Sunday, July 29, 2012

Mumbai se aaya mera dost….

 

well not really….she’s moved back to Delhi now but this seemed like the purrfect title so there. Anyway so when the friend, husband’s batch mate from MBA called up we decided to catch up at our home (previously and famously known as the “adda”) for dinner. Now, comes the difficult part as she put the spanner in my typically punju menu. She wanted me to keep the dinner menu light. huh? Oh ji koi dinner shinner hota hai kya maa ki daal aur butter chicken ke bina…..ok rajma? no no that’s heavy too…This gave rise to the BIGGEST challenge of them all, “kya banao” Trust me it is a challenge and a question I struggle with before each mealtime. Cooking is easy but deciding well that’s another worldly story in itself.

So now here is when I thought of taking husbands opinion. I shouldn’t have. Anyway he was pouring over boring tax papers and answered with a question, “So WHAT in the world is the definition of light food?” I told him well in my dictionary it is “ghiya, tinda, touri…” and he was like “OK Cool so I am eating heavy!!” Wow what help.

Anyways after racking my brains I decided on grilled garlic and pepper chicken, tuna salad, focaccia and some Zingo rice. You decide whether this is light dinner or not? Cause punjabiyon ki definition of light food remains much questionable. Veering from the topic once my son told my mom “Nani aaj light dinner kartae hain” On asking indulgently what he will like to eat, she was told “samosa and bread”. That doesn’t say much about our capabilities of judging a light meal from heavy now, does it?

 

Toh Khaanae main yeh tha…..

Recipe Desk

Tuna Salad

inspired by the recipe from another dear friend Nina Saxena.

DSC07307

2 cans tuna

around 3tbsp balsamic vinegar mixed with 2 tbsp EVOO and some oregano

a cup of diced red apple

walnuts chopped roughly

small head of iceberg lettuce

salt, pepper and two dashes of Tabasco red

I had kept everything ready in the fridge with the lettuce and apple dunked in chilled water.Just before serving toss in a bowl and serve. Simple light and tasty without the confusion of too many flavors.

 

 

Zingo Rice

DSC07313

Named thus, as I use Zingo, the garlic chilli sauce, by Delmonte.

Some chopped onions, sweet corn, mushrooms, sausages cooked and chopped, red and green peppers. Boiled rice.

in a tbsp olive oil sauté onions, add sliced mushrooms and when they leave water add peppers to light cook them if you don’t like their crunch. Top with loads of freshly ground black pepper and salt according to your taste. Add sausages in the wok now along with rice loaded with generous splash of Zingo. Toss them well together in the wok.

Serve hot and be ready for the compliments.

 

Focaccia

Store bought. Problem Solved. Served with some EVOO mixed with oregano as a dip.


 

Grilled Chicken with garlic and pepper

DSC07314

Sliced onions and pre-marinated chicken with yes you guessed it garlic and salt.

Heat a tsp butter and some oil and add in chopped garlic. Brown the onions and put in the chicken pieces. On high heat brown the chicken pieces well, lower heat and cook. The chicken will be done in about 10 to 15mins.
DSC07311

Light dinner hai ya heavy ab yeh faislaa appka.

 

 

 

16 comments:

  1. I think anything more than a salad without dressing automatically becomes heavy dinner these days :-) but I'm hungry now reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ya true Raghav...and thanks much for your encouraging comment :)

      Delete
  2. Delicious post! Loved the intro too!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Awesome menu! Loved the look and exotic name of zingo rice:) Tempted to drop in to your place sometime for dinner!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. welcome R.Ramakrishnan...most welcome and yes Zingo lifts up the colour and texture of the rice beautifully...

      Delete
  4. Nice Post. I simply stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your weblog posts. I am hoping you to write again very soon!

    ReplyDelete