Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts

Beetroot and Cauliflower Burgers with Eggless Mayo

BURGER or PIZZA? Definitely, burgers for me. When I've had a hard day and my stomach craves some comforting fast food, it is always the burger I turn to. Every single time (I've had hundreds), I decide to go on a diet, I always grab that one last burger. I always assume it's my last for a loonnng time. You can't punish a girl for being positive. But my weakness for food usually overtakes my willpower to lose weight and I'm quicker at a burger joint than I'd prefer to be.

This time tough, I'm not on a diet and neither at a burger joint. I'm in my house, standing in my kitchen, making my own HEALTHY burger. Usually, a veggie burger has to have Potato, correct? WRONG!!! Not this one. This is 100% potato free. It is full of beets, cauliflower and beans. It's a nice way to trick someone into having their veggie fix for the day.

I've always loved beets. As a kid I was obsessed with the color Pink. I had to have that pink dress, that pink ribbon, that pink compass box, that pink pencil. Show me something in pink and orange, and I would always pick the pink one. May be it was my obsession with the color pink that made me love beets or may be it was the sweetness of the beets. I've always had a massive sweet tooth. But beets remained my friend for life. Look how pretty pink these burgers look....

I added the cauliflower, just to add some bite to the burgers. The beans are a must though. You can replace the kidney beans with chickpeas, black eyed peas or any beans capable of becoming mushy. The beans act as a binding agent in the burger in the absence of potato or eggs.

Most of the beet burger recipes I've browsed in the past, ask for roasted beets and that is a lot of effort. So I made the LAZY version of the beet burger. Just some grated beets, grated cauliflower, some cooked beans - mash mash mash. Add spices. Mix mix mix. Then shape and fry in a pan. EASY, right? It definitely is!! To get firm burgers, us

I paired the burgers with homemade eggless Mayo. Very simple to make and tastes just like the store bought one. Some tips for the Eggless Mayo:

The mustard makes all the difference. If you don't have mustard powder, just crush a few mustard seeds and add that.
If the Mayo ends up having lumps, do not worry, just strain it using a strainer once it cools to remove the lumps.
If the Mayo ends up becoming one hard lump, blend it in the mixer or blender with a little milk to loosen it up.
Allow the Mayo to cook, before adding the vinegar to prevent the milk in it from curdling.
To make it Vegan, use any vegan milk like soy or almond.

Beetroot and Cauliflower Burgers with Eggless Mayo

Spiced beetroot, cauliflower and beans patty combined with some eggless mayo to make a Veggie Burger

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients:

Beetroot and Cauliflower Patties:

1 cup Red Kidney Beans (cooked)
1 cup grated Cauliflower
2 cups grated Beetroot
2 Tbsp finely chopped Coriander leaves
1 tsp of Garlic Powder
1 tsp of Garam Masala
1 tsp of Red Chilli Powder
1/2 sp of Turmeric Powder
Salt to taste
3-4 Tbsp Oil to fry

Eggless Mayo:

1 cup Milk
2 Tbsp Plain flour or Maida
1 tsp white Vinegar
1/2 tsp Mustard Powder or Mustard Seeds
1/4 tsp of powdered Sugar
Salt to taste

To assemble:

4 burger buns
Beetroot and Cauliflower Patties
Eggless Mayo

Method:

Beetroot and Cauliflower Patties:

Mash the beans well.
Add all the other ingredients to it except the oil and mix well.
Shape into patties.
Heat oil in a pan and place the patties.
Cook the first side on medium flame for 3-4 minutes. Flip and cook for another 5-6 minutes.

Eggless Mayo:

Mix the flour in 1/2 cup of milk.
Heat the remaining milk in a pan and when it starts to boil, add the milk and flour mixture and whisk well so that there are no lumps.
Keep stirring or whisking until the mayo thickens and reaches the consistency you want.
Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Add the remaining ingredients and mix well.

