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My Go-To Suhoor (Sehri)

June 8, 2016

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When you were a kid did you have curry for suhoor?

Let me take a few steps back here. Ramadan Kareem everyone! The blessed time of year when Muslims around the world abstain from food & drink (yes, even water) from dawn til dusk. Not just a physical fast, Muslims (healthy, adult) are to abstain from sex, violence and cursing. Particularly trying for those at northern latitudes where the days are long (16+ hours for us in NY), we need to make the most of our pre-dawn and fast-breaking meals. That means nutritious food that will keep our bodies busy breaking down complex carbs and proteins. Just as important: staying hydrated!

So if you’re South Asian, you probably had white rice along with veggies and some hearty curries for your pre-dawn meal (suhoor/sehri). And they probably left you feeling awesome, especially after your post-fajr nap.

Not. They always left me feeling queasy and hungry after a few hours. Don’t get me wrong, hunger pangs are going to strike regardless. It wouldn’t be a fast without the experience of hunger – to humble us, to remind us of our blessings, to connect us to those less fortunate, and to remind us constantly that we are doing it for the sake of God. But in eating whole foods, super foods, foods that are full of complex carbs and hunger abating protein, we can put our best food forward while going about our day to day jobs in non-Muslim countries. Otherwise, it can be challenging, functioning on reduced and disjointed sleep (late night prayers + a meal in the middle of the night) with a lower blood sugar throughout the day making your mental processing faculties a bit foggy.

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So here I present my go-to spread for suhoor: overnight oats with fruit and nuts, two hard boiled eggs, toast with peanut butter, banana and chia seeds, coconut water, and water. I may not have all of these items every day, depending on how much time I have on my hands, but the overnight oats and hard boiled eggs are a must. I prepare the oats around the same time that I’m making iftar so it has a good 8 hours to soak in the fridge. When you read the recipe below, you might be turned off to the fact that it’s made with water instead of milk. But if you’ve ever struggled with downing oatmeal because the gummy texture turned you off, you must try it with water. Of course you are free to make it with almond, soy, rice, hemp or coconut milk instead.

Recently, I’ve been topping it with the raspberry compote from my Eton Mess. I don’t want to say it’s divine or anything in case that’s sacrilege – but it’s really really really good.

Combine the complex carbs from the oats with the protein and good fats from the eggs – you are good to go. The potassium from the coconut water and bananas (or dates!) well keep you running. The chia seeds provide a nutritional boost as well given they’re packed with Omega-3s, fiber, and protein. Sometimes I just munch on them as is. They have a wonderful crunchy/chewy texture.

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Here are my tips for hard boiling eggs:

  • Bring a generous amount of water to boil.
  • THEN add the eggs.
  • Set the timer for 8 minutes eggsactly (had to).
  • When the timer is up, drain the water. Let cool. Don’t peel them ahead of time as they’ll dry out.
  • Just before eating, crack them on a surface and roll around. You’ll find these eggs are the easiest to peel.

And here’s my go to recipe for overnight oats (from Quaker):

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1/2 cup water (or enough to cover the oats)
  • pinch of salt
  • 2 tbsp fresh fruit or fruit compote
  • 1 tbsp chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 2 tbsp yogurt (optional)

Directions

  1. In a mason jar, or recycled jam jar, combine oats, water and salt. Close the lid and give it a shake. Let it sit in the fridge overnight (6-8 hours).
  2. To serve, top with fruit, nuts and yogurt, if using. Enjoy immediately. And be generous with the fruit! One of the perks of summertime fasts are the glorious fruits available, particularly at your local farmers market.

Leave a Comment · Labels: American/Mediterranean, Breakfast, Carb, Food Fun, Protein, Recipes Tagged: chia seeds, clean eating, coconut water, fruits, healthy, oats, overnight oats, potassium, ramadan, ramadan recipes, recipes, sehri, suhoor, toast

Homemade Granola

September 4, 2013

IMG_1394

Why not have breakfast in your favorite dessert bowl?

