Fizzy Raspberry Lemon Cooler

When God gives you lemons, don't just make lemonade. Get on your feet and go hunting for raspberries. Oh and yes, on your way back make a pit-stop at the grocery store and pick up a bottle of lemon-y soda/Seltzer water. What next? Oh come on, make yourself this fizzy raspberry lemon cooler, kick up your feet and chill on your patio.

Would you believe where I got the inspiration to make this drink? The radio! Hum Desi radio, a popular radio station that caters to Indians in the US has show where they give out recipes. How cool is that? I happened to listen to a portion of this recipe just before I pulled up at the parking lot to pick up my son after his school. I just built upon whatever I heard and came up with this super cool beverage. You just gotta try it!

Sugar Glazed Banana Walnut Muffins

I hate to waste food. It is of course not something anybody would like doing. Especially when it comes to fruit, I hate to see myself throw away rotten fruit when I know I could have eaten it in the raw - What more can a lazy person ask for? No cutting, no chopping. Just wash and eat. Well, so much for natures such gifts, we always end up in situations where we have foods reaching the peak of their flavour and sometimes we just don't know what to do with the same. This happens most of the time, in our house, with bananas. We eat a couple, then they go over-ripe and then into the garbage pail. But, this slowly changed ever since I discovered the recipe for Banana Bread over a couple years ago. Not that I'd bake this every time we had over-ripe bananas, but its just such a wonderful way to use up fruit than to throw it away.

This time around I decided to twist the Banana Bread recipe to the muffin version. I even decided on adding walnuts since they perfectly compliment banana muffins. And, of course I topped it all off with a sugar glaze. One bite into this fella and you know you ain't sharing him with anybody!

Kiddie Fruit and Veggie Raita

They say parenting is all about being selfless and getting priceless rewards. In the process of being an incarnation of all these qualities, we end up emptying gallon after gallon of patience. I might sound like a horrible mother saying so, but I would say you must be blessed and lucky if your toddler gobbles down everything you stash on her plate - Veggies and fruit, included!

My sonny boy S is not a fussy eater really (knock on wood!), but just like all you mom's out there I like to go an extra step to make sure he gets his daily dose of fruit and veggies. So, to balance out the patience and nutrition equation I decided why not throw in almost everything I had on hand into his snack bowl with some whole milk yogurt and some chaat masala? Makes for a great side at lunch/dinner time or wonderful simply as a snack! (Talk about getting in that much needed calcium)The crispy texture of the fruit and veggies combined with the smooth notes rendered by the yogurt can tickle even the picky-est of tastebuds for sure.

Make this once and do NOT lie to me about the number of spoons you shoved down your throat before you passed the bowl over to your little one!

Strawberry Shrikhand

This summer saw a lot of mangoes enter our home. Crate after crate, one after the other! And, there's almost no guessing who downed a major portion of the fruit. I ate mangoes as a part of breakfast, lunch, at snack-time, dinner, dessert, cooked, in-the-raw...and just every time I caught the tantalizing aroma of them ripening on my countertop. So, quite obviously bidding adieu to the king of fruit was'nt an easy task.

The one dish that we prepare at home without amiss every summer is Mango Shrikhand or Aamrakhand. This is a wonderful combination of mango puree and sweetened hung yogurt, blended with aromatic spices, saffron and pistachio. It find's its roots in the Indian state of Maharashtra, where this mouth-watering sweet treat is served mostly with puris (puffed-up, deep fried whole wheat dough circles).

As mangoes seem to be slowly vanishing from market stands, I decided to twist things up a bit and make the same dish using the fruit that was still in season - Strawberries! Of course, I skipped the spices and other additions because the berries and their seeds passed on enough flavouring and texture to the hung yogurt all by themselves. Try it out and you will know what I mean.

Oh and yes, I decided to take this to a whole new level with a simple change in the basic recipe. Read up to know more!

Chunky Mango Salsa

There is almost nothing as seductive as the aroma of mangoes ripening on your kitchen counter-top. So inviting, that I could never complete my cooking without my arms involuntarily reaching out to one, to gorge it down as I worked. This year since my little one ate it for the first time, and took a liking for it (tell me one person on earth who does not like mangoes, anyway!) we ended buying them more often than before. And, with temperatures soaring sky high, we almost never have a meal without something to cool us down - a salad, raita or just a simple fruit at the end of a hot day. Now, who would think of any other fruit when you have mangoes on hand, eh? But, how about mangoes and cucumbers? One sweet, one cool and crunchy...And, how about some onions in the mix? And a couple of spices may be? My imagination was running wild and my salivary glads were working over-time just at the thought of it all. Call it a salad, salsa or a dip this chunky fella is going to stay on your summer to-do lists for a long time!

