Crunchy Snack balls – Guest Post from Sridevi

Its day 5 and there is one more energy balls recipe, this time it is from Sridevi – Coconut Craze. During my Initial days of blogging I was checking my wordpress reader and saw Sridevi’s post notification, the word coconut intrigued me to visit her space, and from that day onwards her blog has become one of my regular blogs to visit. Her food pics speaks a lot, I adore her recipe collections some of her baked recipes are in my to do list. She is very friendly and gave me great support ever since my initials days and till date. Though she was busy when I asked for Guest post Sridevi allocated sometime and sent me this post. Crunchy snacks balls are waiting, over to Sridevi,

I have a sweet little treat as a guest post for Vidya Srinivasan of Traditionally Modern Food. Vidya, is a very enthusiastic blogger and has presented us with many wonderful recipes. I appreciate her friendliness and hard work. She has been encouraging me with suggestions and comments which helped me improve my posts considerably. I like her baked recipes that have a traditional element in it. She gives them a modern twist making them less oily and yummy. When she asked me to do a guest post for her, I was in the middle of some activities. I managed to squeeze in some time and came up with this easy recipe.

She suggested a kid friendly recipe and I thought of all things kids can hold in their hands, carry around and eat. My foremost concern was to make it nutritional. I wanted to try something without any artificial additives. It should be attractive to children, easy to make and delicious. I had a lot of things to consider. Honestly, it made me scratch my head and think a bit. Finally, I came up with this ladoo. Hope you like it!

facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Coconut-craze/281334571966246

Energizer ladoos

Imagine a guilt free snack! A snack that is handy and provide energy to play for a long time!

These crunchy snack balls will provide you all of the above. They are gluten free and refined sugar free if you do not use powdered sugar to decorate. This is a convenient snack to can grab and go!

I developed this recipe inspired by a snack ball we make at home. It is from a mix called avalouse podi made using rice flour, coconut and cumin seeds, fried to a grainy texture.  Back home, it is our homemade breakfast cereal that is eaten with sugar and slices of banana. They also make it into snack balls adding melted brown sugar or honey.

I thought it was an appropriate snack and tried to add a few more ingredients to enhance it. When I took a bite, I was reminded of my aunt who makes them when we go on vacation to our grandmother’s house.

For simplicity, I took equal quantities of most ingredients. You may increase or decrease it as desired.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup rice
• 1/4 cup oats rolled or steel cut oats
• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/4 cup dry coconut
• 1/4 cup almonds
• 12-15 pitted dates
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• honey to bind

Method:

1. Soak pitted dates in water for 20 minutes.
2. Chop soaked dates into small bits.
3. Take a heavy bottom pan and roast oats, rice and quinoa each separately until golden brown.
4. Toast grated dry coconut. (If it is fresh coconut, grate it finely and toast with rice until it becomes dry.)
5. Add raw almonds and chopped dates to the roasted ingredients and pulse it in a blender in small batches.
6. Powder it to get a coarse texture.
7. Mix the powder with coconut oil.
8. Add enough honey to the mixture to make it moist enough to hold.
9. Roll them in your hand into small balls.

I made 16 balls with this mixture. They harden after they rest a while. Store them in air tight containers or in a refrigerator for weeks. You feel a satisfactory crunch when you chew it.

Sprinkle powdered sugar for an attractive coating or dust with chocolate powder if your kids like it.

This is exclusively a kid friendly snack but if you have a kid in you, go ahead and enjoy it! When I made this at home, surprisingly, it was the oldest member in the house who loved it the most. So there is no age limit to taste one and run back for more!

Thanks you for inviting me and having me post in your space, Vidya!

