May 2013 - Cook By Book

Month: May 2013

17
May
2013

Simple Summer Mac Salad with Tomato & Zucchini

I love pasta in any and every form. Be it a hot or cold preparation. It’s my favorite at dinner time as it is pretty quick to put together and simple.

Especially this salad… It is perfect for summer nights when you are craving something light and refreshing! I particularly loath anything heavy for dinner… So this one ticks all the boxes for me! 🙂

I love this one so much that it’s been prepared 3 times already in my house! It was much appreciated by our guests too! Its an apt side-dish at any elaborate lunch or dinner parties and a must accompaniment for picnics! I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Simple Summer Mac Salad with Tomato & Zucchini

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

150 grams uncooked elbows
200 grams grape/cherry tomatoes
1 small zucchini, sliced and quartered
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 Tbsp eggless mayonnaise (American Garden’s)
2 Tbsp apple cider/red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp yogurt
2 tsp mustard (optional)
¼ tsp oregano
¼ tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

Cook pasta in generously salted water according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a medium bowl, combine onions, mayonnaise, vinegar, yogurt, mustard, oregano, garlic powder, basil leaves; mix well.
Add tomatoes (and any juice from the tomato), zucchini, pasta, salt and pepper to taste, toss well and place in a large bowl.
Serve immediately or keep in fridge till the serving time.

Enjoy chilled with a glass of your favorite mocktail or cocktail! 🙂

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14
May
2013

Cadbury SHOTS topped Beetroot & Chocolate Cupcakes

categories: Cupcakes & Muffins

I love Cadbury SHOTS!

Their punchline is ‘A Glass and a Half Full of Joy‘ and that is exactly what I feel and more when I pop it in!

Eating them always gets me nostalgic about my college days. It was launched about the same time as I was finishing my internship and was my favorite thing to snack on around that time of my life. That was the most memorable time when we were free from all the tensions of patients, studies and exams, never thinking of what the future holds for us and just a happy, fashionable, giggling bunch of jobless interns who were always gossiping in cafeteria (Of course we used to work when we were not on breaks!!!). Those were the days!!! 🙂

Cadbury SHOTS is available in a small pack of two which is perrrfect to share with your bestie or your sweetheart! Costs only INR 2/- each! They consist of milk chocolate balls coated in a hard sugar outer layer. But I think they are only available in my part of the world and not elsewhere. How unfortunate! 🙁

So to reminisce about that awesome time of my life I decided to top my next cupcakes with these sweeties. I wanted the cupcakes to be chocolate. How boring! So I decided to give it a twist… of Beetroots! I mean I have baked chocolate cupcakes with zucchini before so decided to pretty much replace zucchini with beetroots and it worked like a charm. I tweaked my previous recipe a bit and added melted chocolate in this one instead of chocolate chips as I was topping these with SHOTS!

The cupcakes are rich in chocolate and beetroot’s flavor is quite earthy yet not overpowering. The insides are gooey and moist! And most important of all, it’s heeaallthyy! Come on, it has whole wheat flour, dark cocoa, dark chocolate and beetroot! 😉

So hop onto the reminiscence train! There are no stations in between.. Share with us that one important nostalgic moment from your college days. We would love to know!

Cadbury SHOTS topped Beetroot and chocolate Cupcakes

Servings: Makes 6 cupcakes

Ingredients:

2 small raw beetroot bulbs, peeled and grated (about 175 gm)
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
2 Tbsp Hershey’s dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp nutmeg powder
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 egg, at room temperature
2 Tbsp butter, melted
75 gm 70-80% dark chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla extract
9 Cadbury SHOTS packs, for topping

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375F/180C. Line 6-count muffin tin with paper liners and set aside.
Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the grated beetroot, egg and melted butter.
Add the melted chocolate and vanilla extract. Stir until just combined.
Spoon the batter among the prepared pans. Top each cupcake with 3 Cadbury SHOTS and bake for 21-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.

*Cadbury SHOTS has not sponsored me in anyway. All the praise written above is my personal expression of love for them!

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13
May
2013

Oreo Nutella CoffeeShake

categories: Drinks

What’s worse than Friday the 13th?! A: Monday the 13th! Okay… It’s a BAD joke! But can you blame me for being hostile towards Monday? I think not… 😉 Today was kinda horrible for me so hopefully my Monday Mourning will be totally acceptable.

