Yumtastic!

Dal makhani is one of those amazing dishes that is comforting and rich and filling. And while there are several different ways to make it, it is traditionally slow cooked - simmered over low heat for many many hours. So how did I translate this traditional method into modern times? Enter the slow cooker. As my husband can attest, I love my slow cooker and have used it at least 2-3 times a week. This dal makhani turned out ridiculously delicious. My friend Nadeya loved it, and my husband went back for seconds and thirds and fourths (which he usually doesn’t do because he REALLY watches what he eats). I also made this a ton healthier (read: instead of the traditional STICK of butter plus cup of heavy cream, I used very little butter and non-fat greek yoghurt instead). Remember to start making this the day before. Soaking takes 12+ hours and the slow cooking takes like 8 hours. So start the night before so that you can have this for dinner the following day.

Ingredients: 
1.5 cups whole black urad dal
1 can kidney beans (or you can use 1/2 cup dried kidney beans)
2 whole tomatoes, pureed
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1” piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
7-8 thai green chillies (or 2-3 serrano peppers) - this makes it spicy, use fewer for mild
1/4 red onion, minced
2 tbsp cumin powder
2 tbsp dal makhani masala powder (which is a blend of this: Coriander, Chili, Cumin, Black Pepper, Dry Mango Powder, Cinnamon, Big Cardamom, Bay Leaves, White Salt, Black Salt, Turmeric Powder, Musk Melon, Green Cardamom, Fennel Seeds, Nutmeg, Mace, Asafoetida; You can also just use a bit of garam masala instead if you can’t find dal makhani masala)
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup nonfat greek yoghurt
handful of cilantro, chopped 

Directions:
Soak the urad dal (and dried kidney beans, if using) overnight in warm water. You have to change the water 4-6 times, replacing it with fresh warm water. After about 12+ hours, it will soak up the water and almost double in size. Keep replacing the water and use hot water to speed up the soaking. If you’re using canned kidney beans, you don’t have to worry about soaking it - it is already cooked and ready to go.

In a slow cooker, add the dal (and kidney beans, if you soaked it) and about 3-4 cups of water (enough to cover the dal and go about an inch over the dal). Puree the ginger, garlic and chillies, and keep aside. In a saucepan, add the butter and olive oil. When the butter melts, add the dal makhani powder and cumin powder. Next, add the pureed tomatoes. Let it simmer until the fat separates. Add the ginger-garlic-chilly mixture and saute for another minute or so. Add this directly to the slow cooker. Add the fresh chopped onions. Let it slow cook for 8 hours. You can check in on it every few hours and stir it around. Add more water if necessary. After about 8 hours, you can remove it from the slow cooker, empty the dal into a large saucepan and bring it to simmer. This will thicken the sauce to the consistency you want. Add salt to taste. Add the greek yoghurt and bring to a steady simmer. Add the cilantro leaves. 

Your dal is now ready! Serve with fresh rotis or jeera rice. 

tumblrbot asked: WHAT IS YOUR EARLIEST HUMAN MEMORY?

Being born. I’m not kidding! It was really dark and then it was bright all of a sudden and it smelled strongly like antiseptic cleaners.

This is one of my favorite go-to recipes (and definitely Vik’s favorite pasta). I found it somewhere online with several different ingredients that are harder to find and more expensive. I substituted fettuccine for the pappardelle that they ask for, and I had walnuts instead of the pine-nuts that they want. Also, I used healthier greens, more garlic, and added some spice with a few types of peppers. It’s a warm and comforting meal, and the ingredients are fancy enough for a special dinner!

