Quick Canellini Bean Soup

For those cold nights when you are craving homemade soup but do not have very much time or energy left.

Serves 2
Active time - 5 minutes
Ready in - 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Cannellini bean -1 small can
Sage leaves - 4-6 large ones
Chopped onion - 1/3rd cup
Chopped garlic - 2 cloves
Salt, pepper to taste
Sugar - 1/4th tsp
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 1 tbsp

Method
Heat the oil
Add the onions
Fry for 2 minutes
Add the garlic and the sage leaves
Continue to fry for 2-3 minutes (till the onions are beginning to brown)
Add the rinsed Cannellini beans and fry for a minute
Crush the beans with the back of your spoon a little
Add a 1 and a half cup of water (adjust water later depending on how you like your soup) and boil for 5 minutes.
Crush the beans again a little more and adjust for consistency of the soup
Add salt pepper to taste. Add the sugar.
Serve hot!

Chocolate Chip Orange Cookies

I love cookies but all the cookie recipes I found use a large amount of butter. I wanted to create a cookie recipe that tastes good but uses much less butter. So I took a cookie recipe cut down the butter by half, added orange zest to compensate for the loss of flavor due cutting down of butter. Enjoy!

Makes more than 30 cookies
Time to make <1hr
Needs extra time for cooling

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp orange zest
Pinch of salt

Procedure:
1. Combine dry ingredients (Flour, Salt, Baking soda) together. If you have the time, sift them together. Then add the chocolate chips.
2. In a separate bowl, cream sugars, eggs and butter.
3. Add the vanilla and orange zest to the wet ingredients.
4. Sift dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Do not over-mix.
5. The mixture will be somewhat powdery (not sticky, not doughy). It will be difficult to form any shape out of the mixture. Use as much mixture to form 1-1.5 inch diameter flattened circles per cookie (although there is no need to try to form a shape).
6. Drop the mixture on an aluminum foil (leave some room between each cookie). Bake for 9-12 minutes. The cookies will be very soft when they come out of the oven and till they are warm. Let them cool.

Zucchini Dahiwali

I always wanted to make a sabzi out of zucchini. I found two different recipes on internet and combined some of the ideas and added some of mine to create this recipe. I chose to use green bell pepper and peas along with zucchini but you can use only zucchini if you like.

Time to prep – 5 min
Time to cook – 20-30 min

Zucchini – 2 medium sized, cut into 1 cm cubes
Green bell pepper – 1, cut into 1 cm cubes
Peas – ½ cup, frozen
Tomato -1 small sized, cut into small pieces
Green chili – 2, cut into small pieces
Yogurt – 2 tbsp
Cumin seeds – ½ tsp
Mustard seeds – ½ tsp
Asafetida – a pinch
Cumin powder – ½ tsp
Coriander powder – ½ - 1 tsp
Kasoori methi – 1 tbsp
Turmeric – ¾ tsp
Oil – 1 tsp
Salt – according to taste
Sugar – 1 tsp
Coriander leaves – 1 tbsp

Method:
Add asafetida to hot oil. Add mustard and cumin seeds. When they crackle add all the vegetables except peas. Add cumin powder, coriander powder, turmeric and the green chili and salt. Cook till vegetables are softened. Add the peas. Add yogurt and sugar. Add crushed kasoori methi and coriander leaves and serve.

Butterfruit Shake (Avocado Shake)

My Friend Sameeta introduced me to this drink years ago when I lived in Madurai. Growing up in Calcutta, I did not know what a butter fruit was at that time. This was one of my favorite drinks at a juice shop we used to go to.


Serves 2
Active time required: <5 minutes

Avocado-1 (ripe)
Sugar- 6 tsp
Cold Milk- 2 cups
Small Cardamom- 4 (make a powder)
Salt- small pinch (optional)

Procedure:
Peel and cut the avocado. Blend all the ingredients in a food processor (or use a hand blender). Serve immediately.

Phulkopir Khichuri (Khichdi with Cauliflower)

This is an easy version of a khichdi we make in Bengal. You can adjust the amount of butter according to your taste. The method I describe takes very little active time.

Ingredients
1.5 cups of Moong Dal
1.5 cups of Rice
2 cups cauliflower cut into medium sized pieces
1 cup potato cut in 1 inch cubes (optional)
1/2 cup coconut frozen/dehydrated baking coconut
1/2 cup frozen green peas (optional)
1/2 - 1 inch fresh ginger made into a paste (can be replaced with 1 tsp powder)
1 tsp cumin powder
4 chopped green chillis (or adjust according to taste)
3/4 tsp turmeric
6 cups (or more) water
2 tsp sugar
Salt according to taste

Spices for tampering:
4 whole cardamoms
1 inch piece of cinnamon
4 cloves
1 dried red chili
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon butter/ oil

Grind the following into a powder:
3 whole cardamoms
1 inch piece of cinnamon
3 cloves


Procedure:
Dry roast the Moong Dal for a few minutes. Cool a little and then rinse along with the rice.
Place the dal and rice mixture in a large pan with 6 cups of water. Bring the heat to high. Meanwhile make the tadka and add to the rice-dal mixture. Add cut green chilis, salt according to taste, cumin powder, turmeric and half of the ginger to the rice-dal mixture. Once it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium, add the cauliflower and potatoes, cover and cool till the rice, dal, and vegetables are done. Check to see if it has adequate water or not in between. The final consistency will be like porridge.
Add the ground spices and the rest of the ginger and cook for 2 minutes. Add the frozen coconut, peas and the sugar.
Serve with a dollop of butter if you like. A good accompaniment will be crispy fried potatoes (Aloo Bhaja).


Note: This recipe can be made in slow cooker.