Showing posts with label Salads. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salads. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Review: The pursuit of 'Happi'ness. Me So Happi, Khar, Mumbai.

I am back, after another hiatus, to apologize about my absence. This time is a little different, 'coz I come bearing good news, especially for the forever hungry people in Mumbai. As I am trying to desperately find balance between my love for food, and leading a healthy and fit lifestyle, I have recently had the opportunity to try some real fun places in our city and as a "foodie" I feel very excited about the change in the food scene, with people open to trying stuff from around the world, stepping out of their dal-chawal-aloo-tikki-chaat-masala zones and opening up to subtler flavours, while taking their palates through a culinary roller coaster.

I could go on about what's hot and what's not, but its for you to decide. What I can tell you is that when I go to a restaurant, review or otherwise, I look for good food (obviously), great service, smiling faces, loud chatter, and a great ambiance. Basically, I look for a good vibe. A vibe that makes me happy- which is what Me So Happi did, it made me happy.



Me So Happi is an all day diner located right next to the Guess showroom on the Linking Road, Khar. You will easily spot the happy writing on their sign board. Walk in and you will be transported to an upbeat ambiance, with large windows, plenty of natural light, and little nothings that meant something to us as kids such as a jar full of Kismi Bar chocolates. I, for one, am not a huge fan of the high chair seating but surprisingly the chairs were very comfortable. What looked like a quaint little place was actually enormous inside, with an outdoor seating area and décor with lots of personality. If you are lucky enough you will spot the owner, Aarathi Arambhan, and the Chef Anirudh taking rounds and interacting with customers and getting feedback all along. Here is what we tried:



Smoothies: We tried the California Smoothie and the Mr.P Nutt Oats Smoothie. It was a surprise to us that this place actually served up smoothies and we were so glad we ordered these! The P Nutt Oats Smoothie is a must try.



Salads: We tried the Caesar Salad which was spot on, the Chicken and Egg Salad was nice too, but I am more of a Caesar Salad girl :)



The Quinoa and Beet salad was excellent and a refreshing change from the normal leafy stuff!



Appetizers: We also tried the Prawns on Fire, which were actually perfectly balanced and fried to crispy awesomeness. I would not say the same about the Baked Potato Skins. Safe to avoid them.



Meat lovers, do yourselves a favour and try the Big Bad Meanie Lamb Burger. I have attached the picture and it needs to explanation. It was juicy and yummy!



Another succulent meaty dish is the Meat On Top, with an amazing gravy topping a bed of mashed potatoes. You will love it, I am sure!



We thought of trying the Cheesecake for dessert but it was out of stock (yes it is that good) so we tried the Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake, which was topped with none other than Magic Pop! This one is an absolute must try!



The Pecan Nut Pie was nice as well, just thought it was a tad eggy for my liking. Will stick to the Mousse Cake or the Cheesecake!

In the end, Me So Happi made We So Happi! :)

P.S. They have recently started a Sunday Breakfast menu that opens at 7 AM and goes on till 11 AM. Cannot wait to try it!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Food Review: Smoke House Deli, Bandra Kurla Complex.


Picture Courtesy : Smoke House Deli


Pharrell William's Happy is doing the rounds almost everywhere on the internet. Its great, everyone is uploading their version of the Happy Song on youtube, so much so that someone has actually uploaded a parody video called 'Crappy'. Crappy makes them Happy. Well, whatever floats their boat!

Happiness for me is simple things. Food, Love, and Laughter. Smoke House Deli has consistently managed to maintain the number 1 spot in all 3 departments for me. It also happens to be my most visited place for a Date night, other than Big Chill in New Delhi, just for the perfect setting and feel-good ambiance along with lip smacking food.

Picture Courtesy: Smoke House Deli


Smoke House Deli has opened their brand new outlet at Bandra Kurla Complex, which happens to cater to mostly clientele who want to grab a quick lunch during their break from office, or who want to chill with a drink after work. Time is the essence to this outlet, in my opinion.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Homemade Hummus (It's healthy but I tried to make it healthier) ♥




I love that I have started eating healthy and the fact that I have to update the blog and also that I can get bored of eating the same stuff daily, makes me want to try out healthy alternatives to the foods I love to eat. Hummus is one of my favorite things, mainly coz it is rich in Manganese and is very very healthy, not to forget extremely tasty. I saw a recipe online the other day and I knew I had to try it. So here it goes :)

Homemade Hummus - The Healthier Version. Recipe from here, and the Tahini recipe is from here if you want to try it out. But I just combined the two. You can also just use store bought Tahini instead. But I'd suggest you try the fresh version. You can also substitute Tahini with 2 tablespoons of Peanut Butter. Makes a huge jar full of Hummus.