I know this is probably the worst click I've ever shot (not like my others are too good or anything!), but this what what was left-over after the entire dish was devoured by my family. So, churn this one up real quick and save some up for yourself in a place where no one else would ever find it!

Ingredients
1 Mango - Washed and diced
1/2 Cucumber - Washed and diced (Peel them if you do not like the skin. We like ours with it on.)
1/2 Medium Red Onion - Chopped
1/2 Green Bell Pepper/Capsicum - Washed and Diced (Feel free to add any other colour peppers too, like what Pallavi has suggested [see comments])
1/2 tsp Red chillie powder (Add more if you desire!)
1 tbsp Lemon juice
And, of course, some salt to taste! (Dont add too much here)

Method
- In a large bowl, mix together the lemon juice, red chillie powder and salt
- Add the cucumber, mango and red onion and stir
- Serve chilled

If you want to make it ahead of time, save adding the salt and chillie powder for the last minute.

SERVES 3

Strawberry Lemonade To Celebrate The First Year!

Time flies! Yes, that is probably the most under-rated statment made by everyone at least once in their lifetime..but it is true. I cannot believe it is one year since I started blogging out here on Some Salt To Taste. One year since I decided that I too could provide my two cents to the already brimming-with-talent food blogosphere. So, here is thanking each and every one of you who have been avid readers of all that I put down here...and to those of you who continue to inspire me with your work!

And, this time around I decided that I will celebrate it by sharing with you all a newly discovered summer favourite. We happened to chance on this drink at an American restautant not too long ago...and it is everything the word 'yum' can describe! Soothing and satisfying, perfect for the upcoming hot summer days - Here's presenting the Strawberry Lemonade!

Oh and yes, Cheers to Some Salt To Taste!

This recipe is courtesy Food Network. I did a lot of research online and I found this (One of Emeril Lagasse's recipes on the Food Network's website). He has included sparkling water in his original recipe, which is how I had mine at the restaurant. I made it without the same since I did not have any on hand. Try out both versions and see which suits your taste buds! Either ways its a great drink.

Ingredients

A dozen strawberries, Washed and hulled

Juice of a medium sized lemon (or about 4 tbsp)

2tsp - Lemon zest

4-6 tbsp Sugar (adjust if you need more sweetness)

5 Cups Water

Mint leaves and lemon slices, to garnish

Method

- Set water to boil in a large saucepan

- Once it bubbles, add sugar and allow to boil until the sugar melts

- Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and take off from the heat 

- Allow it to come to room temperature

- Strain into a large pitcher

- Now, puree the strawberries and add this to the completely cooled 'lemony' water and stir

- Place in refrigerator until chill

- When you are ready to serve, fill glasses with ice and pour strawberry lemonade over them. Garnish with mint leaves and a slice of lemon

I made this and stored it in my fridge for about a week. I had a refreshing glass every day! So I would say this makes around 5 to 8 glasses of strawberry lemonade depending on how much ice you add.

Am sending this glass over to Radhika Subramanian's Fun N Sun event. 

Chill. Enjoy!

Sunset Slush

I originally wanted to call this one Strawberry Slush on Orange Rocks. But, by the time I assembled it and took this picture, it all began steadily melting and reminded me of a beautiful sunset lending golden hues to the earth. If you are beginning to think I am outta my mind whipping up slushes when the weather-man is still predicting snow... hang tight! I made this for my friend Madhuri who is hosting the 'Serve Me Some....Juices, Shakes, Smoothies' event on her blog. She happens to be located in Bangalore, my hometown, where people are apparently perspiring buckets already - And, summer has just begun! This one is to cool off all my Bengaluru Jana!

And Madhuri, this one is for you too! It's a edible drink - In the sense that you start off eating the icy strawberry slush and as it melts you begin drinking it. How cool is that? And, its simply perfect to end a long, tiring day. Make sure you have someone do the prep work (It's a breeze, trust me) at home after you head off to work to enjoy your cold treat when you return at dusk. Hmmmm...Another good reason to call it the Sunset Slush. Go on and try it.. for this one is no great 'shakes'!

