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.

Roasted Corn and Tomato Soup

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 lb of Frozen Corn
1 and 1/2 boxes of Cherry Tomatoes
4-6 Garlic Cloves
4 Cups of Vegetable Broth
1 Large Onion Chopped
1 8 Oz Bottle of Roasted Red Bell Peppers
2-3 Tsp of Chipotle Chillie Powder
2-3 Tsp of Paprika
Freshly Ground Pepper
Salt to Taste
Oil for cooking
Chopped Cilantro for Garnishing

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 425 deg F. Line a baking tray with Aluminum Foil. Spread the corn on the tray, add the cherry tomatoes and garlic cloves on top.
2. Drizzle oil on this. Sprinkle some salt and freshly ground pepper. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes until the tomato skin starts getting wrinkly and the corn looks roasted. Corn wont become brown or anything.
3. Drain the Roasted Red Bell Peppers and chop them.
4. In a Pan, add some oil. Saute the Onion until they are translucent. Add the chili powders, salt and the roasted red pepper. Saute for a few minutes.
5. Keep a little bit of the roasted corn for garnishing.
6. Add the vegetable broth, roasted corn and tomato mixture and bring it to a boil.
7. Once it starts boiling, reduce the temp to Low Medium, cover the pot and cook the mixture for about 20 minutes.
8. Let it cool for a few minutes and blend it into a smooth mixture using a blender. For this mixture, I had to blend it twice.  It is very IMPORTANT that you remove the small cap on the blender lid to let the steam out and you can cover that hole with a paper towel to prevent splatters.
8. Serve it hot with Chopped Cilantro, freshly ground pepper and a little roasted corn.

Notes:
1. This soup tastes a bit better if you use fresh corn. You have to scrap the kernels from fresh corn. You will need about 3 cups of corn kernels. You have to be careful when scraping the corn as you do not want the underlying fiber as it can make the soup taste bad.
2. You can use any kind of tomatoes - vine, roma etc. I just happen to like the Cherry tomatoes and the slight sourness they add to the soup.
3. You can roast your own Red Bell Pepper. You cut the top off, remove the seed, cut it open so that you can spread it out, brush some olive oil on the skin and bake until the skin starts blackening and peeling off. Then you just peel the skin, chop it and use it just like the bottled one.
4. You can use an immersion blender if you like those and blend the soup right in the pot. I just happen to use the blender because that is what I have.

Tomato and Wheat Flour Dosa (Crepe)

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Rice Flour
4 Medium Tomatoes
1 Medium Onion Chopped Fine
1/4 Cup of Chopped Cilantro
4-5 Green Chillies Chopped (or more per taste)
Salt to taste
Oil for Cooking

Method:
1. Sift the wheat and rice flour along with the salt.
2. Puree the tomatoes in a food processor or blender.
3. Add the tomato puree to the flour mixture and mix well. Add more water to bring it to a pouring consistency. It should not be too watery but not too solid either.
4. Adjust salt if needed as you are adding some water.
5. Add chopped onions, green chillies and cilantro.
6. Heat a non stick pan or a cast iron pan, pour a ladle of the crepe mixture. Cook on both sides with oil.
7. Serve it hot with some pickle, chutney or jam on the side.

Notes:
1. You can cover the Dosa/Crepe on one side to hasten the cooking process.
2. You can avoid rice flour if you do not want to use it. Does not change the taste much. Texture might be a bit more softer without rice flour.
3. I like the taste of Onion when eating the Dosa, so I chop it and add it. But if you do not, you can chop it extra fine in the food processor before adding it.

