When I got married and moved here, I didn’t think too much about having K’s sister and her family live in the same locality as well. Over time, we have grown to cherish each other’s presence in our lives, look up to each other for guidance / advice and forged a lovely relationship. Her husband likes to be called Nalan (of the famous Nala-Damayanthi story who is supposed to be a great cook), atleast in the blogosphere and not without reason. He is an awesome cook; his vegetable biryani is to die for and he makes one of the best (home-made from scratch) pizza, I have ever had.
K and I land up in their house almost every other weekend (if not every) under some pretext or the other; why would we not when we get awesome food every time we go there 
He had made this pasta for a potluck family night dinner and when I tasted it, I knew I had to post this on my blog. It is such an easy, simple and healthy dish that is extremely kid-friendly; my nephew and niece will attest to that.
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The second book chosen for both Cook’s book club and Thoughtful Thursdays were coincidentally the same - A Thousand Splendid Suns. After having read and liked The KiteRunner, I was curious to read the second book by Khaled Hosseini. It is one thing to impress with a well-written first book, after all there is no reputation at stake, but quite another to keep that up and come up with a winner the second time over. While I wouldn’t call this a winner, Khaled did not flatter to deceive.
The book, again set in Afghanistan, is the story of two very different women, one old enough to be the mother of the other, and whose life touches and by a twist of fate, merges. The book, written from the perspective of Mariam and Laila alternatively, gives us a sneak-peak into a woman’s life in war-torn Kabul. The two women, married to the same man and forced to live together, slowly accept the presence of each other in their life, bond with each other over tea and end up caring for each other when the husband becomes their common nemesis.
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Inspired by the roll-up that Nandita made for the WBB - Balanced Breakfast, I made this wrap for dinner (as you can tell, I am not too much of a breakfast cooking person) couple of nights ago. This is super easy to make, extremely delicious and highly nutritious - definitely a keeper. Thanks Nandita!
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Tofu, a food that resembles paneer or cheese, is formed by curdling soy milk with a coagulant, usually edible gypsum or nigari. Tofu has been in use from 200 B.C. when a zealous cook stumbled upon tofu by chance when he added nigari (magnesium chloride, found in ocean water) to flavor the soy milk. This reminded me of the origin of dulce de leche - seems to me that a lot of tasty foods were created more by accident than design
Tofu is available in soft(silken) and firm varieties. Soft tofu is easy to blend, and is used in a lot of vegan desserts and soups, whereas firm tofu retains shapes well, and is used in stir-fry, grilling and baking. Tofu is rich in protein, and hence a good source of protein for vegetarians and more so for vegans. It is also widely believed that the spread of Buddhism, which preached strict vegetarianism helped the spread and popularity of tofu. The health benefits of tofu are enormous, including but not limited to its cardiovascular protection and anti-cancer properties. While there are a lot of benefits to tofu, it contains goitrogens which interfere with the functioning of thyroid glands. You might want to go easy on tofu, if you have (or suspect) thyroid issues.
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No - it is not an off-roading gas guzzler nor is it any geographical entity, it is a mid-eastern protein packed spread that is considered one of the oldest prepared food known to mankind. The 2 main ingredients of hummus are chickpeas and sesame - both are extremely healthy and a nutritionist’s dream. In fact, the early rise and spread of the Mesopotamian civilization is attributed to the nutritional benefits of hummus. Whoa! I would have never connected or even imagined, that a success of a civilization could be due to food. There are times when I feel good about blogging, like when I meet new friends with similar interest or when I am exploring new (to me, that is) and different culture, and in turn, food. What I learnt about hummus made me realize why blogging is not just fun but also educational.
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Swiss Chard, also known as chard is a leafy vegetable that belongs to the beet family. Both the leaves and stalk of this plant are edible. The stalk can vary in color ranging from deep red to white. It is also sold as Rainbow Chard sometimes, with red (or deep pink), white and gold colored stems contrasting beautifully. The range of colors in chard makes its addition to salads attractive for the eyes and the slightly bitter but salty taste innovative for the palette. Due to its inherent salty taste, go easy on the salt when you cook with chard. Chard along with Kale, mustard greens, collard greens are referred to as ‘Greens’. According to holistic approaches, greens are supposed to cleanse your body (and blood) and regulate elimination, and hence it is advisable to include greens atleast a couple of times in your meal every week. The nutritional profile and benefits of Chard are well-documented (see here).
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