food & photography
For a change, it’s not a dessert this time. I generally write less about mains or even savory food for that matter. Although, I like savory rather spicy food, as greatly as I am fond of desserts. And I have many favorites, when it comes to food. In fact, there are few things which I probably don’t prefer to eat, but that too without any strong disliking. I believe, food is a great connection between people, their cultures and their values. …
The start of the summer this year has been quite pleasant. Cool breezy evenings and softer sunlight call for lovely salads, cold soups, lemonades and even grilling meat. I know it won’t stay like this forever and it will be extremely hot in couple of weeks. But for however short or long, let’s be generous and enjoy. Like my every other recipes, this one’s too is really simple. The meat is tender and takes no time to cook, plus it gets yummier because of addition of this lovely middle eastern spice mix called Za’atar. It’s a lovely spice mix of sesame seeds, sumac and dried thyme leaves. If you haven’t tried it yet, I suggest you definitely should soon. Just simply rub it on your meat and go grilling! It even tastes great as a lovely dip for your bread if mixed with the gorgeous extra virgin olive oil. Now that reminds me of soft spiced pretzels I baked last year. The spice mixed with olive oil gave the bread that amazing heady carom aroma. I served the lamb chops with the simple tomato, beetroot and pomegranate tabbouleh salad. That’s just another version of the corn and pomegranate tabbouleh I made previously, so I am taking the liberty of not writing the recipe again in this post. All you need to do is to replace or add the cooked and chopped beetroot if you want to.
I am back with another drink recipe, because soon it’s going to change to sveltering Summer from the amazingly pleasant Spring. And right when you’d need more water replenishment for your body. It was last week only when it was amazingly pleasant, the kind of weather you’d expect to remain throughout the year. And within a matter of couple of days, it has started getting warmer now. I generally am not a fan of fizzy drinks in summers. I would rather splurge on a glass of calming buttermilk or a glass of fresh lemonade. That reminds me of the Strawberry and Orange Lemonade I made last week. I am still dreaming of it’s tangy and refreshing flavor. And I am happy that I have stashed away a big bag of strawberries in my freezer so that I can enjoy that lovely lemonade again when it is going to be extremely hot and I would need it terribly. Thanks to the summers, I am onto a constant search for new and refreshing drinks recipes. This time I am here with this pure and soothing vanilla almond milk. Oh my, I have become a great fan of this. This requires the almonds to be soaked in water overnight and I believe that mostly every Indian would have some connect with the overnight soaked almonds. We used to be fed soaked almonds in months of winters by our parents, for their purity and health benefits. And I like to chew on those lovely nibbles all through out my day during those days. Those memories make me so nostalgic and I wish that time could come back when you would know for sure that you’ve been taken care of. This soothing and light vanilla almond milk is one such drink which would take you down the memory lanes and you’d surely feel better after having this. I infused the milk with fragrant vanilla beans. You could use any spice you like; cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom or rose water for that matter. Because, breakfast is the time, when I like to sip on a glass of milk, I made this nutty espresso granola to make it a perfect power packed start of the day. Homemade granola is incomparable and you know what you are eating. You’ve got to try it once to believe it, if you haven’t baked your own granola at home yet.
