Cabbage with Mustard Seeds + Oreo Truffles

December 12, 2017 Pooja C Mittal1 Comment

Hi everyone! It’s been a busy few weeks, right? The holiday season is upon us and it feels like running on a treadmill. I do love this time of year because we eat a lot of good food and we also hang out with so many people we love. This year, I am grateful for all of the wonderful people in my life, having new opportunities for learning and growth and appreciating holiday lights through the eyes of a 2 year old.

I went to this amazing talk last week by a woman who discussed “How to Remain Optimistic in the Setting of Big Challenges.” She offered tons of great tips and also shared a website that she references that I really think is worth mentioning. It is: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu. This is a website that provides tons of info about leading a meaningful life – Diya has been exploring it too!

Today I am sharing one of my comfort recipes, cabbage with garam masala. It is super simple but satisfying as a side dish. I am also including a link for oreo truffles which were delicious and easy – definitely a do-over.

Cabbage with Mustard Seeds

Ingredients:

1/2 head cabbage, sliced thin or shredded

frozen peas

salt to taste

2-3 Tablespoons of ghee/butter ok too

garam masala, cumin, ginger, mustard seeds, turmeric

Instructions:

Heat the ghee in a cast iron skillet or nonstick pan. When it is hot, add 1 tablespoon mustard seeds and cook for 30 seconds until they start to pop. Add the spices (1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4-1/2 tsp ginger powder and cook for a few seconds until toasted and fragrant. Add in the cabbage and quickly stir to coat with the ghee mixture. Add salt to taste and 1 cup of frozen peas. Cook uncovered and as the cabbage wilts and reduces down, add 1 tsp garam masala and toss to coat. Cook until it looks perfect for you – I like a little char around the edges. Serve as a side dish – this recipe serves 4-5.

Oreo Truffles

My pictures disappeared off my phone – so here is the link: Oreo Truffles. We didn’t dip them in chocolate to save time, we tossed them in powdered sugar and they were a hit! We mixed them with candy-coated mint chocolate and called them a Holiday Trail Mix. The best part was that Diya and Esha made it all – start to finish – by themselves! Nisa helped with the quality control by taste-testing. Here are the leftovers:

Love to you all!

Pooja

Cilantro Pesto Pasta, S’mores Brownies and a new home

October 18, 2017 Pooja C MittalLeave a comment

The last few weeks have been a rollercoaster, but we finally settled into our new (to us) place last week. There have been some nice surprises (beautiful sunsets, tons of girls in the neighborhood who are so wonderful at including our girls) and also some challenges (cooking on a camping stove until we get a proper one and fixing a little bit of almost everything). Overall, the transition has been a smooth one and we are settling in nicely.

The last day of cooking on the camping stove, I was feeling tired and uninspired. I opened up the fridge and found a bunch of cilantro and from there came this meal. It turned out to be pretty delicious and we will be making it again.

Cilantro Pesto Pasta with Roasted Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 pound of rotini pasta (I usually use Barilla Plus – healthier than the average pasta and tastes great)

1 bunch of cilantro

Big handful of pumpkin seeds (toasted in a toaster oven or on the stove)

1 clove (or more to taste) or garlic

1 lemon

Olive oil

1/2 – 1 cup parmesan grated

Salt and pepper to taste

1 can chickpeas, drained

4-5 zucchini or any summer squash

Instructions:

Prepare the pasta according to the directions.
Slice the zucchini lengthwise or in coins to 1/4 inch thick. Coat a baking sheet liberally with olive oil and lay out the zucchini in a single layer. Bake at 375 degrees for about 10-15 min until cooked through, flip them over and cook until brown and crisp at the edges. Repeat until all of the zucchini are cooked.
In a large food processor, combine cilantro, garlic, 2-3 glugs of olive oil, parmesan cheese, pumpkin seeds, salt, pepper, and lemon zest. Process and add some of the pasta water to thin it out as needed.

3. Once the pasta is ready, combine with the pesto and drained chickpeas. Mix in some of the roasted zucchini. Sprinkle with crushed red pepper if you like a little kick. Enjoy!

S’mores Brownies

When we moved in, I wanted to bake something to “break in” the new house. We chose these s’mores brownies from Joy the Baker, they were easy and didn’t require too many different types of prep. We ended up omitting the graham crackers because we didn’t have any and they still turned out amazing. We also didn’t have unsweetened chocolate so we used semisweet and decreased the sugar by half – they were a little less sweet than regular brownies but the marshmallows balanced it out and made them perfect.

Here is the link to the recipe: http://joythebaker.com/2009/04/smores-brownies/

Have a happy Wednesday everyone and to those who celebrate, Happy Diwali!

