When I meet new people and they learn about my blog (or at least my love for cooking), the first question is always “What’s your favorite thing to cook?” The answer is – I like cooking everything! Of course the focus is mostly on healthy meals, but I don’t limit myself to any particular ethnic angle. I feel like if I did that, I’d be missing out on so much deliciousness that’s out there. Variety is the spice of life, as they say!

So the second question is 9/10 is this (seriously, almost every time!): “Do you know how to cook Indian food?” And this is where I must confess my limitations. I love love love Indian food, especially the non-traditional dishes the likes of chicken tikka masala (I’m sorry, I know people in India don’t eat it but it still tastes like Indian food to me and that creamy/nutty tomato sauce it comes with just can’t be beat. It’s the best!!). But I haven’t been able to replicate the stuff to save my life. I follow recipes, often highly rated recipes claiming to have restaurant-quality taste, and they still fall flat every.single.time.

The other day, I was browsing through my blog archives and found this old post on pork vindaloo that got rave reviews from me and Adam. I thought, hey – maybe I can cook Indian food after all! This also happened to be a super quick dish so I was excited to give it a go again and hopefully also make it a little more appetizing to look at. The end result was this:

1. It was very easy to make.

2. This dish is hard to photograph but the pictures are definitely an improvement over my previous set.

3. It tasted just ok. I guess my standards have gotten higher. I will not be making this dish again. The search for a great Indian recipe continues!!

The bright spot of dinner were these DAHlicious Lassis sent to me by the company for review. Just in case you are unfamiliar with lassis – they are Indian yogurt based drinks. They are creamy and sweet – sort of like smoothies you enjoy with your dinner. Since a lot of Indian food is quite spicy, they add a nice cooling effect too. I enjoy them on occasion when out (although to be honest, they are typically quite indulgent and sweet and I usually don’t like to drink my calories).

DAHlicious Lassis are made with low fat Indian yogurt, made with milk from grass-fed cows (LOVE), are 100% natural and only lightly sweetened. When reading the labels, I also noticed that the banana flavor doesn’t even have any added sugar. Way to take advantage of banana’s natural sweetness. Very cool!

Here is what these pretties look like in a glass:

Again, love the color! The flavors offered are mango, vanilla, blueberry, strawberry and banana. Adam and I had a little taste test with dinner and honestly enjoyed every one. The creamy, slightly tangy taste of yogurt really comes through in every flavor. My favorites were vanilla (most yogurt-centric in flavor), banana – which had the perfect balance of yogurt and banana flavor (my favorite of the bunch, I think!! Also, this one gets bonus points for not having any added sugar), and blueberry – which has a much more berry forward flavor (most smoothie-like and Adam’s favorite too). The strawberry seemed to be just too mild at first but upon a second taste (since it was one of Adam’s favorites), I sort of enjoyed its subtlety. The mango seemed to the exact opposite – completely overpowering, ranking the least favorite of all.

So there you have it! I think these babies would make for a great on-the-go “snack” too, and they sure are tasty.

Would you like a chance to win some? One lucky Healthy and Sane reader will win 5 coupons for free DAHlicious lassis – so you can taste each flavor too and pick your own favorite (they are sold at Whole Foods and various independent retailers across the country)!

Here are the rules: there are plenty of ways to enter.

1) Leave a comment on this post – Tell me anything Indian related. And I will love you forever if you direct me to a great Indian recipe!

2) Follow me on Twitter and tweet about this giveaway (a link to this post must be included to qualify)

3) Pin this post on Pinterest

4) Subscribe to Healthy and Sane by email

5) Like Healthy and Sane on Facebook.

6) Link to this post on your Facebook page.

7) Add Healthy and Sane to your blogroll.

8 ) Link to this post on your blog, if you have one. If you don’t, let someone else know about this giveaway and tell me so in the comments section after they’ve entered the giveaway.

Please leave a separate comment on this post for each qualifying entry. This giveaway is open to US residents only (sorry!) and ends at midnight on Wed, February 8. I will randomly choose 1 winner using random.org and announce him/her the following day. Good luck!

