Kitchen3N

Recipes and food fun from Apt 3N

Tropical Green Smoothie

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I just realized that it’s been 2 years since I lost the baby weight. I realize it because I’m slowly putting the weight back on (oh no!).

It’s hard being smaller than your natural dress size! I look at all the women in my family, and post childbirth, we are all at least a size 8 and pear shaped.

I’m 5’1 and for the longest time after my second kid, I was stuck at 129 pounds. Inspired by my Barnard classmate, Asiya Khaki, photographer and beach body coach, I decided to get in shape. I started doing 25 minute interval training workouts with FitnessBlender. I cut out sugar almost entirely. Subbed quinoa for rice in pretty much every meal.

I lost 17 pounds. It was amazing. My core looked better in my late twenties than it ever did as a teenager.

And then Ramadan came, and I couldn’t really stick to my 3 small meals plus 2 snacks a day anymore. And the tons of water to curb my sugar cravings. So things got out of whack.

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I’ve put 5 pounds back on since hitting my lowest (112). I still keep up with the exercise at least twice a week (trying to make it 3 times a week). But I’ve gotten back to some bad habits. Late night work = late night snacks. Busy schedules means less time to make my quinoa salad. More often than not I’m finishing up the kids pasta for lunch. And dinner.

And though I am eating carbs again, I still try to keep up with the nutrition. I buy a big bag of avocados early on in the week. I try to ensure everyone’s got a serving of vegetables at every meal, and fruits at their disposal any time of the day.

In short, this smoothie is not for you if you are looking to lose weight. If you are looking for a nutritious, tasty drink to sub for a meal, definitely give this a try!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup loosely packed mixed baby greens
  • 1/2 cup fresh fruit like pineapple, mango, banana
  • 1/4 cup greek yogurt, full fat
  • 3/4 to 1 cup pineapple or orange juice

Directions

  1. Add the greens, fruit, yogurt and 3/4 cup of the juice to the blender. If it doesn’t start to come together, add the extra 1/4 cup of juice. Enjoy immediately.

Meyer Lemon Strawberry Lemonade

IMG_4823I’ve come a long way from the days of squeezing limes into a tall pitcher of water, and stirring in sugar until it dissolves. And stirring and stirring and stirring…

Lemon/limeades were usually reserved for Ramadan in my household. That meant we whipped up batches of the stuff without being able to taste it (since we were fasting) and without sticking to any sort of recipe (my mother never owned a recipe book). The results ran the gamut from mouth puckeringly tart to gaggingly sweet.

That won’t happen with this recipe. I won’t forget the looks on my guests’ faces when they broke their fast with this drink earlier this summer. Their eyes widened as they could not believe the incredible reward their taste buds received after a long day without food or drink.  IMG_4726This is an adaptation of a pretty straightforward Pioneer Woman recipe. I stuck to her proportions, but jazzed it up with some floral scented Meyer lemons, a simple syrup for easy dissolving, and ice for a quick cool down. I had never thought to puree strawberries in a food processor with sugar to get the strawberry part of a strawberry lemonade but it was so easy and so perfect. I think when you cook it down in a saucepan it has the tendency to thicken. This way it was perfectly smooth and pourable. IMG_4816 If you don’t have Meyer lemons in your grocery store, please proceed with regular lemons! If you do have Meyer lemons handy, you won’t regret it. They have such an amazing bouquet – floral, sweet. I’m not sure if you’ve ever noticed, but when you squeeze citrus, the essential oils mist up and out from the rind like a natural air freshener. When the oils of the Meyer lemons gets into the air, it perfumes the whole kitchen. Almost makes you want to take a bite out of it!

Summer’s not over as long as you’re making this drink! It HAS the power to keep summer going. Also, summer is not over until it’s my birthday. Seriously – last day of summer this year and I turn…twenty…I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Adapted from Pioneer Woman.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound strawberries, hulled
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 8 to 10 Meyer lemons
  • 9 cups water
  • 2 heaping cups ice

Directions

  1. In a medium saucepan, dissolve 2 cups sugar with 2 cups of water and the peel of 1 Meyer lemon* over medium heat. Stir occasionally. When dissolved, remove from heat and let cool.
  2. Meanwhile, blend the strawberries in a food processor with 1 cup of sugar until well blended. Set aside.
  3. Using a citrus juicer, or by hand (over a sieve to catch seeds and pulp), juice 8 to 10 Meyer lemons until you have 2 cups of lemon juice. Set aside.
  4. Remove lemon peel from simple syrup. In a large pitcher or drink dispenser combine lemon scented simple syrup, strawberry puree, lemon juice, remaining 7 cups of water and 2 cups of ice. Stir to combine. Add more water/sugar to taste.

