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Tag: healthy

20
Nov
2013

Healthy Chocolate Beetroot Bundt Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Fall

I baked 3 batches of cookies this Monday to be sent for the cookie swap I am participating in. I wanted to do this precisely on a weekday so that I can courier the cookies on the same evening and they reach their destination in another 2 days, when they can be still considered FRESH! Good news is that one shipment was delivered yesterday and the other 2 were out for delivery today morning… Success! The bad news is I can’t share those cookie recipes with you… Not yet 🙁

So to celebrate, I am sharing this awesome chocolate bundt with you all today. And as you must have guessed already, it is undoubtedly a healthy recipe! This time I have experimented with beetroot purée and liquid jaggery. I was feeling quite proud of myself while presenting this cake in front of Mr and some guests as the experiment turned out a total success! Nobody could guess/taste the secret ingredients… Even the kids!! 😀

This cake is supremely moist because of puréed beetroot and olive oil. Liquid jaggery lends most of the sweetness and the brown sugar with chocolate lends works beautifully with chocolate. The taste is rich and exceptionally chocolaty. A top performer in my opinion!

The batter is a simple 1-bowl creation which comes together easily and can be prepared even without electric mixer. It bakes fairly quickly compared to any other bundt cakes. After the cake cools completely, simply pour ganache over it and serve a giant, thick slice of your masterpiece!

If you fear the bundt pan, let me give you a tip on ‘How-To’. Generously grease the pan with butter and lightly dust it with flour. This is a foolproof way and the cake will not stick to the pan or break in pieces when you invert it on a cooling rack. So spend some time on this step before you start with the cake batter. After the cake bakes, let it cool in pan for 15-20 minutes before trying to release it from the pan. Perfection! So let go of your fear of bundt pan and whip up this decadent deliciousness NOW!

Healthy Chocolate Beetroot Bundt Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Serves: 12 | Prep time: 20 minutes | Bake time: 35 minutes approximately

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup +1 Tbsp Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup liquid jaggery
3 large eggs
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 + 2/3 cup beetroot purée, (around 4 medium beetroots boiled, peeled and puréed)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Ganache:

2 Tbsp medium fat cream/milk
3 oz dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven at 190 C/375 F. Grease a bundt pan nicely with butter and dust it with flour.
In a medium bowl, sift together all the dry ingredients.
In a bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with paddle attachment, add olive oil and brown sugar and beat on a low speed. Add liquid jaggery and continue to beat.
Increase the speed to medium-high, add one egg at a time and beat for 2 minutes after each addition. Beat in yogurt.
Slowly add beetroot purée and dry ingredients in 2 additions, ending with dry ingredients. Scrape the sides of the bowl with spatula and beat until just combined. Do not over-mix the batter.
Pour the batter to the prepared bundt pan and bake for 33-35 minutes. Toothpick inserted near the centre of the pan should come out clean or just with few moist crumbs. Let the cake cool in a pan for 15-20 minutes before inverting on a wire rack.
Heat a small sauce pan and add cream/milk to it. Once the cream/milk is hot(not bubbling), remove it from heat. Add chocolate to it and stir continuously until chocolate has melted completely. Pour the ganache over the cake. Cut a thick slice and serve.

*Store the cake in an airtight container. Stays fresh on a counter for 1 day and in refrigerator for 5-6 days.
*The cake is enough sweet for me but in case you like your baked products quite sweet then increase the quantity of brown sugar in the batter as per your taste. Lick, taste and then proceed! 😉

Still scared of a bundt? Try these delicious cupcakes!
Happy Baking! xx

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09
Nov
2013

Skinny Zesty Salad

categories: Dinner, Fall, Lunch, Quick Fix, Salads, Sides, Summer

After hogging lots and lots of sweets and fried stuff during 5 days of festivities in the past week, believe it or not, but my digestive system needed a break. So I am doing a cleanse/detox for few days.

I made this skinny salad for lunch one day and have fallen in love with it since then. It is so versatile, protein-packed and healthy even for people with diet restrictions. Yes! It is suitable for all the vegetarians and vegans out there! A complete meal in itself.

Add any or all of the ingredients mentioned below or whatever you have in your refrigerator. Don’t like uncooked Paneer/tofu? Don’t worry! You can grill it with a bit of olive oil and some seasoning before adding it to your salad or skip it. I once made this with just apple, pear, pomegranate and it was still lip-smacking!

