Easy peasy breakfast option Veg Sandwich

Days when I feel lazy to make an elaborate breakfast I opt for this easy simple sandwiches to go with our tea. Best part is you can add as many vegetables as you want. This time I just replaced mayonnaise with curd. Tasted just the same and less calorie intake too.


Ingredients:

Brown bread: 3 slices
Butter: 1 tsp
Curd: 2 tbsp.
Vegetables: half cup chopped (I used bell peppers of all three colours, purple cabbage, onion. You can add corn/spinach/carrot)
Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Few drops of oil

Assembling:

Take the curd in a bowl, whisk it till you get a smooth creamy consistency. Add all the veggies and salt , pepper and mix.

Take the bread slices and apply butter on each.

Now spread the curd and veggie mixture on one slice , cover with another slice with the buttered side down. Now again spread some of the mixture on the top of that slice and cover with remaining slice with the buttered side down.

Heat the tawa and smear some oil. Now place the sandwich on tawa till you get the dark brown colour on both sides of the sandwich.

Put the flame off and transfer the sandwich to your chopping board and cut diagonally or in whichever shape you want to.

 

Egg & Mayonnaise grilled sandwich

Egg Mayo sandwich is a super tasty creamy sandwich. Perfect for your breakfast or tea time snack or even for your kids tiffin or to carry for picnic. Few ingredients, very easy to prepare & assemble specially if you are working and have less time in hand to prepare an elaborate breakfast or perfect for days when you feel lazy to cook. I like grilled ones , else you can make it as cold sandwich or tava ones. Also I used brown bread as we prefer that only at home. You can always use white bread.


The below measurements are for one head. You have to increase the quantities as per your servings.

Ingredients:

Brown Bread: 3 slices
Butter: about 1 1/2 tsp to apply on the slices
Mayonnaise: 3 tbsp.
Hard boiled egg: 1 large
Capsicum: About 2 tbsp. finely chopped
Spring onion greens: 1 string finely chopped (I did not use, I forgot it was in my refrigerator only)
Yellow mustard sauce: 1 tsp (I didn't use but do add, it enhances the taste)
Salt to taste
Black pepper powder: few pinches
Few drops of oil while grilling

Assembling:

Peel the egg & take out the egg yolk in a mixing bowl. Add the mayo and mix it very well.

Chop the white part of the egg and add to the mayo mixture along with the chopped capsicum. Add salt and pepper and combine everything well. (Add mustard sauce & spring onion greens at this stage only if you are using).

 

Take the bread slices and apply butter on each. You can omit the butter if you want.

Now spread the egg mayo mixture on one slice , cover with another slice with the buttered side down. Now again spread some of the mixture on the top of that slice and cover with remaining slice with the buttered side down.

Heat the grill pan and smear some oil. Now grill the sandwich till you get the dark grilled marks on both sides of the sandwich.

Put the flame off and transfer the sandwich to your chopping board and cut diagonally or in whichever shape you want to.

 

Healthy Moong and oats paratha

Parathas are mostly everyone's favourite breakfast dish in India. I too make parathas for breakfast and for the little girl's lunch box quite often. This time when I was soaking the green grams/moong on saturday for my salads, thought of making moong paratha on sunday morning. Healthy Green grams/moong along with oats makes a healthier combination. You can use moong sprouts or other sprouts as stuffing as well for making paratha .

Ingredients:

For the stuffing:
Green Grams/moong: 1 cup (soaked overnight)
Onion: 1 small sized finely chopped
Ginger garlic paste: 1 tsp
Cumin seeds: 1/2 tsp
Turmeric powder: 1/2 tsp
Chilli powder: 1/2 tsp
Chopped green chillies: 1-2 (optional)
Fresh chopped coriander : a handful
Oil: 2 tbsp.
salt to taste

For the dough:
Whole wheat flour: 2 cups (or as per your requirement)
Oats: 3 tbsp
pinch of salt
Sufficient water (I used luke warm water) to make the dough /or you can use yogurt to make the dough to make it softer.
Ghee to fry the prathas


Method:

Making the Dough:
In a large mixing bowl, take the flour, oats, salt. Add Luke warm water slowly and knead properly to get a soft dough. Cover the dough and let it rest for sometime.

Stuffing:

Wash the moong and pressure cook upto 1 or 2 whistles. Remember we do not need this to be over- cooked. Heat oil in a pan. Add the cumin seeds and let it splutter. Add the onions and saute till soft & translucent. Now add the ginger garlic paste, turmeric powder, chilli powder, green chillies and stir in for 1-2 minutes. Time to add the cooked green grams/moong to it. Mix it with all the masala nicely. Finally sprinkle the chopped coriander and give one final  mix and remove from flame. Let it cool completely.