Raspberry Cake

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 Cup of All Purpose Flour
1/2 Tsp of Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp of Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1/2 Stick of Unsalted Butter Softened
2/3 Cups of Sugar
2 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup of Light or Fat free Sour Cream
1/2 Tsp of Vanilla Essence
1 1/2 cups of Fresh Raspberry
1 Tablespoon of Sugar for Sprinkling on top
Oil/Butter for Coating the Cake Pan
Flour for Dusting the Cake Pan

Method:
1. Heat the Oven to 400 deg F while making sure that the rack is in the middle of the oven.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Keep it aside.
3. In a bowl start mixing/beating together the softened butter and sugar. The mixture will be a bit dry, but you will start to see the butter to start changing color. So beat for about 2 mins or so until you see the mixture become kind of pale and a bit fluffy.
4. Now add the two eggs, vanilla essence and beat for couple more minutes until everything is well blended and the mixture is a bit frothy.
5. Add the sour cream and mix well.
6. Now add the flour mixture slowly while mixing it. I would suggest doing this with a spatula, but if you are using a mixer or handheld mixer, then do it at the lowest setting possible.
7. Once all the flour mixture has been folded in, pour it into a greased and floured cake pan.
8. Add the Raspberry fruit on top of the cake batter and sprinkle some sugar on top of it.
9. Now bake this for about 25-30 mins until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. It took about 28 mins for mine. I had done it in a 9 inch square cake pan.
10. Take out and let it cool for at least 10 mins before cutting, My Raspberries were sour, so the tartness from the berries along with the sweet and crumbly cake was perfect.

Note:
1. You can use milk or buttermilk instead of Sour cream, but the texture does not come out exactly same. But it tastes good.
2. If you do not like getting big chunk of gooey fruit in your cake bite, then you can chop the Raspberries before putting them on the cake.
3. This stays good in Refrigerator for about 2-3 days. You can microwave it to make it warm.

Zucchini Chutney

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
4 Tsp of Urad Daal
2 Tsp of Coriander Seeds
1/4 Tsp of Methi Seeds
1 Medium Onion chopped
2 Green Chillies (Or more as per taste)
3-4 Garlic Cloves
2 Small or 1 Large Zucchini Chopped
1 Tsp of Tamarind Paste
Salt to Taste
Oil for Sauteing
Mustard seeds and Curry Leaves for Seasoning.

Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan, add the Urad Daal and saute well until they turn light brown.
2. At this point, add the coriander and methi seeds and saute a bit more.
3. Add the chopped onion, green chilies and garlic and saute well until onion turns translucent.
4. Now add the chopped zucchini and cook until the zucchini becomes tender - maybe 5-7 mins.
5. Let this mixture cool well. Then blend it into a smooth paste with salt and tamarind paste.
6. Heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and once they splutter, add curry leaves and add the seasoning to the blended chutney.
7. Enjoy the chutney with chapathi, rice, dosa or even with bread.

Garlic Tindora (Ivy Gourd) Curry

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 Medium Onion Chopped Lengthwise
2-3 cups of Tindora (Ivy Gourd) chopped Length wise
4-5 Cloves of Garlic chopped fine
2-3 Tsp of Multi Purpose Curry Powder
Salt to Taste
Oil for Sauteeing
1 Tsp of Cumin Seeds
1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
1 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
1 Tsp of Jaggery or brown sugar
A few curry leaves

Method:
1. Heat the oil in a pan. Add mustard seeds. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the cumin seeds, curry leaves and chopped garlic.
2. Saute for a few seconds and then add the chopped onion. Saute for a few minutes until the onion starts turning translucent. Add turmeric and the chopped Tindora and mix well. Saute until the Tindora is almost done.
3. At the point, add the curry powder, salt and Jaggery. Mix well and cook until Tindora is fully cooked and the curry is ready to be served hot with rice or chapathi.

Notes:
1. I like Tindora chopped lengthwise in 4 pieces, but if you would rather have it chopped or cut in rounds, you can do that as well. Taste does not change.
2. If your are not cutting your Tindora lengthwise, then you can even chop the onion to keep the uniform look.
3. If you are a garlic lover, you can add more cloves of garlic. It gives a good kick to the curry.
4. You can use MTR Sambhar powder or regular chilli powder also in lieu of Multi Purpose Curry Powder. Also you can add extra chilli powder along with Multi Purpose Curry Powder.

