Tomato Soup with toasted vegetable Sandwich

“Soup” – the name taken reminds us of cool winter and our cozy house with warm blankets wrapped all across. Tomato Soup with vegetable sandwich is a hearty soup which can be eaten any time during the year and is loved by one and all. To add to the Oomph factor add some oven baked croutons and we are good to go.

Here is the recipe for the Tomato Soup:

1 can tomato (diced or pureed)
1 bay leaf
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
2-3 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups water
3-4 sprigs of coriander leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
Butter to add to the soup

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf to it. Let it simmer for 2 minutes till the oil is fragrant with bay leaf and add garlic and onion to the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes along with the juice, coriander leaves and water to the pan and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the burner and allow the thick soup to cool down completely. Once cooled remove the bay leaf and blend the soup in the blender till all the tomatoes pieces have broken down and have blended with the soup.

Transfer the blended mixture to the pan again and let it come to a boil. Serve it in a large soup bowl. Add some butter to the soup and serve hot with toasted vegetable sandwich.
The coriander leaves add a lot of flavor and aroma to the tomato soup. This recipe goes to Siri's and Dee's event Herb Mania

Healthy and Delicious Poha

Poha as we all know and love is famous in Maharashtra where they add sugar to the poha and is known by the name of kanda batate pohe, its very famous in Madhya Pradesh and Gujrat as well. I do remember a train journey to Jammu and we had got down at Ratlam to have some breakfast and has this yum and delicious poha - jalebi, a very famous dish in all of MP and you can't get anything better than this anywhere else in the world. It tasted just awesome. Every state has its own way and method to make poha and they serve it differently as well.

Here goes my recipe which was taught to me by my husband and I love the taste of this yummy, flavorful and delicious poha.

Ingredients:

2 cups poha (washed and dried)
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1 tomato finely chopped
6-8 green chilies (split)
1 tsp turmeric powder
4-5 curry leaves
1 tsp rai (mustard seeds)
1 tsp jeera (cumin seeds)
1 tsp sugar
A pinch of Hing (asafoetida)
1 table spoon oil
1/2 cup green peas
salt to taste
1/2 cup green coriander leaves (chopped)
2 table spoons lemon juice
Salt to taste

Method:
Take poha in a colander and wash under running water thoroughly. Drain the water completley and transfer the washes and drained poha to a serving plate. Spread poha evenly on the plate and let it dry out completley. Add some salt and sugar to the poha and mix well.

Heat oil in a pan, add hing to it. Add rai, jeera, curry leaves and green chilies to the pan and let it cook for 2 mins. Add sliced onions to the pan and saute till the onions get a slightly golden color. Add salt and turmeric powder to the pan and mix well. Add tomatoes and peas to the pan as well and saute for 2 mins. Add washed and dried poha to the pan and mix well. Cover with the lid and let it cook for another 5-7 mins.

Remove from flame, add lemon juice and coriander leaves and mix well. Serve hot with sev or jalebi. Eaten in any form, this poha recipe tastes yum.... Thanks Hubby!!!!!!!!!



This recipe goes to Vandana's (Cooking up Something Nice) food event Lunch Box Special

Brown Rice Fried Rice ready in minutes

Brown rice (or "hulled rice") is unmilled or partly milled rice, a kind of whole grain. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier than white rice and becomes rancid more quickly, but is far more nutritious.Since brown rice still has the bran intact, it has more fiber than white rice. One cup of brown rice has 3 1/2 grams of fiber while the same amount of white rice has less than one gram of fiber. We all need from 25 to 38 grams of fiber in our diet everyday.

Brown rice also contains nutrients like magnesium, manganese, and zinc. White rice has reduced levels of these nutrients, but is often fortified with iron, and some B vitamins.

Brown rice takes longer than white rice to cook, so increase the amount of water slightly. Brown rice doesn't have the fluffy texture of white rice, but its nutty flavor and chewy texture makes brown rice a tasty way to get fiber into your diet.

Brown rice fried rice is a prep that I had made with left over rice;under 10 mins and with loads of healthy and colorful vegetables.

Ingredients:

2 cups left over cooked brown rice
1 medium onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
2 table spoons red capsicum thinly sliced
2 table spoons green peas
2 table spoons soya sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 table spoon oilve oil

Method:

Heat oil in a pan and add onions and cabbage to the pan. Saute for 2 mins. Add red capsicum,peas, salt, pepper and soya sauce and mix well. Now add the left over brown rice and mix all the ingredients well. Transfer into a serving bowl and serve hot!!!!!!

