Happy Friday!
I hope you had a good week and are looking forward to the weekend. For us we ended the week last Friday with a performance by one of my twins’ school orchestra for a Winter Concert. Rani is a cellist in her orchestra and since she is a senior now and heading off to college soon all these school events have taken on a deeper meaning. That’s why I decided to invite a few of our close friends to attend the concert. Continue reading Friday Flowers. Flowers for a Cellist
Shitake mushrooms all cooked with garlic, ginger, and cilantro pesto tastes so good that my mouth is watering as I type this. I love these pot stickers! An awesome vegetarian recipe for all you dumpling lovers these shitake dumplings will taste like your favorite Chinese restaurant. What makes these dumplings taste so over the top good is the dried shitake mushrooms that have a strong pungent mushroom flavor that you just cannot get from fresh mushrooms. It doesn’t take a lot of these dried mushrooms to get the unique flavor but trust me when I say those 4-5 dried mushrooms make a huge difference. They give the dumplings that restaurant quality flavor. The other taste I really like in these pot stickers is the pine nut in the stuffing that give a wonderful bite and texture. These are fabulous dumplings that taste amazing, Give it a try! Continue reading Ginger Shitake Pot Stickers
With ingredients readily available at the grocery store this is a quick and easy noodle dish to make for a delicious week night dinner. With all things good such as ginger, garlic, cabbage, peppers and tofu, this stir fry noodle is positively delicious and healthy too. The best part of this homemade noodle stir-fry is that it’s easier to make than one might think!. Continue reading Cabbage Shishito Pepper Stir Fry Noodles
Lots of veggies, herbs and tomato sauce add wonderful flavor and vitamins in this veggie soup but what really amps up the flavor is the addition of sweet potatoes and white beans. Sweet potatoes add a nice sweet creamy texture and the white beans give the soup some heft and added lentil protein. With 1/4 cup of fresh basil, lots of thyme and oregano this soup is deliciously good and comforting. Call it a veggie soup or minestrone soup either works, but best of all is how easy this vegetarian soup is to make. Continue reading Sweet Potato White Bean Minestrone Soup
Happy Saturday Everyone! I hope you are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. This is my first health related article of the year. I came across this article on elderberry extract and how it is the new in-vogue natural supplement for colds and flus, and given that we are at the peak of our cold and flu season I found it very interesting. I hope you find this information helpful. Continue reading Elderberry Maybe the Cold Fighting Supplement That Actually Works
Happy Friday!
In the garden this week I did some winter pruning of rose bushes, daylilies, scented geraniums, lantanas, and astromeria. I really gave a hard prune to my rose bushes this year. Last year I went lighter on cutting them back but this year I’m being a little more aggressive. Continue reading Friday Flowers
First off let me just say that greens sautéed in garlic ALWAYS taste amazing. Add them to pasta, in quiche, in an omelette, mixed in rice, no matter where these delicious greens are added that dish is going to taste wonderful. It is no surprise then these dumplings should taste so great! Greens such as mustard greens, Swiss chard or kale all sautéed with garlic and a few crunchy snow peas – yummy this veggie mix is! Continue reading Garlicky Greens and Snow Pea Dumplings
Vadas are very popular lentil fritters that are made all over India. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, vadas are delicious appetizers and snack time treats. There are as many vada recipes out there as the various types of lentils. The basic recipe for vada involves soaking lentils in water for a few hours to soften, and then they are ground into a thick coarse batter to which vegetables and spices are added. The thick batter is then deep-fried. Vadas are usually served with a side of chutney like coconut chutney. For those of you living in the South think of these as hush puppies except these are made with lentils. Continue reading Masala Vadas – Yellow Split Pea Lentil Fritters
Happy Monday!
How was your weekend? I hope it was relaxing and you are ready for the week ahead. Our Saturday was packed trying to get our weekend projects done with errands and running around. On Sunday however we had a lovely afternoon with our Bay Area cousins to celebrate the Indian harvest festival of Shankranthi. The festival is on January 15th this year but given that its a Wednesday and its hard to get all our families together on a weekday we met on Sunday to celebrate the first of our Indian festivals of 2020. Continue reading Celebrating the Indian Harvest Festival of Shankranthi 2020
Hot and sour soup. We love this soup in our family! Hot and sour soup has to be one of our favorite soups, but until recently I never thought of making it at home. We get the most delicious hot and sour soup at our local Chinese restaurants that I never bothered to try. My kids on the other hand are a lot more adventurous and ventured to make this soup at home for our Christmas dinner last month. They did their research and chose to use Jaime Oliver’s vegetarian hot and sour soup recipe and surprisingly it was easier to make than I expected and tasted delicious. Continue reading Hot and Sour Soup