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Oats Quinoa Balls – Guest post from Malar

Day 2 of my guest post series and today its from Malar, neither my blog nor my immediate family needs intro for her. WordPress gave us intro and initially we started talking through comments, but within no time it has changed to a stage where almost every week we started talking over the phone and most of the days during our one hour talk (may be more if my son didn’t wake up during his nap) we seldom talks about blog. As Malar mentioned below during our initial days we both decided to do guest post in each other’s space, but taking advantage of our friendship kept postponing, finally “March” has become a auspicious month for both of us to write a post for each other (oh yes, can see my post in Malar’s page in sometime). I can continue writing about Malar and her space but its time to handover to Malar:-)

Over to Malar,

Hi I am Malar , so excited to do a guest post for Vidya’s Traditionally Modern Food, a fabulous blog. My blog is Malar’s Kitchen. You can find various Indian recipes along with few other cuisine recipes. I have a lot of chettinad recipes too, if it might excite you.

Vidya and myself, we started following each other during our initials days of blogging, eventually we got along so well. From blogging she turned out to be a very good friend of mine. We chit chat a lot, just not blogging many personal stuffs too  It was long time back we decided that we should do guest post for each other and being friends, we took enough advantage of postponing 😉 Finally I am here with a guest post for her with Oats Quinoa Balls. Few details on my blog.

Blog link: https://malarmuthu.wordpress.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Malars-Kitchen/1516965231871483

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/vijimalar/recipe/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/malarskitchen

Hopping on to the recipe…..

Ingredients:

Oats – 1 cup

Quinoa – ¼ cup

Water – ¾ cup

Flax seeds – ¼ cup

Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Dry Fruits – 1/3 cup (I have used cranberries)

Jaggery – ½ cup (Can be replaced by sugar)

Method:

• Dry roast Oats for 3 to 4 mins, until nice aroma rises.
• Dry roast flax seeds for 2 mins.
• Now powder oats and flax seeds either together or separately.
• Clean quinoa and cook with water in high for 6 mins, simmer for 12 mins.
• Switch off when quinoa turns fluffy and soft.
• Heat jaggery with just enough water to bring it to boiling state.
• Now mix all of the together along with dry fruits and vanilla extract.
• Form a nice dough. Make small balls out of it.
• Healthy oats quinoa balls are ready. Place in an airtight container in fridge stay well up to 20 days.
• You can add any sort of dry fruits, cashews, almonds, walnuts. I wanted to use up my cranberries , so I have used only this 

Pumpkin Buns – Guest post from Swapna’s Kitchen

Its guest post day :-)Today we have Swapna from Swapna’s Kitchen. It makes me feel good when people write a post for me, happy to have such sweet friends around 🙂

Couple of months ago I happen to come across Swapna’s page. I am a big fan of her homestyle recipes, and having a sweet tooth, lot of her sweet recipes are in my to-do list.  I know she is a mom so I approached her for toddler friendly Recipes. She immediately told yes and asked if I am looking for anything specific, and I was happy to let her choose one for me. Swapna gave a list of recipes and I choose Pumpkin buns, as my Son is having sweet tooth like Mother and likes Pumpkin puree:-) She has a lot of sweet words about me:-)

Over to Swapna

When Vidya mailed me for a guest post I was really shocked for I could not believe how a person who has achieved so much in blogging could trust a new blogger like me.This is my first guest post here.I really wanted to give my best for the trust she had on me.I am so glad to have her as my friend here.I love all her traditional recipes especially the Poondu Kulambu and Karadaiyan Adai.

I am a big fan of her Microwave oven recipes . I guess its time for me to start making them at home for I have gained lot of weight after starting this food blog..I really want to thank Vidya for giving me this opportunity to let me write on her space.

After mailing her some few recipes she selected Pumpkin buns for her cute little son loves pumpkin puree .So this post is especially made for her little boy who loves Pumpkin and his mother who loves him….

Fb Link:https://www.facebook.com/swapnaskitchenofficialpage?ref=hl

 

PUMPKIN BUNS

INGREDIENTS

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp melted butter

1/2 cup warm milk

2 tbsp warm water

1/4 tsp salt

3-5 tbsp all purpose flour for kneading the dough

FOR PROOFING YEAST

2 tbsp warm milk

1/4 tsp sugar

2 & 1/4 tsp yeast

METHOD

Pressure cook the pumpkin for a whistle,grind them and keep it aside.Add  1/2 tsp of sugar to  warm milk and add the yeast to it.The yeast will rise in few mins.