So do your body a favor, give yourself a break from cooking and make this hearty salad! 🙂

Skinny Zesty Salad

Serves: 2 as a side and 1 as a main-course

Ingredients:

1/2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 cup broccoli florets
200 gm Paneer/extra-firm tofu, cut into 2 inch-long thin strips
1 small red bell pepper, chopped into thin strips
1 small yellow zucchini, cut into semicircles
1 small apple, thin slices
4 Tbsp black olives
Bunch of lettuce
few sprigs of parsley, finely chopped

For dressing:

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
Juice from 1 lemon, or more to taste
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Heat a small pan on stove and add 1/2 Tbsp oil to it. Add garlic and broccoli florets. Stir fry till cooked, approximately for 4-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn garlic. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for dressing.
In a medium bowl, add stir-fried garlic and broccoli florets. To this, add prepared paneer/tofu, bell pepper, zucchini, apple and black olives. Pour dressing over it and toss nicely.
In a salad serving bowl, arrange lettuce at the bottom. Add salad on top. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve immediately*.

*If serving later, refrigerate the salad and add apple just before serving.

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02
Nov
2013

Healthy Avocado Chocolate Cake

categories: Baking, Cake, Cakes, Desserts, Fall

Let’s take a little flashback. If I talk about my childhood, back then, Diwali meant school holidays, new clothes, bags full of firecrackers, family gatherings, chants from morning & evening Pujas, Rangolis and stuffing our mouths with cardamom, saffron, coconut, mawa, besan and ghee kissed sugary sweets.

I moved out of the house and city once I started going to college. As being in a medical profession, we were hardly entitled to any leaves let alone a Diwali break. So most of my Diwalis were spent in hostel with friends, missing my family. It had its moments but I missed my family.. A lot…

After college, I immediately got married to the love of my life and from then on, I have been spending Diwali with him and my new family. After so many years, so many things have changed but many things remain just the same like Pujas, Rangolis and family gatherings. My eating habits have changed for good and I prefer making my sweets healthier and low-cal. The recipe I am posting today is one such healthy cake and perfect for the festive season as it is egg-less!

The cake overall has just 2 Tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil. Don’t be surprised! Our secret ingredient here is avocado which compensates for the butter fat. You can’t taste the avocado in the cake as the richness from chocolate masks it completely. Not even pickiest of eater will be able to tell! So make this ultimate soft, moist and super-chocolaty cake for the mother of all the festivals… Diwali!

Light Food means Light(er) You! After all it is a Festival of Lights!

It has been 10 years since I moved out and I still miss my family on each and every festival that I’m not able to spend with them. Enjoy all the time you get to spend with your family and loved ones. Make precious memories to be cherished forever.

cccedb1a438711e3a3c622000a1f9a51_7 — Rangoli I made today! Not a masterpiece but still!

Happy and sparkling Diwali to all my readers 🙂

Healthy Avocado Chocolate Pan

Yields: 1 9-inch cake | Prep time: 10 minutes | Bake time: 35 minutes | Total: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp espresso powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 ripe avocado, pitted, peeled and pureed
2/3 cup honey (I used 1/2 cup honey + 1/4 cup brown sugar)
3/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven 180°C/350°F. Grease a 9-inch quiche pan.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, espresso powder and salt.
In another medium bowl, whisk together avocado puree, honey (or combination of honey and sugar if using), milk, olive oil and vanilla extract.
Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and add wet ingredients in 2 additions. Mix slowly until just combined. Do not over-mix.
Pour the batter to the prepared quiche pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake in the oven for 33-35 minutes till the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing. Serve as is or with vanilla ice-cream.

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06
Sep
2013

Skinny Banana Chocolate-chip Dutch Baby

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

I know I went MIA AGAIN and you must think that I do not take the blog seriously but in my defense, life happened. It so happens that life loves to throw unlikely surprises my way! So what happened you ask… Well, my in-laws arrived in town 3 weeks back and due to the super-dramatic climate-change here, both caught Mono. Next in queue was my hubby dearest!

So in the midst of house-work and multiple visits to the clinic on daily-basis, I could squeeze in time to blog only 2 previous recipes. I was definitely active on social media. I did check-out what my other blogger friends were writing about but I did not have patience to write down a recipe or to edit pictures for the post. It’s not like I did not have recipes to post or I was not cooking. In fact, I was cooking more regularly than ever! At least 3 different meals were being prepared on a daily basis. And now that everyone is fit and fine, I’m going to take a little breather from home-cooking and going to eat-out little bit more and of course, start posting here regularly!