I am a very accommodating and flexible person – with flaws. And anyone who knows me even a bit is aware of my bad temper (not that I am proud of it and I m constantly working towards it). In any case, nothing calls for an undue advantage of my good nature. I hate being pushed just like anyone with small amount of dignity would. I am a kind of a person who goes out of the way to help others but not those who have no respect for boundaries and are selfish.

Okay… I’m done whining and I have put the bad day behind me. Let’s not get in to the nitty-gritty of what-how. At the end of a really crappy day I needed a beautiful distraction for myself. I was definitely craving some chocolate and some caffeine was more than welcome! So I decided to blend myself a yummilicious milkshake. Or should I say CoffeeShake! Oh… And it has Oreos… Ummm… and Nutella… Can’t wait to try it right?! 😀

Oreo Nutella CoffeeShake

Serving: Cools down 1 very angry person

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
5 Oreo Sandwich cookies
1 heaping Tbsp Nutella
1 tsp coffee
3-4 ice-cubes
1 Oreo Sandwich cookie, coarsely chopped for topping

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend it thoroughly for a minute. Pour it in a glass and sprinkle with the Oreo topping. Serve immediately.

Quench your thirst with this awesomeness in less than 2 minutes! 🙂

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09
May
2013

Watermelon & Cranberry Virgin Mojito

categories: Drinks

Nope.. You’re wrong! I am not going to write about mother’s day today…!

In fact, I am all about self-indulgence today. After all the prep you did to pamper your mumma.. After all the attempts at proving to be the best son/daughter a mother can have, you definitely need to chillax! Which you can do with your mum, of course. Jus saying!!! 😉

What better way to spend that much talked-about quality time with your whole family than sipping a drink on a lazy Sunday afternoon! A drink which is refreshing, soothing, dang simple and packs a punch! It just doesn’t get better than that. Trust me!

So no more drama.. Let’s get down to the business!

I bring to you my tried & tested & much appreciated winner recipe of Watermelon & Cranberry Virgin Mojito!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh watermelon juice, juiced with 10-12 mint leaves
1 cup cranberry juice
1 lemon, juiced
2 cups lemon based aerated drink

Directions:

Mix watermelon-mint, cranberry and lemon juice together and pour into 4 glasses dividing equally.

Top the glasses with the aerated drink, garnish with a slice of lemon and cheers!

Note:

*You can easily turn this drink into an amazing Cocktail by simply adding 30 ml Rum to each glass. At the base of each glass, muddled mint leaves and 2-3 ice-cubes are a MUST!

*To make this for a larger crowd, follow my thumb rule: 1 part watermelon juice, 1 part cranberry juice, 2 parts aerated drink! Make this for your next party and become the fabulous host of all time!

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08
May
2013

Guilt free Cranberry Apple Pancakes

categories: Breakfast, Desserts, Fall, Pancakes, Quick Fix

Yes, we’re still talking Mother’s day!

Yesterday we kicked off with a memorable dessert for Mother’s day, it’s time to talk about breakfast in bed for our dear mothers over a Cuppa. Imagine her happiness! Imagine that precious smile! It’s so going to make it worth getting up before she does and surprising her with this sweet gesture! 😀

Yup… it’s going to be a sweet yet simple treat! I’m talking about Cranberry Apple Pancakes!

And of course they will be super healthy and super nutritious, filled with the goodness of whole wheat, flaxseed and oats! I would settle for nothing less than the best for our dearest mommies!

The pancakes are not overly sweet and tart enough due to dried cranberries and Granny Smith Apple. It’s a perfect match.. I have kept them eggless by adding homemade unsweetened apple sauce.

Serving: 6 medium-sized pancakes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp flaxseed powder
2 Tbsp quick-cooking oats
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 Tbsp butter, melted plus more for the griddle
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
1 medium granny smith apple, peeled,cored and grated
1/3 cup dried cranberries (can be replaced with fresh)

Directions:

Mix whole wheat flour, flaxseed powder, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Whisk thoroughly.
Add melted butter, applesauce, milk to the dry ingredients and whisk thoroughly to form a batter. Add little milk if the batter seems too thick to pour.
Fold in grated apple and dried cranberries to the batter.
Pour a ladle-full of batter on a hot, greased griddle and cook until bubbly, little dry around the edges, and lightly browned on the bottom, approximately 3-4 minutes. Turn and brown the other side for about a minute. You can make 1-3 pancakes at the same time depending on size of your griddle.
Serve hot with maple syrup or a dollop of butter.

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