Cucumber Lime Mint Agua Fresca

Letter # 4

Dear Blog,

  When I was living in Massachusetts, every morning on my phone I would first check my email. Right after that would be the weather channel. How is it outside? Is it windy and raining or is it sunny, beautiful weather? After coming to San Diego, I would do the same out of habit. Check the weather on my phone. I would see seven bright suns shining for the next seven days with comfortable temperatures every day. Few days later, I stopped looking at the weather forecast. San Diego is always bright and sunny with beautiful weather. It was, until this week. Hot desert winds have started blowing which is making the temperatures rise above the comfortable level. I never thought I'll say 32C as above the comfort level, since I have grown up in India where the temperatures in my hometown reaches 45C. Interesting, how easily our human body gets used to the environment. Adaptation.
   Since I have come to US, I have traveled to India thrice by now. The first morning back home, I have always awaken to sounds that I don't hear here. Crows and sparrows, honking cars, neighbor's radio or TV or music player, stray dog barking, vendors selling fresh caught fish and freshly picked vegetables and my mom saying "Get up, it's 7 o' clock." Surprisingly, the first thought is 'Why is there so much noise? Let me sleep!' It takes only a few days to adapt to that. Next I find myself waking up to a very quiet neighborhood in US and I feel like I am the only living person on this planet. Not a single sound anywhere. Then, I used to live alone, and I always looked outside my window hoping to see another human. Without realizing, within a few days I would get used to the quietness. Interesting thing, 'adaptation'.

    Now, as we adapt to the slowing rising temperatures, we are cooling ourselves down with Agua Fresca. Cucumber juice makes it cool and refreshing. And very easy to make. Enjoy.

Summer lover,
Smita

Cucumber Lime Mint Agua Fresca

2 cucumbers (about 1 lb)(I peeled the cucumbers. You may choose not to.)
Juice from 4 limes
1 cup packed mint leaves (Remove the hardy stems)
½ cup sugar
pinch of salt
1½ cup water

How I did it:

Put everything in a blender and puree till smooth. Pass the puree through a sieve. Press with the back of a spoon or a rubber spatula to extract as much liquid as possible. Makes about 4 cups.

Serve with ice cubes.

 

Healthy Lentil Crepes

Letter # 2

Dear Blog,

Wonderful thing happened last weekend that I would love to share.

I am a scientist. Most of my friends are scientists. My husband is a scientist. My very own sister and her husband are both scientists. So, you see, I don't often talk to non-scientists about science. I did once try to explain to my dad what my research is. After about 15 min, he asked me again - "what do you do?" I figured, he did not understand me at all. My PhD adviser used to always say that scientists must be able to explain their work in words that even their grandmother will be able to understand. As simple as it sounds, it is quite a difficult task. See, if your understanding about anything is deep, it is quite a virtue if you can explain it in few words or a few simple sentences without using technical words. For example, if you know a lot about electronics- and if I ask you the question "How do smart phones work?" or if you know a lot about economics and I ask very naively "How does stock market work?", you are a genius in my mind, if you can explain to anyone in a few sentences without using any technical words. Well, I am going on about this because, last weekend, I volunteered to be put up to this test. I, along with my colleague, talked to the general public about what we do as a scientist. It was a lovely experience. From undergraduates looking for a career path to above 70 years old enthusiasts visited my lab to peek into our daily work. I was nervous at first. But, as I started to talk about things I find exciting and interesting, I saw it reflected in their eyes. And you know, how I know that they understood what I said, they asked me questions which made the lab tour so interactive. It was very rewarding.  I can't believe that I have now volunteered to talk about science to general public now on a regular basis. I am excited. And nervous. But more excited.

And by the way, I research is in the area of breast cancer.

Love,
Not-so-crazy-scientist (Thank you, The Big Bang Theory - for making us look so not-crazy and sociable!)

P.S. I love "The Big Bang Theory"

P.P.S. I wonder when I laugh at their jokes if I am laughing at them or they are laughing at me! Hmm.

Now to the promised recipe-

 

 These lentil crepes are made with almost no oil. They are soft, and fold so beautifully.

You need (for about 10-12 crepes)

¼ cup yellow lentils or Moong/Mung dal
¼ cup rice flour (I used Bob's Red Mill's brown rice flour)
¾ cup water
½ inch ginger
½ teaspoon cumin powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
pinch of turmeric (optional)
one or two drops of oil

This is how I did it-

Grind the lentils to a smooth paste with ¾ cup water and the ginger. Add all the other ingredients and mix well to make a smooth batter. Taste for salt.

