Tag: Olive oil


Jul
2013

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

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

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“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” ~ Leonardo da Vinci

This salad is just that. Simple yet flavorful. Hearty yet sophisticated. Perfect lunch/dinner for those lazy, laid back days. Even better when you have only 15-20 minutes to put up a dinner and have scarce produce in your pantry. You just need couscous and throw in as many or as less veggies you have and you’re all set!

You know I’m a sucker for those lazy, quick recipes and this one here ticks all the boxes for me. And ignore my reflection in a spoon in a pic below.. Thank you! 😛

Mediterranean Couscous2

Mediterranean Couscous Salad

Serves: 2 | Prep time: 10 mins | Cook time: 5 mins

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup couscous (I used Barilla Cous Cous)
  • 1 small red onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tomato, finely chopped or 1/2 cup halved cherry tomatoes
  • 1 small English cucumber, finely chopped
  • 2 Tbsp sliced black olives (If using canned, drain and wash)
  • 2 Tbsp grated cottage cheese (can be substituted with Feta)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

For dressing:

  • 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Make couscous according to the package instruction. Transfer the couscous to a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Add onion, tomato, cucumber, olives, cottage cheese and cilantro.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for dressing. Season it with salt and pepper.
  3. Pour the dressing over the couscous salad and toss until well combined. Adjust the seasoning and serve.

*This salad can be made in advance and will keep fresh in refrigerator for up to 3 days.
*You can make this salad vegan by replacing cottage cheese with tofu or simply omit it.

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Jul
2013

Skinny Beetroot Hummus

categories: Appetizers, Dips

Skinny Beetroot Hummus2

I’m a huge fan of hummus and can’t get enough! I can have it for all three meals of my day. Oh-yeah! 🙂

A quick, low-fat, protein-packed and super-easy home-made hummus! A pink hummus! As a dear friend quoted ‘If I could I would cover my life in pink!’ I would too!

The hummus gets its pink color from the addition of a boiled beetroot. If you are not a big fan of beetroot, still add it as I promise you won’t be able to taste it at all! It’s sooo good!!!

I stirred in lemon zest to finished hummus and it went a notch up! It became truly Ah-mah-‘zing’ actually!!!

Cheese-lovers can add Parmesan cheese (to be added during blending) to this lovely appetizer but I wanted to keep it low-fat so I skipped it.

So let’s blend-blend!

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Skinny Beetroot Hummus

Serves: 4 | Stays fresh for 3-4 days, refrigerated in airtight container

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight, boiled and drained
  • 1 medium beetroot, peeled, boiled and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 Tbsp Tahini
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • salt, to taste
  • zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

Add boiled chickpeas to the blender jar. Add garlic cloves, tahini and 2 Tbsp olive oil to jar and blend.

Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and salt and blend again.

Add beetroot pieces and remaining lemon juice and olive oil to blender and blend till smooth and creamy.

Stir in lemon zest, transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

*Soak chickpeas overnight. If short on time, soak them in just boiled water for at least 3-4 hrs. It will take a bit long to cook but will do the job.
*I used pressure cooker for boiling chickpeas and beetroot both. I boiled them separately.

Accompaniment options: Pita bread, Nachos or Tortilla chips, My Skinny Carrot Sticks, veggie crudites or simply a spread on toast! Sky is the limit actually!! 😉

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Jul
2013

Skinny Carrot Sticks

categories: Appetizers, Baking, Quick Fix

Skinny Carrot Sticks2

Healthy snacking… It should be a way of life. Little indulgences are okay during breakfast or lunch time. But not acceptable during evening bites. This topic is written and read and discussed over and over again.. But who follows all that anyway?!

I have my weaknesses… I know them… So let’s go over the culprits. I love french fries.. I adore potato wedges.. & oh.. forgot potato chips.. So the common thread is potato! Yup.. I love my potato ~ deep fried! Nothing beats that. But after trying the baked versions of all these potato treats, I’m sold! They taste every bit as delicious and not one bit skinny! So they have become party favorites at our house.. I still indulge in these fried treats when it is junk food day which does not happen regularly so it’s fine.

