Kala Channa Sundal/ Black Chick Pea Salad

My husband and I love this type of sundal. I try to make sundal  often to balance our proteinn intake. This is really simple and you can just have it as a salad or as side dish to rice. I usually try to sprout it for more fiber but today I dint really have time to let it sprout so I just made this sundal. 

Ingredients:

Black Chickpea/ Kala channa - 1 cup soaked overnight

Oil - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Coconut - 1 -2 tbsp grated

Asafoetida - a pinch

Mustard - 1 tsp

Cumin Seeds - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Cook chickpea ( with some salt )separately and leave it aside. 

In a pan, heat oil and add mustard. when it splutters, add cumin seeds and asafoetida. Add the cooked chickpea and saute for about a min. Taste and check if you need more salt. Add accordingly. 

Mix in the grated coconut and turn off heat. Serve hot. 
Sending this to Shoba's Cook it Healthy and also to Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can cook series

Simple Salad With Home Grown Veggies

We were so excited to see our crops grow. The best part is when you see them give the vegetable. Believe me! Its such a great experience and feeling of accomplishment when you get fruits from your garden. We were so thrilled to see our harvest today. Let me take you through it. 

Some Cherry tomatoes and radishes

Cucumbers

Few Fresh Basil and Mint Leaves

ALL THESE COMBINED FORMED THIS

Can we call it a perfect HOME MADE SALAD?????  I squeezed some lime juice and salt and pepper. We wanted to relish every bit of the vegetable so we ate it raw. I din't want to disguise it in any form or curry or gravy just to bring out the fresh taste of the veggies. It tasted so good. We were fully satisfied with all our efforts in growing these.  

I made another dish with radish leaves. Will be posting it soon. Till then you all take care!

Sending this to Deb's Souper Sunday's

Simple Salad comes with an Award!

Yes, I receive this Versatile blogger award from PJ - Seduce your taste buds few days back. Thanks to PJ. She has a wonderful blog and lots of healthy and yummy recipes. Frankly speaking, I was actually waiting for everyone to post the awards so that I can post mine. Now I thought would be right to share this award with my friends. In receiving this award, we need to pass it to 10 fellow blogger friends. :-)

1. Divya Vikram - Dil Se
2. Alessandra - Only Recipes
3. Srimathi - Few Minute Wonders
4. Nitu Bala - Nitu's Kitchen
5. Cool Lassi - Pangravy kadai curry
6. Priya - Elaichii
7.Sangeetha - Healthfood Desivideshi
8. Indian Spice Magic
9. Santhosh Bangar - Santhosh's Kitchen
10. Sadhana - My lovely Kitchen

Congratulations my friends. I just chose them in a random order .Would love to share it with everyone but it limits to 10. Enjoy your day!!!

Now coming to the salad...

I had made this salad for our lunch today. I dint have sufficient ingredients to make a complete salad. So I just made a simple one with veggies I had. My husband prefers one raw vegetable along with regular cooked vegetable dish in his meal everyday. That way, we eat more vegetable and less of rice. Its healthy and at the same time feels light. Usually if I am lazy I just chop carrots and sprinkle some pepper and salt, sometimes its cucumber. Today its a combination of both. 

Ingredients:

Carrot - 1 small chopped into bite size cubes
Radish - 1/2 ( length of our palm) chopped into cubes
Cucumber - 1 small cut into cubes
Cilantro - handful chopped fine
Lime juice - 1 tbsp
Salt - to tate
Greec Chilli - 1 chopped ( optional)

Preparation:

Mix all vegetables in a bowl along with salt and lime juice

Garnish with cilantro.

Serve it cold as a side dish, salad.

See you soon with more. :-)

Quinoa (Kheen -Wa) Tabbouleh

Rice is our staple item. My husband and I need rice at least for one meal a day. Due to a signal in my husband's blood sugar levels, we wanted to take more care from the beginning. Though not alarming, prevention is better than cure is my policy. So the home maker (thats me) takes charge of diet conscience cooking, preparing meals with proper fiber content and less carbs. Thats when this quinoa came to my mind. I have had this long time back but dint know many recipes out of it. So I planned to substitute this grain for rice. I am trying to make different dishes as possible starting today with quinoa and many other rice substitute dishes. Lets see how far I succeed. This is just to start our new dietary plan.