Ingredients:

4 cups canned Chickpeas, But I suggest using fresh so 1 cup of raw uncooked Chickpeas.
1 tablespoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Sesame Seeds
1/2 cup Olive Oil (combined for Tahini + Hummus)
2 large cloves of Garlic
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Cumin Seeds (I used my Roasted Cumin Powder)
Salt, Sugar to taste
Parsley
A sprinkle of Paprika or Cayenne Pepper Powder.


Method:

Soak the Chickpeas in water overnight with 1/2 tablespoon Baking Soda. In the morning, change the water and let them soak for 5 more hours. Changing the water frequently actually makes you less gassy as per the recipe. Then cook them for 90 minutes on medium low with the rest of the Baking Powder and water, till they become soft enough that they mash up when you press them between your fingers. If you're using canned Chickpeas, you just need to get to the boiling part directly. I actually pressure cooked my Chickpeas for 10 minutes on high and they were pretty much done.
By this time, the skins of the Chickpeas were floating on top of the water and some of them were resting above the Chickpeas in the water. You need to remove them, if you can. No pressure here. But do make sure that you thoroughly wash them, even if they are mushy, coz you do not want to feel gassy later. Before you wash them, save 1 cup of the boiling water for back up. You need to get rid of all the froth and scum from the Chickpeas.

While my Chickpeas were in the pressure cooker, I just quickly dry roasted the Sesame seeds. Now you need to miss this paragraph if you already have Tahini at home, or are using Peanut Butter instead. But Tahini is basically just dry roasted Sesame Seeds blended with Olive Oil till they become a soft pourable paste. So I let the dry roasted Sesame Seeds cool a bit.
Next, in a blender I blended together the Sesame seeds (not to be used if you are using Tahini/Peanut Butter, in which case you just add the 2 tablespoons of Tahini/Peanut Butter instead of the Sesame Seeds), Garlic, Cumin, Lemon, Salt, Sugar (Optional) and threw in some Chickpeas too, and added some oil. Blended them really fine into a paste, and repeated it for all the Chickpeas and consumed the whole 1/2 cup of Olive Oil stage by stage. If you have a big enough blender though, just throw everything together and blitz. You need to have a consistency little bit thinner than what you desire, and if it gets too thick, feel free to add the cooking water from Chickpeas at this stage. Voila! You're done. This Hummus is amazingly light and delicious, decorate it with a good drizzle of Olive Oil and sprinkle Cayenne Pepper on top. Sprinkle chopped Parsley too, but I did not have it at the moment so I just decorated it with a tiny sprig of Cilantro/Coriander.
It stores quite well! Use it as a dip with your Pita Bread, or in a Chicken Salad, or as a dip with vegetables which is my favorite way to consume them these days. Dipped in Hummus! I really recommend this recipe!

Friday, January 14, 2011

What I had for Lunch Today...


I am majorly a craving person. There is no stopping me when I crave a certain food. Today was one such day. The good part is that it was not a weird craving, and easily accessible. Curry Noodles. And anything with an added Sunny Side Up, just makes things exponentially better. And this salad I have been wanting to try forever. Today was a good day, foodwise :)

I made a Salad to go with it, was waiting to try out a Brown Sugar Vinaigrette. It was really nice and fresh!

Garden Salad with Brown Sugar Vinaigrette
Recipe by self, experimenting!
Vinaigrette enough for a huge bowl of salad.

Ingredients:

For the Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons Brown Sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon
1 teaspoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon English Mustard
A dash (1 tablespoon) of Soya Sauce
Half a cup Orange Juice
Zest one 1 orange (Optional)

For the Salad:

Your Favorite Veggies
(I used Red Cabbage, Green Cabbage, Bell Peppers)
A handful of Walnuts
2 teaspoons of Flax Seeds (Or Flax Seed Powder)
1 Apple chopped to bite size pieces

Method:

Rub your chopped Apples with Lemon Juice to prevent them from going dark. Mix all the ingredients for the Vinaigrette and drizzle over the bowl of the colorful salad. Enjoy!
You could also grill the apples slightly for variation!

I had my Salad along with Curried Ramen Noodles topped with a Sunny Side Up!

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