Pasta Cheese-less :)

Ingredients: serves 2 (regular eaters ;))


Pasta: 2 cups
Green peppers: 1 (mid-sized slices)
Green chilies: optional  for extra spicy pasta
Onion: 1 (sliced length-wise mid sized pieces)
Shredded carrots: 3/4 cup
Cashews: 1/4 cup (halves)
Garlic paste: 1 tsp (or 2 pods)
Pasta sauce: 4-5 tbl spoons
Black pepper (grounded) : 1 tsp
Oregano: 1.5 tsp
Italian seasoning: 1.5 tsp
Salt to taste
Shredded Cheese: OPTIONAL :) as much as you want!!!


Procedure:


Pour water in a large pot and bring to boil. Cook the pasta al dente. Drain water and allow pasta to cool in a wide pan. DO NOT mix in oil since this will prevent pasta sauce from being absorbed into the pasta. Cooling pasta in a wide pan will avoid their sticking to each other.


Heat oil in a pan. (preferably a non-stick pot or wok) Add garlic paste and fry for about 30s. Add chilies and fry for about a minute. This spreads the spice in the oil. Stir in the onions and fry on high for a minute. Then, stir in green peppers, carrots and cashews. Continue frying on high for about 4-5 min until the veggies are cooked yet, crisp. Add black pepper, oregano, Italian seasoning and salt. Cook for about a minute. Stir in the boiled pasta. Add pasta sauce and mix. If you wish to add cheese, now's the time for it! Melt in shredded cheeze and serve hot!

Tandoori chicken

It's my latest favorite for the simple fact that its oil-free and tastes simply superb! It only comes with a wait of 2-4 hours since the chicken needs to be marinated. It can be marinated for fewer than 2 hours but, I personally think that's not long enough to allow the marinade to be absorbed by the chicken.

Ingredients:

Chicken: 6 drumsticks

Yogurt: 4 tblsp

Tandoori chicken masala: 2-3 tblsp

Ginger: 1 tblsp (crushed)

Lemon: 1-2 tblsp
Grilling temperature: 375 F

Procedure:

Place chicken drumsticks in a bowl Prick them with a fork. Sprinkle tandoori chicken masala over the drumsticks. Rub each piece to evenly spread the masala. Add rest of the ingredients and mix well. It blends best when mixed by hand. Close the bowl with a lid and refrigerate for 2-6 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Place drumsticks on a baking tray. If needed, brush them with a little oil. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until done.

Your snack for the evening or appetizer for your party is ready!

Comments and suggestions welcome :)

Keep it Stylish.

Banana Nut muffin

I was on a baking spree a couple of months ago for a charity event being organized for the Cancer Society. I was thrilled by this activity and ended up baking more than I thought I could! Banana nut muffins were one of them.

Hot muffins right out of the oven!

Ingredients (for 12 muffins):

Egg: 1 (beaten)

Sugar : 1 cup

Bananas: 3 to 4 (ripe, mashed)
Butter: 1/3 cup (melted)
Vanilla extract: 1 tsp
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Salt: 1/4 tsp
All purpose flour/maida: 1.5 cups
Walnuts: 1 cup (chopped)

Procedure:

Pre-heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Mix the butter and mashed bananas in a mixing bowl. Then mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Stir in baking powder and salt. Add the flour and stir till just incorporated, fold in the chopped walnuts. 


Line the baking trays with baking cups. Fill each baking cup with a scoop of the batter. Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Check if it's done by inserting a butter knife; if it comes out clean, then it's done. Cool for about 10 minutes before you can attack them!

Mouth watering muffins ready for attack!

 

Gulp it Stylish! Comments and suggestions are welcome.

Chocolate coated chocolate cake!!!

I recently tried this new recipe, different from the regular cakes I generally bake. A friend was visiting from Oregon and I had been looking for a reason to try out this new recipe. It turned out to be pretty good, the chocolate creamy coating made it sumptuous but the cake as such felt light. I think it could be better more moist and probably an additional table spoon of butter should do the trick!

Warning: You're running the risk of 500 calories per serving!

Cake ingredients:

Eggs (room temperature) : 6

Sugar : 1 cup

Vanilla extract: 2 tsp

Flour (maida/all purpose flour) : 1 cup

Baking powder: 1 tsp

Unsweetened cocoa: 1/2 cup

Salt: 1/4 spoon

Butter: 8 tbl spoons

For chocolate coating:

Heavy whipping cream: 1 cup

Semisweet chocolate: 8 oz

Procedure: Cake

Grease 3 round pans (8" diameter) and dust with flour. Pre-heat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Melt butter and remove any foam formed at the surface. Let it cool to room temperature. Sieve the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Keep aside. Beat the sugar and eggs (for about 10 min) until the volume doubles. Beat in the vanilla extract. Fold in the sieved mixture in 3 rounds. Do not beat the mixture. Fold in the butter. Pour the batter equally into the pans. Bake for 20-25 min until a knife pierced in comes out clean. Transfer the cakes to a wire rack and let cool.

Procedure: Chocolate coating

Boil the cream and drop in the chocolate blocks. Stir until the chocolate melts. Let it cool. Pour over each cake layering one above the other and smear the rest on the sides. Your treat is ready. Slice it into triangles and you could throw on a strawberry for that enticing look!

Let me know how it comes out! Comments and suggestions are welcome.