Creamy Tomato Soup

What a busy week it has been. I'm being sucked into the vortex of kiddie birthday parties. Once you are in, you can never get out. As much fun as it is for the kids, its the same old, same old routine for the parents. The last four birthday parties I've been to have been at the same kids gym location. The same place, the same routine, the same pizza. I think I'm ready for a change of scene. A change of food scene atleast.

So today I decided to make myself a nice light creamy (light & creamy? stay with me!) tomato soup. Its been windy and cold in the NYC area and the sun has been its usual deceptive self around this time of year. After being in and out of the house for the umpteenth time today, I cozily settled in to have my soup and boy, did it deliver. The right amount of heat - from its spice and its temperature. 



Not strained, hence a richer red color



The soup is vegan and the "creaminess" comes from coconut milk.Since I used coconut milk, the soup was pretty light. The soup also has some standard indian spices, to give it a twist from the traditional recipe. It really worked for me, I hope you like the combination too.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

A friend of mine recently gave me a statistical analysis of my blog posting habit. I posted about 17 times in July, 12 in August and 3 in September (or some such numbers!). I love data, it makes everything black and white. The message was loud and clear - I was losing momentum. And I don't want to lose momentum. I'm very excited about food and I love food and I that's not something I want to neglect. Along with the food, I love the interaction with my fellow bloggers and I look forward to it just as much. So here I am with a new recipe

Chickpea Salad on Baked Wonton w/ Tamarind Sauce | Indian Chaat

I love to snack and graze all day - which most healthy eating experts will tell you is just bad for weight management. So when I'm faced with a snack attack - I want to make something that's quick, healthy and most definitely tasty! 

With an indian palate, I gravitate towards complex sweet/sour/spicy flavors and Indian Chaat always comes to mind. Chaat is yet another street food found in India - which comprises of various dishes that are a combination of some kind of beans (mung, chana, white chana) with onions, boiled potatoes topped with spicy (green and red chilli) chutneys and sweet (tamarind/dates) chutneys to create the complex flavors.

The healthy factor of these dishes are debateable - my friend always argues with her nutritionist that Chaat contains legumes and salads and is therefore healthy, all the while ignoring elements such as a fried base and sweet (read sugary) sauces. Yeah, my friend argues with her nutrionist!

Spinach Feta Borek

 I have been craving spanakopitas - I love spinach and I love the spinach feta combination you find in these pies. Spanakopita traditionally is a spinach feta filling in a phyllo dough shaped in triangles and baked.

The only problem I have is the ratio of spinach to feta in these pies. As much as I love spinach, when the pies are all spinach and not enough feta, it puts me off. If I'm going to sacrifice calories (phyllo is not exactly healthy) then I'd like to splurge on the cheese.