To assemble:

Toast the burger buns,
Spread the mayo on the buns.
Place the hot patties and serve.

Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich

This sandwich is totally inspired from the Mediterranean Veggie sandwich of Panera Bread. I miss it.

I made this on a hot summer afternoon and we packed these and took them on our long drive out of the city. Hubby dearest loved it too, so this is set to become a regular travel companion.

It has to be my all time favorite sandwich. I don't have Panera's tomato basil bread, so I made my own tomato basil bread. I replaced the whole wheat flour with all purpose flour or maida.

I made my own coriander hummus too. I just added a cup of chopped fresh coriander leaves while blending the hummus.

If you don't have the patience for all the fancy pancy ingredients, then just buy your favorite loaf of bread and hummus. Just grind a cup of coriander along with the store bought hummus to make your own quick fix coriander hummus.

That's all you need and oh, of course, the veggies. But nothing exotic about them, they are your regular vegetables - onion, tomato, cucumber and some lettuce. And yes, I forgot, I added some feta cheese as well. You can skip this if you want. It does not alter the taste much.

The below recipe makes 4 sandwiches.

Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich

Sandwich made with tomato basil bread, Mediterranean vegetables and coriander hummus.

Recipe Type: Sandwich
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Yield: 4

Ingredients:

8 slices Tomato Basil bread / White bread
4 tbsp Coriander Hummus
1 Onion
1 Tomato
4-5 leaves of Lettuce
1 Cucumber
6-8 cubes Feta cheese

Method:

Okay, this must be the simplest recipe I have ever posted.
Spread the hummus on 4 slices.
Place the lettuce on them.
Place the finely sliced cucumber on it.
On the other 4 slices, place finely sliced onion and tomato.
Crumble some feta cheese.
Combine and bread slices to get the yummy sandwich

Tomato Gazpacho | Cold Tomato Soup

Soup and Cold - It is not an association we Indians generally make. We are proud of the fact that we serve and eat "Garma Garam Khana" or "Hot hot food". We can eat hot meals immaterial of the season or the temperature outside. When we want something cold, we make sherbets or have kulfis and ice creams. The thought of a filling cold soup rarely crosses our mind. So, now, I present to you *drum rolls* "A cold tomato soup - Gazpacho".

A couple of years ago if you had asked my hubby dearest what Gazpacho is, he would have asked you to repeat the question. But a couple of years of food channels and food shows can have such an effect on a person, even someone not interested in food. He can now not only tell you what it is, but probably take over this blog and tell you how to make it :D. Ah! Such is the power of the small squarish box at home. Where would we be without the TV?

I was watching an old episode of Planet Food on this mighty little box. Padma Lakshmi was in Spain. She was with a Spanish woman who told that unlike the common belief that tomatoes are a base for Gazpacho, it really is just bread.

Tomatoes came from South America and until the Spanish conquered it, Spain did not have tomatoes, but they still did have the Gazpacho. She showed one recipe with tomatoes and one with almonds. I'm not sure how the almond soup tastes, but tomato soup is a favorite at home. Do you remember, last week I made bread rolls and asked you not to throw out the edges? Voila, those edges are the star of this ship.. oops, soup.

The Spanish senorita asked us to use stale dense bread, but, let's face it, unless we are in really big cities that have gourmet bakeries, we aren't exposed to varieties of breads. We get our regular sandwich bread , milk bread or the now famous brown bread/whole wheat bread. Feel free to use any bread you can get your hands on. Or like me, use the unwanted edges of your bread.

I think the adjustment stops here :(. We need Olive Oil. Extra Virgin would be nice, but you can use what you have. I don't think this recipe would shine as much with any other oil. I haven't tried, but if you do try and it turns out amazing, let me know.

If you don't want to have this as your meal, then just have this in between meals when you want to fill your tummy with something healthy and you don't want to waste too much time cooking, coz, seriously, this is just a 5 minute job and all you need to dirty is your blender jar.

