Kimchi Fried Quinoa

Its New Year and we are still in for keeping the resolution so sharing one more healthy recipe with quinoa. Over the Christmas break, made a whole batch of Kimchi, one for me with spicy sauces and one for my husband not at all spicy, with miso in it. We both got two each jar full of it. He is almost done with the first one,  I still have to work on my jars so I am getting new ideas to use my kimchi. What better way to use it with two of my favorite ingredients in one, Quinoa and kimchi. Basically, you just need to cook quinoa and add already made kimchi in it and you are done but for me, that's not enough so on the side I made stir fry vegetables to go with it and make a complete meal out of it.
You can just have it as one dish too, add vegetables in kimchi too and make a new dish.

You can find Basic Napa Cabbage Kimchi and  Sliced Radish Kimchi







Ingredients :

1 cup cooked Quinoa
1 cup of Kimchi, diced in small pieces
1 Tsp oil

Method : 

Cook your quinoa and keep in a colander so water can drain out.

Chop the kimchi in bite-size pieces. 






Heat the pan, add oil in it.

Add Kimchi in it and make sure its coated with oil.

Then add quinoa and mix it and make sure water from kimchi and quinoa is all dried up. Just double check with salt and spiciness, adjust accordingly and take it out on serving the dish and enjoy as it is or with a side of stir fry vegetables.

Asian Quinoa Salad with Ginger Dressing

New Year, New me. We all get in the groove with healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle. But why don't we keep that for the whole year? We can not eat like a pig and sweat like a pig too. We can control our diet from the new year and still keep going till the end of the year without worrying about anything if on a day to day basis we are eating healthy. This salad is perfect for lunch or dinner. I have added whatever vegetables I had it on hand and add Vegetarian Chicken in it so its double the flavor and benefits.

Ingredients :

1 cup cooked and dry quinoa
1 Carrot shredded
1/2 cup chopped Red Cabbage
1/2 cup cooked Vegetarian Chicken
2 Chopped green onions - We can use both green and white part
1 Chopped English Cucumber
1 Small Tomato chopped
1/2 cup Boiled Edamame

Dressing :

1/4 cup Tamari Sauce or Ligh Sodium Soya Sauce
1 Tbsp Sesame oil
1 big spoonful of grated ginger
1 tbsp Rice vinegar
As per taste salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes
If you don't want to add red pepper flakes, you can use any Asian flavor Chili sauce
Add salt after tasting the dressing

Method :

Cook the quinoa as per the package directions and keep it aside.

Mix all the chopped vegetables and quinoa. You can add your choice of vegetables too.

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and keep it aside.

Don't put the dressing if you are not ready to eat and not at all once.

Take little dressing and mix it with the salad when you are ready to eat and if needed more, dressing adds more and enjoy your healthy lunch or dinner without feeling guilty and keep on that New Year resolution to keep fit and I will be there to keep it that way by giving you more healthy recipes.

This tastes good at room temperature.

Vegan - Pressure cook - Gajar Halwa (Carrot Porridge)

This is the perfect season to use winter carrot. I remember in India, we get nice and long and sweet carrots in winter, where in the US it's available year-round but no taste of what so ever. But we can still use it in regular use or something special like this halwa. It's your regular carrot halwa but with a twist. We don't have time to stand in front of gas and cook and stir halwa till milk and water from carrot goes away. So easy way to indulge in this sweet is put everything in a pressure cooker and 2-3 whistle and you are done. The best part is you can make it vegan also, I have used almond milk in this one and still it is as yummy as ever. If you prefer to make it with regular full-fat milk, you can use that too. If you have evaporated milk, by all means, use that and you will have nice creamy halwa in under 10 minutes. The whole point of making this in the cooker is not to shred, just finely chopped in the same size and dump everything in it.






Ingredients :

3 Peeled and finely chopped or shredded carrot
1/2 cup your choice of milk, I used almond milk
5 tbsp sugar or depend upon your likings
2 tsp. Green Cardamom powder
Few Raisins, chopped cashews, almonds, pistachio
1 tbsp vegan Ghee / Vegan butter

Method:

Take your pressure cooker, add ghee in it, add raisins in it, cook for 30 seconds, add carrots and mix it, add milk and cardamom powder.

Cover it and put the whistle on it.

Keep the flame on low to medium and let it cook till 3 whistles.

Let the air go out by itself.

Open the lid and check if you see it has liquid, turn on the gas and make it dry or as per your liking, add cashews, pistachio in it.

When it's done, take it out in a serving bowl and add finely grated almonds and enjoy hot or cold as per your desire.

Spicy Egg Curry - Dhaba Style

I love spicy food by this time you know that. And I also crave the food my mom used to make back home when we were kids. This is her recipe and probably mine first too whenever I want to cook, I always make this and enjoy and feed my family back then. You can say I learned this dish back in the day when I have no interest in cooking, only in eating.  I have come a long way from that. So sharing my childhood favorite dish which you can have it with naan, chapati, or rice. My favorite way is making this chana dal pulav which once again my mom used to make it with mutton/chicken dishes.
Simply soaked both rice and chana dal for an hour and then saute jeera, onion, bay leaf and then add rice and dal, salt and cook till its done.

Ingredients : 

4 Boiled Eggs - Cut in half
2 Boiled potatoes - cut in cubes
2 tbsp Oil
2 Onions finely chopped
2 big tomatoes finely chopped or 4 big spoonful puree
2 tbsp ginger garlic paste
2 finely chopped green chilies
2 Each cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, Dry red chilies
1 tbsp Whole Cumin seeds
Salt as per taste
2 Tbsp Kashmiri red chili powder
2 tbsp Cumin coriander powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tbsp Turmeric powder
a handful of chopped Cilantro

Method : 

Heat the pan on medium heat and add oil in it.

Add all the whole spices along with cumin seeds.

Add onions and saute until golden brown.

Add Ginger garlic paste and cook for a minute or two.

Add green chilies, all the powder masala, salt, and cook for a minute.

Add tomato puree and cook till all extra water is out and tomatoes are cooked.

Add water and add potatoes in it so it can mix in the gravy.

Cover the pan and cook till 3 to 5 minutes till the extra water is burned and thick gravy is left.

Remove the lid, add garam masala and mix it and gently put the eggs in it. You don't have to break the eggs just let it float on gravy.

Sprinkle cilantro on it and let it go for three minutes.

Shut the gas off and serve warm with pulav , roti or your choice of side.