Lunch and dessert on a rainy weekend!

Taking advantage of the gloomy weather, I went off to Trader Joe's and bought a bunch of supplies for my culinary adventures. While the Olympics played away on the TV, I got into the kitchen, post a hearty workout, for some well-deserved food. 

Starting off with basil pesto (recipe later), I moved a step up with this cauliflower recipe. Normally I make it Indian style but this time I just went with the flow. I let the spirit guide me and I added ingredients as they came to me.

Here's how it flowed:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 head cauliflower

1 cup frozen peas

1 root ginger

Red chili flakes and salt to taste

2-3 tablespoons coriander chutney

Mint to garnish (Optional)

1.  Add olive oil in a warm wok (or any other deep pot).
2.  Shred a root of ginger (you can also cut it) and add to warm oil.
3. Add cauliflower and peas and saute for a few minutes until cauliflower becomes a little soft.
4. Add salt and red chili flakes.
5. Add coriander chutney and stir. 
6. Turn off stove and garnish with mint.

The result will be one happy spouse (or you!) 

Feeling encouraged, I went onto further uncharted waters - the low-carb diet meant I had banned all desserts but no body informed my sweet tooth! To remedy that, I looked around for healthier dessert options and found a marvelous recipe that uses almond meal. 

What is almond meal you ask - when you pulse pieces of almond, you get almond meal! That's how simple it is. Replace that for the flour and it is one guilt free dessert/breakfast. And the best part? You cannot tell! I shared it with a few friends at work and they were absolutely blown away when I told them there was no flour!

While the original recipe called for 3 oz (1/2 cup) of sugar, the bread turned out a tad sweeter than I would have liked, it could work well with 1/3 cup of sugar and ripe bananas.

 

1 cup almond meal

1/2 tea spoon baking powder

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar (or use 1/3 cup sugar and ripe bananas)

1/2 tea spoon cinnamon

3 bananas + extra slices for topping

Slices of almond to garnish

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 F. 
2. Lightly dust a muffin tin or bread dish with some spray oil.
3. Add almond meal and baking powder and set aside.
4. Beat eggs, cinnamon and sugar together to make it fluffy.
5. Add egg mixture to almond meal and mix. 
6. Pour in baking dish/tin and garnish with slices of banana and almond. 
7. Bake about 40-45 minutes for bread and 30-35 minutes for muffins (or until top is browned and skewer comes out clean).