I never tasted corn bread before and this is my first time, I tried and tasted this corn bread. It came out so  good, moist and delicious. My husband who loves Mexican food and has tasted corn bread before, so after he tasted my corn bread and said that ” this was the best corn bread I have tasted”. I was very happy and I was in cloud nine  This easy homemade corn bread recipe is without eggs and butter. To make this corn bread more flavorful and spicy, I added jalapenos and cheddar cheese to the batter. Jalapenos adds a extra zing to the bread. This dish can be made in a jiffy, it just takes 30 minutes to finish. You can serve this bread for breakfast or lunch or dinner with soups or spicy dishes like vegetarian bean chilli. I will be posting my bean chilli recipe in my next post.

Ingredients

1.5 Cups of Milk
1.5 Tbsp of Distilled White Vinegar or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup of Cornmeal , I used corn flour
1 Cup of All Purpose Flour
3 Tbsp of White Sugar
1/2 Tsp of Salt
1 Tsp of Baking Powder
1 Tsp of Baking Soda
2 Tbsp of Canola Oil
2 Jalapeno’s, Chopped
3 Tbsp of Cheddar Cheese

Method

• Preheat the oven to 425 degree F. Lightly oil a 9 *9 inch baking dish.
• In a small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar, and set aside.
• Mix the corn flour, all purpose flour, sugar, salt, oil, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Finally add the milk and vinegar mixture. Stir well with a whisk.
• Pour the batter evenly in the prepared baking dish.
• Bake until the top is golden brown, 25-30 minutes.
• Hot jalapeno corn bread is ready to serve with bean chilli

    Tips

• You can serve it for breakfast with soups or spicy dish like chilli.
• The recipe calls for cornmeal, but I used corn flour.
• Both are ground corn. Difference is cornflour is usually ground to a fine texture than cornmeal.
• Add frozen corns to the batter, for crunchiness.
• If you don’t get jalapenos in your place, replace it with any chilly.
• If you don’t want jalapeno and cheese, just skip it and make a plain corn bread.
• If you want vegan version, just replace milk with non diary milk such as soy or almond milk.

Health Benefits of Corn 

• Good source of dietary fiber.
• Fiber in corn helps to reduce blood cholesterol and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Rich source of vitamin folate helps in support of cardiovascular problems.
• Controls diabetes and hypertension.
• Prevents anemia.
• Good for eyes and skin.

Tags : cornbread, cornbread recipe, how to make cornbread,  cornbreadrecipe without eggs, jalapeno cheddar cornbread recipe, jalapenocornbread, thanksgivingrecipe, americanrecipe, baking, breadrecipe without eggs and butter.

          I start most of my days by having sandwiches with vegetable fillings and this is one of among them. This is very easy and quick to fix sandwich with mushroom, tomato and cucumber as filling, for flavoring, I added Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. This is a heart healthy sandwich which has no cheese in it and I used whole wheat bread, so this is very healthy and filling sandwich that can be made in minutes. You can have this no cheese sandwich for breakfast or lunch or dinner.
     Preparation Time : 10 Mins
     Cooking Time : 10 Mins
     Makes : 1 Sandwich

    Ingredients
  
         2 Whole Wheat Bread
         6 Slices of Mushroom
         4 Slices of Tomato
         4 Slices of Cucumber
         2 Tbsp of Chopped Yellow / Red Onion
         1/8 Tsp of Italian Seasoning
         2 Tbsp of Mayonnaise, I used Vegennaise
         Dash of Salt and Pepper
         Red Wine Vinaigrette to taste
         1 Tsp of Olive Oil

    Method

• Wash and slice the cucumber, tomato and mushroom. Finely chop the onion.
• Heat olive oil in a pan, add onion, mushroom, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning, saute this for 2-3 mins in a medium high flame, until it turns mushroom turns soft. Once it done, turn off the flame.
• Toast the bread in a toaster or cast iron pan.

                
    For The Sandwich Build

• Apply mayonnaise or vegennaise on each side of the bread.
• Place the sauted mushroom and onion, cucumber and tomato.
• Assemble your sandwich by gently pressing the two slices of bread together.
• Yummy sandwich is ready to serve.