I know that January is a month of healthier resolutions. We’ve all used the excuse of the holidays to indulge in too many desserts, cheese and wine (You did, right? Don’t leave me here confessing to sins all on my own). The beginning of a new year is a good time to reassess what worked and didn’t the year before, to get a bit of a kick to recommit to old goals or start fresh with a “clean slate.” It’s like the ultimate “Monday.” I dig it.

And while I’m not really into New Year’s resolutions (at least not this year) in recent weeks my fire for healthy cooking and exercise has been reignited. And I’m hoping the newness of the year will keep it up. Even on days when “there is nothing in the fridge,” I keep at it. Last night the digging turned up a crazy delicious pasta dish, created from pantry staples and a few random bits in the fridge. I have an archive of recipes to share with you, but this one wins today. 

Pantry staples (and a few random bits) pasta

Adopted from the Eating Well cookbook, serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8oz dry whole wheat pasta
• 4 slices bacon
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 cups spinach
• 15-oz can of diced tomatoes with chiles
• Two 15-oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed.
• 1/4 cup chopped kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 2T finely shredded pecorino cheese

Directions:

• Boil pasta according to instructions on package
• Fry bacon and blot on paper towels (reserve bacon grease).
• Heat 1T of reserved bacon grease on medium heat, add garlic.
• When garlic is golden brown, add cannellini beans, basil, spinach, diced tomatoes, olives and grape tomatoes and stir.
• When the spinach has wilted, add cooked pasta, crumbled bacon and pecorino cheese.
• Taste for seasonings (a little more salt or pepper may be needed) and enjoy.

This was so quick and easy and the flavor blew us away. I love the smokiness of the bacon, the saltiness of the olives and the slight heat from the chiles in the tomatoes (if you just have diced tomatoes and want a bit of heat, add a sprinkle of hot pepper flakes). I’m adding the recipe to my favorites list!

Here is to keeping at it. Always. And eating delicious and healthy meals!

What do you make on nearly bare-fridge days? You can say make a phone call for delivery

So let’s talk about eating out. While I really love the whole process of preparing meals at home, from the menu planning to grocery shopping to cooking and finally eating my creation (best part when I see someone else enjoy my food as much as I do!), going out to eat is still one of my favorite ways to spend time with Adam, friends and family. Similarly to cooking at home, I love the whole process of searching for the perfect spot for the occasion, the anticipation of a great night out, then dressing up and finally experiencing the whole event. It is an event, isn’t it? From the atmosphere of the restaurant, to service to the wonderful food shared with lots of wine and laughs – there is so much to experience! There are nights and dishes I remember for years. They are special to me. Most of them I’d never dream of recreating but once in a while I eat something simple yet perfect and I vow to try creating a little restaurant meal right in my own home.

This is one of such meals.

This dinner was inspired by our favorite dishes from a spanish tapas restaurant, Jaleo, on our trip to Washington DC over the summer. The place was recommended to me by several readers and twitter friends, so one random day, we decided to rest our feet and have a glass of sangria with a few apps at the bar. There was no planning – it was a spur of the moment decision when we stumbled upon the place. I think because we had no expectations, it was especially surprising how much we enjoyed the few bites we had that first visit. So much that we had to go back 2 days later and have a whole meal!

Although every single thing at Jaleo was fantastic, hands down are two favorites were pan de recapte con anchoa (traditional Catalan bread with peppers, tomatoes and salt-cured Spanish anchovies) and gambas al ajillo (the very famous tapa of shrimp sautéed with garlic). These are my versions of these dishes.

For the play on pan de recapte con anchoa, I actually started with my mom’s recipes for perzzi (roasted peppers) and sinii (eggplant/tomato spread) and layered them over fresh slices of baguette, topped with garlic-marinated anchovies. I find the salt anchovies to be very pungent. They are fantastic melted into sauces or whipped into dressings, but I prefer the marinated kind when eaten “straight up.” The anchovies seem to mellow out as the vinegar breaks down some of that intense fishiness.

