Healthy for all

Hi all,

My daughter is 11 months old, I always get a doubt as to what to feed her that will be healthy and tasty. All she get to eat are pasted, mashed and pureed vegetable or fruits with rice and regular dal. Lately, I think she is bored of eating the same food and demands to eat from our plate. So, I decided to find recipes for her. I came across this recipe book for toddlers in the library. Lots of fascinating dishes looked very healthy and tasty. Then, I thought how I can incorporate this for both her and us. So the first recipe is altered for both kids and adults.

Hummus

Hummus is a Middle Eastern dish that is basically a dip for breads. Hummus is made from chick peas/kabuli Channa. It is very rich source of carbohydrate, protein and fibers. One cup/100gms of channa contains 7.6 g of diatary fibres, 27.42 g of carbohydrate and 8.86 g of protein. I made two variations of hummus - one for us and other for my daughter.

Hummus:

Ingredients

4 oz dried chickpeas (or Garbanzo beans) or canned
Pinch ground cumin (jeeragam)
1 clove of roasted garlic,
2 tsp lemon juice (optional)
Olive oil

Method:

Cover the chickpeas in cold water and soak overnight, if it is dried one. Canned peas can be cooked directly. Drain, then place in a saucepan and cover with fresh water. Cook until tender (1- 1 1/2 hours) or pressure cook for 3 to 4 whistles.

Drain the water. Grind the chick peas, garlic, cumin with little water in the beginning. Further smooth consistency by adding olive oil. Remove from blender and serve.

Hummus for kids can be made more tasty by adding kidney bean with chickpeas and avoid cumin as it can be allergic to kids (Please find out about your kids allergies before adding certain ingredients to their dishes like cumin, peanut or sesame seeds etc). Instead of lemon you can add Orange juice or apples for sweeter taste with garlic eliminated.

Serving tips: Hummus can be served as spread with our regular wheat bread or even chapattis. It can be used as salad dressing on our regular salads as well.

For kids over 5, you could make Lettuce Taco filled with vegetable and hummus served on top or with regular tacos instead of heavy cheese.

Note:

Make sure the hummus is smooth in consistency and no lumps from apples or beans before serving it to babies and todlers.

Carrot Olive Salad

Hi All,

Today I decided to do a healthy salad with Carrots.Yes, carrot is a very healthy vegetable packed with lots of nurients. 100 gms of carrort will give you a 40 calories (which seems to be less compared to potato chips and all the junk food) but in every hundred grams it has 3 g of fiber,1 g of protien, 33 mg of calcium and 93% of vitamin A. Likewise lettuce and olive has lots of nutrients too.

The salad dressing that I have used in this recipe can be be made quickly and can be used in most of the salad you want to make. Alright, eat healthy and enjoy life!!

Ingredients:

2 to 3 medium sized Carrots

10 to 12 olives

4 leaves of lettuce

Almonds soaked in water and peeled (for decoration)

Serves: 2 people

Dressing:

2 table spoon of olive oil

1 clove of garlic

Juice from 1/2 lemon

Pepper

Method:

Cut the garlic and soak in olive oil along with the lemon juice and pepper half an hour before you make the salad.

Wash the carrot thoroughly and grate.

Cut the olive into half.

Serving:

Arange the lettuce leafs as a bed in a bowl.

Add the carrots and olives.

Pour the salad dressing on top of the salad.

Decorate with the almonds.

Note:

You could add a pinch or two of salt for taste. This salad is colorfull and will be like by children too.

Cream of Vegetable Soup

Today, I will present the recipe of vegetable in white sauce soup that I started making in an effort to help my husband in his weight reduction mission! You might be wondering how a "Cream" of vegetable soup could be healthier? Watch the Tips section to make this recipe more healthier. Also, this soup is very easy and quick to make.

Cooking Time: 15-20 minutes

Serves: 2 people

Ingredients:

1 Cup of mixed vegetables (Carrot, Green Beans, Peas)
Corn, Potato, or Cauli flower could also be added, if desired
Green or Yellow or Red pepper could be added for color and decoration

Half medium sized onion

1 Cup of Milk

1 teaspoon of Corn or White (Maida) flour

1 teaspoon Butter

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

Chop the vegetables finely and microwave for 3 minutes.

If you do not have a microwave, chop the vegetables finely and boil them for 10 minutes.

In a pan, add finely chopped onions to the 1 teaspoon of butter and sauté them for 2-3 minutes.

Add the drained vegetables and sauté for 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl, add 1 teaspoon of flour (corn or white) to the milk and mix them well without forming any lumps.

Now, add the milk to the pan and boil for 2-3 minutes till the soup thickens.

Add salt and pepper to taste and optionally you could decorate with chopped Green/Red/Yellow Pepper.

Tips:
Use fat free butter and 2% milk or low-fat milk to make the soup low in fat.

A Tribute

Dear All,

Greetings and thanks for landing in my blog space.

I have started this blog to share some of my experiences with food. I was born and brought up in a family of foodies. Stunned by my mother's interest and knowledge in cooking, my father ventured into food business and he has been successfully running a chain of restaurants in Bangalore, India for the past decade.

My father believes in food for mind, body and soul. So do I and I believe most of you. I intend to share various innovative vegetarian recipes that are health conscious and are tasteful for the mind and pure for the soul.

Once again, I welcome you to my blog and please keep it interactive by sharing your experiences as well :)