Piyaju/Pakora II

Ingredients

• 1 cup besan (chickpea flour)
• Few tbsp oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-2 chili peppers, chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 3-5 onions, chopped

Mix all ingredients to form a batter. Drop spoonfuls in hot oil. Deep fry. Drain on paper towel. Serve hot with chutney. (Can use vegetable pieces like cauliflower or potato also.)

Spinach-Cheese Pastry

• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 egg
• 1 puff pastry sheet
• 1/2 block cream cheese (or neufchatel)
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 package chopped spinach (10 oz.)

Beat water and egg. Brush onto puff pastry sheet. Mix cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, and spinach together. Spread over puff pastry sheet. Roll the sheet tightly with spinach mixture inside. Slice into 1/2 inch slices. Place slices on baking sheet, spiral side facing up. Brush with egg mixture. Bake at 400 for 25 minutes.

Buffalo Wings

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp red chili powder
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 pounds of chicken wings

Stir butter, hot sauce, black pepper, and garlic powder on low heat, save for later. Mix flour, chili powder, and salt together and coat the chicken wings. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours. Bake chicken at 500 degrees for 20 minutes (turn after 10 minutes). Coat with hot sauce.

7 Layer (9 Layer?) Taco Dip

• 1 package taco seasoning mix
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 package cream cheese or neufchatel
  
• 1 small container sour cream
• 1 jar salsa
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 1/2 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
• 1 small can sliced black olives, drained
• 2+ cups cheddar cheese, shredded

Mix the taco seasoning and refried beans - spread this layer onto the dish. Mix cream cheese and sour cream - spread this layer onto the dish. Add salsa layer. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, scallions, lettuce, olives, and cheese. If you want you can heat the beans+seasoning mix before adding the remaining layers. Serve with tortilla chips or Wheat Thins crackers. Recipe from AllRecipes.

Piyaju/Pakora

• 4 cups masoor daal/lentils
  
• 3 onions, chopped
  
• 1.5 tsp cumin
• 1.5 tsp coriander
• 2 tsp turmeric
• Green peppers, chopped
  

Soak daal for several hours. Blend with a little bit of water until it has a batter like consistency (not too runny). Slice up onions and mix with blended daal. Add all spices. Add green peppers depending on how spicy you like them (I use a lot of pepper). Mix. Heat oil in a frying pan about a centimeter deep. Drop spoonfuls of piyaju mixture and fry on both sides until brown. Serve plain or with chutney.

Piyaju in image are at top.

Triple Vegetable Dip

I've made this recipe COUNTLESS times. It's always a favorite at the party and is completely wiped out of the bowl. Thank you, Kraft Foods!

Serve with tortilla chips or crackers.

• 1 1/2 to 2 cups grated parmesan cheese (I use 2 cups because I really like parmesan)
• 1 can asparagus spears, chopped
• 1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed (10 oz. size)
• 1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1 container chive and onion cream cheese (8 oz. size)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

I use fat free cream cheese and mayo. Mix 1 1/2 cups paremesan cheese with all the remaining ingredients, place mixture into baking dish. Top with remaining parmesan cheese. Bake at 375 for 35 minutes.

Herb Dip

This is one of Ina Garten's recipes. Use all fat-free items to make it healthier. Mix and serve.

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 8 oz. package of cream cheese
• 4 scallions, chopped finely
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped finely
• 1 Tbsp dill, chopped finely
• 1/4-1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 tsp black pepper

*Do NOT use as much salt as suggested by Ina Garten -- it turns out way too salty that way. I had to keep adding sour cream to drown out the salt.

Tofu Sandwich Spread

I saw this recipe and thought I'd invent my own version. It turned out good enough that I wanted to just eat it with a spoon out of a bowl. Butttt...I'm saving it for my sandwiches because I'm on a health streak!

• Soft tofu
• 1/3 cup of mayo (use low fat or fat free for healthiness)
• Sweet relish
• Spicy brown mustard
• Pinch of garlic powder
• Pinch of cajun powder
• 1 tsp fresh dill
  

Mash and mix. Add/subtract amounts depending on how much you like those particular flavors.

*Edit: This is delicious to use as an appetizer dip for crackers.

Vada

SOOO good. Eat plain or with chutney/achar/tamarind sauce/chili sauce. Eat hot or at room temp.

• 1 cup split yellow peas (similar to chana daal)
  
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 inch fresh ginger, blended/minced/pureed/can't even see it
• 3-4 green chili peppers
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder

Soak split yellow peas in water for 2 hours, drain, blend in blender. Add a little bit of water only if necessary. It should become like a thick batter. Mix in the onion, ginger, peppers, and spices. Drop tablespoons into hot oil and deep fry.

They look similar to, but taste better than the cauliflower fritter/pakoras I tried making.

Potato Soup

Super easy recipe and VERY tasty.

• 6-8 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped
  
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 1-2 stalks of celery (chopped)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 1 can vegetable broth
• salt,pepper
• shredded cheese
  
• spices: garlic powder, basil, oregano, parsley, crushed red pepper, cilantro, etc

Put all the potatoes in a pot and fill with water. Boil in water or broth until potatoes are cooked while adding celery, onion, and spices in whatever proportion you like (depending on what flavors you prefer). Once potatoes are cooked and water has slowly evaporated, add the cream of mushroom soup, wait until soup reaches a thick, creamy consistency. Add a handful of cheese and serve.

Cauliflower Fritters

These turned out so good! They pretty much taste like realllly good vegetable pakoras. So if you're in a Indo-Pak-Bengali mood, you can eat this with some kind of chutney (coriander, green chili, or mint chutney mixed with some yogurt) and if you're in an Oriental mood, you can eat this with some soy sauce mixed with wasabi.

• 1 head cauliflower (4 cups)
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup hot water
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Steam cauliflower, then chop into small pieces. In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, flour, garlic, eggs, grated cheese, parsley, salt and pepper. Add water so that batter becomes slightly more dense than pancake batter. On medium-low heat, add 1 tbsp of oil in a 10 inch skillet coating bottom of the pan. Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to form fritters. You can fit 4 fritters at a time. Cook until golden brown, turn and cook another few minutes. Add a little more oil to the pan, and repeat with the remaining batter.

I used garlic powder instead of whole garlic (1/8 tsp powder = 1 clove), regular all-purpose flour instead of wheat flour, cilantro instead of parsley, and a mix of parmesan and romano instead of JUST romano.