I simply love these lazy healthy recipes. Makes me wish all healthy food was fast food. There would be no excuse to eat junk :)

Like we garnish our hot soups with croutons, gazpachos are garnished too. But with fresh ingredients. The almond one is garnished with grapes, a particular variety I believe, but I don't remember which :( The tomato is garnished with chopped onions and tomatoes. I suggest, get creative and add what you and your family will enjoy.

This recipe makes 2 hearty portions.

Tomato Gazpacho | Cold Tomato Soup

Cold Spanish inspired soup made with bread and tomatoes

Recipe Type: Soup
Cuisine: Spanish
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 2 big bowls

Ingredients:

3-4 Bread slices or Bread Edges of about 10-12 slices
2 Tomato
2-3 cloves Garlic
3-4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Red chilli powder/ Pepper (Optional)
Salt
Cold water
Chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves for garnish (Optional)

Method:

Soak the bread in water.
Remove and squeeze out the water.
Blend together the bread, garlic and tomato.
Add the salt, red chilli powder or pepper and olive oil Blend for 1 min or until creamy
Add cold water and give it a whizz
Garnish with chopped onion, tomato and coriander leaves and serve cold

Baked Bread Rolls

I am blank! Just like a paper.

There are times when you want to write but you don’t know what to write. It is called a writer’s block. Most of the times I am blank, but not about writing, but about cooking. What is that called? Cooking block? Chef’s block? Cooking lunch and dinner is pretty easy for me.

I am a chapatti/roti lover so most days it is chapatti with some vegetables that are there at home. But I hate thinking about what to make for breakfast. And then start the calls. I call up my mom and my sister and ask the same question “What should I make for Breakfast?” and I get the same answer “Please don’t ask me, I’m confused too” :(

May be the women in office face the same issue everyday too. The women’s association in office started an online competition for quick and healthy breakfast recipes. I was extremely excited, I thought with at least the 200+ women in office, I’ll get many recipes. I, myself, submitted the recipe for my oats idlis. I must say though, that competition did not do much more than flooding my inbox with emails. I barely got any new recipes. Some were not healthy, some were not quick, some I would not even call breakfast. I did win the third prize though :).

I got the idea for this breakfast recipe when on a hungry weekday evening we went to a tiny shop to eat Vada Pao and Break pakoda and my sister remarked that she prefers break roll. The idea stayed in my head and from that seed grew a tree, that tempted me to make bread rolls. As I have mentioned before, I try to avoid deep frying, so I baked it. I stuffed with a combination of potato, carrot, cauliflower, spices and cheese. Stuff it with anything that takes your fancy, the bread is your stage… :) You can have it as a snack with nice hot cup of tea on a rainy evening….*slurp* or as a breakfast.

Definitely, a kid friendly recipe. I can vouch for that. What’s not to like? Bread, potatoes and cheese :) The only suggestion I have is: have it hot, it loses its crispness once it is cold. Dunk it in some cool mint chutney or some tangy ketchup. Or like us, just have it on its own. But have it, for sure :)

Baked Bread Rolls

Bread stuffed with a vegetable mixture, rolled and baked to make a roll.

Recipe Type: Snacks/ Appetizer
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 60 minutes
Yield: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

12 Bread slices
2 small or 1 large Potatoes
1 Carrot
1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped Cauliflower
1 small Onion
1 Green chilli
1-2 cloves of Garlic
1 Tbsp Coriander leaves (chopped)
2 cubes or 3-4 Tbsp Cheese (Grated)
2 Tbsp Butter
½ tsp Cumin seeds
3 tsp Oil
½ tsp Turmeric powder / Haldi
A pinch of Garam Masala
A pinch of Dry Mango Powder / Amchur
Salt
Water

Method:

1. Boil and peel the potatoes. Mash them roughly.
2. Finely chop the onion, garlic, carrot, green chilli and the cauliflower.
3. Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds.
4. Once the seeds brown, add the onion, chilli and the garlic.
5. Once the onion is slightly browned, add the carrot and cauliflower.
6. Cover and cook until the vegetables are done. They should still have a bite in them, don’t overcook them.
7. Add the spices and the mashed potatoes and mix well.
8. Add the coriander leaves.
9. Remove from heat and keep aside.
10. Cut the edges of the bread slices.
11. Using a rolling pin flatten out the bread.
12. In the center of the flattened bread, add a spoonful of the mixture and the cheese.
13. Wet the sides of the bread and join them.
14. Apply butter on the roll from outside
15. Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius.
16. Place the rolls on a cookie sheet in one layer and cook for 10 mins.
17. After 5 mins, flip the rolls.
18. Depending on the power of your oven you may need to keep it in for more or less time.
19. It should be crisp and golden brown.

P.S: Don't throw out the edges. You can use it to thicken gravies and soup. You can also use it as a binding agent in tikkis and patties. For a soup which uses bread edges, watch out for my next post :)

Bread Upma | Bread Fry

I'm not sure there is anything more heavenly then that warm freshly baked BREAD..

Fresh bread tastes amazing with just about everything, doesn't it?

Eat it like the ITALIANS with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pepper.

Or like rest of the world with BUTTER.

JAM, anyone?

But what about stale bread. Remember buying that loaf of bread two days ago? It tasted AMAZING, right? But lying there on the counter for 2 days, it just doesn't taste that good anymore. That wonderful scent is gone, that CRUSTY crust, just went soft and that soft moist CRUMB did the exact opposite thing - it went hard. Now WHAT????

Bakers keep inventing and re-inventing the humble bread. And home cooks like us keep inventing some more in our own little kitchens especially with leftovers. This Bread Upma or Bread Fry is credited to some home cook like us (I think).

This Bread Upma is the simplest and quickest way to jazz up stale bread. Heat some oil, toss in some onions, tomatoes and add the bread. Now you can be all methodical and use a knife to cut the bread or you can be all rustic and use your hands to break the bread into smaller pieces.

I added green peas since I had them. I've added corn sometimes. Add anything that cooks quickly. After all, we don't want to spend all that time in cooking vegetables - QUICK Breakfast, remember?

I've also included step by step instructions for this easy peasy Bread Upma.

Bread Upma

Leftover bread is broken into smaller pieces and fried with onions and tomatoes to make a delicious breakfast.

Recipe Type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Indian
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: 2 Servings

Ingredients:

4-5 Bread slices
1 small Onion
1 small Tomato
¼ cup Green Peas(Optional)
5-6 Curry Leaves
2-3 Green Chillies
A handful of fresh Coriander leaves
2 tsp Oil
½ tsp Cumin seeds
1 tsp Turmeric powder
½ tsp Sugar
Salt

Method:

Break the bread into small bite sized pieces. Alternatively, cut it into bite sized pieces.
Chop the onion and tomato finely
Slit the green chillies
Heat oil in a pan and add the cumin seeds
Once the cumin seeds splutter/ slightly brown, add the curry leaves, chopped onion and green chillies
Fry until the onions are done
Add the green peas and fry until done. Fresh green peas are generally done after frying for 2-3 mins. In case you have peas that take longer to cook, boil them separately and add to the onions and stir fry for 1 min.
Add the chopped tomato and cook for 1-2 mins
Add turmeric powder and salt
Add the bread pieces and mix well
Add the sugar and chopped coriander leaves

Wholewheat Tomato & Basil bread

I often miss having the Mediterranean veggie sandwich at Panera bread for lunch. Since we don't have any Panera Bread's out here, I cannot enjoy their tomato and basil bread. Which is what set me on a path to create my own. I found several recipes on the net, but I modified them to suit me. I am not so keen on cooking with maida(flour) so I use atta (whole wheat flour) more often. I also had no parmesan cheese as the recipes asked for. Also, I added the oats and the fennel just as an experiment which worked successfully. This was a yummy breakfast today morning with oodles of butter....