In a large mixing glass bowl,add sugar,warm milk and 1/2 cup warm pumpkin puree.Then add melted butter ,yeast and mix them well.

Add the all purpose flour little by little (1/4 cup) and mix them well until a mild sticky dough is formed.Now transfer the dough to your work space ,sprinkle some flour and start kneading the dough for 15 mins.

Place the dough in a glass bowl and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it in a warm place for an hour until it doubles in volume.

Transfer the dough to your work space and knead it for  2 mins to remove the air bubbles.Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll each part into a ball.Place the balls in a baking dish and cover it with a plastic wrap.Leave it for 30 mins to rise again.

Bake at 350 degree F for 15-20 mins or until the tops are lightly brown.Brush the top of the buns with melted butter.

Banana Wheat Pancake ( Banana Gothumai Dosai)

As I have mentioned in my earlier post,  In recent times Pancakes has become one of the common breakfast. Though I generally prepare Whole Wheat Pancake for my son, in the mission of adding some fruits  into his diet tried Pancakes with banana Checkout my other pancakes Eggless Pancake Strawberry Whole Wheat Pancake Cornmeal Pancake

Banana Pancake:

Preparation Time : 5 mins | Resting Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 15 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category: Breakfast

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients

Wheat Flour – 1 cup

Cinnamon powder – 1/4 tsp

Baking powder – 2 tsp

Honey/White Sugar/Brown Sugar – 2 tbsp (Adjust according to your taste, I used brown sugar)

Salt – 1/4 tsp

Wet Ingredients:

Banana –  1 (1/2 cup mashed)

Egg – 1

Milk – 1 cup + 4 tbsp (I used 2% milk)

Vanilla extract – 1/4 tsp

Olive oil/butter – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp (for the batter)

Butter –  1 tbsp (Unsalted,  Melted at room temperature)

Method:

• In a bowl add all the dry Ingredients; mix well and Set aside
• In a separate bowl beat the eggs well; add milk banana puree, melted butter and vanilla extract; whisk well
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir gently.  Set batter aside for 10 minutes

• Heat an iron skillet or a non-stick pan on low to medium heat. Reduce heat to low and pour a ladle full of batter in the center of the pan. Do not spread the batter. Allow it to spread on its own. Add little butter around the edges. Cook the pancake on low medium heat for half a minute or until bubbles appear over the pancake

• When the pancake turns to a nice golden shade, flip it over and cook for half a minute and transfer to the serving plate
• Serve warm, topped with butter/honey/Maple Syrup/Powdered Sugar/Caramel syrup/butterscotch syrup/Fruit syrup

My Notes:

• For eggless version add 2 bananas instead of one
• If you are resting the batter for a long time drizzle some tbsp of milk to reach the desired consistency
• All purpose flour can be used instead of whole wheat
• Cardamom powder can be added for flavoring

Baked Quinoa Croquettes – Guest Post from Anupama

Its guest post day, and today we have Anupama from Easy bites Online. Social media is playing a great role in finding new people, I happened to see Anupama’s post in a FB group and started visiting her space. I am a big fan of her healthy recipes. I  apporached her to do a guest post for Toddler friendly recipes, she instantly agreed and here is her healthy snacks.

Anupama says,

Quinoa, although less known, this super grain is making a definite way into our lives, rightly so if you ask me. Packed with all the eight essential amino acids (and thereby a complete protein), fiber, magnesium, phosphorous and iron, quinoa has made its way for sure into my kitchen.

Nearly every meal of ours entails either rice or wheat, our habitual grains. I am aware that to bring in quinoa can be tricky especially with picky toddlers!

When Vidya Srinivasan, from Traditionally Modern Food, asked me for a toddler-friendly guest post on her blog, I could not refuse; not because I find it hard to say ‘No’ to anyone, but because being such a professional, enthusiastic blogger, lovely and a thoughtful person that she is, I simply could not bring myself to say no. I feel this has opened up another channel to know Vidya and her wonderful blog better. Do visit her blog for numerous delicious, healthy recipes.

