Instead of Mayo

Mayo was a love and hate thing for me. While I liked the creaminess of the mayo on my sandwiches and burgers, I hated the fact that I was eating raw eggs emulsified with oils, plus a whole bunch of preservatives and additives.  While shopping at the Whole Foods Market, I discovered a vegan mayo from Hampton Creek called "Just Mayo". This was a great substitute for the regular mayo and I was just over the moon when Costco started caring Just Mayo, a large 64 oz jar for just below $5.00.  While Just Mayo was a great vegan and non-GMO mayo it was made from Canola oil.  I have been using canola oil for many years but after reading some very negative reviews about canola oil and how it is actually bad for your health (by the way I have completely switched to organic virgin coconut oil and olive oil for my cooking and sunflower oil if I need to do deep frying), I have permanently switched to this vegan, oil free spread for my burgers and sandwiches. It is so creamy and yummy and I love the green vibrant color it adds to my food.   Yes...It is an avocado spread.  The recipe is pretty similar to guacamole, minus the chopped tomatoes and onions. I prepare this like one or twice a week and one batch can last for about 2-3 days in the fridge. The color will change slightly after a day or so because the avocado tends to oxidize but the taste it still great. Best of all it simple, healthy, easy and free of additives and preservatives. 

Ingredients

1 medium sized ripe Hass Avocado, 
juice of half a lime
1/2 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon of sugar
1 green chilly (jalapeno or serano) for some heat but totally optional
1 tablespoon of cilantro leaves, chopped
about 2 - 3 tablespoon of water, can be substituted with extra virgin olive oil

Method

1.  Wash and dry the avocado.  Slice around the avocado seed and gently twist the avocado     
     to split it.
     open. Remove the seed with a spoon and remove the flesh.
2.  In a food processor, add all the ingredients except for the water.  Pulse for a few second 
     and add water or olive oil,  one tablespoon at a time until you reach a smooth and 
     spreadable consistency.
3.  Store in an airtight container and refrigerate it.  Spread it on toasted sandwiches, wraps          or burgers.

White Chocolate Raspberry Ripple Ice Cream

 

This white chocolate raspberry ripple ice cream tasted like the Tillamook ice cream I used to buy. This is a simple recipe and easy recipe to make even without a ice cream maker. 

Ingredients

2 + 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste

1 cup of white chocolate chips

for the raspberry compote
1 cup fresh or frozen  raspberries
1/4 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

Directions

1.  To make the raspberry compote, add all the ingredients for the raspberry compote into a 
     pot and heat it on medium heat  and stir occasionally until you get a thick raspberry 
     compote.  Keep it aside to cool. Refrigerate the raspberry compote until it is ready to be 
     used. 
2.  Put the white chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl with the half cup of heavy 
     whipping cream.  Microwave the white chocolate for 30 seconds.  Remove from the 
     microwave and mix the white chocolate.  If the white chocolate is not completely melted, 
     microwave the white chocolate with the cream for another 30 seconds. Mix well until the 
     white chocolate is completely melted.  It took 2, 30 second intervals to completely melt 
     my white chocolate. Keep the white chocolate ganache or melted white chocolate with 
     cream mixture aside.
3.  Next heat the remaining 2 cups of heavy whipping cream with 1/2 cup of sugar and the 
     vanilla bean paste  in a pot on medium low heat. Once the sugar has melted, add the 
     white chocolate ganache and mix well. Don't boil the milk. 
4.  Remove from the heat and pour the ice cream mixture into a mixing bowl.  I poured       
      mine directly into my stainless steel kitchen aid mixing bowl.
3.  Once the ice cream mixture is cool, leave it in the freezer for about 3-4 hours or until you 
      see ice crystals forming at the sides of ice cream.
5.  Remove the ice cream from the freezer and beat it with hand mixer or paddle mixer for 2-
      3 minutes or you can just use an ice cream maker.  I used my kitchen aid paddle mixer to 
      churn my ice cream. 
6.  Put the ice cream mixture back into the freezer for another 3-4 hours.  Repeat step no. 5 
     after 3-4 hours of freezing for the second time. 
7.  After churning the ice cream for the second time remove the ice cream from the mixing 
     bowl.  Take a freezer proof container and place about 2-3 tablespoons of ice cream in it. 
     Take a teaspoon and drop teaspoonful of raspberry compote over the white chocolate ice 
     cream. 
8.  Repeat step 7 until all the white chocolate ice cream is and raspberry compote is used up. 
     Take a table knife and cut through the ice cream to create the ripple effect. Cover the 
     white chocolate raspberry ripple ice cream and freeze it for at least 8 hours or overnight 
     before serving

