Tofu Ravioli

Ravioli is an Italian dish, which is mainly a stuffed Pasta. Its a delicate and a very refreshing dish.This Ravioli dish is so easy and can be made anytime, if the stuffing is ready. Here I have used Won-ton wrappers as the base.They are readily available in the super-market, so just fill the stuffing and steam it for couple of minutes and dress it with the sauce and its ready to eat. This Tofu stuffing was so yummy and tasty that you will not go to any fancy restaurant anymore. I am actually looking forward to make them again.

Ingredients:

1 pkg won ton wrappers (or vegan pasta dough rolled out)
1 cup extra firm tofu
1/2 cup fresh spinach finely chopped
5-10 mushrooms chopped
1/2 a red bell pepper finely chopped
1 large Onions or scallions chopped fine
1/3 c. gr sunflower seeds (use spice grinder-optional)[I didn't us it]
4-6 sun dried tomatoes soaked in boiling water
3-4 baby carrots finely grated
3 Tbsp yeast
1 tsp crushed rosemary
2-3 cloves garlic crushed
splash of lemon juice
Milk to thin
fresh cracked pepper to taste
sea salt to taste

Tomato sauce
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1 medium Onion chopped
2 cups Canned Tomatoes no salt added
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 tsp Oregano dried
1/2 tsp Basil dried
1/2 cup Vegetable Broth (Stock)
2tbsp Tomato Paste
1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper
Directions:

First put all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend it well. Now heat a pan with a tsp of olive oil and saute the sauce till it gets thick and all the water is evaporated. Keep aside and let it cool a bit.

Mill sunflower seeds into meal consistency then set aside.Drain sun dried tomatoes and finely chop.Blend sliced tofu, lemon juice, sea salt, yeast and milk until ricotta like consistency in a food processor. Finely dice tomatoes, red peppers, and chives. Blend with tofu mixture by hand with a fork just until well mixed. In a small bowl combine tofu mixture with remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined. Now heat a tsp of olive oil in a frying pan and add this mixture and fry it for 5-6 minutes set aside and cool it.

Place a 1 Tbsp of mixture in center of won ton wrapper. Wet(I brushed fat free milk on the wrappers,you can use just water/butter too), crimp and seal edges of wrapper Securely (or the wrapper will open in the pan and contents will spill out). Cook a few(8 minutes on each side) at a time in your vegetable steamer making sure to not crowd pan or they will stick to each other and be gluey. Keep warm on a covered dish while the remainder cook. Toss with a bit of olive oil when they are cooked to prevent sticking.Top with a little fresh chopped parsley or cilantro, sauce and Parmesan cheese as desired.

I am sending this post to Jyothi's First Event "Pasta Party".

Corn-Methi Baked Cutlets

Cutlets baked is somewhat not digestible right?...I felt the same way when i saw this recipe in Parita's blog. Thanks Parita for this recipe but I fell in love for 2 main reasons 1. Being the photography 2. Being "baked". Now a days I so freak out of deep fried....'baked' sound makes me feel good and light. Cutlets are my all time favorite snack, as its healthy because of lots of vegetables in it. This is a very simple and easy to make cutlets. It can be deep fried or shallow fried but I chose to stick with the baked part. Mine became a little bland as I reduced the quantity of spices in it but it will be yummy if its spicy. So follow the exact amount of spices in the recipe.

Ingredients:

1cup Boiled and mashed potato
1/2cup Fresh Methi leaves(chopped)
1/2cup Sweet corn
2tbsp Bread crumbs +2tbsp (for rolling it)
2 green chillies finely chopped
1tsp sugar(i skipped it)
1tsp chat masala
1tsp lime juice
salt to taste

Method:

Mix everything other than 2 tbsp bread crumbs for rolling. Make a nice dough,add extra bread crumbs if the dough is too soft. Divide into equal 8 parts and make small balls out f it and flatten it flat. Now roll each cutlet in the bread crumbs(i used regular bread crumbs as i didn't have coriander bread crumbs) and place it on a greased baking sheet and spray cooking spray on the top as well and bake at 400*F for 15 Min's on each side. Enjoy it hot with a green chutney or ketchup.

[Note: These cutlets can be used as Patty in the burgers.]

Bisi Bele Bath (2 versions)

Bisi Bele Bath is a kannada term which means Hot lentil Rice. Its one of the tasty rice and everyone loves it.Its a rich and heavy food as it has a combination of both Rice and dal. My son loves this and he calls it BBBath. Its been a while since I made it at home as I am on a strict diet.

My New year resolution(lol) is to shed some weight and its been going on good and I am happy that I am able to keep up my first resolution for the year. So I am in hunt of just good, healthy food and under 400 calories.So obviously BBB is not under 400 calories or you can't stop with just few spoons. Then today suddenly i realized of experimenting it with cracked wheat which is one of my common food now a days. As we all know wheat is healthier than Rice and I wasn't disappointed. It was very tasty and I loved it. I have even tried doing Pulao, Pongal and kheer.All are yummy and tasty.Will post those recipe soon.

