Indian Made Easy

How many of you love Indian food but when it comes to cooking it at home you have no clue where to start? I LOVE Indian food, the powerful flavors, punchy spices and health benefits keep me coming back for more. Recently I've been trying to incorporate more turkey into our diets, it is low in fat and high in protein. Plus like chicken it is very versatile.

This night in particular I had a package of turkey cutlets, I also had jasmine rice, Greek yogurt and plenty of spices. I combined them altogether for an easy, healthy, delicious Indian meal.

Easy Curry Turkey & Rice

4 turkey cutlets
1 cup Greek plain yogurt
2 cups jasmine/basmati rice
1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
1 tsp salt + 1 tsp salt
pinch pepper
2 Tbsp butter
3 cups water

First you want to combine your Greek yogurt, salt and curry together into a thick paste. Then chop up your turkey into one inch chunks, add the turkey to the curry paste and use your hands to make sure every piece of turkey is covered. Then cover and let marinate for one hour in the refridgerator.

When the turkey is done marinating, add to an oven-safe pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. While the turkey is baking, boil three cups water, add salt and rice. When the rice absorbs most of the water, add in the butter.

When the turkey is done, plate a big spoonful of the rice in a bowl and smother with the turkey and curry sauce. This plate will have your mouth saying "Dhanyawaad!"(Thank you in Hindu).

Enjoy! xo Lo

Heart Shaped Love on a Plate

Happy Valentines Day! I know I already blogged about my heart-shaped fried eggs for my fabulous breakfast tacos. But I couldn't resist posting what I lovingly made for my hubby this morning.

Heart-Shaped Pancakes 'n Eggs
1 cup flour
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl, in a different bowl mix the wet ingredients together then fold the wet into the dry ingredients. Mix til there are little to no clumps in the batter. If the batter is too thick add more milk, if it is too wet add a bit more flour. Grease your pan and put it on medium-high heat. Put your heart-shaped cookie cutter onto the pan and pour the mixture in the cookie cutter just so the batter fills the bottom.  You don't want to fill the cookie cutter up too high or the pancake takes too long to cook. Once the pancake starts to bubble, flip over and lightly push the pancake down, releasing the cookie cutter. Continue until all of your batter is used.

Then use the same pan and cookie cutter for your eggs, re-grease the pan and crack your egg into the cookie cutter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and cover with a lid. Once the egg is starting to whiten on top the egg is done.

Plate your yummy breakfast together and your honey or sweet kiddos will be pleasantly surprised!

Happy Valentines day everyone! xoxo Lo

“Laugh as much as you breathe and love as long as you live.”

Valentines Day is right around the corner...There are some great, easy ways to show your loved one how special they are. You can focus on a sweetheart breakfast, picnic lunch, romantic dinner or sexy little surprises throughout the day.

They always say the key to a man's heart is through his stomach...so my plan was to hone in on breakfast because it is my husband's favorite meal. I wanted to start his day off by showing him how much I love him by creating a fantastic, homemade breakfast in bed.

First I started by creating a potato hash.

Fingerling Potato Hash
6 fingerling potatoes
1/4 yellow onion
2 baby portabella mushrooms
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt

Heat your pan on medium heat with butter, add diced onions, potatoes and mushrooms. Continually stir and add salt. These will cook for about 30 minutes.

Homemade Tortillas
3 cups flour
1/3 cup corn oil

1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt

While your potato hash is cooking make some homemade tortillas...which are WAY better than store bought tortillas. Mix the flour and oil together with a fork til the mixture becomes nice and crumbly. Then add in the salt and warm water, spoonful at a time until the mix morphs into a dough. Knead the dough with your hands for three minutes to smooth it out. Then place in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature. Once the 30 minutes are up, pinch off golf ball size pieces of the dough and roll out on a floured surface. Roll out the dough to a thin, 8 inch disc then place on a saute pan on medium heat and let cook for about 30 seconds then flip. The tortilla cooks fast and will develop little brown spots, to show it is done. This amount of dough should create 10-12 tortillas. After your tortillas are done heat up your black beans and start on cooking the eggs.

Sweetheart Breakfast Tacos
4 eggs
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
heart cookie cutter
1 cup black beans
1/2 cup shredded colby cheese
1/2 cup roasted salsa
potato hash
homemade tortillas

You can use the same pan that your potato hash is cooking in, push the hash to one side, grease the open side with butter, put your cookie cutter down and crack your egg into the cookie cutter. The egg will solidify inside the cookie cutter creating a heart shape. Cover your egg/hash with a lid until the egg is cooked to your liking. We prefer over-medium eggs, make sure the pan is on medium-low heat. The eggs should cook about 2-3 minutes per egg. When the eggs are done start to plate your breakfast tacos. Put your tortilla down first, then potato hash, black beans, shredded cheese, heart-eggs and salsa.