Put your griddle on medium heat. When you griddle is ready, add just one or two drops of oil in the middle. With the help of a clean paper towel, spread that oil all around the griddle. The paper towel will soak most of the oil, but that is what makes these crepes healthy. DON'T throw the paper towel away.

 
Use an ice-cream scoop to pour batter in the middle of the griddle. Use the bottom surface of the ice-cream scoop to slowly spread the batter in circular motion starting from the middle to make a thin crepe. If you find it difficult to spread, lower the heat, so that you get more time to spread before the batter cooks.

Cook the crepe for about  30s to a minute depending on how much heat you are using. When the bottom surface of the crepe is cooked, it will come off the surface cleanly when you flip it. Cook the other side for another minute or two.

Before you pour batter again for the next crepe, just wipe your griddle with the paper towel that soaked up that drop of oil in the beginning. Continue with the wipe, pour, flip with the rest of your batter.

Enjoy warm savory lentil crepes with any curry or some indian pickle or just by itself with some ketchup. They are rich in protein and very filling.

Nutella Filled Pancakes

Letter # 1

Dear Blog,

       I haven't been doing any blogging lately. There are a few reasons behind this. Firstly, all the cooking that I have been doing lately turned out delicious but didn't look picture taking worthy. I have made delicious chicken with lentils, strawberry jam and then used that jam to make fruit leather and super yummy maple glazed Brussels sprouts. These all tasted great but did not look pretty.

       Secondly, being a novice photographer that I am, indoor lighting does not work well for me. Initially when I started this blog, I did take pictures on my kitchen table with the yellow light shining not so bright and post them. They are terrible. But now that I have taken pictures using natural light for the entire month of February I can not go back to taking pictures in my kitchen in the evening. I got some standards to meet in my own eye. Hence, no pictures worth posting.

        Last but not least, I put a lot of pressure on myself about blogging. The recipe has to be perfect (which must be- no excuse there!), the pictures have to be good (I try my best), and then write a nice post which needs to be interesting and funny (I don't consider myself funny) such that readers will like it and may be come back and visit again. Not being able to do this on a regular basis (thrice a week) was making me feel like I am not fulfilling my own expectations. When the food I was making in the evening after my work as a scientist in a lab, didn't look pretty, I was so upset with myself. I went to bed disappointed with myself. I felt that may be blogging was not a good idea as I am not good at writing. I always used to get the lowest grade in English language and highest in Math and Science in school. I love cooking but the pressure of blogging was taking the fun out of my cooking.

        That's why, I decided to write this blog like a diary. Let you (my blog) be my extension. I would like to continue sharing recipes here. Now, today's recipe is nutella filled pancakes. It does not necessarily need to be nutella, it can be peanut butter (that will be very nice), jam of any fruit or chocolate. So, this isn't a recipe really. It is about how to make pancakes a little more interesting.
Here are some pictures taken in natural light which looks good in my novice photographer's eyes:

I used:

Pancake mix (store bought or homemade). Because I made these for my husband and myself, I used gluten free pancake mix. Gluten free homemade pancake mix recipe here.

Few teaspoons of nutella or fruit jam or chocolate sauce.

Powdered sugar to make them pretty!

This is how I did it- 

Prepare the pancake mix following the package directions but the milk. Add a little less milk (I used almond milk to make it dairy free) than the package instructions. The pancake batter needs to be little thicker than usual.

Heat up a skillet on medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the pancake batter. Add about ¼ teaspoon of nutella in the middle of the pancake. Cover the nutella with a little bit more of the pancake batter (This is why the batter needs to be thicker than usual. If it is too thin, the batter will not cover the nutella, instead run to its sides). Flip and cook the other side of the pancake for another minute or two. Serve them warm with powdered sugar on top.

The pancakes can be filled with jam or peanut butter. The key is to not add too much filling such that it will spill.

Servings: For about 10-12 pancakes, I started with ¾ cup pancake mix.

