Walnut Burger

Burgers for me meant to be just the Boca Burger. But after exploring the web and cooking channels I found this yummy and very healthy burger which has become very common burger at my house. Its very simple to make and delicious. Of late I have tried a no. of burger's and am happy with so many choices for a vegetarian like me. Will post some of them in my next posts.

Ingredients:
1 Cup Walnut
1/2 Cup cooked Garbanzo beans(or 1 can)
1/2cup Mashed potato(I substituted for 1 egg)
1tsp Garam Masala
1/2tsp Chilli Powder(adjust to your taste)
salt to taste

1 Big burger bun
1 big Romane lettuce leaf
2 big slices of Tomato
1 slice of Red Onion

Method:
Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blend it till its coarse/mashed well to make a patty. Now divide it into 4 parts and make it 4 balls and pat a little bit. If the patties are a little moist, then refrigerate for 30 mins. Bake it on a indoor/outdoor grill for about 4 mins on each side. You can place a cheese slice on top of the patty at the end and bake it for a 1 min/till the cheese melts a bit. Bake the Burger Buns for a min so it doesn't get soggy when the patty is placed.
To arrange:

Take the bottom part of the bun and put a lettuce leaf and tomato and the patty on it. 1 or 2 slices of tomato and cover it with the top bun.dress it with tomato ketchup and mayonnaise.

Low-Fat Strawberry Parfait

Parfait is a simple but very easy dessert good in any season. I love strawberries so this is my favorite low-fat, no guilt dessert.

Courtesy: Giada-De-Laurentiis

Ingredients:

5-6 Strawberry chopped + 2 for decoration
1 cup Yogurt/Greek Yogurt
1 orange zest + juice
2tbsp Sugar
1tsp honey
1tsp chopped nuts
Mint for garnish
Method:
First make Greek yogurt if you don't have a store bought one.To do that, put a paper towel/coffee filter paper on a strainer/small colander with a bowl under it and refrigerate for 1-2hrs.So the water separates from the yogurt and you will get a thick and creamy Greek yogurt.

Then take the chopped strawberries in a non-stick pan with orange zest and juice. Add sugar and honey to it and bring it a boil and cool it. Now lets arrange to parfait. First put a big spoon of Greek yogurt in the bottom of the serving cup and let put 1 spoon of cooled strawberry syrup and then layer it with a spoon of yogurt. You can make any number of layers you want then top it with nuts and garnish with mint.

Note: you can substitute Greek yogurt with whipped cream or one layer Greek yogurt and one layer Whipped cream.

Sago/ Sabbakki Idly

I was cleaning my pantry and found some Sabbakki/Sago seeds. The only dish i knew with this was sabbakki payasa/Sago kheer, Which I wasn't in a mood to make but wanted to try something new with this. Upma is one more dish I know, but nobody likes that in my family. So I started my hunt and found this recipe on some blog, So I thought why not give it a try and ....it turned out so good and I liked it. So its a keep for sure.

Ingredients:

1cup Sabbakki/Sago seeds
1cup yogurt
1/2cup Fine sooji
cilantro leaves chopped
1tsp Oil
1/2tsp Mustard seeds
1/2tsp Urad dal
1/2tsp channa dal
1-2 green chillies chopped
salt to taste
3/4tsp ENO/fruit salt
Method:

Soak the Sago seeds in the yogurt overnight or at least 6 hrs with additional water if necessary. In a pan make tempering with oil, mustard seeds, urad dal, channa dal, green chillies and broken cashew nuts(optional), add sooji and roast it for couple of minutes. Cool it and add it to the tapioca-yogurt batter. Add chopped cilantro, salt and eno and mix well. pour it into Idly stand and steam it for 15 Min's. Enjoy with sambar/chutney of your choice. Eat it warm.It is similar to rava idli's but has a little taste of Sago seeds.

Spinach-Watermelon salad

This is a very simple and easy spring/summer salad. The color combination is superb and very inviting. It is indeed a refreshing salad with the orange vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

1cup Baby Spinach(You can do 1/2cup each of Spinach and Lettuce)
8-10 watermelon cubes/balls
1tbsp Walnut
1/2cup cooked Pasta

Vinaigrette:
1tbsp orange juice
pinch orange zest
salt & Pepper to taste
1tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

Method:
Put the spinach, watermelon, walnuts and cooked past a in a bowl and prepare the vinaigrette in a separate bowl and mix it before serving.

Spiderman Chocolate Cake

I saw this cake in Wendy's"Cake Space" and wanted to try out as I had some buttercream frosting sitting in my freezer. It was a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. My Son freaked out seeing it.

Spinach Pesto sauce

This is a very easy Pesto sauce with no cheese in it. It tastes wonderful and very healthy. Good thing about pesto sauce is you can make a lot and freeze it, so you will have it any time you need or its that simple that will not take much time.

Ingredients:

2cups Baby Spinach
1cup Walnuts
1/4cup Olive Oil
salt to taste
Pepper to taste

Method:
Grind the walnuts to a fine/coarse powder then add spinach and blend it. Add salt and Pepper and start grinding and slowly add olive oil till its well blended and fine paste is formed. Use it on any pasta or store it in an airtight container.

Note: Its easy in a food processor or a glass jar blender.

Fruit Spring roll

This is a no cook spring roll, so healthy and tasty. It can be served either as appetizer or as dessert.Its easy to make and it can be a game for the guests to do their spring rolls by themselves. These spring wraps/rolls are easily available in the Asian section of the supermarket. I usually have this in my pantry as they have a very long shelf life. All you do it get the filling ready and soak the roll sheets in water and stuff it. As simple as it sounds. Its yummy and even my son enjoyed it as it was filled with his favorite fruits.

Recipe Coutesy: "Everyday Italian "-Giada de Laurentis from Food Network.

Ingredients:

4 Spring Roll sheets
2-3 Strawberry
1 Mango
1tbsp Honey
Hand full of Rice Noodles
1tsp Chives/dill

Method:

Cook the Rice noodles and drain it and put it in a bowl. Add honey and chopped chives/dill and mix it well and keep aside. Now chop long strips of strawberries and mango . Now soak a sheet of spring roll sheet in warm water and when soft spread it on a kitchen towel and add the noodle mixture and mango and strawberry and roll it once and then the sides and roll again. You can dip it in honey or enjoy just like that.