Divide the dough into equal sized balls of required size to make the paratha. Now keeping it on the palm of your left hand and with the thumb finger of the right hand make a big hole on the ball. Now place 2 tsp of the moong stuffing at the center and fold the corners in such a way that the stuffing is intact. Toss the ball in dry flour and roll it out into thin circles of approx. 6 inches diameter. Do the same process for the rest of the balls.

Heat a non-stick tava or griddle, place the roll parathas and cook each paratha till they turn golden brown in colour from both the sides using 1/4 tsp ghee/or you can use oil also. Continue the similar process with the remaining rolled out portions.

Whenever I make roti/paratha, I stack the cooked roti/parathas one above the other in a dish. This helps maintaining the softness and preserves moisture in the parathas. Serve this healthy oats moong paratha with chilled yogurt or some pickle.

 

Perfect porridge of oatmeal & apple

Oatmeal is something that I have been feeding my little girl from the time she started having solid food. She prefers it only as porridge , no salted oatmeal at all. The other day I was thinking of what to make for her to eat after her sports activity class in the evening to make her tummy full with some healthy twist at the same time. Then I saw one of my container half full of oats and in the refrigerator there was one single apple lying in the fruit basket. And milk as usual is always available in the house. So I made this apple oatmeal porridge. Both the daddy and the girl loved it so much that a small portion of it only left for me :P

Ingredients:

Oats : 1 cup (that was my measurement according to my requirement. You can adjust as per your serving requirement)
Milk: 2 cups
One whole apple
Honey: 3 tablespoon
one pinch of ilaichi powder for that extra flavour


Method:

Boil the milk in a deep bottom pan. Once the milk started getting boiling add a pinch of ilaichi powder. Now add the oats and stir well. Cook the oats for some time. Grate the apple (keep one whole portion for garnishing). Now add these grated apple into the oat milk mixture and stir continuously. Slowly the grated apple will start dissolving . Now pour in the honey into it and again stir well. You can use sugar instead of honey. Soon You will see the mixture getting a thick creamy texture and now the porridge is ready to serve.

Transfer to a bowl and garnish with few apple wedges.. Simple oats porridge is anyways healthy but the twist was ,the addition of apple made it more healthier .




 

Our very common Pan Cake

Lets begin this kids special week with our very own Pan Cake. I know and am sure you all must have tried making pancake at home for your kids several times. It is one common breakfast meal for your little ones and for the elder ones as well. It is healthy as it has egg & milk. Lets make it more healthier with some hide and seek tricks !!

Ingredients:

Maida - 1 cup
Sugar : 2 tbsp.
Eggs : 2 eggs
Milk : 1/2 cup
Baking powder : 1/2 tsp
Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
One small ripe banana
oil to shallow fry the pan cake
Few chopped cherries
Honey for garnish


Method:

In a large mixing bowl, sieve the maida (flour), Baking powder well. In another bowl, mix the eggs and milk until it gets smooth. Add the vanilla essence, sugar and beat them well to get a smooth fluffy texture. Now in the maida and baking powder mixture, add one ripe nicely mashed banana and mix well. Pour in the milk and egg mixture now to the maida,banana, baking powder mixture and beat them well again till we reach a smooth texture.
Now  in a non-stick pan, heat small quantity of vegetable oil . With the help of a round big spoon, pour the mixture into the pan. Size of the pan cake depends upon your choice and the spoon size as well. I normally like to make large round pancakes and give them different shapes with the help of different cookie cutters available these days in market. After pouring the batter into the pan, sprinkle the chopped cherries on to  the upper side. Cook it till the lower side is golden brown. Once it changes its colour, flip  upside down. Cook the same till the other side too is golden brown.



Transfer the ready pancake now to a dish. Make the rest of the pancakes as well ..Did you notice how we used the cherries in the pancake . This is going to give the regular pancake a nice colour on the top and a little crunchiness while eating the pancake. You can use other fresh/canned fruits like blue berries/apricots/black berries . Also like I used banana to add a health factor and flavour to this pancake , you can use par boiled mashed apples, pears etc. according to your kid's choice of fruit.

Serve these hot pancakes with honey/chocolate syrup/strawberry syrup/Jam etc in their breakfast or their lunch box to school. I give my little girl pancakes with honey with icing sugar dusting on it, as you can see in the picture, again to make it more healthier.



Enjoy !!