Anything Goes Vegetable Soup

So I've recently been inspired by my friend Meghan to eat more vegetables. She's especially good at this, as in she eats steamed broccoli for breakfast. Yes, she does. #vegetablemachine

Considering that I tend to cycle through the same 2-3 vegetables as side dishes for dinner, I wasn't exactly sure how to go about upping my daily veggie intake. Meghan to the rescue with her great vegetable soup idea!

The great thing about this soup is that you can literally put any vegetable you want in there. Really, anything. Here's the basic "recipe" Meghan gave me:

Anything Goes Vegetable Soup

Any vegetables you want - chopped.

1 box of tomato puree (this would be a small 8 oz can of tomato sauce in America)

Water - however much you want

Seasonings - salt & pepper to taste, and then whatever else you want to add (I added just a bit of Mrs. Dash Southwest Seasoning, per Meghan's suggestion)

1-3 chopped green chiles - Meghan is daring and likes to use 3, but I could only handle 2 small ones. These really add a ton of flavor and a little kick of heat to the soup.

Dump everything into a big pot. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 30 minutes to an hour or until the vegetables are as soft as you'd like them to be. 

I can't even begin to tell you how awesome this was. I made a big pot last night and plan to eat it for lunch all week - this will be the most veggies I've ever consumed in a week before! I ate some for the first time today, and it was quite yummy. And because it's all vegetables, you can eat a really big bowl, which is really filling!! Win!

Here's what I put in my first concoction (pictured above):

Handful of green beans

2 carrots

1 green capsicum (bell pepper)

1 zucchini

4 tomatoes

1 cup of frozen peas

4 small potatoes

1 small onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup of black beans

2 small green chiles

Here are some other ideas:

Mushrooms

Corn

Broccoli

Cauliflower

Sweet potatoes

Chick peas

Any other kind of bean

Celery

Kale

Any other vegetable you can think of! Anything goes!!!

ONE IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind that whenever you boil vegetables, some of the nutrients cook out into the water. So in order to consume all the nutrients from the veggies, you MUST eat/drink the broth with this soup! Which it tastes good, so no hardship there. 

Meghan, thanks for revolutionizing my nutrient intake. 

Chili - the Real Deal!

So, back home in the US, here was my method for making chili: dump browned hamburger, canned beans, tomato sauce, V8 Juice, and two packets of chili seasoning into a crockpot.

That doesn't translate super well to India.

But my friend Laura created an amaaaaaaaazing chicken chili recipe here that is so good, you'd think you were eating beef chili in America.

I am an eyewitness taster to this chili, and I testify that it is amaaaaaaaazing.

Here's how she did it!

She started with THIS RECIPE and then did the following alterations:

"For the canned tomatoes, I cut (skins on or off, as you prefer) about 12-14 tomatoes into small cubes. I heated them on high unit they boiled, then simmered them for 15 minutes. Add basil, salt, and pepper.

I also added one bay leaf, some smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce, and 1-2 T brown sugar.

And you can add other peppers, or more onions if you want (I like it heavy on the veggies)."

For sake of simplicity, you can pay to buy canned beans from the import section of the grocery store, if available (totally worth it for this chili, if you ask me). Or you can substitute the canned beans with some dried rajma beans that have been cooked and rinsed. 

It was delicious. Now I'm looking for an excuse to have her make it for me again...

One Hour Dinner Rolls

My husband loves bread.

Actually, he claims that all men love bread.

Let's be honest: I also love bread.

However, India is not the land flowing with canned crescent rolls, so having dinner rolls to accompany an everyday dinner takes slightly more effort than popping open a tube and rolling up precut dough triangles. (I am NOT knocking "breads from a tube" - oh how I love them and absolutely plan to use them whenever in America).

I grew up making dinner rolls with my mom from her secret family recipe (actually, it's not a secret. I have no idea where she got it. But we always made them growing up, which makes it seem like a secret family recipe). But from start to finish, those rolls take over 4 hours. Most days, I don't remember 3 hours ahead of time before dinner to mix up some dinner rolls.

But these beauties only take an hour. Yes. ONE HOUR. (Ok, approximately. Your first couple of times making them might take a few minutes longer till you get the hang of it. But "Approximately One Hour Possibly Longer Dinner Rolls doesn't have a nice ring to it.)

Here's what makes these rolls awesome:

1. They only take (approximately) one hour.

2. They have an unbelievably fluffy texture.

3. Melted honey butter. Oh yum.

This recipe has quite a bit of text explaining what I did, and because I'm in a long-winded mood, but feel free to skip right down to the actual recipe.

I of course started with a recipe from Pinterest, and really only had to alter the amount of flour I used. The original recipe said "3 1/2+ cups of flour," and I probably used at least 5. 

