A Weeknight Dinner in an hour and 30 mins.

This weeknight dinner can be made in an hour and 30 mins, starting from the bread. Of Course you have to multi task, otherwise, this is going to take atleast 2 to 3 hours :)

Mango / Avocado salad
Basic tomato soup.
Antique Bread.



Start with the Bread,
You will need a regular Loaf Pan.

Antique Bread:
You might think Antique is old, but here it really means there are no fancy ingredients in this bread.
Just plain old sugar, salt, oil, flour and yeast.
 Water 1 and 1/2 Cups
Oil 3 Tablespoons
Salt 1 and 1/2 Teaspoons
Sugar 3 Tablespoons
Bread Flour 3 Cups
Yeast - 2 and 1/2 Teaspoons
Vital Wheat Gluten - 1 Tablespoon
I also add 1 Teaspoon of Soy Lecithin and usually substitue 1 cup of Whole Wheat Flour in the Bread flour so it will be 2 cups white and 2 cup Wheat. You can make it 1 and 1/2 cups of each, but the bread will be dense and will not absorb the soup well.

Method
Add the Ingredients in the order given and make a dough. I have a bread machine and make the dough in that. you have to knead for at least 20 mins and shape it in a loaf shape and place in pan let it rest for 30 Mins.
Pre heat the oven for 350 deg F and place in oven and take out after 30 mins or when a thermometer is inserted in to the middle part of the loaf and the temp is 200 degrees.
Let it sit for 20 mins and slice.
The more you let the bread sit, the better it is for the bread and the easier it is to slice. I have made two loaves.


Basic Tomato Soup
While the Bread is kneading and resting, you can start the tomato soup.

I use the Whole food brand Canned Tomato 32 oz
1 quart of Vegetable broth
4 to 5 Medium Size Tomatoes (Chopped)
1 large onion (chopped)
1 large Carrot (Chopped)
5 Cloves of Garlic
Olive oil - about 2 Tablespoons
Spices - 1 bay leaf, and 5 peppercorns and 1/4 tsp cumin


Optional - I have used a Banana Pepper, which I had lying around in the fridge.
Salt to taste
Method:
In an Pan, add the oil and when its hot, add the garlic, cumin and pepper corns, and saute for a minute, then add the onion and saute for few mins until the color turns to a pale pink and then add the carrots and then add the tomatoes.
At this point, I usually pressure cook this. If you want to avoid that, then it should all come to a nice rolling boil and let sit for at least 20 mins. If you do this, then you might want to add water. In a pressure cooker , the items don't get dry.
Once the pressure is cooled, run an immersion hand blender ( I cant make soup without one) and make a puree. If you don't own one, then transfer the contents to a mixer or food processor.
Then add the broth to this and let it come to a slow boil.
Taste and add salt.



Mango / Avocado salad
1 Ripe Mango -- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half
1 Ripe avocado-- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half
1 Jalapeño - 1/2
Red Leaf Lettuce -- 8 to 10 leaves
Walnuts - 1 handful, chopped
1 cucumber - slit in half and sliced.
Salt - as needed
Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon
1/2 Lemon - squeezed
Ground Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Just toss everything in and serve chilled.

Mango / Avocado Salad

Mango / Avocado Salad

1 Ripe Mango -- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half

1 Ripe avocado-- 1/2 sliced length wise in slit in half

1 Jalapeño - 1/2

Red Leaf Lettuce -- 8 to 10 leaves

Walnuts - 1 handful, chopped

1 cucumber - slit in half and sliced.

Salt - as needed

Olive Oil - 1 tablespoon

1/2 Lemon - squeezed

Ground Pepper - 1/2 teaspoon

Just toss everything in and serve chilled.

Mung Bean Sprout Salad - yet another version

This is a relatively simple salad. Easily serves 6 people.
You Need
Sprouted Mung Bean - 2 cups
Carrots - 4 or 5 Grated
Corn - 2 or 3 (grilled and rubbed with lemon and salt)

To see how you can make these sprouts read this.
Here is a look at my sprout maker.
Steam the Mung Bean sprouts with little water till they are slightly soft.
Let them cool.
Take the corn and remove all kernels and let cool.
Now bring the 3 of them together, and add a bit of salt and lemon juice and a teaspoon of olive oil and serve almost with anything...
I have added a bit of grated mangoes... to this but its optional....