Aren’t these gorgeous? They were delicious

Next up, I followed America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for Spanish-style garlic shrimp. I love how garlic is used in three different ways in this recipe (to marinate the shrimp, infuse the olive oil and finally to cook with shrimp). I used a dried habanero (much spicier than the cascabel chile that’s traditional) so my shrimp also had a bit of a kick. We like it spicy in these parts

This turned out fantastic! It was hard to not soak up every morsel of that garlicky spicy oil with baguette slices. So simple yet so perfect. I think it would be a fun dish to serve to company too with everyone just digging in straight into the skillet.

Simple roasted cauliflower to lighten up the fare:

Are you a tapas fan? Do you ever recreate restaurant dishes at home?

Next up: I’m getting crafty with my super awesome food art project. Can’t wait to share it with you!!

So let’s get back to food, shall we? Actually I sort of wanted to talk about kitchen gadgets. Gimmicky kitchen gadgets. Do you own any? I’m talking about silly things like Slap Chops (I own one! It’s collecting dust.), avocado slicers,  mango splitters and the like. Basically anything that a good ol’ knife would do FASTER. And then there is a whole new level of ridiculousness with the likes of egg poacher + english muffin toaster combo, andmarinade express tabletop unit(it’s $300!!). The good news is that some gadgets are AWESOME… even if you can in fact use something simpler to get the job done.

You are going to laugh at me but I love my strawberry stem remover. Yes, I can use a knife but it’s honestly so much fun using that little guy (and no, I will not be buying the strawberry slicerthat Amazon recommends with it… I do have my limits). And I recently purchased this cupcake corer. It looks gimmicky but I hate doing the job with a pairing knife. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Why am I even talking about kitchen gadgets anyway? Because the shredder attachment to my food processor rocked my world the other day. I sort of want to shred every single food item in the house now just to watch this beast process it into perfect little strips. Three pounds of potatoes processed in less than 1 minute. Box graters are so last year!

The recipe I used my favorite new gadget for was for kugelis, which is a Lithuanian potato dish reminiscent of a large hash brown cake. It took a little work (I wish those potatoes peeled themselves!) but the end result was a beautiful potato bake with a golden crust on the outside and tender potato on the inside. Adam and I both enjoyed it for our “restaurant meal in” (our new thing since our going out budget is tighter… there are no tvs, no computers, just the two of us enjoying a more indulgent meal together – catching up on random stories from the week)… but this would be a great dish to serve for brunch as well. I hope you make it and let me know how it goes!

Kugelis – serves 6-8 (recipe is largely based on the Please to the Table cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs potatoes
• 4 oz bacon
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup cream
• 1/2 cup milk (if you want a richer dish, use all cream)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375*.

2. Fry bacon in an oven safe 10” skillet. Pour out most of the bacon grease, leaving enough to coat the pan. Blot bacon on paper towels then crumble.

3. Peel potatoes, coarsely grate.

This is where the food processor is your friend!

4. Wash grated potatoes in several changes of cold water, then place in a kitchen towel to squeeze water out.

Nice and dry! Watery potatoes are no good.

5. Combine potatoes, bacon, milk, cream, and eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Transfer back to the pan and dot with butter.

6. Bake at 375* for about 1 hour, until the top is golden brown.

Crusty on the inside…

…soft and buttery on the inside:

These potatoes were definitely the star of our steak dinner. I also used these Green Giant green beans for a super quick side veg (*Disclaimer: I received a coupon for a free Green Giant product through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program).

Quick steam:

Then a 2 minute sautee with some EVOO and garlic.

Perfect

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets?

Anyways, I’m cool now and I want to tell you about the dinner I cooked for my dad’s birthday last weekend (sticking to my 30 by 30 list and hosting dinner parties left and right. haha)! His birthday happens to be on my wedding anniversary. Adam and I celebrated the night, just the 2 of us, but I had plans to make it up to my dad soon enough.

