Beetroot raita

 

A very simple raita and very colourful too. Mixing beetroot with curd is very eye-catching. I have a very vivid memory about the first time I saw this combo. I have a friend called Anitha. We studied together from 1st to 3rd std. Her grandma used to bring lunch box for her. We used to have lunch together. One day I noticed her eating beetroot poriyal with curd rice.  The curd rice turned into a beautiful pink colour and that scene is still in my mind. From that day onwards I started to love the combination of beetroot and curd rice. My mom taught me this dish very recently. As I love the curd and beetroot combo, I prepared this immeditaely. Definitely a tasty, healthy side-dish for pulaos. For young children this dish will be very attractive. You can scrap the beetroot, cook for 2 or 3 minutes and then mix with curd along with a few teaspoons of sugar. Sure they will ask for more :).

Beetroot has many health benefits. It is a rich source of betaine, a nutrient, which is important for cardiovascular health. Beetroot juice has been shown to reduce blood pressure thus reducing cardiovascular problems. So include lots of beetroot in your diet. Diabetic people should not include it often because of its high sugar content.

Ingredients :

Beetroot- 1 no 

Thick curd- a cup

Green chillies- 3 nos (finely minced)

Salt to taste

Method :

Cut the beetroot into bite sized pieces (depends on how you like, you can also scrap them). Then boil with 1/2 cup of water (you can also use it raw if you like). When all the water evaporates remove from fire and allow it to cool. When the beeroot cools down add them and minced green chillies to a cup of curd. Add enough salt and mix everything well. Beet root raita will be ready in a few minutes. Tastes very good with pulaos and very healthy too.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : Work out with your imagination. Add a teaspoon of chat masala or a 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper. How about minced coriander leaves? Whatever you like :). If your child like it sweet you can add sugar instead of green chillies and salt. Happy cooking !!!

Priya I tried making tomato rose and that is how I ended up with :)

Lemon couscous

This dish is very new for me. I tried it only recently. The reason for trying this dish is my friend and collegue named Sascha. He prepared a similar dish with couscous. The dish was very attractive for me because the individual coucous grains were seperate and they looked lovely. It tasted great too. Before, I have tasted couscous a few times but I did not like it. But Sascha's preparation was awesome and so I enquired about the recipe.  He explained to me how he prepared and I modified it to suit my Indian taste buds. Need not to say, the recipe turned out great. I have become a huge fan of it. Try it and  I am sure if you prepare it this way you will love it.

To say a few words about couscous, it is nothing but broken wheat which is processed in a special way. If you ask whether it is healthy.....I think all foods are healthy until you maintain your limits :). It has lots of selenium which is an anti-oxidant. It is low on fat. But it is more or less like a pasta and has a high glycemic index. Hence it is not suitable for diabetic people and non-diabetics can enjoy this ocassionally. It is a perfect dish  for young children to meet their extreme energy needs. This is how I prepared lemon couscous :

Ingredients :

Couscous- 1 cup

Water- 1 cup

Lemon- 1/2 of one lemon (depends on how big the lemon you use is, adjust according to your taste)

Onion- one small one or 4 pearl onions

Green chillies- 4 nos

Ginger- a very small piece

Fresh coriander leaves- 2 tbspns (minced finely)

Saffron- few strands (optional, for the colour)

Turmeric- 1/4 tspn
Mustard, jeers and channa dhal - 1/2 tspn each for tempering

Oil- preferably olive oil or seasame oil

Silvered almonds- 2 tbspns

Salt to taste

Method:

I used the quick-cook version of couscous. It gets cooked in a few minutes. Boil one cup of water. Switch off the stove. Squeeze in lemon juice, add 1 tablespoon of oil and few saffron strands to the boiled, piping hot water. Now empty one cup of couscous into the hot water and close the bowl with a plate. After 3 minutes open the bowl. Now the couscous would have absorbed all the water. With a fork stir well to make the couscous fluffy. Now heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a non-stick pan. When the oil becomes hot add channa dhal. When the channa dhal browns add mustard and jeera seeds. Let them splutter. Now add cut onions, green chilles, minced ginger pieces and turmeic powder. Saute for a minute. Add enough salt. Now empty the already cooked couscous in the pan. Switch off the stove and mix them well. Let it stand in that heat for sometime. Garnish with minced coriander leaves and silvered almonds. Very tasty lemon couscous will be ready to be served. Serve hot or cold.

Taste enhancing tips for this recipe : For one cup of couscous I used on cup of water. But remember that I used a quick-cook version. Make sure you too buy the same. The instruction on the packet said, for one cup of couscous add two cups of water. But when I first prepared like that it became sticky. So one cup of boiled water is enough to cook one cup of couscous. I added saffron for the colour it imparts. The main part is the amount of watre to use and I hope I clarified it. You need not have to cook the couscous for a longer time in the pan. Remember the couscous is already cooked. You are just tempering it with onions and other ingredients. The main point is to make the couscous fluffy and not mushy. If you succeed in it then the dish will turn awesome. Happy cooking !!! and have a beautiful week ahead!!

Rainbow fruit salad

 

I love rainbows because I love colours. Imagine a world without colours, dull and scary right?  Life is full of colours, blue sky, green plants, brown earth, flowers and fruits in almost all shades !!! We should thank GOD for making our lives sooooo colorful. 

The new ‘mantra’ in the world of  nutrition is eat rainbows everyday !!! Oops!! sorry :) , eat different coloured foods (if you could select foods containing 7 different shades, darker the best) everyday. When we think of different coloured foods naturally fruits come to our mind first. What gives the fruit its colour? There are certain plant chemicals called anthocyanins, anthoxanthins, carotenoids etc., (there are 1000s of such chemicals !!!) which gives fruit their respective colours. Phytochemicals are powerful anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants protect our body against harmful free radicals. Free radicals are substances that produce damage to our body and these anti-oxidants inactivate the free radicals. That is why anti-oxidants are important in our diet. Anti-oxidants  protect against cancer, heart-attck, neurological diseases and other age related disorders. Interested in knowing about the anti-oxidants much more please follow this link.

Spring is here and so are different variety fruits. So picked up a few varieties to make this colourful salad. It was a feast not only to our taste buds but also for our eyes. Rajender loves fruit salad made with custrad powder, milk and lots of sugar. But I hate to make fruit salad that way. They are sinfully delicious !!! with its extreme sugar content. So made a simple yet tasty salad with different coloured fruits, a teaspoon of honey and roasted pine nuts.  Seeing these different colours I thought of giving them the name ‘RAINBOW SALAD’. A healthy, cool salad for the hot summer !!!

Ingredients : 

This is upto you. Add whatever you like or whetever you get in your region.

I used :

Apple

Grapes ( two different colours)

Physalis

Blue berries

Plum

Peach

Musk melon

Kiwi

Strawberries

Pine nuts (If you do not get pine nuts in your region use the nut you love, roasted almonds too make a suitable accompaniment)

Honey- 1 tspn

Method :

Cut fruits into bite-sized pieces and mix them in a bowl. Serve chilled with a teaspoon of honey and roasted pine nuts. Pine nuts with fruits are really tasty and healthy. Happy blogging!!! and always ADD COLOUR TO YOUR LIFE !!! :)

This entry goes to Madhuri's