Spicyandhra

One of my nightmares have come true in last couple of weeks.
A hectic weekend ended in chaos, A normal routine to work on a lazy monday morning changed to rushing to the hospital, blood tests, examinations and everything you dread and there I was completely dazed at the pace of things happening to me.
Family not allowed after the visiting hours so Rocky and Noel had to leave me and so there I was suddenly in couple of hrs all by myself and in thumping pain.
I found the whole experience quite overpowering. I always disliked hospitals and its may be b‘coz I was living in that atmosphere throughout my life as dad being a doctor.
And as I am quite a sensitive person, I get effected when I see and hear those distressed stories of why other patients are in there, you really think how fortunate you are.
But anyway I am back to myself now and away from those horrifying week, trying to get back into routine. When you think life is just the way you wanted with less hassle and bustle, yearning for a peace of mind , Swiftly things change in such way that it makes you comprehend what really imperative in anyone’s life.
Sorry to turn you all with my worst nightmare but felt like sharing with friends and that’s what friends are for right? In happy days and in sad days!!
I am taking things slowly so spending a lot less time in the kitchen and making some simple salads to go!!

I made this salad yesterday, a pretty simple chicken salad which can be had on its own or with Mediterranean cous cous which is exactly the way we had.
Nice simple delicious salad which was ready in 10 minutes

Mix all these ingredients and shallow fry them in 1 or 2 tbsp for 10 minutes on medium heat.And add these succulent pieces to Rocket salad, chopped red onions, jalapeño peppers, cucumber and plum tomatoes and serve immediately

Easter was glorious first time ever at this time of the year.
I don’t remember any easter with decent amount of sunshine .

Too many easter events going on and I was more busier then normal school days as i tend to involve in many events as my child likes to be out in the sun and enjoyyy!!
He is such a happy child that i sometimes learn things from him.I love to watch him talk to his dad, help in gardening, cleaning our cars.
He is never indoors when its bright and sunny.
He loves his walks, biking n strolling along the beach with us when its a holiday.
I try to find some local events going on at that time to make him enjoy.
This time we all went to animal rescue centre which was our family dayout for easter.
But the only drawback is i don’t like pets and he and rocky loves them.
Noel keeps on asking for a pet for his birthday, every birthday comes and goes but i am not giving in!
I know i am being mean to them but i know i just can’t stand pets.
So i planned this day out to slowly change my inhibitions i had till now .
May be i won’t be ready for one imme and atleast i am giving it a go and see where this will take me.
I know this is gonna be superb funday for noel at the animal centre.Fingers crossed!!

Coming to my recipe:
I made this healthy pasta salad for our dinner yesterday n it was delicious.
Noel was a bit picky with the size of vegetables, i should have cut them into small pieces but the taste was amazing.

Boil pasta in water and run it under cold water so that they don’t stick together and keep aside.

Take a tablespoon of oil and fry vegetables for a while or until they cooked.

Now add pasta to it and garnish with oregano and parmesan cheese.have it as hot or cold pasta salad.

As we had glorious sun thru out the weekend, i didn’t want to spend time in the kitchen cooking arduous dinners.

Tried this healthy pasta for our lunch and it was very tasty and both my kid and hubby loved it.

I have been thinking a lot about this month’s event Jihva for Tomatoes, organised by RP of My Workshop, as i make so many things with tomatoes but this time i wanted to try something new, different and so nutritional and so here it is:

my entry to JFI: Tomato hosted by Wonderful RP of My Workshop

I have always stuck to my own comfort levels and traditions and was not willingly ready to experiment with things totally unknown or may be I heard a lot about them but never knew what to do with it.
I was going thru my cookbook and suddenly this wonderful white bean and tomato salad caught my eye with this incredible ingredient in it and that’s Anchovies

Many, many recipe use anchovies for a punch of flavour where the anchovies are neither recognizable visually nor by the taste buds. Anchovies are often that secret ingredient that you just can’t put your finger on, the one that really makes the recipe pop as I had them in many wonderful dishes of Italian cuisine.

I geared up myself to endeavour this Salad made with luscious tomatoes and wonderful white beans.

Amazingly, it came out as wonderful as I kept on having couple of spoonfuls before it actually went onto the dining table.
My family were quite apprehensive to see this salad served with a salient fried salmon fillet but they were totally bowled over by so many wonderful ingredients that went into it like rosemary, parmesan cheese and anchovies.

They were so suffused that they hardly noticed whats going on around them .
So I guess that tells a lot about this wonderful salad and my experience in trying something new every week!!!!From now on, it will be one new thing a week which I had never even attempted to discover my cooking skills and going out of my comfort zone and reaching out other wonderful cuisines!!

If you’ve ever grown cherry tomatoes in your garden, you know how wonderfully prolific they can be in summer time. The following salad combines the sweetness of cherry tomatoes with white beans and parsley.

Add the other garlic, anchovies, parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and lemon juice to a food processor. Make it very smooth.
In a medium bowl, gently fold the garlic mixture in with the beans until they are well coated. Let sit for a few minutes for the beans to absorb. Gently mix in the reserved olive oil, tomatoes, and parsley and serve with fish or on its own!!