When hosting a dinner party do you pick a theme or just go with delicious recipes?

I wanted to make sure this was really really delicious so for my main course I chose a recipe I’ve made (and loved!) before – chicken thighs on the grill (btw, I always tag my favorite recipes so you can find them easily… on the right hand side).

Next up were these lovely ravioli with prosciutto, sundried tomatoes, basil and mozzarella in Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef cookbook. The pictures have been enticing me for weeks and a special birthday dinner seemed like the right time to break out my pasta roller! [PS – you can find the entire recipe on this blog]

Seriously, such cuties!

It appears that I had an Italian theme developing so I went with it! Doesn’t strawberry ricotta cake sound kind of Italian? [If you say ricottttte like Giada, it definitely will ]

OH YEAH!

Add a few Russian cheesy profiterole-like puffs (recipe coming to Russian Bites next)…

Some green beans with wild mushrooms…

And we have dinner!!

My mom was a giant help with executing the menu. I got a little ambitious planning this… happens every time!

I was hoping this would turn into delicious comfort food, fit for a hole in the wall restaurant. I don’t know if I hit the bar quite that high (I’m pretty critical of my own cooking) but every single item turned out absolutely delicious… I can tell you that!

Happy birthday, dad!!

[Ha, he was trying to make a funny face when I pulled out the camera… I say that worked!]

Hope your dreams all come true!

The angel food cake meets Italian grandmother was so light and the perfect ending to our Italian feast. Adam asked that I add it to our rotation of desserts (which means I should start a rotation of desserts! Yessss). I’m adding more strawberries between each layer next time!

Have you entertained recently? Do you have go-to items for dinner parties?

I’m going to pat myself on the back for picking the things I did to include on my “to-make” list because these are all kind of basic (almost staples… well maybe not marshmallows) that I’ve purchased numerous times pre-packaged yet had absolutely no clue about what goes in to them or how they become what they do.

Take gnocchi for example. I knew they were made of potatoes. Sometimes I’ve seen the whole wheat variety sold, sometimes the “fancy” sweet potato kind. But what else is in those babies… and how do potatoes (and flour? seriously I had no idea) turn into pillows of goodness? I needed to know… and well, now I do

All right, in case you have been wondering how gnocchi actually becomes gnocchi, here is how it went down for me. Upon Beth’s recommendation, I used Heidi’s recipe for how to make gnocchi like an Italian grandmother (who wouldn’t want that?!!)

All gnocchi is is potatoes, flour and eggs. It never seizes to amaze me how delicious and inspired things are created out of almost nothing. This is all you need to make gnocchi!!

Boil potatoes…

Peel those babies…

… and run them through a ricer (easiest for smooth mashed potatoes).

[Yes I bought a ricer just to make gnocchi and I am happy with that decision. A ricer is pretty cool.]

Nice and fluffy!

Work in egg and flour!

Kneed lightly

Mine came together quite easily without a lot of flour. I guess the gnocchi gods were smiling at me that day.

Mmm, gnocchi dough

Once I cut these up, I realized they were quite tender inside… so I tossed them in extra flour before shaping.

Mine didn’t look as perfect as Heidi’s… but I’m not really into perfection these days

Why hello. You look like real gnocchi. Nice to meet you

SO, this is where I think I made a small mistake. I wasn’t ready for dinner quite yet so I covered this pan with a towel and went on to do some errands around the house for maybe an hour. Then I went to boil them!

They were really gooey when I went to pick them up. Really gooey. I’m guessing it was too hot in my apartment so they kind of melted. I think I should have put them in the fridge if I wasn’t going to cook them right away.

A few minutes of boiling produced very light and pillowy gnocchi though. I think we have a winner on our hands!!

In the meantime, I fried some pancetta and grape tomatoes and once they were all ready, added the boiled gnocchi to the pan to give them a quick sear. Some garlic scape pesto to finish and dinner was ready!