Marinated Tofu on a Salad

This was my dinner on Nov 3rd...
I had a block of tofu and made a very simple marinade with
Yogurt, Turmeric powder, Red Chilli Powder, Lemon Juice and Salt.


All you do is to drain the tofu and then cut it in pieces and soak it in the marinade.
In a non stick tawa, put 1 teaspoon oil and spread it around so that the whole pan has little oil in it, and then arrange the tofu and keep the fire on a low medium flame.
In about 10 minutes, use a griddle to carefully turn the tofu around so it gets grilled lightly on the other side.
The tofu is done if it gets a light brown hue on both sides.
Make a salad (any way you like) and put the tofu on it and enjoy!

My kids (especially my daughter) is not a fan of tofu, but she liked it made this way.

Asian Salad

I got bored of making the same salad everytime, so I called Chef Shiyam, and this is his recipe.

For the dressing

Garlic - 1 whole garlic, peeled

Black Sesame Seeds - 2 Teaspoons

Red chillies 2

Chinese Sesame Oil - 2 Tablespoons

Young Ginger - 1" Piece, peeled and grated

For The Salad

Napa Cabbage - 1 Big Size, chopped in ribbons

2 Carrots - Peeled and then peel the carrot in ribbons and add in salad bowl

Glass Noodles - 2 handfuls

Spinach - 1 handful - optional

Method

--->In an aluminium foil add the garlic, red chillies, sesame seeds and put in a toaster oven at 300 degrees for 15 minutes

--->Once it cools, put it in a mortar and grind it well, add the oil and ginger to this and make a thick paste.

--->Now add the napa cabbage to the salad bowl, add the carrrots and this paste and add salt as needed and mix well, if you like you can add the spinach for some color

--->Just before eating cook the glass noodles according to instructions on the box and toss it in to the salad....

ENJOY

Kannare Pinnare Salad

"Kannare Pinnare Kaatha Aruthaare " There is no literal meaning of this sentence in tamil but it concludes that what ever it is, it is a mix up / no head or tail / abolutely no reference.... etc

My mom used to say this when

She watched a bad movie ......kannare pinnare oru cinema......

She had gone to wedding and the food was bad .... kannare pinnare nu oru menu....

and coming to this Kannare Pinnare Salad......
I took a regular salad and mixed the Curry Leaf Podi in it and ate it, it was ...... kannare pinnare in the sense but it didnt taste bad.... just try it once in a while :)

Salad

I made this salad for a party... It has
Spinach
Broccoli Slaw
Pomegranate
Mango
Cucumber
Purple Cabbage
Celery
Walnuts

I made a dressing which had
Lemon Zest
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice
Salt
Pepper

Black Eyed Beans in a Salad!

This recipe is from Bairavi, my cousin's wife. She got it from a sindhi friend of hers.
I just loved the taste of this when I had them and had to share...
It is kind of a mix of a salad and sabji...
You can substitute Chick Peas instead of the Black Eyed Peas..., but if you use chick peas, you have to soak it overnight. With black eyed peas, i just washed them and used them.

You need
For the Masala;
Mint leaves - 1 bunch - Washed and Drained
Garlic - 2 Cloves
Ginger - 1 inch piece
Green Chillies - 2
Coriander - 2 handfuls - washed and drained
Salt - to tast
When I use coriander, I just cut off the ends, and use the stalk also, it gives more flavor.
To make:
Canola oil - 1 Teaspoon
Jeera - 1 Teaspoon
Black Eyed Peas - 1 Cup
Cucmber - 1 english cucumber which equals 3 indian cucumbers, chopped
Red Bell Pepper - 1 chopped
Juice of 1 Green lime
Salt to taste
Method
--->Grind the stuff forthe masala to a smooth paste.
--->In a pan, add the oil and jeera, when it sizzles, add this paste and saute for two minutes, all on a medium high pan
--->Add the washed black eyed beans to this and mix well.
--->take the whole thing and transfer to a vessel which you can pressure cook in, and give it 3 to 4 whistles and then turn the fire to a low heat and let cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
---> Once the pressure goes down, check the beans, it has to mash when pressed wih two fingers.
--->Transfer to a big bowl, add the chopped cucmber, chopped red bell pepper and add the juice to it and add salt if needed
--->Garnish with a mint leaf, and take a picture!!!

I made this for dinner yesterday, served with 2 rotis, Beetroot subji and Kadhi...