Ingredients:

Regular BBB
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1 cup Rice
1/2cup Toor Dal
1tbsp MTR BBB powder
1tsp Tamarind paste
1/2tsp jaggery
salt to taste
1cup vegetables(beans, carrot, peas,speckled beans, lima beans, potato)
1/2cup Onion and Bell peppers

For tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp mustard seeds
1/2tsp urad dal
1tsp Peanut
3-4 curry leaves
pinch of hing

Method:

Cook the Toor dal in the pressure cooker. Now a deep frying pan heat 1/2tsp oil and saute onions and bell peppers till its soft(by frying these seperately it stays crispier and bell peppers give a nice taste in BBB) and keep aside. Now take the cooked dal in the same pan and boil it and add vegetables, masala powder, tamarind paste, salt and jaggery. Once it boils for 2-3 mins then add rice and keep adding boiling water(always add boiling water to BBB so u dont vary the temperature and the taste remains the same) to get to a consistency. Once the rice is cooked add onion and bell peppers and tempering and boil once and serve with Raita.

[Note: By adding the onion and bell pepper in the final keeps them crisp and dosent melt with so much of boiling. You can even add everything and pressure cook it, but cooking in an open vessel has a different taste.(This is my mom's tip)]
BBB with Cracked Wheat.
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(substitute rice with cracked wheat the rest remains the same)
Ingredients:
1/2cup cracked wheat
1/4 cup toor dal(even less will do)
The rest follow the above ingredients.

Method:

Roast the cracked wheat with a little oil in the pan till u get a nice aroma out of it. then add the dal, vegetables, masalas, tamarind, jaggery,salt , tempering and cook till the wheat is cooked and the consistency is reached.Serve hot with Raita and baked Chips.
[Note: 1/2 cup is quite a filling for 1 person.]

Heerekai Huli towe/ Chinese Okra Dal

"Heerekai Huli towe" is one of favourite towe's and my mom makes it perfect and tasty.Here I have tried to reach her level, but can never match Mom's cooking. For this the Heerekai/Chinese Okra should be fresh and tender, so it gives a nice taste. It can be substituted with any other vegetable, I even do it with Cabbage. Its a thick Dal, so it goes well with Chapati/ Rice. If eating with Rice add a spoon of peanut oil and it tastes yummy! but if you are dieting you can skip that, simple.

This post is to one of my Good, First and Family friend in USA. She always calls me and prepares this recipe when she wants to make it. On her demand I am putting this Recipe, Here you go Shilpa.

Ingredients:

1/2cup Toor Dal
1 big Heerekai/Chinese Okra
1tsp Tamarind paste
1tsp Rasam Powder
a little jaggery

For Tempering:
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
3-4 curry leaves
a pinch hing
Method:

Pressure cook the Dal for 3 whistles. Peel the Chinese okra and cut into cubes and cook in a boiling water for couple of minutes till its cooked.[It can be pressure cooked but it melts by the time the Dal is done]. With a little water add the cooked Dal, rasam powder, salt to taste, tamarind paste, jaggery and boil for few minutes and add the tempering and serve hot.

Minestrone soup

Minestrone soup is one of my families favorite soup.Its so delicious, healthy and filling on a chilly evening. Whenever we go to Olive Garden restaurant, this is a must order. I wanted to try this at home to make it more healthy and enjoy it whenever we need it.So i found a perfect recipe almost similar to the restaurant taste. Only thing I came to know was they add Red wine to the soup, which is bad news for a non-alcoholic person like me. But Red wine is very good for health and a similar drink is used in Ayurveda so I am kinda o.k with it once in a while. Since it requires lot of ingredients it needs a little preparation before hand. Its good for kids as its filled with vegetables and pasta.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp Olive oil
1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 cup Zuchhini chopped
1/2 cup Italian Green beans (frozen)
1/4 cup Celery minced (about 1/2 stalk)
4 tsp Garlic minced(about 4 cloves)
4 cups Vegetable Broth
2 (15 ounce) cans/soaked Red Kidney beans
2 (15 ounce) cans small white beans, drained
1 can(14 ounce) diced tomato or fresh tomato diced
1/2 cup carrots shredded
2 tbsp Parsley fresh minced
1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Dried Basil
1/4 tsp Dried thyme
3 cups Hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup Small Shell Pasta

Method:

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency.Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings. Finally add Parmesan cheese on top and serve with Garlic bread.

Note: Make a pot full so it last for a week, as it stays good in fridge .

Wilton course III final cake

This is my final cake the Wilton Cake decoration course III,I enjoyed it so much and was happy that I took it by jumping course II(as they had to cancel because of less no. of students in the class).We had a option to make a stacked cake or a 2 tiered cake, I chose stacked cake.Now am planning to do the course II all by myself without a class, as some of them have done it a and says its not that hard if you follow the book.May be now i have an idea will give it a try and if it doesn't work out then will take up a course. In this final class there was nothing to learn but to put everything that we learn in the previous 3 classes together. It was fun and i was so happy that it turned out more than I expected. I still remember the day I put my hands of doing the fondant and rolling them...guff that was a hard day.
I had lot of fondant left out from my previous cake so had refrigerated and reused for this class. It was much easy. So I learnt something that always make fondant way ahead you make a cake so it saves lot of your time and energy. I colored the fondant yellow for a change, made lots of Petunia flowers in peach color and some white Butter cream icing for the decorations like the Rossete, dots and strings.

Happy New Year 2010!

I wish all my blogger friends a very Happy, Safe and Blessed New year 2010!