Bell Pepper - Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

Finely Diced Bell Pepper - 1cup
Finely diced Tomatoes-1cup
Finely Diced Cucumber (Keera)- 1cup
Finely diced onion - 1cup
Garlic-2 cloves
Chopped Coriander-1Tbsp
Vegetable broth-4cups
Tomato Puree- 1cup
Lime Juice-1tsp
Olive oil or Butter- 1tsp
Black pepper powder-1/2tsp
Salt-1/2 tsp or as per taste

Method:

Heat oil or butter in a pot add garlic and onions, saute until onions are clear. Add bell pepper, cucumber, tomatoes and tomato puree mix well and add vegetable broth. Cover the pot reduce the heat to medium low cook for 15-20 minutes. Add salt and pepper powder, garnish with chopped coriander leaves and serve hot.

Cauliflower, Coriander Soup

Ingredients:

Cauliflower florets- 2cups
Finely chopped onion- 1/2 cup
Vegetable Broth- 4cups
Chopped Coriander leaves- 2Tbsp
Butter-1tsp
Bay leaves-2
Skim milk- 1/2 cup
Black pepper powder-1/2tsp
Salt-3/4 tsp or as per taste


Method:

Heat butter in a pan, add bay leaves, finely chopped onions and saute until onions are clear. Add cauliflower florets and 1 1/2 Tbsp coriander leaves, saute for 5 minutes. Add vegetable broth, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 15-20 minutes. Let it cool down to room temperature, remove the bay leaves place in blender, and grind into a smooth gravy. Place this in a pot again and add milk and mix very well, and cook for 8-10 minutes more. At the end add salt and pepper powder, garnish with chopped coriander and serve hot.

Note: One can substitute milk with low fat coconut milk also.

Protein Rich Masala Kichidi

Ingredients:

White or Brown Basmathi Rice - 2cups
Toor dal-1/2 cup
Soaked and sprouted whole moong or Moongdal- 1/2 cup
Soaked and sprouted black chana- 1/4 cup
Firm Tofu- 1cup (Dice into small pieces)
Finely chopped onion- 1/2 cup
Slivered almonds-few (Toasted)
cinnamon-1piece
Cloves-3
cardamom-1
Bay Leaves-2
Oil- 3tsp (Can be used more oil if anybody wants)
Salt-1 tsp or as per taste
Chopped coriander leaves- 2Tbsp

For Masala:

Large onion-1
Green chillies-2
Anise seeds -1tsp
Poppy seeds-1tsp
Small cinnamon piece-1
Cloves-2
Ginger -small piece
Garlic- 2 cloves
Cardamom-1

Note: Grind all above masala ingredients into a paste and set aside.
Stir fry tofu pieces in 1 tsp oil and set aside.

Method:

Pressure cook all the dals together and set aside. Heat 1 tsp oil in a pot, fry whole masala ingredients (Cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and bay leaves), add chopped onion and saute until clear. Add rice and fry for few minutes and add water and half the salt, cook until rice is done.

Heat 1 tsp of oil in another pan, place the ground masala paste, fry until nice aroma comes or till raw onion smell is gone. Add 1 cup of water and remaining salt, while cooking, mix cooked dal and cook until becomes like a thick gravy. Add the cooked rice mix very well, cook in low heat for 5 minutes. At the end add the sauteed tofu pieces, mix well and garnish with chopped coriander and toasted almonds, serve hot.