*When peeling, take care not to get too much of the white part (pith) as that will make the simple syrup bitter.

Basil Smoothie

IMG_2613I’m pretty sure Kawsar and I are the only ones I know who don’t like smoothies. There’s just something off putting about the texture and consistency, especially when bananas are involved. I wasn’t always this way. He did this to me. It’s funny all the little ways you and your spouse end up influencing one another. IMG_2596 Enter, the basil smoothie. As strange as it sounds, there is only one resounding response to this beverage any time it is served: REFRESHING. SO REFRESHING. No fruits here to muddle with the consistency. Just delicious, tangy, full fat organic yogurt. Fresh basil (a great way to use up that excess basil if your garden is currently overflowing – as basil tends to do). Simple syrup. And ice. Now if you have a quality blender, the consistency would be of a blended ice beverage. Mine is pretty prehistoric so when I hit the power button, it usually just liquifies the ice cubes. It doesn’t bother me too much, since the beverage itself tastes great. But if you are really looking for that shaved ice consistency, pour it into a flat baking dish, stick it in the freezer, and scrape with a fork every few hours to turn this smoothie into a granita type dessert. IMG_2601I saw Giada making this smoothie ages ago and I was hooked. I’ve tweaked it to cut down the sugar (and by omitting the lemon). Since then, pretty much everyone I’ve made it for has duplicated it at home.

I wanted to share this recipe weeks ago so you could enjoy it all Ramadan long. But fear not! We have several more weeks of summer ie lots more basil to be consumed. So if you’ve had it up to here with pesto, or just eaten your last caprese salad (though I don’t know how anyone can have enough caprese salad), then try drinking your basil. You won’t regret it!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup full fat plain yogurt
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup water
  • a handful of basil leaves
  • 1 cup of ice

Directions

  1. Make the simple syrup: dissolve the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Let cool.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until combined. Garnish with basil leaves.

Mint Limeade

IMG_1178Ramadan Kareem to all those who are observing the holiday! The days are long and the fasts are difficult but alhamdulillah (praise be to God), it makes you grateful for the food and drink you have waiting for you at iftar (evening breakfast). Many of us are blessed with comfortable homes, plenty of food and loving families. Part of the reason we fast is to remember those of us who are less fortunate. The Muslims being persecuted in Myanmar. The innocents dying everyday in Syria. Through this remembrance and appreciation of our blessings, we cultivate a closer relationship with God. Ramadan also brings to light the culinary diversity of Muslims around the world. Dates are an iftar staple, as that was the tradition of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Otherwise you might have kutaeif (a type of pancake) in Palestine. Kolak or cendol (sweet drinks) in Indonesia. Güllaç (a rosewater dessert) in Turkey. Back in Bangladesh, iftar consists of the following: cucumber slices, soaked lentils with raw ginger, puffed rice, fruit and a plethora of fried vegetables and lentils bathed in a thick gram flour batter. Sometimes they even fry this oversized hot pepper and eat it as is!! And I have to say: I hate it. I am sorry. I love Bengali food. I loathe the iftars. The raw ginger. The bland lentils. The batter that is so thick that the vegetables got lost in them. And whose idea was it to break your fast with fried foods anyway? The only exception is the potato patties (studded with pieces of hard boiled egg) and HALEEM. OMG. Haleem is to the subcontinent what Pho is to Vietnam (well, technically nihari is) in that it just a bowl of simmering, goat, lentil and barley deliciousness. I’ll post about it later, but for now, the drinks.

my little helper

my little helper

preparing the mint simple syrup

preparing the mint simple syrup

Though the foods may vary, one thing is pretty consistent: a cool, refreshing drink to down it all with. I’ve had all kinds of sweet concoctions with my iftars growing up. From lemonade (using lemons I squeezed by hand, and sugar that I dissolved by stirring and stirring and stirring…) to Tang and Rooh Afza (probably the bane of my existence). Mango lassi is a common one as well, but ever since I had a taste of my first virgin mojito, mint limeade has been the go to sweet drink at our household. Thanks to a huge bunch of mint leaves brought over by my in laws this past weekend, I was able to make a batch of that mint syrup I posted about ages ago. I add some sparkling water for effervescence and sprigs of fresh mint for visuals.

