100 Calorie Flats Sandwich And Awards

Today I am posting a really delicious, yet super simple but highly satisfying sandwich - Taking it easy after the hectic 1 week-blog marathon :)

I had been to Sam’s last week and they usually run these little stall specials and I found Bobbi’s Humus (pronounced who-moosh, by the Greeks – also found out, during our recent visit there that they call it by another name –favosalata  and that this is not a Greek dish)

However, getting back to Bobbi’s garlic whomoosh, it was outta sight good and wanted to buy one container – but we are Sam’s people, nothing comes in ones – So we walked out with dubbas of it and a packed ot Sara Lee’s 100 calorie flat sandwich bread – These are my guilt-free lunches and I thought I could share it with you

In words

Ingredients

1 Sara Lee’s Flat Sandwich bread

1 tbsp of whomoosh – the best u can find – Sabra is a very good brand too

Cucumber sliced round

Tomatoes sliced thin

Pepper optional

Preparation

Toast the bread lightly in a toaster

Open the bread

Spread the whomoosh thoroughly on both sides

Add the cukes and tomatoes

And bit right into it

On the go – anytime favorite 

In Pictures

Le Flat



The Flat -replete with goodness :)

I want to thank Kaveri of Palakkad Chamayal http://palakkadcooking.blogspot.com/ and

Tahemeen of http://tahemeemshaik.blogspot.com/ for this lovely award - I feel blessed to have such wonderfully encouraging blogger friends :) Love ya!

Aloo Tikkis with Low Fat Cream Cheese (Potato Patties)

This is a recipe from a cook in a family friend’s house and he made this often when we were visiting – I always wondered how he got the cheese filling and this past weekend decided to give it a shot – The verdict was very positive and encouraging – Aww man these are the best aloo tikkis I’ve ever tasted – I am quoting my son here – but then he loves aloo and cheese and that in itself was a win-win-combo J This is a super easy and delicious anytime snack…Also considered street food/fast foods in India

In words

Ingredients: Makes about 25 tikkis

8-10 medium sized pink potatoes (boiled, peeled and mashed)

1 big red onion (chopped small)

5-6 green chilies (slit in thin long pieces)

Juice of 1 green lime (medium sized)

½ cup of crush cilantro

A pinch of Asafoetida

Salt to taste

1 – 8-ounce container of low fat Philadelphia cream cheese (I used about ¾ of the container only)

¼ cup each of rice flour and gram flour and a pinch of salt –make a dilute mix of these for dipping

Bread crumbs

Oil to fry

Preparation

 In a bowl mash the potatoes

Add the juice of the squeezed lime to the onions

Add the chilies and salt and mix it all well together

Get the oil heated and ready

Make a lemon sized ball in your palm and make a wide shallow dip in the middle

Take t tsp of cream cheese and put it in the dip

Take a small amount of the potato mush and flatten over the cheese to act as a lid, so to speak.

Now pat it around and flatten to make patty

Now dip the patty in the flour dilution

Roll nicely in the bread crumbs

Drop in the oil and fry

This is a very easy procedure once you get going – like a production line – Like for all recipes, it is good to get yourself organized with everything, before starting the frying process. It is incredibly irresistible and the cheese in the middle is an unexpected treat J 

Serve it up Hot - with ketchup or chutney and salad– Can be enjoyed plain as well

In Pictures

Add the ingredients


Mix well


Make the dip in the middle


Add the Cream Cheese


Cover it up


Two sets ready to go


Dip in batter


Roll in the bread crumbs


Fry one for starters then by fours


Check out the inside


Serve like this -  A 3-D effect


or like this :)

This is the 7^th and last recipe for the week long blogging marathon and I am sending this to Bookmarked Tuesday recipes run by Aipi of US Masala and Priya of Mharo Rajasthan

Linking this also to Srivalli's Kids delight - Street Food Event, Taste of Pearl City's Anyone can cook event

http://tasteofpearlcity.blogspot.com/2010/09/any-one-can-cook-new-weekly-event.html

http://spicingyourlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/announcing-kids-delight-street-food.html

And Torview's Food Palette Brown http://torviewtoronto.blogspot.com/2011/02/food-palette-series-brown.html

Check out...
Bhagi Pavani Champa, Padma, Sowmya, Gayathri, Harini, Minu, Meena, Priya Suresh, Rujuta, Saraswati, Santosh, Savitha, PJ, Shobana, Smitha, Priya Vasu, Usha, Veena, Kamalika, Jayashree M, and Srivalli, who has started this wonderfully challenging event :)
last but not least Suma of Veggie Platter

Fresh Fruit Tart and 100th Post

Happy VALENTINES DAY Everybody!
What better way to spend a this day dedicated to love by none other than Hallmark ;)) This will be the first part of the second segment of my guest event with Jan Silverman - And talk about lucky coincidences This is also  my 100th Post - 3-1/2 months and 100 recipes - No sweeter way to celebrate than with this tart - Thank all my friends who follow this blog for all the love and encouragement -Love you!