Red Cabbage Salad with Maggie Noodles

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Just a small healthy twist to the Regular Maggie Noodles. Maggie noodles is the Indian version of Ramen Noodles (Instant Noodles). I love Maggie Noodles, but avoid it as it is high in carbs, so decided to add some vegetables and make it as a salad.

Ingredients:
2 cups of Thinly Shredded Red cabbage
1 cup of Chopped Sweet Mini Peppers
1 Packet of Maggie Noodles
2 Tbsp of Chopped Mint Leaves
Lemon Juice
Salt to Taste
1 tsp of Sugar
Crushed Black pepper to taste
2 Tbsp of dry roasted Cashew Nuts
water for cooking Maggie Noodles
1/2 Tsp of Olive Oil

Method:
1. Toss the Red cabbage, Mini Pepper and mint with Lemon juice and salt. Let it sit for a few mins for the cabbage to absorb the lemon juice.
2. Meanwhile heat the water and cook Maggie noodles. Make sure that you do not overcook the noodles. It tastes better if it is slightly under cooked. Do not add the masala packet that comes with the noodle packet.
3. Drain the noodles and toss it with olive oil and let it cool down a bit.
4. In a big salad bowl, add the marinated Cabbage and peppers mixture, the cooked Maggie Noodles, sugar, black pepper and also the cashew nuts. Toss it well and then serve immediately. If you are not serving it right away, it can be refrigerated for a few hours, but it is better served at room temperature rather than cold.

Enjoy and please let me know if you make and if you have any suggestions.

Notes:
1. Cashew nuts is optional. You can even substitute almonds or walnuts.
2. You can even add broccoli and other vegetables to this salad.
3. You can use any kind of noodles for this salad, like the instant Ramen Noodles, Hakka Noodles etc.
4. I have also added a dash of White Vinegar and it tastes pretty good.

Garlic Roasted Radish

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I love Radishes especially these French Mini Radishes (I got them from Market Street which ahem is newly opened near my home). So, I thought why not make it into a side dish and here the result of that experimentation.

Ingredients:
2 Bunches of Radish - I used French Mini, but you can use the regular red bunch radishes
6-8 Cloves of Garlic - you can add more if you just love garlic
2 Tsp of Olive Oil
1/2 tsp of Cumin Seeds

Seasoning:
1/4 tsp of Lemon Pepper
1/2 tsp of Dried Basil Leaves
1/2 tsp of Red Chilli Powder
Sea Salt to Taste

Method:
1. Heat a pan, add the oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin seeds. After a few seconds, add the garlic cloves (I just added whole cloves) and saute them for a 20 - 30 seconds until they are brown.
2. Add the washed and chopped radishes and saute on medium high flame. Once the radishes are half done, add the seasoning powders and saute for few more minutes until the radishes are fully cooked.
3. If you like them crispy, roast them for some more time. Serve it hot with sandwich or any other entree.

Notes:
1. You can add any seasoning - not just what I listed. I happen to use that combination and like it.
2. If you do not like getting garlic cloves in your mouth, you can chop them finely and then add it.

Green Chutney without Coconut

(From Banu's Cookbook)

I am always on the hunt for a Green Chutney without Coconut that I can use for Sandwiches, so here is something that I came up with that I like and stays good for a week to 10 days.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of  Fresh Corriander Leaves
10-12 Whole Almonds
1/4 Cup of Roasted Bengal Gram Daal (Dalia or Putani)
1/2 Tsp of Jeera or Cumin Seeds
1-2 Green Chillies (Or more if you like the chutney to be spicy)
2 Tsp of Lemon Juice
Salt to Taste

Method:
1. Put all the ingredients except the Lemon Juice in a blender and add very little water and grind it to a smooth paste. You can add more water - in teaspoon measures if needed. It is easy to make it very water and we would not want it as it does not taste the same.
2. Remove from Blender and stir in the lemon juice and then this can be stored in a glass container in fridge for about a week to 10 days. After a few days it does turn a darker green, but neither the taste nor the quality is compromised.
3. I use the regular whole almonds, but you can use the almond slivers as well.