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My not so traditional iftar of homemade pizza with all the fixins

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup lime juice (juice from about 3 limes)
  • 1 cup mint simple syrup
  • 1 to 1.5 cups sparkling water
  • ice
  • 2 mint sprigs

Directions

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a pitcher and stir to combine.

Note: if you’re too lazy to make the mint syrup, feel free to simply add sugar to taste and a few handfuls of mint leaves (be sure to muddle the leaves with a muddler or end of a wooden spoon to release the juices). Superfine sugar dissolves more easily than regular, so you can run it through a food processor to get it fine. I personally use raw sugar, which gives my limeade a nice amber color.

Mint syrup

First post post-baby! That excuses a 3 month hiatus, right?

Anyway, my in laws have been blessed with abundant crops this year. Zucchini twice the size of butternut squash (pictures to come). A never ending supply of mixed greens. Cucumbers to rival the zucchini. All of these things make their way into my fridge. Part of their generosity included a giant bag of mint leaves (peppermint I believe). Now, you can only have so much mint tea before you realize you haven’t even made a dent and the leaves are starting to go. Hence, this simple recipe.

It can be used in a variety of ways:

  1. To sweeten your warm or iced tea
  2. Mojitos (ours are virgin of course)
  3. Vinaigrettes (particularly on a fruit salad)

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups water
  • 3 cups sugar
  • 6 sprigs of mint

Directions

Combine all three ingredients in a saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil then lower the heat until the sugar dissolves and the mint leaves wilt. Let it cool then pour through a sieve into sterilized jars. It will keep in the fridge for about 2 to 3 weeks.

The perfect cup of (milk) tea

IMG_4899Every South Asian is familiar with the following scenario: impromptu guests late in the afternoon. While you scurry to make your place somewhat presentable, you run through the inventory of sweet and savory snacks to serve. Then they say, “Oh we’ll just have some tea and be on our way.” Easy enough. Throw some water, milk and tea bags in a pot. Simmer, then sugar. Wait, is that 50/50 water and milk? Or am I supposed to use evaporated milk? How long should I simmer again? Aw, crap, the milk’s bubbled over.

A decent cup of milk tea (cha if you’re bengali, chai if you’re not, venti skinny extra foam chai latte if you’re a gringa) should not be a challenging endeavor. But when you’re on the go-go-go and Barista B. is serving up your caffeine fix every morning, you might forget the proper ratios, simmering times and techniques. After being consistently disappointed that the tea I concocted each morning did not live up to the $1 cup of tea from the local bengali joint, I decided to experiment with a few different techniques and ingredients to come up with a foolproof, delicious-every-time cup of cha.

First you need a really good tea (if you try this with Lipton, you WILL be disappointed). My tea of choice is PG Tips. The flavor profile is robust; it really stands up well to milk. Any good quality tea sourced from Assam or Darjeeling is ideal. I use 1 tea bag per person (1 tsp loose). Teas that are not as strong (Ceylon comes to mind) will require 1.5 tsp per person.

Second – evaporated milk. I’ve tried all reduced fat milk, half water, half whole milk, sweetened condensed milk. Nothing delivers quite as consistently as evaporated milk.

Third – a measuring cup helps.

Keep in mind, this will make 2 generous cups (not those teensy tea cups). Adjust sugar according to yourpreference. So, here we go:

Ingredients:

  • 2.5 cups of water
  • 2 bags/pyramids of strong tea (PG Tips, Tetley, etc.)
  • 1/4 cup evaporated milk
  • 2 heaping tsps sugar

Bring the water to a boil. Add tea bags and reduce to a simmer (you still want to see bubbles bursting, just not violently). Add the evaporated milk and set your timer to 5 minutes. This will allow the flavors to develop and the liquids to evaporate a bit, intensifying the flavor and richness. Add sugar and pour through a sieve.

Scaling up: this recipe scales well. To adjust simmering time, keep an eye on the hue. When the liquid has reduced a bit and the color looks like the picture, you’re good.

Spicing it up: add a pod of cardamom and/or cinnamon stick per 2 people if desired