Easy recipe for Oatmeal

You are probably thinking, who needs a recipe for Oatmeal. Majority of the people I talk about oatmeal, don't care for it and just think of it as a goupy soupy paste. I was one of those people too and thanks to my friend (aka White Mom), Ginger Steele, I have been making Oatmeal the right way and having it every morning for more than 2 years now. And to top it off it has been great for my cholestrol too. Following is the recipe. First step is to toss the recipe behind the box and follow these instructions precisely. Equal parts water and Old fashioned Quaker Oats (I use half cup each) In a small sauce pan, boil the water by itself with the lid on Let it boil till it is really BOILING Then dump the 1/2 cup oatmeal in it and put lid back on The oatmeal will now rise to the top of the pan Uncover for a second and put lid on again for the second time let it rise to the top again Now remove from heat and leave it covered for 3 minutes Perfect oatmeal with great texture and none of that soupy mess. My favorite toppings are crasins, walnuts with agave. What is your favorite breakfast??? Post in the comments below

Sausage stuffed Zucchini Recipe

Wonder what to do with those huge oversized zucchinis from your garden? Well, I got one from my dear friend Ann Meersman, who has turned quite the gardener. I visited her for lunch and couldn't beleive the size of the zucchinis. Of course, I had seen some big ones before at the Puyallup Fair, but this was home grown. She gave me one and than I had to figure out how to cook it. She herslef made stuffed zucchini, so I wanted to experiment.

Here is my recipe. Slice the zucchini in half and simmer it face down in a pan for 10 minutes, till it is tender, but not all cooked. Remove the inside pulp with a spoon and push it aginst a strainer to remove as much moisture as possible. Chop the pulp. Now, saute some chopped onions with garlic and brown sausage as well. Add in the zucchini pulp. Now to kick it up a notch, I added some garam masala and red chilli powder. Mix in some breadcrumbs and parmesan and reserve some for topping as well. Sill the zucchini and bake in the oven at 350F for 25 minutes. YUMMY!!!!

Hummus Recipe : Easy and Delicious

Being in Kuwait for several years, it was pretty easy to develope the taste for good Arabic/Middle eastern food. And what is better than Hummus. Of course we all have our variations and I have mine as well. The ingredient which really adds the kick in my hummus is green chillies. :) Here is my very simple recipe. Dump the following in a food processor and blend till smooth. 2 cans of garbanzo beans (drained and washed) 2 tablespoons Tahini (sesame paste available at mediterranean stores) 2 thai green chillies ( add more or less upon your spice level) 2-3 table spoons lemon juice 4-5 cloves of garlic (Again more or less depending on your taste) 2-3 heaped tablespoons of yogurt (to make it richer you can add sour cream instead) salt to taste Blend the above ingredients till smooth and then add in 2-3 tbsp olive oil to make the mixture smooth. Serve garnished with drizzle of olive oil, tomatoes, olives and enjoy with pita or chips.

Indian recipe: Eggplant and Potatoes in tomato curry

This is one of my favorite Indian dishes. Eggplant with potatoes in a spicy and tangy tomato curry sauce. I usually use the small Indian eggplant, but the green thai eggplant taste equally good. I use one tray of these small eggplants (10-15) and slice them in quarters. Keep them immersed in water so they don't blacken. Also peel and diced potatoes to the same size and keep in water.

In a pan, heat up 2 tbsp of oil and temper mustard seeds, curry leaves and dried red chillies he mustrad seeds start to split and crackle.

Add in 4 fresh tomatoes blended to a smooth sauce and cook on high till the water is almost gone and it reduces. You can see that it really reduces in volume.

Then just add the potatoes and and eggplant with salt and red chilli pepper to taste. Add 1/2 cup of water and cook on medium heat for 10-12 minutes till it is all cooked.

And there you have it! Enjoy it hot with naan.

Coconut Cake

Every now and then I get into baking/cooking mode. It had been a while since I baked a cake, so decided to make a simple coconut and cherry cake.

Here is the recipe

6oz butter
3/4 cup sugar (I have reduced this from 1 cup, because I don't like extra sweet cakes)

1 1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

3 eggs (beaten)

1/2 cup dessicated cocunut

1/4 cup cherries chopped

1/2 tsp vanilla essense (opt)

3-4 tbsp milk

Cream the butter and sugar till pale and fluffy.

Graudually beat in the eggs + vanilla essense.

Fold in the sifted flour+bk pwder

Fold in the cocunut with teh cherries.

Add milk to get to dropping consistency

Bake at 350 for 1/2 hour our till a tooth pick comes out clean.

Enjoy!