Sprouted Moong Chilli

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Sprouted Green Moong Daal
1/2 Cup of Chopped Red Onion
1 Cup of Chopped Yellow Squash
2 Cups of Chopped Spinach
1 Tsp of Ginger Garlic Paste
1/2 Tsp of Turmeric
1 Tsp of Cumin Powder
1 Tsp of Corriander Powder
1 Tsp of Red Chilli Powder
1/2 Tsp of Chaat Powder or Amchur Powder
Mustard Seeds for Tempering
Salt to Taste
Onion for Sauteing

Garnishing:
Chopped Red Onion
Sour Cream (Optional)

Method:
1. Cook the Sprouted Moon Daal in pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles or on stove top until it is fully cooked.
2. In a pan, heat the oil, add Mustard seeds and once it splutters, add the chopped onion and saute until it is translucent
3. Add the chopped squash and spinach and saute for a few more minutes. Add few table spoons of water and cook it until the squash is cooked.
4. Add turmeric and then add the cooked sprouted moong daal.
5. Mix it all well, add the rest of the masala powders including salt and cook on slow fire until everything is blended well.
6. Serve it hot with garnishing of chopped red onion and sour cream.

Roasted Vegetable Pocket Sandwich

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
For the Filling:
1/2 of a Big Red Onion - Chopped Finely
1 Green Zucchini Squash - Chopped Finely
1 Yellow Squash - Chopped Finely
1 Orange Bell Pepper - Chopped Finely
1/4 Cup of Chopped Red Cabbage
Cilantro for Garnishing
Oil for Sauteing
Mustard seeds for seasoning
1/4 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
1-2 Tsp of Multi Purpose Curry Powder
A pinch of Garam Masala

For the Sandwich:
4 Slices of Wheat Bread
Green Chutney
Butter or butter Spread (I used I cannot believe it's Not butter)

Method:
1. Heat oil in pan. Once it is hot, add mustard seeds. As soon as the mustard seeds start spluttering, add the chopped onion and saute for a few minutes until it turns pink.
2. Now add the rest of the chopped vegetables except the red cabbage and saute them well until they are done.
3. Now add the red cabbage, turmeric, Curry Powder and Garam Masala. Mix Well and saute for a few more minutes. Switch off fire.
4. Pre heat the sandwich maker. Apply the butter or butter replacement on one side of the bread. Place it on the sandwich maker. Add some green chutney on top, place some of the filling.
5. Add another greased bread on top. Make the rest of the bread same way.
6. Cook for about 3 mins or how much ever time the sandwich maker recommends.
7. Serve it some Ketchup and or more Green Chutney.

Notes:
1. You can add some Jalapenos/green chillies/red chilly powder to the filling if you want it more spicy.
2., You can use white or even sour dough bread instead of wheat bread.
3. You can sprinkle some shredded cheese on top of the vegetables as well.
4. You can add more vegetables to the filling as well.

Cabbage and Black Eyed Pea Curry

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1 Cup of Dry Black Eyed Pea
1/2 or 3/4 head of Cabbage
1 Small Onion
4 Cloves of Garlic
1 inch of Ginger
3-4 Green Chillies
1/4 Cup of Finely Chopped Cilantro For Garnishing
1/4 tsp of Turmeric Powder
Salt to Taste
1 Tsp of Lemon Juice

For Seasoning:
Oil for Cooking
Mustard Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Urad Daal
Curry Leaves

Method:
1. Wash and clean the black eyed pea and then you can either cook it in pressure cooker for 3 whistles or you can cook it on stove top until it is cooked.
2. Chop the onion finely along with Garlic, Ginger and Green Chilies.
3. In a separate pan, heat the oil, add all the seasoning ingredients. Once the mustard seeds splutter, add the Finely Chopped Onion Mix. Saute this well until the onion is cooked and turns brownish.
4. Now add the chopped Cabbage and turmeric powder and let it cook well. Do not add any water, you can reduce the heat and let it cook with a lid on. If you want crunchier Cabbage, do not cover the pan.
5. Once the Cabbage is almost done, add the cooked black eyed pea and salt. Mix it well and cook for 5 more minutes on low flame.
6. You can then turn off the flame and garnish the curry with chopped coriander leaves and lemon juice.
7. Serve it hot with either Chapathi or Rice.

