Homemade healthy apricot and almond bars

These are easy to make energy bars and the fun part is that you can make these with a variety of ingredients of your choice.

Today I made these with dried apricots, almonds, dates and walnuts. All you need is a food processor and a baking dish lined with wax paper. The best part is that you don’t have to bake these and cooking time is 10 minutes only. Don’t you want to try these?

Ingredients:

1 cup nuts (I added almonds and walnuts)

1 cup dried fruit (I added apricots)

1 cup medjool dates pitted

You can roast the nuts or use them raw. I used the nuts raw and pulse them in a food processor. Separately pulse the pitted dates and apricots into crumb sized pieces.

Combine them and pulse them together till it all comes together in a ball.

Now, lay a wax paper in a baking dish and spread the dough in it. Now keep this in the freezer for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Take the baking dish out of the freezer and cut the bars in the desired shape and size. Store these bars in the fridge and consume within 15 days.

You can eat these at room temperature.

Healthy zucchini date chocolate chip muffins

Ingredients:

1 tbsp clarified butter (ghee)

1 large brown organic egg

8 to 10 dates (paste) pitted

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ cup tightly packed shredded zucchini

½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 1.4 cups organic 2% milk

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan with oil spray. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the clarified butter, egg, milk, and dates until smooth. In a separate bowl, mix the cocoa, whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda. Now, fold the flour mixture in the bowl with the butter and egg mixture. Lastly add the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter in the greased muffin pan and bake for about 15 minutes at 375 F.

Cool the muffins on a wire rack.

 Avocado Spinach mango salad

Since mangoes are very much the talk of the town, here is one wonderful and fresh spinach mango salad.

Ingredients:

1 bunch fresh baby spinach organic roughly chopped

½ red onion chopped in thin slices

1 ripe avocado chopped in cubes

½ lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

2 mangoes chopped in cubes (peeled and seeded)

2 tbsp orange juice

In a serving bowl, mix all the ingredients and serve. You can add any toasted nuts or sunflower seeds for the crunch.

Sugar free Sweet potato, date and chocolate chip muffins

I love sweet potatoes yet had never thought I would be baking muffins out of sweet potatoes. These are whole wheat muffins with absolutely no sugar.

Ingredients:

1 ¼ cup whole wheat flour

4 small organic sweet potatoes boiled and mashed

10/11 medjool dates (paste)

½ cup fresh orange juice

¼ cup milk

½ cup semi sweet chocolate chips

2 tsps cocoa powder (sugar free)

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt

2 tsp cinnamon powder

1 organic brown egg

2 tsp clarified butter

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 400 F.

In a bowl, take the whole wheat flour and add salt, cinnamon powder, cocoa powder, baking soda and baking powder and keep aside.

In a different mixing bowl, put the melted clarified butter or ghee and start beating it with a hand mixer. Add the egg and continue beating. Now add the mashed sweet potato in the bowl and beat while adding the date paste. Once this is mixed well, add the orange juice and continue beating. Slowly, add the dry ingredients little by little and continue beating. The batter should be thin and if it is not, add the milk to the batter. Lastly, add the chocolate chips and give it a final whisk.

Pour the batter in a well-greased muffin tray or cake pan. Place it in the pre-heated oven and bake till about 20 minutes. Insert a toothpick to check with the cake is done well. Let it cool on a wire rack.

Chicken curry

 Oil free Chicken curry with homemade masala

Oil free chicken curry is my husband's favorite dish and I enjoy making it for him. It is made with fresh ground spices and made without any tomato or oil. It is aromatic because of the fresh spices and curry leaves.

Ingredients

 15/20 fresh curry leaves
5 peppercorns
3 cloves
1 dry red chili
1 large cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
3 cardamom pods
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/2 large red onion
4 cloves garlic
1/2 inch piece fresh ginger
2 pounds chicken drumsticks organic skinless
Salt to taste

For the marinade

1 tsp cinnamon powder
1 tsp cardamom powder
3 tbsp plain nonfat yogurt
Salt
Turmeric powder
Coriander cumin powder 1 tsp
Half of the curry leaves
Ginger garlic paste fresh



Method

Start marinating the chicken and keep it aside for about 4 hours. 

