Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo Pasta

Tags

Broccoli, Cheese, Milk, Parmesan, Pasta, Shrimp, Sour Cream

We all have our lazy days. Some of us more than others, and I guess my name must be pretty high on the lazy people database. On most days, I am in no mood to cook dinner. Summer offers many options to eat out, but with winter setting in in earnest now, its so  much effort to bundle up and go out in the cold to eat (and if its snowing, there’s the added job of scraping the snow from the windshield) that suddenly staying in starts to look very tempting. But alas, eat we must. And tasty it must be (there is absolutely no compromise on that).

Baked Blueberry Oatmeal

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Bananas, Blueberry, Eggs, Oats, Sweet

Tanmoy wanted a new TV. Admittedly, the old one was a big fat antiquated piece, but as far as I was concerned, it worked and I put up considerable resistance to replacing it. After all, what chance does a girl stand against a 47″ LED HDTV when it comes to catching anyone’s attention? But Tanmoy wasn’t giving up, no siree. He wheedled and argued and bargained and went around telling anyone we met how much trauma I was causing him, and I finally had to relent when he made this proposition. The deal was to have home-made breakfasts and lunches on workdays as often as was possible (he very gallantly offered to share the cooking responsibilities).

My Go-To Tomato Chutney

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Spicy, Tomatoes

This chutney is a winner. I’ll tell you why.

When I had just started working and moved to Pune and had to stay away from home, I awoke to the necessity of cooking my own meals. Since I had stubbornly resisted entering the kitchen except to open the fridge before that, all my instruction in the culinary arts happened over the telephone. I’d call my mom and she’d walk me through the process of preparing each meal. Most of the dishes I’d venture out to make would be the simplistic ones because even those would seem like an herculean task then. But that did not, of course mean that I didn’t want to eat tasty things. It is on one of those phone calls when I was whining to Mom that I missed all the chutneys and salads she made (roti and sabzi was all I could manage by then), that she let me in on this genius of a recipe.

Moong Chila or Green Pancakes

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Moong, Paneer

There’s nothing that can spur a girl to get back in shape as much as a wedding in the family. Especially if the wedding before that one had been your own and you had been in shape then, only about a year ago. Then of course, you went away to Canada and didn’t meet anyone at all for the whole year. And then one of your favourite cousins decided it was time to get married.

Now of course, Indians (including me) can be pretty tactless when someone in the family puts on weight. Cousins and uncles and aunts usually assume a carte blanche when it comes to discussing gained weight and weddings are a great platform to unleash this unintentionally cruel scrutiny.

Asparagus Risotto a.k.a. Italian Khichadi

Tags

Asparagus, Cheese, Parmesan, Rice, Wine

The first time I heard about Risotto, my first thought was, ‘So, the Italians make khichadi too!’ And indeed it is just that. But so much cooler! I mean, one puts wine in it. And cheese. And asparagus.

I am, by no means, any kind of authority on risotto. The packet of Arborio rice came home from the supermarket and sat on the pantry shelves for a good two months before I summoned up the courage to have a shot at cooking risotto.