Vegetarian Lebanese Spread

In one of my recent friends get together, I decided to try out my hand at Lebanese dishes. Though it has mostly meat-based dishes, but one can choose vegetarian as well and I did manage to put together a vegetarian dinner menu.

Tabouleh salad
Hummus dip with carrot and olives and khaboos

Pizza with labneh- wrap style
Falafel
Baklawa- bought ready

Shopping list:
1/2 kg Chickpeas
One lettuce
Parsley- 3 bunches
pepper Powder - 1 packet
Radish- 1 bunch
Mint leaves- 1 bunch
Burghul- 50 g
Olives- black and green
Carrot- one
Capsicum- Mixed colours
Mushroom- 100 g
Cucumber-1
Extra Virgin olive oil
Tahini Sauce- 20 ml
Pita bread- one pack of 4.
Khaboos- one packet of 6
Labneh- 100 g- small pack

It's better to do the shopping one day in advance.

Soak the chickpeas overnight.

Next day, boil half the chickpeas( used for hummus) and the other half keep aside( used for falafel)

Hummus dip- In a blender, combine together boiled chickpeas, 2 tbsp tahini sauce, salt, 2 tbs olive oil. 1 tsp cumin seeds , 1 tsp Red pepper powder. 1 tsp salt, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tbsp lime juice. Empty out into the serving bowl and keep in refrigerator cling-wrapped. Garnish with mint leaves and paprika powder before serving . Goes well with Khaboos.

Falafel-
In the same blender jar, combine together- 'other' half of chickpeas, 1/2 cup parsley, 1/4 cup mint leaves, salt, 2 green chillies,3 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp cumin seeds, 1 small onion. Make into small round balls and deep fry. If the batter is not so tight, use burghul 1-2 tbsp and mix together before frying. Serve hot.

Tabouleh

Combine together- 2 tbsp olive oil,2 cups chopped parsley, 2 tbsp mint leaves, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 cup burghul ( soaked bar ghoul in hot water for 15 min)  1 finely chopped cucumber, an onion finely chopped and 1 finely chopped tomato. Refrigerate. Add salt before serving.

Pizza with labneh-wrap style

Preheat the oven to 150 deg C. On the pita bread, spread out 1 tsp olive oil, then put labneh- 2 tbsp and top with veggie chopped - I used mushrooms, bell pepper, chilli, olives . Salt and pepper to taste. Fold and grill in oven. Cut into slices and serve hot. Prepare pizza in advanced and just grill before serving.

 The entire dinner menu can be wrapped up in an hour if all the ingredients are there. Lebanese food is one of my favourites.

If you thought sushi art was difficult!

My 8 year old went to a Japanese restaurant and instantly fell in love with the food. I couldn't quite appreciate the taste at once though, but now we love it and its a weekly dish for us. The popularity of the food is definitely growing as you can find fusion dishes, you can find sushi rolls with Arabic and Lebanese flavors like falafel, zatar etc.

Since its now a frequent food for us, eventually I tried it at home. Today I will share the recipe for most popular sushi rolls.Though, some of the other popular vegetarian Japanese dishes are Edamame ( the green sweet pea pod), Maki rolls ( Nori sheets or seaweed sheets rolled with  rice and flavoring ), tofu katsu curry ( tofu made in a curry- the sauce is very typical and is called katsu- served with rice), firecracker rice ( its kind of fried rice- Japanese rice with vegetables and a 7 spice flavor called shichimi togarashi) and Yakisoba ( Japanese noodles with vegetables). Japanese usually have very small servings and you would see the same at restaurants. 


Collect all the ingredients , make the rice and you are ready to roll. Japanese rice is cooked like any other rice but takes a bit longer as has to be washed several times. Wash the rice until the water runs clear. Soak the rice for 30 min in cold water. Usually you would need 3 parts water to 2 parts rice. Bring it to boil first and then cover and cook for about 10-12 min or until tender. 

For Sushi rolls, cooked rice is then flavored with rice wine vinegar and salt and sugar. So in 1 cup rice- around 2 tbs vinegar, 2 tbs sugar and 1 tsp salt. Adjust to taste. Let the rice cool down in a wooden bowl before you can start rolling. Wooden works best as it absorbs any extra moisture from rice.

