NANNA ADIGE

Oatmeal, Date and Pecan Squares.

First of all, I am very exited and honoured to receive this beautiful Mammoth Pecans as a gift from the Pecan Company. Last month, when I had posted my Egg less Sweet and Savory Pecan cookies, Jessica dropped by and mentioned about a contest in her company and asked me to send this recipe over. I just sent it over and they told that they will prepare, taste and then select recipes that will be published on their website. The recipes which got selected received this beautiful 1 Lb packet of Pecans. All thanks goes to Jessica who mentioned about this contest. I am really very honoured and also exited on receiving this, as I have not won anything before. It really makes you happy and also motivates you, when you receive such gifts. Hurray!!

So, coming to the recipe, this is a easy and healthy bars. Very soft and has crunchy bite to it while eating.

Ingredients: Pitted dates(coarsely Chopped) – 8 oz or 1 cup Orange juice – 1 ½ cup All purpose flour – 2 ½ cups Brown sugar ( firmly packed) – 1 ½ cup Salt – ½ tsp (optional) Margarine or butter – ¾ pound (3 sticks cut into pieces) Quaker Oats (Quick or Old fashioned, uncooked) – 2 cups Unsweetened shredded coconut – 1 ½ cup Pecans – 1 cup Method:

Preheat oven to 350 deg.
In a medium saucepan, combine dates and orange juice, bring to boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 – 20 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt.
Mix the butter pieces to this and combine till they are crumbly.
Stir in oats, 1 cup coconut and nuts.
Remove 4 cups oat mixture for topping.
Press remaining oat mixture evenly onto bottom of an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking pan.
Spread date mixture over crust to within1/4 inch of edges.
Sprinkle with remaining oat mixture. Then sprinkle with remaining ½ cup coconut, patting gently.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until light golden brown.
Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.
Cut into squares.

My Oatmeal, Date Pecan Squares are off to "Sunday Snacks - Grab n Go" hosted by Pallavi.

Strawberry - Banana Smoothie and Awards

At last Spring is here, can see colorful Tulips all over. We had a wonderful weather with 80 deg from past three days. It was very humid, felt as if it was summer already. Scared already how hot it will get this summer...Thought of having a something cool and which is also nutritious too for this humid weather... So prepared this smoothie yesterday, today already there was a sudden drop in temperature and is raining heavily. We were just talking yesterday to keep aside all winter clothing and remove our summer wear. Also were talking about drinking more liquids to beat the body heat and suddenly today we are all wearing all socks and sweaters. Just can't say anything.

Ingredients: Nonfat Plain Yogurt – 2 cups Medium Size Ripe Banana – 1 Sugar – 2 Tb spoon (optional, I have not used) Lemon Juice – 2 Tb spoon Frozen or Fresh Strawberries – 3 cups Flax Seed Powder – 2 Tb spoon Honey - 1 Tb spoon (optional) Method:

Combine yogurt, banana, honey, lemon juice and flax seed powder in a blender.
With the blender running, add strawberries.
Process until smooth.
Pour into glasses and serve.
This makes 4 servings.

My Strawberry -Banana Smoothie, goes to Priya of "Priya's easy and tasty recipes" who is guest hosting "Food in Color-Pink", an event started by Harini.

Now coming to Awards, Trupti and Vibaas have showered me with these cute awards. Thank you both of you.

Vibaas has passed me "Circle Of Friends" and "You are a Super Duper Chef" award along with these cute awards.

I am really honoured and happy to receive these awards.Thank you. I would like to pass all these awards to each one of you. Please fell free to pick it up.

Dhal Idlis And Awards

This idly is something which is very healthy and can make it instantly..not that instant as the dhal's take time to soak..Only thing is you can prepare this as soon as you grind the Dhal's . No fermenting needed. No rice or urad dhal required for this idly. You can add any veggies to this. Great for kids and for us too.

