Mexican Brown Rice with Cilantro and Lime - Chipotle Inspired

Mexican rice is a very versatile dish. You can serve this as a meal on its own. It goes very well with vegetarian sides or chicken. This can be used as a stuffing for burritos or wraps. The options are many.

This rice has a wonderful balance of spicy and tangy taste. Perfect for any Mexican dinner party!

Snowball Cookies - Russian Tea Cookies - Mexican Wedding Cookies - Eggless Cookie

Snowball Cookies also called as the Mexican Wedding Cookies or the Russian Tea Cookies are the simplest cookies you will ever bake. They are quite an interesting cookie to eat, very different from your Chocolate chip cookies or Oatmeal raisin cookies. (I have the recipes for those too, if are looking for them).

We had loads of fun baking these today. Just in time for Santa. Am sure our Santa will be superpleased with the treat we are offering him. The weather is windy and rainy today.  So Santa is sure to appreciate these wonderful snowball cookies that we are going to leave for him under the tree. 

Vegetarian Chili with Quinoa - Vegan

Chili Con Carne or Chili as it is popularly known as is made of beef and spicy peppers in a tomato sauce. Ofcourse, being a Vegetarian means that I have to adapt this recipe to fit our dietary needs. Usual substitution for any mexican style beef or chicken based dish is beans. So it is no surprise that this version has some in it. Black beans would have been great along with kidney beans. But I could not find any, so settled for just kidney beans. Now for an interesting twist. Saw this recipe and knew I would love it. She had used Quinoa in the Chili. We are big fans of Quinoa at home ever since we first ate it and I always stock it in my pantry.



Vegetarian Chili had been in my list for a long long time. A few years ago, when I was pregnant with my little one, I had to travel on business. I already have a lot of dietary restrictions and add the morning sickness to it and it was a scary trip. On the top of that, it was a meeting at a client location and we went to Philadelphia. I somehow wanted to skip lunch and not be embarrassed in front of the client. But somehow got pulled into the lunch. It was the best lunch I had ever eaten and yes, you guessed it right. I did eat a Veggie Chilli  there and it was just out of the world.

You can serve this as a meal or like a soup with some bread or eat it with some Tortilla Chips!



Can I tempt you with some??



Ingredients

Quinoa 1/2 cup cooked with 2 cups of water
Onion 1
Garlic 4 pods
Tomato 1 can
Tomato Puree 100gms
Green Pepper 1
Big Green Chilli (Jalapeño) 1
Big Red Chilli 1
Water 2 cups (or as required)
Cocoa Powder 1 tsp
Chilli Powder 1 tsp
Coriander Powder 1/2 tsp
Cumin Powder 1 tsp
Salt 1-2 tsp (or as required)
Sugar 1/2 tsp
Pepper powder 1/2 tsp
Frozen Sweet Corn (thawed) 1 cup
Kidney Beans 1 can
Juice of Lemon 1/2
Coriander leaved a handful

Method of preparation

1. Heat a little oil in a pot. Add onions and saute for a few minutes.

2. Add chopped garlic and saute for another minute.

3. Add peppers and chillies (finely chopped) and saute till it starts to cook.

4. Add tomato paste and canned tomatoes. Add the cocoa powder, chilli powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, pepper salt and sugar along with water.

5. Bring to boil and then simmer till everything is cooked and the sauce thickens.

6. Cook the quinoa in a separate pan. Add it to the simmering stew.

7. Finally add the corn, beans, coriander leaves and lime juice. Mix erevything together and simmer till it is all heated through.

This post is for the Palooza (Anu, Radhika and Me) Theme this month. We will be making some awesome soups to suit the season.

Bean and Corn Dip for Tortilla Chips

New Year sees me joining a new group called Goumet Seven. It is an effort from us food bloggers to present you some gourmet food. This month we are choosing dishes from BBC Good Food and the theme is Picnic food.

Made this bean and corn dip and some salsa to go with tortilla chips. This simple dip is sure to be a party pleaser. All my guests thoroughly enjoyed it.

Don't forget to check out other Mexican fare in my blog!



Ingredients

Kidney beans in chilli sauce 1 can
Mixed beans in chilli sauce 1 can
Sweet corn 1 can drained

Small Red Onion 1 finely chopped
Coriander 1 small bunch finely chopped
Salt to taste

Tortilla Chips (Doritos) to serve

Method of Preparation

1. In a blender, add 3/4 of teh kidney beans and 1/2 of the mixed beans. Pulse.

2. Transfer to a bowl.

3. Add the rest of the kidney beans and mixed beans, along with the drained sweet corn, finely chopped red onions, chopped coriander leaves and some salt.

4. Mix everything well and serve with some chips.



Check out the other Gourmet Chefs
Anusha, Anamika, Jayanthi, Kaveri, Radhika, Roshni, Sangeetha,Vardhini and Veena

Guacamole

Avacados are super healthy fruits (yes, they are fruits, not vegetables). It is probably the only fruit that is so high in fat. But don't let that bother you. It is packed with mono saturated fat. Usually whenever you read an article about super foods you will surely see avacado in the list.



Guacamole is my favourite way of eating Avacado.

Ingredients



Avacado 2
Finely chopped Onions 2 tbsp
Finely chopped Tomato 2 tbsp
Lime Juice 1 tbsp
Finely chopped Cilantro/Coriander leaves 2 tbsp
Salt a pinch
Pepper a pinch
Cumin Powder a pinch
Red Chilli Powder a pinch

Method of Preparation

1. Just starting with the method of cutting Avacadao (for those who are new to it). It is a super cool trick. Hold the avacado vertically and run the knife around it from top to bottom and then around from bottom to top. Now hold both the sides and rotate it a bit. It will come apart.

