Greek Yogurt Labneh with Candied Ginger and Honey

I love different kind of cheese, either its Mozzarella or ricotta or mascarpone or cheddar or feta..My least favorite is paneer, somehow I am just done with paneer and since we have so many different kind of cheese why just stick to Indian cottage cheese and not tried rest? So I made ricotta , mascarpone at home now its time to make Labneh at home. Labneh is a strained yogurt cheese from Lebanon, it can be savory, sweet too. I made simple labneh and I flavor with orange blossom honey and candied ginger. Only trick is you need whole fat greek yogurt  , don't even think about fat free or 2% yogurt. It's not going to give you same texture, After straining it will be like blank canvas, you can add your flavor. to make savory add, any herbs ,garlic and olive oil and have it with pita chips. It's so light and fluffy  just like cloud. I made it sweet with orange blossom honey and my candied ginger.

Until now I never saw any Indian blogger make this cheese, but now I am pretty sure everyone will jump with their own creation to make this, am I right or not? people just don't do their own research love to do copy -paste. Anyway I did this first so I am happy. Enjoy this delicious spread as cheese or as dessert.

Ingredients :

2 cups Whole fat greek yogurt
2-3 tbsp. orange blossom honey or regular honey and add orange zest.
2 big Candied Ginger, chopped very thin

Method :

Line a large sieve with cheesecloth,

Set over a medium deep bowl. Place yogurt in sieve.
Gather edges of cheesecloth to cover yogurt.
Place in refrigerator and let drain for 24 hours.
Transfer the cheese to a serving dish, cover and keep in fridge till ready to serve.

If you like, add herbs and make a balls and preserve in olive oil.
To make it sweet, add honey and candied ginger in cheese and chill it and enjoy it after dinner as dessert or as it it.

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop: February 2016 - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

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Vegetable Latkes Without Egg

I made this during Hanukkah on demand from my husband saying everyone is posting their latkes and I feel like eating too but without egg. So I said ok let me make it, he always insist on vegetables so instead of making it with just potatoes I made it with vegetables.  If you prefer you can add egg but if not then just use white flour or even chickpea flour works fine.

Ingredients :

2 carrots grated
1 zucchini grated
1 Turnip grated
1 potato grated
1/2 chopped scallions
As needed white flour
Salt  and Pepper as per taste
Oil to cook it
Sour cream to dip it

Method:

Take all your vegetables in bowl. Take paper towels and take out extra water from it.
Put it another bowl, add scallions, salt , pepper, flour.
Heat a flat pan, and make tikki but thin  circular patties and put it on hot pan, If needed add oil , not too much just to cook  latkes.
Cook on both sides, till its nice and crunchy .
Finish with all and enjoy hot latkes with sour cream.

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop: 4th week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Avocado Toast with Egg

Weekdays I am busy to rush out of the door so don't even think about breakfast. When Weekends are good, specially sundays, because saturdays are also like weekday for us , kids and hubby have to go to Vidyapith so same schedule as rest of the five days but sometimes I get time on saturdays too and enjoy my quiet time, so one of those kind of day, I think to make something different for my breakfast, have leftover mashed avocado from last night ,(that's why it's not that green in the picture), was not in a mood to eat it with chips and I wanted to make egg for me so thought why not to make toast with both the things, so toast the bread, make egg, make tea on other side and voila breakfast is ready with side of chorafali, other gujju special snack.

There is no recipe for this, you can use fried egg, boiled egg or even make scramble egg and put it on avocado.

Ingredients 

1 avocado - mashed , add salt and lime juice and keep it aside.
1 Fried egg
2 slices of toasted bread ( mine was brown)
2 tbsp of grated cheese

Method : 

Toast your bread.

Apply generous amount of mashed avocado, sprinkle some cheese, put your fried egg and enjoy with hot ginger tea or coffee.

You can put roasted corn, black beans, sliced onions.

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop: 4th week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Zucchini and Carrot Spaghetti

So I got this Vegetti , Which is spiral slicers and it makes vegetables in spiral shape so instead of using regular pasta from flour I made pasta from zucchini and carrot and throw some italian spices in it and voila , easy , healthy pasta is done, that also without worrying about carbs. So if you are looking for some healthy options you can get this machine and get started, you can make it with any cuisine, no need of pasta style but its fun to eat and especially kids love this and you can sneak vegetables in this and your purpose get solved too.

Ingredients 

1 long zucchini
1 big carrot
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 green capscium sliced
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste
Balsamic vinegar to taste
Pinch of Oregano
Parmesan cheese to taste
I didn't go crazy to add more vegetables but if you want you can do it.

Method:

Make spiral pasta from zucchini and carrot.
Keep it aside.
Heat a pan, add olive oil in it. add garlic and cook for few seconds, add vegetables and salt and pepper and vinegar and mix it nicely. Cook for 2-3 minutes and shut the gas off,
Plate it and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top and enjoy it.

This is the machine, which I got it from Bed Bath & Beyond.


Merry Tummy
Hearth and Soul Blog Hop:January - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Vegan Korean Bibimbap

I just love Korean food, either it's spicy , salty kimchi or rolls, love it because it is spicy. So whenever I get a chance to make or eat Korean food, never left it. So one weekend was thinking about what to make for lunch for me cause hubby can't have spicy food, kids won't eat either so it was just for me and when its for me , its spicy all the way. So stand in front of fridge , saw the vegetables inside, and then I saw my saved recipes. It was perfect day to explore Korean dish so I made this and enjoy it. I use it brown rice because that's always  ready in my fridge but you can use white, sticky , jasmine whatever you have it. Once you chopped up your vegetables , everything is fast , just saute all the vegetables separately and keep it aside, put rice in the middle and vegetables outside, but when you are eating, mix everything and enjoy it. 

Ingredients   

1 cup cooked brown rice / white rice
1 cup sliced mushroom
2 tbsp tamari sauce
1 tsp Mirin or rice wine vinegar

3 baby carrots julienned strips

salt as per taste

1/4 tsp sesame oil

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1 cup Baby spinach

salt as per taste

1/2 cup Bean Sprouts

salt as per taste

1/2 cup julienned cucumber strips

Chilli Sauce:

2 tablespoons chili sauce
1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
2 teaspoons Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon Tamari
1½ teaspoons Rice Vinegar

To Serve:
Black and White Sesame Seeds

Method :

Heat a small pan, add oil and add mushroom, add all the sauces and cook till its done, take it out and keep it aside. 

Same way cook carrot, spinach, bean sprouts and keep it aside. 

You don't need to cook cucumber.

For Chilli sauce, mix everything in bowl and keep it aside. 

To assemble , place rice in the middle of the bowl, and arrange all vegetables on the side and sauce too.

Sprinkle black and white sesame seeds on top and enjoy mixing everything together.

Hearth and Soul Blog Hop:January - Zesty South Indian Kitchen


Merry Tummy