Ingredients:
1 butternut squash (peeled, seeded, and cubed into 1/2 inch pieces)
8-9 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
3/4 package of Al Dente garlic parsley fettucine (or any whole wheat version would work as well)
balsamic vinegar
crushed red pepper flakes 
1/2 tbsp chili powder (I get a spicy version from the indian store - it’s like powdered kashmiri chillies; you could use cayenne)
sage (fresh sage is best, but ground dried sage would work fine)
3-4 cups of Super Greens (or just plain arugula)
EVOO 
salt and pepper 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In an ovenproof baking dish, combine the butternut squash, chili powder, 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 2 tbsp of EVOO, and salt/pepper to taste. Bake until tender when pierced with a fork (anywhere from 35-50 minutes, depending on your oven and the size of the squash). When the squash is almost done, start boiling some lightly-salted water in a pasta pot. When it comes to a boil, add the fettucine and cook until al dente. Reserve about a cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta in a colander and set aside. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a tbsp of EVOO, the garlic, and the walnuts. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes (or 2-3 pinches, if you like some heat). Saute until the garlic browns a bit, about 2-5 minutes. Add 2-3 tablespoons of minced fresh sage (or about 1-2 tablespoons of dried sage). Now add the butternut squash to the pan and saute to combine. Now add 3-4 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, but be careful to not have your face over the pan or you will get a vinegar steam facial! Stir to combine. Add the greens and stir to combine until the greens wilt. Add some of the reserved pasta water if the pasta looks too dry. You can also add a little bit more balsamic at this point to coat the pasta, if you’d like. Season with salt and fresh ground pepper to taste. You can also serve with some fresh parmesan shavings on top.

So now, the nutritional spiel - the butternut squash has 1 gm of protein and 2 gm of fiber for every half cup! The super greens in this recipe also has a crazy amount of fiber. Additionally, leafy greens are high in so many vitamins and minerals. Walnuts are high in omega fatty acids. The garlic is really good to boost immunity, especially in this season where every other person you know probably has some virus lurking and waiting to get you sick and out of commission for a few days. The thing I like most about this dish - it is so freakin’ tasty!

This past weekend, I was hanging out with one of my friends Nadeya. We had gotten back from grocery shopping together and we were both starving. She put together this incredible salad in less time than it took for me to put away all the groceries!

Ingredients:
Greens (We used Organic Girl Super Greens, but you could use lettuce or spinach or any salad greens)
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and diced
4-5 pepperocinis
6-7 kalamata olives, pitted and sliced in half
2 roasted red peppers, diced 
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 tomato diced
1/4 cup creamy feta (we used a Middle-eastern feta instead of a Greek feta - SO much better!!)
2 veggie burgers (we used Amy’s Texas burger)

Directions:
In a skillet, start cooking the veggie burgers according to directions (3-4 minutes on each side over medium-high heat). Meanwhile, combine the cucumbers, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, pepperocinis, olives and feta in a bowl. When the burgers are done, chop roughly and add to the feta mixture. Toss to combine. Let each person take as much greens as they would like and top with this mixture. You could serve this with warm pita or even pita chips for some extra crunch.

Again, this salad really doesn’t need a dressing. Firstly, the roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and the artichoke hearts are usually marinated in red wine vinegar and spices, so you get that tart vinegary taste. Also, the creaminess of the feta coats the greens and other veggies, so it’s almost like a dressing unto itself. If you REALLY must have dressing, a simple greek dressing or even a splash of balsamic would be sufficient, but really, this salad is so darn good without anything further added! 

I used Amy’s Texas burger because of all the veggie burgers I’ve look at, this one has the highest nutritional value - most protein for the least amount of calories! The kalamata olives are incredibly good for you because olives are high in MUFAs (mono-unsaturated fatty acids) which eat your bad fats and make you skinnier! 

A few weeks ago, my friends Jawaid and Briana were visiting me. It was an incredibly fun and active week, where we went to the gym pretty much daily, went hiking/snowboarding/skiing, and we ate amazingly healthy (and delicious) food all week! One recipe that my friend Briana taught me was this salad. It was fast and flavorful, and probably one of my favorite salads right now.