Jan in my Kitchen

Today, Jan will share with us one of her 3 most celebrated recipes, the one that established to us in the very beginning of our friendship that she had the sweet and masterly hand-le over her desserts :) It was so much fun to hang and be the Chef's assistant and learn the tricks of the trade, cutting the fruits just so and finding the right matches to put on the tart... . My kids and I could not stop raving about how truly delicious this tart.  I am as always adding my "in Pictures" tutorial 

Up close and personal :)

CRUST:
1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 cup ground pecans

1 stick butter melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all ingredients and press into 9  inch to 11 inch tart pan, making crust very thin.  Bake 10 minutes until light brown.  Cool before spreading filling.

The crushed Walnuts


In the pan


spread thin and evenly


FILLING:

1 (8 oz.) container light whipped cream cheese

1-2 tablespoons almond liqueur

1/2  cup whipping cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

In large bowl, blend together cream cheese and almond liqueur.  In small bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, whip the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold whipped cream into cream cheese mixture.  Using a flat knife,  spread onto tart crust.

FRUIT TOPPING:

3-4 fresh peaches or nectarines, sliced

3/4 cup fresh sliced strawberries or whole raspberries, washed and dried

1/4 cup fresh blueberries, washed and dried

1 peeled, thinly sliced kiwi

2 tablespoons apple or apricot jelly (for glazing)


Arrange fruit on top of tart in a decorative pattern. 

The decoration begins with the peaches


The strawberries make their appearance


The Blueberries form the middle of the flower


The kiwis lend a little green :)


Here it is before the glaze..

GLAZING

In a small saucepan, heat jelly over low heat until just warm.  Using a pastry  brush, spread glaze over top of fruit to preserve color. 

Refrigerate finished tart.

Post Glazed look
This is day 5 of the week long blogging marathon and I am doing this 26 other lovely bloggers -
Bhagi Pavani Champa, Padma, Sowmya, Gayathri, Harini, Minu, Meena, Priya Suresh, Rujuta, Saraswati, Santosh, Savitha, PJ, Shobana, Smitha, Priya Vasu, Usha, Veena, Kamalika, Jayashree M, and Srivalli, who has started this wonderfully challenging event :)
last but not least Suma of Veggie Platter

Senidng this to Tate Bud's Cooking with fruits event http://tastebuds1.blogspot.com/2011/01/cooking-with-fruits-event.html

Also to Kaarasaram Reva's AWED Event http://www.kaarasaaram.com/2011/02/announcing-awed-british.html

Pumpkin-Black Bean and Corn Curried Enchiladas

This is a very popular Mexican dish. it's easy to make and can be made as healthy as you want it to be..
As you can see, I am trying to exhaust all my frozen pumpkin packs. This was our Super Bowl special and I must say it was an easy one and as always the intent was to make it as healthy as possible – truly that does not take much – you know … Go easy on the cheese and practically no oil needed…I also made a corn enchilada which I am giving the recipe for as well.

Pumpkin & Black Bean Enchiladas in Green Sauce

In Words

Ingredients for Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas

2 cups of cubed pumpkins

2 cans of black beans washed and drained

3 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of diced tomatoes

4-5 green chilies (not for the faint-hearted)

2 dried red cayenne peppers (optional

2 tbsp of chopped cilantro

1tsp of cumin

1 tsp of rasam powder (optional)

1 can of Enchilada –verde sauce (green)

1 tsp of olive oil

Corn Curried Enchiladas in Red Sauce

For Corn Curried Enchiladas

1 medium sized pack of frozen baby corn

1 mediun sized red onion

2-3 green chilies (adjust to taste)

1 tbsp medium hot salsa (I used President’s Choice)

½ cup of grated Mozzarella and Sharp cheddar grated

I tsp olive oil

6 Tortillas – I bought multi grain ones  - Each about 130 calories

And 1 cup of grated cheese to sprinkle on before baking

Preparation of Pumpkin Black Bean Enchiladas

Thaw the pumpkin – If you are using fresh ones, microwave-cook them until soft.