After the chicken is marinated for about 4 hours, cook the chicken in a pressure cooker ( I waited for about 4 whistles). Now for the masala, take a pan and dry roast the pepper, sesame seeds, cloves, coriander seeds, poppy, cumin, chili, chopped onion, ginger and garlic with curry leaves. After it is dry roasted for about 6/7 minutes on a medium flame, turn of the heat and wait for it to cool down. Now, blend the masala with a little water and make a fine smooth paste.

After the chicken is cooked in the pressure cooker, mix the masala paste and boil it for about 15/20 minutes and garnish with chopped cilantro. Enjoy with your choice of white or brown rice and/or roti.

Whole wheat strawberry banana and apricot muffins

I have mostly been using honey as a sweetener in my baking. But today I wanted to try something sweet without honey or sugar. So, I have tried these healthy sugar free muffins successfully. I have used whole wheat and flax seeds with some fresh and some dry fruits for the sweetness in these muffins.


Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp organic flax seeds
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup organic 2% milk
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup fresh cut strawberries about 6/7
1/2 cup chopped dried organic apricots
1 very ripe banana
1 tbsp clarified butter
1 organic brown egg
1/2 cup low fat yogurt plain
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly spray non stick oil spray in the muffin pans. This recipe makes about 15 muffins.

Start with the dry ingredients in a bowl. Take the whole wheat flour in a bowl and add the flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt and keep aside.


In a separate bowl whisk the clarified butter and egg together. Start adding the thoroughly mashed banana and whisk well. Now add the yogurt and mix well. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet mixture and beat well. Pour in the milk looking at the consistency of the batter. It should be wet and you should be able to pour it easily in the muffin pan.

Add the chopped fruits at the very end with the chocolate chips and whisk lightly. 
Pour the batter in the greased muffin pans and bake at 350F for about 25 mins.  Insert a toothpick to check if muffins are done. Let them be in the muffin pan for 5/10 mins and then cool them on a wire rack.

Puran Poli

Puran poli is a maharshtrian delicacy made on the festival of holi. It is a roti with stuffing of chana dal and jaggery.

You will need 2 cups of chana dal and 2 cups of jaggery for this recipe. You need to pressure cook the dal till it is soft and mushy. Remove all the water from the pot and use only the dal.

Now, take a different pot and add the measured jaggery with the dal residue/paste and set it on medium flame. As the jaggery starts melting, you will notice that the mixture starts to become moist. Continue stirring it until you notice that the mixture starts binding together. If you put the spatula in the mixture and it stands upright without falling down, then you know for sure that the mix is ready (a trick told to me by my mom).Turn of the flame and add some cardammon powder or nutmeg powder once it is slightly cool.

Make sure you strain the chana dal mixture through a strainer (puran Yantra) in order to avoid any lumps. This will make the rotis soft and easy to roll.

Now make very soft dough with wheat flour as you would for making rotis. It should be really soft. Now, take a small ping pong sized ball of dough and start making a small roti out of it using a rolling pin. Fill in a spoonful of the dal and jaggery mixture in it and fold it in a ball and roll out a flat think roti. Roast it on a hot pan from both sides till it is roasted properly or till you see brown spots. Serve with clarified butter or ghee. 

Kale and beet salad

All salads are not necessarily healthy. It depends on what dressing you are using and what actually goes inside the salad. Recently, I am a big fan of kale and try to incorporate it into our meals regularly.

Here is one simple recipe of a salad that is extremely tasty and healthy.

Ingredients: (serves 2)

Organic kale about 8/10

Baby spinach organic about 8/10 leaves

½ big beet boiled and cut in chunks

½ orange peeled and cut

2 tbsp apple cider

1 tbsp white rice vinegar

¼ thinly sliced red onion

6/7 organic red cherry tomatoes

½ chopped red bell pepper

Nuts of your choice or sunflower seeds

In a bowl, place the washed kale and spinach leaves and add boiled and cut beet. Cut open the orange after peeling it and use about ½ in the salad. Add the cherry tomatoes and chopped red bell pepper. Now, pour the apple cider and white rice vinegar and serve. This salad tastes sweet and tangy. It goes very well with pasta.

