Curried Green Beans

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
2 cups of washed and chopped green beans
1 tsp of Olive Oil
Cumin Seeds for Seasoning
Mustard Seeds for seasoning
Curry Leaves for seasoning
IP Salt to Taste
1 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 1/2 tsp Corriander Powder
1 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1/2 tsp Tumeric Powder
1-2 tsp Lemon Juice
Chopped cilantro for Garnishing

Method:
1. Remove the ends of Green Beans, wash and chop them.
2. In a pan, heat olive oil and add Cumin and Mustard Seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add curry leaves and the chopped green beans and mix well.
3. Reduce the heat to low and cook the green beans by covering the pan. Do not add any extra water. Green beans get cooked by the condensation that forms when you close the pan with a lid.
4. Keep stirring it in between and once the green beans are almost cooked (about 9-10 mins depending on the quality of green beans) - add all the spice powders including salt and mix well.
5. Continue cooking until the green beans is well done.
6. Add Lemon juice and chopped cilantro and serve it hot.
7. You can serve it with Tofu like I have done in the picture or with IP Potato puree

Notes:
1. You have to cook this in low fire without any water, else the green beans will become soggy.
2. The curry leaves add a nice taste to the curry, so try to add that as much as possible. 

Egg Curry in Tomato and Garlic Gravy (Sauce)

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
6 boiled Eggs cut in half
4 cups of tomatoes chopped
3-4 Garlic Cloves
2 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Cumin Seeds
1 tsp Tumeric powder
1 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
1 1/2 tsp Cumin Powder
1 1/2 tsp Coriander Powder
IP Salt to taste
Chopped Cilantro for Garnishing

Method:
1. Heat a pan and add 1 tsp of Olive Oil. Add chopped tomatoes and garlic and cook well on medium heat until the tomatoes are completely cooked.
2. Let this cool down and come to room temperature. Blend this mixture in a blender or food processor with just a tad bit of water.
3. Heat the same pan with 1 tsp of Olive oil and put cumin seeds and all the spice powders and fry for a few minutes.
4. Add the blended tomato mixture and cook for a few more minutes.
5. Add the halved boiled eggs and ip salt and mix well gently.
6. Reduce the heat and cook for 5-6 minutes so that eggs absorb the spices.
7. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

This recipe creates two IP Servings of 2 cups of Vegetables and 6-7 ounces of protein when you eat three eggs with half of the sauce.

You can serve this with a IP potato puree pita bread if you so desire.

Notes:
1. You can add 1-2 tsp of splenda if you feel that the tomatoes are a bit sour. I personally like the slightly sour taste of tomatoes, so I did not add any splenda.
2. You can even reduce the tomatoes and add some spinach for a slightly different taste.
3. You can use this tomato gravy and add it to other vegetables as well like bell peppers and cauliflower. Just reduce the tomato to 1 cup and and another cup of vegetables. It is better to roast these vegetables first. I will post another recipe soon.
4. You can use canned sauce, but somehow the taste is much better with fresh tomatoes.

Tomato Rasam (Soup)

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
Tomato - 2 Medium (About 1 Cup == 7 oz)
2 Tsp Cumin Seeds
1 Tsp Whole Black Pepper
A Few Curry Leaves
1 Tsp of Granular Splenda
2 Tbsp Chopped Cilantro
Salt to Taste

For Seasoning:
1 Tsp of Olive Oil or Butter flavored Olive Oil
Mustard Seeds
A pinch of Hing

Method:
1. Boil the tomatoes with just enough water to cover them until you see the skin peeling.
2. Let the tomatoes cool. Peel the skin and mash them well. Add it back to the water you boiled them in.
3. After mashing, I took out the big chunks of tomatoes that I felt were too big and blended them well.
4. Dry Roast Cumin and Whole Pepper seeds and grind them into a powder. Add this powder to the mashed tomato mixture along with salt, splenda, curry leaves and cilantro and boil the mixture for a few minutes. Do not over boil it as it spoils the taste.
5. Heat oil in a small pan and add mustard seeds and hing and add the seasoning to the Rasam (soup) as soon as Mustard seeds splutter. Serve it Hot.
6. This makes perfect meal options for cold weather. Cumin and Black Pepper are good digestive aids as well. This entire serving will count as 1 cup of Vegetable serving for Ideal Protein.

