Simple & Healthy Mexican Dinner

New recipe from last night coming soon!

Enjoy the image in the meantime :)

Kale with Lentil Stew (Kale Dal)

Being a busy career woman is difficult, especially when hubby dear works equally hard. Hence, we are always on the lookout for quick, easy to cook meals. One recipe I have perfected over the years is Dal. Hubby loves this recipe and shamelessly, I will admit this is one of my best go-to recipes. 

After wanting to try this variation (with kale) for a long time, today happened to be the lucky day. We did a 2 day juice fast and finished the day with this protein packed recipe. It was inspired by this blog entry, but with a few changes and tweaks to match my life style :)

I use my pressure cooker a lot - it's fast and healthy. You can also cook the dal stovetop in a saucepan, but it will take a lot more time to cook. 

Ingredients:

Masoor Dal (Orange lentils) - 1 cup

Kale - 3-4 cups, lightly chopped

Onions - 1/2, diced

Tomatoes - 2, quartered

Cumin Seeds - 1/2 tsp

Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp

Dried Red Chillies - 3

Curry Leaves - 5-6

Oil - as required

Salt - to taste

Curry Powder - 2 tsp

Cumin Powder - 2 tsp

Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp

Asafoetida - 1/2 tsp

Garlic - minced, 1 tsp

Ginger - 1 tsp, finely chopped

Water - 3-4 cups

Method:

1. Soak lentils for about 1-2 hours. Wash thoroughly until the water runs clear. Set aside
2. Wash kale leaves thoroughly. Cut off stalks and set side.
3. Chop onions and set aside.
4. Add oil to the pressure cooker on medium high heat. Add half of chopped onions and saute until onions turn translucent.
5. Add the chopped tomatoes, garlic and ginger. 
6. Once the oil separates and reaches the sides, add all spices and stir.
7. Add lentils and fry them for a minute.
8. Add kale, water and close the lid. Pressure cook for about 5-8 minutes (mine whistles when letting off steam, so I let it whistle 3 times before shutting off).
9. In a saucepan, add some oil on medium heat.
10. Add mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and dried red chilies. Once the mustard seeds stop popping, add rest of onions and increase heat to medium high. 
11. Once the onions have burned a little, turn off heat and add to lentil stew and stir. 

Serve hot with brown rice, barley or fresh rotis (Whole Wheat Indian Bread). 

I served it with 1/2 cup of barley today. Yum!

Can oatmeal be any healthier? Yes, sir!

I've always avoided oatmeal because its so "Plain Jane". I've been experimenting though, and recently came up with this winning formula to make it more attractive. Hope you like it!

Ingredients:
Quick quicking Steel cut oatmeal - 1/3 cup
Chopped walnuts - 1 oz
Sliced almonds - 1 oz
Chopped strawberries - 2
Ground flaxseeds - 1 tbsp
Almond milk - 2 tbsp
Protein isolate - 1 tbsp (optional)

Method:

• Heat 2/3 cup water in a saucepan. Once the water reaches boiling point, add the steel cut oats, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes
• Add rest of the ingredients except strawberries and mix well. 
• Transfer to a serving bowl and top with chopped strawberries.

Note: 

• I used Bob's Red Mill quick cooking steel cut oats, only takes about 7 minutes to cook. If you use regular steel cut oats, you may want to soak them in hot water overnight to cut down cooking time. 
• I added some protein isolate to my oatmeal, but its optional. Not everyone will like the taste. 

Here's a pic of the final product- 

Sweet Pongal with a twist

A seasonal dessert recipe from my home country with my usual healthy twists.

Ingredients:
Rolled oats - 1 cup
Mung dal (yellow, split) - 1/4 cup
Unrefined sugar - 3 oz
Brown sugar - 1 tbsp
Cardamom - 2
Raisins, almonds - 2 tbsp
Melted butter - 1 tsp

Method:

1. Cook the Mung dal in a pressure cooker with 3/4 cup water. Wait until 3 whistles are done. 
2. Heat 1 cup water with 3 oz unrefined sugar until the sugar melts and the water is syrupy. Strain it and set aside. 
3. Once the steam is released from the cooker, remove lid and add the sugar syrup. Add the rolled oats and stir. 
4. Close the lid of the cooker, and steam the mixture on low heat for about 10 mins until oats are cooked.
5. In a separate pan, add melted butter, almonds and raisins and fry until golden brown. 
6. Add to oats mixture and serve. 

This is less sweet than the traditional rice/mung dal recipe, but still just as good AND healthier. 

Mexican Fiesta - Ole!

It was Saturday and B and I were gearing up to watch the epic game between 49ers and Packers (okay, epic for us because this was the playoffs and we were passionately supporting different teams)!

