Apple Pancake - Comfort food the healthy way..

Rain is pounding down on the bay area the last few days. The windstorm is so strong it feels like a constant companion. After catching a wonderful movie late last night, waking up to the wonderful rain makes me want a comforting warm filling breakfast, even though it is 2PM now. Hey, don't judge me. It's a perfect day to feel super lazy!

Watching the stars walk down on the red carpet of Golden Globes Awards, I start whipping up a quick batch of pancake, albeit cautiously since my last trial was a minor disaster. It shows how a good recipe is crucial for a wonderful end result. I used Vitamix recipe the first time and then referred to the following recipe today.

Without further ado, let's get right down to it. The pancakes turned out perfect and having enjoyed my very late brunch I am ready to pen down the recipe for y'all.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Yogurt (curd) - 1 cup
Egg - 1
Vanilla extract - 1tsp
Olive Oil (or vegetable oil) - 1tbsp
Apple (peeled, cored and grated) - 1

Method:
Mix whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder together in a bowl. Add yogurt, egg, vanilla extract and oil and whisk well. Add grated apple and mix until combined.

The batter needs to be thick but should spread on its own when poured onto the pan. Hence, I added 4-5 tsp of liquid that separates from the yogurt tub and mixed it to make a spreadable batter.

Heat a skillet or a non stick pan on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, spread some butter on the pan and ladle a spoonful of batter and cover the pan for a minute until bubbles form at the top and one side is cooked. Flip it over so the other side cooks well, for about a minute.

Serve the pancakes while hot. Pour maple syrup, a small blob of butter and fresh fruits and enjoy the fluffy pancakes.


The above batter batch yields about 6-7 medium sized pancakes.

Crunchy Salad - Tickle your tastebuds

This recipe has been tried and tested and is a phenomenal success with family and friends. My husband came up with this truly delicious recipe and we have been enjoying this crunchy goodness with almost every meal..

The secret of this recipe is that it consists of simple ingredients that come together beautifully and makes you feel you are part of something special. Truly! Every time I make this salad I feel like a gourmet chef! No kidding!

Recipe:
1 medium onion
2-3 cucumbers, peeled
1 Bartlett pear, cored
1 apple, cored

Vinaigrette:
5 pitted dates
1 Serrano pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Lime Juice
Himalayan Salt (or normal salt)
Oregano (optional)
cilantro, finely chopped (optional)

Chop all vegetables and fruits and toss them together.
Be sure to add only crunchy vegetables and fruits to this salad. You may add raw mango, raw papaya, green/yellow/red pepper. You can roughly chop all the veggies/fruits, or slice them, or cube them.

Thinly slice the dates and serrano pepper and add to the mix. You can leave the jalapeno pepper out, but it provides the aroma and balances the acidity from lime juice and sweetness from the dates.
Drizzle generous amount of olive oil and squeeze a lime into the mix and sprinkle salt to taste.
Sprinkle some dry oregano and cilantro for flavor.
Toss everything together and the lovely crunchy salad is ready.

The vinaigrette gives a beautiful depth of flavors to the salad. And the healthy content leaves you feeling full. Hope this recipe becomes your go-to and has a place in your table like it is in mine.