Love,

Pooja

The Little Things

September 20, 2017 Pooja C Mittal1 Comment

Sometimes it’s the little things. We have so many big things going on right now: school, moving to temporary digs until our house is ready for us to move into (2 weeks!), saying goodbye to our beautiful old house. But, you know, I was ready for all of this. I prepared. I have my super-strong husband by my side and we are having an adventure doing all of this. The kids are rolling with it. Even the baby is not too worried about any of it – just perplexed that “everything” is gone from the house and is living in a truck somewhere.

I was even getting confident: all of this is going fine, we are all doing fine, it’s only a couple of weeks. Then, we got to karate last night and Diya’s glasses got lost. Now, we are usually somewhat prepared for these unforeseen disasters, but this time, we were woefully unprepared. She needs them to see. We don’t have a backup pair. Her contacts are packed (in the truck remember?). She and I panicked. Turns out somehow another boy ended up with them in his bag – the whole thing was pretty strange. She had a hunch he had them, but he would not look in his bag or let her look. As we were about to give up (20 minutes after searching everywhere in the studio), his father pulled up and the boy got out and gave me the glasses. Now, I can say that although I was relieved, I was also upset. We ended up exchanging some words, with his father thinking me ungrateful and me thinking them inconsiderate to have put us through that in the first place. I am not proud of that interaction. Today, I will reach out and apologize for my part in that.

But, the thing is, I didn’t have anything left. I couldn’t take ONE MORE THING. So, what did I learn? That I should let go of my guilt over this incident and just apologize. That being prepared also means taking care of myself (which clearly I was not doing). That we all make mistakes – and I need to forgive that dad and forgive myself.

So, after all this craziness, I re-centered. I listened to Nisa singing “work work Angelica, work work Eliza” (I mean, what is cuter than a baby singing Hamilton?). I shared in Diya’s monumental relief that her glasses were found. I listened to Esha tell me about the math game that they played at school. I appreciated my husband saying, “I understand, I am sorry to you had to go through that.” Time to start anew.

The last thing I baked in our house was a gluten-free, orange ginger dark chocolate bread. It was delicious, and a good transition into early fall flavors – the ginger offset the orange and chocolate flavors beautifully.

The picture is from the Emma, the author of the recipe. The recipe is here: http://www.mydarlinglemonthyme.com/2017/08/flourless-dark-chocolate-orange-ginger-muffins.html

The original recipe made muffins – but to be simpler, I made it into a loaf. I do think that this required a longer baking time. Please let me know if you make it. I am sorry no pictures, but to be honest, it’s not very pretty! But is is delicious.

Love,

Pooja

Peanut Butter and Jelly Cookies

July 25, 2017July 25, 2017 Pooja C Mittal4 Comments

Hello Friends! We are talking again so soon! I think that I inspired a new obsession in my daughter – she is baking again already! She decided to make these cookies – really driven by her craving for something sweet AND her love of PB&J.

Diya is officially a tween, and one of the things that I love about this age is the intensity of things. She LOVES her music and listens to it loud. And when she craves something sweet, she will even make it herself so she can eat it! This is a complicated time in life and we try to use moments that we are together, here and there, to talk about life and ideas. The quote that I saw and loved today is one that Esha’s favorite teacher posted (thank you Jess!):

This one is super valuable for all of us, I think.

The cookies are supposed to be for breakfast because they have lots of good-for-you ingredients: coconut oil, almond flour, oats. They are naturally gluten-free and dairy-free. We made some adjustments as the original recipe calls for a banana. She was not a big fan of having these be banana-y so we swapped out the banana for a splash of milk and a tablespoon of olive oil. We also used homemade chia jam for the centers.

We are posting the original recipe below. Feel free to use our tips/tricks above for swaps.

PB&J Cookies

Ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup almond flour

1/4 cup sugar

½ teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 large banana, mashed

¾ cup creamy peanut butter, melted

2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

2/3 to 3/4 cup jam

Methods:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or a silpat baking mat).
Put the peanut butter and coconut oil in a bowl and melt in the microwave for 30 seconds until it’s nice and melted. Let cool for a few minutes.
In a large bowl, mix oats, almond flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
Add the coconut oil/peanut butter mixture to the dry ingredients. Mix well.
We used our hands to form the dough into a round shape, press down a thumbhole into the middle to make a space for the jam. Spoon a half-teaspoon of jam into the center of the cookie.
Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

They are delicious – she is planning to eat them for lunch with yogurt on the side. A complete meal for a tween!

