Creamy Cucumber Gazpacho

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: 3 Veggies that are Fruit

Dish: Creamy Cucumber Gazpacho

Can't believe it's July already and half the year passed off so quickly. We are starting a new edition of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is dishes made with 'Veggies that are fruit'.

Technically speaking fruit is a part of the plant that develops from a flower. It is also the section of the plant that has seeds. Other parts of the plant are considered vegetables -- like stems, leaves or roots. Good example of  'veggies that are fruit' are cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, squash and so on. But from a culinary point of view, vegetables are more savory and fruits are sweet.

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3 Day Detox Diet -- Detox Salad with Beets & Arugula

Blogging Marathon# 64: Week 1/ Day 2
Theme: Detox Diet

Dish: Detox Salad with Beets & Arugula Salad

I have to admit I was a little skeptical to start a detox diet. I've never done a detox or a diet in my life and the thought of not eating what I want to eat for 3 days was a little disturbing. But I just wanted to do something for myself -- something for getting healthier.

It took me about 1 week to clean up the fridge and pantry of the mega marathon leftovers and then another week the body for the cleanse. It is best to go easy on coffee, dairy and gluten about a week before you start the actual detox diet. Alcohol and cigarettes are a big no-no a week before and during the cleanse.

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Vellarikka Curry (Kerala style Cucumber Curry)

BM# 63: Journey through the Cuisines 

Week 4: Kerala Cuisine 
Day 22: V for Vellarikka Curry

There were quite a few options for the letter V in Malayalam. Raw banana (vazhakai), eggplant (vazhuthananga), okra (vendakai) and garlic (velluthulli). I finally ended up picking Vellarikka or cucumber.

This Kerala cucumber curry is a simple side dish made with ground coconut and yogurt sauce. With all these coconut based Kerala dishes I probably ate more coconut in a week than I normally would in a month. I'm not complaining though, it's just that we don't use this much coconut in our everyday cooking. On another note, adding coconut to diet has many health benefits like improving heart health, improves digestion, quick energy boost and so on.

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Greek Cucumber and Chickpea Salad

Blogging Marathon# 62: Week 2/ Day 2

Theme: Salads

Dish: Greek Cucumber Salad

Today's salad is extremely easy to put together, very filling and absolutely refreshing. I made this salad along with Greek Lemony Dill rice that I posted last month. It is a great to serve as a side dish or on its own for a light meal.

Recipe is from Cooking Light magazine. I wasn't a big fan of dill for a long time. I thought it had a very strong flavor that was overpowering. But recently I started liking it quite a bit, especially when used in Greek style dishes like tzatziki sauce or Spanakopitas.

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Greek Orzo Salad

Blogging Marathon# 60: Week 2/ Day 1

Theme: Take-Away dishes from Metropulos, Santa Barbara

Dish: Greek Orzo Salad
My theme for this week's blogging marathon is very interesting. Valli gave us a list of 10 best take-out restaurants in 3 travel destinations. We had to pick a destination and a restaurant from that list and cook 3 dishes for the week.

After a lot of browsing, I chose Metropulos restaurant from Santa Barbara. It is a fine foods market that sells amazing sandwiches, paninis and a ton of gourmet specialty food items. After reading about the place I have added it to my bucket list of places to visit :-)

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Greek Nachos with Tzatziki Sauce

Blogging Marathon# 59: Week 1/ Day 1

Theme: Bring on the Nachos

Dish: Greek Nachos with Tzatziki Sauce

We are starting a brand new blogging marathon today and I picked a very interesting theme. It is 'Bring on your Nachos' and so for the next 3 days, I'm going to post some interesting Nacho recipes -- a little different from the cheese laden ones we are all used to.

These Greek Nachos have been on my mind ever since I watched Kelsey Nixon make them on The Kitchn. I bookmarked the recipe right away, but it took me all this while to get to making it.

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Cucumber Tomato Sandwich with Hummus (for World Vegetarian Day)

Today is World Vegetarian Day, thanks to Mir for telling the group about this. After the month long mega marathon, I have quite a few posts in the drafts that need to be posted. So today seemed to be the best day to post one of them.

This sandwich recipe is made with Cuban bread, hummus and harissa that I made for the mega marathon. I also had some cucumber and tomatoes from my garden and I added them on top for a colorful sandwich. Serve with a soup and you have yourself a filling meal.