Oil free Falafel

Ingredients:

2 cups chickpeas/garbanzo beans

1 small onion roughly chopped

¼ cup cilantro

3-5 cloves garlic

1 ½ tsp besan flour

Salt to taste

2 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch of cardamom

Soak the garbanzo beans overnight in a bowl of water and then drain water in the morning. Pour them in the mixer/processor along with the chopped onion, cilantro (you can use parsley), flour, salt, garlic, cumin and cardamom. Pulse it together to form a coarse paste. Refrigerate this coarse, thick paste for about 3 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the paste from the refrigerator and you can either bake them or cook them in the ebelskiver pan using oil spray. Cover the pan and cook them till they are golden brown on both sides.

For the wrap, I used whole wheat pita bread and added tomato, onion, cucumber slices, baby spinach with some tahini sauce (homemade) and yogurt with some dill.  

Semolina and jaggery cake

Lately I have been making most of the cakes with honey and applesauce just to avoid sugar. Somehow, I got bored of the taste of honey in the cakes, so with this cake I decided to try jaggery. This cake tastes exactly like the one my Mom used to make when I was a kid and when there were no fancy ovens. So, do you want to indulge in the same taste again? But, this is with a healthier touch :)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup semolina coarse

1/2 cup almond meal

2 tbsp clarified butter

1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened homemade from organic apples)

1/4 cup powdered jaggery

2 tbsp low fat plain yogurt (I used Mountain high)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

1 pinch salt

Mix all the dry ingredients- semolina,almond meal, baking powder, salt, and cardamom powder in a bowl and mix together.

In a separate bowl, mix the clarified butter and add whisked yogurt, applesauce and jaggery powder and whisk together. Once it is smooth, add in the dry ingredients and whisk together for a minute or so. If the batter is not smooth and runny, you might want to add some more yogurt or applesauce. Pour the batter in a greased baking pan (I used oil spray) and put it in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes on 350 F. 

Basil lemon fish wrap

This recipe is totally inspired by a fish taco we enjoyed in Mexico last year. It is a simple and full of flavors. The flavors are quite simple but the fish reminds of the warm, humid weather of Mexico.

I used tilapia for this fish wrap, but I guess you can use Halibut with this recipe too. It is a simple broiled fish which hardly takes time to cook seasoned with lemon, garlic, basil and pepper and served with avocado, and tomato salsa. Now, you tell me, Can it go wrong?

Ingredients:

For the marinade

2 ½ tablespoons of fresh lemon juice

2 garlic cloves minced

3 tablespoons dried basil (you can use fresh too)

Salt as per taste

Pepper powder as per taste

4 big wild catch tilapia fillets

For the wrap

1 sliced avocado

Whole wheat flatbread (you can use tacos too, but I wanted something healthy)

For the tomato salsa

1 tomato chopped

1 small onion chopped

1 jalapeno pepper

Chopped cilantro

Salt

Method:

Whisk the lemon juice, garlic, and basil in a bowl with salt and pepper crushed. Place the fish fillets in a large zip lock bag and pour the lemon garlic vinaigrette in the ziplock and put in the fridge for about 1 hour or so.

In a separate bowl add the chopped tomato, onion and jalapeno with salt and chopped cilantro and mix well. Keep aside. Chop the avocado in cubes and keep aside. You can add any other salad like cucumbers or lettuce in the wrap/taco.

Now heat the oven at 350 F for about 10 minutes and then change the setting to broiler. Place the marinated fish fillets on a baking tray with a whiff of oil spray and place in the oven on broiler for about 7 minutes and flip in between.

Once the fish is cooked, take the flatbread and keep the fish slices in pieces in the flatbread and add the tomato salsa. Avocado slices with any other salad of your choice and enjoy it.

Chicken Dum Biryani

I always thought Biryani was a very complicated dish and pretty much tried to avoid it as much as I could. But, I found this recipe on sanjeev kapoor’s khazana and when I tried it, I realized that it was so easy and it tasted yummy too. Don’t be scared of the long list of ingredients. Once you start the marination, you will realize that it’s pretty easy.