Ingredients:

ಕಡಲೆ ಬೇಳೆ /Bengal gram dhal - 1 cup

ತೊಗರಿ ಬೇಳೆ /Thoor Dhal - 1/2 cup

ಹೆಸರು ಬೇಳೆ /Moong Dhal - 1/2 cup

ಸೊಪ್ಪು /Green leaves / Dill - 1 cup

ಈರುಳ್ಳಿ /Onion - 1 medium (chopped finely)

ಹಸಿಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ /Green chilly - 4 nos.

ಶುಂಠಿ /Ginger - small quantity

ಬೆಳ್ಳುಳ್ಳಿ /Garlic - 3-4 flakes

ಕೆಂಪು ಮೆಣಸಿನಕಾಯಿ /Red chilly - 4 nos.

ಜೀರಿಗೆ /Cumin seeds - 1 Tb spoon

ಕರಿಬೇವು /Curry leaves - small quantity

ಉಪ್ಪು /Salt to taste

ಎಣ್ಣೆ /Oil

Method:

Wash and soak all three Dal's in water for 2-3 hours along with cumin seeds and red chillies.
Grind them to a smooth paste along with ginger-garlic, green chillies and curry leaves (Do not add too much water)
Add chopped onions , dill (or any greens) and salt to the paste. Mix well.
Grease idly plates, pour this batter and steam for 5 min.

Dal idly is healthy and ready to be served.
Serve it with any of the chutneys or kurma or sambar or you can eat by itself.
I have served mine with simple kurma.

My Dhal Idli goes to Lentils Mela hosted by Ashwini..

I'm also sending this recipe to Laurie's "My Legume Love Affair" started by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook.

PS:

You can add and greens like Methi, spinach, coriander leaves..
You can also add any veggies to it.
Adjust the spice accordingly.
You can add any other dhal to this.

Now, its time for Awards.. Nithya Praveen has passed me these beautiful awards. I am very humbled to receive them. Thank You so much.

I would like to pass them to all the blogger's who take time and visit my blog. Please feel free to take them.

Deepa has passed me this beautiful and lovely award..Thank You dear..

The award states that:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement (? big word, lol). Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

Its really hard to choose just eight. There are many bloggers who deserve it. But since i have to do, i would love to pass this award to:

Dilled Salmon Cakes

There are so many wonderful things about salmon that it’s hard to know where to start. It’s a fish which, even people who don’t like fish can enjoy. It’s firm enough to grill, can be cooked in many different ways, and does not dry out as easily as many other fish.. Wild salmon can be eaten without fear of excess contaminants or mercury, and it has a very high nutrient profile, including the highly-prized omega-3 fatty acids. What’s not to like? Salmon is a highly nutritious food. Of course, it is high in protein, and the “good fats." But did you know that a 4 oz serving of wild salmon provides a full day’s requirement of vitamin D? It is one of the few foods that can make that claim. That same piece of fish contains over half of the necessary B12, niacin, and selenium, and is an excellent source of B6 and magnesium. We’ve all heard a lot about the heart-healthy benefits of salmon lately. Countless books by well-known doctors tell us that eating salmon two or three times a week will keep our hearts, brains and joints sound, and even erase our wrinkles and crow’s feet.

Though with all good nutritional value...I don't bring Salmon often, as my daughter does not like them. She likes other fishes except Salmon. So, thought of making something light and which tempts her to eat...We gave her saying it was Vada(she loves them), and she liked it :-). It worked this time..will see the next time.

Ingredients:

Dilled Salmon Cakes Pink Salmon (boneless) – 1 Lb Quaker Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) – ¾ cup Far free milk – ¼ cup Egg whites – 2 (lightly beaten) Onion (finely chopped) – ¼ cup Fresh dill (chopped) - ½ cup Cumin powder – ¼ tsp Coriander powder – ½ tsp Chili powder – 1 tsp (according to your spice) Salt Method:

With a fork just scrape the salmon to pieces or you can finely grind in a mixer.
Combine all the above ingredients together and allow it to sit for 5 min.
Shape into patties about 1 inch thick.
Lightly spray a non stick skillet with cooking spray.
Cook Salmon cakes over medium heat for 3- 4 min on each side or until golden brown and heated through.