Wow, guys. Just wow. I have never had lighter gnocchi in my life! These were just so airy… so delicate. This meal was ridiculous. Seriously. I can’t wait to do this again. Like tomorrow!

Have you ever made gnocchi?

Adam planted some flowers in our patio…

Groceries for the week were purchased.

We broke out the grill for the first time this year!

Dinner was chicken thighs with snap peas from Mario Batali’s Italian Grill cookbook.

OMG, so amazing!! The freshly made bread crumbs flavored with garlic, parsley and anchovies coating super tender chicken thighs… mmm, definitely going on the favorite recipes list. Comfort food fit for summer!

Welcome back summer weather! You’re making me very happy. I hope you plan on staying for a while

This week, however, I was on a mission to finally make things that have been on my to-make list for AGES. I bought the ingredients weeks ago and this week was the week!!! Wanna see what I’ve been up to in my kitchen? Come, come!!

Jen posted about these salmon burgers last August during her burger week and raved about them. I love smoked salmon and thought it was such a fun addition to the mix.

Unfortunately wild salmon is very lean and I overcooked these. They tasted like dry smoked salmon patties – the sauce was the only saving grace. I mixed greek yogurt with sriracha and diced grape tomatoes. They added some spice and freshness.

The next night I wanted to make something with goat cheese. I cooked some ww pasta, sauteed mushrooms and spinach, threw in some leftover lamb sausage and then topped it all with creamy sundried tomato and goat cheese sauce.

I was a bit disappointed with how thin the sauce turned out… but it ended up thickening significantly as it cooled.

Adam actually said this was one of the best things I’ve made in a while! After a few bites I was hooked too – creamy and slightly tangy, with a pronounced sun-dried tomato flavor and just a hint of nuttiness from walnuts.

Btw, I only used 2-3T of sun-dried tomato olive oil (from the jar the tomatoes were in) instead of 7. This was plenty rich as is!

Next up, a craving hit. I NEEDED cheesecake asap. Although I live across the street from the Cheesecake Factory, I stay away from their 1,000+ calorie slices.

Instead, I went with an old (healthier!) favorite – honey yogurt cheesecake bars (ick, my photos have improved over the years, huh?).

I did have some meyer lemons so meyer lemon cheesecake bars were born (I added a bunch of juice and zest and subbed agave nectar for honey to let the lemon flavor stand out).

Can you see how light these are? They taste decadent but also very airy unlike the more traditional dense cheesecakes. I really love this recipe!

Agave isn’t as sweet as honey so these weren’t sweet enough for my liking (and the meyer lemon flavor was still lost) so I drizzled some maple syrup over the bars once cooled. I guess they ended up being maple syrup cheesecake bars!

Whatever you call them, these were delicious! How would you make the lemon flavor be more pronounced? I was afraid about too much liquid if I continued to add lemon juice….

Last recipe! I told you I was busy in the kitchen this week!!! GRANOLA.

While most of you (from what I read ) seem to be obsessed with cereal and granola and need a lock on your cupboards, I’m much more of a trailmix/nut/cookie girl. Cereal, as delicious as it is, isn’t a “trigger” food for me.

That was apparently because I’ve never made homemade granola – totally different ball game! I made Flour Bakery‘s granola last month and was amazed at how much I loved it. In fact, I ate a whole container-worth in just a matter of a few days… and it was supposed to be “for Adam.”

So this week I tried again. I followed NY Times’ recipe for olive oil granola (found through Tri to Cook).

I thought you could just throw everything in and bake, but I learned a lesson here. Yeah, someone didn’t read the instructions well! Add the dried fruit at the end - my beautifully sweet dried apricots turned into rocks!!! No worries, I picked them out and carried on with my newly established granola obsession.

Adam said it was the best granola he’s ever had!! I actually can’t choose between this one and Flour’s – both are fantastic. A little salty, crunchy, nutty. Yeah, I’m going to be honest – this granola has been enjoyed more often than not, straight out of the jar. And I’m ok with it

If you meal plan, how often do you deviate from the plan? I was so proud for following through because there is not much better than a delicious homemade meal.