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Tzatziki Sauce

Buffet on Table: Week 3 -- Condiments from Countries

Day 16: Greece - Tzatziki Sauce

After yesterday's creamy red pepper walnut dip, today I have a creamy yogurt dip from Greece. Tzatziki sauce needs only 3 main ingredients -- thick yogurt, cucumber, dill and that's it you can make a delicious dip that makes pita or falafel sandwich so much better. I even ate it by the spoonfuls.

My husband has an aversion to yogurt -- he can't tell it's smell, color or texture. I enjoy yogurt based dishes quite a bit but don't make them often. Even though I was tempted to try tzatziki at home, I was never really motivated enough. So this condiments week was the perfect time to make this dip and enjoy it all by myself :-)

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Greek Lentil Salad

Blogging Marathon# 54: Week 4/ Day 1

Theme: Lentils -- 3 Ways

Dish: Greek Lentil Salad

My theme for this week's blogging marathon is 'Lentils -- 3 ways'. Valli wants us to use 3 different lentils in 3 different ways, so for the next 3 days I have some interesting dishes using lentils.
I love dals and I am always looking for ways to incorporate them into my daily diet. Lentils are one of the most important sources of protein for vegetarians and I stock up on quite a few varieties in my pantry.

For the first day, I made a Greek Lentil salad using Puy or French Lentils. These tiny lentils cook up in about 25~30 minutes and do not need to be pre-soaked. So it is really quick and easy to make this salad. Recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine.

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Cucumber Tea Sandwich

Blogging Marathon# 52: Week 4/ Day 3

Theme: Bookmarked Recipes

Dish: Cucumber Sandwich
Today's recipe is very very simple with just few ingredients. Many of you might even think that this sandwich doesn't really need a recipe post because it's that easy and simple.

All you need is green chutney, cucumber, cream cheese (or thick curd) and bread slices. With all the sandwich breads that I have been making, I was looking for simple sandwich recipes and I landed on this post by Sala @ Veggie Belly. Her clicks make you want to grab a sandwich right out of the monitor :-)

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Russian Tomato & Cucumber Salad

This is a very simple Russian tomato and cucumber salad that doesn't need a separate post, but I'm doing it anyway. The dressing is very very simple with just vinegar, oil, salt & pepper. Very refreshing and healthy salad. 

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Quinoa Tabbouleh

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Picnic Hamper Dishes
Dish: Quinoa Tabbouleh

Salads are really perfect to take along for picnics, especially the ones made with grains or pasta. They can be made ahead of time and the resting gives the grains a chance to absorb all the flavors. And the biggest advantage of all is they can be served at room temperature without any problem.

Today's dish for 'Picnic Hamper' is another healthy and delicious salad (check out yesterday's Bread Salad). Tabbouleh is traditionally made with bulgur, but I made it with quinoa instead. It is very flavorful with the addition of fresh herbs, mint and parsley, and veggies, cucumber and tomato.

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Greek Panzanella (Bread Salad)

Blogging Marathon# 41: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Picnic Hamper Dishes
Dish: Greek Panzanella (Bread Salad)

We are starting our 2nd week of blogging marathon today and my theme for this week is 'Picnic Hamper dishes'. Warm weather is finally here, which means its time for picnics, camping, beaches and all things related to the outdoors.

One of our dear friends organizes a picnic every year and that is one picnic all of us look forward to. There is always so much food and it is a great time to hang out in the sun and chat with friends. This year we had a Mother's day picnic in May and here are some pictures of the food and the beautiful views.

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Cucumber & Carrot California Sushi Roll (Vegan Recipe)

We are going on a Culinary tour of California for this month's International Food Challenge. Our host for this month, Joanne T Ferguson who blogs @ What's on the list picked some amazing dishes from California. As Joanne says there are no "official" dishes of California. California cuisine is based on fusion foods, from many cultures and recipes that were adapted throughout the history.

Personally I feel California is a country in itself. One reason being it is one of the largest states in US (FYI: 3rd largest in US and when compared to New Jersey which is in the 47th place, California is HUGE) and the most populous US state. From my working experience in compliance for many years, I know US as a country has many regulations, but California as a state has many many many more complicated regulations.

