Raspberry Vodka

I had a really good weekend. I spent the entire Saturday crocheting and then there was frozen yogurt on Sunday.  A good weekend certainly deserves a good cocktail, don't you think?

Raspberry Vodka


Ingredients: (makes one drink)

• 1/4 cup raspberries
• 2 tsp sugar
• 4 Parts Absolut Vodka
• 2 Parts Triple Sec
• Tonic water

In a pot mix the raspberries with 2 tsp of sugar and add 1/4 cup of water. Let it come to boil on , use a fork to break the fruit. This process took about 7-10 minutes. Let it cool for few minutes.Strain the juice in a glass filled with ice. Add the Vodka, the Triple Sec and top it off with some Tonic Water. And finally enjoy!

p.s I you have raspberry juice, you can make this drink in 1 minute?

The one with the pinapple slicer

Two years ago Prakhar came home with a pineapple slicer from work. He told me his female co-workers convinced him that this is something he should buy. Not only did I judge him but I also made fun of him. Best part of being married to him. The next day I bought a pineapple, and decided to test this slicer. Turns out it's pretty damn good and impressive. Whoever thought of this is geeenius. That year we ate a lot of pineapples and drank a lot of pineapple smoothies & daiquiris. Since the sun decided to shine this weekend with temperatures in the 50s, I decided it's time to take out the slicer from hibernation.

Pineapple coconut smoothie

• 1 cup fresh pineapple cubes
• 1/2 cup coconut milk 
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt

Blend everything in a blender, add water if too thick and you're done! 
 

Greek Yogurt Guacamole

I only have three words for this post...I Love Guacamole!

Ingredients 

• 2 Avocados 
• 4 tbs greek yogurt
• 1/2 onion
• Cilantro
• 1 garlic
• 1/2 Jalapeno
•  Lemon juice
• Salt & Pepper

Mash avocados in a bowl and mix in Greek yogurt. Chop onion, cilantro, jalapeno, and garlic in the food processor and mix it with avocados and Greek yogurt. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Enjoy with baby carrots and celery!

Easy Pumpkin Spice Latte

I absolutely love pumpkin spice latte. I wait for it all year long. When it's cold outside, pumpkin latte sounds good right? I made my own version over the weekend and it was pretty good.

1. Mix coffee, cinnamon and latte mix in a cup
2. Add hot (not boiling) water and whisk until dissolved. I used a frother.
3.  In a pan start to heat milk, do not boil. Froth milk until foamy.
4. Add the hot milk and foam in the cup and dust
5. ENJOY!!

Chakchouka

I received this awesome cook book called River Cottage Veg from some awesome people. There are so many things that I want to make and most probably I'll try to make everything since it IS vegetarian cook book. This particular recipe is easy and comforting. Slowly cooked peppers in smoked pepperika and saffron makes the entire home smell heavenly. And did I mention eggs are involved?? If a savory dish with egg is not comforting then I don't know what is. I even got to use my clay pots! I hope you enjoy this North African stew (Chachouka) as much as I did.

Chakchouka

• 3 tbs olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 large onion (halved and sliced)
• 1 crushed garlic clove
• 1 each red, yellow and orange Ramiro peppers (cut in long thin strips)
• 1 can (14oz) can tomato (chopped)
• 1/2 tsp hot smoked peprika (i used 1tsp)
• pinch of saffron 
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350F.  Heat oil in large (oven proof) pan over medium heat. Add the cumin seeds and let them fry for a minute. Now add onions and cook gently for 8-10 minutes. They should get golden. Add the garlic and pepper and continue to cook them on low heat for 20 or so minutes. Once the peppers become soft and wilted, add peprika and crumble in the saffron. Now add entire can of tomatoes including the juice. Season with salt and pepper.Cook for another 10-15 minutes, taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.Now if you're using over proof pan, make four dimples in the pepper and tomatoes, crack an egg into a saucer and carefully pour into a well, repeat with the three other eggs. Sprinkle each egg with a little salt and pepper. Since the pan I used was not oven proof, this was my chance to finally use the clay cooking pots I received as gift. You can also use a baking dish. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the egg white is set and the yolk still runny. It took me 12 minutes. Basically I watched it like hawk, I had come too far to screw up plus this was our only dinner option. Once done, enjoy with bread or pita bread!!

Granola Bars

I've been meaning to make my own granola bars for the longest time. For various reasons (missing ingredients, laziness) I never got to it. Two weeks ago things changed. I was staring at the pantry deciding what to make for dinner and it hit me...bam! I had everything in there to make granola bars...so I made granola bars for dinner. can you say #bestwife?

This recipe is easy and measurements can be approximate and substitutions are okay. easy right?

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup roughly chopped almonds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 1/2 cups dates
1/2 cup chopped apricots
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped dried mango
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
2 tbs of flax seed powder

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Toast oats, almonds and coconut for 10-12 minutes. Toss often. Once done, remove from the oven and let it cool.

In a food processor crush dates. They will turn into paste like texture.

Add everything in large bowl and mix. Add more honey if needed. You'll have to get your hand dirty with this one.

Line a pan with parchment paper and spread the mixture. I wrapped my hand in saran wrap to flatten everything out. Score for easy cutting and leave it in the fridge to set it. And enjoy!

Husband and co-workers approved. I hope you do too!

