Low calorie Creamy Egg Carrot Salad

Low calorie Creamy Egg Carrot Salad 

So you have indulged a bit on Sunday which is much deserved well then Monday is all about the balancing act again but hey if you want a creamy dressing there is no need to worry here is a healthy creamy recipe which uses neither cream nor cheese nor mayonnaise nor butter.

Serves 1 for a principle meal :-

1 large carrot chopped to make  matchstick carrots
2 eggs which are hard boiled
1 cup to 1.5 cups of lettuce leaf kept whole

For the dressing

250ml curd hung to make it thick . In case you are using thick yogurt use about 5 to 6 tbsp
1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
3 medium sized minced garlic cloves
1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley
Pinch of chili flakes
Salt as per taste

Simply chop the carrots and then chill it with the lettuce leaves. Now whisk the ingredients for the dressing and mix the carrots in it and chill.

Boil the eggs by bringing the eggs to a boil with water and a pinch of salt and boil for 2 minutes and then cover and leave for 3 more minutes, crack the shell and slice the eggs .

There , a healthy creamy salad 

Rustic Shepherd's Pie

Rustic Shepherd's Pie 

This dish which I have prepared is entirely dedicated to my oldest friend Tori who is also one of my closest friends. The recipe was made because someone trusted my cooking enough to ask me to make this dish for her and well after that time went by and after a year here I am with the Rustic Shepherd's pie. 

Now when you search for a recipe especially over the internet there would be numerous recipes to choose from and the difference in ingredients can be confusing. Should one use the Worcestershire sauce or not, should one keep it rustic or add the beautiful twists given by brilliant chefs and then you have to know what you want. For me I like the classic version of a dish. Often getting hold of a classic recipe can be quite problematic. So what I did was go through 5 to 6 recipes. I came to conclusion that some ingredients make this dish a classic one and so here is my version which is an adaptation of Jamie Oliver and BBC Good Food's recipes . I even used butter instead of olive oil and olive oil was used for both the recipes and my reasoning was simple. This dish was invented somewhere in the late 19th century and to me England and olive oil didn't quite match together. Oh but I must say the goodness of butter made the dish lip smacking good.

My emphasis was on fresh ingredients and a bit of extra work such as making the stock and tomato puree which I honestly believe is the key to a good dish. So you start a day ahead with the stock. And here comes the recipe

Here is what you need.

For the stock

500gm lamb bones
1 litre water
2 bay leaves
1 large onion
2 to 3 fat cloves of garlic
2 stalks of celery
2 tbsp butter

For the tomato puree

400gm of tomatoes
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

For the mince filling

500gm minced lamb
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 large onion
3 to 4 fat cloves of garlic
Salt as per taste
5 tbsp tomato puree
Salt as per taste
Freshly ground black pepper
A good splash of red wine vinegar
3 to 4 tbsp butter

For the mashed potato

1kg of potato
25gm of butter
100ml of full fat milk
Salt as per taste

20gm of butter melted to brush the pie

Wash the bones with warm water twice or thrice. Start with your stock simply heat the oil and fry the onion and celery and add the bones and let them brown a bit and add the water and the other ingredients and bring to a boil and then simmer till ti gets reduced to half its original quantity. Let it cool down and then strain this and put it in the refrigerator. You would see a layer of fat. remove it and you have your stock ready to be used.

The next day start by first marinating the lamb with salt, pepper and the red wine vinegar.                                Now make the tomato puree by simply bring a large pot of water to boil and switch off the gas stove .Then make a cross on the back of the tomatoes and add them to the boiled water and cover and leave for 10 minutes. Take the tomatoes out with a slotted spoon and then peel them and blend them. Then bring this to a boil and add salt and sugar and simmer till all the water evaporates and you are left with a thick red puree.

Now melt the butter and add the finely chopped garlic, onion , carrots and celery and saute till softened and add the lamb and cook on high heat for 5 minutes and lower the heat and cook till the water evaporates and then add 5 to 6 tbsp tomato puree and keep stirring till well mixed. Now add 300ml to 400ml stock and bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 30 minutes to 40 minutes. Check from times to time and stir.

Pressure cook the potatoes and peel them and then smash them well . Add milk, butter and salt and make a smooth mashed potato topping.

Once the minced meat is cooked simply take a deep dished baking tray and pour the cooked minced in it and press with the back of a big serving spoon and then fluff up the mashed potato and add it and use a fork to draw patterns.

Now preheat oven to 180C and bake for 25 minutes to 35 minutes. It was a huge success for me since my friend loved it and took 2 servings :)

Enjoy a heart meal with a side of steamed peas or just by itself.

Roasted Carrot Onion Soup

Roasted carrot onion soup

Sometimes in life what you need is a soul warming hearty soup. It may be on a cold winter's night or a day when the rain lashes out on the earth.