Until next time, without much pressure of blogging but happily cooking,

Love,
Smita

Chicken Coconut Curry

Last month, one fine morning I received an email to review a product. The email said that their company produces organic beverages and would like me to review their organic coconut water- COCOZIA. It had just been two months that I have started blogging, so I was a bit skeptical. I took good two days to decide whether the email is real (and not spam) and whether I want to do it (if it's real). What I was thinking was whether I can actually review a product. But then I thought, I have grown up drinking coconut water straight from a coconut. I know the REAL thing. Oh yeah, I can review coconut water. Bring it on.

In two days, I received a box containing 12 cases of coconut water. The package said "organic" and "no preservatives". I like the "no preservatives" part. Since I came to US from India, I have tried numerous coconut water products and was never quite satisfied. That was all because of their chemical taste from preservatives. Specially the flavored coconut waters. Those are just disgusting. I don't want to say disgusting, but yes, they are disgusting. See, now I have said it three times.

Opened one case right away. You know what, this one doesn't have that chemical taste. Took a few more sips. This one actually tastes quite like the real thing. Some more sips. It could be little sweeter. But you know what, when you buy a green coconut it's not always sweet. Only when it starts to ripen, the water gets sweeter. Another few sips. This one is really good. I like it. But (there is always a but) it is a little expensive compared to the others that are available. I just checked the price and it is $29 for a pack of 12 cases on Amazon. 

I love to drink and cook with coconut water. Today however I haven't used coconut water in this recipe but you can definitely use COCOZIA in it. 

Sometimes, many who are not comfortable with spicy or hot curries think that they can't enjoy Indian  restaurant food because it is always spicy. I had to prove this wrong to one of my colleagues. I took him to an Indian restaurant and chose few non-spicy food from the menu. He was very surprised and happy at the end of his meal. Yes, I proved my point (pumping fist into the air!). So, what I chose for the entree was Coconut chicken! Here is my homemade version. And might I add, it's better than the restaurant.

Chicken Coconut Curry (today's foodie alliteration): you need (for 3-4 servings)

1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken, (breast or thighs) cut into small bite size pieces. [I have used chicken breasts here.]

3 tablespoon vegetable or canola or coconut oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1 medium tomato, chopped

1½ tablespoon fresh ginger paste

1 teaspoon fresh garlic paste

1½ teaspoon of cumin powder

½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (use less or more)

¼ teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon sugar

1 13.5 fl. oz can of Goya coconut milk

Salt for seasoning

Coconut water (optional)

How:

Heat a medium pan on medium heat with oil.

Add the onions and fry till pink. Add the ginger, garlic, cumin, cayenne and turmeric. Mix the spices with the onion and cook till the raw smell of ginger and garlic is almost gone.

Add the chicken pieces. Add salt for seasoning.  Mix and cook till the chicken is half cooked and the raw smell of spices is completely gone. 

Add the chopped tomato and cook till the tomato is soft and integrated with the spices. 

Then add the coconut milk and sugar. Taste for salt. Add more cayenne pepper if you like, but I prefer this curry to be mild. 

Simmer for 10 min or till the chicken is cooked completely and the gravy thickens.

You may add coconut water to thin out the curry to your desired consistency.

Serve hot with rice or bread.

Note: You may also add ¼ cup thawed fresh shredded coconut at the end to the gravy.

Baked Salmon with Pesto

It was a long day already. When we came home it was 6 pm. Both very tired and of course hungry.

Him: What's for dinner?

Me: I don't know. I gotta make something.

Him: I am in the mood for fish.

Me: Yeah. Fish can be done pretty fast.

Him: Can it be done in 30 min?

Me: Oh yes, less than that.

Him: Really? What will you be making?

Me: I have a lot of that cilantro pesto. I'll make my sister's green fish. That just takes 15 min.

Him: Awesome!

Happy me and happy husband.

You need (For 3-4 servings):

1 lb salmon fillet (This recipe goes well with trout too.)

1 cup of my homemade Cilantro Almond Pesto

Salt for seasoning

Roasted almonds and chopped tomato for garnishing

How: 

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. Place the salmon fillets skin side down, season with salt and cover them with pesto.

Bake for 15-20 min depending on the thickness of your fillets or until the fish is flaky (check with a fork).

Serve garnished with some roasted almonds and freshly chopped tomatoes on the top.

Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

Love almonds, love chocolate, love cookies. On top of that, these are no fuss cookies. No fancy equipment required. And the best part:

These are easy to make.

These are healthy, gluten free and dairy free.

These are "melt in your mouth" delicious.