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So on a lazy Sunday afternoon, instead of my favorite baked potatoes, I made these carrot sticks. Really crispy, low-fat and dee-lish! Carrot sticks covered with dry thyme, salt, black pepper & onion powder and thankfully not smothered in too much oil! Just a bit… Yaay!! 😀

And yeah, going along the skinny way I served them with light mayonnaise.

Feel free to use potatoes or sweet potatoes instead of carrots.

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Skinny Carrot Sticks

Serves: 2 or 1 😉

Ingredients:

  • 300 gm carrots, peeled and cut into 1-cm thick fries (about 4 medium sized)
  • 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 Tbsp dry thyme
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • freshly cracked black pepper, a pinch
  • salt, to taste
  • 2 Tbsp light mayonnaise (I used American Garden’s)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F. Toss all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for 20-25 minutes, tossing and turning halfway.

Serve them hot with mayonnaise.

*For even crispier sticks, throw in 1/2 Tbsp bread crumbs also to the mix.
*Feel free to add whatever you like to your mayonnaise.
*Feel free to use potatoes or sweet potatoes instead of carrots.

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Jun
2013

Caprese Ice-cream

categories: Entrée, Ice-creams, Summer

Does the title of this post shock you? Do you think it’s a typo? Nope… It is exactly what you read it is. Caprese Ice-cream… It has tomatoes, basil, Mozzarella cheese and whatever else an authentic Caprese Salad is supposed to have!

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A perfect summer entrée for your guests!

It is the last day of the week-long ice-cream marathon going on here and I wanted to come up with an out-of-the-box flavor! A unique ice-cream which you have never read about on any other blog or probably (I’m just guessing) have never had it at any of the sophisticated restaurants! A treat I have specially created for you!

Our favorite summer salad made into an ice-cream!

It is actually a mix between ice-cream and sherbet.

It’s beautiful pink color will be a complete deception for your guests till they take a first bite of it!

It has a very refreshing kick from basil and is light on palate due to tomatoes.

We cook the tomatoes and basil leaves with olive oil on low-heat thus extracting basil flavors completely. The sieved puree is then mixed with Mozzarella cheese, salt, pepper, sugar mayonnaise and whipped cream.. Freeze it overnight and just before serving blend it to a smooth consistency like how we made our frozen whip and serve immediately!

You can even add roasted~peeled~pureed red bell paper to add a different dimension to it!

Trust me it is a perfect start to your elaborate dinner party. Just double the recipe if serving a larger crowd.

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Caprese Ice-cream

Serves: 4 | Serving: 1 scoop | Yields: 4 scoops

Ingredients:

  • 15-17 cherry tomatoes
  • 1/2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 4-5 basil leaves
  • salt and freshly cracked pepper, as per taste
  • 1 Tbsp finely grated Mozzarella cheese
  • 1/2 tsp mayonnaise
  • A dash of lemon juice
  • 1 Tbsp caster sugar
  • 3 Tbsp fresh Medium fat cream (40%)

Directions:

Add tomatoes, olive oil and basil leaves in a saucepan and cook it covered on a low-flame for about 4-5 minutes till the tomatoes have soften, stirring occasionally. Pass them through sieve to remove the skin, seeds and leaves.

Season the puree with salt and pepper. Add grated Mozzarella, mayonnaise and lemon juice to it.

In a separate bowl, whip the cream and sugar together till you get a soft peak. Fold in the tomato mixture in a cream mixture and scoop it in a airtight container. Freeze it overnight.

Just before serving, add the frozen ice-cream to your blender and process it till you get a smooth consistency. Scoop and serve in individual glasses topped with basil or mint leaves.

*The last step of blending before serving is MUST as the tomatoes have high water content and therefore the ice-cream straight out of the freezer will be icy.

Enjoy!

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