Posts

Strawberry Muffins
Really, is being foodie a gene we pass around from mother to child? Last week I reached home from work and I got an excited call from my four year old who has just been picked up from her preschool by her dad. "Mommy, I have a great idea - let's bake something today! Let's bake cherry pie!" she said in her most excited voice.  It was a school night and I had plans for dinner and then had some office work lined up -- so I tried to derail her from the plan "but we don't have pie crust at home honey, so let's bake on the weekend, okay?" I say.  Being a true foodie, to that she says "but we can make it, right? you can ask Google how to make crust! Google knows everything"  hmmm.. "well yes, I can do that but how about we go to park instead or (reluctantly) may be I'll let you watch a Daniel Tiger instead!"... "no, let's bake something please" she says. Wow, if today baki…

Baked Kale Chips
I am a hand-me-down owner of a large vegetable patch dedicated to many varieties of kale at our home. One of the many things the previous owner had loved and cared for when they were here. And even with my minimal care which is mostly trial and error based, the kale is flourishing! Now the only problem is I have to find more ways to use up the kale and fast! :)  I make kale daal, going to try kale paratha, have a favorite quinoa and kale mediterranean salad with almonds (recipe coming soon!) but the one tried and trusted kale recipe we have come to love is this baked kale chips! These chips are nice and crunchy and you can play with seasonings a bit to what you like. Believe me you can't eat just one! But unlike other chips, in this case it's guiltless grazing, cool, right? :) These are super easy to prepare and are very nutritious and healthy snack. I make two baked tray full of kale chips over the weekend and keep a bowl full of chips …

Chard Parathas
Staring at leftover of a large bunch of chard leaves from farmer's market, I tried thinking of some creative ways to use it for a Friday night dinner. Nothing popped up so finally settled on making just the regular usual parathas but for the first time with chard instead of the usual paratha greens of methi or spinach. It turned out great and I thought it was a nice way of adding chard to our meals. Empowered by this experiement, I'll be trying kale parathas next and will of-course let you know how that goes :) Otherwise the recipe is the usual paratha recipe: make a dough of 2.5C whole wheat flour, add finely chopped 5-6 chard leaves, 4-5 cloves of grated garlic, 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, 1/2tsp turmeric powder, 1tsp cumin powder, 1/2tsp garam masala and salt. Add enough water to make a pliable dough (chard releases some water, so add less than what you would otherwise add for 2.5C of water - I usually aim at 1C water). Then let the dough rest fo…