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Orange Juice (You can opt to make fresh juice using fruit. I used Tropicana)
3-4 Fresh Strawberries
1 tsp Sugar (Optional/Replace with honey, if you want sweetness sans the sugar)

Method
- Pour the Orange Juice in a freezer safe dish and freeze
- Blend the strawberries and sugar/honey, with very little water (just enough to cover it in the blender) to a smooth paste/pulp
- Pour this in another freezer safe dish and freeze too
- Every hour just scrape the contents of the strawberry pulp bowl every one hour to make it 'slushy'
- After about 4 hours you should have a pretty frozen slushy strawberry pulp
- When you are ready to drink (or eat!) your slush, assemble as below:
a) Crush the frozen orange juice and place at the bottom of your glass
b) Add some water to make the strawberry pulp tad bit fluid, but not too much, and pour over the orange 'rocks'
c) Dress it up with funky shaped ice cubes and strawberries and your Sunset Slush is ready!!

The above method is a bit long drawn and is applicable if you DO NOT have the Ice Crush option on your blender/mixer. If you do then you can opt to go on adding ice cubes to the strawberry pulp in the mixer for an instant slush. All you will need to do is freeze the orange juice to make things rock!

SERVES 1 (You can actually split it with a friend, too!)

Apple Cake

I happened to share the picture of this cake with my friends on a social networking site....and guess what, so many of them wanted the recipe. So here it is! Enjoy!!

Ingredients

1.5 Cups All purpose flour

1 cup Sugar

1/2 Cup Butter (Unsalted and at room temperature)

2 Eggs, beaten well

1.5 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 Cup Milk

2 Apples ( Washed, peeled and cored)

And just a pinch of salt

For Decoration

1Box of Whipped Frosting

Dried fruits (Ive used Apricots, Raisins and Almonds)

Cinnamon Powder (for dusting)

Method

- Preheat oven to 350F

- Grease and flour the baking dish and set aside
- Cream together the sugar and butter. Now add the eggs and mix well to form a smooth paste

- Combine the flour, baking soda and salt and set aside

- Mix the butter mixture and four and add milk and stir to make a batter of very smooth consistency. The more you blend in the better.

- Grate apples and add to this batter

- Pour onto baking dish and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

from the center of the dish.

- Allow to cool

- Once cool flip onto a large plate and add frosting and decorate as desired with dry fruits

SERVES 12

Rich Banana Almond Cake

If there is anything I like to do in the kitchen apart from standing and watching others slave in there, its baking. So every now and then I'm possessed by this "I-want-to-bake-NOW" ghost and I come out with these rich, delicious, high calorie, figure not-so-friendly foods. The original version of this recipe was that of banana bread. I did not have a loaf pan so I converted it to a cake. This particular ghost took over when I had over-ripe bananas at home...and, needless to say, with a little help from the internet I was on my way to add on another 5 pounds!
Ingredients
2 cups - All-purpose flour (Maida)
1 tsp baking soda

1/2 Cup - Butter

3/4 Cup - Sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1.5 Cups mashed overripe bananas

(about 3 large bananas should suffice)

1/3 Cup - Slivered almonds

1/4 tsp - Salt

Method

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

- Lightly grease baking dish and set aside

- In a large bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt

- In another bowl whisk together butter and sugar
- Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended

- Combine the two mixtures and stir gently

- Pour batter into prepared baking dish and sprinkle slivered almonds (You could opt to stir in the almonds if you want them inside the cake)

- Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes OR until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean

- Allow the cake to cool before serving

Serving Suggestion

Reheat the cake slice that you want to serve in the microwave oven for a few seconds and serve with luxurious hazlenut chocolate sauce

SERVES 12

Pineapple Salad

This one is no big shakes. In fact, all it takes is a stir! And, if you are a health nut, this will not only please your waiste-line but also your taste buds.

Ingredients

8 slices of Pineapple

1/2th Onion - Julienned

1/4th Green Pepper - Julienned

1/4th Iceberg Lettuce - Randomly chopped

8 Cherry Tomatoes - Quartered

1/4th tsp - Lemon Juice

1/4 tsp - Red chillie powder (paprika/cayenne powder)

And, of course, salt to taste!!

Method

- Mix the lemon juice, salt and chillie powder in a large bowl.

- Add the remaining ingredients and stir gently.

- Set aside for about half an hour (You can opt to keep it in the refrigerator if you want to eat it cold)

SERVES 2

This fresh salad is off to Madhuri's 'Serve me Some...Salads' event.

Madhuri, I do hope you like this one!