Ingredients: (serves 6)

Chicken cut into 1 inch pieces

Saffron 7 /8 strands and little warm milk to dip the strands in

Shahi jeera 1 teaspoon

Bay leaf 1 /2

Cloves 5 /6

Green cardamoms 5

Peppercorns 6 /7

Onions sliced 2

Ginger paste fresh 1 teaspoon

Garlic paste 1 teaspoon

Fresh mint leaves 1 cup

Salt as per taste

Lemon juice 2 tablespoons

Yogurt 1 cup

Coriander leaves hopped finely

Ghee 2 tablespoons

Cardamom powder 2 tsp

Shahi biryani masala 1 ½ tablespoons

For creating the dum- wheat flour dough

Method:

Take the chicken pieces in a bowl and add ginger garlic paste (preferably fresh), salt and mix. Add shahi biryani masala, red chili powder, yogurt, cilantro leaves chopped and mint leaves chopped and cinnamon powder with cardamom powder. Add about 1 tbp ghee and mix everything. Let this marinate for about 3 hours in the refrigerator.

In a separate pan, wash the basmati rice and drain out all the water. Keep it aside. Once you start cooking, heat about 5 cups of water in a deep pan. Add the washed and drained rice, salt, bay leaves, one cinnamon stick, peppercorns and shahi jeera in the water. Cook till about half way done. Drain this rice and keep aside.

In a thick-bottomed pan, spread the chicken on a bed of cooking spray. (I did not use oil) Then spread the rice in a layer. Again spread some chicken pieces and then layer it with the remaining rice. Sprinkle saffron milk. Cover the pot with wheat flour dough and then place the lid firmly on top.

After about 10-15 minutes, you will notice some steam coming out o the pot. This means that the dum is working and the biryani is cooked. Now lower the flame and let it cook for about 10 more minutes.

Before serving, make sure the chicken is well-cooked. It will continue to cook under the dum effect even after the gas flame is off.

Peanut butter and sesame noodles:

Usually peanut butter contains lots of sodium and saturated fat, but I found a healthy peanut butter (trader Joes- Better n' peanut butter)which is low fat, low in sodium and pretty healthy. This recipe contains lots of veggies and is little spicy, slightly sweet.

Ingredients:

1 pack of whole wheat organic spaghetti

1 inch ginger chopped finely

I small onion sliced

1 carrot sliced in thin strips

1 bell pepper sliced in thin slices

1 bunch kale leaves roughly chopped

1 small bunch baby spinach leaves roughly chopped
1 tsp rice vinegar
1 tsp  soy sauce (low sodium)

2 tbsp sesame seeds

4 tbsp peanut butter

½ tsp sriracha sauce (hot sauce)

1 tbsp organic honey

1 lime juice and zest

2 cloves garlic chopped finely

1 tsp oil

For the peanut dressing: Place the peanut butter in a large measuring cup and microwave to soften (15 seconds). Whisk in with the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, honey, sriracha, and lime zest and juice in a small bowl. Keep it aside.

In a wok, heat oil and sauté the veggies and the garlic till cooked thoroughly. In a separate pot, cook the noodles as per the instructions on the packet. Drain all the water and add the cooked noodles to the cooked veggies. Serve with the peanut butter sauce and garnish with sesame seeds before serving. 

Fig, date and almond meal healthy cake

On our anniversary this year, I wanted to bake a cake, but I wanted it to be something special and healthy. I came upon several recipes without flour. I was interested in most paleo diet special cakes. I stumbled upon the following cake recipe and decided to make it.

Adapted from: greenkitchenstories (chocolate nut and date cake)

1/2 cup fresh soft medjool-like dates, pitted

½ cup dried figs (soaked in water)
1 cup raw almonds or almond meal
1 block 80% dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 organic egg
1 organic orange, juice and zest
2 tbsp unsweetened cacao powder
1 tsp extra virgin coconut oil, melted
1 handful fresh or thawed strawberries

Preheat the oven to 340F/175°C. Place raw almonds in a food processor and pulse until you have a fine textured flour. If you are using almond meal, then you can skip this step. Then add the dates and soaked figs and mix until well mashed. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir with a large spoon to combine. Pour the batter in a greased pan and bake for 40-50 minutes. Let the cake cool slightly before removing the pan. Serve with berries.

