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It was amazing to see traditional Edam Cheese being made...

12/18/2022

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​In 2012, my trip to The Netherlands included a visit to a cheese farm. I was able to witness firsthand how traditional Edam cheese is made on small farms. These small farms cater to both local clients and curious tourists.
​Edam (Dutch Edammer), a Dutch cheese, is traditionally sold as spheres. It has a pale yellow interior with a red paraffin wax coat. Its name is Edam, a town in North Holland.

​The cheese spheres are coated with black wax after aging for at most 17 weeks. This is in addition to the red or orange.

​Edam is durable and can travel well. It does not spoil and only hardens. These and other qualities made Edam the most beloved cheese in the world for a long period.
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Mild Edam, which is young cheese, goes well with fruits such as cherries, melons and apricots. While aged Edam is good with apples and pears, it can also be mixed well with other traditional cheese fruits like pears. It can be enjoyed on crackers, bread and as a dessert treat as Cheese and Biscuits.

Pinot Gris and semidry Riesling wines, Champagne, Chardonnay, Shiraz/Syrah, and dry Riesling are all great with Edam cheese.
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A Basic Healthy Tomato Salad Recipe

5/1/2022

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A basic tomato salad is a wonderful way to show off the natural sweetness of tomatoes. It is a refreshing summer salad. Whether you use cherry tomatoes or larger Beefsteak tomatoes, the flavor will be perfectly highlighted in this salad. Add a dash of olive oil or balsamic vinegar, and it's a tasty appetizer or main course.

​A simple tomato side salad can be a great dish to serve as a light snack, a side dish or even a light main course, particularly if you fortify it with grains and nuts. A great side dish, or even a light main course, the salad goes well with virtually any type of grilled meat.

This easy-to-make salad takes no more than 15 minutes to make. Simply slice tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions and mix well. When preparing, you can even serve it with a grilled chicken or steak. The resulting dish is the essence of summer. When preparing a salad, remember to use fresh ingredients whenever possible. 
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​The most basic tomato salad recipe involves cucumbers and tomatoes. Sliced cucumbers and tomatoes are then tossed in olive oil and vinegar. You can add fresh basil and smoked paprika if desired. Once the tomatoes are mixed together and tossed with the dressing, you can serve the salad as a side dish. Make a batch of this salad and serve it at your next BBQ or picnic! 

If you're in the mood for a simple, easy-to-make salad, try a basic tomato salad recipe. In addition to fresh tomatoes, you can also add chopped white beans and chickpeas. The best type of tomato for this recipe is cherry tomato, as it is packed with flavor. If you are using larger tomatoes, then you should cut them into larger pieces. Otherwise, the tomato salad will taste more like salsa or relish. Lastly, it's important to serve this salad fresh, within an hour.

The most important aspect of this recipe is the dressing. If you choose to use vinegar or olive oil, then you should drizzle it over the salad. For added flavor, add fresh herbs like parsley and dill. Toss and serve! 

This recipe takes only minutes to make and has all the classic flavors. Enjoy! Another basic tomato salad recipe uses cherry or grape tomatoes. Choose larger ones for better taste and texture. When cutting larger tomatoes, one way to retain good texture and juices is to cut them in half from top to bottom. Next, slice them into wedges and cut them into chunks. Then add some loosely torn out lettuce leaves.

To make a simple dressing for a basic tomato salad, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, and herbs. Add a pinch of salt to taste. Drizzle this over tomato slices, onion rings and serve. To make it more hearty, you can add grains like fluffed Cous Cous, quinoa, chick peas or black beans. This salad is a great side dish for a barbecue or an outdoor barbecue. Just be sure to have enough fresh vegetables to share!

continue reading...

  • ​​​Tomato & Cucumber salad full of Moroccan healing herbs and spices
  • ​You can obtain many health benefits by adding Thyme to your cooking!! ​
  • ​Microgreens- a tasty and sustainable choice for a healthy lifestyle​
  • Here are some of the amazing health benefits you can receive from eating Cauliflower...
  • Why 'sustainable lifestyle' is an important part of Conscious Living- living with awareness?
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#DeliciousSummerEats #ILoveTomato #TomatoSalad #healthyrecipe    #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Here is a yummy Tomato and Corn salad recipe that you can easily fix up for a nutritious meal...

4/23/2022

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Heat some oil in a grill pan. To vary nutritional content with my foods, I have used mustard oil today. It is a very wonderfully tasty, though a bit strong flavored oil. When you buy it, ensure it is food grade, since some of them tend to be for external use only! 

Next, add some whole cumin seeds. To make this even more healing-helpful, you may want to add a pinch of asafoetida. Once cumin starts to give out their fragrance, add thinly chopped onions. 

​To add variety of taste, I have used a mix of white and red onions. As these onion soften, add corn and let cook for few minutes. Sprinkle some dried oregano, dried chives, freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste. Next add finely chopped fresh cilantro and cook till corn is al-dente cooked- i.e. cooked thru but still is firm to feel.
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A few tips to keep in mind- 
  • If you are cooking in a small kitchen or simply ‘hate’ doing dishes, then you can use the same pan to sauté onions, cook corn as well as heat up (and flavor) any fish or meat that you want to serve with this salad. 
  • While this corn-onion mix is cooking, stack it over your fish, so that it absorbs the wonderful flavors of these herbs and spices.
  • In addition to cooked onions, finely chop a little piece of white onion. Similarly use only part of finely chopped fresh cilantro. Both cooked and raw onions and cilantro, lend different tastes and a balanced mix of the two will really ROCK your salad!

Now coarsely chop up some Roma tomatoes. I prefer the Roma variety, since it is more firm and fleshly for such salads. But, you can use any other tomato variety as well. Pile up our cooked onion and corn mix. Add finely chopped white onions along with some fresh cilantro.

Top up with your fish or meat for a complete one-dish healthy meal or simply enjoy the veggies as a warm, hearty salad!

Read about healing health benefits of including tomatoes in your diet.

It looks gorgeous and tastes great. Hope you enjoy it. Do let me know how yours turned out in comments below…

continue reading...

  • ​Tomato & Cucumber salad full of Moroccan healing herbs and spices
  • ​You can obtain many health benefits by adding Thyme to your cooking!! ​
  • ​Microgreens- a tasty and sustainable choice for a healthy lifestyle​
  • Here are some of the amazing health benefits you can receive from eating Cauliflower...
  • Why 'sustainable lifestyle' is an important part of Conscious Living- living with awareness?
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#DeliciousSummerEats #ILoveTomato #ILoveCorn #TomatoSalad #TomatoandCorn  #healthyrecipe    #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Tomato and Garlic salad- full of beneficial nutrients!!

4/16/2022

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​We all know the many health benefits of eating couple of cloves of raw garlic each day. But considering the pungent taste of garlic, it is quite difficult to eat it raw, that too couple of cloves!

The dressing in this salad completely helps mask the strong taste of garlic and actually makes it taste really yummy! In a salad-dressing mixing bottle add a little Modena balsamic vinegar. Add a little over same amount of extra virgin olive oil. Next add finely chopped three to four cloves of garlic and finally a little pinch of organic raw brown sugar. Shake well to mix and make up your awesome dressing!
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Chop up some tomatoes into medium size pieces. Sprinkle a little dried oregano on it and then drizzle this yummy dressing. Mix well and it’s ready to serve. 

continue reading...

  • Here are the many health benefits of consuming Garlic on a regular basis...
  • ​Tomatoes can help us to maintain our Health, Vitality & Wellness!!
  • ​Why is snacking between meals considered healthy?
  • You can obtain many health benefits by adding Thyme to your cooking!! ​
  • ​Microgreens- a tasty and sustainable choice for a healthy lifestyle
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#DeliciousSummerEats #ILoveTomato #ILoveGarlic #TomatoSalad #TomatoandGarlic  #healthyrecipe    #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Delicious Summer Salad: Tomato & Avocado with Basil

4/9/2022

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​It is preferable to eat light fresh foods during summer months. Particularly fresh salads. That gets very easy with all the produce- veggies and fruits that become available at our local farmer's market!
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Here is a quick-fix tomato and avocado salad. Cut tomatoes in quarter inch slices. Next chop up avocado and coat with lime juice to not only prevent oxidation but also for that wonderful flavor and citrus aroma. Next comes fresh basil. Chop up generous quantities of basil- here it is not so much a garnishing as much as it is one of the key salad ingredient! Plus, basil is full of health benefits and flavor, so load it on 😊

​Finally drizzle some extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste) and your light and healthy summer salad is ready.

Ayurveda notes: Tomato can of course increase pitta, which is not typically recommended during summer season, but given its humungous health benefits along with great taste, if one is particularly concerned about it’s pitta generating qualities, then you can counteract it by sprinkling a little organic sugar over it.

​Where avocado is concerned lemon/lime helps reduce its pitta qualities. Not to mention that sweet basil which has generous nutritional benefits is not used just as a garnishing here but as a main herb-salad ingredient. So, that makes this a good salad to consume even during summer days!

continue reading...

  • ​Why is snacking between meals considered healthy?
  • You can obtain many health benefits by adding Thyme to your cooking!! ​
  • ​Microgreens- a tasty and sustainable choice for a healthy lifestyle​
  • Here are some of the amazing health benefits you can receive from eating Cauliflower...
  • Why 'sustainable lifestyle' is an important part of Conscious Living- living with awareness?
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#DeliciousSummerEats #ILoveTomato #TomatoSalad #TomatoandAvocado  #healthyrecipe    #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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A quick-fix baked tomato salad which can double as a fantastic appetizer!

1/26/2022

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Now that a little warm weather is finally here and folks are getting ready to get out of their cold-winter slumber and hang out with friends and family in their backyards! It is time for fresh produce, crisp simple foods- high in taste and nutrition, that don't need one to fuss over half a day to get ready. Here is one such perfect recipe. Beautiful to the eyes and your taste-buds will love it!
​

Making this is simple. Cut tomatoes into thick wedge-chunks. Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper and sea salt (to taste). Also sprinkle some chives and you are ready for the next layer.
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Cut up some fresh mozzarella and spicy cheddar cheese. Here I have used Moroccan Spicy Cheese- which is made by mixing Harissa sauce with cheddar cheese. Spicy cheese mellows the spicy-kick and also allows for the taste to blend well with the tomatoes, instead of simply providing a  capsaicin- kick. Put some cheese on the cut tomatoes and bake at 350 C for around 5 to 7 mins or till cheese has well-melted.

Lay them on your serving plate and garnish well with chopped cilantro. Cilantro is a very cooling herb and helps our bodies to cool down in hot summers. Now you know why Mexicans, Indian and several other countries in the hot regions use this herb quite generously in their foods! In addition, cilantro has many health benefits- Cilantro has lots of antioxidants, essential oils, vitamins, and dietary fiber, which help reduce LDL or "bad cholesterol" while rising HDL or "good cholesterol" levels. Cilantro is also rich in many vital vitamins, including folic-acid, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin-A, beta carotene, vitamin-C, which are essential for optimum health. 

That's it- your wonderful, appealing and tasty appetizer- salad is ready. Enjoy :)

Continue reading...

  • ​Why is snacking between meals considered healthy?
  • You can obtain many health benefits by adding Thyme to your cooking!! ​
  • ​Microgreens- a tasty and sustainable choice for a healthy lifestyle​
  • Here are some of the amazing health benefits you can receive from eating Cauliflower...
  • Why 'sustainable lifestyle' is an important part of Conscious Living- living with awareness?
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#appetizerrecipe  #healthyrecipe #bakedtomato   #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Another Quick Healthy Eat- Tomato & Parsley Salad

1/25/2022

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Another super-foods filled healthy salad which can also be a very interesting side to accompany grilled fish and meats.

In a bowl, chop up cocktail tomatoes. It is the sweet kind of tomatoes that lends the nice flavorful combination. Add finely chopped red onions and half a bunch of fresh parsley leaves. Sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Drizzle a little sesame seed oil. Squeeze juice of half a lemon and handful of toasted almonds. Mix well and serve fresh. 

This salad does have good staying power. So, you can take a fresh taste to pot-lucks and parties or simply pack yourself a healthy lunch.
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Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#saladrecipe  #tomatoandparsleysalad #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Masala French Fries- a tasty alternative to the ah- let’s say, usual, boring regular French Fries

1/24/2022

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Potatoes… ummm… they are probably the most loved vegetables of all. And they probably also have a very bad reputation for being fattening!!

This is probably because of all the fatty ways in which we prepare potatoes!! Potatoes do have many important nutrients. I will write another post on that… this post is about how we can enjoy this delicious vegetable.
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Yes, it is true that potatoes are very starchy and one way to counteract it is to rinse and soak it in cold water and throw away that water. Also, make sure that you have keep the skin on your potatoes to ensure that you retain most of its beneficial nutrients.
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Considering the fact that I absolutely love French Fries- though folks from Belgium will be quick to correct that it originated in Belgium and then became famous after being included the American fastfood meals and that “French Fries” have nothing French about them!!

Now that you know this little tidbit about French Fries history trivia- let’s see how we can enjoy it and make some special flavorful versions of this tasty side dish (sometimes main dish, like in my case- just sometimes, I promise!!)

I invested in an Air Fryer- for those of you who are not sure about how an air fryer works, you can check out my article about it, titled-   Air Fryer- great way to occasionally indulge in deep fried foods!!
​

But bottom line is that this machine utilizes just a tablespoon or so of oil to ‘deep fry’ and make a pound of French fries.
Then considering I love my Indian masalas, I have made these fries (photographed here) with Garam Masala, by sprinkling some over the half-cooked potatoes, after around the half-cooked mark!

I have also made these with other flavors from around the world- Ras al Hanout (also written as Ras el Hanout) spice mix from Morocco is my favorite after Indian Masala French Fries.

Try out this variation or anything else that you fancy- after all it is true that food is about healthy eating and providing our body with good nutrition, but it is also true that it is important to feed our soul with food that truly brings us joy- in this regard, there are no hard and fast rules about hey, you cannot use Indian masalas on French Fries or sprinkle some Ras al Hanout on your Belgian waffle. If you like it and it is not detrimental to your health and you do not overdo it, then a little indulgence should help to not just feed your body about also feed and uplift your soul.
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Maybe this is where the word- soul food originally came from?? I need to now research that word origin. Will let you know my findings in another post… 
Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#soulfood #frenchfries #masalafrenchfries #sinfulfoods #enjoyfood  #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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Vegetarian Tomato Omelette (without eggs)

1/24/2022

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Here is a yummy and nutritious tomato omelette recipe full of super foods and that which is totally suitable for vegetarians and vegans. 

To make this egg-less omelette, you need around two cups of gram flour, also called (wrongly) chickpea flour or Besan (in Hindi- most packets indicate it as such). Besan is black gram flour not a white chickpea flour! To this add just a table spoon or so of wheat flour. If you want to make this gluten free then you can skip wheat flour, though you may face a few challenges while flipping the omelette. Oh well- you can let the griddle get really hot and smear a little extra coconut oil to help with the flipping step
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Now, back to making our omelette batter. To our wheat and gram flour mix, add around a cup and half of water to achieve smooth consistency- where it is flowing but not too watery. Then add around one and half tea spoon of oil. This not only helps to bind the veggies and the flour, it also makes flipping quite an easy breeze!

Finely chop up two medium tomatoes, half a medium red onion and half a green bell pepper. If you like it spicy- then add finely chopped serrano peppers (to taste). Add these veggies to your batter. Next, add finely chopped cilantro, sea salt (to taste), freshly ground black pepper and coarsely ground cumin and coriander seeds. Wisk a bit more and allow batter to rest for 30 mins or so- for these flavors to come together.

Next- heat up a flat griddle (like a crepe pan). Smear a little coconut oil on the pan and pour some batter and allow to cook at medium temperature. Once one side is well-done (it comes off the griddle easily), then flip it and cook further. Once it is well done- then you can add a little organic butter on top to further enhance the taste as well as increase its nutritional value. Of course, if you are counting your saturated fat intake or want to make it dairy free then you can easily skip butter. 

Enjoy it warm with a little butter, coriander chutney or by itself. :-)

This is originally an Indian ethnic recipe (from Maharashtra-Goa region). It is balanced in nutrition and taste according to Ayurvedic principles. Ayurveda is ancient Indian healing science. I will shortly also share a modified fusion version with the same Ayurvedically balanced goodness but for a more western/European taste. ​
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Categories: 
Quick Healthy Eats

Keywords and Tags:
#vegetarianomelette #vegetarianrecipe #vegetarian #benefitsofeatingtomatoes #eatingsmart #eatinghealthy #healthandwellness #simplehealthyfoods #healthfood #nutritiousfood
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