Baked Falafel Pita Sandwich

This sandwich scores on so many criterion of my idea of meal that it has become one of my favorites. Lets see what are they..healthy, balanced, quick, tasty, liked by all in family ( read me and my husband, my toddler still refrains from table food). Hmmm..they are not many when listed but anyone who cooks daily knows how hard at times it become to satisfy them.

Mediterranean food is one of our favorites. And it is not that difficult to create popular dishes like Falafel, hummus, lentil soup, salads like fattoush at home.

These days most grocery stores carry one or the other kind of pita. After trying many different pita's we found a multi grain pita pocket at our regular grocery stop Kroger that we like. Other than that we like fresh baked pita sold by nearby by middle eastern specialty food store. I make falafel sandwich mostly with multi grain pita but feel free to use any kind of pits that you can lay your hands on.

Coming on to falafel the key component here, traditionally they are deep fried. Here have tried baking them and I absolutely do not miss the fat. Try them at least once for yourself. I bake a large batch and freeze them. Then assembling sandwich is a easy peasy.

Ingredients

For sandwich (6)

6 Pita pocket (You can halve the regular pita also)

12 tbsp Hummus (I use store bought, sun dried tomato, roasted red pepper etc)

Half Lettuce shredded (I use Mixed green salad)

For Tomato Onion relish

1 Tomato diced

1 Onion diced

1 tbsp Lemon juice

Red Chilli to taste

Salt to taste

Few sprigs of fresh chopped cilantro

For Baked Falafel

2 cups chickpeas soaked overnight (atleast 8-10 hours)

1 medium size onion chopped

2-4 Garlic pods

1 tbsp coriander powder

1 tbsp cumin powder

1 tsp baking powder

Salt to taste

Red Chilli powder to taste

Handful of fresh cilantro

How to make Falafel

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Drain the soaked chickpeas.

Add everything to the food processor except baking powder.

Food processor is best suited for the task. I once used blender and had difficult time. To make blender work I had to add water which made the batter runny to be shaped in balls.

So grind everything using your chopper/ food processor adding as little water as you can everything is well combined. The final result would be little grainy in texture.

Spray a foil lined cookie sheet with cooking oil spray. Make golf sized balls of the batter. Press them lightly between palms and place them on cookie sheet. I like to spray the cookie sheet with cooking oil after placing the falafel's also.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or unitl dry and slightly browned. They would not brown too much but would be firm to touch when done.

These falafel freeze well for few days. Before using microwave them.

How to make Tomato Onion Relish

Mix all the ingredients.

Putting together the sandwich

Take the pita pocket and toast it slightly. I use panini grill for the task but you can very well use any griddle or non-stick pan. Spray with little oil on outside if you like. I did not do that.

Slather hummus inside the pita pocket very well. Break 1-2 falafel in pieces and add along with relish and lettuce in any order and amount as you fancy.

Eggless Oatmeal Raisin cookies

Few months back I ordered a copy of Joy of vegan baking . Now and then I browse recipes and make plans to try one. But till now it did not get the chance, courtesy my toddler. They know how to keep you busy. Then one fine day I said to myself, today whatever comes I will bake something and these cookies came out of the oven. Part of the reason for selecting this particular recipe comes from the ingredients required. I had some oat bran and quick oats along with flax seeds lying in pantry for long .

This recipe seemed to be good to use them all. Cookies came out nice. They were little crispy then the ones I was use to of eating (Pepperidge farm) since I used quick oats instead of steel cut oats as suggested in the book. Also I de-veganised the recipe. But all in all a good cookie recipe with the goodness of flax seeds and oats and without eggs.

Quick oats

Recipe

(Adapted from Joy of vegan baking)

2 tbsp ground flax seeds (equivalent of 2 eggs)

6 tbsp water

1 cup non-hydrogenated, non-dairy butter, softened (I used same amount of regular butter)

1 1/2 cup firmly packed light/dark brown sugar (I used dark )

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup oat bran

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 F (180C or Gas mark 4). Lightly oil 3 cookie sheets or line with

parchment paper.

In a blender or food processor, whip together the flaxseed and water unti

l thick and creamy. The consistency will be somewhat gelatinous.

By hand or using an electric hand mixer, cream together the butter, sugars

, vanilla, and flaxseed mixture until well blended.

In a separate bowl thoroughly combine the flour, oat bran, baking so

da, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add to the butter mixture and mix until well blended and smooth. Stir in the rolled oats and raisins until thoroughly combined.

