Mediterranean Couscous Salad and Award Time

This colourful summer Mediterranean salad is favourite of me and my hubby. My hubby, who always find an excuse not to eat veggies, also relish this salad. Mediterranean Couscous Salad is the salad. This low fat salad, but filling dish can be served as a side dish, or lunch or as a supper dish and can be cooked in a jiffy. It is great to take on picnics. Couscous salad is extremely versatile salad, once you know how to make it, you can add your choice of veggetables and herbs.

Couscous or Kuskus as it is known in Morocco is a Berber dish consisting of spherical granules made by rolling and shaping moistened semolina wheat and then coating them with finely ground wheat flour. The granules of couscous appears like Broken Wheat or Daliya, but they are bigger in size than Broken Wheat. Couscous is a primary staple throughout Morocco, Algeria and Libya. Properly cooked Couscous should be light and fluffy, not gummy or gritty.

Source: Wikipedia

Ingredients
1/2 Cup of Couscous
1 Cup of Vegetable Stock / Water
1 Teaspoon of Butter
2 Teaspoon of Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon of Dried Basil
1 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
1 Teaspoon of Pepper Powder
1 Tablespoon of Chopped Garlic
2 Tablespoon of Finely Chopped Mint Leaves
2 Medium sized Shallots / Vidalia Onions
2 Tablespoon of Chopped Olives (Black and Green)
1 Bell Pepper (Colour of your choice)
4 Chopped Baby Corns
2 Tablespoon of Sun dried Tomatoes
1/2 Chopped Cucumber
1 Tablespoon of Soaked Sultans / Kish Mish
1/2 Cup of Butternut Squash (Optional)
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Soak the couscous as mentioned on the packet. The art of getting fluffy granules of couscous is the method of soaking the Couscous. First time when I made this salad it was bit soggy, because I soaked them for a longer time. Then I tried the below mentioned method and they turned out perfectly well. In a pan boil vegetable stock or water, once it starts boiling add 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of salt and mix it in the stock or water. When the butter dissolves add the couscous and remove the pan from the heat and keep on stirring the couscous for a minute. When the couscous turns soft drain them by using a sieve. Let couscous cool and in between keep on separating them with the help of a fork.
2. In a pan heat the olive oil, add garlic granules and shallots aont ond saute for few seconds. Later add all the vegetables, and herbs mentioned above along with salt to taste and sultans. Toss these vegetables till they are partially cooked. Don't overcook the vegetables and let them be bit raw.
3. Now take your serving bowl and mix the veggie and herby mixture to the couscous and toss it well.
4. Keep it in the referigetor and serve it cool.

Note: I have not added Butternut Squash, but if you enjoy the flavour one can add the same.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ramya Vijaykumar has shared with me Kreative Blog Award, Ramya Thank you for sharing this lovely award with me.

7 things I say more often
1. Shut Up!!
2. Oh! My GOD
3. Gosh!
4. Chooo Chweet!
5. Simply at all!
6. Pleaseeeee....
7. Grrr......

7 things I did Before
1. Learned Dancing (Miss my Salsa and Jive Class).
2. Freaked out with Friends (Miss my days in Mumbai).
3. Listen to Radio till late.
4. Music Freak, Carry my Ipod everywhere
5. Organise Events (Typical HR quality ;)
6. Spend 3 Hours in Gym after my work
7. Fight with my Brother....

7 things I do now
1. Read loads of Books
2. Invite Guests over the place
3. Blogging consume lots of Time
4. Download loads of Song
5. Workouts
6. Experiment New Dishes on my Hubby ;)
7. Love traveling.

7 things I want to do
1. Start a discplined life again, not able to spend much time in the Gym now
2. Go back to my childhood days
3. Own a small cottage near the sea.
4. Travel the whole world.
5. Watch Olympics in the stadium
6. Have my own Dance School
7. Can prove to my Dad and Hubby, Ladies are better Driver :(

7 things that attract me about the opposite sex
1. Hazel Eyes
2. Witty Humor
3. Supportive and Understanding
4. Well Groomed
5. Articulate
6. Caring
7. Intelligent

7 favorite food
Now this is a difficult question, as it says only 7 and the list is exhaustive...
1. Thai Food
2. Samosa
3. Home cooked food
4. Chaat
5. Any Spicy Curry
6. Tiramisu Ice Cream
7. Chocolate and Walnut Brownie

I would like to share this Award with 7 Kreative Bloggers

Priti
Lubna
Anudivya
Rekha
Uma
Trupti
Jaishree

Adlak's Tiny World has Honoured me with Hard Working Blogger Award, Thanks Dear for such lovely gesture.

I would like to share this award with Fellwo Hard Working Food Bloggers

Ramya Vijaykumar
Malar
Ng33ma
Raaji
Viki
Gita
Lakshmi Venkatesh
Soma
Vij

Congrats Gals!! U'll Deserve this...