Thai Sweet Sticky Rice with Mango

Sweet shiny and translucent sticky rice with ripe mangoes

My son, daughter and I just love this Thai dessert. It is a must have when we dine at any Thai restaurants. My husband likes it too but he he tries to avoid it since this is a carb rich recipe. For me I just care about the taste and texture. I simply love it.

Ingredients

1 cup Thai glutinous or sticky rice, soaked for at least 2 hours or overnight

1 cup coconut milk (I used Aroy-D coconut milk)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2-3 pandan or screwpine leaves (optional)

freshly peeled and sliced ripe mangoes

for the coconut cream topping

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon corn starch mixed with 1 tablespoon of water

toasted sesame seeds or toasted mung beans (instructions below)

Directions

1.  Prepare a steamer and let the water come to a rolling boil. Line the steamer with a cheese 

     cloth.

2. Drain the glutinous rice and place the rice on the cheese cloth and steam the rice for 

     about 2o minutes.

3.  In the mean time prepare the coconut sauce for the sticky rice. Take a pot and add 

      coconut milk, sugar, salt and pandan leaves and heat on low heat until the sugar has 

     dissolved.  Remove the pot from the stove and remove the pandan leaves. Keep it aside.   

     Don't let the coconut milk come to a boil.

4.  Next prepare the coconut cream topping. In another pot add all ingredients and mix     

      well.  Place the pot on the stove on low heat and stir the coconut cream until the cream 

      thickens. Remove from the stove and keep it aside.

5.  When the rice is cooked, remove the rice and place it in a shallow bowl.  Pour half of the 

      coconut sauce on the rice and stir well. Keep adding more coconut sauce, one spoon at a 

      time until the coconut milk just covers the surface of the rice. Stir well and leave it for 

      about 15-30 minutes for the rice to absorb the coconut sauce.

6.  When the sweet sticky rice has absorbed all the coconut sauce, serve the sweet sticky rice 

      with freshly sliced ripe mangoes.  Drizzle some coconut cream on top of the rice and 

      sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds or toasted mung beans before serving. 

To make toasted sesame seeds or toasted mung beans

To make toasted sesame seeds, take some sesame seeds and roast it in a pan on low heat until the seeds turn light brown.

To make toasted mung beans, take about 1/2 cup of hulled mung beans, wash and soak in some water for about an hour or until it has plumped a little and the color of the beans turn pale. Drain the beans and place the beans on some kitchen towel and air dry the beans for about 15-30 minutes. Next pan roast the beans on low heat until the beans turn slightly brown.

If the sticky rice is too wet

If you have added too much coconut sauce and find the sticky rice is too wet, all is not lost. Just put the wet sticky rice back on steamer and steam the rice for about 15-20 minutes. The rice will get a bit softer but it is still delicious.  

Paneer Butter Masala

gravy at the final stage after adding butter and chopped coriander leaves

Ingredients

1/2 lb paneer or indian cottage cheese, cut into 1" cubes
3 large tomatoes, washed and cut into quarters
1 medium sized onion, peeled and cut into quarters
1 tablespoon ginger paste or grind a 2" ginger piece
1 tablespoon garlic paste or grind about 5-6 cloved of garlic
1 green chilly, julienned
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder, to add color without the heat (optional)
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon dried kasuri methi leaves
sugar and salt to taste
1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoon cooking oil
some chopped coriander for garnishing

