Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salad. Show all posts

Thursday, 9 June 2016

Russian Salad


Ramadan Mubarak folks!
This is a blessed month in which Muslims all over the world fast from dawn till dusk. We practice self-discipline, increase Prayers, Recite Quran and charity during this Holy month.
This Holy month also teaches us self-control, sacrifice and empathy for those who are less fortunate.
So people, try not to waste food, and try to give to the poor as much as you can, not only for this month but all year round!

 Food is a huge part of Ramadan, from delicious salans and parathe in Sehri to pakore and fruit chaat in Iftar. It does get a bit old after a few days though, all the fried stuff (the food coma after all that, i could just pass out right in front of the table!), we ,meaning me and my husband opt for a more easier and much lighter-on-the-stomach option, We just have dinner !
We break our fast with Khujoor (dates), offer Maghrib prayer and than have dinner. Much better, believe me!
It was just the 3rd roza, but im already tired of frying stuff, so today I made Grilled Chicken with Potato mash and Steamed Vegetables. Paired it with this gorgeous Russian salad. 
(Will post the recipe for the grilled chicken as well)
This recipe if so close to the one you get at Pizza Hut, really delicious and so easy to make as well.

The recipe is slightly adapted from Tarla Dalal.

Serving: 3-4 people
Prep Time : 5-10 minutes
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

You'll need,
1 Potato, peeled and cut in small cubes
1 small Carrot, peeled and cut in cubes
1/4 cup of Peas
1 Apple, diced (I like them skin-on, you can peel them if you like)
1 small Cucumber
1/4 cup of Mayonnaise
2 tbsp of Cream (or full fat milk)
Salt to taste
a pinch of Black Pepper
1 tbsp of Caster sugar

Additional ingredients you can add,
Pineapple Chunks
Sweet Corn
Chickpeas
Bean sprouts
Tomatoes


Add the diced potatoes to the boiling water. After 5 minutes, add carrot and peas as well. Cook for about 5-7 minutes. Check the potatoes with a fork to see if they are done. Drain and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, mix together mayonnaise, cream/milk, salt, castor sugar and black pepper.
Chuck in boiled vegetables, apple and cucumber. Thoroughly mix, check and adjust seasoning. 


Enjoy!


Tuesday, 12 November 2013

Weightloss Journey part 1

Hey everyone !!
I've been on a diet for about a week now.

It was difficult to get the motivation and really start focusing on myself.

For the record, i'm not eating everything that i'm making :)
The recipes you usually see on my blog are what I make at home for the rest of my family.

So in this post i'll just share what i'm doing to loose weight and what i'm eating on a day to day bases.

I started off with detoxyfying water.
I drank this for about 4 days (made it twice)
Its easy to make and really refreshing.


Less than 10 calories per serving.

To make this You'll need:
1 litre of water
1 medium sized Cucumber sliced
1 lemon , sliced
a handful of Mint leaves
1/2 piece of ginger, grated

Mix everything together in a jug and leave overnight in the fridge. Start consuming the water from next day.
Adding more water to fill it up.
Use this for 2 days than replace with new vegetables.



Image Source : Google
Apart from this, i'm eating 2 tablespoons of aloevera gel everyday, 1 tbsp empty stomach before breakfast and 1 tbsp at night. Aloe Vera has amazing properties, it increases our metabolism so it helps in loosing weight, cleans out our bowels (its a laxative) and its so good for skin and hair as well. 

My aunt has an aloe vera plant in her garden, she sends me a big leaf every 3 or 4 days.
Just peel the green part of the leaf and take out about a tablespoon of the gel, roughly chop it (as its a bit hard), and gulp it down with a little water. I didnt like the taste at first, but i've kind of gotten used to it.


Image Source: Google

I'm also drinking apple cider vinegar. There are a lot of health benefits of this vinegar as well.
Just dont drink it straight from the bottle. Dilute 1 tbsp in 1/2 cup of water. Drink this 30 minutes before every meal.
I'm doing this before lunch and dinner.


I've changed my salt intake from regular salt to low sodium salt. Even this i'm using in very small amounts.

Lipton Green tea with lemon : 0 calories
Boiled Egg : 155 calories
For breakfast i'm usually have 1 hard boiled egg, without salt. And a cup of green tea.
I'm not really a breakfast person, so i'm usually skipping this meal.

For snacking during the day, i eat 1 medium sized apple (78 calories) or cucumber (47 calories)

For lunch and dinner, i usually have salads or daal or chicken grilled or baked. I'm learning low fat recipes as i go along with this.

Sharing a few recipes:

Vegetable Salad : 111 calories
Raw Vegetable Salad:
Ingrediants:
1 medium sized cucumber
1 carrot
1 onion
1/2 beetroot
1 small tomato
a pinch of salt
juice of 1/2 lemon

Dice all the vegetables. Mix together and add salt and lemon juice.
These quantities make a large bowl of the salad. The calorie count given is according to the quantity given. And its actually quite filling.

Vegetable Salad with Apples : 152 calories
You can make a whole different varieties of salad.
In the above pictured salad, i've left out the beetroot and added 1 exta-small or half of a medium apple and 2 lettuce leaves.

Grilled Chicken.
Each piece :125 calories.

To cut back on the calories i divided 2 chicken breast fillets into 4 portions, which i'd be using in 4 seperate meals.

1 breast fillet is about 250 calories, and when you half it, its about 125 calories.