Tomato & Basil bread

Before first rise

After first rise

After baking

Crust & crumb

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour / Atta – 1.5 cups

Oats – ½ cup

Tomato – 1

Basil leaves – 10-12

Fennel seeds / Saunf – 1 tbsp

Olive oil – 1 tsp

Active dry yeast – 1 tsp

Red chilli flakes – 1 tbsp

Tomato ketchup – 1-2 tbsp

Water – ¼ cup

Salt – ½ tsp

Method:

Puree the tomato and mince the basil

Warm the water and dissolve the yeast in it

Add the tomato puree, basil, crushed fennel seeds, red chilli flakes, tomato ketchup, oats and salt and mix well

Add the flour and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. I kneaded for around 15 mins.

Grease a vessel with olive oil and place the dough in it. Turn the dough so that it is covered in oil. Cover the vessel and allow it to proof for 2 hours or until doubled in size.

Knead again for 1 min and place in the loaf tin or the baking sheet and allow it to rise for another 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius.

Bake for around 20-25 mins.

Zucchini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

The GoodFood magazine put me in a zucchini pizza mood. The photo looked so delicious that I just had to eat it. Sadly, no pizza joint close to home serves you such a pizza. So it fell upon me to create one :) The magazine was courteous enough to provide a recipe for the base as well. I added the pesto and the remaining veggies to give it more volume. The recipe for the pizza base and the pesto used can be found on the blog as well.

Place the topping on the pizza base

Grate cheese and spoon olive oil

Pizza after baking

Pizza

Pizza with carrot fries and blueberry muffins

Zuccini, Spinach and Onion Pizza

Pizza with pesto sauce topped with spinach, onions and zucchini

Recipe Type: Snacks
Cuisine: International
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium sized Pizza base
3/4 cup Pesto sauce
3 Cheese cubes
1 medium Zucchini
1 small Onion
A handful of Spinach leaves
1 tsp Oregano
3 Tbsp Olive oil
1 tsp Pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Rosemary (dried)

Method:

Spread the pesto on the base and grate one cheese cube and spread on it
Roughly chop the onion into large slices.
Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil and toss the onions in it until soft
Cut the zucchini into fine ribbons. I used a peeler to make the fine ribbons
Toss the zucchini with 1 tbsp. oil. Add a little salt and the pepper.
Add the oregano, rosemary and the onions
Place the spinach on the base.
Spread the zucchini and the onion mix
Grate the remaining cheese on the pizza
Spoon the remaining olive oil on the pizza
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius and bake for 10-15 minutes.

Pizza Base (50% Whole Wheat)

I recently got a GoodFood magazine from the library, the masterclass in the book was about pizza, this inspired me to make Pizza for lunch today. The recipe called for all purpose flour, I used a mix of plain flour and whole wheat flour. The below recipe made one medium sized thick crust pizza. Split the dough to make 2 thin crust pizzas

Dough before proofing

Dough doubled in size

Spread out the dough using your hands

Ingredients:

1 cup Maida/ All Purpose Flour
1 cup Atta / Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup Warm water
1.5 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1/2 tsp Salt
1.5 tsp Olive Oil

Method:

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water and allow it to rest for 5 mins
Add the olive oil and the two flours and mix well
Add the salt and knead for 15-20 mins
Cover and rest for 1 hour or until doubled
Sprinkle some dough into the working surface and place the dough on it
Using your hands spread the dough into a circle
For think crust, the thickness should be as much as a pancake
For thick crust, the thickness is around 1cm
Place the dough in the baking tray
Preheat the oven to 200 degree Celsius
Use a fork and poke the dough to prevent it from puffing up and allow even cooking
Bake for 10-15 mins until a toothpick comes clean

Pita bread

My husband likes pita bread a lot. It is not so easily found unless we go to gourmet food stores in Bangalore. I always wanted to try making it at home. So I finally thought, this Friday evening I shall give it a try. Try was successful and hubby munched down on the whole lot :)

