healthy Archives - Page 12 of 15

Wholegrain Cherry Brownies

May 26, 2014 by TheWhiteRamekins

Stone fruits are back in season and cherries happened to be the first one I baked with this weekend. These wholegrain cherry brownies were fab to start with! Stone fruit means summer to me. Loads and loads of them, in different shapes and varieties will remain there for a couple of months to come. And every year, I wait eagerly for their season to come.

I was supposed to bake a cake this weekend, as I had to travel back home. Kids would be waiting for me to come get bake them a cake. But sadly, due to a last hour call at work, I had to cancel my travel. Poor kids would have to wait for another week. So, I dropped the idea of baking a cherry cake and instead baked these lovely, hearty, wholesome, filling wholegrain dark chocolate brownies topped with loads of fresh cherries.

Now when I say, they are wholesome, I literally mean it. All because, they have the goodness of oats and wholewheat flour. I just completely skipped out the refined plain flour. I keep on trying baking with whole grains these days. Though it seems daunting initially, but it actually isn’t really.

Wholegrain work well with earthy flavors such as a cinnamon scented coffee cake or for that matter they go equally good with chocolate too {got this inspiration from a sweet blogger friend, Deeba Rajpal of PassionateAboutBaking, an amazing baker and fantastic food stylist, a true source of inspiration}. These are full of energy and good to be packed in lunchbox or for an afternoon snack.

Wholegrain Cherry Brownies

2014-07-03 06:26:08

Wholegrain wholesome cherry brownies with goodness of seasonal fresh cherry, wholewheat and oats.

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Ingredients

1 cup oat flour
1/4 wholewheat flour
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
75 gm butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon finely ground coffee
2 eggs
2 tablespoons low fat cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup fresh or frozen cherries, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven at 180 degree C. Line a 8 x 8 inches square pan with parchment paper and keep aside.
In a bowl, whisk together both the flours, salt, baking powder and set aside.
In another bowl, beat the butter with sugar and coffee, until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs one at a time. Add cream, vanilla extract and chocolate chips.
Add the flour mixture and beat until a thick batter forms. Pour into the baking pan and top with cherries.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until edges are slightly firm but center is soft. Let cool for 30 minutes, then cut into 12 equal squares.

By The White Ramekins

Adapted from Epicurious

The White Ramekins https://thewhiteramekins.com/

Roasted Beetroot & Orange Salad

April 21, 2014 by TheWhiteRamekins

With the weather getting warmer day by day, I have started hankering more on to light and refreshing foods. I have been eating fresh fruits and salads all throughout the day. Yeah you got that right, I am trying to be more disciplined, while it comes to packing multiple tiffins full of multiple kind of fresh fruits and nuts. This has lasted for 3 weeks now, and I am glad and pretty confident that I’ll continue this for the entire summer this year. Sounds like a new year resolution, which we all know, have got their own unknown fates…ha?

Yeah, it might sound like that, but I’ll try to stick around as much as I can. And that is why, I have been buying a lot of fruits and veggies for salads these days and keep my stock full. Oranges and beetroots have stayed for longer this year. We are still getting fresh and lovely produce. This is a salad recipe which I created out of leftover oranges and beetroots on a Sunday afternoon, when I was done with my Ciabatta baking project {recipe coming soon}.

That rustic bread baking took almost my entire weekend, but I was happy with the results, though I was tired of cooking something else. So, I threw in some whole beetroots in oven to let them roast and cool. I sliced some oranges and jazzed up the salad with a handful of fresh mint leaves.

To added the saltiness, I added some feta cheese and some nuts for the crunch and wrapped up this healthy extravaganza with a honey chili vinaigrette. The flavors came around so well, it was one of a super simple and refreshing salad and nonetheless incredible. I ate some of the leftover salad from the fridge in the evening, and I think it tastes better while cold. Definitely a keeper for those hot summer days!

Ingredients

4 small beetroots
2 oranges
handful of fresh mint leaves
40 gm feta
1/4 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup clear honey
4 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp chili pepper flakes
salt to taste

Directions

Wash and wrap the beetroots in aluminium foil and roast for 25 minutes in a 230 degree preheated oven.
Let beetroot cool wrapped in foil.
Meanwhile, make the dressing, by mixing olive oil, honey, vinegar, chili flakes and salt in a bowl. Keep aside.
When beetroots are cooled enough to handle, peel their skin and slice into flat discs and layer in the serving platter
Peel and slice the oranges and layer on top of beets. Sprinkle with mint leaves, feta and chopped nuts.
Drizzle the dressing over the salad and or serve by the side.

Spring Pasta With Mint & Basil Pesto

April 7, 2014 by TheWhiteRamekins

Pasta, as being one of my quintessential weeknight dinner, which I cook at least once a week didn’t have a post here! How could I forget about the dish which I cook quite often. Sometimes we miss the obvious things that they don’t get enough credit in our lives. I like pasta of any kind! That is true, I love it to my heart’s content. It could be related to the high carb it has to offer. And being a true north Indian, I thrive on carbs.

I know you must be thinking, “Is devouring on carbs really something to brag about?” But the fact is, there hasn’t been one single day in my life when I haven’t eaten flour in one form or another. Then why not to give it’s due importance to the subject? Even for the last minute dinner parties, pasta seems to be the most reliable and stand-by option for which I don’t have to do any kind of prepping/grocery shopping. I generally use to stock everything needed for it.

I gorge more on creamy cheesy alfredo sauce based pasta during winters to match the weather, while during summers, I thrive more on arabiatta or pesto sauce based varieties, which are generally lighter and induce less body heat. And I make pesto a lot from the fresh basil leaves from my little balcony basil plant.

Aromas of fresh basil leaves pounded with nuts, garlic and olive oil are so summery and light that you feel refreshing from inside out. It is so therapeutic! You can use the fresh pesto in a sandwich or throw in some pasta to make a delightful meal out of such basic ingredients. Life is as simple as that!

No fuss cooking, yet simple and fresh! As the weather is amazingly pleasant these days, not sure how long it will last for, I felt like writing about my favorite Spring pasta recipe with mint and basil pesto. This one is a no-brainer! Trust me on that, all you need is freshest and the best of ingredients and you are all sorted out! And the flavors are so packed into this one simple dish, you would want to make this quite often.

Ingredients

For Pesto

1 1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
1 cup lightly packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup blanched pine nuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

For Pasta

300 gm conchiglie/orecchiette/farfalle pasta
100 gm sugar snap peas, trimmed
200 gm frozen peas
1 avocado, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup pesto
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper
finely grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

For pesto, grind all the ingredients in a blender to make a smooth paste.
For pasta, cook the pasta in boiling salted water for 8-10 minutes. Add the peas, snow peas and cook for another 2 minutes, until vegetables are just cooked and pasta is al dente.
Drain and return to the pan and add pesto, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, avocado and salt and pepper and toss well to combine.
Top with mint leaves, basil leaves and grated Parmesan cheese while serving. Serve with extra pesto on the side.