On warm summer days tacos piled high with fresh vegetables and packed with well-seasoned kidney beans is a positively satisfying meal for lunch or dinner. This is the easiest recipe to pull together with the most stupendously delicious results. These tacos are packed with good for you legumes such as kidney beans, chock full of leafy greens, fresh tomatoes, delicious salsa, sour cream, and a dash of shredded cheese.
There is something about eating hot-steamed idlis for brunch or lunch that just brings a smile to adults and kids alike in our family. Idlis are a staple in every South Indian home and made very often. The most common idlis are made by soaking lentils and rice together and blended into a batter, then fermented over night, and steamed into dumplings. These are called rice idlis.
There are easier versions of idlis to make in an instant however. My favorite idlis are rava idlis or semolina idlis. These idlis are made with roasted cream of wheat or semolina soaked in yogurt to form a thick batter, and then steamed.
I had this black bean soup for the first time at my friend Rose’s place a while back. I was expecting something thick and heavy when I heard she was making Black Bean Soup, but this soup is surprisingly light and thin. With some chopped cilantro and a dollop of sour cream, this variation of black bean soup was outstanding. Continue reading Black Bean Soup→
Rajma is a North Indian kidney-bean curry that is usually eaten with white rice. Rajma is one of those dishes I make when I’ve run out of fresh veggies or don’t feel like cutting a bunch of veggies. It’s quick and easy yet nutritious and delicious all at the same time. If you are like me and always have a few non-perishable goods on hand like a selection of canned beans and tomato sauce, rajma will become one of those go-to meals to make in an instant. Continue reading Rajma. North Indian Spiced Kidney Beans→
Chole, which is a North Indian chickpea dish from the Punjab region made of chickpeas cooked with onions, garlic and spices is one of the most popular dishes among Indians. Most if not all Indian restaurants have chole on their menu, it’s a staple dish in any Indian restaurant here in America. Most commonly chole is served with a side of batura (deep fried fermented flour tortillas) and a side condiment of raw onions which are put on top of chole and eaten together. When I make chole it is always a treat at our home. Here is a recipe for one version of chole the way I usually make it.
Growing up in the South in Texas and Louisiana, one of the New Year’s customs I became familiar with is having black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day for good luck in the coming year. There are many dishes that one can add black-eyed peas to from stews to soups, tacos and burritos to salads and appetizers. For my New Years Day black-eyed pea dish I have chosen to make Black Eyed Pea Fritters. Continue reading New Year’s Day Black-Eyed Pea Fritters→
I got this recipe when I was watching my favorite Food Network show Barefoot Contessa with Ina Garten. She was making brunch dishes and this hazelnut granola was one of the items featured. All it had was nuts, honey, oats and oil. That’s it. When was the last time you saw a granola recipe that had so few ingredients and was so easy to make that all you do is combine and bake? Continue reading Roasted Hazelnuts & Cashew Granola→
This coconut quinoa dish is a variation of a traditional South Indian Tamil rice pilaf called Thenga Sadham (coconut rice). In this version my cousin Uma made the same coconut rice but with quinoa instead of rice when we went for lunch one weekend. Continue reading Uma’s Spiced Coconut Quinoa→