I generally love soups. Now before I give you the recipe I have to admit one thing,  in my experience soups cannot get their  flavours if you do not have a good stock at your disposal. For those who eat chicken a good bouillon is one of the best blessings and for vegetarians a good vegetable stock is a must.

This recipe is a teeny bit elaborate but the end result is just so soul warming that you don't mind the lengthy process. Its lengthy but does not need much energy and you actually get two dishes in the end

What you need to serve 3 to 4 people

200gm carrots
5 to 6 small sized onions but not the tiny variety
1 head of garlic
50gm butter
4 leg plus thigh of chicken with the skin (the 4 legs and thigh together should weight about 1.5 kilogram) or a whole chicken weighing about 1.5 kilogram
Half a stalk of fresh celery
1 litre chicken stock
Salt and pepper as per taste
2 tbsp finely chopped spring onion

Start by cutting the carrots and onions roughly and making a bed of them on a roasting pan . Roughly chop the celery and toss it in and then melt 20gm butter and pour it over the vegetables.

Now season  the chicken with the salt and pepper and then massage it with the rest of the butter and leave it aside for 15 minutes. Now preheat oven to 220 C and place the chicken on the bed of vegetables and roast for 1 hour or so or till the chicken juice runs clear.

Now take out the chicken and let it rest covered in kitchen towel for 15 minutes and in the meanwhile peel the roasted garlic cloves and bring your stock to a boil and add the vegetables , peeled garlic and the juice in the roasting tray and then blend all of it to make a smooth paste. Now bring it to a boil again and check the saltiness and add some salt if you want to and simmer for 5 minutes and add the finely chopped spring onion.

Ah its one of the best soups I have ever had all thanks to  the fatty goodness.

As for your chicken you can save it for a gorgeous sandwich

Apple Carrot Salad

Apple Carrot Salad 

Salads are the most versatile of dishes. Ranging from warm to fresh, cooked to raw , creamy and cheesy to refreshingly lemony the options are endless. There are the ones for the summers the ones for winters.
I have tried to focus on a low calorie healthy one which is crunchy with the delicious sweetness of the ingredients used . It goes perfectly with a side of healthy poached or grilled fish or chicken. Refreshing and wonderful it is very easy to make as well.

You need

Serves 1

1 cup of julienne carrots the sweetest variety you find in the market
1 large apple
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper as per taste
2 tsp finely chopped parsley

Simply chop the apple and carrots julienne style. Mix the ingredients for the dressing and serve it.

You can always assemble your salad from before but you should use the dressing just before serving else the salad becomes watery and soggy. 

Carrot beet soup

My love for various soups started with various packaged soups available from Knorr in the mid 90s and then of course there were delicious soups we would have on a weekly basis from those lovely little Chinese joints of Calcutta. Of course there was a weekly chicken stew made by the old man who was quite young back then. Whether they came from a package or not it served the purpose of giving exquisite pleasure. You see when you are immersed in Russian folktales, Enid Blyton etc where all those characters have various kinds of delicious soups. Ah those descriptions how can you settle for a plate of rice and pulse and fish.

My Mamma was fine with it as long as she did not have to  work too hard. Time spent in the kitchen was complete wastage in her eyes. So there I was growing up on Knorr soups half the week and then even without realizing I grew up, discarded any packaged item like the plague when there was a healthy alternative at home and so the love affair continues and of course I tease my mother to no end.

Soups are always warm comforting and healthy, many an article says that a bowl of soup before a meal curbs appetite and you end up eating less yet getting all the nutrition from the soup itself.

Ah Winter my love, the riot of colours everywhere is a pleasure alright and I craved love, I craved any shade of red and so carrot and beet soup it was on a gloomy Sunday evening. The weather has been gloomy right from the start of the day and this soup just added that much required splash of colour or I had 3 carrots and 2 beet roots which needed immediate cooking. :D

I did talk about the immense power of a simple chicken stock and this is the perfect example of how it can jazz up a simple soup. Feeding vegetables to your children will never be a problem again.

What went in

3 medium sized carrots
2 small beetroots
700ml to 800ml Chicken stock (from an earlier post)
Salt as per taste
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp (fresh)  finely chopped dill leaves
Pepper as per the hotness you can handle. (use freshly ground pepper for superior taste)
4 to 5 medium sized pressed garlic
1 small - medium sized onion

Dice the carrots , onion and beet , press the garlic. Saute the garlic in olive oil till that intoxicating beautiful aroma hits your nostril. Add the onions and saute a bit and then add the carrots and beet and saute for 1 to 2 minutes. Add half of the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered till vegetables are cooked thoroughly. Drain the vegetables and let ti cool and then blend away with a little bit of chicken stock to make a smooth paste. It has to be smooth. One useful tip for making it smooth is to use a small blender and blend it bit by bit. transfer everything to a big pot , add all the chicken stock and then bring to a slow boil and add salt and pepper . remember that the chicken stock will already have salt content so add carefully.  Simmer till desired consistency is reached. Since the vegetable has already been pureed it does not take much time and then you have a lovely bowl of thick delicious colorfulness waiting for you to slurp away.