{Confession time...I don't actually measure my flour when making bread. *hangs head*  I'm sorry, I know that drives you crazy if you're new to making bread, but I just can't help it. I just know by look and feel when I've reached the appropriate amount of flour. The most recent time I made these I just shook the flour in straight from the bag and didn't even use a measuring cup. I'm feeling almost ashamed admitting this...}

So I'm just going to say 5+ cups of flour.

ALSO, the original recipe called for 2 TBS of active dry yeast, but since I was using rapid rise, I used more like 1-1 1/2 TBS (don't hate me for the approximate amounts!)

First you let the yeast start doing it's thing in the water, sugar, butter, and honey. After sitting for 15 minutes, it will look nice and foamy like this:

Then you start mixing in your egg, salt and flour.

Although I made these the first time using my KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook, like the original recipe instructs, I actually prefer just mixing these by hand. That's how I always made my mom's rolls, old fashioned kneading by hand. I think it's easier to get the dough mixed well and know when the proper amount of flour is added when I can feel it by hand. However, if you didn't grow up making rolls with your mom, you might be intimidated by what "kneading" means (at least I would be, if not for my mom). So I took a very poorly recorded video of me kneading the dough. 

Uh yes, it's really difficult to hold your phone in one hand and knead with the other. I don't recommend it.

Basically for kneading, just picture yourself scooping your fingers underneath the ball of dough, flipping your hand over, and then pushing the dough down with the heel of your hand (is "heel" a term for your hand? You know, the bottom part connected to your wrist). You're continually flipping the dough around and around so the flour gets evenly distributed throughout. 

Rather than letting the dough rise in one big ball, you immediately roll it out into individual rolls and then let them rise for another 25 minutes before baking. 

When I took these pictures, I made 12 giant sized rolls (as per original recipe), but I've subsequently made the recipe into 18 smaller rolls, and I actually preferred the way they turned out that way, so that's what I'd recommend. 

Big giant balls of dough after rising

My friend Meghan (hi, Meghan!) who loves LOVES crescent rolls, said she liked these rolls even better than the crescents we make for Thanksgiving. This is huge, folks. Meaning, you should definitely give these a try!

One Hour Dinner Rolls

Original Recipe

1 - 1 1/2 TBS quick rise yeast

1 cup plus 2 TBS warm (not cold, not hot) water

1/3 cup melted butter

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

5+ cups of flour (maida)

1/4 cup honey + 1/4 cup butter melted together (do this just before baking)

In a large bowl, combine your warm water, yeast, melted butter, honey, and sugar. Give it a stir with a spoon to combine. Let it rest for 15 minutes until it is frothy and foamy. 

Add in your egg, salt, and a couple cups of flour and stir with the spoon. Continue adding additional flour about a half cup at a time until a ball of dough begins to form. Shake a little flour on your spoon and wipe off any dough clinging to the spoon. Knead the dough by hand, continuing to add flour until the dough is a cohesive ball and not sticky at all (it shouldn't have any portions that still stick to your fingers). You'll discover quickly while rolling out the individual rolls if you haven't added enough flour, because it will be too sticky to roll together! If that's the case, throw the rolls back in and knead a bit more flour in.

Spray a cookie sheet (or muffin tins) with cooking spray. Roll the dough into 12-18 rolls, depending how big you want them to be. (My favorite has been when I made 18 rolls, which I had to do on 2 cookie sheets since India ovens are small). Cover with a light towel (or put them in your oven - not turned on) and let rise for 25 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius (400 F). Melt the 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup honey together in the microwave, mix well, and then brush over the tops of the rolls. Bake for 15-17 minutes, or until tops are slightly browned and feel firm to the touch.

Remove from oven, and allow to cool for just a minute before brushing them again with the honey butter mixture. Serve warm and gooey!

BBQ Chicken Sandwich - Alternative Recipes

I've already shared a recipe before to make BBQ Chicken Sandwiches in the Crock Pot, where you make your BBQ sauce from scratch. (recipe here)

But if you're wanting something a little simpler, here are two alternative recipes two of my friends shared with me...ironically both friends are named Christina!

BBQ Chicken Alternative One:

6 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed

1 (12 ounce) bottle of barbecue sauce

1/2 cup Italian salad dressing

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 TBS Worcestershire sauce

Place the chicken in the crock pot. In a bowl, mix the barbecue sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.

Cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours.

Remove the chicken and shred, then stir back into the sauce. You can shred the chicken an hour before eating and let it simmer in the sauce for the final hour, if you wish.

BBQ Chicken Alternative Two:

4-6 chicken breasts, frozen or thawed

1 (12 ounce) bottle of barbecue sauce

1/4 cup of vinegar

1/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2-1 tsp of garlic powder

Place the chicken in the crock pot. In a bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients together, then pour over the chicken. 

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. 

Remove chicken and shred, then return to the sauce to mix together (or just pour the sauce over the chicken).

Serve on toasted hamburger buns! 