2. Next with the knife give the seed a hit. Then twist. The seed will come off.

3. Now go in with a big spoon near the skin and scoop out the pulp. Simple right??

4. Now take a bowl and add the pulp. With a spoon or fork mash it up a little. I kept mine slightly chunky.

5. Add lime juice and mix well. This prevents avacados from changing colour and darkening.

6. Add Finely chopped Onions, Tomato and coriander leaves. Mix.

7. Next goes the spices - Pepper powder, Cumin Powder and Red Chilli Powder along with a little salt. Mix everything well.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate till it is ready to be served.

Chunky Salsa

Salsa can be made in a variety of ways. Each one uses slightly different spices and combination. Common ingredient ofcourse is tomato, onions and lime juice. Below is a basic recipe of salsa.



Ingredients

Finely chopped Tomato 2
Finely chopped Onions 2 tbsp
Finely chopped Coriander leaves 2 tbsp
Finely chopped Green Chillies 1
Lime Juice 1 tbsp
Salt to taste

Method of Preparation

1. Take the finely chopped tomatoes in a bowl. Crush it with the back of the spoon to release some juices.

2. Add the finely chopped onions, coriander leaves, green chillies and mix well.

3. Finally add the lime juice and salt.

Enjoy with some nachos or as a part of a Fajita.

Flour Tortilla

Soft Flour Tortillas are basic for most Mexican dishes. Be it Fajitas, Quesadilla, Burrito you need Tortillas to start with.

This post gives the recipe of basic flour tortillas. If you are familiar to making chappattis/phulkas this is quite similar. Just APF instead of wheat flour. Also, add baking powder.

Another interesting thing about Tortillas is the similarity with roti as used by Indian Bachelors in US :-) Many many guys I know buy tortillas (as they are eaily available) to use as roti for their subzis. I know my husband also used to do that before we got married. My bro and his friends have gone a step further and use it to make batura. As batura is basically fried APF, they just fry the tortillas to get batura.. have not tried doing it, but does sound interesting. Make tortillas ahead of time when making in large numbers and then  fry when ready to serve. Will try it sometime.



Ingredients

All Purpose Flour 1.5 cups
Baking Powder 1/2 tsp
Oil/Butter 1 tbsp ( i used oil)
Salt
Warm Water (as needed)

Method of Preparation

1. Take the APF, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix well.

2. Add oil and mix again.

3. Add water little at a time and make into a firm dough (like chappati dough). Knead for a few more minutes.

4. Separate into 6 balls. Roll each of them into a circle. Using a big circle cutter, cut out a even round.

5. Heat a pan. Place the rolled dough on it. Cook till spots appear on the bottom side.

6. Turn and cook on the other side.

7. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

8. You can collect all the cut out portions and reroll them and cook it.

I did this to make sure that all of them are perfect circles and same size as they serve in restaurants. Alternatively, you can make 9 balls and roll them and cook it.

Tortillas are ready to be stuffed and made into a Fajita

Vegetable Fajita

The last week this month for AGC - we are virtually travelling to Mexico. My mexican food is limied to the experience in US. Though it is not truely Mexican, that is the version that is popular world wide.

There are a few restaurant chains that are popular in US that we used to enjoy. Chilis and Margharitas are the ones we used to go often. And there were a few independent restaurants in Moody Street, Waltham where we have enjoyed awesome Mexican food.

When we picked Mexican for this week's theme, I knew I had to make these Fajitas. They are just perfect for dinner party as well. Every one can fill in what they like and make their own. If you eat meat adding some grilled chicken or beef adds to the variety as well.

I did not have a grill pan. So I sauted the vegetables. But if you do, please do use it for that nice char lines on the veggies and meat.



Ingredients

Onion 1 sliced
Red Pepper 1
Yellow Pepper 1
Orange Pepper 1
Mushroom 2 cups
Pepper powder as needed
Salt as needed
Oil for saute
Lemon juice (optional)

To serve

Flour Tortilla
Glocomole
Salsa
Sour Cream (or yogurt)
Cheddar Cheese (optional)
Baked beans (optional)
Rice (optional)

Recipe for Flour Tortilla, Glocomole and Salsa coming up in the next few days

Method of Preparation

1. Slice the onions, peppers and mushroom. You can use any coloured pepper. I just bought a variety pack to give it a nice colourful look.

2. Heat a pan (smoking hot). Add a little oil and add in the onions. Saute for 4-5 minutes till it is nicely caramelized. Add a little salt and pepper as well. Keep aside.

3. Now add in the peppers to the same pan. Add salt and pepper and saute for 4-5 minutes. Make sure it is still crunchy. Keep aside.

4. You can cook the mushrooms directly in the pan. But it will take a long time. So what I do is microwave sliced mushrooms for about 10 minutes. I stop in between and drain out the excess water. Once it is ready and cooked, just add to the pan with a little oil and toss it around for a minute or 2 with salt and pepper.

5. Add some lemon juice (optional) to all the vegetables.

You can do all the veggies together if you have a nice big pan and everyone likes all veggies. I kept it separate as that way you can choose which ones you want to eat.





Assembly

Take a flour tortilla. Add all the veggies as needed. Top it with glocomole, salsa, sour cream, cheese and beans. (I skipped sour cream and cheese). Fold it in your hands and bite in. Enjoy!!

Check out the other AGC thoughout this week 
Anusha, Jayanthi, Kavitha, Priya M, Radhika, Veena, Priya S