Soulful Creations

Grab hold of 'em awesome peaches that are in season right now! Once you have eaten them in all forms and shapes, try this refreshingly simple recipe You will need, 2 peaches, diced into smallish pieces For the dressing 2 inch piece ginger, grated finely 1 tbsp honey juice from half a lemon garden fresh mint, if you have on hand In a bowl mix the dressing first and then add the peaches. That is it, really! Chill the salad before serving. Trust me on a hot Houston afternoon, you would want something cool.

Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen was our August 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she challenged us to make some amazing regional Indian desserts. The Mawa Cake, the Bolinhas de Coco cookies and the Masala cookies – beautifully spiced and delicious! Ingredients For the Mawa: 1 litre (4 cups) full fat milk For the cake: 1/2 cup (1 stick) (120 ml) (4 oz) (115 gm) unsalted Butter (soft at room temperature) 3/4 cup (180 ml) packed crumb 1-1/4 cups (300 ml) (10 oz) (280 gm) castor sugar 3 large eggs 5 to 6 cardamom pods, powdered, (about 1-1/2 tsp powdered cardamom) 2 cups (500ml) (9 oz) (260 gm) cake flour 1 teaspoon (5 ml) (5 gm) baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup (120 ml) milk 1 teaspoon (5ml) vanilla extract (optional) Cashewnuts (or blanched almonds) to decorate (about 18 to 20) Directions: 1. First make the “Mawa”. Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan, preferably a non-stick one. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring it on and off, making sure it d...

...you just have to given in and make it yourself rightaway. A few days ago I was craving Nam Nam noodle's seven spice tofu rice platter and I realized that I find myself wanting to eat this fairly often- so decided to take charge and create my own version of this really flavorful dish. For the tofu Remove the tofu from the packaging. Place the tofu in some paper towels and keep heavy weight on the tofu in order to drain all the liquid , about an hour(keep removing excess liquid every 20 - 30 minutes or so) Cut the tofu into slabs and marinate with the concoction below (WARNING: the marinade is spicy) ~ 2-3 tbsp tamari ~ 2 tbsp chilli garlic sauce ~ 1 tbsp minced ginger ~ 1 tbsp sesame oil Rub the marinade on both sides of the tofu slabs and refrigerate for at least an hour (can do overnight too) Bake the tofu in an oven preheated to 350 F for an hour turning every 20 minutes or so While the tofu is baking, cook jasmine rice as per packaging instructions ...

If interested in any of these- drop a comment.

This was love at first sight- the moment I laid eyes on this recipe I knew I had to make it. I said to myself " oh you big white cauliflower in the fridge- here I come". 2 small pizzas Cauliflower crust (originally from detoxinista ) 1 medium sized cauliflower (approximately 4 cups grated) 1 egg 3,5 oz soft cream goats cheese (100 g) (I used goat cheese- probably different from goat cream cheese) Salt & pepper Directions: 1. Grate the cauliflower in a food processor. 2. Microwave it will a bit of water for about 5minutes (it cgot cooked 3. Drain the cauliflower by wrapping it up in a dishtowel and squeezing all the water out. In a bowl mix cauliflower rice with cream cheese, egg and salt and pepper. 4. Heat oven to 400 °F/200 °C. Line a baking sheet and place 4 portions of cauliflower mix. Use your hands to form the crusts on the sheet, they should be about 1-1,5 cm (1/3 – 1/2 inch) thick. Bake the crusts for approximately 30-35 min, or until firm...

A wonderfully refreshing, perfect-for-summer Polynesian drink- of course with a bit of my own experimentation. You can read about this drink which is now considered to be mostly of Tongan origin here at wiki. Ingredients 2-3 cups of watermelon 3/4 can of coconut milk 1 tbsp grated ginger few sprigs mint (fresh from the garden) 1/2 cup coconut sugar Method In a food processor, blend the coconut milk, sugar, ginger and mint. Then add the chopped watermelon and pulse it a few times (ideally it is grated with a fork but come on....a lazy me...nah ah..) Enjoy it cold! A vegan mango milkshake with almond milk and scented geranium leaves  Stay Cool mes amis!

in BITS, Pilani. I make this quite often-and have impressed the wise-guy enough that now he makes it more than I do. Its funny how as you get older (Read wiser) you realize some things are just not worth giving up. As a young undergrad cramming for exams, I used to go to the night canteen in our hostel (Meera Bhavanukku oru O Podu!)- get a bucket load of hot tea and this awesome paneer maggi, go to my room with high hopes of studying hard through the night. Alas, that never, let me stress that, NEVER happened. I have no idea how I came this far..:)