Orange Carrot salad

Orange Carrot salad 

Being healthy is as easy as you make it or as tough as you make it. So in my experience this is what works. Stock the refrigerator with fresh fruits and vegetables and then think of the price you have paid so that you do not let them go to waste. Imagine and try and enjoy the fresh taste of salads with low calorie dressing and the comforting taste of healthy soups and you have a winner. Keep numerous recipes for salads with seasonal and local ingredients handy. So I have been eating fried syrupy sweets for dinner on Sunday, making cottage cheese balls cooked in syrup and having 4 of those and thinking I will exempt myself from dinner. Foolish though of so foolish and so by 8 p.m. when I was hungry, hungry like a wolf I quickly took a glance in my refrigerator to find carrots and oranges and a whole lot of other vegetables. Opened my scribbling book,  I have begun calling it scribbling book because for most recipes, specially for salads you hardly need to neatly write down everything because a) it is easy peasy b) you always can bring in a little you in the recipe. I do have another special book for noting down recipes which are special :) The ingredients make sure you get 1 serving each of fruits and vegetables from you recommended portions of serving per day :)

So this basic salad gives you the summery feel in winter and is so healthy

Serves 1

1 carrot
1 orange de-seeded but with the white fiber on since every doctor would recommend taking the fiber as well.

Dressing

1 tablespoon finely chopped celery leaves
50 to 70ml of orange juice
Salt as per taste
1 to 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black or white pepper
1 tsp red wine vinegar

Simply break the orange segments in two halves and de-seed them. Chop the carrots as finely as you can but do not grate it. pair this with some grilled chicken or steamed fish or grilled fish or something healthy . You can always assemble your salad from before but never should you use the dressing from before because then it would become a soggy mass eeww . The salad is supposed to be crunchy munchy and delightful but of course if you like it soggy there is no harm no foul.

Low calorie Orange, Carrot , Cucumber Chicken salad with an amazing bite

While I was drowning myself in aromatic robust flavoured rich Indian dishes I did not realize how much I was missing the simple taste of a simple salad at the back of my mind and so come Thursday I was hopped up on images of fresh salads. That is the funny thing about Calcutta's November , one night you feel cool comfortable and ready for soups and spicy delicacies and the next thing you know its hot again , you are sweating and you need summer salads. Besides what Europe traditionally calls Summers is probably what we call the winters at least the better part of it and to be honest warmer.

 So there I was hopped up on ideas of low calorie salads clicking , browsing, scribbling making quick notes of what is available in the refrigerator and what can be easily stocked from the market and so I note down at least 25 ideas for use and then decided on the fresh sweet taste of an Orange and carrot based salad which were lying in the refrigerator and needed given respect with a herb based dressing which provides the much required bite and a kiss of lemon. All I did was pay a visit to the fresh vegetable market the next day and stock up on some mint leaves while I had some celery and chives lying around. The real twist comes from the green chili which is freshly made in a paste for the chicken.

With a bit of input this turned out healthy delicious and a very satisfying lunch with the knowledge of health and a lasting taste.

What was tossed in

1 large sized red carrot
1 cucumber as fresh as possible
1 whole orange skinned

For the dressing

2 tsp finely chopped mint leaves
2 tsp finely chopped chives
2 tsp finely chopped celery
Juice of half a lemon or less
1 to 1.5  tablespoonful extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper as per taste

For the chicken

1 breast of chicken
1 to 1.5 tsp ginger green chili paste (I used half a chili for subtle taste but you can decrease or increase the amount as per your taste)
Salt
1 tsp olive oil

Start by first using a mallet to flatten the chicken and then marinate with the ginger chili paste, oil and salt and keep aside for 1 hour to 2 hours

Peel the cucumber and then use the peeler to shape the vegetables. The orange must be de-seeded and skinned. Assemble the salad and make the dressing. Here is an interesting tip I learnt from a book which deals with salads alone that I had borrowed from British Council quite some time back but do not remember the name. Never use the dressing from before, else it becomes watery but you can always assemble the salad and store it in the refrigerator. Whisk everything together to make a nice summery dressing.

Steam your chicken and then cut in stripes. Toss with vegetables , add dressing and ooh la la you have the perfect healthy lunch with a summery feel and the right bite. The surprise element from the green chili and ginger makes this a winner.

P.S. I used the micro oven at 900W to steam my chicken and it took 1.5 minutes on each side. Do not over steam your chicken lest they be stringy.