Coconut Curry

Coconut Curry

So this is odd that I am posting on a Tuesday, but this is the request of a friend/co-worker who wants to try to make this.  I thought it would be better that I just went ahead and blogged since it's been again forever since my last blog.  My new goal is twice a month?! No, I need to start blogging once a week again! Anyways, this curry was a friends recipe that I slightly modified.

This turned out to be really good! I am not a fan of coconut, but this tasted pretty darn good! With the mix of all the different veggies, it turned out to have everything you need.  I served this over some rice, which complimented the curry very well. You could also very well make this a little more liquidy by adding a whole can of the chicken/vegetable stock instead of just half and eat it over some pasta.  Either way it's very yummy!

Ingredients for Curry

Ingredients (6-8 servings):
1 tsp vegetable oil

1 medium onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp of ginger

1/2 red bell pepper

1/2 green bell pepper

1/2 head of broccoli

8 oz of vegetable/chicken broth (about half a 14.5 oz can )

13.5 oz of coconut milk (Chaokoh brand is what I used)

1.5 lb chicken breast

3 tsp curry powder

1 tsp chili powder (or to taste)

1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)

Instructions:
1. Slice the onion, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, and broccoli.  Also, slice the chicken breast into square pieces (about 1-2 inches).
2. In a large skillet or wok heat oil on medium heat. Fry the onions, garlic, and ginger for about 5 minutes on medium-high or until the onions appear to be clear and translucent.
4. Add the bell peppers and broccoli to the wok. Stir for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the chicken to the wok and stir the mixture for an addition 8-10 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked through.

6. Add the coconut milk to the wok and mix up everything.
7.  Pour the chicken/vegetable broth into the wok and mix up everything.  (If you want a little more curry (liquid) add more broth to the wok.)

8.  Add the curry, chili, and salt powder to the curry. Simmer for about 20 minutes on medium-high.  Do a taste test and see if you need to add more curry, chili, or salt to your curry.

9. ENJOY!

Fried Couscous Salad with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Green Bell Peppers

Fried Couscous Salad with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Cucumber, and Green Bell Peppers

So I recently discovered the amazingness of couscous.  I have been adding it to EVERYTHING! I make a simple salad, and then go ahead add about a fourth cup of couscous and voila, you have a fancy salad for yourself! Couscous is also VERY easy to make, when you buy the pre-streamed and dried one.  Literally takes like 5 minutes.  I was again watching Giada and found her making something with couscous which made me rush out the door to get some. I would advise getting the whole wheat one just to be a bit healthier! Anyways take a stab at making this delicious dish.  Mine turned out really yummy, but the couscous was a bit mushy, which was entirely my fault for not waiting the whole 5 minutes before frying them.  So be warned! Anyways hope you like it!

Ingredients for Couscous

Ingredients (6-8 servings):

3 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves

2 cups couscous (whole wheat is what I used)

1 3/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1/4 cup onions

1/4 cup of green bell pepper

1/2 cup cucumber

1 tbsp fresh basil

1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes

lemon zest (1/2 of a lemon)

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1. Boil stock in a small pot. When stock is boiling, turn off stove and add couscous.  Cover and leave couscous for 5 minutes. Fluff up with a fork.

2. Fry 3 garlic cloves in a medium skillet (medium temperature) until golden brown.
3. Cut green bell pepper and onion into small pieces.
4. Add pepper, onions, and couscous and bell pepper to skillet and turn up skillet to medium-high.
5. Cook couscous for about 10-15 minutes, breaking up lumps. When done the couscous should be a nice olden to dark brown color. Set aside in a medium bowl.

6. Remove seeds of the cucumber and cut the cucumber in small pieces.  Add cucumber to couscous.
7. Cut the basil and sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces and also add to the couscous.
8. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese to couscous.  Toss together.  Add more salt and pepper according to taste.
9. ENJOY!