Directions

1.  In a pan heat some oil on medium and fry the paneer until the paneer turns slight brown 
     on all sides. Soak the paneer in some water to soften it a little and to remove any excess 
     oil. Drain the paneer after about 10 minutes of soaking.  This step is optional. I like the     
     paneer to be a little hard so I like to fry it first.
2.  Next put the quartered onions in a microwaveable bowl, cover it with a plate and 
      microwave it for 1 minute.
3.  Repeat this step for the tomatoes.
4.  Once the onion and the tomatoes are cool, grind them separately and keep the onion 
      paste and tomato puree aside.
5.  Heat the cooking oil in a wok or pan on medium heat and once the oil is hot add the 
      cumin seeds followed by the julienned green chillies.
6.  Stir fry this for a few minutes until its aromatic. Then add the onion paste and cook it 
      until the onion loses its raw smell. I microwave the onions to cook it first so that I dont 
      have to spend too much time on cooking the onions.
7.  When the onion has lost its raw smell and it starts to separate from the oil, lower the heat 
      and add the kashmiri red chilly powder, paprika powder(optional), coriander powder, 
      cumin powder and turmeric powder.
8.  Stir fry until the masala loses its raw smell.
10. Next add in the pureed tomatoes and mix well.  Add in the kasuri methi leaves. Cover the       pot and let the tomato masala cook until you see the oil floating on top of the masala.     
      Don'f forget to stir the tomatoes occasionally so that it does not stick to the bottom of the 
      pan.
11. At this stage add the paneer and mix the gravy. Gradually add in heavy cream and stir 
      well to combine.
12. Season with salt and sugar to taste.
13. Lastly add the butter and chopped coriander leaves and mix well.
14. Dish up and sprinkle with some more chopped coriander leaves and serve with some hot        naans.

Stir fried Vegan Broccoli with Shiitake Mushrooms

This is a very simple recipe with just a couple of ingredients, broccoli, shiitake mushrooms and salt. I read in a magazine that broccoli helps to regulate the insulin in our bodies so more reason to add broccoli into my families diet.

Ingredients

1/2 lb broccoli, washed and cut into florets

100 gms shiitake mushrooms, sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon cooking oil

1 - 2 tablespoons of water

Directions

1. Heat a wok on medium heat.

2. When the oil is hot add the chopped garlic. Stir fry the garlic for a few seconds,       taking care not to burn the garlic.

3. Add in the sliced shiitake mushrooms and continue to stir fry until the 

    mushrooms are 

    turn soft and starts to release some of its juiced. 

4. At this stage add the broccoli florets and stir fry. You can add a tablespoon of 

    water if the dish if too dry. Add the salt and cover the pan and let the broccoli 

    cook in the steam for about a minute or so.

5. Dish and serve hot.

Crunchy Cauliflower 65

I finally found a great recipe for crunchy cauliflower 65. This recipe is from Vahchef.  The cauliflower turned out really crunchy and not that oily at all. I made this last Saturday and it was a great hit with the family, We are not usually vegetarians on Saturdays but since my daughter is on a vegetarian fast I did not have the heart to cook non veg all the time. So this Saturday we had really delicious vegetarian food.

Ingredients

500gms cauliflower

Mix together
1 tablespoon of ginger garlic paste
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 teaspoon garam masala powder
1 teaspoon kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika (optional but it gives a deep red color)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 cup of cornstarch
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves
1/4 cup chopped curry leaves
salt to taste

cooking oil for deep frying

Directions

1. Wash cauliflower and cut in to florets.
2. In a bowl add the cornstarch and the all purpose flour and mix it well.
3. Next add in all dry spices, ginger garlic paste, chopped coriander leaves and curry leaves and oil and mix well.
4. Add a tablespoon of water at a time to the cornstarch mixture to make a thick batter so that the batter can thickly coat the cauliflowers. Add salt to taste.
5. Add all the cauliflowers to the thick masala batter and mix well so that each cauliflower is well coated with the batter.
6. Heat the cooking oil on medium high.  Deep fry the cauliflowers in hot oil until the cauliflowers are cooked and crunchy.
7. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.
8. Serve with hot rice and dhall curry or sambar.