On next week’s agenda – take ice cream and granola bars off the list. I hope to report back next week with some pictures for evidence

With that said, I always thought it was a little too advanced for me… until one day Shannon had me and Kerstin over for a little ravioli making fun (ok, that first picture of me is embracing. I think I’m going to have to pre-approve all future pictures of me in the blogosphere ).

We made the most delicious butternut squash/mascarpone ravioli and that’s when I realized that with the right tools, homemade ravioli is actually quite easy! I added the KitchenAid pasta roller attachment to my wishlist that very night and was very happy when Adam purchased it for me for Christmas! He’s a good husband!

Well, over 3 months later I finally made my very first batch of ravioli at home! Shannon was coming over to hang out so I put her to work as well. It really is easy – I’ll show you!

We made pasta dough out of 150g Italian 00 flour, 50g white whole wheat, 2 eggs and a pinch of salt. You start by making a little well for the eggs (see above), and gently incorporating the eggs into the flour – one at a time.

With a bit of muscle (and a bit of water, if needed) these few simple ingredients become pasta dough!

Divide into little pieces, and cover under a damp (not wet!) towel.

Roll each ball into a disk, and then it’s time to use your fancy equipment! There is a knob on the right of the attachment – start with 1 (thickest) and work your way up to the thickness (or should I say thinness?) of preference (with a bit of trial and error, we learned that “5” was perfect for ravioli).

With each round, the pasta sheet becomes thinner and longer!

Whoa!

Fold into thirds (or more) and repeat 2 or 3 more times (again, starting with 1… going up to 5). This will result in a smoother texture of pasta.

Ready to turn those pasta sheets into ravioli?

We made 2 different fillings – mashed potato and mushroom (Russian inspired) and shrimp, sundried tomato & feta. Both were fantastic!!

I had this “fancy” ravioli mold which produced very pretty ravioli but was a pain! Here is what the process looked like – you could also just free style it (you’ll see below we switched to that method after a while).

Don’t these look professional? We were very proud!

Repeat with the shrimp filling.

This pasta sheet was done at a “6” thickness – it was too thin to hold the shape together. See what happened? No bueno.

Btw, if you have any extra dough after shaping your ravioli, you can combine all your scraps and run them through the machine again – you may just have another batch there!

Fresh pasta cooks very quickly. These were ready in 2-3 minutes in boiling water.

Here are the free-styled ones (we sauteed them in a bit of EVOO, balsamic vinegar and chopped basil). So yum!

It took a bit more effort and love but the results were well worth it. I can’t wait to continue experimenting with different pasta dough recipes and fillings.

Have you ever made ravioli from scratch? What fillings should I try next?

I actually had plans to make this curried chickpeas and broccoli dish but when I saw this Seeds of Change tikka masala sauce in my pantry as I reached for the chickpeas, I decided to make dinner even simpler. What could be easier than 3 ingredients with a little premade help?

I browned the chickpeas a bit, then threw broccoli pieces and the sauce into the pan to simmer.

Red quinoa was cooking on the burner next to it and everything was ready in 10 minutes.

[Sorry for the picture, the steam coming off the curry was making everything blurry!]

I loved that someone else took the time to let the flavors develop and all I had to do was dump the sauce over some protein and veggies and 10 minutes later a real meal was ready! Unfortunately this particular sauce had so many onion chunks I was completely appalled – I dug them out like a little kid between bites, which did not make for a pleasurable dinner experience and actually ruined my mood. The search for the perfect tikka masala sauce continues!

Next time I’m in no mood to cook, I would love to turn to some premade “shortcuts” for a semi-homemade dinner. Do you have any favorites? While I always prefer homemade, convenience sometimes wins. I often turn to bottled salad dressings, packaged granola bars, etc.

Oh, and if there is jarred sauce you know of or you have a tikka masala recipe that tastes like the real thing at restaurants, I’d love to hear about it! It’s my favorite!!

For more from me, check out my post on kotleti over at Russian Bites.