Baked spicy and sweet tofu

A lot of people are trying vegan diets and tofu forms a major part of vegan diets as it provides all 8 essential amino acids, calcium and iron. It is a great source of protein thus who doesn’t want to eat it? But whoever has tried tofu knows that it doesn’t taste very exciting by itself! 

So in my tofu trials, I came up with a rather easy way to cook tofu which makes it much yummier to eat. 

You will need: 

250 grams tofu

Green chilli sauce 

Soy sauce 

White vinegar 

1 onion 

4-5 cloves of garlic

1 cube of gouda cheese (because I’m not vegan, you guys!)

Black Salt

Sugar
Let’s get cooking:

1. In a small bowl pour chilli sauce, vinegar and soy sauce. Be generous with the sauce guys, otherwise the recipe doesn’t work. 

  
2. To the bowl, add 1 tablespoon of sugar, half a teaspoon of black salt and grated garlic cloves. Mix well. 

3. Take tofu and cut it into thin slices. 

  
4. Chop the onion into thin slices. 

5. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees centigrade. 

6. Take the tofu slices and dip in the sauce getting it covered on all sides. Don’t worry, get your hands dirty! The sauce is delicious. 

7. Take a baking dish and grease it with olive oil.  (1-2 teaspoons depending on the size of the dish.)

  
8. Lay the tofu slices in the baking pan and layer sliced onions on the pan. 

  
9. If you’re not vegan, go ahead and grate the cube of cheese all over the tofu. 

  
10. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 200 degrees. 

  
It’s ready! 

Serve with freshly squeezed orange juice and there you have your power packed snack! 

Enjoy 🙂 

Crustless chicken quiche

Bored of the way eggs and chicken fit in your diet? Well sometimes you can give your cooking a twist and one of the simple dishes you can try is this protein packed quiche recipe!

Although quiches are similar to pies and pastries, the way I cook quiche makes it crustless and lighter. Be it breakfast or lunch this recipe can make boring boiled eggs and chicken routines much more fun! The three of us at home finished this quiche in 10 minutes, yes that’s how delicious it turned out to be. 

Let’s get cooking!

You will need: 

5 eggs 

70-80 grams chicken salami/sausages 

3-4 broccoli florets 

1 big red onion

3-4 garlic cloves

Gouda cheese 

Olive oil

Salt 

Red chilli powder 

  
Instructions:

1. Cut the onion and garlic into thin slices. Don’t forget to preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius. 

2. In a saucepan put 2 teaspoons of olive oil and keep it at simmer. 

3. Toss in the garlic followed by onion slices and sauté until translucent. 

  
4. Chop the broccoli florets as small as you can.  

5. After 7-8 minutes of cooking the onions and garlic, add the broccoli to the saucepan. 

  
6. Let the saucepan be on simmer and the vegetables cook for 10 minutes. 

7. In a bowl put 3 whole eggs and 2 egg whites. You can choose to go with all egg whites if you are cutting down on yolks. 

  
8. Take a small cube of gouda cheese and grate it in the bowl. 

  
9. Cut the chicken into very small pieces and add to the bowl. 

  
10. Sprinkle salt and red chilli powder in the bowl. 

  
11. The vegetables will be ready by the time you get done with this. Add them to the bowl and mix well. 

  
12. Take a baking dish and grease it with butter or oil. I used my cake dish. 

13. Pour the mixture in the dish and put thin slices of gouda cheese on top of the mixture so it spreads nicely when baking. 

  
14. Bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. 

  
It’s ready!

Enjoy 🙂 

Crab sticks salad

I recently attended an event in Connaught Place, Delhi, which was organised by Gadre seafood. It was the launch of their new ready to eat product called crabsticks.
Chef Vikas Khanna endorses this brand and inspired by one of his recipes I decided to make a salad using the Crabsticks by Gadre seafood. And I must say, it turned out to be a great salad.

The best part about Gadre ready to eat crabsticks is that it tastes exactly like crab meat but is made of surimi, a fish preparation which is much healthier than crab meat.  Low on fat and cholesterol, surimi is the choice to make. 

