Simple Lasagna

A box of No-Cook Lasagna noodles
Veggies of your choice - Spinach Mushroom onion veggie crumbles/ veggie-meatballs
Pasta Sauce (creamy vodka or garlic-pepper flavored)
Ricotta Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese

Sautee onions/mushrooms till they caramelize.
Steam the spinach separately with salt.

Preheat oven to 325F.

Start layering the lasagna in a 13x9 inch bake pan.
First Sauce, then noodles until they soak then a layer of veggie crumbles.
More noodle layer
Spinach and Ricotta cheese.
Noodles and sauce
Mushroom and onions.
Noodles and sauce
Remaining spinach/meatballs/Ricotta
then layer of sauce.
Then cover the entire top with grated Mozzarella cheese.
You can sprinkle pepper/Italian seasoning over the cheese.


Place the pan in the oven for an hour approx. It is done when the cheese turns brown.

Let is sit for few and then use a knife to cut it into pieces and serve the deliciousness on a plate!

Coconut-rice-chicken

Past year or so, I have been experimenting with eating chicken so as to expand my options of eating outside. But I never made chicken dishes at home. With a new development of having an american boyfriend, I got a chance to experiment it too. So we tried to incorporate chicken into desi gravy dishes - or authentic tikka dishes. Most of them tasted good, but this one was exceptionally good - hence it is the first one to be on the blog. We tried using an online recipe the first time, but second time used our own touches and it worked even better. So there we go -

Scallions (1 bunch)
Green/Red pepper (1 count)
Chicken thighs (3 count)
1 cup rice
1 cup thai coconut milk (equals to 1.75 cup)
Cinnamon sticks (2-3)
Dried Red chilli (2-3)
Garam masala (1 tsp)
cumin powder

Sautee the chicken thigh - in fact, shallow fry it with some oil, chicken masala, cumin powder, salt until it is crispy, but not fully cooked.
Keep them aside and you can use the same oil in the pan to sautee the following - cinnamon sticks, dried red chilli, scallion onions (keep the green part for garnishing later) and peppers.
Add garam masala and stir it a bit.
Add the coconut milk and rice to the pan and mix well.
Add 1/4th cup water to make up the difference (1 cup rice : 2 cups liquid)
Add salt. (careful since your chicken has salt too)
Carefully place the sauteed chicken in the pan.
Turn the heat to high until it starts to boil.
Stir it once and let it cook on medium heat - 20min approx
Sprinkle the spring onion on the top and cover it with a lid.
Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Pictures next time.

Fritos chilli/ american misal

Recently we watched an awesome recipe on Guy's Diner's and Dive-in show which made our mouths water. The next thing we knew was we were re-creating the dish in our kitchen!
Of course we added our touch to it, but it was as much tasty and became an instant hit!
Following is the recipe:

Serves 4
4 bags of fritos - corn chips twirly ones - normal flavor.
Grated cheese

To prepare Chilli:

4 chicken/ veggie Sausage - Italian or Chipotle flavor
Onion (1 chopped finely)
Diced tomato (1 can)
Red or black beans (1 can)
Regular spices (cumin/turmeric/garam masala or Pav Bhaji masala)
Cilantro - few twigs chopped finely
Lemon squeeze

Sautee spices, onion, tomato, until they are tender.
Add the beans and sausage pieces. Sautee some more.
Pour a cup of water and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Also add salt as required.
Sprinkle chopped cilantro.
Turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Squeeze some lemon when ready to serve.

Cut the upper half of the frito's bag and hold it in your palm.
Add some grated cheese on top of the chips.
Pour the beans gravy into this frito's bag and mix. (Alternatively, you can do all the mixing in a bowl)

I'll try to take pictures next time we make it :)