Spaghetti with Roasted Garlic and Home made Marinara

I know the name is bit long but I couldn't help but to mention the actual one. I was inspired by this from the 'The Best Thing I ever Ate' - With Garlic in the Food network. It was one classic recipe. I made this for lunch today and it was simple yet elegant.

Ingredients:
Serves - 2
Spaghetti - 1/2 lb
Garlic - 3 pods ~ 25 cloves
Butter - 1 tbsp
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
For the Marinara sauce:
There are lot of recipes for making home made marinara, I went with the one with fresh tomatoes
Ripe big tomatoes - 6 - can substitute with canned crushed tomatoes
Onion - chopped fine - 1/2 cup
Garlic - chopped fine - 3 tbsp
Fresh basil - 6 leaves - chopped fine
Dried Oregano - 1/2 tsp
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Salt & Pepper - to taste

Method:
Blanch and puree the tomatoes. In a large saucepan, heat 3 tbsp of olive oil and saute the onion and garlic. Fry until the onion is transparent. Add the pureed tomatoes, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Add water as per the thickness required and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 45 mins to about an hour. This would enable the flavors to cook and infuse well. Meanwhile boil enough quantity of water and add 2 tsps of salt and boil the pasta "al dente" as per the instructions. In a medium skillet, heat the butter and olive oil and roast the whole garlic cloves in medium heat. Take care not the burn it, just a deep brown color is a good indication.
To serve, place the spaghetti in the plate, top with marinara sauce and then the roasted garlic. Enjoy!

Sending this to Healing Foods - Ginger & Garlic event by Siri guest hosted by Sara and CWF-WV-Tomato event by Kiran guest hosted by Sanyukta.

I am also sending this to Presto Pasta Nights #202



Sending this scrumptious pasta dish to 'Only'-Pasta Pizza and Noodles event by Pari, guest hosted by Jayasri and also to Fusion-Pasta event by Ramya.

Spaghetti

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Koshimbir / Kosambari

Koshimbir is a raw vegetables salad served along with the meal course in Maharasthra. It is similar to the Kosambari dish of Karnataka. First time I had this was in a restaurant in Bangalore and loved it having Cucumber and moong dhal, both my favorites. Tried this for the first time and I served it as a side for my lunch the other day and we enjoyed it. 

Ingredients:
Cucumber - Peeled & chopped - 2 cups
Moong dhal - 1/4 cup
Green chilli - 1
Oil - 1/2 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/4 tsp
Coriander leaves - To garnish
Salt - to taste

Method:
Wash and soak the dhal for an hour. Drain and mix with the chopped cucumber.
Heat oil and pop the mustard seeds and add chopped green chilli. Pour the seasoning over the cucumber-dhal and mix. Add salt while serving so that it doesn't leave water. Garnish with cilantro/coriander leaves and serve as side/salad.

Sending this to 'Flavors of Maharashtra' event by Nayna, guest hosted by PJ.

Also sending this to Akila's Dish Name Starts with K

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Quick Banana Muffins

Bake these for an afternoon coffee break treat.
 It will only take you 5 minutes to mix these up!

You'll need 3 over-ripe bananas.

 Mash with a mixer.

 Mix in sugar and a little cinnamon.

 Melt 5T (1/3C) butter.

  Mix in the melted butter and egg until combined. 

  I used self-rising flour, but you can use
regular flour and just add 1t baking soda
and a pinch of salt.

Lightly stir in the flour just until combined.

 Scoop into well greased muffin pan.
I scooped out 6 muffins and then added
1/4 C chopped pecans to the remaining batter
 for the last 6 muffins.

 Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes until golden.

Now pour your coffee and enjoy a warm banana muffin
 and a little butter.

Banana Muffins

3 over-ripe bananas

3/4 C sugar

1/4 t cinnamon

1/3 C melted butter

1 egg

1-1/2 C self-rising flour*

Mash the bananas with a mixer. Mix in the sugar and cinnamon. Add the egg and melted butter and mix until well combined. Lightly stir in the flour. Scoop into well greased muffin pan and bake for about 20 minutes at 400, until golden.

makes 1 dozen

(*note: in place of SR flour use regular flour and 1 t soda and a pinch salt)

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Apple Flaxmeal Chapathi | Roti Paratha Recipes

I had been thinking of using apple in my chapathi for a while now ever since I read it in a magazine. When I told this to my DH, he was dumbstruck (yeah, that is the word that best describes his reaction) and so I had not spoken about that to him. I used flaxmeal in my Blueberry scones and fell in love with it being healthy and rich in fiber. I made this chapathi for lunch the other day and my DH enjoyed it. Little did he know that it had apple in it and loved it totally. I did tell him later...