Now, take the Nori sheets and spread rice evenly. Spread some wasabi sauce(its kind of harsh Japanese hot sauce)if you like to make it hot. Put the slit vegetables length wise on one side and roll the sheets using a bamboo sheet. Cut horizontally into desired thickness- about 2 cm. Sprinkle shichimi togarashi and some black and white sesame seeds. Serve cold or at room temperature with Gari(pickled ginger), wasabi sauce and soy sauce. It can also be stored in refrigerator for couple of days if kept away immediately and wrapped in freezer wrap tightly. 

Ingredients required

• Bamboo sheet for rolling the maki rolls- you just need to get them once
• Cucumber/avacado/bell pepper/carrot- your choice of vegetables, thinly sliced length wise in 3-4 inches.
• 1/4  cup Rice- Rice almost doubles after cooking
• Nori sheets- One Nori sheet will use about 1/4 cup uncooked rice and will make about 7-8 rolls.
• Rice Vinegar- you can buy a small bottle and reuse later.
• Wasabi sauce- you can buy in dry powder form and store it. Mix water in amount required.
• Soy sauce
• Gari-pickled ginger- can be stored in refrigerator.

As you can see, once the rice is cooked, you can roll sushi rolls. You can also make fire cracker rice. Just toss with cooked mixed diced vegetables ( onion, carrot, bell pepper, mushrooms, any of your choice), add 1-2 tbsp soy sauce and use the flavoring shichimi togarashi. Pretty much how we do fried rice.

Try it out. I find it very interesting.

Deepawali is coming up next week, have you thought of making some sweets at home?

Many of us have traditional sweets that are always made during this festive season. What is yours? Mine is yellow lentil fudge( Moong dal halwa) and Coconut rolls( Nariyal Ladoo). 

Did you know that this festival is not just celebrated in India but many other countries like Singapore, Bangkok etc.This is one of our favorite festival. Meeting people, dressing up, cooking food, decorating diyas, making those rangoli patters - lightning up the house with candles,exchanging gifts etc. The whole festivities brings in a lot of happiness and warmth among-st families and friends. 

Yellow Lentil fudge( moong dal halwa) and Coconut rolls ( Nariyal ladoo).This year I have another addition- Dates seeds and nuts rolls. Actually our traditional dish is moong dal halwa but I added the coconut ladoo few years back as my daughter loves them and this year I have added the date nuts roll for a healthier option. While the halwa is a slow cooking process the other two are no cook recipes. I have got inspired by these no cook recipes by my friend. She is an amazing cook and also does the brittle( chiki) also very well. Hopefully will be adding that to my diwali sweets next year! 

Quick recipes . 

Date and nuts rolls

Time- 10 mins. 
Makes about 15 rolls. 
What you need- 5-6 Medjool dates
Sesame seeds- 2 tbs
Pistachios-15-20
Flax seeds- 2 tbs
Chia seeds- 2 tbs
Walnuts- 10

Remove the seeds of the dates and mash them with your hand in a deep bowl. These dates are very soft and can be mashed easily.These dates also have good amount of moisture in them and hence makes rolling possible. Coarse grind the seeds together and keep aside. In the same jar coarse grind the nuts and keep aside. Add half of nuts and seeds mix into the bowl and mix well. Again add half of the nuts and seeds into the bowl and mix. Basically we are adding it in parts so that we get the correct amount of consistency. Take a little into your hands and see if it binds well. Divide into 15 equal portions and roll between your hands. Any kind of nuts and seeds that you need can be mixed in this. Peanuts, almonds, cashew etc. It can last in fridge in an airtight box, doesn't spoil. Make sure that the bowl, jar and your hands are fully dry. Even a drop of water can spoil the rolls.These can be dusted with coconut powder/chocolate powder for richer look and taste. I prefer them plain thou. I keep them in my fridge and eat them for my sugar cravings. Of course it takes care of my daily nuts requirement as well. 

No cook coconut rolls

Again very easy. Mix 1 cup warm sugar syrup, 2 cup desiccated coconut powder and 1 tsp saffron powder together.Mix well and roll. Dust with coconut powder. Pl adjust the mixture consistency before rolling so the mixture easily binds together. Instead of sugar syrup. dates or jaggery syrup can be used as healthier options.

Yellow lentil fudge( Moong dal halwa) 

Moong Dal- 1 cup
Ghee-1 cup
Saffron- 1 tsp
Almonds- half cup
Sugar- 2 cup

For vegan-use any oil like sunflower or peanut or coconut. 

