Tag: lowcalorie


Jul
2013

Skinny Beetroot Hummus

categories: Appetizers, Dips

Skinny Beetroot Hummus2

I’m a huge fan of hummus and can’t get enough! I can have it for all three meals of my day. Oh-yeah! 🙂

A quick, low-fat, protein-packed and super-easy home-made hummus! A pink hummus! As a dear friend quoted ‘If I could I would cover my life in pink!’ I would too!

The hummus gets its pink color from the addition of a boiled beetroot. If you are not a big fan of beetroot, still add it as I promise you won’t be able to taste it at all! It’s sooo good!!!

I stirred in lemon zest to finished hummus and it went a notch up! It became truly Ah-mah-‘zing’ actually!!!

Cheese-lovers can add Parmesan cheese (to be added during blending) to this lovely appetizer but I wanted to keep it low-fat so I skipped it.

So let’s blend-blend!

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Skinny Beetroot Hummus

Serves: 4 | Stays fresh for 3-4 days, refrigerated in airtight container

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight, boiled and drained
  • 1 medium beetroot, peeled, boiled and roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 Tbsp Tahini
  • 3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp lemon juice
  • salt, to taste
  • zest from 1 lemon

Directions:

Add boiled chickpeas to the blender jar. Add garlic cloves, tahini and 2 Tbsp olive oil to jar and blend.

Add 1 Tbsp lemon juice and salt and blend again.

Add beetroot pieces and remaining lemon juice and olive oil to blender and blend till smooth and creamy.

Stir in lemon zest, transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

*Soak chickpeas overnight. If short on time, soak them in just boiled water for at least 3-4 hrs. It will take a bit long to cook but will do the job.
*I used pressure cooker for boiling chickpeas and beetroot both. I boiled them separately.

Accompaniment options: Pita bread, Nachos or Tortilla chips, My Skinny Carrot Sticks, veggie crudites or simply a spread on toast! Sky is the limit actually!! 😉

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Jun
2013

Skinny Devil’s Food Cake Mix Cookies – Funfetti Friday!

categories: Cookies, Quick Fix

Skinny Devil Food Cake Mix cookies2

Hey fellas, I have been ranting singing about my birthday from the beginning of this week but today is the real deal!

Happy 28th Birthday to Me! 🙂

And Happy Funfetti Friday to you all!

I didn’t want to bake a cake for my own birthday so instead I baked these cookies a day before to commemorate the celebration! I was feeling super lazy yet wanted a chocolate cookie and sprinkle on my birthday eve so decided to settle for these!

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I kept them skinny by omitting butter with fat free yogurt. They were not crunchy but instead soft and moist but that is how I like my cookies so no complains! They almost tasted like fudgy brownies so bake them as brownies if you like and adjust the baking time accordingly.

It is a one-bowl treat so less dishes! The dough requires quite a bit of elbow grease to whip up so use sturdy spoon for mixing, preferably wooden spoon. The dough is quite sticky so put it in refrigerator for half an hour if you’re making cookies.

Use ice-cream scoop to form cookie balls and top them with sprinkles or M&Ms or candied cherries.. I used all 3 of them and loved how candied cherry tasted almost sinful with rich chocolate!

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Dough chilled in refrigerator for half an hour & then scooped on to cookie sheet

You must be able to palpate the haste in my writing as you are reading down the post but that is exactly how this was typed. In a hurry!

So let’s not waste more time and get to the recipe!

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Skinny Devil’s food Cake Mix Cookies

Yields: Around 12 large cookies

Ingredients:

  • 1 box (500 gm) chocolate cake mix (I used Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake Mix)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/3 cup fat free vanilla yogurt
  • sprinkles, M&Ms or candies cherries for topping

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F/170 C. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
  2. Mix all the ingredients in one large bowl and chill in refrigerator for half an hour.
  3. Using ice-cream scoop, drop cookie balls on parchment paper. Decorate them with the topping of your choice.
  4. Bake for 11-12 minutes or till sides have firmed up. the center will still be gooey but will firm up once cookies cool down. Do not over-bake. Let rest on cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes before transferring on a wire rack to cool completely.

*If using plain yogurt then add 1 tsp vanilla extract to the dough.

Enjoy!!

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Jun
2013

Farfalle with Fresh Coriander and Cashew Pesto

categories: Dinner, Lunch, Summer

As I have proclaimed here before…. I looovvveee pasta!

And my all time favorite pasta sauce is basil pesto.

But then I came across this creamy coriander pesto & now, I have a new favorite!

Fresh coriander & Cashew Sauce2

On a rainy evening, hubby & I were sipping coffee at our favorite cafe located down the street from our house. They have quite a versatile menu and I really love the place. One pasta sauce in there really caught my eye and I had to order it immediately. It was a spicy coriander and cashew sauce prepared in cream cheese and was served over Conchiglie (shell shaped) pasta.

The dish was so delectable that I had to replicate it at home with bit of a guesswork. Of course my version differed from theirs as I did not use cream cheese and did not add red chili flakes. But it was every bit as scrumptious if not better! Now would I lie to you? NO! So believe me 🙂

It is a pesto sauce so you have your usual suspects.. fresh herb, garlic and nuts!

The pesto has a fresh summery fragrance from fresh coriander and a rich texture from cashews. I used Farfalle pasta instead as that is what I had on hand.

You would be really surprised at how creamy it turned out and pretty low in calories too! Very delicate dish all in all! 🙂

So let’s get down to the recipe!

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Farfalle with Fresh Coriander and Cashew Pesto

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups Farfalle pasta, cooked al dente as per the package direction
  • 2 cups fresh coriander leaves (packed into measuring cup)
  • 2-3 cloves of garlic
  • 1/3 cup cashews, soaked in water for 2-3 hours
  • 1/4 cup milk
  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
  • 1 cup hot milk and 1 cup hot water, mixed together
  • 3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1/2 tsp red chili flakes (I omitted it)

Directions:

  1. Cook 2 cups of Farfalle pasta in salted boiling water as per the direction mentioned on the package. Once pasta has cooked al dente, drain the water and start preparing the sauce.
  2. Add coriander leaves, garlic cloves, soaked cashews, pinch of salt and 1/4 cup milk in a blender and blitz till you get a soft puree. Add little milk if required.
  3. In a pan, melt the butter and add flour to it. Let the flour cook for about 3-4 minutes on a low heat.
  4. Add hot milk and hot water mixture to the pan and whisk to make sure there are no lumps. Add grated cheese. Cheese will melt and mixture will thicken a bit in about 5 minutes.
  5. Add pureed coriander mixture in a pan and whisk. Season with salt and pepper as per your taste. Add red chili flakes if you want a hint of spice. Add pasta to this and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes so that pasta has absorbed the sauce. Serve immediately.
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