The team factor

Apart from the zillion calories I lip-smacked at shecwang, guzzled down as empty margarita shots on saturday night and yummed to a heavenly tiramisu that Saiz and Sandhya had surprised us with...my weekend was err.. healthy?! 

Sometimes, it okay to indulge in the guilty side of life don't you think? Its the guilt and the imperfectness that comes with it, that keeps us motivated to stay fit. Well.. thats how I convinced myself and hence thats the truth :p

While we are hovering on the motivation bit, N has joined me in the wii active goal-keeping-endeavor. And working as a team seems to be a lot more fun, atleast until now ;)  And talking of team, I am wondering if we can close in on a group 5K run? 

Friends, Romans and err.. fellow-bloggers,

What about locking June 6th for the 5K along the Charles in Boston?? Here is the link to the details. Hope we can all join for this date. may be even get a couple of t-shirts with 'green tea brownies' printed across and take up the 5K challenge ( I was kidding about the t-shirt. sigh! ). Let me know. Will be a good kick-start to a future date for a marathon!

And as we move to the running topic, Vikram has joined the mile-meter and in his effortless ability to come up with instant quips about anything, he has the following to say about the event - "A mile a day, smile a day!" So whether it is the miles making you run, or running to make the miles, I am happy the event is taking us where we want to!

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Mithra bakes!

Our trip to BJs last week left us with a 2 dozen bag of bananas which were slowly consumed for fear of unnecessary wastage. We got down to the final two today and their skins had started turning black. Not wanting to waste them, and in light of Divya's baking suggestion I turned them into a cake here using this recipe. I did add a handful of walnuts though, and used Sush's suggestion to use a blender to beat the eggs.

Here are the results (we nibbled a little)



I was quite pleased, and albeit a bit on the sweeter side, it was quite tasty. Planning to bake a bit more tonight, will post with pictures if attempt succeeds!

This week is NYC's restaurant week, so me & S went to get dinner last night here. We were simply amazed by the yumminess of the food, and have vowed to keep ourselves off of cheaper restaurant fare & indulge in NY C's goodness at least once every quarter! The tab was a little high (The Prix frie restaurant week dinners include a starter, main course and dessert for each person for $35) but totally worth it, since it pleased both our vegetarian & meaty tastes. So if you folks visit next time, we know where we are taking you!

I STALKED the soup ( pun intended! ;-) )

Last time (almost 2 years ago) I had encountered a particular debacle with my soup making. I had attempted the mixer to pulp the scorching hot veggies straight off the pressure cooker, only to have the steaming pieces go haywire and splash on my face. I had however escaped with a few burn scars and caused everyone around a near heart-attack with my screeching!

Hence, I never braved myself to try soups again for a long time; until last week, when I went for minestrone like soup which didn’t require the mixer. My soup-making-soul was kindled and to top it, I have gleefully hit common grounds with N on a soupy dinner love. Going forward, I have decided to make at least one dinner per fortnight supplemented with a hot soup!

This week’s veggie soup seems a lot healthier, for I deviously dumped in it the broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage stalks, which we otherwise throw, for the fear of turning into cows chewing cuds! :P

                                  Colorful veggies for the soup! :)

Recipe –

*  Stir fry Cuds/stalks/all veggies you dig or don’t like to eat in the original form in a spoon of olive oil.

*  Throw in (in Ratatouille style) couple of broken red chillies, few peppercorns, basil leaves, ginger and garlic  to taste and breathe in the green flavor combined with spices!

*  Add tomato in the end, before removing the veggies from the stove, so that it’s semi-cooked.

*  Let them cool down (wait for about an hour!)

*  Add them to the mixer and pulp it adding as little water as possible.

*  In a heavy bottom vessel, add a small scoop of butter. Splutter jeera seeds (optional)

*  Add the pulp to this and enough water to get a soupy consistency. Add salt to taste.

*  Let it simmer with tiny almost-boiling bubbles for about 10 to 15 min.

Serve hot smeared with crushed pepper and oregano flakes.

Note: Add atleast 2 tomatoes to get the tangy touch. I also added the pineapple hard center, which is not otherwise eaten, to give a tinge of sweetness to the soup.

So the next time, before you throw away that hard stalk, think again!

Please share other thoughts on the parts we throw away but are the most nutritious. I recently read about potatoes having most of the good nutrients in the skin. So I am thinking of attempting cooking them with the skin the next time!

Hope everyone is eating healthy and working harder!
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Noteworthy - Guess who has graced us with her presence and involvement in the blog by signing up for the miles?? I will keep you at bay and leave a small clue - the beacon of vegetarianism among us who does not like vegetables! :)

Bake-a-thon!

It is great to see the enthusiasm for soups, salads and workouts exploding all over the blog! I am aware of a few sleeping/snoring members and I am hoping to wake them up this week!! And while the momentum lasts for the rest of us, I thought lets indulge in some common goal for each month.

