Curried Shrimp Salad with Mandarin Olive Oil Dressing

This is a recipe of shrimp prepared with Indian spices on a bed of romaine lettuce with Mandarin olive oil dressing.

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients:

1.5 head of romaine lettuce chopped, 1/4 inch width.
1 packet of Whole Catch de-veined, shelled, uncooked shrimp
1 tablespoon O&CO Mandarin olive oil
1/2 tspn. turmeric
1/2 tspn. cayenne
1 tspn. garam masala
1.5 cups chopped tomato
1/4 tspn salt
Herbamare to taste

Steps

1. Thaw the shrimp for 15-20 minutes by keeping it in a bowl of cold water.
2. Steam the shrimp in a shallow pan until the water from the shrimp dries out and evaporates.
3. Add turmeric, garam masala, chopped tomato and salt.
4. Continue to cook the shrimp on low flame until all the spices are absorbed and the liquid from the tomato is absorbed into the shrimp (about 20 minutes).
5. Mix the spices, tomatoes and shrimp thoroughly so that it is nicely blended.
6. Turn off the stove once all the liquid is absorbed and the shrimp is moist but not dry.
7. Collect all the shrimp together and pour the olive oil on the shrimp.
8. Mix thoroughly so that the olive is properly blended in.
9. Lay the chopped romaine lettuce on a plate and sprinkle some Herbamare (See earlier post)
10. Divide the shrimp into two portions, use one portion per person.
11. Lay the shrimp on the bed of lettuce.

Options

• You could also layer the lettuce with some steamed broccoli and then lay the shrimp on the broccoli.
• You could eat the salad with a side of a cracker and tapenade.

Healthy Vegan Chai Shortbread

Here's a recipe of a traditional shortbread spiced with Chai spices to warm up for the Holiday Season.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 50 minutes

Servings: 24

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup(s) of Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks
1 cup(s) of Organic Sugar Wholesome Sweetners
2 1/2 cup(s) of Unbleached White Flour (Arthur's Brand)
3/4 tsp. of Salt
3 tsp. of Chai Masala (Everest Tea Masala available at any Indian Stores)

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
2. Butter a 13X9 inch baking pan.
3. Cream butter and sugar thoroughly.
4. Sift in the dry ingredients (except the Chai Masala).
5. Mix in the Chai Masala until blended.
6. Press evenly into the pan about ¼-inch thick.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
8. Let it cool thoroughly before cutting into squares.

Fiore's Deli - The Best Fresh Mozzarella

Made fresh daily, this creamy-rich mozzarella cheese melts in your mouth and has the perfect bite to it. They have been in the business since 1913, close to a 100 years in business. I only feel privileged that I have had the opportunity to taste this delicious mozzarella made from their family recipe.

They use their fresh mozzarella for sandwiches with the deli meats and yummy antipasti that is prepared in house.

I use their mozzarella cheese for making pizza napoletana at home and it melts and mixes in with the tomato sauce perfectly!

Say no more......you need to visit Hoboken to try their cheese. More details at http://www.fioresdeli.com/

Natural Greek Yogurts

Olympus Greek Yogurt

Now here is a yogurt actually manufactured in Greece and imported here. You have got to try it and you will agree how delicious this yogurt is. I especially love the flavored yogurt since they have pieces of fresh fruit in them and strawberry and peach are my favorites. Their low-fat and non-fat yogurts taste equally great! The best part is that this yogurt keeps you full because it has about 12-15 g of protein. Very satisfying! Read more on their website or just simply try it.


http://www.olympusdairyusa.com/en/products/yogurt

Chobani Yogurt

Personally I am not very fond of non-fat yogurts because they taste very tart but Chobani has done a great job with their flavored non-fat yogurts. They have a layer of fruit preserve at the bottom of the fruit flavored yogurts that makes it taste like a dessert. This could actually be a very healthy dessert option. Their all-natural yogurts with yummy fruit preserves at the bottom makes this yogurt my favorite snack. Chobani very recently started low fat yogurts which is my first preference, especially the Mango flavored yogurt. It is like the most delicious snack I ever tasted.

My only personal critique, based purely on my personal preference, is that Chobani does not keep me as full because it is low in protein content as compared to Olympus. Nevertheless, they both are delicious natural Greek yogurts that I certainly am hooked on!

Pret A Manger

Pret A Manger (pronounced as Pretta mahnjay, comes from the French language meaning 'ready to eat') is a British sandwich retail chain that prepares food from natural and fresh ingredients. This chain of cafes is mostly in Manhattan with a few locations in DC and Chicago.

It is my favorite place to eat lunch, purely for the reason that they prepare their food, fresh and with natural ingredients and it tastes like real food. Their food is not necessarily all organic and I don't feel that food has to be organic to be healthy; natural and fresh foods are also very healthy.

Pret prepares the most delicious sandwiches and salads, some of my favorites are:

• Pret's Egg Salad and Arugula Sandwich
• Chicken and Mozzarella Baguette
• Chicken and Avocado Salad
• I totally love their Ham and Cheese Toasties (Grilled Sandwich)

Their menu changes by the season and I so look forward to their butternut squash soup in the fall, it is so yum!

If you need more information and nutritional information you can visit their website http://www.pret.com/us

Food Culture in India

I am often surprised by people's reactions in the U.S. to my healthy eating. It makes me think that it must be the food culture. I was raised eating healthy fresh meals, prepared at home with healthy fats and that is just how I like my food. I know words like Organic, Natural, Fresh and Seasonal sound fancy and expensive but that is just how I know to eat because that is just how I was raised. I thought I'd share some facts on the food culture in India, which is where I was born and raised. I moved to the U.S. in Sept 2001.

Growing up this is how I remember food being served in my home:

• Every meal including breakfast was prepared fresh.
• For convenience reasons, packaged sliced bread was made a part of your meals. However, if the bread was not prepared fresh, it was considered very unhealthy and bad for your diet.
• Meals were not refrigerated for more than a day maximum; a meal in the refrigerator for more than one day was considered stale.
• Restaurant eating was considered a bad habit. We would go to a restaurant only for a special occasion, only because home prepared meals were given a lot of emphasis.
• Guests were invited over to your home for dinner and meals were prepared fresh.
• We had tea pretty much any time of the day. Tea leaves were boiled in water, milk and sugar was added. Some people liked ginger and spices in the tea. Any tea was called Chai, not necessarily the one with spices in it.
• Tea and biscuits (cookies) was an afternoon 3pm affair; it was considered a light snack!
• The meals were large and balanced with vegetables, rice, beans, yogurt (for digestive reasons), freshly prepared bread called roti and steamed rice. We preferred having large less frequent meals than small frequent meals.

Brown Rice Pasta

If you have gluten allergies or if you are simply looking for a wholesome pasta meal, then you must try the Tinkyada Rice Pasta. It is wheat free and gluten free, it's like pasta just got better! You are going to stay full longer and it tastes nothing different than the regular pasta.

More so, they have all kinds of pasta. They make spaghetti, spirals, penne and even grand shells :)

For a complete list of products see the link below:
http://www.tinkyada.com/ProList.htm

Pour some ready yummy natural pasta sauce like Monte Bene or Whole Foods Generic 365 and you are good to go; your yummy healthy pasta is ready.