven and let cool.
6. Next remove the skin of the red pepper and tomatoes (it should easily come off after roasting). De-seed the red pepper and tomatoes. Place all the roasted vegetables in a blender alongwith water enough to make desired soup consistency. 
7. Puree the soup.
8. The soup may have a slightly raw taste even after roasting. To get rid of the rawness I transfer the blended soup to a pot; add a dash of heavy cream or whole milk, add pinch of thyme (or to taste); adjust seasonings of salt & pepper and let it simmer for 10mins on medium heat. 
9. Take the soup off heat; add lemon juice and serve with a nice toasted slice of french bread spread with some butter and garlic spread for an extra kick!