Black Bean & Cucumber Salsa

Colorful, zesty and full of flavors, black bean & cucumber salsa is my go to salsa.  A few months ago I cooked a Mexican themed dinner for my friends. I made the  black bean & cucumber salsa to go with chips. While one of my friends gave us all a facial, (Yes, we do that kind of stuff ! ) we sipped wine and ate salsa.     My friend Tina loved this salsa instantly.  She wasn’t a fan of the hotter one I made with mangoes, but this she loved!  She has recreated this in her kitchen a few times since …

Almond Milk – homemade

For the world, Almonds are a healthy & tasty nut/seed.  For me they are a thing of pride, joy and memories. As a kid, I had a difficult time deciding if I wanted the long hard winter to end. While the end of winter meant that the dreary school will reopen its gates and herd me back in, it also meant the Almond trees will soon blossom and set my mind free. And it meant a picnic in the almond orchards would soon happen and I could just lay on the flowers and breathe their essence in and let myself …

Roasted Eggplant Dip – Baigan Bharta

Smoky, smoldering and clandestine. That has been my affair with the guy named clove, ever since we got together for the Alu matar Smokin’.  We have been meeting off and on, more on than off for he is just too irresistible.  What’s not to like in a guy who makes me look like I am the greatest cook?  He makes me look good, oh yes he does!  But since it is a brand new year and I really don’t want to keep him a secret anymore, I am declaring it out loud.  This is going to be the year of clove in …

Quinoa Pulav – 38 power foods

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has officially declared that the year 2013 be recognized as “The International Year of the Quinoa.” Proposed by the government of Bolivia and receiving strong support from many Central and South American countries, quinoa has now been singled out by the FAO as a food with “high nutritive value,” impressive biodiversity, and an important role to play in the achievement of food security worldwide. – Source WHF Some of the health benefits of Quinoa and why it is a power food:- Even though it is eaten as a grain, it …

Sweet potato soup – Indian inspired

  Sweet potatoes are one of the oldest vegetables known to man and of the most beneficial one as well. So for today’s power foods food blogging group, I made one of the comforting dishes known to human kind. Soup. Sweet potatoes are full of antioxidants, anti-inflammatory nutrients, and blood sugar-regulating nutrients. “Recent research has shown that particularly when passing through our digestive tract, sweet potato cyanidins and peonidins and other color-related phytonutrients may be able to lower the potential health risk posed by heavy metals and oxygen radicals” Source WHF . For this weeks power foods blog group, its the …

Mushroom Stir fry with green onions and cumin

  Mushrooms!! The hobbits were fond of them. The very sweet shy people of the shire. They loved their beer, their pipe and their food, especially mushrooms.  Every time I read the Lord of the Rings or watch the movies, I find myself cooking mushrooms in different ways. Until I finish watching the movies or reading the books, my kitchen witnesses a plethora of mushrooms. Yes, I did say every time. I read the book every couple of years  and watch the extended version of the movies at least once a year. It’s kind of like my forever story book and I …