Chicken with sauce : 236 calories
Baked Onion Rings : 154 calories

Ingrediants:
(For marination)
1/2 Fillet of chicken breast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp of BBQ sauce
a pinch of salt and black pepper 

(for the sauce)
1/2 tbsp of flour
1/4 cup chicken stock
2-3 tbsp of low fat milk
a pinch of salt and pepper
a pinch of italian seasoning

(for Onion Rings)
1 large white onion
1/4 cup of low fat buttermilk
 1/2 egg
salt and pepper
2 tbsp of bread crumbs

Marinate chicken for about 1 hour, than grill in a tsp of olive oil.
Take out when done.

In the same pan add 1/2 tbsp of flour, cook for a minute than add chicken stock, milk and seasoning. Cook till thick and saucy. If its lumpy, pass it through a sieve.
Pour over the chicken.

Slice onions in thick rings. 
Beat together Egg and milk, salt and pepper.
Dip the onions in the milk mixture for 30 minutes.
Than coat in bread crumbs and bake for about 15-18 minutes.


LOW FAT PIZZA:
497 Calories for 2 serving.
1 serving : 248.5 calories
I know its not easy to let go of the junk that we used to put in our mouths.
I love homemade pizza, but its so high in calories :(
so today i came up with a low fat version of this delicious 'junk' food.
I know what you're thinking, that its not possible. But it is !!

Low Fat Pizza
Ingrediants:
(for the dough)
8 tbsp of Flour 
1/2 of yeast
1/2 tsp of sugar
a pinch of salt

(for the sauce)
1 small onion diced
1/4 cup of tomato puree
1 tbsp of tomato ketchup
2 cloved of garlic
a pinch of salt and black pepper
1 pinch of dried oregano and thyme

(For topping)
Chicken 50 grams
1/2 capsicum
1 medium onion
1 tbsp of shredded cheese (i used mozzarella)

For the dough
Mix yeast and sugar in 3-4 tsp of warm water.
Than add to the flour and salt to make a soft dough. add more warm water as needed.
Leave to rise for an hour.

For the sauce
Add all the ingrediants for the sauce in a pan with 1/2 cup of water. Cook till thick and saucy. Leave to cool

cut chicken in small chunks, add to a frying pan without any oil. Add salt and pepper, Move around till it cooks. Remove and leave to cool.

To assemble the pizza. spead the dough on butter paper, place the butter paper on a cookie sheet.
Spread sauce, chicken, Onion and capsicum.
Sprinkle with cheese and oregano. Bake for 20 minutes.
You can add more cheese if you like, but it would increase the calorie count.

Take out and Enjoy !

This whole pizza is of 497 calories. and this serves 2 people!

So for 1 serving its only 248.4 calories !!

Man oh man, i'm hyperventilating here :D
haha :D

To cut more calories you can just make it a vege pizza and skip the chicken.

Thats it for today.
I hope i havent bored you with such a big post.
I'll be sharing my weightloss journey with you guys every week.
and more not-so-healthy recipes for the people who are fortunate enough that they dont gain weight :)

See you !
Love xx











Saturday, 17 September 2011

Potato Salad



I was not a big fan of potato salad, never really made it at home.
I had this salad at a friend's house, one bite and i knew that i wanted the recipe. Thank u Mehreen Ehsan, I love you, and i am keeping this recipe forever :D
It is a little rich, but its super delicious.
Make it and try to stay away :P, i'm sure you wont succeed in doing that :D

So for this salad you'll need :
Potatoes : 3 large
Peas : 1/2 cup boiled
Mayonnaise : 4 tbsp
Cream : 3 tbsp
Salt : to taste
Black pepper : 1/2 tsp
White pepper : 1/4 tsp
Chinese salt :1/4 tsp
Lemon : a few drops

Method :


Boil potatoes (i know they r quite a alot it the picture, as i was boiling them for 2 dishes :D)

Peel and dice into 1 inch chunks...

...mash a few as well.

In a bowl add mayonnaise, cream, salt, pepper, chinese salt, white pepper and lemon juice..

mix.

Add both the potatoes and peas

Mix. Store in air tight container in a fridge until ready to serve.


Enjoy!!






Monday, 5 September 2011

Sweet Corn and Pasta Salad



This is a recipe that my mum came up with a few years back. I used to make a potato salad but she wanted something moist and a little sweet so she experimented by adding pineapple, apples, peas, pasta. It turned out absolutely delicious !


Ingredients:
Potato : 1 large boiled and diced
Sweet Corn : 1 can
Pasta : 1/2 packet boiled
Apple : 1 peeled and diced
Pineapple : 1/2 can
Mayonnaise : 4-5 tbsp
Cream : 4-5 tbsp
Salt : 1/4 tsp
Black pepper : 1/4 tsp
Sugar syrup(from the pineapple can) : 4-5 tbsp

( There is no hard and fast rule for Ingredient, You can alter them as per your liking!)
( Like if you dont have cream at home, You can only use mayo, You can use sugar syrup less or more etc)

Method :

Mix together Mayo, Cream, Salt , Pepper and sugar syrup. 

Add in everything else.

Mix thoroughly, Chill and serve !!








Tip : You can also add peas for the pop of color !

Submitting this recipe to Food of The Month Contest

Submitted this recipe to Sinful Delights

Submitting this recipe to Turning The Table