Ingredients:
Greens (we used Organic Girl Supergreens - a mix of two types of chard, spinach, arugula and tat soi; You could use lettuce or spinach or any other salad greens you prefer)
1 can of corn (or 1-2 cups of fresh sweet corn)
1 can of Trader Joe’s Cuban-style Black Beans (or just plain black beans would work)
1 can of chick peas
1 avocado, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 tomatoes, cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small can of pitted, sliced black olives
1/4 cup sliced red onions (or as much as you prefer)
1 green onion (scallion), sliced
1/4 cup salsa (or more, if you prefer)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Greek yoghurt (or fat free sour cream) to taste
Salt and pepper
Tortilla chips, crumbled (optional) 

Directions:
In a large bowl, add the greens, corn,  avocado, tomatoes, olives, red onions, green onion, and cheddar cheese. In a pan, combine the chick peas and the cuban-style black beans. If you don’t have Cuban-style black beans (which are saucy and have some spices in them), you can just combine a can of black beans (rinsed, of course) and chick peas with a few tablespoons of salsa, a pinch of cumin, a pinch of garlic powder, salt and pepper, and let it simmer for a few minutes until the salsa and the beans become saucy (adding water as needed so that the mixture doesn’t become dry). Warm up the beans and pour over the salad. Toss to combine. Top with crumbled tortilla chips (for texture). Serve immediately with greek yoghurt (as a substitute to sour cream) and salsa. You don’t really need any dressing for this salad - the sauciness of the beans/salsa and the creaminess of the greek yoghurt make this delicious enough!

This will probably take you 10 minutes to put together this meal, between opening the cans, chopping up tomatoes/avocados/onions, and warming up the beans. And it is incredibly filling because the avocado has about 16 grams of fiber, each can of black beans has about 30 grams of fiber and 30 grams of protein (if not more), and each can of chick peas has approx 24 grams of fiber and 30 grams of protein. So if you split this salad with someone (which you probably must because it is GINORMOUS), you will be getting more than 40 grams of fiber and about 35 grams of protein! 

I haven’t posted in a while, but I just invented something that was satisfying, fast and healthy so it brought me back to this blog. I was really hungry today and I wanted to make something with the ingredients I had in my fridge and pantry.

Ingredients:
1 cup penne pasta (uncooked)
1/2 cup milk (I used Silk Coconutmilk instead of regular milk)
1/4 onion, finely chopped
1-2 cups Organic Girl Super Greens (or baby spinach would work just fine)
1/4 cup pesto and sundried tomato torta (or you could alternately use 1/4 cup of cream cheese, 2 tbsp of sundried tomatoes and 2 tbsp of basil pesto)
1/2 can of great northern beans or cannellini beans 

First cook the penne in salted water. When it is al dente (about 4-6 minutes, depending on your pasta), drain and set aside. Over medium heat, use some cooking spray (or olive oil, depending on how much fat you want in this meal) and add the onions. Saute for about 2 minutes or until the onions start to get translucent.  Turn down the heat to low and add the torta (or alternately, the sundried tomato, pesto and cream cheese). Now add the milk/coconutmilk. Stir everything together so that the cheese melts into the milk and it all comes together to form a smooth sauce. Add the beans until they are heated through (about a minute). Now add the greens. Combine everything. When the greens start to wilt, add the penne back to the pan and toss everything together. To spice it up, you can add more pepper, a few dashes of Tabasco, and if you’re really brave, a drop or two of Ghost Chili extract (the ghost chili is the hottest pepper in the world!). 

Bon appetit!

Dal, as you know, is the Indian culinary term for lentils. In Indian cuisine, we use numerous kinds of lentils (masoor dal, toor dal, channa dal, urad dal - to name a few). We went to this amazing restaurant that I love in Mountain View, CA a few weeks ago and had this spinach dal there. It was simple and delicious. I recreated that recipe with my own little twists. 