So let’s look into the recipe-
You will need:

1 pack of Gadre ready to eat crabsticks

1 pack of white button mushrooms

1 red bell pepper

1 yellow bell pepper

3-4 strawberries

5-6 blackgrapes

Lettuce leaves

1 lemon
Olive oil
Vinegar

Salt and pepper

How to cook:

1. Take mushrooms and wash thoroughly. Boil the mushrooms for 10-15 minutes.

2. Once boiled slice the mushrooms into thin slices.

3. Chop the bell peppers, strawberries and grapes into small pieces.

4. Take a bowl and lay out lettuce leaves adjacent to the bowls surface.

5. Throw in all the cut fruits and vegetables in the bowl.

6. Take the pack of crabsticks and remove 4-5 of the sticks.

7. The crabsticks are wrapped in plastic which should be removed before consumption.

8. Chop up the crabsticks to smaller pieces and add to the bowl.

9. Take a smaller bowl and add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil to it. Squeeze half a lemon in the same bowl.

10. In the same bowl add 3-4 teaspoons of vinegar and whisk well. We are going to use this for the dressing.

11. After whisking the dressing, add it directly on the salad.

12. Add salt and pepper over the salad and mix well.

 

Serve with lunch or dinner  !

Enjoy 🙂

Stuffed mushroom bites

All mushrooms are loaded with nutrients.  Whether you choose white button, shiitake, oyster or enoki mushrooms, you can be sure that these will definitely be full of nutrition. Mushrooms are packed with B vitamins, antioxidants and vitamin D. They are a low calorie choice for an appetiser that will provide high protein content along with potassium, selenium and niacin. 

I am a huge fan of mushrooms myself and keep experimenting with different recipes. Here’s one simple recipe for a healthy and refreshingly light appetiser – 

You will need: 

1 pack of white button mushrooms 

2 tomatoes 

4-5 cloves of garlic 

3-4 green chillies

5-6 mint leaves

Lettuce  

Salt 

Olive oil 

  
How to cook: 

1. Clean the mushrooms thoroughly and put them to boil in a saucpan. 

  
2. While the mushrooms are cooking, chop the tomatoes and grind them to a paste along with green chillies, mint leaves and garlic cloves.  

3. Heat a frying pan and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil in it. 

4. Add the tomato garlic paste to the frying pan and sauté for 10 minutes. 

  
5. Check whether the mushrooms are softened by boiling. 

6. Once boiled, remove the stems of the mushrooms. 

7. In a dish, lay lettuce leaves and put mushrooms on the leaves. 

  

8. Take a spoon and fill each mushroom with the tomato garlic sauce prepared in the frying pan. 

  
9. Fold the lettuce leaves over the mushrooms and put toothpicks through them to hold it together. 

  
10. Serve as an appetiser at a get together with some fresh juice or wine. 
Enjoy 🙂 

Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are truly a genius invention, especially for those who believe in eating right and tend to get bored with plain hard boiled eggs. I know so many people who eat at least 4-5 eggs a day to keep up with the intensity of their work outs. And with some time in hand, deviled eggs can be a healthy yet delicious snack. You’ll find many different recipes for deviled eggs online but I like to experiment with different ingredients so here’s what I do and trust me it tastes beyond epic:

You will need:

6 eggs

Hot Salsa

Cream Cheese

Chilli sauce

Cilantro leaves

Paprika powder

 

How to cook:

1. Place the eggs in a saucepan and fill it water covering the eggs entirely. Hard boil the eggs by heating the saucepan till the water starts boiling.
2. Once the eggs have boiled, let the pan cool for 10 minutes. Peel the eggs and slice them in half.
3. Remove the yolk from all the eggs.
4. In a bowl, put a table spoon of cream cheese. Add 2-3 table spoons of salsa and half a teaspoon of chilli sauce in the bowl.
5. Mix well until the paste is uniform.
6. Transfer the mixture to a piping bag.
7. From the bag, pipe the mixture into the empty egg whites. You can also use a spoon for this if you don’t have a piping bag.
8. Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and paprika.

Deviled eggs are a good snack/appetizer option and can be served at parties and social gatherings as well.