Initially these were intended to be for my husband's snacks and these are gluten-free. But honestly speaking, you will not miss the gluten here. I have no gluten intolerance but I love these just as much as any other. 

I have made this from scratch- blanched almonds myself and made a paste. However, you can easily substitute with almond meal. But you will miss the fun of removing the almond skins. Yes, I said fun. Especially if you have kids!

How to blanch almonds and have fun-

Soak almonds in hot water for 5 min. The skin will be soft and can be removed very easily.

The fun part is: If you press one end of the almond with the tip of your fingers, you can "launch" the almond. Shoot it like a rocket to the other side of your room. This is great fun if you don't mind almonds all over your kitchen :)

Now to the recipe:

You need (for 40 cookies):

2 cups blanched almonds (see above) or almond meal

½ cup almond milk (you may use full fat milk, almond milk for dairy free cookies)

½ cup maple syrup (you may use honey or agave or sugar)

¼ cup oil

⅓ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

How:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Grind the blanched almonds (see above-how to blanch almonds) to a smooth paste with the help of milk.

Add all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add the chocolate chips last.

Place about a tablespoon of the dough an inch apart from each other on the baking sheet and bake for 30 min or until the top of the cookies become slightly brown. 

The cookies will still be soft. Cool them and they'll harden.

Enjoy them anytime of the day.

Gluten free, Dairy free, Eggless Pancakes with Strawberry Syrup

This is not by choice. My husband has recently moved to a gluten free diet. Also quit dairy and eggs. He is doing great with these restrictions. But this has challenged my cooking, specially breakfast.

I didn't have much knowledge about gluten free diet until recently. Well, in short, you can't have oats, cereal, granola, pancakes, cookies or anything for that matter unless it is specially made gluten free.

For now, we are buying gluten free cookies and cereal. We were also buying gluten free pancakes mixes. They don't taste quite like pancakes nor do they look like one. They look brownish rather than yellowish!

Now in a family of two (me and my husband), I am not making two different breakfasts, hence I started eating gluten free pancakes too. Dissatisfied by a few of the gluten free pancakes mixes available at the store, I started looking up recipes online and perfecting them over time. Here are the things I learned:

Flour: If you plan to buy all purpose flour mix, King Arthur has a nice gluten free all-purpose flour. However, if you want to make your own mix, some of the great gluten free blogs such as Gluten-free goddess, gluten free on a shoe string, gluten free girl are great places to get ideas.

Dairy free milk: Rice milk and almond milk are great options. However note that rice milk is thin (quite like skimmed milk) while almond milk is thicker (quite like full fat milk) in consistency. So, you might need to adjust recipe accordingly.

We were kind of getting tired of having maple syrup with pancakes every morning. 

The other day, my grocery store had the most beautiful looking strawberries. Also, I love strawberries! Made a very simple syrup with strawberries. Loved them on our pancakes. In fact, it was so good, I had a few spoonfuls of syrup right out of the jar. Shhh!

You need (Makes 8 pancakes):

For pancakes:

1 cup of  GF all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur's)

2 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon maple syrup (You can use sugar or honey- note that the sweetness will differ)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce (I used Mott's natural apple sauce. You can definitely use sweetened and flavored apple sauce, just note to adjust sweetness)

¾ dairy free milk (I used unsweetened almond milk here. I also use rice milk at times. Use as much as needed for the mix to come to the right consistency.)

For strawberry simple syrup:

1 lb strawberries, hulled, chopped

⅓ cup granulated sugar

⅓ water

pinch of salt

Method:

For pancakes:

Add all the ingredients in a bowl except milk and mix (I don't bother to separate dry and wet ingredients). Add the milk and whisk until there are no lumps. I first added ½ cup milk, and then slowly added ¼ cup milk to reach the right consistency (not too thick, not too runny, somewhere in the middle is the right consistency.)

Put a griddle or pan on your stovetop on medium heat. Add ¼ cup of the batter for each pancake.

Cook for a few minutes until you see bubbles in the middle of the pancake, takes a minute or two. Flip the pancake and cook the other side for about 30 seconds.

Serve with fresh fruits and homemade strawberry syrup.

For syrup:

Prepare the strawberries. Add the strawberries, sugar, water and salt in a small sauce pan on medium heat. 

Simmer for 15 min or until the sugar is dissolved and the berries become soft.

Transfer to a blender and blend to a smooth syrup. Chill before serving.