Pancakes

I made pancakes this morning, I generally want to try something new for Sunday breakfast. I got up this morning and some pancakes was the first thing that came to my mind. I found the perfect recipe this time. Pancakes were soft, fluffy and very simple to cook. You don't need any weird ingredients, I am sure everything will be there in your pantry. We topped it with fresh strawberries, sour cream and maple syrup. 

Fluffy Pancakes

Milk - 3/4 cup (I used skim milk)

White vinegar - 2 tbsp

All-purpose flour - 1 cup

Sugar - 1.5 tbsp

Baking powder - 1 tsp

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Salt - 1/2 tsp

Egg - 1

Olive oil - 1 tbsp

Mix milk and white vinegar and set aside for 5 minutes to 'sour'

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt in a bowl. Whisk for 1-2 minutes. Then add egg, oil and milk mixture to it. Whisk until lumps are gone. 

Heat non stick pan, add some 1 oil or cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls batter into the pan and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula and cook until browned on both sides. 

Top them with fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, and banana), sour cream and maple syrup. 

Note: 

- This batter makes around 6 pancakes

-  The original recipe had 2 tbsp melted butter instead of olive oil. Feel free to replace that if you are not calorie conscious. 

Baked Salmon with Avocado Salsa

We usually go out for dinner on Friday but it was too cold this time to go out so I wanted to make something different. I had 2 ripe avocados lying in my fridge for a couple of days so I wanted to use them along with salmon and I found this interesting recipe of baked salmon with avocado salsa. Trust me it was very simple and super delicious. I served salmon and avocado salsa with the side of broccoli rice. 

Baked Salmon

Salmon - Cut into pieces

Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Ground Coriander - 1 tsp

Ground Cumin - 1 tsp

Ground Pepper - 1 tsp

Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 tsp

Red Chilli powder (or paprika) - 1 tsp

Juice of 1 lemon 

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and marinade salmon with the spice mixture for 20 minutes. 

Preheat oven to 425 F and bake salmon until done. It usually takes 25-30 minutes. 

Avocado Salsa

Avocado, peeled and sliced length wise - 2

Onion, cut length wise - 1 small

Jalapeno Pepper, minced - 1/2

Juice from 1 lemon

Olive Oil - 1 Tbsp

Cilantro chopped - to garnish

Salt - to taste 

Combine the avocado, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.

Note: You can add more jalapeno pepper based on your spice tolerance. 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

I am starting to use oats more and nothing like using them for cookies. It was easy to make and very delicious, the fact that you are eating oats made me very happy. I tried them for the first time so only made 12 cookies, I am definitely going to try them again. It is a good snack at work. 

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Canola Oil - 1/4 Cup
Brown Sugar - 1/4 Cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla Extract - 1/4 tsp
All purpose flour - 1/4 Cup
Old fashioned rolled oats - 1 Cup
Baking Soda - 1/8 tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/4 tsp
Ground Nutmeg - 1/8 tsp
Raisins - 1/4 Cup
Salt - a pinch

Preheat oven to 350 C and grease the cookie sheet. 


In a large bowl, mix canola oil, brown sugar, eggs and vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in the oats and raisins last. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

This week was rough, went to office after 11 days of holidays. Even though it was a short week but was never ending. So finally Friday evening arrived and I came back home right at 5 pm. It is pretty cold in Chicago today so as soon as I reached home, I could only think of tea and sponge cake. I made a cup of tea and started preparing the cake mixture. This cake is definitely healthy, quick and delicious. Trust me my apartment is smelling so good with the amazing aroma of vanilla cake, I love it! 

Eggless Vanilla Sponge Cake

Old fashioned rolled oats - 1/2 cup

Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup

All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup

Sugar - 3/4 cup

Oil - 1/2 cup

Milk - 1/4 cup 
Yogurt - 1 cup

Baking Powder - 1 1/4 tsp

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Vanilla Essence - 1 tsp

Walnuts - to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease the baking pan with oil.

Mix sugar and yogurt in a bowl. To this add oil and vanilla and mix well to form a smooth mixture.  

In a separate bowl mix all dry ingredients (flours, oats, baking soda and baking powder). 