Plum Squares with Marzipan Crumble

June 21, 2017 Pooja C Mittal2 Comments

Hello beautiful people, yesterday was my mom’s birthday and so our yummy recipe that we made was fruit-heavy and had strong almond flavor because that is what she likes.

My mom my came to visit to take care of the kids so that we could take a short trip to Boston for a work party. I am so blessed to have her in my life – not a day goes by without talking to her and then feel so thankful that she is there to listen to me (whine, talk about the baby and the kids, share in my happiness and wallow with me when I am sad).

She is always there for my and for my kids – she loves them unconditionally, plays with them, makes them things and is always thinking about them. But, there is much more to her. Maya Angelou said, “To describe my mother would be to write about a hurricane in its perfect power.” This is my mom.

She came to this country as an immigrant, did her residency and then we moved to California. She had three kids, worked worked a million hours a week (seriously most weeks she worked 60+ hours a week), cooked and cleaned, made crochet bedspreads from scratch, and dealt with our massive sibling fighting. But, that is only half of the story. She started working in addiction medicine when it was not mainstream to do so and helped countless addicts in that role. She rose in her Community Health Center where she cared for migrant farmworkers and eventually became CMO, expanding their services and improving care for so many people. She did this while raising us, planning our weddings, and flying out to help me when my kids were born. When Amy Chua said ““Do you know what a foreign accent is? It’s a sign of bravery”, I am pretty sure she was talking about my mom.

Well, for this amazing lady, the least we can do is make a delicious birthday treat! Diya (who doesn’t like to bake) made sure that I was clear that SHE MADE THIS and she insisted on being in the pictures so that I didn’t take the credit. We found this recipe on smitten kitchen and it was perfect for us (we have TONS of plums on our tree so we are always looking for ways to use them). It was a hit. We ate it with scoops of vanilla ice cream.

Happy birthday Mumma! We love you!

Recipe link: https://smittenkitchen.com/2016/09/plum-squares-with-marzipan-crumble/

Pictures below:

The finished product! Look at that bubbly plum filling! Yum!

Love,

Pooja

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

June 9, 2017June 9, 2017 Pooja C Mittal1 Comment

We are ready and gearing up for the summer! I am hoping that the kids get a lot of time outside and at least some time being bored. We are trying to figure out a plan for the summer so they don’t lose some of their skills (the summer backslide I think it is called). I don’t want them to spend the time doing workbooks and so we are working together to come up with some things they can learn that will be inspiring and fun.

These are some of the things we have come up with so far:

This list of the 100 books everyone should read. We are going to pick some that are appropriate for their ages. Esha wants to read A Wrinkle in Time and Little Women. Diya is going to start with To Kill a Mockingbird: https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/100-books-everyone-should-read
This list of Ted talks: https://www.ted.com/playlists/163/7_talks_to_make_you_love_scien
Khan academy has videos on world history and religion, timely in light of what is going on in the world: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history
Hindi classes – taught at home, by me, once a week. Hardest to stick to in terms of schedule – but worthwhile.
Out-loud math: Esha is going to practice counting forward and backward by 4, 6, 7, 8 etc.

Let me know if you have other ideas!

This week I made cookies. They were pretty delicious. I heard about them from Lindsay of Pinch of Yum and they are from the LoveRealFood cookbook (link: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Real-Food-Feel-Good-Vegetarian/dp/1623367417/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1496280551&sr=8-1&keywords=love+real+food&linkCode=sl1&tag=recipepost-20&linkId=b94d95f58ca4a66d3ab1e36c2f07e4cf), They were super simple and definitely the best PB cookies I have had. Give them a try, you won’t be disappointed!

I did start craving chocolate and peanut butter while I was making them so I made a quick snack to get me through. Trader Joe’s dark chocolate with a swipe of PB:

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

16 ounces peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup brown sugar (I reduced this from the originally suggested 1.5 cups)

Instructions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar and eggs until smooth in a medium bowl using a sturdy spoon.

2. Add in vanilla and salt. Stir.

3. Add in peanut butter and mix until well incorporated.

4. Add in chocolate chips and stir well.

5. Chill the dough for at least 15 minutes (I chilled for 30 minutes).

6. Use a cookie scoop (I am not that fancy, I used two spoons) to scoop out dough onto a silpat baking mat on a cookie sheet (can also use parchment paper on a cookie sheet).

7. Bake for 10-11 min until the edges are golden brown. Let sit on the baking sheet for two-three minutes at room temperature, then you can transfer them to a cooling rack.