I am not crazy about oatmeal. Unless it’s steel cut. That I don’t mind for a weekday breakfast. But it can be time consuming. So, the other option is to make a nice big batch of this granola on a lazy Sunday (believe me, it does not take a whole lot of effort…a little babysitting while it’s in the oven, sure, but nothing over the top). And boom, you have breakfast ready for the whole week. Over yogurt, over milk, over ice cream as a midnight snack, it’s delicious. Can you buy ready made granola from the store with about the same amount of effort? Yes. Will it make your whole house smell like maple syrup and toasted coconut? No.  Besides, like most foods when made fresh, it tastes better!IMG_1383I realize most people may not have all the necessary ingredients on hand for this, but if you make it just once, you’ll likely keep those items in stock for future cravings. It’s super customizable, too. Don’t have almonds? Use peanuts. Don’t have raisins? Use craisins. I don’t care  for dried fruit in my granola so I just leave it out entirely. Just don’t skimp on the maple syrup or coconut.IMG_1390This is Alton Brown’s recipe. When it comes to basics, this guy knows what he’s doing.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup slivered almonds
  • 1 cup cashews
  • 3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (I use light brown)
  • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut, and brown sugar.

In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, and salt. Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans (I use one). Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes to achieve an even color.

Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed.

Leave a Comment · Labels: American/Mediterranean, Breakfast, Recipes, Snacks Tagged: breakfast, cereal, coconut, granola, maple, nuts, oats

Kitchen Sink Cookies

February 22, 2013

IMG_0734 Not the most appetizing name for a cookie, I know. But take one bite, and who? wha? What’s in a name? These are actually based off the kitchen sink cookies from a certain famous/infamous bakery that has taken Queens by storm (Martha’s, if you must). Why the duality? You either love it or you hate it. Their chocolate mousse and rainbow cookies: perfection. Their cheesecakes and gelato: leave something to be desired. Pretty much everything else is lukewarm, considering it opened shop in a city that is overrun with foodies, michelin award winning pastry chefs and french macarons that are flown in from Paris daily. Enough about their kitchen sink cookies. Mine have a tad fewer ingredients (nix the white chocolate and toffee bits) and satisfy a craving for chocolate chip cookies that have just a little extra something. The addition of coconut made them appealing even for all the South Asian mouths I have to feed around here. And obviously the oats make them a healthy and nutritious snack so when your toddler stuffs her face with them you’re not thinking “I’m a terrible parent” rather “just look at all that fiber she’s getting”. Lastly, after baking chocolate chip cookies for the past 15 years, I will leave you with some things I’ve realized:

  1. You don’t need to wait around for your eggs and butter to come to room temperature before baking. Just melt the butter in the microwave or saucepan! The cookies come out just as good. But if you insist on being old school, cube up the butter so it warms up faster.
  2. The original recipe says to use quick cooking oats but I used old fashioned and it came out just fine.
  3. Make sure your leavener isn’t too old. For years I thought baking soda was just an inferior cousin of baking powder because the first time I made CC cookies I used an out of date baking soda and my cookies just went SPLAT all over the baking sheet. So, after one year, I’d say get a new one.
  4. For a long time I under baked my cookies (325 or 350 degrees for no more than 10 minutes) but these days, I bake at a higher temp (375) for ten minutes and it just toasts up the butter in the cookies and they get that magical nuttiness to them.
  5. Finally, I’ve started using raw sugar instead of white sugar and there’s no difference in taste or texture as far as I can tell.

IMG_0738 Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter softened (or melted)
  • 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 tsps vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 3 cups old fashioned or quick cooking oats
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
  • 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1 cup sweetened coconut flakes

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the oats, walnuts, chocolate chips and coconut flakes. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
  3. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

Leave a Comment · Labels: American/Mediterranean, Dessert, Recipes Tagged: chocolate chips, coconut, cookies, dessert, flour, oats

American, Bangladeshi. Savory, sweet. I don't discriminate and neither should you.

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