Do try making deviled eggs at home. And let me know how you make it 🙂

 

Smoothie your way to health

We always keep hearing how important fruits are and how we should eat more fruits and vegetables. But yeah I agree, it gets boring. When you’re super hungry and feeling like you can devour an entire pizza alone and you have no choice but to eat fruits to keep that tummy in – I know that feel.

An easy way to increase your daily fruit intake is by adding them to your smoothie. And trust me, you can never go wrong with a smoothie. I experiment a lot with smoothies and add whatever I don’t like to eat raw in it. Smoothies can be very healthy as the milk/soy milk gives you adequate protein along with the fibre and vitamins from the fruits. Smoothies retain the fibre content of the fruits so in a way prove to be better than fruit juices.

Let me tell you how I make my deliciously sweet detox smoothie –

You will need:

1 apple

1 kiwi

4-5 strawberries

Kale leaves

1-2 Walnuts

Milk or soy milk (if you’re trying to reduce dairy)
How to make it:

1. Take a grinder and pour a glass of milk in it.

2. Wash and chop up the fruits and walnuts.

3. Throw in all the fruits along with washed kale leaves.

4. Grind it for 3-4 minutes or until all solids have disappeared.

5. Add ice if you like it cold.

 

There you have your healthy detox smoothie and let me tell you – one big glass of this smoothie keeps you feeling full for a long time.

Enjoy!

I’d like to know what you add in your smoothie! Let me know by commenting below 🙂

Vegan Kebabs

Trying out Veganism?

Lots of people in the world today are turning vegans, temporarily, if not life long. Choosing to be a vegan means giving up on meat, fish, poultry as well as all animal products like dairy, honey, eggs etc.

One of the few concerns about the nutritional intake in a vegan diet is not getting enough proteins. Proteins are very important for our bodies. Proteins are used to keep up the tissue repair, build muscles, bones as well as keeping hair and nails in good health. Yes, increasing protein intake also reduces hair fall.

One very simple source of Vegan protein is Soy. Soy is a plant protein that can act as a great substitute to meat in vegan diets. Soya chunks are made of soybean and have very negligible fat content. The calories in Soya chunks come from proteins and carbs.

So let’s make kebabs out of soya chunks!

You will need:

300-400 grams Soya chunks

2 onions

6-7 garlic cloves

Cilantro leaves

4-5 Green chillis

2 small Cinnamon sticks

Black pepper

Olive oil

Paprika powder/red chilli powder

Salt

 

How to cook:

1. Take a pressure cooker and fill it half with water. Put soya chunks in the cooker along with chopped onions, garlic cloves, cinnamon sticks and pepper. Bring to boil.

2.  Empty the contents of the cooker in a grinder and grind it till it is a paste. Soya chunks, once boiled, become softer and can be easily broken.

3. Take the paste out in a bowl. Add cilantro leaves along with chopped chilli peppers, red chilli powder/paprika powder and salt. You might want to a tablespoon full of flour of your choice to the mixture. This will ensure the patties don’t break.

4. Mix the contents well and make small patties.

5. On a pan, pour some olive oil and spread well with an oil brush.

6. Place 4-5 patties or as many as you can fit on the pan and let them fry for 4-5 minutes on each side.

7. Once the patties are cooked, serve hot with some mint chutney. I like mine with Hot Salsa.

These Vegan Kebabs are a very healthy and enticing snack option. Try cooking these kebabs and let me know how you like it in the comments below! 🙂

Sautéed corn with pepper

Corn is not just a staple food or snack food and definitely not as plain as it seems. Corn is a high phytonutrient providing source and has numerous digestive benefits. This is because of the high fiber content in corn. The phytonutrients in corn are great antioxidants that include anthocyanins, beta-carotene, lutein among others.

So how do we make a quick snack that keeps us feeling full for a long time?

With this easy 15 minute Sautéed corn recipe!

What you will need:

200 grams corn kernels

Half Red bell pepper

Half Yellow bell pepper

1 Onion

1 tomato

White Vinegar

1 Lemon

Olive oil

Salt

Paprika powder/red chilli powder

Let’s get cooking:

1. Wash the corn and boil it in a pan for 5 minutes. Though, the healthiest way to cook corn is steaming it, I decided to boil it since it takes lesser time.