Healthy quinoa salad:

Ingredients:

½ cup red quinoa rinsed and drained

1 cup water

1 ripe avocado

1 small bunch organic baby spinach leaves

1 small chopped red onion

Lemon juice as per taste

Salt as per taste

1/3 cup feta cheese crumbled

1 small finely chopped tomato

1/3 cup sweet corn

Cook the quinoa as per the instructions on the packet and drain all the water. Keep it in a serving bowl until cold. Now add the chopped onion, tomatoes, corn and roughly chopped spinach leaves. Mix well.

Add salt, lemon juice as per taste. Now add the finely chopped avocado and crumble the feta cheese and serve. You can enjoy this as a pizza side or a pasta side dish.  

Super easy corn and kale rice:

Each time you plan a party, you keep thinking of different kinds of rice dishes. So, I got one super easy, tasty and with a lot of greens dish for you. I am very fond of kale since it is a super green. But, making your toddler eat greens is a big problem. Since kids love corn, this is one recipe where you can make your kids eat greens too J I have replaced kale with fenugreek too and that works great too.

Ingredients:

2 cups basmati rice washed

1 tsp oil

1 chopped red onion

2/3 cloves

3/4 peppercorns

1 cinnamon stick

1 bay leaf

3/4 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 inch ginger chopped finely

2 cardamom pods

1 cup corn (you can add more)

1 big bunch cut and chopped organic kale

1 cup Water to cook rice
salt as per taste

In a large wok, heat the oil and add cloves, peppercorns, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, cardamom and chopped red onion. Saute well and add chopped garlic and ginger. Once the onion and ginger-garlic is cooked well, you can add the washed rice (remove water). Saute it well and then add corn and chopped kale. Now add water as per the requirement of rice. I usually add 1 cup (i.e half the amount of rice). Add salt as per taste. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes or until rice is well done.

Enjoy with a bowl of soup J

Rajgira (Amaranth) flour ladoo:

Amaranth is a gluten-free food and a source of complete protein. High in fiber and a good source of magnesium and iron, Amaranth is a spectacular addition to your diet. This little powerhouse is perfect for gluten free and vegan diets. 

Usually, we eat rajgira or amaranth ladoos for fasts in India. They are usually made out of puffed grain, but since we get good organic flour in the U.S, I thought I should just make ladoos out of this wonderful flour.

Ingredients:

2 ½ katoris amaranth flour

½ katori almond powder

7/8 seedless dates

¼ katori jaggery powder

¼ katori clarified butter (ghee)

1 pinch of cardamom powder

Dry roast the amaranth flour in a pan till it slightly changes color. Wait till it slightly cools down.

Add the almond powder, jaggery powder and cardamom powder to the flour. Chop the dates and put them in a blender to mash it. Add it to the flour mixture. Now add clarified butter and mix well with your hands. Check and try forming small balls with your hands. If the mixture is still not binding well, you might need to add little more ghee. Bind the ladoos well. This recipe will make about 14 ladoos.

Healthy black bean truffle:

If you crave for something sweet after meals, then you got to try this one. This is an easy dessert snack which can be made in a jiffy and can be stored easily too.

Ingredients:

§                  2/3 cup cooked or canned black beans

§                  2 1/2 tsp low fat and low sodium peanut butter

§                  2 tbsp cocoa powder

§                  1/2 tbsp raw honey

§                  1/16 tsp salt

§                  1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

§                  Melted Dark chocolate for coating

Adapted from: chocolate covered Katie (black bean chocolate fudge balls)

I used whole black beans (not the canned ones) for this recipe. Cook the beans till they are soft and drain and rinse them well. Then combine all ingredients in a blender (I used magic bullet) and blend until smooth. Refrigerate so that the mix hardens and the mixture is firm enough to roll into balls with your hands. Once rolled, return to the fridge.

For the Chocolate Coating: Melt dark chocolate chips/bar in a double boiler or melt in the microwave. Line a plate with parchment, dip chilled balls into the chocolate, then place on the parchment and immediately return to the refrigerator to allow the coating to set. Store in the refrigerator and serve chilled. Use chopped almonds to decorate.