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!