Soup, salad and some indulgence

Weekday lunches, are something the other half and I look forward to. On weekdays, lunch is the most relaxed and 'No-don't'-free meal. By the time the OH comes home for lunch, the littlest one is fed and watered, and not very likely to be noisy. If we're very lucky, she might even be asleep, and we might even have a 'real' conversation.

Lunch is one meal where I can try something different, and not worry about whether it would suit little palates. Lunch is when I can really experiment. And try to make something elaborate or fancy. Or in other words, food that makes the other-half take skeptical or even outright suspicious looks or sniffs.

And since I'm focusing on eating healthy, I thought of making a soup and salad lunch.

I'd bookmarked this recipe from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen. As usual, I didn't have half the ingredients in hand, didn't have the enthusiasm to trudge through gale and snow to a store, and decided to make do with what I had. I garnished this soup with fresh roasted and crushed coriander seeds. That acted as a thickener, and gave the soup a lovely spicy boost.

Lentil and Vegetable soup
serves 2

1/4 cup lentils (whole masur dal)
1 carrot (peeled and sliced thick)
1 medium potato (peeled and cubed)
1/4 cup cauliflower florets
1 large onion (sliced fine)
1/4 tsp black pepper powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 large tomato (chopped fine)
1 tbsp coriander seeds
salt to taste


Wash lentils, and soak for 30 minutes.
In a pressure cooker, cook lentils. carrots, onions, potato, cauliflower, salt, turmeric and pepper with 4 cups water, for about 7 minutes.
Roast coriander seeds till fragrant, and crush to a coarse powder.
Add chopped tomato to the lentil mix, and simmer for for 10 minutes or till the tomato is cooked through.
Season with coriander powder and adjust salt if needed.
Serve hot.

After the soup was done, I wanted to try something new. I thought I'd try my hand at a terrine. The rice was rather dry. Next time I would like to toss some cottage cheese with the rice, and see if that would make it less dry.

Potato and Rice Terrine
serves 2

1 large Potato (Peeled and sliced)
1/2 cup cooked rice
1/2 cup vegetable stock


Heat oven to 180ºC.
Line 2 ramekins with Baking parchment.
Warm vegetable stock (about 40ºC)
Soak potato slices in vegetable stock for 15-20 minutes.
Remove slices from stock. Reserve stock.
Arrange a few slices of potato in the bottom of each ramekin. (reserve 2 large potato slices for later use)
Fill each ramekin with cooked rice.
Cover ramekins with baking parchment, and bake for about 20 minutes.
Drizzle reserved stock over the rice in both ramekins.
Cover with reserved potato slice.
Cover ramekins again with baking parchment, and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Invert over a plate and serve hot.

And now that our lunch was so wonderfully healthy, I just had to add some indulgence.

No-fuss Mango Dessert
serves 2

1 cup + 2 tbsp mango pulp
1/2 cup low fat Mascarpone cheese
Sugar to taste (optional)


Whisk Mascarpone, 1 cup mango pulp and sugar (if using) till smooth and the mixture starts to thicken.
Divide equally into dessert bowls.
Top with reserved mango pulp.
Chill for an hour.
Serve cold.

Salad for a kid

We recently went out to lunch with some friends and their kids. And there I witnessed a minor miracle. My daughter ate all her salad!!!! Every single bit of it on her plate, without being told to. It might have helped that her two little friends were eating without a fuss. But the bottom line was that she ate her vegetables, raw vegetables at that, without a peep.

The next day she asked me to make the same salad for her daily 'obento'. While she watched me pack her lunch, she asked, "Amma, whats this orange vegetable?" And our regular game was on. "Carrot!" I said. "What is this red vegetable?" "That's a tomato."

And then "Amma, tell me the name of this green vegetable."
"That's lettuce, baby."
And she started to bawl. The other half came to see what the matter was.

"Appa, I asked Amma to make the salad we ate yesterday. She has put lettuce in it!...waaaah"
The OH gave me a perplexed look. He took an inventory of what was in that salad, and since it matched exactly with what we'd eaten the previous day, he had no idea what the little one was upset about. And he tried to solve it, the right way.
"What did you eat in your salad yesterday?"
"I ate cabbage, I don't like lettuce. It's not cute"
The OH looked at me, and with a very straight face, asked, "Don't you know the name of this green thing? It's cabbage. Amma is rather silly, isn't she?"

And the little one giggled, gave me sweet smile and said, "Thank you Amma for the cabbage."

A lettuce by any other name..... as long as it gets eaten, it's perfectly fine.

And that particular salad, dressing and all, is almost a daily affair.

The dressing is quite simple, and I make it fresh every time.

