Avo Snack

It's finals week on campus, which means I'm moving home soon. Which means I can't justify going food shopping, but also still need to eat! I did a mini-grocery run to the local food store the other day, and all I really wanted was avocado. I also got some wasa crackers, and put this together as a perfect finals week snack - just wasa crackers with cream cheese and avocado spread on the top. So yummy and somehow really filling. I couldn't help but take a bite out before taking photos!

Coconut Coriander Chutney

I am so excited about this post, because of all the foods I tasted abroad, this is the one that brings back some of the warmest memories. It is a true comfort food in taste and thought.

Chutney definitely has a presence in the US - I've seen it in Indian restaurants as well as in other restaurants that just offer it as a kind of dip. Coconut coriander would probably come off as more exotic or innovate though in the US, while in India, this was the staple kind of chutney. "Plain chutney" basically implied that it was made with coconut and coriander. I ate this for breakfast often with idly, and sometimes if we had leftover I would have it at dinner too. I could expect to see it at every hotel I stayed at in India, as well as at any wedding or group festivity. Everyone eats this stuff, and I totally understand why.

So after learning from the expert (my amma), I took her recipe back to my kitchen in New Jersey and tried to recreate the chutney, I think successfully.

Ingredients:

• one whole coconut, shredded
• whole coriander leaves (lots of them, leave stem on)
• pinch of rock salt (or some variety that is more of a crystal than a powder - I used sea salt)
• 2 small pieces of tamarind (not paste) (I didn't use this in my re-creation)
• 1 green chile, sliced into 3 pieces
• 2 small chunks of fresh ginger
• sprinkle of compounded asafoetida powder*
• water as needed (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 1T olive oil
• 2T black mustard seeds
• 1T yellow dal

1) Crack open the coconut. I read extensively online about how to do this, but none of the methods (back of a knife, hammer) seemed to work for me. I ended up taking it out to my front lawn and throwing it on the sidewalk, which did the trick even though I lost the fresh coconut water inside, which I was looking forward to drinking. I'll try the hammer technique again next time.

2) Shred the coconut. My host parents in India used the shredder you can see in the picture below, and the one after that is my host dad hard at work scraping away at the inside of the coconut. In my world, I used a watermelon scooper and a knife. When you think you've shredded about as much as you can, throw it in the blender.

3) Add the other ingredients to the blender, and blend it all together, stopping to add water as needed.

Look at the fresh green chiles and ginger from my host mom's kitchen...

4) Ok, last step has to be done in a skillet. Heat the olive oil on medium heat, and toss in the black mustard seeds and dal. Let them cook for about 2 minutes, until they get a little toasty and fragrant. Pour the chutney from the blender into a bowl, and stir in the black mustard seeds and dal.

I understand that these are the two ingredients least likely to already be in an American kitchen, but you cannot forgo these when making the recipe. They are the secret ingredient. The mustard seeds add this little crunch, and true Indian chutney is just not the same without it.

For the record, Whole Foods sells whole coconuts. Trader Joe's failed me this time around.

See if you can guess which pictures are from India and which are from the US!

One last anecdote: My host parents from India were in Boston for two months, the first of which overlapped with the end of my trip abroad. They went back this past weekend and I didn't get to see them. I had gotten in contact with them and tentatively planned to go up last Tuesday, but my plans fell through and I was pretty upset that they were going to fly back across the world without getting to see them for a hug and a meal. I know that if I had gone up to Boston, my host mom would have made me this chutney. So instead of being in Boston on Tuesday, I stayed home and made this. Nothing could have made me feel better. I miss India a lot, but all of these flavors brought me right back to the dinner table in Chennai.

*My host mom used this ingredient (asafoetida powder) in everything and I bought some at an Indian food market in New York, but I still can't figure out exactly what it is. If anyone knows, please enlighten me!

Guac-a-holé-molé

I'm kindof shocked that this is the first time I've ever posted guacamole on this blog. It's one of my "specialty" things to make. In fact, my brother and I have this secret plan that if all fails for us in life, we will open up a guacamole shack. Ok, so maybe we made this plan like 6 years ago, but hey, there's still a chance that my life will fail, so I'm going to keep the option open.

This is a pretty simple guac. Sometimes I make fun variations. This is not one of them.

What's Inside:

• 1 avocado, mashed but leaving some chunks (I like it chunky)
• Splash of lemon juice
• Splash of orange juice (who said lemon juice is the only acidic liquid that can be used in guacamole?)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Chopped raw onions
• Basil

Just mix it all together! Don't mash too much! Eat with tortilla chips, in a quesadilla, or I guess if you want to get really crazy, just eat it by the spoonful. Maybe you can even find a bowl that matches with the guac better than mine does!