Cookie dough, nice and sticky

Use a tablespoon to scoop out the dough and, with lightly greased hands , lightly press the cookies to form 1/2 inch thick round.Bake until cookies are golden brown, 12-15 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow the cookies to firm up for a few minutes while still on the cookie sheet. Transfer the cookies to cool on the wire rack.

Yield : 3 1/2 dozen cookie

I halved the recipe and got about 20 cookies. Instead of 1 3/4 cups of flour I used 3/4 cups of flour since making exact half of 13/4 with measuring cups was little tricky. And for 3/4 tsp baking powder and baking soda I went with 1/2 tsp. Results turned out fine.

Baked Tofu

I have love and hate relationship with Tofu. Depending upon how tofu has been used my relationship takes shape. I do not like it smooth and bathing in gravies. And like it fried with crispy exterior. I was introduced to tofu after coming to US. Many people use it as a substitute for Paneer. But I definitely do not do that. Till now my favorite tofu dish is at restaurant near by . They call it Deluxe tofu , which in essence is a fried tofu in spicy sweet sauce with veggies.

Now coming on to the topic of post. This is a Indian spicy makeover for bland tofu. While searching for ways to consume tofu I stumbled upon this recipe from Madhuram. It is one of the simplest recipes I have come across with delish results. Tofu has crispy exteriors and spicy tangy zing . I used the recipe as such with only increasing the amount of spices a little bit and baking at 450F.

Tofu while marinating

This would definitely make a great party snack. Easy to assemble and cook in large volume. Do give it a try.

Everyday Gajar Matar

Gajar Matar is one easy and healthy side dish. I like the colors in this preparation. Lot of flavor depends upon the freshness of the carrot and peas used. Though frozen peas in US are pretty good but as for carrot they vary in taste so much at different times.

Also Gajar Matar taste better with Red Carrots commonly found in India. Here in US I haven't seen any other except Orange. But it's still tasty.

Ingredients

2 cup diced Carrot

2 cup frozen peas (Thawed)

1 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp carrom seeds (Ajwain)

1/2 tsp mustard seeds

pinch of asafoetida

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp red chilli powder

2 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp dry mango powder (Amchur)

Salt to taste

Recipe

Heat a pan and add oil. Add carrom seeds, mustard seeds and asfoetida. When seed start to sizzle add dice carrots. Season it with salt. Stir well and cover the pan. Lower the heat and let it cook for 5 minutes.

Now add peas. Stir well and all dry powders except dry mango. Again cover the pan and cook it covered for 5 minutes. Check for doneness of carrot . If you want it more cooked let it cook for another couple of minutes.

I served it with dal and chapati.

Paneer Butter Masala

I do not make rich gravies like this often. Only time I do is when we have company. Not that I want to offer unhealthy stuff it's just that richness makes it more than ordinary. But this time I made this Paneer Butter Masala just for ourselves on weekday as an experiment. Sure it worked. This is very close to the way we are used to eat in restaurants. Do give it a try.

Ingredients

Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cup cubed Paneer

4 Medium size tomato

2 medium size onion

2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

3 tbsp cashews

1/4 cup milk (preferably full fat)

3 tbsp oil

1 1/2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp Kasuri Methi (Dried Fenugreek leaves)

1 tbsp Honey

1 tsp Cardamom powder

2 tsp Garam masala

2 tsp Red Chilli Powder (If you have Kashmiri Chilli powder that will add a nice color)

Salt to taste

Recipe

Chop tomato and onions in quarters.

Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan. Add cashews and stir them. After about a minute add chopped onion. Saute for 2 minutes. Then add chopped tomatoes. Cook them for about 6 minutes.

Let the cooked tomato-onion-cashew mixture cool for a while. Then blend it using a blender. Strain this puree to get that silky smooth gravy.

Now again heat a pan and add butter and 1 tbsp oil. Add ginger-garlic paste. After a minute when raw smell from ginger garlic has gone add red chili powder. You may want to lower the heat at this point so that red chill powder doesn't burn. To this add strained puree.

Add salt. Now cover the pan and let it simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes.

By now fat should have separated . Add honey, cardamom and Garam Masala and crushed fenugreek leaves. Let it simmer for another couple of minutes.

At this point if you want you can add 1/4 cup cream for another layer of creaminess. I opted to add full fat milk. Finally add cubed paneer. Stir well and serve hot with naan/ roti.

Vegetable Pizza

I love homemade pizza. It's so much better then average pizza found outside. Dose not take much effort and the most interesting thing is we can have various toppings of our choice and reduce the cheese and sneak in some whole wheat flour. This dough recipe is from Nupur's blog and I am repeating here for completeness. I have used this dough recipe many times now and I am pretty happy. Here I am posting a veggie pizza recipe. We like our pizza neither thin crust nor deep dish..somewhere in middle. Similarly not too chewy nor too crisp. This recipe plays along beautifully. Give it a try.