Salad and dressing
serves one

2 cups Lettuce (washed, dried and shredded)
1 medium tomato (cut in wedges)
1 cup carrot (peeled and cut into juliennes)

1 tsp Extra-virgin Olive oil
1/2 tsp Garlic powder (or crushed garlic)
1/2 tsp Lemon juice
1/4 tsp Basil (fresh of dry)
salt to taste

Whisk olive oil, lemon juice and garlic till well blended.
Season with salt and basil.
Drizzle dressing on prepared vegetables, and toss well before serving.

Sometimes, in the interests of the 'cute' factor, and I toss the carrots and tomatoes in the dressing, and wrap them in bunches in whole lettuce leaves.

And just for a change, I tried feeding my daughter coleslaw, with REAL cabbage.
And she said, "Amma, this cabbage is not nice."

I wonder what I have to look forward to once the littlest one starts to speak, and starts to develop her own opinions on food.

I can envision lots of gray hair.

Roast Pepper and Pasta Salad

I'm a big fan of roast pepper. I love that burst of hot and sweet flavours that result from a well grilled/roasted/BBQ'd pepper. It's unbeatable. I love roast pepper in sandwiches, in soups, and by itself.

I always wanted to try roast pepper in a salad, but somehow never got it right. After a few failed experiments, this one turned out really well; hot, sweet, colourful peppers, cool pasta, and creamy dressing? And it was all polished off at dinnertime. What better complement than a meal sans leftovers??

Roast Pepper and Pasta Salad

1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 green pepper
1 cup penne or macaroni
1 tsp basil
2 tbsp sour cream
2 tbsp mayonnaise
Fresh ground pepper and salt to taste


Cook pasta al dente, or softer. Drain and cool.
Char the peppers over a gas flame (or in a broiler) until blackened on all sides.
Put in a paper bag and keep aside for 10 minutes. Peel the charred skin off the capsicums and deseed.
Cut into thin strips.
Toss pasta with half of pepper, sour cream, mayonnaise, basil and a little salt.
Garnish with remaining pepper strips and fresh ground black pepper.
Serve cold.

Potatoes Galore

It was one of those days! I got up with a minor headache, a cranky infant and a little one who wanted something 'cute' for lunch. Oh, and did I forget to mention that the chief gourmet had just had a tooth extraction, and was as cheerful as a bear with a sore paw. So there I was, I had to make a 'cute' lunch for baby bear, liquid lunch for papa bear, and something light and filling for mama bear.

And trying to get my daughter ready for kindergarten, my little one soothed and cold packs for my husband, the kitchen was in chaos. By the time the baby was rocked to sleep, and the other one well on her way getting ready for school, I went into the kitchen to get cracking on the lunchbox. I looked at my cooker. What on earth were so many potatoes doing there?? Just what am I supposed to do with 6 LARGE boiled potatoes? In all that chaos, I'd dumped the entire potato bag into the cooker, and I had plenty of boiled potatoes.

Well, there was nothing to be done, but finish it all. First the lunch box. A fruit assortment, rice rolls, and crispy potato rolls. Potato soup was the obvious choice for the liquid lunch (not that there was a choice) and a potato salad for me. Easy... and done!

Crispy Potato Rolls
makes 10 small rolls

1 potato (boiled and peeled)
1/4 cup cooked rice (cooled)
salt to taste
oil for frying


Mash potatoes with rice and salt.
Shape into rolls or patties.
Deep fry in hot oil.
Drain rolls on paper towels to absorb excess oil.

That's that. No jokes, that's all it takes. Try adding a pinch of turmeric and some cumin powder. This is one of a repertoire of never fail recipes. And the potato fingers stay crisp till lunch time.

Potato and Pineapple Salad
serves 2

2 potatoes (boiled, peeled, diced)
1 small onion (diced)
1 cup pineapple (diced)
4 tbsp sour cream
1/4 tsp dried peppermint
salt to taste

Stir peppermint and salt into the sour cream.
In a large bowl, mix potatoes, onion and pineapple.
Add dressing, and toss lightly till evenly coated.
Cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Serve cold.

Potato, Leek and Garlic Soup
makes 2 helpings

3 potatoes (boiled, peeled, grated fine)
1 cup leek (finely sliced)
1 head garlic
2 tbsp butter
2 cups low fat milk
2 tbsp almond paste
1 tbsp vegetable stock (dissolved in 1/4 cup water)
salt to taste
pepper for garnish

Wrap garlic in aluminium foil and bake for 30 minutes at 160°C.
Cool slightly, and squeeze garlic of of skin. Mince lightly and keep aside.
Heat butter. Lightly fry leeks till they start to brown.
Add garlic and fry for 2 minutes.
Puree one potato in a blender.
(If you want a smooth soup, puree the leeks and garlic along with it)
Add the grated and blended potatoes, the vegetable stock and mix well, mashing lightly against the sides of the pan with the back of a spoon.
Add milk a little at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Add almond paste, and stir well, ensuring there are no lumps.
Season with salt.
Garnish with white pepper and serve hot.