    Tips 

• You can use wheat bread or white bread(maida)
• You can use chopped lettuce to this sandwich.
• Use sharp cheddar cheese or earth balance (dairy free-vegan option) for more richness and creaminess. 
• Use butter in place of olive oil.

     
    Health Benefits of Mushroom, tomato and Cucumber Sandwich

• Whole wheat bread are rich in fiber, reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
• Mushroom are rich in protein, vitamin B, D and antioxidants, boost your immune system.
• Tomatoes are rich vitamin A,C, K, beta-carotene, a natural cancer fighter and good for skin.
• Cucumber re-hydrates the body, good for skin, aids in weight loss and fight against cancer.

               
  Tags : sandwich, no cheese sandwich, quick and healthy vegetarian sandwich, mushroom sandwich, mushroom, tomato and cucumber sandwich, how to make vegetarian snadwich breakfast ideas

Keerai  Kootu recipe is a dal based curry, cooked with greens. Here I used chinese spinach/Amaranth Greens / Thandu keerai to make this kootu. This is a authentic simple and delicious Tamil recipe which requires very less oil and it is a easy recipe for bachelors to cook keerai kootu recipe. From childhood, I love to eat greens(keerai). But I miss a lot of keerai variety in US like ponnaganni keerai, sirukeerai, agathi keerai and murangakeeerai. Both Me and my husband love keerai kootu a lot. I make this kootu everyweek for lunch. Very satisfying and comforting food to enjoy for lunch along with some kara kuzhumbu or sundal kulambu, rice and appalam.  You can follow the same recipe for mulaikeerai kootu, sirukeerai kootu or ponnakannikirai kootu.Try this thandu keerai kootu recipe with moong dal for lunch and stay healthy.

Ingredients for keerai kootu recipe

1 Bunch (2 Cups) of Red Spinach / Pasalai Keerai
5 Small Onions (Shallots)
1 Tsp of Sambhar Powder
1/2 Tsp of Black Pepper Powder
Salt and Water as Needed

To Pressure Cook

1/2 Cup of Yellow Moong Dal
1/2 Tsp of Turmeric Powder
Pinch of Asafoetida(Hing)
1/2 Tsp of Oil
1/2 Tsp of Salt

To Grind

2 Tbsp of Freshly Grated Coconut
1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin

To Temper

1.5 Tsp of Oil
1 Tsp of Mustard Seeds
3/4 Tsp of Urad Dal
1/8 Tsp of Fenugreek Seeds
1/2 Tsp of Whole Cumin
1 Red Chilly
1 Sprig of Curry Leaves

Method for thandu keerai kootu recipe

• Wash the greens and chop them into finely.
• In a mixie (blender), add coconut and cumin, grind it to a smooth paste.
• Soak the moong dal for 30 mins. Wash and drain the water. In a pressure cooker, add all the ingredients listed under “To pressure cook”, close the lid and cook it for 2 whistles. Keep it aside.
• Heat oil in a pan, add all the ingredients listed under ” To Temper” list add one by one, after mustard seeds sizzles and urad dal and red chilly changes color, add chopped onion, fry until it turns golden brown, then add chopped keerai, fry them for a min, add 1/4 cup of water, cover and cook it for 2 mins. Add the ground mixture, sambhar powder and pepper powder, fry well with keerai for 1-2 mins. Finally add the cooked moong dal and required salt, mix well. Cover and cook it for 5 mins in a medium flame until semi -thick in consistency.
• Serve hot with steamed rice and ghee.

Tips

• Use any type of keerai like araikeerai, thandukeerai or ponnagani keerai.
• Use toor dal or chana dal in place of yellow moong dal.
• You can use big red onion in place of small onions.

Health Benefits of Amaranthus Leaves / Thandu Keerai

• Rich source of vitamin A, C and folate.
• It has good source of amino acid like lysine, which is limited in other grains.
• Prevents hair loss and greying.
• Reduces cholesterol and prevents the risk of cardiovascular disease.
• It boosts the immune system.

Tags : Kootu, kootu recipe, keerai kootu recipe, keerai kootu, how to make kootu, how to make keerai kootu, south indian kootu, tamil recipe, thandukeerai kootu, mulaikeerai kootu recipe, side dish for kara kulamb, thandu keerai kootu recipe