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Coconut Ceviche (Vegan Recipe)

I used to love watching Food Network. But with kids running around it has become almost impossible to watch any TV. Now a days I found the best time to watch my favorite channel is when I'm folding the laundry. So during one of my laundry folding session, I saw a new cooking show on Cooking Channel. It's called 'How to Live to 100' with Jason Wrobel as the host. I really liked the way how the host took a ingredient, transformed it into 3~4 different dishes and then talked about the benefits of using the ingredient.

In the episode I watched, Jason took Coconut as the ingredient and made this Vegan Ceviche using flesh from young coconut. It sounded delicious and looked pretty easy to make. So on my next grocery trip, I bought a young coconut and made this right away. It tasted great with tortilla chips or just as is.

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Kerala Cabbage Thoran & Sambar

Blogging Marathon# 35: Day 1/ Week 2
Theme: Regional Dishes - Course Specific
Dish: Kerala Cabbage Thoran & Sambar

We are starting our Week 2 of Blogging Marathon# 35 and my theme for this week is 'Any Regional with Course Specific dishes'. After seeing Rajani's Kerala Sadya recipes during the mega month long marathon, I have been planning to try my hand at Kerala dishes. Finally I made 3 dishes for this week's marathon.
The twist that Valli put to this seemingly simple theme is that we have to post a different course every day. So for the first day I'm posting 2 Kerala Lunch dishes, a simple Cabbage thoran and a hearty Sambar.

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Vegetarian Summer Rolls (Vegetarian Vietnamese Rolls)

Blogging Marathon# 30: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Get it Rolled
Dish: Summer Rolls (Vietnamese Rolls)

We are starting our 2nd of Blogging Marathon# 30 today and my theme for this week is "Get it Rolled". Any dish that is cooked rolled or served as a roll. Summer rolls were the first thing that came to my mind and with the temperatures soaring in the 90s (degree Fahrenheit), these are perfect no-cook rolls that are filling, healthy and delicious. They are salad rolled up into a portable package -- easy to eat and very convenient.

Summer rolls are very versatile and any of your favorite veggies can be used. I followed Nupur's recipe for Summer rolls. The spicy peanut dipping sauce is to die for -- its salty, spicy, sweet and very addictive.

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French Lentil Salad with Goat Cheese

Blogging Marathon #26: Week 2/ Day 2
Theme: Salads & Soups
Dish: Lentil Based - French (Puy) Lentil Salad

Today's salad has "Lentil" as the star ingredient and one of my favorite lentils in salads happens to be French Lentils aka Puy lentils. These lentils look very similar to whole masoor dal, but are greenish with spots. They don't fall apart and still have a good bite when cooked which is perfect for Salads. 

Today's salad is inspired from a recipe that I received in my mailbox from Everyday Food. Recipe was actually for roasted vegetable salad with french lentils, but what caught my attention was the use of goat cheese. I've tasted goat cheese a few times, but never bought it myself. So I picked a small log of goat cheese on my recent grocery shopping and make this hearty & delicious salad. Goat cheese is creamy and has a tart taste to it.

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Chickpea & Vegetable Salad with Yogurt Tahini Dressing

Blogging Marathon# 26: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Soups & Salads
Dish: Protein Based - Chickpea Salad

We are onto our 2nd week of marathon for this month. My theme for this week is "Soups & Salads" and to add interest and make the theme a little more challenging, Valli wants us to make soups & salads that use one star ingredient for each dish. Today's dish has a "Chickpeas" as the star protein rich ingredient.

I picked this theme because with my husband travelling on business for the past couple weeks I've been cooking for just myself. Salads fit right in since making a single serving salad is much easier than cooking something. 

This salad is full of fresh crunchy vegetables and fruits and the dressing is yogurt & tahini (ground sesame paste) based. I love adding sweetness to my salads in the form of fresh or dry fruits. Blueberries, sliced strawberries, chopped apples, pears, grapes are great in salads and so are dried cranberries, raisins and other not too sweet dry fruits.

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Cucumber Sweet & Sour Chutney (Keera Dosakaya Pachadi)

Blogging Marathon# 25: Week 2/ Day 1
Theme: Cooking from a Book
Dish: Cucumber Sweet & Sour Chutney (Keera Dosakaya Pachadi)
My theme for week 2 of BM# 25 is "Cooking from a Book". Like a lot of you reading this post, I have a ton of cookbooks that I have bought over the years. I find a million reasons to buy a book and I see myself cooking through the entire book before buying. But once the book comes home, it sometimes gets neglected.  I have to say I do refer to my cookbooks when I'm in a rut to make something.

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