Ingredients:

Quinoa - 1 cup
Water - 2 cups
Tomato - 1 finely chopped
Onion - 1/2 chopped fine
Cucumber - 1/2 finely chopped
Parsely - 3 - 4 tbps finely chopped.
Lime Juice - 4 tbsps
Olive Oil - 3 tbps
Salt - to taste

Preparation:

Cook quinoa in 2 cups boiling water. When it cooks, you will notice a white sprout around the grain. Remove from heat when cooked and let it cool.

In the mean time cut all veggies and keep aside.

When quinoa comes to normal room temp, add tomatoes, onions, cucumber, lime juice, olive oil,salt, parsley and mix well. You can add more lime juice according to your taste.

Quinoa Tabbouleh is ready in minutes.

For other quinoa recipes, check quinoa upma 
Sending this to Vegetarian Foodie friday and to Girliechef's  Hearth and Soul

Also sending this to Priya's of Mharorajasthan recipe's CWf event - quinoa

Sprouted Green Gram / Whole Moong Salad

My mom started to make this salad when we found that my dad had diabetes. My dad never takes food at the right time. This is the main reason why he became diabetic. The main cause being his work schedule that restricts him from maintaining regular food habits. But now he tries to maintain a balance in his diet. My mom would pack this salad for him once a week. Thats how we got introduced to this salad. Its a great salad. I never thought sprouted green gram would taste so good. I get so excited when I see the sprouts from the green gram. It gives me a great satisfaction when we eat this salad. I feel as though we are having one bowl full of only fiber and nutrients. My mom sometimes would just pick hand full of fresh sprouted green grams and stuff it inside our mouth even before making the salad. That time though I ate it, I used to complain . But now I realize how good it is for our body.

Nutritional Value

Green gram is a legune which is rich dietary fiber content, protien content, vitamins and amino acids.

Ingredients:

Green Gram - 1/2 cup
Onion - 1/2 chopped finely
Tomato - 1/2 finely chopped
Ginger - 1 tsps chopped
Lime juice - 2 tbsps
Salt - to taste

Preparation:

Wash the green gram and soak it in water . Do this as the first thing in the morn.

In the night, strain the grams . Put them in a clean cloth, tie the cloth and keep it aside.

Next morning when you take out the cloth, you will see sprotued grams.

Now, in a bowl, add sprouted grams, chopped onion, chopped tomato, ginger. Add salt and lime juice. Mix well and serve.

Sending this to Deb's Souper Sundays , Priya's Low Oil Low calorie Event , Susan's My Legume Love Affair and to Girliechef's Hearth and Soul

Greek Watermelon Salad

Its almost end of summer in some parts of the country but in San Diego it feels like the summer has just started. Scorching heat makes you feel so dehydrated. Its very important to take sufficient liquids. I was looking for something really cold to eat. I found watermelon that I cut and stored it in the fridge. But this time I wanted to try something new. When I was looking into my fridge,  I happened to bump into the crumbled herbed  feta cheese. I used some for my pasta dish and I had some leftover. It was too little to use for another elaborate dish. An idea stuck my brain. Why not try something with watermelon and the cheese???!!!! Sounds interesting right???? Yes its actually a Greek salad. I googled with these ingredients and I found a good salad recipe. I added some extra ingredients to my taste. Thought will share it with you all.

Ingredients:

Baby Watermelon (Seedless preferred) - Half  cut into small cubes.

Herbed Feta cheese - 2 tbsp

Cilantro - To garnish

Pepper - 1 tsp

Preparation:

Just cut watermelon into small bite size cubes.

Drizzle feta cheese on top and some pepper too. The feta cheese is salty so there is no need to add additional salt. Usually I like to add just salt and pepper to my watermelon as it boosts the sweetness of fruit. But when we add feta, there is no need for salt. I used herbed feta since I had it. You can also try it with regular feta and add any herbs of your choice to the salad. It tastes great for summer!!

Garnish with cilantro leaves and serve it cold.

Happy Weekend!!!


Watermelon