Mexican Bean Stew with Vegetarian Sausage

Remember I got that one package of vegetarian sausage, I was using it wisely, because it last long when you are not using all in one recipe so I was making it different dishes with that. One of my most comfort dish is hot soup, now  soup for me it's hearty not watery. I like to eat my soup not drink. So when I say soup, I add all the vegetables and then cook with minimum of water in it and enjoy it with dipping my bread in it. and what else you need it in this cold weather, yes when I made it , it was cold not like today. So I made it and enjoy it with my rosemary bread and guacamole.

Ingredients : 

1 Onion chopped

1 Green Capsicum Chopped

1 Carrot chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1 Jalapenos Finely chopped

2 tsp. olive oil

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon ground cumin powder

salt to taste

1 teaspoon paprika powder

1/4 cup tomato puree

1 can black beans rinsed
1 vegetarian sausage

Method : 

Sauté onions, bell pepper,carrot, garlic, and jalapeño in oil in a 4-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. 

Add chili powder, cumin, and salt , paprika and cook, stirring, 1 minute. 

Add tomatoes with juice and  simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. 

Stir in beans and sausage and simmer, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.
Serve nice warm bowl of this hearty soup with crusty bread and top it with guacamole.

Hearth and Soul blog hop May last week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Polenta with Mexican Toppings and Salad

Every time I go to grocery store, when I see the tube of polenta , grab it, see the ingredients and look at the cost and put it back. I mean its ridiculously pricey that tube. So after many trial and error, I finally made my polenta and in a fraction of price. So now I don't even bother to look at that , ya when I am in a hurry and I have to put diner in no time, I might go for ready made, but not today. So it was my dinner and was thinking instead of putting my Mexican stuffing in tortilla why not to serve along with polenta and enjoy it. because after a while, tortilla become boring so made it and enjoy it. I had it with guacamole on side and little bit of light salad too. Before you make polenta, make your stuffing because you want hot polenta not cold.

Ingredients for Polenta

3 cups of water
Salt to taste
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 1/2 tbsp. butter

Method:

Boil water in a heavy sauce pan. Add salt and gradually whisk in cornmeal. Reduce the heat to lower and cook until mixture is thicken and cornmeal is tender. Continue stirring about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and add butter in it and stir till its melted.

Mexican Toppings 

1 can black beans  (washed and rinsed)
1 onion chopped
1 capsicum chopped
1 carrot chopped
1 cup of corn (frozen or fresh)
1 jalapenos chopped
6 cloves of garlic chopped
2 tsp of taco seasoning
Few florets of Broccoli
salt to taste
1 tsp oil

Method

Heat a pan, add oil in it and add garlic and jalapenos and cook till it give nice aroma.
Add one by one all vegetables and seasoning and salt and cook till its have bite, don't over cook it.

To serve, take one big spoonful of polenta and top it with vegetables , have a side salad and guacamole and enjoy your diner.

Hearth and Soul blog hop May last week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Thai Scramble Eggs

Doesn’t it get boring with same old plain scramble eggs?  salt, pepper and eggs, nothing new in it.  So I jazz it up with some common ingredients which we all have it in pantry and really enjoy my breakfast. I had it with my hot cup of tea and English muffin and breakfast was done.  I like to add salt and pepper and red chili powder when I mixing my eggs because red chili powder has tendency in eggs that it doesn’t get mix nicely. So when you whip up eggs, add this three ingredients in a bowl and then put that in pan.

Ingredients :

1 tbsp. oil

2 tsp. Ginger minced, I am partial to ginger love it in anything so I added more, you can add 1 tsp. if its too strong for you

1 small clove garlic chopped

1 tbsp. chopped scallions

2 large eggs, whisked

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. fresh coriander leaves chopped

Method:

Spread an oil in not to big not to small but medium pan. Whisk eggs with salt and pepper  and  chili powder in it.

When pan is hot, add ginger, garlic and scallion and cook for a minute or two.

Then add eggs and stir from sides to inside and make it scramble so it doesn’t stick and you end up eating omelet instead of scramble.  When it’s about to done, add coriander leaves and fold everything together.

Serve it immediately with your tea or coffee or juice with toast or any kind of bread.

You can add more vegetables and make it a lunch too.

Who says scramble should limit to breakfast only.

Hearth and Soul blog hop May last week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Cinnamon Rolls Smoothie - Vegan

If you follow my Facebook page, you can see that once a month I  have to make cinnamon rolls in the morning for breakfast. But sometimes I don't have time to make and bake and eat, I have to run and finished my chores before certain time so that time different smoothies comes to rescue. This is one of them, I just love it because it has all the flavors what cinnamon rolls have but its drinkable. So enjoy this delicious smoothie in the morning to go and never miss your breakfast.

Ingredients : For 2


1 cup Almond milk (or take your favorite milk)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
1 tbsp. maple syrup / agave ( I used agave)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon powder or more as per your taste, little more to sprinkle on top
1 frozen banana to give more smoothie like texture
1-2 drops of vanilla essence


Method :


Put everything in blender, and mix it till its nice and thick.
Take it out in jar to go , sprinkle more cinnamon on top  and enjoy while you are finishing your work, or enjoy in a glass with your legs stretch on sofa.
Inspire from here

Hearth and Soul blog hop : May 2nd week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen

Roasted Vegetables Soft Tacos with Cilantro - Jalapenos Sauce - Happy Cinco De Mayo

Taco is very now everywhere, but traditional tacos in Mexico is soft not the hard shell tacos like you see everywhere in US.

When we went to Mexico last month I came to know about this, they have no such thing as a hard shell taco. So here my share to the cinco de mayo , or the fifth of May—commemorates the Mexican army's 1862 victory over France at the Battle of Puebla during the Franco-Mexican War (1861-1867) Recipe.

I just love soft tacos and very soon one desert recipe also will share it with you all so stay tune. In this particular taco, I roasted vegetables , make cilantro - jalapenos sauce and enjoy it with spicy kick from this sauce. You can choose your favorite vegetables in it and use it, But I try to do more authentic way and didn't added cauliflower or something non Mexican ingredients.  All vegetables are match sticks size so it cooked well.

Check out my cinco de mayo recipes  Cinco De Mayo Celebration


Ingredients :

1 onion matchstick slices
1  carrot 
1 green and red capsicum
1/4 cup black beans cooked
1/4 cup frozen corn, cooked and grilled
2 handfuls of spinach
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
1 Jalapenos slices
1/4 cup red cabbage
Salt as per taste
1 tbsp. paprika powder
1 tbsp. taco seasoning
Lime Juice as per taste
1 tbsp. oil
6 small soft tortillas

Cilantro - Jalapenos Sauce
Coriander (cilantro) Jalapeno Dip

Method:

Grilled all vegetables except red cabbage in cast iron or non stick pan and cut them in matchstick size.
Heat a non stick pan or  use the same cast iron and add oil, add garlic and jalapenos and cook for a minute.
Add all vegetables and all spices and mix it nicely, just warm the vegetables and don't over cook it because its already grilled , you don't want mushy vegetables but need a little bite in it.

To serve - warm the tortillas and put the stuffing in it, put some red cabbage and drizzle cilantro jalapenos sauce on top and some pickled or raw jalapenos on top and enjoy with a glass of margarita or juice or water or nothing. Just enjoy.

You can add cheese also but I don't like cheese so I didn't add it.

Hearth and Soul blog hop : May 2nd week - Zesty South Indian Kitchen