Adlak has also showered me with Inspirational Award, Good Job Award, Butterfly Award and Perfect Blend of Friendship Award.....Thank you Gal this means a lot to me...

Read more...

Potato and Noodle Bake, an Award and a MEME

The credit for this dish goes to my hubby. I was moarning over my injured finger and like a couch potato was watching 'Daily Cook's Challenge' on ITV. While watching this show my hubby, who is always interested in cooking unique and different dishes decides to enter the Kitchen and cook something new. I was checking with him what he is planning to cook so that even I can help him in the kitchen. As usual he replies, I dont know what I am planning to cook, will go to supermarket and pick up some ingredients and then will decide what to invent from the available ingredients. This is his old habit, he never reveals what he is planning to cook, because he himself is not sure about the same :), however his experiments are always successful and he comes up with really unique and lip smacking dishes. This time he came up with Potato and Noodle bake which was really different and delicious. So my injured finger turned out to be blessing in disguise.
Here is my entry fot Lore's Orginal Recipe Event

Ingredients:
3 Boiled Large Potatoes
2 Tablespoon of Chopped Chive (herb)
1 Cup of Boiled Black Eye Beans
11/2 Cup of boiled Noodles
1 Bunch of Spring Onions
1 Small Chopped Onion
1 Small Chopped Tomato
1 Teaspoon of Coriander- Cumin seed powder
1 Teaspoon of Red Chilli powder
1 Cup of Cheddar Cheese
Salt to taste
Butter
Oil

Method:
1. Mash the boiled potatoes, add chopped chive and salt to it and keep it aside.
2. Boil the noodles by adding one teaspoon of oil, so that they dont stick to eachother. Once the noodles are boiled drain the water.
3. Take a wok and heat the oil, add spring onion and saute them for a minute. Add the boiled noodles and salt and stir fry the noodles. Once the noodles are fried keep them aside.
4. In a same wok, heat the oil. Add chopped onions and saute till they are light pink in colour. Then add tomatoes, coriander-cumin seed powder and red chilly powder and cook till oil leaves the vessel.
5. Add boiled black eye beans, and mix well. Add 1/2 cup of water if required and in the end add salt. Cook till the gravy is thick.
6. Preheat the oven. Grease the dish with butter. Spread the stir fried noodles, then spread the Black eye beans mixture. Top it with the mashed potato mixture and in the end sprinkle cheddar cheese.
7. Bake it in the over on 180 degree celcius till the potatoes are baked and they start turning light brown.
8. Cut in to small pieces and serve it with desired sauce. We enjoyed the bake with peri peri sauce.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now one more feather on my blog - An Award

Suma has passed me "ROCKING GIRL BLOGGER AWARD".

Suma you have really Rock my world, thank you for thinking me worthy for this award.

I would like to pass this award to

Priti

Sripriya

Priyanka

Madhavi

Illatharasi

and

Rekha

Congratulations to all Rocking girls :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now its turn for a MEME

Sripriya of Srikar's Kitchen, Sukanya and Divya has passed me with The Booky Meme.The rules of the tag are as follows:

• Pick up the nearest book
• Open to page 123
• Find the 5th sentence
• Post the next three sentences
• Tag 5 people and acknowledge the person who tagged you

Books my best pal, how can I miss this MEME. I am currently reading Jeffrey Archer's 'Kane & Abel'
These sentences happens to be:
1. ''I don't understand why you haven't opened that real estate business you ued to be so keen on, Henry.''
2. ''I can't. The time isn't quite right. The real estate market is not looking that promising at the moment.''
3. ''You've been saying that now for nearly a year; I wonder if it will ever be promising enough for you.''

I would like to pass this MEME

Priti

Sripriya

Priyanka

Madhavi

Illatharasi

Enjoy reading!!!

Don't Forget to participate in Festive Food Event ~ Rakhi - The thread of love

Read more...

Creamy Mushrooms

Creamy Mushrooms can be served as a main dish or as an accompaniment with any kind of starters or simply with garlic bread. The flavours of creamy and herbs oozes out and gives rich taste to your accompaniments. You can make it in a jiffy.We had creamy mushrooms with Peri Peri Chicken Fry.

Ingredients:
250g. Finely chopped Mushrooms
1 small finely chopped Onions
4 Tablespoon of fresh single cream
1 Tablespoon of Grated Cheddar cheese
1 Teaspoon of Mixed Herbs
1 Teaspoon of Pepper powder
1 Tablespoon of finely chopped parsely
1 Tablespoon of Butter
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Heat the pan and add butter. Add onions and saute them for 1 minute.
2. Add mushrooms and saute them for few minutes.
3. Add all the other ingredients and mix well. Let the sauce simmer for few minutes.
4. Your creamy mushrooms are ready to be served.