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach & Sun Dried Tomatoes

Yesterday I had taken two chicken breasts out of the freezer to thaw with the intention of making some sort of Italian pasta or something for dinner. But when it came around to dinner time, I just didn't feel like making that. 

Instead, I threw this together, and I'm oh so glad I did.

It's chicken stuffed with spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese, then breaded and baked to yummy perfection.

If you don't have sun dried tomatoes, you could try it with fresh tomatoes, or some roasted red peppers. 

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach and Sun Dried Tomatoes

2-4 chicken breasts, thawed

Handful of fresh spinach, chopped.

One sun dried tomato per chicken breast

1-2 sticks/chunks per chicken breast of "Pizza Cheese" (or shredded mozzarella if you're in the U.S.)

Salt & pepper

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs (or regular breadcrumbs, or crushed Monaco crackers)

2 TBS of olive oil

Toothpicks

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350 F)

1. Chop your spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and get your cheese ready. Here were my filling ingredients assembled:

This was for 2 pieces of chicken - not quite all the spinach fit

2. Season both sides of the chicken with some salt and pepper. Cut a slit into the sides of the chicken, but don't cut all the way through - creates a pocket to stuff your filling into.

3. Stuff some cheese, chopped spinach and sun dried tomato into each chicken breast. Secure the slit closed with toothpicks.

4. Dip each stuffed chicken breast into the egg, then coat with the Panko bread crumbs. 

5. Heat the oil over medium heat in a pan. Brown the chicken on both sides for about 2 minutes, or just enough to brown and crisp up the Panko. (Skip this step if you're not using Panko).

6. Place the chicken on a foil-lined baking dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

7. Carefully remove the toothpicks before serving!

Lots of Recipe Links

Often times recipes take some adjustments and substitutions to work in India, but sometimes, recipes work fine as is! I figured I'd just create a page of links to recipes that either I love or that friends have sent me that they frequently make, that don't necessarily require a whole post written up with adjustments. So here are a bunch of "linkable" recipes!!

This post will be a living work in progress as people send me other recipe links (or as I discover more), so check back occasionally!

First, some sweet stuff...because I'm definitely a sweets addict:

Granola Bars - I have a pan of these on hand almost all the time. I personally add flax seeds, chia seeds, chopped dried cranberries and chocolate chips, but you could add any combination of mix ins. I make a half recipe, and I like using these Oats Plus instead of just plain oats, because it adds extra texture.

Healthy Breakfast Cookies - y'all, I'm completely obsessed with these cookies. They are so, so, so delicious. And easy. And Healthy(ish?). I probably make them once a week for breakfast, or afternoon snacks :) YOU NEED TO MAKE THESE!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookies - ok, everyone already has their favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but I was recently converted to this one. It is the best. The BEST. So chewy, so thick, such perfection. And totally India proof.

Sugar Cookies - my friend Christina makes these, and they're totally yummy!

Biscuits - if you want an alternative to my simple drop biscuits recipe, here's one that Christina uses - she says to make the biscuits big.

Pancakes - I already have 2 pancake recipes on the blog, but here's another alternative that a friend uses.

Syrup - if you need an alternative to the {expensive} American Garden pancake syrup, you can try this butter based syrup. It's very rich, and this makes a lot, so try making half a recipe.

Slow Cooker French Toast Casserole

Homemade Monkey Bread from scratch - this is sweet enough that you don't need the glaze, in my opinion.

French Toast in a Mug

And, some savory entrees:

Italian Chicken Packets - from Lauren

Ginger Sesame Chicken Chopped Salad - from Lauren

Baked Chicken Nuggets - Lauren says you can use blended oatmeal if you don't have breadcrumbs.

Macaroni & Cheese with Dahi - Tessy says everyone should know about this easy, yummy recipe! Use Dahi in place of the Greek yogurt.

Pioneer Woman's Perfect Potato Soup - it really is seriously perfect. The best potato soup I've ever tasted.

Baked Oatmeal Bars

Once a week we have friends over for breakfast, so I'm always on the lookout for delicious, easy breakfast recipes for large groups. These Baked Oatmeal Bars have become my latest go to recipe, esp if I've forgotten to plan something ahead of time, because we always have oatmeal on hand.

I apologize that this is a TERRIBLE picture. Taking the pic was kind of an afterthought in the middle of eating that morning.

The very first time I made this, it didn't really get set, so it was more kind of a semi-set, really thick oatmeal (which also still tasted good). After several tries and tweaks, I finally got it to come out in cut pieces this last time I made it. Three things contributed to this:

1. I used more oatmeal than the recipe calls for (I think because you can only typically find quick oats and not whole oats in India, they don't absorb as much liquid. If you have whole oats you may not have to do this).

2. I used slightly less milk.

3. I cooked it on the stovetop until it was REALLY thick before baking, and baked it for longer in the oven than the recipe called for.

My recipe below reflects all of my adjustments.