Pita bread with hummus

Knead into a smooth dough

After 2 hours, the dough has doubled it size

Divide dough into balls

Flatten out the dough

Roll out the dough to 5 mm thickness

Puffing in the oven

Puffed up pita bread

Pita bread

Enjoy pita bread with hummus

Ingredients:

Maida / Flour - 1.5 cups
Active dry yeast - 1 tsp
Warm water - 0.5 cups
Sugar - 1 tsp (Powdered) (Optional)
Olive oil - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Salt

Method:

Mix the active dry yeast in the water and let it proof for 5-10 mins.
Add 1 cup flour to it. Add salt, sugar and olive oil.
Mix well and knead.
Add the remaining flour while kneading to get a smooth dough.
Clean the vessel used to make the dough and grease it with olive oil.
Place the dough in the vessel and move around the dough so it is coated with olive oil.
Cover the vessel with a clean towel or a plastic wrap and allow to rest for 1-2 hours until the dough doubles in size.
Gently flatten the dough and move the dough to the working surface.
Divide the dough into balls. I made 4 for this quantity.
Preheat the oven to 240 degree Celsius. Keep the baking tray/ baking stone in the oven during preheat.
Using some more dry flour, gently roll out the dough ball to a thickness of about 5mm
Place the rolled out pita bread on the baking sheet and bake for 3 minutes.
It will puff up after 1-2 mins.
If it does not puff, it means the baking sheet is not hot enough. Whether it puffs or not does not matter if you are eating it with a dip.
This can be made using a tava/ griddle also, so instead of preheating the oven, heat the tava and place the pita bread on it when the tava is hot.
Remove from tava after it puffs or after 2 mins appx.
Enjoy it hot with hummus.

Akki rotti / Rice flour flatbread with cucumber (sautekai)

Hot hot akki rottis with fresh homemade butter… yummmmm…. What in it is not to like? Akki means rice and rotti means roti/bread. It is a flatbread or roti made of rice flour. Akki rottis can be enjoyed as breakfast, lunch or dinner. So many different things can be added or the ingredients varied a little to get various types of akki rottis, each to suit a different palate. Akki rottis are probably unique to Karnataka, and are very easily available in any darshini and sagars across Bangalore. Very easy and quick to make. Below is a recipe with cucumber or sautekai in it. Let’s go ahead and add a teaspoon of life into akki rottis…

Akki rotti

Make balls from dough

Flatten the dough on a butter paper

Roll out the rotti using hand

Rotti after rolling

Place the rotti on the tava

Flip the rotti after one side browns

Cook on both sides

Enjoy rotti with homemade butter or chutney

Ingredients:

Akki hittu/ Rice flour – 1.5 cups

Cucumber – 1

Green chillies -1-2

Coriander leaves – a handful

Jeera/ Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Oil – 2-3 tbsp

Salt

Warm water

Method:

Peel and grate the cucumber

Chop green chillies finely. You can slit them and remove the seeds and then chop if you find them very spicy.

Chop the coriander leaves finely.

Add the chillies and the coriander to the cucumber.

Add the rice flour and cumin seeds also to the cucumber.

Use warm water to knead it into a smooth dough.

Divide into balls.

Grease a paper or a plastic sheet. An A4 size or quarter of a single newspaper sheet should do. I avoid using newspaper as sometimes the print makes an impression on the rotti. Using a good quality butter paper is suggested.

Place the ball of dough on it and flatten it out as thinly as you can using your hands.

You can use a greased rolling pin if you find it difficult to flatten using your hands.

Heat a tava/griddle. Grease the tava.

Once the tava is hot, gently remove the rotti from the paper and place it on the tava. I gently overturn the paper in one hand and peel off the paper using the other hand.

Spoon oil onto the tava and cook until brown spots appear on both sides.

Enjoy when hot along with chutney, chutney pudi, pickle or butter.