Chunky Salsa

Salsa is great Mexican condiment which in Spanish means Sauce. It is not only one of the primary ingredients of most Mexican dishes, it tastes awesome with tortilla chips, nachos and scoops. I normally prefer homemade salsa then getting readymade from stores.During the Memorial Day long weekend, we had our friends coming over from San Francisco and were planning to go to San Diego, so thought of making some salsa to have with Tostitos Baked Scoops during our journey. It turned out to be awesome and everybody loved it.Preparation Time : 25 minsIngredients :1 Jalapeno, seeds removed, chopped fine (wear gloves)6 medium fresh tomatoes (boiled, skinned & then chopped into 1/4-inch chunks) 1 Large onion chopped1 Bell pepper (roasted, peeled off the black skin & then chopped)3 Green onions (spring onion) chopped with green tops included½ cup loosely-packed fresh cilantro, finely chopped¼ tsp cumin powder½ tsp chili powder½ tsp oregano, crushed between your palms¼ tsp garlic paste1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce2 tbsp VinegarSalt and pepper to tasteMethod: Mix Jalapeno, tomatoes, red onion, green onions, bell pepper, cilantro, cumin powder, chili powder, oregano, garlic paste, tomato sauce, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 5-6 hours for the flavors to blend.Serve with crisp tortilla chips as dip or serve as a condiment with other dishes. Store any leftover salsa in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.Note:If you don't like it hot, it's just as good without the chillies. Feel free to adjust to your own tastes.

Vegetable Pasta

It is very easy to cook Italian dish. Whenever I feel lazy to cook but still want to eat something tasty as well as easy, Pasta is one of the dishes that comes to my mind. Here it goes…

No. of Servings : 3-4
Preparation Time : 25 mins


Ingredients :

• 2 ½ cup wheat Pasta
• 1 Onion (long & thin)
• 2 Carrots ( long & thin)
• ½ cup chopped French beans (partially boiled)
• 1 cup Broccoli (partially boiled)
• 1 small yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 small green Bell Pepper
• ½ diced tomato
• 2 spring onions
• 1 tbsp Minced garlic (if u like more garlic, u can increase the qty)
• 2cups tomato puree
• 1tsp finely chopped fresh basil
• 2 tsp Parsley
• ¼ tsp red chilly flakes
• Salt & Black pepper to taste
• 1tsp Oregano
• ½ tsp Italian Seasoning

Method :

• Boil pasta & keep aside
• Heat oil in a pan, Fry ½ tbsp minced garlic & some oregano…but don’t let it get burnt
• Add Carrots and saute for 1 min then add onion-saute for 2 mins & finally add bell pepper-saute it for 1 or 2mins.
• Now add Tomato sauce, followed by tomatoes, spring onions
• Add all spices like black pepper, chilly flakes, Italian seasoning, rest of oregano.
• Lastly add basil & parsley and followed by pasta.

Basic Salad Recipe

Few days back Kartik & I decided to go light on food in the evenings and so decided to go with soup & salad few times a week. So I started hunting for different kinds of salads, salad dressings & soups. Here below is the basic salad which goes well with different dressings.

No. of Servings : 3-4 persons
Preparation Time : 15 mins


Ingredients :

• 1 cup lettuce
• ½ cup cherry tomato (split into 2)
• ½ Bell pepper
• 3 spring onions
• 1 cucumber
• 1 carrot
• ½ cup boiled Garbanzo Beans

Method :

• Chop all veggies in bite size
• Put Beans & all veggies on the salad platter and mix well
• Enjoy with any ready salad dressings or homemade dressings.

Tips/Variations :
One can substitute Garbanzo beans with any variety of beans.

Curd Dressing

Preparation Time : 5 mins

Ingredients :
¼ cup Beaten Fat free yogurt
¼ tsp Mustard sauce
¼ tsp Chat masala
¼ tsp Roasted cumin seeds powder
Salt to taste

Paneer Bhurji

We love paneer/cottage cheese in all forms. This is one of our favorite & easy to cook paneer recipe without any rich and creamy sauce like other paneer recipes. It is just a simple stir fry of scrambled paneer, with green chilies, onions, bell pepper & tomatoes. Paneer can be bought from any Indian Grocery store or can be made at home, the recipe of which i will add soon. The Paneer used in the recipe below is homemade Paneer from Fat free milk.