Pesto Gnocchi with Black Olives

Pesto Gnocchi with Black Olives

I cannot believe that this is my first entry of April! Where has the time gone?! I am sad to say that April will only have a few recipes since I have been on vacation for the most of it.  I haven't really had the time to sit and make food, since come on who cooks on vacation?! I decided though that I would finally post the one recipe that I did make right before I left.  It's a super fast and easy recipe that anyone can make! You can make this as a side dish, but easily double the recipe and make it as a main dish! The inspiration of this dish is from twopeasandtheirpod.com.

Have you heard of gnocchi before? It was definitely my first time hearing about it, but since it's made from potatoes (which I LOVE) I decided to give it a shot.  You can find gnocchi right in the pasta isle and they can come in one solid cream color, or different colors like mine!

Gnocchi found right by the pasta

Ingredients for the Gnocchi

Ingredients (2-3 servings):

1 package potato gnocchi

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup onions

3 cloves garlic

2.25 oz can sliced black olives

1/3 cup basil pesto

Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions:
1. According to package instructions, boil the gnocchi (should be around 3-8 minutes).

2. Chop the onions and mince the garlic.
3. Heat the oil in a medium skillet on medium-high heat.
4. Saute the onions until they become golden and translucent, about 1-2 minutes.

5. Add the gnocchi, making sure that each gnocchi is touching the skillet (single layer), and let them fry for 4-5 minutes without moving the gnocchi.

6. Cook an additional 2-3 minutes making sure to turn them occasional so that all sides are nice and golden.
7. Add in the black olives and stir for another 30 seconds.

8. Remove from heat and add in the pesto sauce. Make sure that all the gnocchi and black olives are nicely covered with the pesto sauce.
9. Top with Parmesan cheese.
10. ENJOY!

Pineapple Fried Rice

Pineapple Fried Rice

Wow, I am so sorry for a long hiatus! I promised more updates sooner, but I got sick and I was out for a good 3 days with the flu! But I am back! I still have a good couple weeks left before I start my job, so there is still plenty of time left for me to do some good posts! Oh, in my defense, last Sunday I cooked up a feast, but wasn't able to blog about any of it because of being in a hurry and not being able to take pictures! But I did do a lot of cooking, just not for my blog!

I had some company over today and wanted to make a couple things for them. I made Pineapple Fried Rice and also Lemon Bars, which I will be posting about tomorrow! Both turned out delicious, which I do admit were said to me by my company and my family since my tastes buds have yet to recover after my flu! But I will go ahead and trust their judgement since they usually don't lie, especially my dad! Alright, enjoy everyone!

Ingredients for Fried Rice

Ingredients (3-4 servings):

1 cup pineapple pieces

4 cups cooked (Basmati or Jasmine) rice

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 scallions

1/3 cup onions

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp ginger

2 green chilies
1/4 cup basil leaves

1 egg
1 cup broccoli

-----Stir-Fry Sauce-----

3 tbsp chicken (or vegetable) stock or broth

3 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp sugar

-----garnish items (optional)-----

1/8 cup fresh coriander powder

1 scallion

1/4 cup cilantro

Instructions:

1. Chop up the scallions, onions, mince the garlic and ginger, cup up the chilies, basil, and broccoli..

2. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the rice to break up the rice into individual pieces that stand alone.

3. Heat a wok or large frying pan with 3 tbsp of oil on medium-high heat.

4. Add scallions, onions, garlic, ginger, chilies, basil, and broccoli to wok. Stir fry for about 1-2 minutes or until onions become a little transparent. 

5. Move everything in the wok aside and add the eggs.  Cook the eggs like you would when you scramble eggs.

6. In a small bowl, mix together the chicken broth, soy sauce, oyster sauce, curry powder, and sugar until they are will combined.

7. Add the stir-fry sauce to the wok.

8. Add the white rice to the wok and make sure the sauce covers all of the rice. This should only take a couple minutes.  Make sure not to over stir and mix by lifting rice from the bottom and bringing it to the top. Over mixing can cause the rice to become mushy.

9. Add the pineapple pieces to the wok and make sure to mix everything.

10. Do a final taste test.  If rice is not salty enough add more soy sauce, if not spicy enough add more chilies or sriracha sauce, and if too salty add lemon juice. 