Notes:
1. You can use Jaggery or Sugar instead of Splenda. Since, I wanted this to be Ideal Protein Friendly, I used Splenda.
2. You can use Ghee for Seasoning instead of olive oil. Again to keep it Ideal Protein Friendly, I used olive oil.

Baked Tofu and Vegetables

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 pkt of Extra Firm Tofu pressed for 20-30 mins
2 Cup of Green Beans (10.6 Ounces)
11/2 Cup of Baby Bella Mushrooms (5.1 Ounces)
1/2 Cup of Bell Peppers (2.6 Ounces)
6-8 Garlic Cloves
Red Chili Flakes and Salt to Taste

For the Sauce:
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tsp of Chili Paste
1 Tsp of Garlic Chili Paste
2 Pkts of Splenda
3 Tbsp of Low Sodium Soy Sauce

Method:
1. Press the tofu in a Tofu Press for at least 20-30 mins. Pat it with a paper towel and cut into 1 inch cubes.
2. Wash and cut the vegetables roughly. They need not be too fine. I did chop the big garlic cloves into a few smaller pieces.

3. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce in a bowl. You can taste it at this point and add more chili paste if need be.
4. Once sauce is to taste, mix the sauce with the tofu and vegetables, add salt and crushed red pepper flakes per your taste.
5. Heat the Oven to 400 Deg F.
6. Spray a glass baking dish with Olive Oil Spray.
7.Add the tofu and vegetable mixture into the glass tray and bake in the oven for 20-25 mins.

8. Baking time varies on the oven and also on how cooked you want the vegetables to be. You might see some water in the tray, that is from the vegetables, as you cook more, the water will get evaporated.

This recipe creates two servings of Ideal Protein Meal - about 7 ounces of Protein and 2 cups of vegetable for each serving. The Tofu weighed about 14 ounces after I pressed and chopped it into cubes.

Notes:
1. For this to be 100% Ideal Protein protocol, you can omit the Toasted Sesame Seed Oil.
2. You can replace the Splenda with brown sugar or agave nectar or sugar.
3. You can add any combination of Vegetables that you want.

Crispy Baked Tofu on Cauliflower Rice

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Rice:
1/2 Head of Cauliflower - Riced in food processor about 2 cups.
3 Garlic Cloves Minced
1 inch Ginger Minced
2 Baby Bokchoy Chopped roughly
1/8 tsp of Sea Salt
2 Tbsp of Water or Low Sodium Vegetable Broth

Tofu:
1 package of Extra Firm Organic Tofu

Sauce:
1.5 Tbsp of Olive Oil
1/4 cup of Low Sodium Soy Sauce
1 tsp of Garlic chilli paste
2 Tbsp of Walden Farms Maple Syrup
1 tsp of Lemon Juice
2 tsp of Splenda Granular

Method:
1. Mix all the sauce ingredients together and keep it aside.
2. Press the tofu to remove all the water using a Tofu Press. If you do not have one, you can put it in between paper towels and put some heavy weight on it like canned beans, to remove the excess water. You need to press it for at least 30 mins to remove all the water.
3. Pat the tofu dry, cut it into 1 inch pieces and then bake it in the oven at 400 deg F for about 25 mins.
3. Let the tofu cool for about 10 mins. Marinade it in the sauce for another 10 mins at least.
4. While the tofu is baking and cooling. You can rice the cauliflower.
5. In a pan add 1 tsp of Olive oil, add the minced ginger and garlic, saute for a few mins. Add the riced cauliflower and mix well. Add a 2 tbsps of water or vegetable broth and reduce the flame to medium low. Cook the pan and let the cauliflower rice steam well. It takes about 10 mins. Then increase the flame, add 2 tsp of the sauce and the chopped bok choy and stir well. Cook for a few more minutes.
6. Remove the rice into a bowl. Now, in the same pan add the marinated tofu and saute for a few minutes until browned. You do not need any oil for this. The marinade will help brown the Tofu.
7. Add the tofu on top of the fried rice, garnish with some chopped green onions and serve hot.