2. Chop the peppers, onion and tomato into small pieces.

3. Take a pan and heat it. Put two teaspoons of olive oil in.

4. Toss in the chopped onion and sauté it till it’s nicely golden.

5. Once the onions are slightly golden, add the chopped peppers and the boiled corn in the pan.

6. Add the tomatoes at the end and let it fry for a minute.

7. Empty it in a bowl and add 3 teaspoons of vinegar and squeeze half a lemon over the corn.

8. Add salt and paprika powder and mix well.

9. Serve hot with a fruit smoothie of your choice.

Enjoy!

All in one balanced Sandwich

Balanced diet is the key to a sound mind and a healthy body. And we often mistaken balanced diet with no carb no fat diet. But our bodies require all the nutrients in the right amount in order to function well.

So how to do balanced diet right?

Let’s prepare a lunch with everything that your body needs.

You will need:

Multigrain bread

Chicken sausages

Lettuce

Red bell pepper

Yellow bell pepper

Salad dressing/low fat sandwich spread

Salt and pepper
The recipe:

1. Grill or bake the sausages for five to ten minutes and keep aside.
2. Take the multigrain bread and put a layer of low fat sandwich spread on both sides. You can choose mustard sauce, garlic spread or salsa as well.

3. Wash some lettuce and place it on one side of the bread.

4. Chop the peppers into small pieces and  put them over the lettuce.

5. Cut the sausages vertically into half and place them over the vegetables.

6. Add some salt and pepper. You can also add some tobasco or chilli sauce to give your sandwich a spicy flavor.

7. Serve with freshly squeezed orange juice.
Let me tell you how this ten minute lunch recipe is a balanced meal. Firstly, the chicken gives you the healthy lean protein. Then the multigrain bread balances all your carbohydrate needs. The fiber in the bread is good for your digestive health. The vegetables including lettuce and peppers give you carotenoids, vitamins C, K, iron, magnesium and a lot more. Choose romaine lettuce over iceberg lettuce and the benefits will be multiplied by 10 fold. And finally the salad dressing gives your body the right amount of fats it needs.

Enjoy 🙂

Broccoli with a twist

Muscles are made in the gym but abs are made in the kitchen. Yes, the secret to flat tummy is a healthy diet. But ever wondered why eating healthy is so boring? Because we end up sticking to salads and juices and don’t experiment with the food. Well, let me help you with that. Here is a super easy yet extremely healthy recipe that will take just 15 minutes to cook.

First let’s look at all that the ingredients have to offer –

There’s a reason Broccoli is called the World’s healthiest food. It is not only a great source of dietary fiber (which by the way helps you lose weight), broccoli is also loaded with regulatory nutrients like vitamin A, C, B1, B6, pantothenic acid, magnesium, selenium and the list goes on.

On the other hand, red bell peppers contain a very high amount of vitamin C and carotenoids, a natural pigment converted to Vitamin A in our bodies. And guess what? Studies show that people who eat red bell peppers tend to lose weight faster than those who don’t.

Just look at how fresh and colorful they look!

 

You would need:

1 Red bell pepper

1 Broccoli

4-5 Garlic cloves

100 grams Tofu

Salt and Pepper

Olive Oil

 

Let’s get cooking:

1. Wash and chop up the entire broccoli into small bite sized florets.
2. Chop up the pepper and peel the garlic cloves

3. Toss the pepper and garlic in a grinder and grind till it’s a paste.

4. Add tofu in the paste along with some salt and pepper and grind again. (I added cream cheese, but if you want a totally healthy recipe please stick to tofu,since it’s gluten free and is high in protein, iron and calcium)

5. Heat a pan and put 2 tea-spoons of olive oil in.

6. Add the broccoli florets to the pan. Do you see how little oil I’ve used, yes this dish does not need a lot of oil to cook.

7. Pour in the sauce that you prepared in the grinder and saute for 5 mins.

8. Once done, serve hot with a healthy drink. I served it with a healthy detox smoothie.

The bell pepper sauce gives it a spicy taste and the tofu makes the sauce creamy. Trust me and try it, you’ll start loving broccoli if you don’t already 😀

Enjoy ! 🙂