This is a dish which can be cooked at leisure. The trick is to cook on slow heat because it brings out the aroma best when cooked for 2-3 hours over very slow heat.

Soak 1 cup yellow moong lentil with skin overnight. One can use lentils without skin as well.Even powdered dal is readily available. But for best results always use the yellow lentil with skin . Of course washing this dal takes longer. Also soak half cup almonds overnight.  

After you have washed the dal nicely ( - ie all the skin  has been removed and you have only yellow dal), grind it in the mixer using minimum water. Avoid water if possible. Grind to a coarse paste. Empty it out. In the same jar- grind the almonds- little coarser than the dal. 

Now,take 1 cup ghee in  a heavy pan and make it hot. Take the pan out from the heat and add the dal paste. Put back on the heat( low heat this time)  and stir constantly so that the dal doesn't stick. Add the almonds as well. Once  the dal is nicely mixed and doesn't stick any more, ( this should have taken about half hour) let it cook on the low heat. Stir occasionally.When the dal has turned light golden brown and you can see the ghee separated from the dal- you will know its done. Should have taken about another hour.

While the dal is simmering- take about 2 cup sugar  and half a cup water and saffron  in a separate pan. (Soak 9-10 stands of  saffron   in warm milk for 5 min and break the strands using a mortar and pestle if you have one;else you can use any bowl and a spoon). Mix these three on heat so the sugar dissolves in the water. The saffron mix will give the sugar syrup a nice yellow color. We need a syrup of single thread consistency. ( To know if the sugar syrup is done- take a small amount in one finger and close with thumb and open. See if you get one thread. )

Once the dal is done- add this sugar syrup and mix well. 

The moong dal halwa is now ready. I know it takes time, but when you see your family and friends closing their eyes as they take the first spoon- you will know its a pay off. 

What to eat and drink after yoga

Hi Friends, here are a few drinks that you can use after a light to moderate exercise like  yoga or Pilates. This morning when I was returning from yoga, one of the ladies also in the session, started discussing about her post yoga routine. She usually has a cup of tea with digestive biscuits. To this I told her about a vegetable juices and also thought of writing it down. I have been away from writing for a very long period, hopefully I am back now for stay.From my experience, post a workout, even if its a Zumba, if I drink a vegetable juice, I can keep my hunger pangs away for couple of hours at least. Here are few drink you should also try. I usually drink this vegetable juice with soaked almonds, about 5-6, and one walnut. For next couple of hours , I am not hungry and exceptionally energetic to carry on with my day. I sometimes do have a cup of green tea after about 30 min of having this juice.

1. Cucumber, lemon juice
2. Cucumber lauki ( white gourd), amla (indian gooseberry) juice
3. Green apple ,cucumber spinach smoothie
4. Green apple parsley chia seeds smoothie
5. Coconut water, mint leaves and lime juice
6. Green apple, basil and chia seeds. 
7. Aloe Vera lime and mint.

Basically, we are combining any sour source , sweet and a flavoring. e.g lime, gooseberry, green applies are sour while cucumber and gourd is towards sweet flavor and mint, basil are flavor. 

So usually about 1 cucumber, 4-5 inch gourd and 1 gooseberry is good for a glass of juice. Of course, half a glass of water. For the green apple, 1 small green apple is good. Spinach- about 4-5 leaves. Chia seeds- 1 tbs. Lime- 1 tbs. Aloe vera again pulp of 3-4 inches . 

Try different drinks every day and see how you feel after a fortnight. 

START YOUR DAY DRINK

Start your day Drink

I usually have Aloe vera with lemon. Few days back, I tried Aloe vera with cucumber drink as my morning day starter with few nuts. It turned out to be quite refreshing. One leaf of Aloe Vera and a small cucumber. Try! . Perfect to start the day.

Eating before yoga can making the practice very challenging but a drink like this is easy on stomach and keep the hunger pangs away. Also detoxifying for the body.

LUNCH IDEAS

Hello readers! I have been enjoying my detox liquid diet. I hope you tried it too because I am feeling absolutely light and wonderful.

Today I want to write about some lunch box ideas. I pack one for my husband everyday and its a task to pack something interesting and balancing nutrition. I usually give 1-2 portion of fruit, one portion of salad and another portion of bread. So today it like- 5-6 strawberries, 1 banana, corn salad and mushroom pockets.