Notes:
1. You can add toasted sesame oil to the sauce for extra taste. I was trying to keep this Ideal protein friendly, so I did not add it.
2. You can also add Egg to the fried rice if you want. Since, I had tofu as my main protein, I did not add egg.
3. You can also add other vegetables like Bell Peppers, Spinach etc
4. It feels like this recipe requires a lot of time, but lot of this can be done before hand and then tossed together.
5. You can increase the "hot" factor of the sauce by adding more chilli paste per your taste.
6. Soy Sauce adds quite a bit of saltiness to the sauce, so I did not add extra salt to tofu.
7. You can substitute Honey or Agave Nectar instead of Walden Farms Maple Syrup.
8. You can serve the Tofu on white fried rice as well.

Basil Pesto without Cheese or nuts

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I love Pesto, but could not find any in store without cheese. So I did my own version at home.

Ingredients:
2 Cups Basil Leaves Washed
2 Cups of Baby Spinach Leaves Washed
2-3 Garlic Cloves
4 Tbsp Olive Oil
Lemon Juice from 1 Whole Lemon
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Sea Salt to Taste

Method:
1. In a food processor (with the chopper blade attached), blend the basil, spinach, garlic well.
2. Then add lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Mix well again.
3. With the food processor on, slowly add the Olive oil until it is all mixed well.
4. You can use this as sauce on Zucchini Noodles or use it on Cauliflower Crust Pizza.

Notes:
1. I added Spinach because it gives a bit more body to the pesto as we are not adding any cheese or nuts.
2. Basil normally turns dark green after pulsing. Spinach keeps it more green looking.
3. You can reduce or increase olive oil based on how liquid you want your pesto to be.

Cauliflower Pizza Base

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups of Cauliflower Rice
1/3 Cup Egg White
1/4 Tsp Onion Salt
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp of Italian Seasoning
1 Tsp of Olive Oil
Additional Sea Salt to Taste

Method:
1. Cauliflower Rice is regular cauliflower florets pulsed to rice form in a food processor or blender. I measure two cups after ricing the cauliflower in raw state.
2. Put this in a microwave cup, sprinkle some water and microwave for 5 mins. You do not need to add a lot of water as Cauliflower will leave water as it gets cooked.
3. After the Cauliflower has cooled down a bit, put it in a cheese cloth and squeeze out as much water as you can. This is a very important step to get a good crust. Since, we are not using any flour or cheese as binders, the crust will not hold well together if there is too much water.
4. After you have squeezed as much water as you can, put it in a bowl. Add all the remaining ingredients including egg white. Mix well.
5. I used a non stick Aluminium foil spread on a baking tray. Put the mixture on it and pat it together into a circle (or whichever shape you want). You do not want it to be too thick or thin. Mine infact was a bit too thin this time. Maybe about 1/8 inch thickness should be good.
6. Bake it at 350 deg F for about 12-15 mins, until you see the edges browning. Now Flip it gently and bake the other side for about 3-5 mins.
7. Let is rest for a bit outside and then you can use it.

Notes:
1. I wanted to keep to 2 cups of vegetable per my Ideal Protein diet, so I used 1 1/2 cups of Raw Cauliflower Rice and the other half cup was my toppings. But if you are not following that, you can increase the quantity and make more than one or more thicker crust.

Egg Salad stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers

(From Banu's Cook Book)

Ingredients:
1 cup of Mini Sweet Peppers (It came to around 5 for me - depends on the size)
1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup of Dill Relish (Recipe for my Homemade Dill Relish is here)
3 Hard boiled Eggs
WF Mayo Garlic Chilli Sauce
Cilantro for Garnishing

Method:
1. Hard Boil the eggs. Peel them and chop them fine.
2. In a bowl, combine the chopped hard boiled eggs, chopped onion and the relish. Mix well. The salt in the relish was good enough for me and I did not add any extra salt.
3. Cut the top of the mini peppers and then cut them lengthwise in half. Remove the seeds. Fill them with the Egg salad.
4. Drizzle the WF Mayo Garlic Chilli Sauce and sprinkle some cilantro.
5. The sweet crunchiness of the mini peppers are a good background for this egg salad.