I bring you today another easy skinny pancake recipe. It is perfect for breakfast or Brinner, serves a small family perfectly that too without the hassle of flipping individual pancakes! You know I’m lazy and love quick-fixes more than anything right?! 😉

The Dutch Baby is another name for German pancake which is baked in a cast-iron skillet or a metal pan and its puff falls soon after being removed from the oven. This pancake is ready in a record time of 20-25 minutes from start-to-finish! Made with minimum ingredients, this is a perfect recipe for days when your refrigerator has scarce ingredients. You just need 2 eggs, little flour, some milk and 1 banana to be in business! Rest of the ingredients are your usual suspects.

I do not own a cast-iron skillet so I baked this in a 10-inch metal pan I have. Brown sugar, banana and cinnamon is a match made in heaven. The result is perfectly caramelized banana topped pancake topped with chocolate-chips. Your house is going to smell delicious for next few hours! Whattay way to start mornings or end work-laden days! Enjoy! 🙂

Skinny Banana Chocolate-chip Dutch Baby

Makes: 1 big Dutch Baby | Prep time: 5 minutes | Cook time: 15 to 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 banana thinly sliced
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk (skim milk, soy milk or almond milk)
2 or 3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
2-3 Tbsp dark chocolate chips (Use more as per your liking)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 F.
Prepare a 9-inch oven-safe skillet by spraying with cooking spray or greasing it. Place butter in the skillet. Put skillet in the oven to melt the butter. You can do this while oven is still in preheating mode. Once butter has melted, in about 2-3 minutes, remove the skillet from the oven and set aside.
In a large bowl, add eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and whisk to combine.
Add the flour, cinnamon, salt and whisk until smooth and free from lumps.
Pour the batter on to the skillet and evenly top with banana slices. Sprinkle the chocolate chips evenly and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden and puffy. Mine was ready in 15 minutes.
Slice and serve optionally with a dusting of powdered sugar or a pour from maple syrup.

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24
Aug
2013

Caprese Pasta Salad

categories: Dinner, Lunch, Quick Fix, Salads, Sides, Summer

It’s my Mother’s Birthday today! She is the most special woman in my life. She is my first best friend and I have had heaps of special moments with her. She handed down so many traits of hers to me… We both love bags, shoes, clothes and FOOD! She is such an awesome cook!

As already confessed in my intro page, I never learnt to cook before I got married and being such a great cook that she is, my mom was quite concerned about that part. She sincerely wrote down all her recipes in a diary for my convenience and gifted it to me on my D-day. That is my most prized possession and a lovely gesture on my mom’s part! I should soon get down to posting few of her special recipes!

Among many things my mother and I share, we both LOVE pasta! So aptly, I am posting a very simple pasta salad which is very refreshing and flavorful. I’m sure my mom would have enjoyed this thoroughly if I could make this for her at home for tonight’s celebration. But we are distanced by miles hence a virtual birthday dish will have to suffice! 🙁

I love Caprese in any and every form!

You must remember I once created this unusual ice-cream with it and these skewers served with pesto!

This time I brought together 2 of my favorites and created this dee-lish caprese pasta salad. Of course with a twist… I added capers for a little tang! And it really did wonders. This salad is so beautiful, adorned with pear tomatoes and bursting with basil! Hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Happiest of Birthday Mother! Cheers!!!

Caprese Pasta Salad

Servings: 4-5 as a side and 2-3 as a light lunch/dinner

Ingredients:

For salad:

2 heaping cups bow-tie pasta
Around 20-25 pear tomatoes, sliced
25-30 small cubes of Mozzarella
2 Tbsp capers, drained & washed
1/4 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

For dressing:

2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
A pinch of red chili flakes
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook pasta in generously salted boiling water according to package directions till al-dante. Drain and rinse with cold water.
In a large bowl, add pasta, sliced tomatoes, Mozzarella cheese cubes, capers and toss.
In a small bowl, take all the ingredients mentioned under dressing and whisk.
Add the dressing to the large bowl of salad ingredients and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Let it chill in refrigerator for half an hour. Top with sliced basil leaves just before serving.

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