Oasis Quesadillas for BloggerAid

BloggerAid is the brain child of Val, Giz and Ivy.

In their own words....

"We are a growing group of international food bloggers determined to make a difference in aid of world famine. The love of food and community that brings us together drives the compassion of its members to reach out to our world to help those less fortunate than we are. Banded by a mission of helping to make a change in a world where starvation affects such a profound number of people, we will raise money and awareness for the hungry in communities both at home and abroad."

A brilliant, selfless, and commendable effort.

BloggerAid aims to come out with a cookbook featuring recipes from bloggers all over the world. My small contribution is the above pictured Oasis Quesadillas. I've given it a mysterious name because I can't reveal the ingredients. If the recipe is selected then it will feature in the cookbook due to come out at the end of this year.
To learn how to contribute toward it click here. Do note that today is the last day!
I wish this dynamic group all the best and look forward to contributing in more ways toward this worthy cause.

Honey Oatmeal Quick Bread

This is a quick bread I found at Aparna's blog.
It's not a sophisticated bread and does not have the complex flavors that a yeast risen bread does, but get this......it is pretty healthy, tasty, easy and makes the house smell heavenly.
It literally took me 5 minutes to put together and I like the idea of the oaty goodness in the bread. It pairs well with peanut butter, almond butter butter or jam. It even tasted great dunked in tomato soup.
Cons? Well, it's bit crumbly and not the most practical thing to take to school (my daughter said she had crumbs everywhere). In spite of that drawback, I will be making it again.
Like the original recipe from the EatingWell website, I did not use raisins. I might try it next time with dried fruit, maybe even chocolate chips or nuts.
Other than that change, I followed Aparna's recipe (substituting flax seeds for the egg).
I think the most important thing to keep in mind when making this is not to mix the batter too much.
Resist the urge to keep mixing. In this case, less is more.
Here is the hatke bread; you'll have to read Aparna's post to find out more about the hatke business. :-)

Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup + 1 1/2 tbsp rolled oats
• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 1 cup low fat milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup mild flavoured honey
• 1 tbsp powdered flax seed and 3 tbsp warm water mixed well
  

Method

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with oil. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon oats in the pan.

Stir together whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl.

Using a fork, beat the remaining 1 cup oats, yogurt, flax seed and water mixture, oil and honey in a medium bowl until well blended. Stir in milk.

Gently stir the yogurt mixture into the flour mixture just until incorporated but not overmixed (excess mixing can cause toughening).

Pour the batter into the pan, spreading evenly to the edges. Sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon oats over the top.

Bake until well browned on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. (It took me 45 minutes) Let stand in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Turn it out onto the rack. Let it cool and then slice.

This bread goes to JFI Wheat started by Indira of Mahanadi and hosted by Roma this month.

Also sending it to Mansi who is hosting BBD# 18- Quick Breads this month.

What's In A Recipe & Lemon Snaps

People are so funny.
I was at the post office the other day mailing out a cake to a friend and the clerk was just enthralled as soon as she heard there was a cake in the package.
She informed me that she baked fairly often and that she enjoyed it very much.
And then she says, well can you give me the recipe of the cake you're mailing out?
I looked at her with my eyes wide open, er..yeah sure.
She gave me a scrap of paper to write on while she started helping the next customer.
After looking at her long and hard, I jotted down the recipe on the scrap. She thanked me and said she would definitely give it a try.
Does any one do that?
I mean, that lady was a baker herself.
The library is 2 minutes from the post office where there are at least a hundred recipe books.
A simple google search will yield a few million recipes easy.
She didn't know me and she never tasted the cake.
Yet, she made a complete stranger write down the recipe for a cake she never even tasted.
Go figure.
Like I said, people are so funny. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome Spring!
Seems kinda early but the weather was simply gorgeous today and the kids were out playing and digging in the backyard.
Resulted in early bath time and a full free hour before bed time. The kids got in the mood for lemon cookies and I happened to have a couple of lemons in the refrigerator.
And you know what they say........when life gives you lemons and an extra hour before bedtime, make lemon cookies :-)
The next half hour was spent making these lemon snaps. Not that they need that long to be put together, but everything takes double the time when working with kids. Anyways, it's a super easy recipe that I adapted from cookierecipe.com.
Halved the recipe, used butter instead of oil, substituted part of the flour with almond meal. The result was pretty yummy. I baked half of them longer for a crispy cookie and some for only a few minutes which resulted in a softer cookie. Both versions turned out good. For a vegan version, use vegetable oil instead of butter.

Lemon Snaps
Adapted from Juanita's submission to cookierecipe.com

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond meal
  
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• a pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon zest
• 6 tablespoons butter melted
  
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Grease two cookie sheets.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Make a well in the center and fill it with the oil, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir everything together until it forms a dough. Alternate method: Put everything into the food processor and blend until dough forms (it's a very gooey dough).
Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls, about 2 inches apart, onto the prepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges should be golden brown. For a softer cookie, bake for only 7 minutes. Cool on racks, and store in an airtight container.


These cookies go to the Lets go Nuts Almond event at Tasty Treats.

Instant Indonesian Style Peanut Sauce

We absolutely love peanut butter. It's almost impossible for a day to go by at home when we don't take that jar out of the refrigerator.
Sometimes, that jar happens to contain a spicy peanut sauce that is great as a dip for crudites and perfect for spreading on bread to make an Asian style sandwich.
It's made right in the jar, so no clean up! How cool is that.
I usually make this when we are half way done through the peanut butter. Add the sauces and spices, and the spicy peanut sauce is ready whenever you are.

Ingredients

• a cup or so of organic peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 11/2 tablespoon dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder
• 2 tablespoons Asian style chili garlic sauce
• 2-3 tablespoons vinegar

Method
Add all the ingredients to the peanut butter jar. Mix well and adjust any spices to suit your taste. Store in the refrigerator. It should last for about 2-3 weeks.

If you do make that Asian style sandwich, add a few sprigs of cilantro along with the usual suspects (tomato, cucumber lettuce etc.). Bean sprouts would also make a tasty crunchy addition.

Seems kinda odd to post a blog w/o a picture but my laptop crashed a few days ago and I still have to install stuff on this new one. Hopefully soon.

Easy Breezy Paneer Bhurji

Making Paneer at home is not really difficult, but it takes time, effort and clean up. Making Paneer bhurji (crumbles) on the other hand is a breeze.
I usually make paneer bhurji in the microwave and it's as easy as it gets.

Ingredients

• quart or more of whole or 2% milk (hormone free please)
  
• 1 tablespoon vinegar

Method
Place the milk in a microwave safe bowl and set the power to high. Microwave for about 10 minutes or more. Keep an eye on it to check when the milk starts boiling. Once the milk boils, bring the bowl out (using mitts of course!).

Add the vinegar.

Give it a stir with a spoon and the paneer should come together. Use a little more vinegar if need be. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Strain through a sieve

Use in your favorite gravy or dish. I used our favorite Kadhai gravy recipe.