In a sauté pan, heat the oil and add the spices and throw in the pumpkins

Let it cook well. Add the black beans and cook together adding required amount of salt

NOTE: You can either stuff as is or blend it which is what I did

Prepare the Corn Curry similarly –

Thaw the Corn

Allow 1 tsp of oil to heat, add the chopped onions and green chilies and cumin

Add the corn and allow them to cook.

Add the salsa just before you are ready to remove from flame

But don’t add the cheese until you are ready to wrap…

Blend and set aside in a bowl

In the open fire, lightly toast the tortillas – if you have an electric stove, do so on a pan

Set oven at 350 degrees

Making Oven ready

Lay the first tortilla in a baking pan- spread stuffing and fold – I made a simple half-fold for the pumpkin ones – the corn ones lent themselves to a total rolling wrap – if that even makes sense…

I split them up as 4 tortillas per kind.

Once they are laid on the baking pan

Pour the green sauce on the black bean ones and the red sauce on the corny ones

Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly and bake for 20 minutes

Now Serving… Hot! Hot! Hot!

In Pictures

Sautee


Grind


Get the Cheese grated and good to go


Add the paste to the lightly toasted tortilla


Add the Green Sauce


Oven Ready


Sautee


Stuffed and oven ready

This is day 5 of the week long blogging marathon and I am doing this 24 other lovely bloggers -
Bhagi Pavani Champa, Padma, Sowmya, Gayathri, Harini, Minu, Meena, Priya Suresh, Rujuta, Saraswati, Santosh, Savitha, PJ, Shobana, Smitha, Priya Vasu, Usha, Veena, Kamalika, Jayashree M, and Srivalli, who has started this wonderfully challenging event :)
last but not least Suma of Veggie Platter 

Sending this to My affair with Legumes Hosted by Sandhya's Kitchen 

Bananes avec Café et Yogourt

Sorry to go all French on you, but does it not sound a whole lot better than Bananas with coffee and yogurt? This is a concoction I got from all recipes.com By far one of the healthiest desserts you can come up with, and in a matter of 5 minutes FLAT – I am serious – Dun’t get better than this peeps. Got company and don’t want to fret about dessert, this is your baby. Easy, breezy dessert, healthy and endlessly satisfying!!
This is an extremely kid friendly dessert, snack if you substitute the coffee with chocolat and minus the little Kahlua I mixed in for added “flavor” – Pardonez moi (hic) – Just kidding But you can have this sneaky dessert with your man/woman after the kids are in bed- just try saying the name with a French accent to create the “a deux” mood, if you know what I mean …hey it’s French, one’s got to put le twist romantique to it, n’est pas?
Ok – all kidding aside, here goes.



Ingredients Serves - 4
5 Bananas
2 cups of plain low fat Yogurt
1 tbsp instant coffee powder (can be substituted with chocolate powder)
1tbsp hot water
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
1tbsp Kahlua (optional)
Agave and slivered almonds for dressing

Preparation
With a fork, mush 4 bananas into a bowl
Add the coffee powder in hot water and stir in with the mashed bananas
Beat the yogurt smooth

Take a glass, add a table spoon of the mush and top with a tablespoon of yogurt, add a sprinkle of the sugar and repeat a second time

Take the fork and swirl the yogurt around if you want a marble effect

Take the last banana, cur into round thins and decorate on top. Add a few slivered almonds and drizzle a tiny bit of agave.

Keep in the fridge and serve cold. A delicious dessert for about 150 calories – Can you ask for better? Enjoy with loved ones.

and pssst... never let on as to how cinchy this is to prepare.


Close up of the layers


Without agave


With Agave


One last look :)

This is day 4 of the week long blogging marathon and I am doing this 24 other lovely bloggers -
Bhagi Pavani Champa, Padma, Sowmya, Gayathri, Harini, Minu, Meena, Priya Suresh, Rujuta, Saraswati, Santosh, Savitha, PJ, Shobana, Smitha, Priya Vasu, Usha, Veena, Kamalika, Jayashree M, and Srivalli, who has started this wonderfully challenging event :)

Sending this to Taste bud's - cooking with fruits event -http://tastebuds1.blogspot.com/2011/01/cooking-with-fruits-event.html