Ingredients:
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 cup of lentils - I used a mixture of 1/2 cup masoor and 1/2 cup toor 
2-3 cups of spinach 
2-3 thai green chillies (or you could use 1-2 serrano chillies)
2 tbsp ginger finely minced 
1 tbsp cumin seeds
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
First, puree the spinach with the chillies and ginger. In a pressure cooker over high heat, add some cooking spray and saute the onions and garlic with the cumin seeds until the onions become translucent, about 2-3 minutes.  Add the lentils and sufficient water (about 3 cups), stir, and cover. Let the pressure cooker work until the lentils are cooked and mushy. (In my pressure cooker, it took about 3-4 whistles.) When the cooker has cooled, open the lid and stir the lentils together. Add the spinach mixture and salt/pepper to taste. Stir together and let it simmer for 3-5 minutes until the spinach and lentils combine and start to bubble. Add the juice of half a lemon. Stir. Serve hot with rotis or basmati rice.

This meal is super healthy because you only use cooking spray (so you eliminate any fat), and you get protein from the lentils. Additionally, you get a good serving of spinach. The ginger warms you up and helps with digestion. Overall, this is a super quick and delicious meal that you can make even on weeknights when you have little time. 

We just moved into a charming little place in Cottonwood Heights, but the past week of moving/driving/stress really did a number on us. Plus, we were eating out at restaurants pretty much every single day since the kitchen was not unpacked. But after I unpacked and did some quick shopping, we finally had a super healthy, delicious meal last night. 

Ingredients:
1 bunch rainbow chard (or swiss chard), chopped finely
2 cups spinach, chopped finely 
1 red onion, chopped finely
5-7 cloves garlic, chopped finely
2 tbsp ginger, chopped finely 
2-3 cups cooked brown rice, cooled (if it is hot, it will get mushy)
salt and pepper to taste 
cooking spray (or 1 tbsp olive oil) 

To grind into a paste:
1/2 cup grated coconut
1 tbsp coriander seeds
1-2 serrano chillies (or you could use 1-3 thai green chillies)
1-2 dried red chillies (or about 1-2 tsp of red pepper flakes)
2 tbsp cashewnuts
a handful of cilantro leaves

Directions:
In a large wok or saucepan, saute the onions, garlic and ginger over medium heat. I used cooking spray to lighten up the meal, but you could also use olive oil. Next, add the greens (chard and spinach). Add 1/2 cup of water, cover and let simmer until the greens wilt. Then, add the paste. Add more water as needed, stir all the ingredients together, and cover. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Fold in the cooked brown rice. Slowly stir to make sure that everything is incorporated well. Continue folding everything together for 2-3 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with some cool greek yoghurt on the side. This green rice is quite spicy (did you see how many chillies go into it?) so having some greek yoghurt to cool the palate works very nicely to contrast with the flavorful but fiery taste of the rice.

My favorite thing about this recipe is that you can actually taste each of the ingredients in the meal. You get the warm peppery taste of the greens and chillies. You can definitely get a hint of ginger and garlic. The bright flavors of coriander and cilantro also pop against the nutty flavor of brown rice. Overall, this is one of my favorite vegetable rices. Plus, you get 3.29 grams of protein and 3.7 grams of fiber for only 35 calories in a cup of chard. In a bunch (as we use here), you get at least 3 cups of chard. And add spinach to that and whole grain brown rice. This is a high-fiber meal that fills you up fast for very few calories. So essentially, you are getting a very tasty diet-friendly meal! Bon appetit!   

Life moves pretty fast. One year ago, I thought I would take the UT bar, look for work in Salt Lake City, and look forward to graduation. Eight months ago, we decided to move to California. Less than two months ago, I took the CA bar exam with the intent of working in California. Now, here I am, back in UT, gearing up to take the UT bar exam in February and looking for jobs in the meantime. Full circle.

So until my California bar results come out and until I have to start studying for the Utah bar exam, I’m doing my best to go out and spend time with all the people I love before I re-enter hermit mode. *sigh* First, the MPRE. Then the CA bar. Now the UT bar. This is not a fun year…