Serve this up and your honey will cover you with kisses...after they escape their food coma of course :)

Happy Valentines Day! xoxo Lo

La Ti Da Leftovers!

After making some divine chicken enchiladas, I had leftover red sauce. I decided to marinate this sauce over some chicken cutlets for a few hours. I also had okra, corn, onion and red pepper- with that I decided to make a cajun gumbo succotash. Lastly, my husband and I recently purchased a mandolin, we wanted to use that with a sweet potato.

Leftover Enchilada Marinated Chicken

1/2 cup of leftover enchilada sauce (marinara sauce or tomato compote)
2 chicken cutlets
salt
pepper

After letting 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce marinate over the chicken for a few hours, I placed the cutlets on the grill pan, which was on medium heat. I poured the other 1/4 cup of the sauce over the chicken to keep the chicken moist. Grill for about 25 minutes.

Cajun Gumbo Succotash

1/2 cup okra
1/4 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup corn
1/4 cup chopped onion
salt
pepper

Combine all veggies into a saute pan on medium heat with olive oil. Sprinkle on salt and pepper. Saute for about 20 minutes then turn heat down to keep warm.


Salt and Pepper Sweet Potato Chips

1 sweet potato
salt
pepper
olive oil

Rinse the sweet potato under cold water, trim off the ends. I kept on the skins because they are loaded with nutrients and add to the color. I used a mandolin and put my setting on thin chip slices. You can also cut your own slices with a serrated knife (be careful!) After slicing up my sweet potato, I coated them with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then I spread them on a baking sheet and baked them at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

All of these recipes are sure to impress any last minute company, kids and spouses! Leftovers can be a lovely gift in the kitchen, this meal shows how to take this to another level.

Enjoy! xo Lo

Refreshing Picnic Lunch

Summer days are perfect for lazy, picnic lunches under an Oak tree. Too bad in Texas that would only be possible @ 7 am or 9 pm...but luckily the Northern states have gorgeous summers which are perfect for picnics.

If I was living in say Connecticut, upstate New York, Northern California or Washington state... I would make these lovely, refreshing, healthy items; tropical fruit salad, field green salad with strawberries and soft-boiled eggs as well as homemade, freshly baked sesame seed French bread.

Tropical Fruit Salad

3 kiwis sliced
2 mangos sliced
2 bananas
3 Gala apples
3 nectarines
squeeze of fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp lemon zest

After slicing up all the fruit, place in a bowl and toss with fresh lemon juice and lemon zest to keep the fruit fresh and tasty. Super easy and healthy.

Field Green Salad with Fresh Lemon Vinaigrette

2 cups field greens
1 English cucumber
handful of strawberries, sliced
2 Roma tomatoes
3 soft-boiled eggs (bring eggs to boil then turn off heat & let sit for 15 minutes)

Agave-Lemon Vinaigrette

1 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1 tsp parsley
1 Tbsp agave nectar

Squeeze lemon juice into a bowl, whisk in olive oil, agave nectar and seasoning.

Once you assemble the salad, drizzle the fresh dressing over the top. The lemon will bring out the flavors in the strawberries, tomatoes and cucumber.

Sesame Seed French Bread

5 1/4 cups organic unbleached flour
1/2 cup organic low-fat milk
1 cup warm water
2 packages of active dry yeast
3 Tbsp of butter
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sesame seeds
pinch salt
pinch pepper

Add milk, sugar, salt and butter into a saucepan over low heat. Let butter melt and sugar dissolve, add active dry yeast packages to lukewarm milk mixture. Once the yeast has dissolved, pour into mixer. Add in 4 1/2 cups of flour and warm water- mix on level two for one minute. Slowly add in the rest of flour 1/4 cup at a time. Keep mixing at level two until the flour begins to stick together and pulls off all extra dough off the bottom and sides of bowl. Knead dough on level two for one minute then place dough into a greased (with butter or Pam) bowl. Cover bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm, room temperature area to rise. Let dough rise for one hour. Once dough has doubled in size place on floured surface and punch out dough. Split dough into two halves. For one half I cut three long strips and braided them for a pretty bread design. I drizzled with olive oil, salt, pepper and sesame seeds then placed on a greased baking sheet into the oven at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

For the other half I rolled the dough out, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled on salt, pepper, oregano and basil then rolled the dough up almost like a jelly roll. This would fold in all the spices. Then I placed in a greased bread pan, drizzled the very top with olive oil and sprinkled with stone-ground oats for a nice finish.

Pack all these homemade items up in a picnic basket, grab a blanket, ice tea and spend a lazy day outside snacking on these refreshing, healthy foods!

Enjoy xoxo Lo