Even if you aren't cooking for a crowd, this would still be a great recipe to make and then refrigerate or even maybe freeze pieces of it for quick breakfast throughout the week. You could potentially even bake the mixture in individual muffin cups (ooo, now there's an idea!!).

I also omit the raisins that the original recipe calls for, because I personally detest them. But feel free to stir raisins into the oatmeal mixture after it's thickened. Or, my friend Laura made this once with chopped dried cranberries and chopped walnuts on top instead of chocolate chips. Let your imagination run wild! I'm just a chocaholic. 

Baked Oatmeal Bars

Original Recipe

3 1/2 cups of oats

5 cups of milk

1/2 cup peanut butter

3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 cup of chocolate chips

(1 cup of raisins, if you like that sort of thing)

Combine the oats, milk, peanut butter, brown sugar, and beaten eggs in a LARGE pot. Mix well and cook the mixture over medium/medium low heat, stirring frequently. My most successful times making this are when I've allowed it to cook on the stove for at least 30 minutes. 

Once the mixture is extremely thick, spread into a greased 9x13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over the top.

Bake at 170 degrees Celsius (350 F) for 40-50 minutes, until set. Allow to cool for just a few minutes before serving.

Chicken Pot Pie - Two Ways

Who doesn't love a good chicken pot pie? Talk about comfort food! And sometimes in India, you just need a dose of American comfort food (am I right?!).

Today I'm sharing not one, but two ways you can make chicken pot pie. (Yee haw!)

First I'll share my mom's classic chicken pot pie recipe I've always made, except with a twist - biscuits instead of pie crust. Then I'll share my friend Christina's recipe with the traditional pie crust.

In America, I made chicken pot pie very frequently because 1) it's delicious and 2) it's so darn easy when you can buy remade refrigerated pie crusts and bags of frozen mixed vegetables with carrots, peas, corn and green beans! Simple simple simple.

But although my mom's recipe for the chicken pot pie filling translates easily to India cooking, I was just too lazy to make a from scratch pie crust (three kids, y'all), so I topped it with biscuits instead. Still so delicious!

India also made this even easier lately when my grocery store started carrying these bags of frozen vegetables:

It's a mix of peas, carrots, green beans, and cauliflower. But before using, I sifted through and picked out every piece of cauliflower, because I'm pretty sure there's a law written somewhere that it's illegal to put cauliflower in chicken pot pie. Then I added about 1/3 of frozen corn to the mix. If you can't find these bags of frozen veggies though, you can definitely just use all fresh!

So here's my mama's recipe, topped with biscuits!

Chicken Pot Pie

Thanks, Mom!

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into cubes (click here for how I get my chicken)

2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables (or fresh, chopped into bite sized pieces - I like peas, carrots, green  beans, and corn, but you can do any other combo)

5 TBS of butter

1/3 cup of flour

1/3 cup of onion, chopped

1 3/4 cups of chicken broth (or one can in the US)

2/3 cup milk

Salt and pepper to taste

A half recipe of biscuit dough (or you can use pie crust)

Prepare your biscuit dough and set aside in the fridge.

1. In a sauce pan or very large sauté pan, melt the butter with the onion over medium heat. Allow the onions to cook a few minutes until they're soft (because crunchy onions in chicken pot pie = no ma'am). 

2. Sprinkle the flour into the melted butter and add a semi-generous amount of salt and pepper. Stir and allow to cook for a couple of minutes to cook off the flour flavor.

3. Remove the pan from the heat, and pour the chicken broth and milk into the pan and stir to combine. 

4. Return the pan to the flame and heat to a boil, then allow to boil 1-2 minutes till the mixture thickens.

5. Stir in the cooked chicken and vegetables.

The filling mixture

6. Spray a 9x9 (or equivalent sized) baking dish with cooking spray or butter, then pour the pot pie filling into the pan.

7. Drop large spoonfuls of the biscuit dough over the top of the filling, leaving little bits of space for it to expand as it cooks. (Or, top with a pie crust and cut slits in the center) If you want the biscuits to get really browned on top, you can brush them with an egg white (I did not do that in my recipe pictured).

Prior to baking

8. Bake at 215 degrees Celsius for 25-30 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the biscuits are set (or the pie crust is browned). Enjoy!

And now, here's your Chicken Pot Pie Alternative, courtesy of Christina!

Chicken Pot Pie, Take Two

Christina said that instead of a whole chicken, she uses a 1 lb package of chicken breasts, and then the recipe yields a 9.5 inch deep pie pan or a 9x9 square pan - you'd need to double it for a 9x13. So you would just need a single pie crust to top it with unless you want to line the bottom with a pie crust also.

How to Cook Chicken to Use in Recipes

A lot of chicken recipes call for the chicken to be already cooked and shredded/cubed. What are the best ways to cook the chicken prior to using in these recipes?

I'm sharing my two favorite ways today!

