Fruit and nut smoothie/porridge

Banana-nut porridge is my all time favourite(thanks to Isha yoga classes). Recently a friend made Apple-nut porridge using soaked peanuts and apple. Yesterday I tried Banana-almond porridge and I loved it more than the peanut porridge. So looks like we can use any fruit and a soaked nut for making a porridge. I'll add more combinations as and when I try them

Ingredients:
Fruit
Nuts - 1 cup
Sweetener
Water - 1 cup (add more if needed)

Method:
Soak the nuts for 3 to 4 hours
Cut the fruit into small bite size pieces
If using dates for sweetening, soak it for an hour
First add the soaked nuts to the blender and grind it well with little water
Add the fruits, water and sweetener and blend well
This should be served immediately, otherwise it'll turn brown in colour

Variation:
1. If blended well, it'll be like a smoothie. Sometimes, I like to feel the fruit and nut pieces.Then, I add the nuts and fruits together and grind coarsely
2. Try different ratio for the nuts and fruits depending on your taste buds and mood

Possible fruits:
Banana - 1
Apple - 2

Possible nuts:
Peanuts
Almonds

Possible sweeteners:
Honey - 2 spoons
Soaked pitted Dates - 5
White or brown sugar - 3 spoons

Cole-slaw

http://erramya-recipes.blogspot.com/2008/01/cabbage-salad.html

Banana - Peanut butter salad

Ingredients:
Peanut butter - 1 tbl spn
honey - 2 tbl spn
lime juice - 1/2 tsp
banana - 1
raisins - 15
Nuts(break into small pieces) - 2 tbl spn

Method:
Slice bananas into small rounds/ovals. It can also be cut lengthwise into 2 halves
Arrange the banana slices on a plate
Sprinkle the raisins and nuts on top
In a separate cup, mix honey, peanut butter and lime juice
Pour the dressing on top of banana, nuts and raisins
Keep in the refrigerator for a little while and then serve

All that can be used in salads

Vegetables:
Carrot, cucumber, winter melon(white pumpkin/ash gourd), zucchini, beetroot, yellow squash, butternut squash, ridge gourd, snake gourd, tomato, avocados, baby spinach, lettuces, spring leaves mix, shredded raddish, cabbage, red cabbage

Fruits that can be added to vegetable salad
Apples, pears, grapes, orange, pineapple, pomegranate, cherries, strawberries

Some cooked items that can be added
Half cooked broccoli/cauliflower/peas, cooked chickpeas

Nuts and grams:
Pecans, walnuts, soaked peanuts, sprouted green gram, soaked yellow split moong dal, almonds, dried cranberries, raisins

Dressing:
lemon/lime juice
orange juice
tomato ketchup, soy sauce
olive oil
salt
pepper
cumin powder
mustard powder
honey
pineapple juice
coriander leaves
mint leaves
curry leaves
thalidham

Shredded/Diced vegetable salad

This recipe can be used for any of the following vegetables that can be shredded
Carrot
Beetroot
Cabbage
Red cabbage
Winter melon(Ash gourd)

This recipe can also be used for any of the following vegetables that can be diced
Winter melon(ash gourd)
Cucumber
Zuccini
Yellow squash
Snake gourd(pudalangaai)
Ridge gourd(peerkkangaai)


Ingredients
Shredded/Diced Vegetable - 2 cups
Lemon juice - 5 tbl spn
Salt and pepper - to taste
Thalidham - 1 tbl spn
Shredded coconut - 2 tbl spoon
Shredded ginger - 1 tbl spn
curry leaves - 5(cut into small pieces)
finely cut coriander leaves - 2 tbl spn

1/2 cup of any one of the following can be added to this salad
* Sprouted green gram
* Soaked peanuts
* Diced tomatoes
* Finely cut green pepper

Method:
1. Click here for thalidham preparation
2. Mix all the ingredients and serve.

Spinach/cucumber/avocado/carrot salad

Ingredients
Spinach - 2 handfuls
Avocado - 1
Cucumber - 1
carrot - 1
pecans - 10
Lemon juice - 5 tbl spn
salt and pepper

Method:
Cut spinach into small pieces(1/2 inch)
Peel and shred the carrot
Peel the cucumber
Cut avocado and cucumber to small cubes
Cut pecans into small pieces
Mix the vegetables in a bowl and add little salt, pepper and lemon juice just before serving

Greens and Avocado salad

Lettuce(any type) - 2 handfuls
Baby Spinach - 1 handful
Avocado - 1
Cucumber - 1/2
Tomato - 1

Dressing:
Lime juice - 1/4 cup
salt and pepper - to taste

Method:
Cut lettuce into bite size pieces
Cut avocado, cucumber and tomato into small cubes
Mix all these in a big bowl and add dressing just before serving

Strawberry delight

Ingredients:
Strawberries - 15
Raisins - 3 tbl spn
Almonds - 5
Pecans - 5
Walnuts - 5

Dressing:
Caramel - 2 tbl spn
Honey - 2 tbl spn
orange juice - 5 tbl spn

Method:
Cut the strawberries and nuts into small pieces
Mix the nuts, raisins and strawberries.
Add Caramel and honey and refrigerate for an hour

This is a good dessert too. Many of my friends love to have this with vanilla ice cream.

Quick and easy ideas

Morning:
1. Handful of soaked peanuts and some honey
2. Handful of soaked almonds, pecans, walnuts
3. Handful of sprouted moong dal
4. Hot lime juice(one cup hot water, 1 spoon honey and juice from 1/2 lime/lemon)
5. Nuts and raisins

Every night, I soak some peanuts or other nuts even if I don't have any idea what to do the next day. If I have time, I prepare a salad and add these soaked nuts. Else, I just eat the soaked nuts as is.

If I don't have the time to prepare any salad, I just eat some nuts and fruits(apple, orange, pears) for lunch/dinner. Eating salads and whole fruits alternatively brings variety to my everyday food :)

Thalidham

Oil - 1 tbl spn
mustard - 1/4 tbl spn
channa dal - 1/2 tbl spn
urad dal - 1/2 tbl spn

Heat one spoon oil in a very small pan
When the oil is just hot, add mustard and channa dal
When the mustard starts to splutter, add urad dal
When urad dal starts to turn red, remove from fire
Add this to the salad soon after removing from fire. Otherwise, dal will blacken in the hot oil