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat flour/Atta flour - 1 3/4 cups
Flax seed meal - 1/4 cup
Apple - 1 - peeled, seeded and chopped
Yogurt - 1 1/2 - 2 tbsp
Cumin powder -  a pinch - optional
Salt - a big pinch
Oil - 2 tsp + more to apply

Method:
Mix the wheat flour, flax seed meal and salt. Add oil and mix it to resemble a coarse crumble. Meanwhile puree the apple with yogurt and cumin powder (if using). Add the puree to the flour and knead to form a soft dough. Sprinkle water if needed. Apply a little oil over the dough and cover and rest for a minimum of 15 mins. Pinch a small golf-ball sized dough and roll out to thin chapathis. Heat a skillet and cook on both sides smearing oil. Serve hot with any curry of your choice. We enjoyed it with Turnip Chayote Curry.

Sending this to the 'Cooking with Fruits' event by Smita and CWS-Flaxseeds event by Priya Suresh guest hosted by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan.





Sending this to Srivalli's Kid's Delight hosted by Nupur of UK-Rasoi, for the month of April 2012.

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Reposting for Events

Fenugreek Idli
Fenugreek Idli is one healthy dish with all the goodness of fenugreek and makes a tasty breakfast/dinner. Check out the recipe here : Fenugreek Idli

                                      
I am reposting this to send to the following events.
Dish Name Starts with F event by Akila; B for Breakfast event by Charitha.





Tomato Rice
Tomato rice is one of my comfort food and comes to rescue when I run short of time. Check out the recipe here: Tomato Rice

                          
Sending this to the Cooking with Whole Foods - Whole Vegetable - Tomato event by Kiran, guest hosted by Creative Sanyukta.

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OVEN BAKED PIZZA

OVEN BAKED PIZZA

Oven Baked Pizza - emilgp

Source:http://www.suite101.com

Ingredients:

• *1 pizza crust
• 1 package of whole milk mozzarella cheese
• 1 package of taco combination cheese-(blend of cheddar, colby, monterey jack and manchego cheeses)
• 1 jar of tomato and basil sauce blend
• 1 container of parmesan cheese powder

*Based on personal preference the crust can either be regular, thin, or thick.
Mathod:

1. Preheat oven to a temperature of 450 degrees.
2. Place pizza crust on either a pizza pan, or nonstick tin foil.
3. *Add the tomato and basil sauce blend and cover the crust while leaving ½ an inch of space between the edge of the sauce and the exposed pizza crust.
4. Generously apply parmesan cheese over the sauce and form a “snow” topping.
5. Add mozzarella cheese and be sure to use a substantial amount because mozzarella is the “cheese base” for the pizza.
6. Sprinkle the taco blend cheese over various parts of the pizza surface.
7. Bake pizza according to the time provided on the

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Chicken Pesto Pine Nut Skillet Pizza

Source:
http://www.medicinenet.com
Chicken Pesto Pine Nut Skillet Pizza
Ingredients:

• 2 multigrain flour tortillas
• 1 tablespoon pesto sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded roasted chicken breast, skinless
• 2 slices part-skim mozzarella (2 ounces), each broken into about 4 pieces
• 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

Preparation:

1. Add a flour tortilla to a large, nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Spread pesto on top of the tortilla, then top with chicken and then cheese and pine nuts.
2. Place the second tortilla on top. Once the bottom tortilla is nicely browned, carefully flip the pizza over to brown the other tortilla. This will take a minute or two more.
3. Remove pizza to a plate and cut pizza into 8 wedges.

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BBQ Chicken Chicago-Style Pizza Bagels

Source:
http://www.medicinenet.com
BBQ Chicken Chicago-Style Pizza Bagels
This recipe is simple when you buy rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and use bottled BBQ sauce, already shredded cheese and seasoned canned tomatoes.
Ingredients:

• 4 whole-wheat bagels, cut in half
• 2 cups shredded boneless chicken breast, skinless
• 1/2 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite)
• 3 tablespoons chopped red onions
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, lightly packed
• 1 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella
• 1 cup canned Italian Style diced tomatoes

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a jelly-roll pan with foil if desired. Place bagel halves on the lined pan.
2. In medium bowl combine the chicken, barbeque sauce, red

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Italian Pizza

How to Prepare an Italian Pizza 

Images Source:

 http://www.lifeinitaly.com

Pizza dough (same as bread dough):