Ingredients for Dough

2 cup AP bleached flour

1 cup Whole wheat flour

1 tsp Active dry yeast

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Sugar

1/2 cup Warm water

1 tbsp Olive oil

Ingredients for Pizza Toppings

1 cup slice capsicum

1 cup sliced onion

1/2 cup slice tomato

Salt

Pepper

Cheese of your liking.I used shredded mozrella.

Pizza sauce (I used leftover Tomato Basil pasta sauce. )

Recipe

Add yeast and sugar to warm water. Cover it and let it stand for 10 minutes. It should be foamy and frothy after 10 minutes.

Mix both kind of flour and salt. Add olive oil and yeast mixture to flour. Add water as needed to knead a pliable dough. Once it comes together knead it couple of times to make it smooth.

Now place the dough in well oiled deep bowl. Cover it with moist kitchen towel and let it rest for at least 1 1/2 hour. It would double in size.

After it has doubled in size divide the dough in three parts (I got three 6 inch pizza) and let it again rest for 10 minutes. Make pizza immediately or freeze the dough for later use.

Preheat the oven to 500 F. Place the pizza stone on middle rack. If you do not have pizza stone you can use baking sheet.

Now take one part and flatten it using rolling pin making about a 6 inch circle. You can also do it using hands. If dough is sticky you can use some dry flour. Don't use too much of dry flour.

Take the Pizza peel and spread some cornmeal/sooji/semolina over it. Once pizza is rolled out lift it and place it over the peel. If you are using the baking sheet spray some oil over it and place the rolled out dough over it.

With light hand (At one time my pizza stuck to the peel badly) spread some sauce. I prefer to use little sauce otherwise pizza get soggy. I would say about 2-3 tbsp. Sprinkle salt and pepper generously. Add little cheese (Optional at this point). Now add veggies. Add cheese over the veggies and bake it for about 8 - 10 minutes. For crispier pizza bake couple of minutes more. Savor the delicious results hot!!

Choice of toppings is endless. My husband like a jalapeño pepper and mushrooms on his pizza. I like spinach, garlic and feta. Even using store bought pesto gives tasty results. Get creative and experiment with all kind of stuff. Next time I am going to try roasting vegetables before adding them as topping.

Low Fat Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake

I am big fan of starbuck's marble pound cake. So I hunted for the recipe and luckily found it on Starbuck's website. But alas it had 10 eggs and so much butter that I dropped the idea of making it at home and kept indulging once in a while at Starbuck's only. But marble cake is one thing that I always wanted to bake at least once. So another search and I found a recipe in Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low-Fat Desserts. Cake turned out very good..crumbly but moist. My friends liked it a lot and this post is for them.

Though above picture doesn't show much swirls because that was the first time I was doing it but later I got much better results (picture below). First time I did not use bread knife and that makes the difference. Recipe mentions it to be baked in 8 -10 cup tube pan but not having one I baked it in 9 in by 5 in loaf pan.

Chocolate Marble Cake (from Alice Medrich's Chocolate and the Art of Low Fat Desserts)

2 Cups cake flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Instant espresso or Coffee powder
1/3 cup Unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
1 1/3 cups Sugar
6 tbsp Unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 cup Nonfat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Have all ingredients at room temp. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the lower third of the oven. Spray 8-10 cup tube pan or 9 by 5 loaf pan with cooking spray.

Use a whisk to combine four, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Sift together. Set aside.

In a small bowl combine the espresso powder, cocoa and 1/3 cup of the sugar with 1/4 cup of water. Whisk until smooth. Set aside.

In another small bowl, whisk whole egg with egg white. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and remaining 1 cup of sugar until light, about 3 minutes. Gradually add eggs about 1 Tbsp at a time beating constantly for about 2 minutes. Beat in 2 tsp vanilla extract.

Add third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Then beat in half of the yogurt at low speed. Keep alternating flour and yogurt and mixing at low speed until just combined.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of the yogurt batter and stir into the cocoa mixture.

Use a large spoon to fill the bottom of the pan with about three quarters of the white batter placed in dollops. Cover the white batter with dollops of chocolate batter. Top the chocolate batter with small dollops of white batter spaced so that the chocolate batter shows through. Use a bread knife to marble the batters together with a circular or zigzag motion; be careful not to blend them too much. Bake for 40 -50 minutes or until the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in comes out clean. With 9 by 5 loaf pan it took me 45 minutes.

Cool for 10-15 minutes on a rack. Unmold the cake. Cool completely before serving or storing.