Method One: In the Crock Pot 

(aka my most favorite method ever)

Obviously for this method, you need a crock pot. If you're living and cooking in India, I would totally recommend spending the money to invest in a Crock Pot - total, total life saver. And since Amazon.in has revolutionized what's available in India, you can actually find several different models. Just do a quick search on Amazon.in for crock pots and there are lots to choose from.

Instructions:

Put your chicken in the crock pot (I usually put mine in straight from frozen). Pour in enough (filtered) water to mostly cover the chicken breasts. Cook on low for 7-8 hours, or on high for 4-6 hours (if the chicken is thawed, you could prob reduce the cooking time by an hour or two).

You can cook the chicken in just straight up water, but you also have a great opportunity to add flavor by cooking it all day with seasoning. I always at the very least throw in two to three chicken cubes to make the water chicken broth.

No need to dissolve the chicken cubes in the water before hand - just plop them right in and they'll dissolve as it cooks all day.

You can also add in any kind of seasoning that will pair well with your recipe - I most frequently add fajita seasoning to use in Mexican dishes, but you could also add a packet of taco seasoning, or you could add some Italian seasoning, or lemon pepper, or some rosemary/thyme/oregano...go crazy with it! I typically cook the chicken in the seasoning and then also add just a little bit more to the chicken after I've shredded it.

After the chicken is done cooking, remove it from the Crock Pot and shred. If I only have a couple of chicken breasts, I'll just shred it with two forks, but if I'm doing a lot of chicken, I love to shred it in my KitchenAid mixer.

Does the job in like less than a minute! I usually add a couple spoonfuls of the water from the Crock Pot in with the chicken when I shred it in the mixer. You can also use a hand mixer for the same results.

Like I said, this is my favorite way to cook chicken, because you throw it in the Crock Pot, forget about it for hours, and come back to very moist, well seasoned chicken ready for your recipe!

Method Two: "Boiling"

I put the word boiling in quotation marks, because really it's better to not fully boil chicken, because it makes it turn out tough (I know this because of Google...mostly everything I learned about cooking came from my mom, the Food Network, and Google. When you don't know something, just Google it). You want to gently "poach" it instead.

Instructions:

Bring a pot of water to boil (add in some chicken cubes if you want extra flavor). Then gently drop your THAWED (not frozen) chicken breasts into the water. Turn the heat down to where it's more of a simmer vs. a rolling boil (a few bubbles should pop up to the surface here and there, but not a rolling boil like you use with pasta). Cook for about 12-15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and not pink when you cut into it. You may need more time if you're doing more than just 2 or 3 chicken breasts. Or you can cut them into smaller pieces to cook more quickly.

Remove the chicken and either shred it or cut it into cubes.

The other bonus of these two cooking methods is that if your recipe calls for chicken broth, you can use the liquid you cooked the chicken in instead of boiling a chicken cube in water (or cracking open a can of chicken broth in the U.S.). 

That's it friends! Perfectly cooked chicken ready for your favorite recipes.

Million Dollar Spaghetti

This is a recipe that I saw floating around on Pinterest for awhile, but after reading it, I abandoned it as an option for India since it called for cream cheese and cottage cheese.

But lucky for us, my friend Christina figured out how to India-fy this one and it is so delicious!

It's rich and oh so cheesy - a crowd pleaser for sure!

So here's Christina with her Million Dollar Spaghetti method!

Million Dollar Spaghetti

Original Recipe

Serves 6-8 people

• 1 lb of Chicken Keema

• 1 jar of spaghetti sauce - or I make my own (instructions below)

• 8 oz of cream cheese or a similar substitute

• ¼ cup dahi

• 1 cup (200 grams) of paneer; you can either crumble it by hand or shred it and it will cook up great!

• ½ cup butter (1 stick) - this is just approximate, no need to measure it out, you’ll just be adding slices of butter as you go

• 1 pkg spaghetti 16 oz - this equals about 500 g

• Grated "Pizza Cheese", or gouda cheese, or a combination of the two.

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 170 degrees Celsius. Boil your spaghetti noodles until al dente (firm). Drain and set aside until ready to assemble. Be careful not to let the noodles clump together when cooking. You can really taste this in the dish once it’s all done. If they do clump together when cooking, go ahead and separate them out as best you can by hand or with a fork.
2. Combine the cream cheese, dahi, and crumbled paneer until well blended. If any of your ingredients here are too hard to blend, you can put these in the microwave for a little bit of time. It will soften them and make everything easier to mix together.
3. Brown your chicken keema and combine with spaghetti sauce.
4. Put a few slices of butter into a 9x13 pan then pour half of your spaghetti noodles on top.
5. Take your cream cheese mixture and pour on top of the noodles. Spread well over noodles. If the consistency is too tough to spread, you can add a little more dahi to thin the mixture out a bit.
6. Pour the rest of the noodles on top of the cream cheese mixture. Put a few more slices of butter on top of the noodles.
7. Pour your spaghetti and meat sauce on top of your noodles. I like to make sure to cover all the noodles with sauce. If you don’t, then the ones that don’t get covered with get really crispy in the oven.
8. Now it is ready to put into the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, pour the desired amount of grated cheese on top and return to the oven for 15 minutes to allow cheese to melt.