8. Enjoy! Diya certainly did! Can you tell that she was celebrating ‘architectural hair day’ at school?

Rhubarb Blueberry Buckle

May 17, 2017 Pooja C MittalLeave a comment

It has been a long time since we last talked. I have been busy tending to my kiddos and their busy lives. I took on a new position at work but the transition has me doing two jobs (because i’m a team player!) at the same time. I have some things to share, not the least of which is this delicious buckle that we made last weekend.

I read a really good book lately, thanks to my book club. It is “A Man Called Ove” and although it took me a bit to get into it, I ended up loving it. I heard that the movie is lovely as well. Here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/Man-Called-Ove-Novel-ebook/dp/B00GEEB730/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495049436&sr=8-1&keywords=a+man+called+ove

I threw my husband a surprise party and he was actually surprised! The best part though was these four hanging out together:

Special shout out to Silvi of The Poetry Store for writing so many memorable poems for us and our guests.

And I wrote a short story about being a physician and a mother. It’s called the Middle of the Night. I am sharing it with you here:

The middle of the night is for when I am worrying about a patient, like Olevia, who’s oldest son was shot and killed at the age of 23. He left behind his baby mama and his two baby girls. Olevia didn’t have enough money for his funeral expenses – so she had to promise to pay in installments over the course of the next two years. A reminder of his death every month in the form of a bill. The middle of the night is also for when I am worrying about one of my own babies, the 7 year old who has croup even at this age. I go back and forth – should I go check on her? She’s probably ok. I don’t want to disturb her. But what if she’s not ok. What if there is something else going on? I remember when I saw a little girl with croup who became hypoxic and her parents were in the same room with her so they noticed and brought her in. What if that happens? My husband knows that I won’t be able to sleep until I see for myself. So, I get out of bed and tiptoe into her room and listen to her breathe for a few moments, watching her chest rise and fall. And I go back to bed, placated, but still thinking about Olevia and her grandbabies. Now I start my 4-7-8 breathing (just like I tell my patients!) and focus on my husband’s heavy arm on my chest, and eventually fall asleep.

Last but not least, I got some rhubarb in my CSA and I really didn’t know what to do with it. I started some googling and found this recipe from amazing food blogger Bojon Gourmet. We followed the recipe except we added some blueberries to the batter along with the rhubarb. I was nervous that it might be too tart but it was perfect. We took the buckle with us (double the recipe for two different friends) and almost all of it was finished. All we had left was what you see above. It was definitely more work than I thought it would be – but oh so worth it. I am linking the recipe below…let me know if you try it!

http://bojongourmet.com/2012/04/rhubarb-buckle/

I wish I had taken pictures but it slipped my mind. It was gorgeous with the bright red rhubarb and the deep indigo blueberries.

Love,

Pooja

Infinitely Adaptable Granola

April 25, 2017April 25, 2017 Pooja C MittalLeave a comment

Good morning!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks so I haven’t had the chance to write. I wanted to share this great blog that I found that talks about parenting and raising girls to be confident and leaders. It’s by this woman named Laura Clydesdale and she has some great articles with references and links. Let me know what you think! As we enter into the tween years with my oldest, I can use any good advice I can get about raising strong girls in the face of all that is going on in the world. The best of times in some ways and the worst of times in some ways for being a young lady.

Here is one that I thought was important: http://www.lauraclydesdale.com/blog-native/how-to-easily-build-your-self-confidence-self-esteem-face-stressful-situations/

Today I want to share our favorite granola recipe. I found this recipe from Alton Brown about 5 years ago and we love it so much that we have some in our pantry almost all of the time. I usually make it on a weekend evening when we are hanging out at home, so I can go and stir it as often as needed.

I use this recipe so much, I wrote it in my recipe book and you can see the stains from the honey!

So there you have it! Including the recipe below in print so it’s easier to read!

Ingredients:

3 cups oats

2 cups of nuts (chopped) and/or seeds – you can use whatever combination you like

3/4 cup shredded coconut (I use unsweetened most of the time)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons brown sugar (can easily omit the extra 2 tablespoons if you want a lower sugar recipe)

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons honey (maple syrup also works)

1/4 cup oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried fruit (blueberries, cherries, apricots chopped, raisins, or a mix of any)

Optional: 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Combine all of the dry ingredients except the fruit in a large bowl.
Pour the oil into the mixture and then use the same 1/4 cup to measure the honey. That way the honey will come out of the cup easily. The measurement for the honey is 1/4 cup plus another half of that (4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup).
Mix well and spread on a baking sheet.
Put in the middle rack in the oven. Stir every 15 minutes until it reaches the desired doneness. Mine usually takes 45 minutes.
Enjoy! I eat mine with almond milk or yogurt. This version that I made has pumpkin seeds, pecan, hazelnuts, chia seeds, cinnamon and honey. I didn’t add in any fruit to this version.

