A Peek into my Life

This week I had a few unexpected highlights in the kitchen and outside. I thought of putting them together in one post. Beets sabzi with pickle masala It was just a normal afternoon and I made a simple daal and rice for lunch. These days, I do not feel right about skipping vegetables in any of the meals. So I wanted to add a vegetable element that I could get done real quick, to go with the daal and rice. I had beet root and carrots in the fridge so I thought of making a quick saute with them and then, it went in a totally delicious direction when I noticed the pickle masala in the fridge. The cashews and chana dal add a wonderful crunch. I love the aroma of the tiny bit of bell pepper but it is totally optional. rice, masoor dal, beet sabzi and pineapple chutney Ingredients: 1 beet root 1 small carrot 1 small onion 1/4 cup chopped bell pepper 1 tsp oil 1/2 tsp mustard seeds 1/4 tsp hing (asafoetida) 1/2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp cash...

This year we have been eating a lot of salads. We started out eating salads every day when we were in a weight loss phase. Now that we have achieved some of the goals, we have slacked down on salads. I have been a fan of salads for a couple of years now but did not make them at home. As soon as the weather warms up, I am excited because it means I can eat salads when we are eating out (and get that salad thing going at home too). I did not make salads at home because I thought it was an involved process. Buy the greens, keep them fresh, make dressings. It also required keeping the pantry and fridge stocked for salad supplies. I, like many people, was not sure how much salad I would eat at home, to invest in the supplies. I say, if you enjoy eating salads in good restaurants, you can make salads you like at home too. It is really not that intimidating once you get going on your first salad. One of the big reasons we started doing salads was, to up the vegetable and fruit intake. Ou...

When Nupur from one of my favourite blogs announced that she was hosting the My Legume Love Affair  event on her blog, I could not help but participate. Especially since I had already posted a great recipe featuring the star ingredient of the event : "legumes" (My category of legumes is beans :)) MLLA is a long running blog event which is on the 60th edition this month. That shows how much everyone loves their legumes. This event was started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook and is now run by Lisa of Lisa's Kitchen . Lisa has an MLLA information page which also contains all the previous event round-ups with lots of legume recipes. REPOST starts. Last week, there was a picnic at my daughter's preschool. Everyone brought a dish to school and all the parents and children sat outside on blankets and had lunch. My daughter loved playing in the playground and eating popsicles and ice cream. She was not ready to leave. We had to carry her outside. I wanted to...

Last week, there was a picnic at my daughter's preschool. Everyone brought a dish to school and all the parents and children sat outside on blankets and had lunch. My daughter loved playing in the playground and eating popsicles and ice cream. She was not ready to leave. We had to carry her outside. I wanted to make a side dish for the picnic which could be made ahead of time as I had also volunteered to help set up the picnic lunch. And as I have said before, I am not a morning person, specially when it comes to cooking. I wanted the dish to have some indian flavor as well. This bean salad idea just came to me. I jotted down the idea because I knew I would forget it when the time comes to cook it a week later.  Bean salad This salad has 4 types of beans, lots of veggies and some fruit and a nice sweet and tangy dressing. It tastes better once it sits for a while in the refrigerator. So it is the perfect make-ahead dish. It also goes nicely with a light Indian meal. I made ...