Read more...

Potato and mushroom Cheessy Tortilla (Spanish Omlette)

The tortilla de patatas or Spanish omlette is an egg omlette with fried potatoes. Depending on the region and tastes it also includes onion and garlic. It is one of the most common tapas (Small Portion nibbles) throughout Spain. A tapas portion of tortilla is called 'pincho de tortilla'. It is favourite at picnics, as it can be served cold. It can be served as a main course. Use flat non stick frying pan to make tortillas. We had made potato and mushroom chessy tortilla.

Ingredients:
1 Finely sliced onion
4 Finely sliced baby potatoes
1 Cup of Chopped mushrooms
1 Finely chopped red pepper
6 Large Eggs
1/2 Cup of grated cheddar cheese
1 Teaspoon of dried mixed herbs
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon of oil / Butter

Method:
1. Beat the eggs, by adding cheddar cheese, salt, dried mixed herbs and keep aside.
1. Add oil/butter in a frying pan and onions and red pepper, saute them for 3 minutes.
2. Add potatoes and fry them for 5 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms and saute for 1 minute. Pour the egg mixture over potato and mushroom mixture.
4. As the eggs starts to set, put the pan in a preheated oven / grill on 180 degree celcius.

5. Once the eggs are completely set and are cooked from beneath as well, cut in to small portions and serve with salads, or any kind of sauce.

Read more...

Macaroni Mexicana

This dish can be prepared in a jiffy and is a yummy treat for your taste buds.

Ingredients:
2 Cups of Macaroni
2 Cups of Mexican Bean Sauce
2 Cups of Salsa Sauce
1 Cup of grated Cheddar Cheese
Butter for greasing

Method:
1. Boil the Macaroni's in water. Add few drops of oil while boiling macaroni's, so that they do not stick to each other. Once the Macaroni's are cooked drain the water.
2. Mix the Macaroni in the Salsa sauce and let it simmer for 2 Minutes.
3. Grease the baking tray with butter.
4. Spread the Mexican Bean Sauce on the tray and then top it with Macaroni Salsa Sauce.
5. Make layers of these two sauces and top it with grated cheese.
6. Place the tray in preheated Oven for 20 Minutes on 200 degree Celsius.
Serve it with Garlic Bread.

Read more...

Mexican Bhel

A mexican inspiration with an Indian twist, this dish is a concotion of tortilla chips and green salads all mixed together just like the Bombay bhel, and hence the name. Simple ingredients, easy to cook, light on the tummy, this dish is a perfect party starter that will run off the serving bowl as soon as it is on the table. Needless to say, it is a huge hit in my Hubby's office as well.

Ingredients:
3 Cups of Crushed Tortila Chips
2 Cups of Mexican Bean Sauce
2 Cups of Salsa Sauce
2 Cups of Chopped Spring Onions
2 Cups of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Cup of Chopped Cabbage
2 Cups of Chopped Capsicum
1 Cup of Boiled Sweet corn
2 Cups of Grated Cheddar Cheese

Method:
1. Place crushed Tortila chips in a large bowl.
2. Add all the chopped vegetables.
3. Spread Salsa Sauce and Mexican Bean Sauce.
4. Before serving garnish it with grated cheese.
5. Mix it properly before it enters your tummy [:p]

Read more...

Guacamole

Guacamole is an Avocado based dip. Its easy to make and is served as an accompaniment with Mexican and Spanish dishes.

Ingredients:
2 Ripe Avocados
1/2 Chopped Onion
1 Chopped Tomato
1 Chopped Green Chilly
Salt to taste
Juice of 1/2 Lime

Method:
1. Peel ripe Avocados and mash them with a fork
2. Mix all the other ingredients and refrigerate it.

Note: Lime juice will help to keep Guacamole fresh and will not change the colour of it.

Read more...

Nachos

I really like Nachos. I have tasted many versions of Nachos in India and abroad. However, I like the one served at New Yorkers in Mumbai. Nachos which I have prepared is a close version of the one served at New Yorkers.

Ingredients:
Tortila Chips
1 Tablespoon of Jalapenos
1 Cup of Mexican Bean Sauce
2 Tablespoon of Maida (Self Raising Flour)
3 Tablespoon of Grated Cheddar Cheese
1 Tablespoon of Butter
1 Cup of Milk
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Take a sauce pan, put butter and add maida and saute it.
2. Add grated Cheddar cheese, milk and salt and mix well and keep it aside.
3. Take a baking tray and grease it with butter
4. Arrange Totrtila chips, spread Mexican bean sauce on it and top it with cheese sauce which we have kept aside.
5. Sprinkle few grated cheese and then put the baking tray in a preheated oven and let it bake for 15 mintues on 180 degree celcius.
6. Serve it with Salsa sauce and Guacamole

Read more...