Ragda Pattice

Ragda Pattice brings to mouth the fond memories of street food mumbai style. Ragda or vatana as it's usually known are dehaydrates green peas are a good source of protien and can be eaten in the sprouted form as well. Back in Mumbai, ragda pattice is a very famous street food and is loved by one and all. The pattice is usually shallow fried and is served with ragda along with the mix of sweet and tangy tamarind chutney and hot coriander chutney.

This recipe is very figure friendly and healthy as well as the pattice is baked; so lets keep the guilt aside and start cooking.

Ingredients:

To make Ragda:

1 cup vatana
2 tomatoes (finely chopped)
1 table spoon besan
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 bay leaf
1 clove
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp jeera
2 tsp ginger (grated)
2-3 green chilies (slit from middle)
salt to taste
1 tsp red chilly powder
1 table spoon lemon juice
1 table chopped coriander leaves
water as required
1 tsp olive oil

Method:

Soak the vatana for atleast 4 hrs. Drain the water and pressure cook the vatana with 3 cups of water for 10 -15 mins. Make sure that the vatana is not completely mushed. It must have a crunch to it. Heat oil in a separate pan and add jeera to it. Add clove, cinnamon, ginger and slit green chilies to the pan as well. Now add chopped tomatoes to the pan and saute till the tomatoes are nice and mushy. Add the vatana to the pan alongwith the water in which the vatana was cooked and mix all the ingredients well. Add besan and red chilly powder to the pan and mix well. Add 1 cup of water and let it simmer till the besan is completly cooked. Add lemon juice to the pan along with chopped coriander leaves and mix well. Keep aside.

To make pattice:

4-5 medium sized boiled potatoes
2-3 green chilies (finely chopped)
1 table spoon grated ginger
1 table spoon chopped coriander leaves
salt to taste
1 table spoon milk
1 cup bread crumbs
Olive oil to brush the pattice

Method:

Mash the boiled potatoes in a bowl and add the green chilies, chopped coriander, grated ginger and salt and mix well. Make small patties out of the potato mixture and dip it in milk and then coat it completely in the bread crumbs and line them on a greased baking sheet. Use the above method to make similar pattice and line them all in the baking sheet. Refrigerate the pattice in the fridge for min 30 mins. Preheat the oven at 350 degree F. Remove the baking sheet from the fridge, brush the pattice with olive oil and bake the pattice for 25 - 30 mins till the pattice has a golden brown color.

To Serve:

1 medium sized onion ( finely chopped)
green coriander chutney
tamarind chutney
chopped coriander leaves

In a bowl put 1-2 pattice and add hot ragda over the pattice, add the coriander and tamaring chutney, add chopped onion and coriander and serve!!!!!

Yummy Nutrela

Nutrela are high protein soya chunks which can be used in a variety of ways and is delicious in each and every recipe it is tried and tested in. Nutrela is also available in minced form and can be used to make soya cutlets as well. I make this very yummy nutrela dish with loads of tomatoes, add some peas to it and it really makes a great combination.


Ingredients:

1 cup nutrela chunks/ mini nuggets
1 medium sized onion finely chopped
4-5 tomatoes (blended into a puree)
2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
1 tsp grated ginger
4-5 green chillies (finely chopped)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp jeera powder
2 tsp amchur powder
1 tsp red chilly powder
2-3 table spoon chopped coriander leaves (for garnish)
1 table spoon Olive oil or any cooking oil
Salt to taste


Method:

• Take the soya chunks in a bowl and add enough water to cover them completely. Microwave in the oven for around 7-8 mins. Remove from the microwave and let the soya chunks rest in the warm water for another 5 mins. Wash the soya chunks thoroughly under running water pressing in between your palms. Drain the water completely from the soya chunks and keep aside.
• Heat oil in a pan and add the chopped onions to it. Now add ginger, garlic and chopped green chilies and sauté them together for 2 – 3 mins.
• Add the tomato puree to the pan and mix well. Add turmeric, red chilly powder, salt and jeera powder to the onions and tomatoes and mix them well. Add the drained nutrela to the masala and let it simmer for another 5 – 7 mins.
• Now add the amchur powder to the nutrela and mix well. Transfer the dish to a serving bowl and garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
• Serve yummy yummy nutrela with hot hot rotis………

I am sending this recipe to Ruth from Ruth Kitchen Experiments and to Meeta from Whats for Lunch Honey