Lotus Root Fries

Soooo.....yeah, I've been kind of MIA? Sorry about that! Last week I was grocery shopping (exciting stuff is happening around here—hence the absence!) and I saw someone buying lotus root. I've never seen or heard of it. So I asked the person buying it few questions. She told me that she is planning to use it in Asian food. So I bought one. I wasn't really sure what to do with it but I decided to cut it open and see what i'm up against. It reminds of potato, except crunchier. One thing i've learned from watching countless hours of TV is that everything tastes good fried...so I made fries. This vegetable is pretty! I mean look!

 right??? I dipped them in flour (add salt and pepper to the flour for some taste) and fried for few minutes until golden brown. Sprinkle with some lemon juice and chaat masala (if you don't have any then salt, pepper and garlic would work too). Sprinkle some parsley and enjoy!! I recommend some ice cold beer and burger.  But by the time I got the beer, the fries were gone...so yeah Enjoy!

Summer Salad

I walked into the kitchen with some solid plans to make Mexican food for dinner. After staring at the fridge for good 5 minutes, I ended up making one of the best salads. Unfortunately I did not write down the recipe but I will give you list of the ingredients.

Ingredients 

Salad:

-Arugula

-Apple (thinly sliced)

-Orange segments

-Crumbled Paneer

-Croutons ( I made them out of leftover olive focaccia bread)

Salad Dressing:

-Soy sauce

-Orange juice (about half tbs)

-Orange marmalade (optional)

- Fresh ginger juice ( I used garlic press) 

-Olive oil

Grownup kid

If you're a Pinterest addict like me, then i'm sure you've heard of Poptails? These adult version of Popsicle are awesome. I want to give a big bear hug to whoever thought of this.

Every morning I make breakfast smoothie. It's easy, fast and healthy. It fills me up till lunch time and I avoid eating junk that other people in the office bring in. I had some extra pineapple juice left over from the morning so I thought added some coconut milk and some vodka and you have what cool kids call poptails. Now that's what I call breakfast for dinner.You're welcome.

Bagels

Two weeks ago on Friday night I craved for bagels next day...I know what you're thinking. Who the hell craves anything for next day right? ummm I do cause I'm odd like that. Anyways I knew I wanted bagels for breakfast but I also knew that I was not going to drive anywhere to get them and I also knew that Prakhar was not going to go either. So I thought I can make them! And I think Google knew what I was thinking because the very first search result was this tutorial...I mean common step by step with pictures??? I'm not going come up with my own recipe when brilliant Kenzi already did that for me. I mean why reinvent the wheel right? So thank you Kenzi for this. You rock!

Let's just say there is something amazing about homemade fresh warm bagels.

Watermelon Lime

These days the weather can be summarized in two words-Hot and Humid. Of course I'm sitting inside with the AC blasting and a blanket because it's too cold. Physically I maybe freezing but the weather guy said it's going to 95F+ humid so my mind is in "it's too hot" mode. On a day like this I want more than just cold glass of water. If you are avoiding Beer because you are on a "diet", I suggest you make yourself nice cold glass of watermelon lime.

Ingredients

• Watermelon cut into pieces
• Ice
• Juice of half lime (make sure this is fresh)
• Pinch of salt
• Seltzer water/tonic water

Crush watermelon and ice in a blender. Pour the mix in tall glass 3/4 way full. Top it off with tonic water. Add lime juice and salt. Mix and enjoy!

Fresh Mango Cake

To me summer means mangoes and mangoes mean grandma's house. My love for mango is as deep my love for wine. This fruit is so versatile that you can eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert! I've been making lots of smoothies lately and I thought cake!

Fresh Mango Cake

Ingredient

• about 1 cup of fresh mangoes (chopped and mashed, don't mash it completely)
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup sugar (if the mangoes are super sweet, you can add less)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tbs rose water ( you can use vanilla extract too)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cup of flour
• 1 cup white chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. 
2. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed mangoes in a large mixing bowl. 
3. Mix in the sugar, egg, and rose water 
4. Add the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. 
5. Add the flour, mix until it is just incorporated. 
6. Fold in the white chocolate chips 
7. Pour mixture into a prepared baking pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes. Check for with a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done. Cool on a rack. 
8. Drizzle some honey (optional) and enjoy!! 

 

Sweet Potato Chalupa

My love for Taco Bell needs a whole another post. I'm also guilty of saving their Fire sauce. I've been looking for a good Chalupa recipe for the longest time. I had an idea but I couldn't figure out how to get the flaky crust with out making them so crispy. When I found this recipe I knew I had to try (see...answer to all your life's problems are on the internet).

Roasted sweet potatoes:

• 2 cups of cubed sweet potatoes
•  1 tbs of Mexican seasoning
• 1 1/2 tbs of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• salt
• black pepper
• 1/2 tsp of garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp of oregano 

combine sweet potato with all of the seasoning. Spread equally in a baking sheet making sure not to crowd the potatoes. Bake for 25-35 minutes.

Assemble the Chalupas using refried beans, tomatoes, onion, roasted sweet potatoes & parsley. Top with your favorite taco sauce or salsa and enjoy! you can even add guacamole and/or sour cream. I mean possibilities are endless. Enjoy!

Diablo Cookies

Have you ever been in a situation where you're watching TV- Food TV & Cooking channel to be exact- and  you want that food right then?!? If so then this post is dedicated to you my friends. TacoFino Cantina in Tofino, British Columbia was featured on Eat Street. As I was watching this show I was thinking two things. 1. We really need to visit BC like now and 2. Until I do I must make these addictive cookies. Since BC is really far and there's scary blizzard called Nemo* outside my only option was to make these bad boys. These are really good. The cayenne pepper hits you after 10 seconds of biting into the cookie but it's good. I mean these are REALLY REALLY GOOD! I'm not kidding...TacoFino you rock!

I followed the recipe here. I recommend that you let the dough sit for few minute before baking. Enjoy!

* Dear person in charge of naming blizzards....please don't use names of any cute characters.