11. Garnish the fried rice with coriander powder, scallion, and cilantro.

12. ENJOY!

Tofu and Rice Noodle Stir-fry

Tofu and Rice Noodle Stir-fry

Hi everyone, I am back!  I am done with finals, done with classes, done with my whole entire undergrad, but more importantly, I have myself a job! Yes, everything fell into place quite nicely and believe me this is very good news for my blog.  This means for the next few weeks (while I relax a bit and wait to start my job) I will be cooking A LOT and trying lots of different things!

So first item that I made for my family was a very nice Asian inspired dish.  I have been making a lot of desserts so I thought I should make some main dishes.  This turned out really good and even the kiddies liked it.  And I don't know about you, but I love me my TOFU! Oh and the best part is this dish is very healthy, low-fat and takes about 30 minutes total to make! :D

Ingredients for Stir-fry

Ingredients (5-7 servings):

8 oz. rice stick noodles

1.5 cup cubed tofu (firm, extra firm, or stir fried tofu works)

2 tsp cornstarch

3 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp ginger

1 tsp garlic

1/2 cup red onion

2 red bell pepper

2 1/2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil

1/2 cup chicken stock (or vegetarian stock)

3 cups bean sprouts

-----for stir-fry sauce-----

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tbsp lime juice

1/4 cup chicken stock (or vegetarian stock)

-----for garnishing items (optional)-----

1 tsp coriander powder

1/2 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cup scallions

1/2 cilantro

sriracha sauce to taste

Instructions:
1. Place a pot on the stove top with 3 cups of water on high heat.  Once water is hot, lower heat to medium-low and let rice sticks soak for about 10 minutes or until they are soft, but still a bit firm.  Once they are done, drain the water and wash noodles with cold water.
2. Mix together all the stir-fry sauce ingredients: soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, and chicken stock.

3. Cut the tofu into cubes.  If using fried tofu, you will not have to do this.  (I think fried tofu would have been a better option for this dish just because the tofu is very delicate. Still delicious though!)

4. Stir together the cornstarch and soy sauce and pour over the tofu.  Let marinade for about 5 minutes.

5. Mince the ginger and garlic.  Cut the red peppers and onions into strips.

6. Heat a wok or a large frying pan with oil.
7. Once oil is hot, add the tofu with all the marinade along with the garlic and ginger.
8. Once marinade has reduced or tofu mixture has become dry, add a few tablespoons of chicken stock every time wok starts to get dry.  Stir until the stock has reduced and then more tablespoons of stock.  Keep adding tablespoons of stock at a time until all chicken stock is done.
9. Add the red peppers and onions to the wok and stir for about 2-3 minutes.

10. Add the rice noodles and stir-fry sauce to the wok.
11. Toss everything together in the wok like you would a salad, making sure to evenly coat the rice noodles.
12. Add the bean sprouts and toss again.
13. Remove from heat, and taste. Add 1 tbsp of fish sauce or soy sauce if not salty enough. If too salty, add another squeeze of lime juice.
14. Place on serving plate and sprinkle coriander power on top.
15. Garnish with bean sprouts, scallions, and cilantro.  Add a lime slice and sriracha on the side.
16. ENJOY!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I have been baking quite a bit for my family, so it was about time for a little change! decided I wanted to make something for the fam bam that they would appreciate.  Not just a regular marinara sauce pasta or an alfredo sauce one, but something that they had not had at home yet.  I decided to go with making a recipe that I saw on skinnytaste.com a while ago.  It stuck out to me because of it's spiciness (and being on the healthier side), which is something that my family wold love! So I gave it a go.  Although I used too much Cajun spices for my own liking, everyone in my household thought it was good.  I will leave up the exact amount of spices to your tastebuds! One side note is make sure and not use too much Cajun seasoning or your dish will turn to be on the saltier side.  Anyways, enjoy this great flavored pasta!