Uncooked

Toasty

Uncooked —> Toasty!

Love,

Pooja

Greek Yogurt Lemon Bread

April 11, 2017 Pooja C Mittal1 Comment

Dear Readers,

I cooked up a storm the other day and will hopefully be sharing some of the recipes with you over the next couple of days. I made some of our family’s staples (broccoli cheese soup and granola) and then decided to try this recipe because, well, I had a lot of lemons in my fridge! And, I am always looking for good breakfasts for the kids.

I don’t usually bake quick breads that require a glaze and often skip it. In this case, however, the lemon glaze is super-important in both preventing the bread from being too dry and for imparting the right amount of lemon flavor. I imagine that you could swap out the lemon for any other winter citrus – just would have to adjust the amount of sugar in the glaze if you use a sweeter fruit. And with the greek yogurt and the wheat flour, it’s a treat you can feel good about eating.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

Love,

Pooja

P.S. the kids loved it -but the baby would not touch it – she looked at me like I was trying to poison her every time I offered her a bite!

Ingredients:

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, hemp seed, or chia seed (or combination of all)

Wet ingredients:

1 cup plain greek yogurt (full fat preferred)

1/2 cup sugar

2 large eggs

Zest of 2 lemons

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup olive oil, melted

Lemon Icing:

Zest of one lemon

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of powdered sugar (to taste)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Combine the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl (or just dump them on top of the dry ingredients – it works out fine)
Mix well – taking care not to overmix.
Pour into a buttered loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or so, until a knife inserted comes out clean.
While the bread is baking, whisk together the ingredients for the glaze.
Once the bread is done, let cool for a few minutes and then remove and put onto a plate.
Pour the glaze over the loaf, taking care to get the top and side edges covered – it will soak into the bread.
Slice and serve warm or cool!

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Cookies: Two Ways

March 9, 2017March 14, 2017 Pooja C MittalLeave a comment

Dear Readers,

Happy International Women’s Day! Today I am especially thankful for a group of women that I have in my life, my Book Club Ladies. When I joined this book club a few years ago, I had no idea that these women would change my life. Each and every one of these women is incredible: kind, loving, amazing mothers and friends. Once a month we get together to discuss a book and have a delicious dinner and share our lives with each other. We have all been there for each other for everything: celebrations and hardships and everything in between. We have such a good time with each other’s company but also with the food.

Usually, whoever is hosting makes the main dish and then everyone contributes the rest. I tend to bring dessert and it’s usually gluten free for a couple of ladies in the group. Our next meeting is tomorrow and in honor of these women, I baked two types of cookies: Coconut cookies (only three ingredients!) and a new mashup that I created, Rye and Almond-meal based chocolate chip cookies. Both turned out delicious! Be warned, the coconut cookies have a very strong coconut flavor as they are made with coconut flour – however, they are paleo friendly and low carb.

Rye/Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Loosely Adapted from the King Arthur Flour Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies)

Makes 12-18 cookies depending on the size

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon each of baking soda, baking powder and salt

2 tablespoons butter (room temperature)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 and 1/2 cups almond flour

1/2 cup rye flour

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Instructions:

Pre-heat over to 350 degrees.
Mix sugar, butter, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl with a wooden spoon.
Mix in the vanilla and egg – beat for one minute until well-mixed.
Add in the flours and chocolate chips.
Use your hands to make the cookies – flatten them to about 1/4-3/8 of an inch thick.
Place on a cookie sheet on parchment paper or a silpat mat and bake for 8-12 minutes until browned at the edges.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before moving to a rack to cool.
Enjoy warm or if you like crispier cookies, wait until they cool to room temperature.

3-ingredient Coconut Cookies

Note: The nerd in me loves the proportions of this cookie: 3-2-1

Makes 8 or so cookies

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons coconut flour

2 Tablespoons butter, softened

1 Tablespoon honey

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Use a wooden spoon to mix ingredients in a small mixing bowl – stir until the dough comes together with all of the butter incorporated. Dough will be very sticky.
Divide the dough into 8 small balls and place on the cookie sheet (again I use parchment or a silpat mat on top of the cookie sheet).
Press the balls down slightly to flatten.
Bake 8-10 minutes until the edges are slightly golden – watch them carefully as they can tend to brown quickly once the browning starts.
Let cool on the sheet. They will harden at room temperature – however, when they come out of the oven, they are pretty soft.
Enjoy!

Thank you for visiting!

Love,

Pooja