Mid Week Delights

Honey Mustard Dressing

Summer is here and Salad is the main attraction.Dressings that bind the salad give the salad a wonderful flavor.Here is a quick and easy dressing for any great salad.It incorporates Honey and Mustard.

Ingredients

• 1tbsp French Mustard
• 1tbsp Honey
• 2tsp lemon juice
• 6tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Start off by placing the mustard, honey and the lemon juice in a bowl and gently whisk. Continue whisking and pour in the Olive Oil until all well combined.Season with salt,pepper and drizzle over salad.

The sweetness of the honey combined with the sharp pungent mustard - a lovely Golden treat.

A Wordless Wednesday ...

..... a wordless Wednesday and my holy basil

Summer & Salads

Craving Cold food,Ice candy,Watermelons,Peaches,Salad - Summer is here.Summer and Salads there is something about them.

"Summer" it just begs you for something easy,light, cold & colorful.

Try this salad for your Picnic or Cookout.

A Quick and Easy Chilled Pasta Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Parsley,chopped
• 1 cup Fusilli or corkscrew pasta
• 10-12 grape or cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup steamed or canned corn
• 1/4 cup steamed green peas
• 1/4 cup red onions or salad onions
• 1/4 cup button mushrooms,boiled
• 1/4 cup tofu
• 1/2tsp oregano,dried
• 2tsps Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

To start off with : Heat a large covered sauce pot of salted water and bring it to a boil on high.Add pasta to boiling water and cook as label directs.

Meanwhile,microwave the tofu for 1-2minutes at 500watts. Once done add in a teaspoon of Olive oil,Oregano and season with a little salt & pepper.Let them rest for a couple of minutes.

Next in a bowl,combine the red onions,cherry tomatoes,corn,peas,mushrooms and the marinated tofu.Drain pasta and and add it to the salad bowl with the rest and mix well by adding 1tsp of Olive oil, check for seasoning and garnish generously with Parsley.

Serve chilled.You could add any of these variations to your salad:

• Cucumber
• Bell Peppers
• Olives
• Capers
• or Greek Feta cheese

.... isn't it tempting ?? :)

"Eat your colors" you're always told and now is the perfect time & I love the summer colors and nothing more delightful than having a plate of the colors to enjoy the outdoors.

..Getting Started

It’s finally getting done! :D And i'm almost there... a BLOG. You mite want to know what it is about and *much,much* more. Who am I? What do I/ We do? And while you are waiting ………

Let's start at the very beginning
A very good place to start
When you read you begin with A-B-C
When you sing you begin with do-re-mi

And when you want some thing quick and easy you say S-O-U-P-Y :D

Go ahead and try this!

A hearty Bean soup.

I really, really,really love Soups. There I said it :D

There are numerous varieties of Soups available in todays market( now thats for one of those lazziiee days ). But then when we can make it better and fresher and so much more delectable at home why go and reach for the can?

With ingredients for this soup being available all year its easy, colorful,fresh,lively and has a lovely texture.A simple supper or a main course soup the beans in it gives an amazing depth.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

• 2tbsp-Olive oil
• 1/2tsp-Garlic powder
• 1/4tsp-Cumin powder
• 1/4tsp-Coriander powder
• 1/4tsp-Paprika
• 1/4tsp-Sugar
• 1bay leaf
• Salt to taste
• 2-Onion
• 2-Carrot
• 2-3-Tomatoes, medium sized
• 4-5 Chard leaves
• 750ml-Vegetable stock
• 1Can(appox.200gms) - Cannellini Beans / White Beans
• 3-4tsp of Parmigiano-Reggiano
• A small bunch of Coriander to garnish

Lets get started, here is how i make it :

• Begin by adding the Olive oil to the Pot over medium heat.
• Add the bay leaf,roughly chopped onions,carrots and stir them around until they are soft,but not brown.
• Next goes the tomatoes and the sugar.Bring the heat to a medium low stir occasionally for the next 5minutes until the tomatoes are soft.
• Once the tomatoes are soft add the Spices- garlic,cumin,coriander,paprika and give it a quick stir and pour the stock in ( or stock cubes if using them )
• When the stock comes to a boil add the beans,the chard leaves and salt to taste and let it simmer for 5 -7minutes. (If using canned beans rinse a couple of times or you can soak a cup of white beans over night in water.Next morning drain the water from the soaked white beans,rinse and add fresh water and place the beans with fresh water in a large bottomed pan and bring it to a boil, lower the heat and simmer on medium heat until cooked or to speed up the process use a pressure cooker)
• Add the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and garnish it with fresh Coriander leaves...YUM

To Serve: Generously ladle the Soup in a bowl crack some Black pepper and enjoy it with a ciabatta or a slice of fresh baguette with a couple of drops of Olive oil over it.