Start adding dry into the wet ingredients with little milk at a time and  stir until all ingredients are moistened. If the mixture is very thick, add some more milk. Add walnuts and stir gently. 

Pour this mixture in the prepared pan. Bake for about 35-40 minutes. Insert a tooth pick in the center of the cake, if it comes out clean your cake is ready. 

Paneer Butter Masala

Well what should I say about this recipe. Every time I make this paneer, people have loved it and asked me about the recipe. It is very simple to cook and perfect to impress your guests. :)

Paneer Butter Masala 

Ingredients

Paneer - cut into small pieces

Onion - 1 medium, chopped

Tomato Paste - 1 Tbsp

Tomato Sauce - 1 Tbsp ( I used Maggi Hot & Sweet)

Cream - 2-3 Tbsp 

Milk - 3/4 Cup

Kastoori Methi - 1 Tbsp

Garam Masala - 1 Tsp

Red Chilli Powder - 1 Tsp

Coriander Powder - 1 Tbsp

Ginger/Garlic Paste - 1 Tbsp

Salt - to taste

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Heat oil in a pan and add onion to it, fry until onion is cooked.

Add ginger garlic paste, cook for a minute and add red chilli powder, coriander powder and half garam masala. 

Add tomato paste & tomato sauce and cook for a minute. To this add kastoori methi. Now add milk, reduce the heat to simmer, cover the pan and let it cook  for 5-7 minutes. 

Add paneer cubes and cream to this. Cook for 10 minutes. Now add salt, remaining garam masala and mix well. Serve hot! 

Note: You can replace it with yogurt if you want to reduce the calories. It tastes pretty good with yogurt, there is a minor difference in the texture. Make sure the yogurt is not very watery.

Chicken Enchiladas

My husband and I are crazy for chicken enchiladas. They are easy to cook, tastes so good and you can take them along to work the next day. My husband's cousin sister made these on the fourth of July last year and I have been making these since then. 

Chicken Enchiladas

Chicken Breast: 3-4 pieces

Frozen Corn - 1/2 cup

Red bell pepper - 1, chopped

Jalapeno Pepper - 1, chopped

Garlic - 2-3 cloves, minced

Onion - 1 chopped

Oil - 1 Tbsp

Wheat Tortillas 

Cream Cheese - 2 Tbsp

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce - 1 Can

Mexican Cheese - for garnishing 

Heat oven to 350F. Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken breast and cook in oven until done. (It normally takes 20-25 minutes)

Heat oil in a pan, add garlic and onion. After onion gets cooked, add chopped jalapeno, corn and bell pepper. Saute until all vegetables get cooked. 

Add some water to cream cheese to make a smooth paste. Remove vegetables from heat and add cream cheese paste to it. Add some cheese if you want, I skipped it. 

Bake until cheese is melted and tortillas get warm and bubbly (15-20 minutes)

Besan Ladoo

A day before Karvachauth after coming back from work I realized I don't have any mithai (Indian sweets) and I was feeling too lazy to go to an Indian store to buy. So I thought of making some at home. Thanks to Sanjeev Kapoor's easy recipe, it didn't take me very long and I could adjust sugar and ghee which you can't do in the mithai you get from outside. The shape of my ladoos is not round, I didn't have enough patience to let the mixture cool down so I can roll them in round shape but the taste was very good, I promise! :)
 

Besan Ka Ladoo

Ingredients: 

Besan - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/3 cup 
Powdered Sugar - 1/3 cup
Almonds - 5-6 crushed, few more for decorating ladoos

Heat ghee in a kadai. Add gram flour and roast on low heat till a nice aroma is given out - it took me 15 - 20 minutes. Remove from heat and let it cool down for 1-2 minutes. 

Add crushed almonds and mix. Allow the mixture to cool slightly more before adding powdered sugar. Add sugar and mix. 

Let the mixture settle down for 5-10 minutes and then roll into even sized ladoos. Add one almond in the center of each ladoo for decoration. 

Note: The original recipe asked for 1/2 cup ghee and 1/2 cup sugar, I didn't want to make them too sweet so I added less sugar and made them with less ghee.