WF Mayo Garlic Chilli Sauce

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp of Walden Farms Mayo
1 - 2 Tbsp of Pickle Juice (This is the water from the pickle jar)
1/4 Tsp of Garlic Chilli Sauce
A bit of Lemon Juice

Method:
Mix all the ingredients together well and the sauce is ready.

Notes:
1. Walden Farms Mayo is very sweet for my taste. So the garlic chilli and pickle juice cuts through the sweetness and makes it tastier. You can even add just regular chilli paste or hot sauce or even Red curry paste.
2. This is the brand of Garlic Chilli Paste that I used. You can get it in most grocery stores.

3. You can pulse the eggs in food processor if you like a more smooth egg salad.

Homemade Relish from Dill Pickles

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I was looking for some Relish in stores, but they all had added sugar in them. So, I decided to do my own version at home.

Ingredients:
3-4 Mini Dill Pickles (No salt added Variety)
1/4 cup of Roasted Red Peppers
1/4 tsp of Yellow Mustard (Optional)

Method:
Put all the ingredients into a food processor and pulse until they are well blended. It will not be a smooth mixture, but a bit coarse.

This stores well in the fridge for about a week.

Notes:
1. You can roast your own red bell pepper at home, I used the bottled ones that you get in store.
2. You can skip Yellow Mustard or add Honey Mustard instead if you want a more sweeter taste.
3. The sweetness was perfect for me due to the roasted red pepper, but you can add some Splenda or sugar, if you prefer more sweet relish.
4. I have not tried freezing this.
5. If you use regular size pickles, then adjust the other ingredients accordingly.

Spinach Soup with Edamame Patties

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Sharing the recipe for my dinner and as I was writing the blog post, I realized that it was two recipes. Since they were both so easy, I am putting both of them here.

Spinach Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups of tightly packed spinach (Washed, rinsed and patted dry)
1/2 Cabbage head - Chopped roughly
1 Yellow Squash - Chopped roughly
1 Cup of Red Onion
2-3 Pinches of Nutmeg
2-3 Green Chilies
2-3 Garlic Cloves
2-3 Tsp of Olive Oil
Water to boil
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan. Add the chopped onion, green chilies and Garlic and saute until Onion is translucent.
2. Add the nutmeg powder and mix well.
3. Add Cabbage, Yellow squash and Spinach. Mix well. Add about 2 cups of water just enough to cover the veggies and boil them well under medium fire. I covered the pot and cooked them well.
4. Let it cool a little bit and then puree them in the blender with salt. Make sure that the mixture is not too hot when you are pureeing it. With the measurement I have given, I was able to do it in one batch, but you might have to do it in couple of batches.
5. Return the pureed mixture back to pan and boil for a few mins. I added 1/2 tsp of olive oil when I was boiling it.
6. Serve it hot with black pepper.

Notes:
1. You can add other vegetables like Kale, Tomato etc.
2. You add some butter in the very end instead of olive oil to get a more richer taste.

Edamame Patties

Ingredients:
1 12oz bag of shelled frozen edamame
1/4 Chopped White Onion
1/4 cup of Cilantro
3-4 Garlic cloves
1 inch of Ginger
2-3 Tsp of Red Pepper Flakes
1 Egg
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Pressure cook the Edamame Beans until they are fully cooked.
2. In a food processor - add 2/3 of the cooked bean and all the ingredients and blend it until you get a smooth paste.
3. Chop the remaining edamame seeds roughly, mix it with the paste.
4. On a parchment paper, spray some oil, form small patties out of this mixture. It will not be very tight mixture as there is no binding element like bread crumbs. Just form the best shape you can.
5. Bake at 375 deg temp for about 20-25 mins, flipping them once in the middle.
6. Serve it hot with some Walden Farms Fat Free Honey Dijon Dressing. You can use salsa, ketchup or any other dressing of your choice. Or eat it dressing free :))

Notes:
1. You can add bread crumbs and make it like regular burger patties.
2. If you add breadcrumbs, you can pan fry it as well.
3. You can broil the patties at the very end to make it more crispier.
4. I made 11 patties out of this. Each had 2g of carbs, 40 Calories each and 3g of protein.