Avocado and an Egg

My roommate in DC suggested that it would be a great idea to take an avocado, cut in in half, take out the pit, scoop out a little of the avocado, and then plop an egg right in the middle, and bake the whole thing. I tried it, obviously. I mean, how could I resist? I love avocados. I love eggs. This was a foolproof plan. I even sprinkled some mozzarella cheese on top, because everything is better with cheese.

Let's just say it didn't live up to my expectations. I'm not a huge fan of warm avocado, and I don't love yolk that's not runny, and so I kindof just ate the egg white and some of the avocado part. But I mean, it was interesting. And so I posted it here. Now you know you can do this. And if you like warm avocado and egg yolk a little more than me, try it! If you dare...

Two Tartines

In French, the word for an open faced sandwich is tartine, which is what both of these basically are. Both start with a piece of fresh baked farmers market bread, lightly toasted.

The recipe on the left is avocado toast. It is the bread smeared with a perfect avocado and then topped with an over easy egg.

The second toast is topped with bruschetta - fresh chopped tomato, basil, mozzarella cheese, onion, and a little bit of olive oil and lemon juice.

They were both really good, but let's get real here - everything is better when you put an egg on top of it. So I think we all know who the real winner is.

The Best Snack Ever

Get ready for avocado madness.

It is actually possible that every single recipe I post from now until the end of the summer will have avocado in it. 

This is the first - it is simple and it is delicious. I had this for the first time when I was a freshman in college. It was 2 in the morning, and I was working on a particularly difficult and frustrating astronomy problem set with a girl who lived across the hall.

In a moment of procrastination, we bonded over our shared love for avocado. She said, "mmm I love avocado plain, with a little olive oil and salt over bread." And I said, "I've never tried that before!"

So I went and retrieved the avocado that was ripening on my bookshelf, and the ciabatta roll that I had stolen from the dining hall earlier that day. My friend procured the salt and olive oil. And then we smeared the avocado, and I took a bite and fell in love with avocado all over again.

This is fresh bread from the farmers market, the same one I used as a bun on the mahi mahi burger in my last post. And on top of it are slices of a perfect avocado, drizzled olive oil, and a sprinkle of sea salt.

And that, my friends, is all you need to know about finding happiness in the world.

Banana Cherry Nutella Sandwich

I don't even think it's legal for me to post this on a blog that supposedly talks about "healthy and wholesome meals." But let's get real here. Everyone has their sweet tooth moments, and I think it's much better to put all that sweetness into one sandwich, eat it, and move on with your life, instead of spending an entire day taking a spoonful of this and a handful of this. So here is the creation I made when I just really wanted to eat chocolate all day long.

What You Need:

2 pieces of cinnamon raison bread

1 banana, sliced

bonne maman cherry préserves

nutella

some earth balance butta

How to Make It:

Lightly butter a pan. Place the two slices of bread on the pan, and let them get a bit toasty. When they start to brown, flip em over. While the second side is browning, smear nutella LIGHTLY to both halves. (I'm talkin like 1/2 tbs for each half. Any more and your thighs will be very angry with you later). Then add a sliced banana to one side, and cherry preserves to the other (you can use any other type of jam as well!) When the nutella gets a little melty and the bread is toasty enough, flip the two haves together, and eat! You'll know you've done it correctly if there is hazelnut goodness and cherry lumps oozing out of your sandwich and onto the plate. Oh, and if your sweet tooth craving is filled.

Tortillas Two Ways: Sweet (bunuelos)

My mom used to make this for my brother and me as an after school snack. The name for these tortillas are bunuelos. Basically, it's a tortilla with melted butter, cinnamon, and sugar (and brown sugar if you really want to go crazy). When the whole thing is heated, the sugariness melts into the butter, and it's sweet without being over the top. You can eat it flat like a pizza, or as a wrap!

Tortillas Two Ways: Savory

At night, especially when I'm staying up late to get schoolwork done, I always crave a late night snack. I usually try first to have fruit, like maybe an apple or some berries, and a cup of tea; but sometimes that still isn't cutting it.

"Tortillas two ways" was a creative attempt to make a more filling late night snack, without a lot of extra calories (this is much healthier AND tastier than a bag of chips or a tub of ice cream). Today I'm showing the savory tortilla I made, and tomorrow I'll feature a sweet variation!

What You Need

• one corn tortilla (only 60 calories!)
• olive oil
• feta cheese (mine is TJ's light feta)
• zatar (green spice)

What To Do

On a skillet, heat the tortilla. It is up to you if you want to put oil on the pan first or not, to make the tortilla extra crispy. Drizzle the top of the tortilla with olive oil. Then, as the tortilla is heating, crumble feta and sprinkle zatar on top. The feta will melt, and the zatar will stick to it. When it's all heated and the tortilla is a little crispy, take it off the stove, eat, and let your cravings be filled!

Matzah Melt

I know that the general consensus on matzah is that it's really gross, but for me, there is something really enticing about only getting to eat it for eight days out of the year. It's like the food that plays hard to get, and now that I've got it I'm enjoying it every day!