Instructions for Homemade Spaghetti Sauce:

In a skillet on medium heat, combine 2-3 boxes of tomato puree, 1-2 teaspoons sugar (sugar takes the bite off the tomato sauce; start with one tsp and add more if necessary), a fair amount of garlic powder, onion powder, basil and oregano. Also add water to dilute the thickness if necessary. Different brands of tomato puree in India have different levels of thickness. You want your sauce not as thick as marinara but not too thin either. Let this simmer on the heat for about five minutes or so. The longer you cook it, the more water will evaporate out, so if your sauce starts out too thin, cook it longer. If you like the consistency as it, don’t leave it cooking for too long. 

Cheese mixture

Meat/sauce mixture

Yumminess

Basic Hummus

I'll admit it: I'm a hummus newbie. I had only tried it one time in America before coming to India. But after we moved here, in our original flat there was a little hole in the wall Lebanese place nearby that had really great hummus, and I was converted. It also helps that hummus is one of the few ways I can get myself to eat fresh vegetables in India. 

I didn't try my hand at making homemade hummus until a couple of weeks ago, and now I don't know why I waited so long. It's actually really simple, and, like I said, is the vehicle to vegetable eating (and also a great snack options...snacks are the hardest in India!)

I take no credit for this recipe - it is courtesy of my friend Stephanie, although I adjusted it slightly to my tastes. I think hummus is very much one of those personal taste foods, so take this recipe as a guideline and adjust the amounts to what you like. I personally LOVE garlic, so I add lots of garlic (reflected below), and I also like really really smooth hummus, so I add a decent amount of olive oil to it. I actually don't measure anything other than the chick peas; I just add approximate amounts and adjust as I taste it. 

The bonus of this recipe is that no tahini is needed, and it still tastes awesome! Like I said though, I'm a hummus newbie, so I may just not be well versed in hummus enough to know the difference without the tahini. 

P.S. I think hummus is kind of a weird word, and it felt weird to say it in my head so many times as I was typing this out...

Basic Hummus

2 cups of cooked chicken peas/garbanzo beans

1/4 cup of dahi (Greek Yogurt)

5-6 cloves of garlic, minced

1-2+ TBS olive oil

1 TBS water

2 TBS lemon juice (I use the bottled kind, not fresh, bc I'm lazy)

1/2-1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

Black pepper to taste

Add all the ingredients to a blender/food processor. Pulse a couple of times to get things mixed together, then blend on low/medium speed for one minute. Check the hummus flavor and texture and then adjust to your tastes. Add more olive oil if you want it smoother, add extra seasoning, more garlic or more lemon juice if it tastes bland, etc. 

** To cook the chick peas, I soak them overnight and then cook them in the pressure cooker until soft. Obviously you can use canned chick peas in place of fresh if you have them. 

Crunchy Fiesta Chicken Casserole

Holy yum.

Y'all. I loved this dish. Really loved. REALLY.

And it was soooooooo easy. Please tell me you'll make it.

When I was getting dinner ready, Landon asked what we were having. I told him chicken with cheese and chips on it. He said, "Whoa-hoh, good choice, Mom!" And he was right. Excellent choice. 

Mix and Match Mama wins again! I love her recipes!

Her original recipe was for just the chicken casserole, but I took the suggestion of one of the comments and served it over brown rice. Definitely the way to go. I think it gave it a lot more substance that way. You could also add in some black beans to give it a little something extra if you want. 

For real, you need to make this.

Crunchy Fiesta Chicken Casserole

Original Recipe

1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1/2 cup of salsa

1/2 cup of Dahi (or sour cream)

1 recipe of cream of chicken soup substitute

8-10 jarred jalapeños, finely chopped

1-2 TBS southwest seasoning (or taco, or any Mexican type seasoning)

2 cups of shredded cheese

2 cups of tortilla chips, slightly crushed

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350 F)

Combine chicken, southwest seasoning, salsa, dahi, cream of chicken soup, jalapeños and 1 cup cheese. 

Spray a small casserole dish (mine is 9x11) with cooking spray. Spread the chicken mixture in the casserole dish. Top with remaining 1 cup of cheese and then crushed tortilla chips. Bake uncovered for about 20 minutes. Serve over brown rice (optional).

Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

I'm really excited to share this recipe with you.

This casserole was super. Super duper.

I used to cook a lot of recipes from Kraft Foods - remember the good ol' days when their monthly magazine was free? Those magazines fed us for a lot of the beginning of our marriage! 

