EVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: EASTER SIDE DISHES RECIPE: Veggie Niçoise Salad Veggie Niçoise Salad is a spin on the traditional salad which has tuna. A filling, refreshing and colourful salad, one can enjoy is as a light meal or as a side. Take it along for picnics or garden parties. Vegetarian Vs Ovo Vegetarian Before I have die hard vegetarians up in arms, let me clarify that Vegetarian in the Western World is a bit different from India. In India vegetarian would mean no eggs also. However, in some places in the West, fish and eggs are a part of the Vegetarian diet. But, I follow the ovo vegetarian diet which means that though I don’t consume meat or fish, eggs is fine. My Version…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: NATIONAL EAT A RAINBOW DAY RECIPE: MOROCCAN RAINBOW CARROT SALAD Moroccan Rainbow Carrot Salad is a colourful, healthy and delicious warm salad using coloured carrots with homemade Moroccan Spice Mix and Fresh Orange Dressing. What Are Coloured Carrots? Also known as Rainbow Carrots, I had the opportunity to use them for the first time during winter. Back in Kenya, we get only the orange variety so imagine the excitement when I was able to buy carrots that are yellow, red, purple, white and of course the orange one all in one pack. It is believed that carrots originate from Afghanistan. And back then carrots were mainly used as medicinal ingredient rather than as food. Also it seems that back then carrots…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: FLATBREADS RECIPE: FOUGASSE Fougasse is a stunning French Flatbread with a crisp crust and a slightly chewy crumb. Easy to make it is pronounced as ‘foogaas’. This flatbread actually quite famous in the Provence region of France. However, it is believed that the it originates from the Rome. Panis focacius the Roman flatbread was cooked in the ashes of a wood burning hearth called focus. What is Fougasse? Fougasse is patted with the hands into a leaf shape and then cuts are made to resemble the veins of a leaf. The open areas actually help the flatbread to bake well to achieve that crispy crust. Intially, I thought that shaping the bread and the recipe must be difficult.. like most…
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Continue ReadingEVENTS: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: ST.PATRICK’S DAY RECIPE: IRISH POTATO FARLS/ IRISH POTATO CAKES Irish Potato Farls also known as potato bread or cakes, are so easy to make. Egg free, rustic, so tasty, crispy on the outside and soft inside. Enjoy them on their own, with beans, eggs or a stew. With just a few ingredients a classic Irish breakfast is ready. Irish Potato Farls are also served as a part of the famos Ulster Fry, a popular North Ireland breakfast. The meal consists of bacon, sausages, fried soda bread, potato farls, mushrooms, roasted tomato, eggs and black pudding. Sunday Funday Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals…
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Continue ReadingEVENTS: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: RECIPES WITH HEARTS RECIPE: CAJUN STUFFED MUSHROOMS Cajun Stuffed Mushrooms, an easy to make and satisfying appetizer or starter dish where the filling has added flavour from homemade cajun seasoning. Sunday Funday Sunday Funday is a group of Food Bloggers. Every Sunday we share some fun, traditional, hearty or easy recipes to make Sunday Family Meals a bit more exciting. To join this fun group, visit the Sunday Funday Facebook Page. Request to join in. Theme: MARDI GRAS (FAT TUESDAY) This theme suggested is suggested by Sue who blogs at Palatable Pastimes. Truthfully, I nearly gave this theme a skip. I really didn’t know much about the Creole or Cajun food style. But, that led to me doing a bit of…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: STICK TO SEEDS RECIPE: BEETROOT BUCKWHEAT RISOTTO Beetroot Buckwheat Risotto made in a healthy style, with buckwheat groat and roasted beetroot. Total comfort food which is creamy, full of flavours and easy to make. Have also added beetroot stem and leaves for added nutritional value. Beetroot enriches the risotto with iron and folate and buckwheat is a great source of protein and fibre. First Time I Had Risotto The first time I tasted a lovely creamy and cheesy risotto was at Hilton Dubai The Walk. My son was the manager at one of their dining area, the Pure Sky Lounge. We had dinner once and the vegetarian option was Mushroom Risotto. My son assured me that I would love it.…
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Continue ReadingEVENTS: SUNDAY FUNDAY & FOODIEMONDAY/BLOGHOP THEMES: NATIONAL HOT CHOCOLATE DAY & MY BEGINNER RECIPE Mexican Hot Chocolate is so creamy, chocolatey, spicy and a comforting hot drink especially during the cold season. Usually authentic Mexican Hot Chocolate is made with tablets of rustic table chocolate. It is a tablet of dark cocoa and cinnamon. I hear that the Abuelita by Nestle is really good. Since I didn’t have the Mexican Chocolate at hand, I used Lindt 85% Cacao Dark Chocolate. Added cinnamon, cayenne powder, a bit of brown sugar and cream for a luscious, creamy dreamy hot chocolate. While Mexican Hot Chocolate is my all time favourite drink during the cold season, I sometimes like to enjoy hot chocolate without any cream. For those days, I…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: BIRTHDAY PARTY POTLUCK RECIPE: MAPLE PANNA COTTA WITH ROASTED FIGS Maple Panna Cotta With Roasted Figs is a super creamy, silky, exquisite, easy to make dessert. The roasted fig adds so much flavour and texture to the overall dessert. I’ve used the light amber maple syrup which tends to be sweeter than the darker ones. Maple syrup not only adds sweetness but also adds a caramel like flavour. What Is Maple Syrup? Maple Syrup is actually made from the maple tree sap or the xylem sap. Usually maple water or maple sap is tapped from red,sugar or balck maple trees. The maple water or sap is colourless. It is collected and boiled to remove the water content. Lighter colour maple syrup…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SUNDAY FUNDAY THEME: 2022 IS THE YEAR OF THE TIGER RECIPE: KUNG PAO CAULIFLOWER Kung Pao Cauliflower is a vegetarian/vegan take on the traditional Chinese Kung Pao. Cauliflower is oven roasted instead of deep frying. With a spicy sauce, enjoy it on its own, with some rice or noodles. I know deep frying makes the cauliflower more crispier but oven roast them so hubby and I can enjoy this delicious, spicy dish without any guilt. What Is Kung Pao? Kung Pao, Gong Pao, Kung Po is traditionally a Chinese stir fried dish made from chicken pieces, peanuts, vegetables and chilli peppers. This dish originates from Sichuan Province of China. Sichuan pepper is used to make the sauce spicy. Chicken cubes are coated in flour,…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: HEALTHY IDEAS RECIPE: CURRIED CHICKPEA STUFFED SWEET POTATOES Curried Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes is a healthy, delicious, filling and easy to make healthy, gluten free meal. Enjoy it for lunch or dinner and it is a perfect hot meal for the cold season. Basically, I prepare a thick chickpea curry and stuff baked sweet potato with it and serve with some plain thick yogurt. Actually, I love sweet potatoes whether they are the whitish oriental variety or the orange flesh ones. The Oriental variety is commonly available in Kenya and India. However, sometimes they are quite small and not really ideal to stuff them. Usually, those ones I bake or boil and enjoy with some salt, chilli powder and generous…