Ingredients (4-6 servings):

8 ounces uncooked linguine

1 pound chicken (cut into strips)

1 1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning (or more according to taste)

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp olive oil

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper 

8 oz mushrooms (I bought sliced ones)

1/2 red onion

4 cloves garlic

2 medium tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup milk (I like using nonfat, but we didn't have any so I used whole)

1 tbsp flour

3 tbsp light cream cheese

1/8 tsp black pepper (more/less according to taste)

1/8 tsp salt (more/less according to taste)

2 scallions (optional)

cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Prepare pasta according to the directions on the package.  To make sure that the pasta boils fast and does not stick together after draining, add a little bit of oil and a pinch of salt to the water before it starts boiling. 

2. Cut red pepper, green pepper, and red onions into long strips.  Mince the garlic.  Dice the tomatoes.

3. In a blender, blend milk, flour, and cream cheese.  Pour into a small bowl and set aside.

4. Season the chicken strips with Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, and a little of the garlic.   

5. Heat a large skillet on medium high, spray with cooking spray, and add the chicken to the skillet.  Brown the chicken, about 6 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.  Set aside on a plate.

6. Add olive oil to the skillet and reduce the heat to just medium.  

7. Add in the bell peppers, onions and remaining garlic.  Saute on skillet for about 4 minutes.

8. Add in the mushrooms and tomatoes.  Saute for an addition 4 minutes or until all the vegetables are nice and tender. 

9. Add salt and black pepper to taste.  

10. Reduce the heat to medium low and add in chicken broth and mixture from step 3. Stir for about 4 minutes. 

11. Place the chicken back in the skillet.  Toss around and add extra Cajun seasoning and salt to taste.  Again be care not too add too much or your dish will be too salty. Cook for another few minutes to really mix everything in with the chicken.

12.  Add in the cooked linguine to the skillet and mix everything so the linguine is well coated with the sauce.  

13. Top with scallions.

14. ENJOY! 

Salisbury Steak in Mushroom Gravy

Salisbury Steak in Mushroom Sauce

Being Desi has made me miss out on many of America's famous dishes, Salisbury Steak being one of them.  I have never actually had this before, but have heard of it many times before.  We had a huge snow storm this past week (huge for Seattle, that is) which gave me a tremendous amount of time to cook for my family.  It gave me the opportunity to try out a lot of different recipes (all of which will come your way!), and my mom a big break from the kitchen!

I found a great recipe on my FAVORITE blog, Skinnytaste.com, for Salisbury Steak and knew I had to try it. We also had a lot of ground beef (kurbani mangsho) from a friend of ours and had to use it somehow.  Anyways, my family LOVED this recipe and the leftovers were great the next day.  I also made some garlic mashed potatoes and cornbread to go with it, which I will blog about soon. Let's get on with the recipe!

Ingredients for Steak and Gravy

Ingredients (for about 8 patties):

1 1/2 tsp oil

1 cup onions, minced
1 cloves garlic, minced

2 lbs ground beef (or any kind of ground meat)

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs

1 large egg

1 large egg white

2 cups beef, chicken, or vegetable broth (I used beef)

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

8 oz mushrooms (I bought sliced ones)

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp mustard powder

1/4 cup water

Instructions:

1. Saute onions and garlic in oil over medium-heat until they are golden brown.

2. Combine together half of the sauteed onions and garlic, ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, egg white, 1/4 cup broth, salt, and pepper, in a medium bowl.  

3. Shape mixture from step 2 into about 8 oval patties.  

4. In a large skillet, brown patties over medium-high heat.  Set on a plate after the patties are browned.  

5. Add mushroom to the large skillet and cook over medium-high heat for about 2-3 minutes.  (No need to add more oil as the pan will be oily from cooking the patties.) Add salt and pepper to mushroom.

6. Add browned patties to the mushrooms in the large skillet. 

7. Mix rest of broth, flour, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, and water in a small bowl (this is the gravy mixture). 

Sister helping me mix the gravy mixture!

8. Pour gravy mixture from step 7 into large skillet with browned patties and mushrooms. 

9. Cover large skillet and cook for about 20 minutes on low heat.  Make sure to stir occasionally.  Sauce should thicken slightly telling you that it is ready.

10. Serve over mashed potatoes or eat on it's own with a side of steamed veggies.

11. ENJOY!

Salisbury Steak in Mushroom Gravy served over Garlic Mashed Potatoes