The magazine may not be free anymore, but they do send out weekly emails of recipes. A lot of the recipes aren't super India friendly, so a lot of times I kind of ignore them right now, but this one was India capable, and I loved it!

It's kind of like a Mexican lasagna, with tortillas instead of lasagna noodles. But after baking, the tortillas sort of morphed into this half tortilla/half noodle texture that was just great. Great I tell you.

Look at those layers...despite the terrible pic

Once again I used this as my cream cheese:

I made a handful of modifications to the recipe, but it follows the basic guidelines. I swapped out the tomatoes for a bell pepper because Kyle and I aren't huge chunks of tomato fans. But if you are, by all means throw some tomatoes in there!

I think I used about a cup of shredded cheese total in this dish. But if we're honest, it was maybe more. I don't ever measure cheese in a dish like this (or any dish?) - just sprinkle with the more is more mentality. 

Does anyone actually measure their cheese?! 

Regardless...enjoy!

Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

Original Recipe

1 pound chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

6 tortillas

1 tub of cream cheese

2 TBS of taco seasoning

2 TBS of milk

1 chopped bell pepper

1 small chopped onion

1 cup of frozen corn, thawed in the microwave

1 1/2 - 2 cups of black beans

1 cup of shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 170 Degrees Celsius (350 F)

Mix the cream cheese, taco seasoning, and milk in a bowl. Set aside.

In another bowl, combine the chicken, bell pepper, onion, corn, and black beans. Stir in half of the cream cheese mixture.

Spray a small casserole dish with cooking spray (I think mine is 9x11 inches or weird size like that. You could also do this in a large pie plate with only 3 tortillas).

Spread 1/3 of the chicken mixture in the bottom of the dish. Top with 2 tortillas spread to cover the whole dish, not on top of one another. Spread half of the remaining chicken mixture over the tortillas, followed by 1/3 of the cheese. Layer two more tortillas. Then spread the remaining chicken mixture and half of the remaining of the cheese. Add the final two tortillas. 

Spread the remaining cream cheese mixture over the top tortillas, and then finally sprinkle with the last of the cheese. 

Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Chicken and Potato Creamy Casserole

I hadn't tried any new recipes in a few weeks, so earlier this week I decided to hunt through my Pinterest boards to find recipes lurking there untried. I came across this recipe for a chicken and potato casserole and decided to give it a shot - after all, chicken and potatoes are certainly very available in India!

I'm not gonna lie; this wasn't our most favorite recipe ever. It wasn't bad, but it just wasn't awesome, so I probably won't make it again. But, I figure that people have different tastes, so I'd still post it anyway, since it's an easy India recipe (and not Mexican...which 70% of the recipes I make here are, ha ha).

**One note...I felt like in order to cook it long enough for the potatoes to be soft, the chicken wound up being very dry. So I would either cut the potatoes into very small cubes, or even shred them, or I would leave the chicken breasts whole and just set them down in the potatoes immersed in the sauce. But I left the directions below with how I did it from the original recipe.

Chicken and Potato Creamy Casserole

Original Recipe

2 chicken breasts, uncooked and cut into cubes

3 medium sized potatoes, skinned and cut into small cubes

1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 TBS bacon bits (or 2 pieces of bacon, cooked and chopped) 

2 TBS butter, cut in pieces

1 cup of shredded cheese

1/4 cup of Fresh Cream (the little box of cream) - I mixed in a splash of milk to re-liquify it

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt + more to taste

pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius (350 F)

Spray a 9x9 casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread the potatoes and chicken together in a layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Next, sprinkle the pieces of butter, chopped onion and bacon bits over the potatoes and chicken, and then add half of the cheese.

In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, 1 tsp of salt and a few dashes of pepper into the cream. Pour over the potatoes and chicken.

Here it was before baking

Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Then remove the foil and bake an additional 30 minutes. Sprinkle the other half of cheese over the casserole and bake another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. 

Like I said, this isn't an award winning recipe in my books, but it would be easy to throw together if you have some potatoes to use up - very pantry staple ingredients!

Creamy Crock Pot Mexican Chicken

I tried out this new recipe from Pinterest (obviously), and I was really impressed at how versatile it is! Not to mention easy - I love the Crock Pot. Whoever invented it deserves a medal.

This is pretty much your standard Mexican chicken type recipe, with one surprising twist - cream cheese!

You just dump everything in the crock pot and shred up your chicken before eating. Simple simple.

We ate this with with some basmati rice wrapped in tortillas, but it would be great just over rice, or plain in a tortilla. The next day I ate some leftovers with some lettuce and crushed up tortilla chips, and it was delicious! You could even eat it with just tortilla chips like loaded nachos - seriously, eat it however you want!

I only used half of the tub of cream cheese, but if you want it to be extra creamy, add the whole tub (if you're in America, an 8 oz block of cream cheese). I've found that the Mother Dairy tub of cheese spread works as a pretty decent substitute for cream cheese (I've used it in cheesecake also).