What about baking something before the end of Feb? Not confined to cakes alone, but anything invented, borrowed, inherited, internet-searched; but straight off the oven! Let it be something you have never tried before! And let’s post the recipe however it turns out! Or simply post thoughts on a baked dish you ordered at a restaurant!

Let’s welcome Fabulous Feb and enjoy the wait for spring… I am definitely waiting for spring to be able to run outside! I am tired of exercising in recycled air!!

Hope everyone participates!

crispy egg sambal

I was bored with the usual egg curry, i used to make every fortnight and decided to do something different with egg. So this is what I ended up with and I am planning on trying the following with different gravies until I am bored... If you have tried something similar, please share your recipes too!

Ingredients -

Eggs - 4

Onion - 1 big cut length-wise ( i think small onions will suit this gravy best. I didnt have any at home!)

Tomato - 2 medium cut fine

Red chilly - fresh or dry (a good cupful, this is the only spice, so be generous)

cilantro - a bunch

pepper corns - 5 to 6

garlic - 1 pod

Procedure -

1. Make a thick, sufficiently crispy omelet with the eggs ( I used just the egg whites to keep it healthy). Add a tbsp of milk while beating the eggs to make the omelet fluffy. Dribble some pepper powder and salt in the omelet mix. Cut the omelet into 1 inch cuboids.

2. Saute the onions until golden brown.

3. Add the tomatoes and keep it in low flame.

4. In the meanwhile beat the garlic, red chilly, peppercorns and cilantro into a semi-fine paste.

5. Once the tomatoes are cooked, add this red chilly paste.

6. Add salt and enough water to form a gravy and let it simmer for at least 15 minutes.

7. Once the gravy thickens, add omelet pieces to it.

8. Mix the omelet with the gravy and take care not to break it. ( the thicker the omelet, the easier to mix )

9. Let it simmer for not more than 5 minutes.

Serve it hot with Phulkas or Sambol or rice. Tastes best when eaten immediately!

For those who dont eat egg, I think the gravy should go well with tofu! :)

Note: Sambal and Sambol were names I picked from a Srilankan book.

Sambal is any gravy made from red chilly.

Sambol is a easy rice dish that is had with spicy curries.

* Beat 5 to 6 small red onions, 2 to 3 garlic pods, couple of red chilles and few green chillies into a crunchy paste.

* Fry this mixture with little oil until the raw smell leaves it.

* Add a handful of coconut to this sauteed mix and fry till its golden brown.

* Add salt and mix it with a cup of cooked rice.

In the original version, along with coconut, dry fish is also added.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! Dont forget to mail me the miles...

Every mile counts!! :)

Nature's bounty

I have never been a vegetable hater, but neither have i ever enjoyed them as much as i do these days. I love them fresh most of the time or just blanched/boiled, but not overcooked. Al Dente' works great on veggies as it does on pasta! Each day, I skirt the salad bar at work for a satisfying side, and I love the falafel guy a few blocks from work thanks to the zillion veggies he adds to my sandwich. Here's a list of my ten comparatively new veggie and leafy loves, tell me if you share these!

1. Arugula : This peppery little leaf adds a burst of flavor to your salad, just drizzle olive oil & you have a fab side!

2. Asparagus: I save the tops for the last as they are soo yum!

3. Beets & more beets: They are so sweet that they make a great dessert!

4. Sweet potatoes/Yams: Love these starches over the blander potato anytime!

5. Pumpkin: I like it as a soup or in my vathal kozambu but the boiled version isn't too bad!

6. Avocado: Nature's butter is as great for the face & hair as a pack as it is for your salad.

7. Zucchini: Amazing how this humble veggie transforms when grilled with olive oil!

8. Broccoli: Crisp & yum, need i say more, i know you guys heart too!

9. Sugar snap peas: great in Salads, Asian food & by themselves!

10. Edamame: The best bean, period.

Spinach soup

This is a twist on the traditional Palak panner that packs a punch & is just as if not more yum! Sudan & I licked our bowls clean when I made this last time, so here goes:

For two servings you will need:

1. two green chillies
2. one ripe tomato
3. Half a red onion
4. a few peppercorns
5. two pods of Garlic
6. A cup of spinach
7. a few cloves & cinnamon
8. A tablespoon of cream (optional, but it does make it more yum!)
7. Salt to taste
8. Oil

Add a tablespoon of oil & saute the spinach until it is cooked. Blend to a lush green paste.
Puree tomatoes to a fine paste
Chop the garlic, onions & green chillies finely & saute in oil with cloves & cinnamon.
Add the pureed tomatoes & salt to the mix & cook to a boil.
Powder the peppercorn & add to the mix.
Finally add the spinach & the cream & heat for 5 minutes. You should not overcook the spinach.

Enjoy with dippable bread sticks!