I started thinking about what snacks we had for game time and found that we actually had none to go with our beer and wine. Then, quite accidentally, I chanced upon these cans of black beans and I had an A-Ha! moment. Quickly found some other ingredients and made it a Fiesta Game Night!

Black Bean and Corn Salsa (serves 4)

Ingredients:
Canned Black Beans - 1 can, washed thoroughly to remove all the chemicals/sodium
Roasted Corn - frozen - 1 cup
Red Onions - finely chopped, 1/2 cup
Lime Juice - Juice of 1/2 lime
Cilantro -coarsely chopped
Salt, Pepper - to taste
Cumin Powder - 1/2 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1/2 tsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Rinse and wash the canned black beans and set aside in a bowl
2. Thaw the roasted corn in the microwave or room temperature and set aside
3. In a small pan, heat the olive oil. Add chopped onions and fry until golden brown. 
4. Add frozen corn and continue stirring.
5. After the mixture starts sweating, add black beans, cumin powder, turmeric powder and seasoning and stir for another  minute or two before removing pan from heat. 
6. Squeeze lime juice into the bowl and mix. Top with chopped cilantro and serve with chips. 

Spicy Pico de Gallo (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

Fresh tomatoes, diced - 4-5

Red Onions, chopped - 1/2 cup

Jalapeno pepper - diced - 1

Cilantro - finely chopped - 1/4 cup

Lime Juice - 1/4 cup

Salt, Pepper - to taste
Cumin Powder - 3/4 tsp

Method:

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Garnish with a lime wedge and sprig of cilantro.

Tacos

As an extension of game night, we had leftovers, so we opted for Tacos for dinner. Really simple even if you are making everything from scratch. 

Ingredients:

Corn Tortillas - store bought

Black Bean Salsa (recipe above)

Pico de Gallo (recipe above)

Avocado - 1 - sliced into small strips or diced

Cotija or Feta Cheese - 1/3 cup

Method:

1. Heat corn tortillas on the pan. 
2. Add 1 tbsp of the black bean salsa, 1 tbsp of pico de gallo and a 1/4 of sliced avocado. 
3. Squeeze some fresh lime juice.
4. Sprinkle cotija or feta cheese on top (optional)
5. Serve with Mexican Rice (recipe below)

Mexican Rice (serves 3)

Ingredients:

White Rice - 1.5 cups

Fresh tomatoes, minced and pureed - 1/2 cup

Red Onions, chopped - 1/2 cup

Frozen peas and carrots - 1/2 cup

Salt, Pepper - to taste

Cumin Powder - 3/4 tsp
Fajita Seasoning - 1/2 tsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp
Water - 1.5 cups

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a sauce pan. 
2. Add chopped onions and fry until they start to sweat. 
3. Add rice and pan fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the tomato puree and wait till the mixture comes to a boil.
5. Turn down the heat, add frozen peas and carrots and spices and stir well.
6. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and cook until rice is done. Keep stirring  and adding the rest of the water as required to prevent rice from getting burned. 
7. Remove and garnish with a sprig of cilantro

Sorry, no pictures! We were too hungry and excited about the game to pause and take pictures!! And of course, the best team won!!

Potato Casserole

Here's a simple recipe I made for lunch today. It is usually a side dish and takes about an hour to cook.

Ingredients:
Russet or Yukon Gold potatoes - 2-3 large, thinly sliced
Red or yellow onions - 1/2 thinly sliced
Carrots - 1-2 grated
Dijon Mustard  - 2 tsp; if using regular mustard, about 5 tsp
Olive oil - 3-5 tbsp
Low moisture, part skim mozzarella - 1/2 cup
Dried Oregano, thyme, basil - as needed
Salt, pepper - as needed
Red pepper flakes - as needed

Method:

1. Grease a lasagna pan with olive oil and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, add the Dijon mustard, olive oil and water and whip together until its a smooth, runny paste. Set aside.
3. Use a mandolin to thinly slice 2-3 potatoes. Set aside.
4. Chop onions lengthwise into thin slices. Grate carrots and set aside.
5. Pre- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
6. Layer the pan with potato slices, top with onions and grated carrots. 
7. Spread 1/4 cup of grated mozzarella on top and add half of your seasoning. 
8. Spread 1/2 of the mustard paste across the potatoes.
9. Put in the second layer of potatoes, onions and carrots and top with rest of the seasoning,  mustard paste, and cheese.
10.  Bake it oven uncovered for about 15 minutes. 
11. Remove from oven and cover the pan with aluminum foil. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 30 - 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. 
12. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack for about 15-20 minutes.

I served this with some Mexican rice and black bean/corn salsa. Just a mish mash of everything we had at home :) I used a tequila/jalapeno mustard instead of Dijon. 

Not a great picture again, but you get the idea -