Notes:
1. You can use Canned or Frozen Black eyed pea as well, but they need to be cooked a bit as well. The cook time might be less than dry.
2. You can increase or decrease the garlic and green chilies per your taste.
3. You can put the onion, garlic, ginger and green chilies in a food processor and chop the very fine as well.

Flax Seed and Garlic Chutney Powder

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of Flax Seed
1/4 cup of White Sesame Seeds
1/4 cup Dry or dessicated coconut powder
4-6 Red Chillies
10 Garlic Pods
1/2 inch of dry tamarind
1 tbsp of Jaggery powder (Optional)

Method:
1. Dry Roast the Flax seed. It is done once you see the color change and aroma starts coming. Roast it on low flame so that you do not burn it. Takes about 10 mins or so for half a cup.

2. Then Dry roast the sesame seeds until they change color. Do not burn it.

3. Dry roast the desiccated coconut as well.

4. Now add a bit of oil in the pan and roast red chilies and Garlic. You can see red chillies almost turning black and also garlic getting nicely browned.

5. Let everything cool down to room temperature.

6. Grind the flax seed, sesame seeds and copra into a coarse powder ( or fine if you prefer it that way). Then add to the gm grinder/blender jar - red chillies, garlic, tamarind, jaggery and salt to taste and grind it again till everything mixes well.

7. Flax seed and sesame seeds both will release oils so the mixture will become a lump and might not grind well. You will need to stir it often. 

8. This chutney powder goes well with bread and chapathi and also with Hot Rice and Ghee.

9. Stored in an air tight container in the fridge, this will last upto a month.

Notes:

1. You can also add roasted groundnuts to this mixture.

2. I have done this without desiccated coconut and it does not compromise the taste.

Adai with Avocado and Cheese Filling

(From Banu's Cookbook)

Adai is a pancake made with Lentils and Brown Rice. I put my own version of Avocado Chutney filling inside the pancake along with some shredded low fat pepper jack cheese for a yummy meal option.

ADAI

Ingredients:
1 cup of Urad daal
1 cup of Channa daal
1 cup of Toor Daal
1 cup of Yellow Split Moong Daal
3 Cups of Brown Rice
6-7 Red Chillies (Optional - instead you can use fresh green chillies)
Salt to Taste
Mustard Seeds for Seasoning
Oil for Seasoning and cooking

Optional:
1 Medium Red Onion - Finely Chopped
1./2 Cup of Cilantro - Finely Chopped


Method:
1. Soak all the ingredients overnight or at least 4-6 hours and then grind them to a smooth paste.
2. Heat the Oil, add mustard seeds and once they splutter, add it to the batter. Add salt to taste.
3. At this point you can add the optional chopped onion and cilantro.
4. Heat a flat pan and pour in few spoonfuls of the batter and spread it out to the thickness you like and then cook both sides with some oil and the Adai is ready to eat.

AVOCADO CHUTNEY

 Ingredients:
2-3 Ripe Avocado's
1 Green Chilly (or more if you want it spicy)
1 Lemon - Juiced
1/2 Small Red Onion - Chopped Fine
Salt to Taste
Oil to saute

 Method:
1. Heat oil in a pan, add the onions and green chillies and saute until the onions are translucent.
2. Remove the Avocado skin and chop the fruit. Mix it with the sauteed onions along with salt and lemon juice. Mix it well.
3. Avocado Chutney is ready.

I cooked an Adai Pankcake, took it out of the flat pan and when it was still warm put some of the Avocado chutney in it and sprinkled some low fat pepper jack cheese and then folded it in half.