Mixed Vegetable Rice Made Simple

Today we have potluck at Anush's school and I had to sign up for a dish. I know I need to make something that everyone would eat and made it healthy and simple too, cos I didn't want to get the leftovers. :-)

So I thought of this recipe that is hearty with all these veggies and topped it with toasted almonds.

Ingredients:

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1 pod of Garlic chopped finely

1 medium yellow Onion

1/4 cup Yellow Pepper chopped

1/4 cup Green Pepper chopped

1 big Zucchini

1 cup mixed Vegetables (fresh or frozen - I used the frozen with beans, carrot, corn and peas)

salt to taste

1 tsp of White Pepper powder

1/4 tsp Red Pepper fakes

2 tbsp Butter

1tbsp Olive Oil

1/4 cup of Almond flakes toasted

2 cups Cooker Long Grain Rice (I used Basmati Rice)

Method:

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1. In a sauce pan add butter and olive oil, when it's medium hot add the garlic and onions and saute it until the onions are translucent.

2. Now add the zucchini and saute it for about 5-6 mins.

3. In the meantime in a bowl add the frozen vegetables and bit water and cook in the microwave for about 2 mins. (Note: If you are using fresh veggies then you need to cook them along with zucchini)

4. Once the zucchini is done cooking add the peppers and saute it for about a min, add salt white pepper powder and red pepper flakes.

5. Now add the cooked rice and mix all the ingredients properly until incorporated.

6. Transfer this into the serving bowl and top it with the toasted almonds or with your choice of chopped and toasted nuts.

Lazy Man's Blueberry Pineapple Crumb Cake

I came up with this recipe for 3 reasons. First was that I wanted to make a cake with box mix of crushed pineapple cake mix. Second reason was that I didn't wanna use the hand mixer, just to make my job easy :-). The third reason is to make this dessert simple yet tasty and wanted to add fruits and didn't want it to look like cake.

So here is this wonderful crumb cake which satisfied all my reasons, and proved myself that I am not stubborn (for reasons), but came with a new recipe. This recipe was so good, I bet you guys have to try this.

Blueberry nutrition:

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Blueberries contain anthocyanins, other antioxidant pigments and various phytochemicals possibly having a role in reducing risks of some diseases, including inflammation and certain cancers.

Ingredients:

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1 box mix of Crushed Pineapple Upside down cake which comes with a package of brown sugar, cake mix and crushed pineapple can (makes the job easy)

1 box Blueberries washed

1 stick Unsalted Butter

Method:

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1. Preheat the oven as per the instructions on the box.

2. Melt 2 tbsp butter in the baking dish, sprinkle the brown sugar and add the crushed pineapple and blueberries spreading all even.

3. Now sprinkle all of the cake mix and even it out.

4. Melt rest of the butter, and now pour it oven the cake mix evenly

5. Bake it for about 30-40 mins or until done.

6. Your wonderful, easy and fruity crumb cake is ready to eat. You can serve this with your choice of fruits (pineapple and blueberry) or with Ice cream or with whipped cream or just eat it like this.

Chicken Meat Loaf with Potato Cake

Meat Loaf is one of my favorite comfort food. Especially today I wanted to make this easy yummy dinner with no cooking and that all the cooking be done by my oven. :-)

Chicken and Potato are my favorites and this dinner was a nice combination all together.

MEAT LOAF RECIPE

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Ingredients:

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1 lb Ground Chicken

2 Italian Hot Turkey Sausages

2 Eggs
1/4 cup Whole wheat bread crumbs
salt as needed
1tsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Pepper powder
1 tsp Cumin powder
1/4 tsp Red Pepper flakes
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup chopped green peppers
3 tbsp Ketchup


Glaze:
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1/4 cup Ketchup
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste


Method:
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1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2.. Remove the casing my the Italian sausages and mix all the ingredients in a bowl. (Don't mix too much)
3. Spray a Loaf pan ( I used medium sized loaf pan) with cooking oil spray and even out the chicken mixture and on top brush a thin layer of the glaze and bake this meatloaf for about 60-90 mins or until the glaze is little bit browned.
4. After it's done, remove the loaf from oven and let is sit for about 5-10 mins and then slice it and serve warm. You need to rest any kind of meat after you cook to keep the juices intact else, if you cut the slices as soon as you take it out of the oven, the juices all will run out and the meat will be left with no taste.

POTATO CAKE RECIPE

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Ingredients:

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3 medium sized Potatoes thinly sliced ( I used red skinned potatoes, you can use any potatoes of your choice)

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 tbps Olive Oil

Method:

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1. Preheat the oven to 350F (I used the same oven to cook both the meatloaf and the potato cake to cook at the same time)

2. In a bowl mix all the ingredients.

3. In a Non-Stick pan, arrange the potato slices intactly and bake it for about 30-40 mins or until golden brown, cooking each side for about 15-20 mins.

Note: To flip the potato cake to the next side, place a place oven the top of the pan and turn it upside down as fast as you can and slide the potato cake which is now on the place back to the pan and bake it again.