I decided this would be another opportunity to bring in quinoa and make it toddler-friendly!

An eye-catching finger food presented to hungry kids after school is sure to entice them to dig in. As anticipated, the array of Baked Quinoa Croquettes sitting at the table with some ketchup, drew my kids to it. They simply grabbed one each, dug into the dip and ‘puff’ it was gone.

These are baked, however, can be deep-fried too.

Website : http://easybitesonline.com

Google Plus : https://plus.google.com/+AnuNagarajaebo

Facebook : http://facebook.com/blogebo

Twitter : http://twitter.com/@easybitesonline/

Pinterest : http://pinterest.com/anagarajakumar

Ingredients:

cooked quinoa – 1/2 cup

cooked mashed or cooked grated potato – 3/4 cup

paneer – 1/4 cup (Indian cottage cheese)

finely chopped onion – 1/2 cup

finely chopped green bell pepper – 1/4 cup

garlic – 1 clove chopped fine

ginger – 1 tsp grated fine

fresh mint leaves – 6-8 roughly chopped

fresh coriander chopped fine – 2 tbsp

raisins, roughly chopped cashews – couple of tbsp as stuffing (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

lemon juice – 2 tsp (or to taste)

corn slurry prepared using a tbsp of corn flour mixed in 1 tbsp of water

bread crumbs prepared using brown bread powdered in a blender

olive oil – few tsp to drizzle over and to grease the tray

Method:

– First cook quinoa as per the instructions on the pack.

– Add this 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa to a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients.

– Mix everything well. it should come together nicely like a dough.

– Now take small portions of the mixture of the size of a golf ball.

– Flatten it over your palm using your fingers.

– Place a couple of raisins and cashew pieces (if preferred). cover this up by bringing together the mixture all around and over the stuffing. make a ball shaped croquette.

– Now, dip this in cornflour slurry, then roll over bread crumbs to cover all over. Pat gently all over to allow bread crumbs to stick well.

– Place this on a plate or tray. Repeat the same with the rest of the mixture.

– Pre-heat the oven to 190 deg C.

– Allow these balls to sit for 10-15 min. this will allow the corn flour to harden a bit. This will ensure that the balls do not open up when deep-fried. It retains its shape well too when baked.

-Now drizzle over or brush gently some olive oil over each of the balls.

-Place them on a lined, greased baking tray.

-Bake them for 22-25 min or until nicely browned up.

-Serve with ketchup.

Notes:

Since this is meant for kids, green chili has not been used. but if tolerated, can be used.

If preferred, the cornflour slurry can also be seasoned with salt and pepper powder.

The finer you chop the vegetables, the easier it will be to prepare balls.

Stuffing with raisins, nuts is optional. if stuffing is not preferred, make smaller balls.

Keep an eye on the bake.

Allow it to cool slightly before you attempt to remove from the tray. Use a flat plastic ladle to gently dislodge it from the tray.

Black Bean Soup

 

Couple of days back, one of my relatives pinged me and asked have you tried “Black bean soup”. I thought why it didn’t it strike my mind, and told her no. She told her co-sister prepares a delicious ” Black Bean Soup” and sent me the recipe. Based on the ingredients I had in my home I altered the recipe and here is my version

Checkout other soup varieties,

• Sugar Snap Peas Soup
• Creamy Broccoli Soup
• Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

Black bean – 3/4 cup

Yellow bell pepper – 1

Onion – 1 , big

Tomato – 1

Bay leaf – 1

Cumin powder – 1/4 tsp

Coriander powder – 1 tsp

Red chilli powder – 1/2 tsp (Adjust according to your taste)

Pergo Tomato garlic basil sauce – 3 tbsp

Water – as needed

Butter – 1 tsp

Olive oil – 1 tsp

Kosher Salt – as needed

Cheese – 2 tbsp

Method:

• Wash and Soak the black bean in warm water for 2-3 hours and drain the water. Pressure cook the black bean with 1:2 water for 2 whistles and after the stream releases naturally strain the water

• Add oil and butter to the pan, and when its hot add onion; sauté till the onions are translucent. Add tomato and bell pepper and cook till the tomatoes get mushy

• Add the cooked black bean and mix well. Add pergo sauce, coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder and mix well;cook for 3-5 minutes

• Remove the bay leaf and after the mixture comes to room temperature, blend them into fine paste and transfer it to the pan

• Add water according to the consistency you desire and cook till the soup thickens. Add cheese and cook till the cheese melts, switch off and enjoy the warm soup

My Notes

• Instead of kosher salt, regular salt can also be used
• Instead of pergo sauce, you can use one garlic pod, one more tomato
• Can be served with sour cream instead of cheese

Banana Pudding

I am not a big fan of Banana but I don’t want my son to be like me. Like I mentioned in Oatmeal Banana Cookie, my son is very picky when it comes to fruit. If I give him smoothie he refuses to drink so I started preparing this. To my surprise this texture worked. When he was getting his molar he refused everything I gave, luckily few worked and this banana pudding was one among them

Banana Pudding

Ingredients:

Banana -1

Milk – 1 cup

Corn flour – 3 tsp

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Method:

• Put all the ingredients into a mixie jar and grind them smooth without adding water
• Transfer the mixture into the pan and cook in medium heat till the mixture thickens for about 5 -7 minutes.  Serve it warm or chil (I keep in fridge for an hour and give him)

My Notes:

• Can add sugar while cooking the pudding or honey while serving

Spinach Roti – Guest post from Sandhya

Today we have a toddler friendly recipe from Sandhya – Sandhya’s kitchen. I got connected with Sandhya through Social media.  Sandhya is sweet person, and being a mom she shares lots of tips. After starting toddler friendly recipes, I thought of asking few moms I met in this blogging world and Sandhya was one among them.  I am a big fan of her food photography and her yummy dishes. Sandhya gave me few options, and Spinach roti was my favorite! Over to sandhya. A fortnight ago, like every morning, after sending my elder one to school, I was sipping my morning tea. I was having some time for myself checking my emails, facebook , news and so forth. I read a message from Vidya about doing a guest post in her space , specially for toddlers. She such a lovely and warm person , I have known e-socially over the last couple of months .How can I refuse ? I had no second thought as I knew I was going to do that. Thank you for giving me all the time in the world and let do this interesting delight at my pace. We are a family who love to have a mixed variety in a meal all through the week. I am sure, in this modern world most people would. Our diet varies from Palakad South Indian cooking to a North Indian Paratha, Curry  to  a Pasta Bake and what not? Guess this post will have a never ending page, if I have to list the elaborate choices we have. I have grown up eating my mum’s super soft flame baked phulka’s literally every day, either for my school lunch or a meal at home. This has been one of my comfort meal any day. Undoubtedly we love our regular flame baked phulka’s with any dry vegetable curry or may b dal or paneer delicacies or if pulse arenas. We love spinach and its richess in iron is definitely something that makes us include in our diet ritually. When it comes to kids, getting my son V eat his spinach in gravy or a molagutal ( southindian lentil coconut curry) is slightly tricky. Knowing his love for Parathas , I decided to use them in the dough. It was a complete win win situation, as all the required spinach is being consumed and yet there no complain from the boy of 7 years. All that he tells me is that the Green Chapathi is Yumm. This is an easy way of sneaking the greens into our diet using the whole wheat spinach phulka’s.

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sandhyas-Kitchen/141608849189963

Pintrest- https://www.pinterest.com/sandhyaskitchen/sandhya-s-kitchen/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/sandhyaskitchen

Instagram- https://instagram.com/sandhyaskitchen/

Palak Phulka Makes 20-22 Nos INGREDIENTS

Whole Wheat Flour	2 Cups
Spinach ( Palak )	130g
Water	¼ Cup + a few tablespoons
Ginger	½ Inch
Cumin Powder	1 Tsp
Salt	¾ -1 Tsp
Mango ( Amchur ) Powder  ( Optional)	½ Tsp
Green Chillies ( Optional)	1 -2 No’s
Sunflower Oil  or Oil of your choice	1 Tbsp.
Ghee	As desired.

* Cup size us IKEA plastic cup

DIRECTIONS

• In a large pot, heat some water and add the spinach leaves along with some salt. Allow them to blanch for 5-6 minutes. Drain the hot water from the spinach leaves and run them under cold tap water.

• Grind the spinach leaves along with ginger and make a fine puree. This puree approximately came up to ¾ Cup. Add very little water if required. **In case you are not making it for kids, you can include green chillies to grind along with the spinach leaves.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the spinach puree, wheat flour, salt, cumin powder and mango powder and start kneading. Add a little more water as you knead until you achieve soft pliable dough. Splash the oil onto your hands and the remaining on the dough and knead until we have a clean bowl. Set the dough aside for 20 Minutes or so.

• Divide the dough into 20 equal portions. Pick one portion of dough at a time, dust some flour and spread them with the roller into thin phulkas. Heat a non-stick pan / tava and cook each phulka on the pan slightly for a few minutes until you start to see some bubbles. Flip the phulka and cook for another a minute or so . Now put the phulka on the flame carefully , watch them begin to puff up slowly. Flip it and allow it puff up on the other side as well.  Remove from the flame and apply some ghee, if you like. Pile them into a casserole and serve them along with a paneer curry or just some yogurt and pickle.

• ** Incase you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.
• When you are serving the kids, you may let them roll and enjoy it as it is or dunk it in some yogurt.

 VARIATIONS: I tried filling some mashed potatoes inside the spinach phulka dough and served it like a paratha to my son. It came out really well and flavours were very mild and lovable. NOTES:

• If you like your phulkas with a ting of heat, include the green chillies while grinding the spinach leaves.  Do avoid if you are cooking for little ones.
• Mango powder is optional. I love the slight hint of tanginess.
• In case you do not want to flame bake it, you may cook for a few more minutes on the pan. Put a gentle pressure using a flat spatula on each side and then set them aside in a casserole to keep it warm.

Minestrone Soup – Guest post from Vidhya – Vidhya Vegetarian Kitchen

I have recently started Toddler friendly recipe page and have mentioned about the guest post from Moms. Today we have a guest, My very good friend Srividhya from Vidhya’s Vegetarian Kitchen. Ever since we knew each other I have a good rapport with her. More than blogging, I remember having lot of general and personal chat with her. Usually if I have any doubts about the food I give for my toddler or any general toddler related questions  she is one among few with whom I discuss. I told about this guest post and she instantly accepted, gave me three options and being a Minestrone soup fan I opted for this recipe.

Vidhya’s Postpartum Recipes, Festive special, Leftover Ideas, Neivediyams/Prasadams are some of my favorites. Her simple style of cooking and expressive intro about recipes are something I love about her space. I have a big list of todo recipes from her space. I can continue writing about SriVidhya but soup is waiting

Sri says,

When Vidya asked me for guest post, I was really elated and humbled and when the theme was “Toddler food” I couldn’t say no for sure. Also when Vidya asks, how can this Vidhya say No? 🙂 Vidya was my first virtual friend from the food blogging community. What do I say about her and her blog? The blog name says it all – Traditionally Modern Food. I love all her recipes and especially the baked versions of thattai, vadai and other delicacies. Its in my todo list and will be trying them soon. I got a chance to meet her also. A fun person to be with and the other thing that I like about her is she readily shares her tips that she follows for posting and stuff. Now tell me who will do that?? I am glad to find a friend for life. Wishing her good luck for all her future endeavours.

Now coming to the recipe, I have mentioned many times in my blog that my kiddo loves soup. In my opinion, soups are best ways to sneak in the vegetables.

Initially I used to give him pureed soups and then started chunky soups. The veggie chunks soaked in the soup broth is easier to chew and a great way to introduce vegetables. The Minestrone soup is a famous Italian soup and its one of the famous dish in the Olive Garden – Italian chain restaurant in US. Whenever we go there, we have this soup for sure. Its loaded with veggies, beans and pasta. I have tried similar kind with Indian spices but here is the recipe with Italian spices. Its a filling soup and you can pack this for lunch too along with some sandwich.

Blog link: http://vidhyashomecooking.com/

FB Link:  https://www.facebook.com/VidhyasVegetarianKitchen

Pinterest link: https://www.pinterest.com/srividhyam/vidhyas-vegetarian-kitchen/

Twitter link:https://twitter.com/SrividhyaM

Ingredients:

• Shallots: 4

• Celery – 2 stalks

• Carrot – 2

• Zucchini – 2

• Tomatoes – 3 to 4

• Red kidney beans – 1 can

• White cannellini beans – 1/2 can

• Vegetable broth – 1 can (32 oz)

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – 2 tbsps

• Shell Pasta – 1 cup

• Dried Oregano – 1 tsp

• Dried Basil – 1 tsp

• Salt – 1 tsp

• Freshly crushed pepper – 1 tsp

• Grated cheese while serving – as required (Parmesan will go well, but you can choose your favorite)

• Water – 4 cups

Steps:

• Boil the three tomatoes in 4 cups of water till the skin peels off. It will take upto 12-15 minutes

• While the tomatoes are getting done, chop the shallots, celery, carrots and zucchini.

• Let the tomatoes cool, peel the skin and chop them into chunks.

• Heat the pan and add oil.

• Once the oil is hot, add the onions and saute till they are translucent.

• Now add the chopped veggies, oregano, basil and salt and Mix well.

• Let it cook for up to 3-4 minutes.

• Now add the tomato chunks and mix well.

• Add the pasta and vegetable broth.

• Let the pasta cook in the vegetable broth for 8-10 minutes till they are all done.

• Finally add the beans and crushed pepper and let it cook for another 3 minutes.

Thats it. Yummy soup is ready. Serve hot with shaved/grated cheese and bread.

Notes:

1) You can use regular onion instead of shallots. The traditional recipe doesn’t call for shallots though.

2) If you notice I went with store bought beans and broth. You can make them from scratch too. Soak a handful of beans and pressure cook it by adding 1/4 tsp of salt. Similarly whenever I do kootu, I save the boiled veggie water and use it as broth. But if I don’t have it in hand I go for store bought.

3) You can also use canned tomatoes and that gives you the red color to the soup.

4)I prefer Low Sodium canned products and when you use the canned beans rinse them before adding it to the soup and adjust the salt accordingly

Apple Rice Pudding

Happy Women’s day to all my lovely readers!!!

This is the pudding I make for my son. If I give him cut apples he refuses to eat, but if I trick him in the form of pudding its difficult for him to identify. This easy rice pudding is not only my son’s favorite, but even I like it.

Chekout my other Toddler friendly recipes

Apple Rice Pudding

Rice – 1/4 cup

Water –  1 cup

Apple – 2, peeled and roughly chopped

Milk – 3 tbsp

Sugar – 1 tbsp (Adjust according to your preference)

Cinnamon powder – 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder – pinch

Salt – a  pinch

Method:

• Pulse the rice coarsely in a blender.  Add apple to the blender, and without adding water,  blend till the apple is pureed well
• Transfer the contents into a saucepan. Add water, cinnamon powder, cardamom powder and sugar to the apple – rice mixture and cook over medium-low heat  until rice is cooked. Sprinkle some water if required

• Add milk and salt; cook for 3-4 minutes. Switch off and serve warm/chil

My Notes:

• Adjust the water/milk according to the desire consistency
• Instead of pulsing the rice can also use them whole
• My son is having sweet tooth like mom so I add sugar. Instead can avoid sugar and prepare the pudding
• Avoid replacing milk for water as it will cuddle. If you want to cook the rice with milk, add apple puree after the rice is cooked
• Can add raisin, nuts like cashew, almonds, pecan etc. to make it rich