• Prepare the dough by mixing together (with the aid of a bread a machine or a mixer)
• 1 and ½ cup of warm water
• 1 and ½ tea spoon of salt
• 1 and ½ tea spoon of yeast
• 3 cups of flour

Wait about 2 hours to rise and you have your pizza dough

Since I assume most of us do not have a wood firebrick oven in the house. The  next best thing is the use of a pizza stone in a normal oven. I have my pizza stone for over 10 years and I use it to make nice crusty breads (bread does not cook well in a bread machine).
The pizza stone will retain heat from the oven and  cook the pizza fast without the

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Italian Pizza Dough

Image Source:  
http://www.bestpizzarecipe.net

Ingredients to make Italian Pizza Dough

• 4 1/2 c Unbleached all-purpose

• White flour 1 ts Salt

• 1/4 c Olive oil

• 2 pk Dry yeast

• 1 1/2 c Warm water

• 2 ts Light brown sugar

Directions to make Italian Pizza Dough

• Step 1:Measure 1/2 cup warm water (110 F) into 2 cup container and stir in the brown sugar. (Make sure water is warm, not hot - too hot will kill the yeast). Dissolve the 2 packages of dried yeast in the water and set it aside for 5 minutes. Will become frothy. (about 2 cups worth!) Sift 4 cups of the flour and the salt into a large mixing bowl. Make a depression in the middle of the flour and pour in 3/4 of the olive oil and 1 cup of warm water. When the yeast is ready, add it also.

• Step 2:Dust your kneading surface with flour, then mix the ingredients in the bowl with your hands. Place dough ball on the floured surface and knead from 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour to the kneading surface if the dough is too sticky or wet. Eventually the dough will become elastic.

• Step 3:Rub the

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Delicious Banana Ham Pizza

Image Source:  
http://www.bestpizzarecipe.net

Ingredients to make Delicious Banana Ham Pizza

• Pizza dough, for one pizza, homemade or store bought, uncooked

• 3/4 c Ricotta cheese

• 3 Bananas, peeled and sliced

• 2 tb Unsalted butter

• 3 oz Cooked ham, thinly sliced

Directions to make Delicious Banana Ham Pizza

• Step 1:Preheat the oven to 450F. Roll out the pizza dough and spread the ricotta over it. Lay the banana slices on top in concentric circles. Brush the butter over the bananas.

• Step 2:Transfer to

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Pizza For Breakfast

Image Source:  
http://www.bestpizzarecipe.net/pizza-for-breakfast/

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb Boiled Ham, sliced

• 8 oz Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, grated

• 2 Eggs

• 1/4 c Lowfat Milk

• Pn Dried Oregano

• Pizza crust, prepared or homemade

Method :

• Step 1:

Pat the pizza dough out on a 13- by 9-inch pan, baking, sheet or a round pizza pan. Cut the ham into strips and put them on the dough.

• Step 2:

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Pizza dough recipe

Pizza dough recipe

Ingredients

• 1 tsp yeast (dried, we use Surebake’s active yeast)
• 1 tsp sugar
• ½ Cup warm water
• 1 Cup flour

Method
Mix yeast, sugar and water together. Leave to sit in a warm place for about 7 minutes (until yeast and sugar has dissolved). Add flour and mix to make a firm dough (adding extra flour as necessary). Roll out and now you have your pizza base. I usually bake the base for about 10 minutes at 180oC (350oF), but this is not essential. Then add your

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Strawberry Iced Tea

Iced tea is a great alternative to the carbonated beverages carrying just sugar and empty calories. I opted for my favorite Strawberry and it came out very well with a light and pretty pink color. Loved it and I am gonna make it more often. 

Ingredients:
Tea bags - 2 (May use Black or Green Tea. I used Green) ~ 2 tsp
Water - 600 ml
Strawberries - about 8-10
Water - 1/4 cup
Sugar/Honey - 3 tsp or to taste

Method:
Heat 600 ml of water and when it is rolling boil, add the tea bags. After a minute, turn off heat, cover and steep for a minimum of 20-30 mins and allow to cool. Hull the strawberries and finely puree using 1/4 cup of water. Strain and mix this juice to the cooled tea. Add sweetness to taste and serve chilled or with ice-cubes. I just served chilled.

I am sending this to 'Veggie/Fruit a Month - Strawberry' event by Priya of Mharo Rajasthan, guest hosted by Pari. Also sending this to 'Cooking with Fruits' event by Smita.

Strawberry

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