Recipes:

Corn salad
1 cup fresh corn kernels steamed.
1 small capsicum finely diced
1 small tomato finely diced
1 tbs chopped parsley
1 small cucumber diced
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
salt, black pepper and red chili to taste.
Dash of lime to taste

Mix all the ingredients and its ready. For lunch box, its best to sprinkle salt on top which can be mixed just before eating. Salad can leave water sometimes. I put a lime slice separately to be sprinkled before eating. I got fresh corn kernels from a fresh maize.

Mushroom pockets recipe

50 g of mushroom diced
1 onion chopped
2 tbs of bell peppers chopped
1 green chili chopped
Salt to taste
2 tbs milk( coconut/almond)
1 small Lebanese bread

Saute all the ingredients. Add salt. Mix the milk and stir well. Now cut the bread from the center to make two pockets and fill in the mix. Press down to close the pockets and grill for 1 min both sides on a pan. Slice into triangle shapes.

Cool down and pack.

Its a well balanced lunch box.
Banana and strawberries will give the energy as mid morning snack.

Corn salad has the essential starch and all the veggies in it will keep him full for lunch. It also has essential minerals like Iron and Magnesium.

Mushrooms is low in calories and rich in minerals and vitamins and will be best for his early evening snack.

One Day Vegan Detox

One day vegan detox
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During my recent visit to Jindals nature cure, I learnt about fasting on liquids. During the whole day, I got 9 different drinks and I was surprised that I wasn't hungry. Until then, I wasn't confident of fasting and found it extremely difficult to fast. I would get a head ache if I fasted and felt weak. This fasting on liquids works as a wonderful detox for the body. After I came back, I tried it on my own and it did go well. Here is what I had for the entire day.

7:00 am. I started my day with half cup almond milk,strawberry and blueberries smoothie as I had to go to gym for my work out. 

9:30 After I came back, I had a glass of tender coconut water.
12:00 One bowl of clear lemon coriander soup.

3:00 Almond milk banana avocado smoothie

6:00 Green apple orange basil juice
8 :00 A big bowl of veg soup

I didn't feel hungry or tired the entire day. On the contrary, I felt more energetic. I even had to go to a party yesterday, and to my surprise I didn't have any craving.

I felt so wonderful and I am already looking forward to my next week's detox which is every Monday. 

Here are the quick recipes.

Almond Milk, Strawberry Blueberry Smoothie

1/4 cup almond milk

4 strawberries

10 blueberries

Blend together and serve immediately

In my blog , I have shared the recipe of home made almond milk earlier. This smoothie gave me enough energy to kick start my day well and also keep up with energy required for the workout at 8 o clock. I did a 20 min running  followed by 30 min stretching and weight exercise. Returned at 9 from gym and had a glass of coconut water. 

Coconut water again is very high in nutritional value and quenches the thirst while providing the body with essential electrolytes.

Clear Lemon Coriander Soup

Pl see the recipe posted on 8th Feb for this soup. This soup nourishes the body and keeps the hunger pangs down as it has lemon and ginger. 

Almond milk Avocado and Banana smoothie

1/2 cup almond milk blended with 1/2 ripe avocado and 1 banana. This smoothie is high in calories and also essential fats. It was just right to drink that time when it was post lunch time and I was very hungry. It kept me full for next 3 hours. 

Green Apple Basil juice

In the fruit juicer, extract juice of half orange, 1 green apple and 4-5 basil leaves. Mix 3-4 cubes of ice and serve immediately. I sipped the juice slowly while the kids were enjoying their friends birthday party. The dinner served at the party was surely mouth watering, but to my surprise I didn't crave any of it and did feel proud of my self control.

After we returned home by 8.30, I had a big bowl of veg soup.

Vegetarian mixed veg soup

1 small tomato

1 small zucchini

4 inch piece of white pumpkin

1 carrot

3-4 leaves of coriander leaves

2 inch piece of red pumpkin

Wash all these veggies pressure cook for 1 whistle. Once cooled down, blend and strain. 

Add 1 tsp of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Heat the soup again and serve immediately. It is delicious and filling. 

Other options for drinks for detox are Aloe Vera juice. Carrot and beetroot juice. Last week, I didn't have the Avocado smoothie instead had Aloe Vera and carrot beetroot juice. There are many more options depending upon choice/mood and availability.

Hope you will enjoy doing it.