Today, I ripped up a low fat TJ's cheese stick, and melted it in on a piece of matzah in the microwave. Then, I took a super ripe avocado, and just smeared that green deliciousness all over.

So. Good.

(Just for the record - I use a cheese stick because I like the idea that it's a pre-measured cheese portion. But feel free to use whatever type of cheese you'd like!)

Reese's Pecans

Ok, so I know this blog is about healthy food. BUT, I was given about a million reeses cups by my "secret sister" (that's the product of being in a sorority + valentine's day...). After my roommate and I indulged in at least half of them, we decided to use them in a more productive way... recipe time!

First I unwrapped a whole bunch of reeses cups, and melted them in the microwave. Then I took pecans, dipped them in the chocolately-peanut-buttery concoction, and put them in the refrigerator to harden.

In a few hours, they were ready to eat! Mmmmmmm.

Apple-Gingerbread Parfait

To make some extra cash this winter break, I've been employed -- by my mother. She has three different folders and binders, filled with thousands of recipes, and my job is to go through each one, and sort, consolidate, and condense the recipes.

I came across this recipe during my sorting, and I just had to stop what I was doing to make it.

What You Need:

butter (I used earth balance vegan spread)

an apple

sugar

cinnamon

about 3 gingersnap cookies

low-fat vanilla greek yogurt

How to Make It:

1. Heat butter in a skillet.

2. Saute fresh apple slices for 5 minutes. Then stir in the sugar and cinnamon, and cook 5 more minutes, or until a syrup begins to form.

3. Crush gingersnap cookies. (I put mine in a ziploc plastic bag and crushed them that way).

4. Choose a cup or bowl for serving. Sprinkle the bottom with some of the crushed gingersnaps.

5. Stir the rest of the crushed gingersnaps in with the apple mixture.

6. Layer apple mixture with yogurt, and garnish with gingersnaps, whole or crushed.

The gingersnaps taste like winter, but the apples will remind you of fall.

Green Tea Smoothie

I got the idea for this smoothie from this recipe. I absolutely love green tea flavored anything, and I liked the idea of having such a summery drink to cheer up the winter. 

I made this when I was at school, and so I adapted the ingredients to what I had in my kitchen.

What's Inside:

1 cup of skim milk

1 frozen banana

tablespoon of honey

tablespoon of match green tea powder

Just blend the ingredients together, and you have a delicious smoothie. I drank mine while doing some reading for class, and it definitely helped me get through it.

Buzzed Chocolate

Sorry for the delay in posting! I came home on Tuesday for winter break, and even though that might sound like I should have more time to blog, I've actually been quite busy at home!

I made this in my dorm while I was packing on Tuesday. I couldn't decide if I wanted hot chocolate or coffee, so to combine two hot, wintery drinks into one, I made hot chocolate and added a shot of espresso. I'm pretty sure there's a name for this, but I can't think of it right now.

It's super easy to make, just use your favorite hot chocolate mix, milk, and add a shot of espresso! And don't forget to drink it from your most festive holiday mug! (I got mine from a Secret Santa).

Lentil Hummus

I had a lot of pre made lentils around from TJ's, and was looking for some unique recipes to use them up. I found this recipe for red lentil pate, and decided to try it out. Although I do think that lentil "hummus" sounds much better than lentil "pate." The recipe was really easy to make, especially since the lentils were already cooked. I basically threw the ingredients in a food processor and it was ready. I served it with pita chips, which were a great addition.

Oatmeal Scones

Oh boy am I behind on posting... I actually made these before Thanksgiving! I was browsing different blogs for different Thanksgiving recipes, and between cranberry muffins and pumpkin bread, I found these 15-minute oatmeal scones.

They were just as easy to make as the recipe promised, and were great because I already had all of the ingredients in my kitchen. They reminded me of popovers, but more oatey!

Bruschetta

Ok, so if you asked someone Italian, he/she might say that this doesn't exactly have all the ingredients of "real" bruschetta. But when I saw these beautiful tomatoes at the farmers market, I couldn't resist buying one. I didn't have a recipe in mind when I made the purchase, and so I decided to use the tomato in an easy snack. I chopped up the tomato, and mixed it with red onion, olive oil, lemon juice, and chunks of mozzarella cheese, to make my version of bruschetta, a delicious and really healthy snack! Toast crackers are great for serving!

Sugar Sweet Apples

I was looking for a dessert alternative, something to give me the sweet satisfaction of dessert but with a little more nutrition. In a pan, I melted a little butter, and added brown sugar. When this turned into a sticky caramel-ish substance, I added in the chopped apple. As the apple pieces warmed and softened, the sauce also thinned and coated the apples.

Oh, and I ended up adding on a little scoop of ice cream. Guess it was pretty dessert-ish after all!