Basic ratios for making 1 cup of brown sugar.
| Kind | Sugar | Molasses |
|---|---|---|
| light | 200g | 20g |
| dark | 200g | 40g |
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Brown Sugar
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Mint Kava
Ingredients
Makes 1 cup
Amount Ingredients 1 cup water, boiling 1 teabag, black tea ½ tsp honey 1 T lemon juice, fresh 5-10 mint leaves, fresh Process
- Add all the ingredients to a teacup and pour boiling water on top
- Steep to desired strength
Nutrition
25 calories per cup
Notes
All measurements are to taste. I prefer it less sweet, more tart, quite minty and weak on the tea but feel free to adjust to your own preferences.
arab ○ calories calculated ○ desi ○ middle eastern ○ one pot pan or bowl ○ pakistani ○ photo ○ quick ○ vegetarian -
Chickpea Salad with Citrus Tahini Dressing
Ingredients
Chickpea Salad
Amount Ingredients 180g chickpeas, dry* 320g cucumber, diced 45g tomatoes, diced 22g shallots or red onion, finely diced 20g cilantro, chopped *Can replace with ~2 15oz cans of chickpeas (drained), or 450g cooked & frozen Citrus Tahini Dressing
Amount Ingredients 75g tahini 50g lime juice, fresh 40g lemon juice, fresh 26g water ½ tsp sumac to taste salt Process
- If using dry beans, add them to instant pot, cover with water by several inches, add salt and seal lid.
Pressure: High
Time: 40 minutes
Release: Quick- Prepare all the ingredients (chop, dice, juice, etc.)
- Toss everything together and taste for seasoning
Notes
- This dish is best served cold, so if using dry chickpeas, prepare them in the morning or the night before and refrigerate
- Shallots are milder than onions but super expensive; use red onions if you’re not a Rockefeller
- Can use all lemon juice or all lime juice, if that’s all you have on hand
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Kheer
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 1 gallon // 3.78 L milk, whole 1 cup // 200g rice, basmati 1 green cardamom pod, shell discarded ½ cup // 100g sugar to taste raisins, golden to taste almonds, crushed/slivered Process
- Thoroughly wash rice until water runs clear, about 3-4 times
- In heavy-bottomed pot or saucepan, set a gallon of whole milk on to boil; add rice and cardamom
- Cook down until milk and rice thicken into rice-pudding consistency
- Be sure to scrape bottom of pot to avoid scorching milk
- Press the rice against the sides of the pot to mush and thicken; you can use a stick blender or hand mixer to speed up the process and for more even consistency
- Once desired consistency is reached, add sugar, raisins and almonds; cook until sugar is thoroughly dissolved and evenly distributed
Notes
- Kheer may be served warm (if fresh made), but is most often chilled and served cold
- Some prefer not to stir the raisins and almonds throughout the dish, instead reserving them for garnish on top of the finished kheer; you can also do both
- If slicing almonds, microwave in some water in order to soften the nut and loosen the skin for easy removal
- Chilled kheer may form a skin on top; this is completely normal and nothing to worry about. To avoid this over with plastic wrap and push it down so that it touches the surface of the kheer
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Black Bean Burger Salad
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 1 tomato, diced ½ cucumber, large, diced 66g salsa 2 black bean burgers, toasted 15g cheese, shredded, Mexican blend 38g sour cream 3 leaves lettuce, iceberg, chopped to taste cilantro, fresh Process
- Prepare black bean burger however you like (airfryer, stovetop, George Foreman grill or panini press, toaster oven, etc.)
- Chop tomato and cucumber; toss with salsa and layer on bottom of a plate
- Crumble black bean burger over salad base
- Sprinkle cheese immediately on top so it melts a little
- Add sour cream, lettuce, and cilantro
Nutrition
640 calories
Notes
- Can mix sour cream with salsa to make a kind of sauce
- Use whatever brand of black bean burgers you like, except the Don Lee Farms ones, which are bland with no flavor.
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Caprese Panini
Ingredients
Makes 1 large panini
Amount Ingredients 98g Bread, Italian, sliced (Pane Turano) 93g Mozzarella, fresh, sliced 55g tomatoes 3 leaves basil, fresh, torn 1 T balsamic vinegar (or reduction) Process
- (Optional) Spray one slice of bread with spray oil and lay it oil side down (see notes)
- Layer on the rest of the ingredients
- Add the other slice of bread and spray top with oil, if using
- Heat in toaster oven, panini press, or George Foreman grill, or press on a dry pan on the stove
Nutrition
493 Calories
Notes
- If calories aren’t an issue, you can drizzle the outside of the sandwich with olive oil on both sides, or spread with butter instead of using the spray oil
- You can also drizzle some olive oil on the inside of the sandwich, but I find it’s not necessary
- If using the toaster oven, it’s fine to take the sandwich out halfway through and press it down a bit.
- Pane Turano is my bread of choice for paninis, but any nice sourdough bread should work fine. Other breads like ciabatta or foccacia will work, too, but the calorie count will be different.
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Simple Rice & Potatoes
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 360g rice, basmati 2 cups water + Mexican chicken reserved liquid 50g oil, vegetable 150g onion, sliced 360g potatoes, Yukon gold 1 tsp salt 1 tsp cumin seeds Process
- Wash the rice and cover with water to soak; set aside
- Set instant pot to sauté mode, add oil, onions, half the salt, and cook until nicely browned; add a tablespoon or 2 of water if onions start browning too quickly or unevenly
- Add potatoes, cumin seeds
- Add rice, water / liquid, and the rest of the salt; stir to combine; close lid and seal
Pressure: High Time: 7 minutes Release: 10 minute natural
Nutrition
100g = 153 calories
Notes
- This recipe uses the leftover liquid that’s drained from the Mexican chicken recipe. Use as much of the liquid as you have, then add water until you have 2 cups of liquid total.
- If you do not have the reserved liquid or you did not make that recipe at all, use all water.
- I prefer to add half the salt to the onions while browning in step 2, but you can add it all.
- The flavor is somewhere between Mexican rice and Pakistani pulao.
- Can be enjoyed as-is, or you can pair it with all the fixings of regular chicken tacos to make a taco rice bowl: fajitas, Mexican chicken, and any sauces.
calories calculated ○ dump and go ○ fusion ○ mexican ○ one pot pan or bowl ○ pakistani ○ photo ○ rice -
Mexican Shredded Chicken
Credits
Recipe adapted from Carlsbad Cravings
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 10g oil, vegetable 770g chicken breast, boneless, skinless, raw 100g salsa, medium 12g sugar 4oz diced jalapenos, hot, canned 10oz tomatoes, diced, with chilies, drained 1 T chili powder 1½ tsp salt 1 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder ½ tsp black pepper ½ tsp smoked paprika ½ tsp oregano, Mexican, dried 1 tsp liquid smoke Process
- Add the oil to the bottom of the instant pot, swirl to coat
- Add all other ingredients, seal lid
Pressure: High Time: 13 minutes Release: 15 minutes natural
- Open instant pot and shred the chicken; mix it all together to rehydrate and seal the lid again
Pressure: High Time: 5 minutes Release: 10 minutes natural
- Drain excess liquid and serve (see notes)
Nutrition
100g (drained) = 124 calories
Notes
This is a base Mexican chicken recipe, which can be used:
- on top of a salad
- as a low-carb bowl meal with fajita vegetables and toppings
- as a higher-carb burrito bowl
- in chicken tacos
- in chicken quesadillas
Keep the strained liquid from Step 4 and make rice, beans, or any other dish where these flavors will shine.
- Can sub regular oregano in place of Mexican
- Shred chicken using 2 forks or by pressing chicken pieces against bottom and sides of pot; they should fall apart
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Corn Tortillas
Credits
Recipe adapted from Simply Mamá Cooks
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 175g corn flour, nixtamalized (masa harina) 15g cornstarch 3g salt 1 cup water, warm Process
- In a bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients
- Add warm water, reserving a couple of tablespoons, and begin mixing/kneading the dough
- If needed, use the remainder of the water to fully hydrate the dough and form it into a ball; cover in plastic wrap and set aside to hydrate for ~30 minutes
- Tear off chunks of dough and form into smaller balls (or weigh out 30g portions for street taco size tortillas)
- Preheat tuvva, comal, griddle or dry frying pan on medium high heat
- Set dough balls between plastic and shape using tortilla press
- Place flattened tortillas onto dry pan and cook a few minutes on each side; if they puff up, press them down with a spatula. Do not overcook
- When done, take off heat and immediately cover in aluminum foil; stack tortillas one atop the other
Nutrition
100g (cooked) = 218 calories
Notes
- Masa Harina is a type of corn flour which uses nixtamalized corn; do not use cornmeal
- The cornstarch helps keep the tortillas soft, highly recommended
- Take a sandwich bag, cut off the zip top and slit out the sides so that you have one long plastic sheet; use this to sandiwch your tortilla between on the tortilla press.
- Steaming the tortillas in aluminum foil helps keep them warm and pliable. Do not skip this step
- If you do not have a tortilla press, you can just squash the balls of flour with a heavy pot, use a rolling pin, or even just your hands; the press just makes things easier
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Fajita Vegetables
Credits
Recipe adapted from Culinary Hill.
Ingredients
Amount Ingredients 14g oil, vegetable 2 bell peppers, small, sliced 2 red onions, medium, sliced ½ tsp salt ½ tsp oregano, Mexican, dried Process
- In a large skillet or wok, sauté bell peppers and onions in oil until desired consistency; cook less to keep them snappy, longer to make them soft
- Add salt and oregano
Nutrition
100g = 71 calories
Notes
- Can sub regular oregano for Mexican oregano