Creamy Crock Pot Mexican Chicken

Original Recipe

1 lb chicken breasts

1 cup of salsa

1/2-1 whole tub of cream cheese

2 cups of black beans

1 cup of frozen corn

1 medium onion, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 TBS chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

(instead of the chili powder and cumin, you could also add a package of taco seasoning)

Shredded cheese for serving (optional)

Add everything to the crock pot. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 5-6 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks before serving, and stir together.

Serve with rice, tortillas, lettuce, tortilla chips, or any combination!

Chicken Burgers (or meatballs) with Spinach and Cheese

For some reason, I've been a little leery about making burgers in India. Maybe because I've never had a chicken/turkey burger before, so I just wondered if they were a little bit weird.

So these were my first attempt at India burgers...and I must say, we all loved them! Even Landon, my pick eater, loved the "handaburg" as he calls them. Layla calls them "hangabers." I have the cutest kids.

Anyway, here they are!

I sprinkled a little bit extra of the grated "processed cheddar cheese" that I had also mixed into the patties, but you could also top it with a slice of cheese. In fact, you could pay the big bucks to get real, actual cheddar cheese, and these would probably be even more delicious. I think they would taste PERFECT with a smear of mayonnaise, but alas, I didn't have any when we ate these. Maybe next time - because there WILL be a next time.

Take note that you need to mix this together 2 hours before you actually want to make dinner - it allows all the yummy flavors to infuse into the meat more.

Tip: I toasted the buns with a  little bit of butter in the pan after cooking the burgers, and that was definitely the perfecting touch on these burgers. Totally worth the extra effort.

Chicken Burgers with Spinach and Cheese

Original Recipe

1 lb/450 grams of ground chicken (chicken keema)

1 onion cut into big chunks

1 cup of wilted spinach (just sauté it in a pan for a couple minutes)

3+ cloves of garlic

2 TBS of balsamic vinegar

2 tsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of lemon juice

1/2 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs (or regular bread crumbs, or crushed Monaco crackers)

Put your chicken keema in a large bowl. In a blender or food processor, add the spinach, onion, and garlic and pulse until well chopped, but not pureed. Add to bowl with chicken. Add the remaining ingredients into the bowl with the chicken and mix everything together well. 

Cover and refrigerate for 2+ hours.

When you're ready to eat, heat a pan over medium heat. Make 6 patties out of the chicken, and add to the pan (I used 2 pans with 3 patties in each). Cook for 6-7 minutes per side...I'll confess that I perhaps overcooked these a little, but I don't have a meat thermometer and was super paranoid about undercooking them since it's chicken and not beef. 

Top with additional cheese after cooking. Serve on toasted buns with mayo, lettuce, and tomato if you have it! Even additional sliced onion would be great.

As an option, you can also roll these into meatballs instead of burgers! Mix the meat the exact same way, but then roll into balls and either pan fry or bake in the oven. Eat them plain or with some salad.

Cajun Chicken Pasta - Pioneer Woman

Fun fact: my first job I started at age 16 was working at a Cajun restaurant. I honestly didn't even know what Cajun food was before I started working there, but I quickly learned, and quickly fell in love with the spicy goodness. Although I'll also confess, I could never bring myself to try one of the boiled crawfish...so maybe I'm not truly Cajun after all.

This pasta.

Oh my wow.

Really, all I need to tell you is that it's a Pioneer Woman recipe, and that should sell you on it immediately. (I love you, Ree!!)

Cajun Chicken Pasta?! What's not to love?!

And the best part is, this recipe is totally totally India safe. I have some Cajun seasoning I brought from America, but you could throw your own spice mix together if you don't. (Just google - homemade Cajun seasoning).

Her recipe is so perfect, I'm not even going to give you my own instructions; I'll just point you directly to her site.

Two notes: Firstly, I did not add tomatoes, bc Kyle and I don't really like chunks of tomatoes in pasta, so instead I just used three colors of bell peppers - red, yellow, and green.

Secondly, this is what I used for the cream:

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't really understand what this stuff is. It's not heavy whipping cream, because it doesn't have enough fat to whip into cream, but it's so, SO thick, that you can literally scoop it with a spoon. So my suggestion is to squeeze out the package into a separate measuring cup and give it a stir to recombine the liquid and the spoonable clumps, before pouring it into your sauce.

Um, and by two notes I actually meant three: Thirdly, I don't have any white cooking wine, so I just replaced it with extra chicken broth, but it took a long time to thicken up, so I maybe would just omit the cooking wine if you don't have it. Not sure if that's due to the chicken broth or the difference in the cream...I just make the food, I don't know the science behind how it cooks :)

This pasta was sooooooo delicious - and the nice part is you can make it as spicy or not spicy as you want. I'm already trying to decide how short of a time is appropriate to wait before making it again...

Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta