12th Meeting

Our Fusion Exchange was awesome. Even though it was a short (time wise) exchange we made the most of out it. We started with some Mango Lasi that Vaishali made for us. We topped it off with a little bit of Irish crème liquor. We soon realized that adding too much of the liquor curdles the lasi. Once we noticed that it had curdled, we stopped drinking it. So my suggestion for the mango lasi is to skip the booze. Next we enjoyed three different types of sushi made my Jalpa. It was her first time making sushi and boy did she do an exceptional job. If I hadn’t seen her make it, I would have thought the sushi was store bought. Next we enjoyed a little bit of Masala pasta with vegan sausage that I made and a Tikka Pizza (chicken for us, and paneer for the Chicks) that Hetal made. They both were excellent. Masala pasta (with chicken or turkey sausage) is something that I often make and I have a feeling I am all going to start making the tikka pizza as well. After eating all these things we literally couldn’t eat anymore.

That night we were all going to celebrate Parul’s 30^th birthday. So some of the girls start getting ready to go out. Meanwhile some of the girls teased Vaishali for not letting us know she was going to see the most glorious, talented, and gorgeous man in the world. The biggest Bollywood heartthrob: SRK! He was given special recognition at Yale University and Vaishali had landed tickets to go see his speech. The exchange was hosted by Vaishali at her other house and while she was giving us a tour we discovered one of funniest moments in the night (at least for me). There is a picture taken of the family right around Nishal’s wedding (before Vaishali married into the family) where Nishal was photo-shopped in. The Photoshop job was done well, but it’s the actual picture of Nishal that the photographer used that was funny. Everyone in the picture is dressed up in their finest Indian clothes, but Nishal is in her wedding garb. That picture looked like it was the poster for an Indian serial (equivalent to an American Soap).

We ended the exchange (not the night) with my Sweet Peagon Pea Balls and Nishal's Tiramisu crepes. We swore we would only have a bite each but ended up having 3 crepes between the 6 of us.

This exchange almost reminded me of the pizza exchange. Remember when we were those 6 little piggies?!

After the exchange we headed over to Rooftop 120 in Glastonbury to celebrate Parul’s 30^th. We all had so much fun and decided one of the exchanges should be of us all going out drinking and dancing. A girl’s night out. But this time, Nishal will be required to come. That night Nishal couldn’t come out with us b/c her husband had a “cold”. So we did what was necessary, we photo-shopped Nishal in the picture. Look at all of us having a good time. Ha!

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Green Juice

Green Juice:
Half a bag of spinach
1/4 pineapple
1 apple

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"grilled cheese" for dessert and root vegetable sorbet

This exchange was about healthy foods. And it was my turn to make desserts.  I immediately thought about a grilled cheese sandwich for dessert.  I wanted to include chocolate and vegetables.  Chocolate zuchinni bread came to my mind first..but now I needed the "cheese".  How am I going to create that without using cheese?  Ah ha - sweet potatoes!  I played with colors.  Check out this super delicious easy to make decadent grilled cheese for dessert.  Now we all know every grilled cheese sandwich isn't complete without ketchup.  My next challenge was to mimic ketchup somehow for this dessert.  What vegetable (and yes, I wanted use vegetables over fruit) do I use? Beets!  But my taste buds had always rejected beets, doesn't matter what shape or form they were in.  Check out the evolution of beet pudding to beet sorbet below.

You might argue that the "chocolate zuchinni bread isnt healthy, but the beet pudding or sorbet sure are.  Aren't we all about a balanced diet anyways? :)

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Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

So delicious and healthy! A very versatile dish, you can use any variety of ingredients to stuff the peppers with, but be sure to try this recipe ladies =)

Ingredients

6 large sweet peppers

2 cups cooked brown rice

3 small tomatoes, chopped

1 cup frozen corn, thawed

1 small sweet onion, chopped

1/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

4 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, minced

salt

pepper

3/4 cup meatless spaghetti sauce

Red marchu - add according to taste

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Mixed Lentil Salad

Since this Exchange supposed to be a healthier one, I decided to make this salad which is very healthy, has so much flavor and pack with protein! Keep in mind that you have to prepare main ingredients in a day or two advance.

Serving: 6

Ingredients:

2 cups sprouted moong, cooked
½ cup dry chana, cooked
½ cup red or green grapes, chopped
½ small onion, chopped
1 small tomato, chopped
Coriander, chopped
Pomegranate (optional)
2-3 tablespoon chaat masala powder
½ cup lime juice
½ teaspoon red chilli powder
Salt to taste

Method:

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Barley Salad with Grapes and Walnuts

I borrowed this recipe from Weight Watchers. The main thing i changed was the nut - i used Walnuts, the recipe called for Pecans. I'm sure either would work.  OH- i didn't have tarragon, so i skipped that. 

Barley Salad with Grapes and Walnuts
PointsPlus® Value: 5
Servings: 6
Preparation Time: 15 min
Cooking Time: 45 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Cooked barley has a lovely nutty flavor and wonderful firm texture, making it a perfect grain for side dishes.

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11th Meeting

After the last exchange we had to get back on track. The evening started with some heavy discussions about the Hindu religion and culture. I was lucky enough to attend Saturday school which taught me a little about my culture and religion. But I am embarrassed to admit that I forgot a lot about it too. Nishal, on the other hand, who can recite the whole mahabratha gave us a brief synopsis of the story. While she was telling us it all came back to me but I could not have explained it the way she did. It was refreshing to talk about our religion.

After that mental boost (I don’t know about your girls, but I really felt good listening to Nishal talk about it) Hetal whipped up some green smoothies. I call them smoothies versus drinks because they felt like drinking a smoothie. The concoction was made of almond milk, spinach and various different fruits. More on that way when Hetal posts the recipe… however, I can no longer say I have not had a banana in 15+ years. It was really delicious. Now we only have to convince Hetal to make it for all of us on a weekly basis. (Queue Ben Stein saying: Hetal? Hetal? Hetal? Anyone?)

Vaishali won’t admit it but she is some kind of a self taught yoga/fitness expert. She taught us some poses that are sure to keep us fit. After that we filled our bellies on two different types of salads and stuffed peppers. Everything was vegetarian. We ended the night with some very interesting dessert. Jalpa served us what was by far for me the biggest surprise of the night- beet sorbet. Yes, beets! The root. And was it delicious!

The only bad thing about the night was that it end way too early. And also that Parul couldn’t make it. Can’t wait till the next one: Indian Fusion!

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