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Week two! In a row! At this point, I'm just amazed at myself. 🙀
This week I don't have a particular story in mind so I'm just going to talk about things I cooked and weave something around that. Cool?
Flavoured Yogurt Wonderland 🎡
Weekdays for me are mostly those can't-be-bothered-to-cook-something-elaborate days. I just count my lucky stars and eat all the heavenly food my mother cooks.
The only meals I do end up cooking (or maybe - 'putting together things' would be a better description) for is breakfast. Most days it's just cut up fruits and then maybe a sandwich or toast for some bulk.
What I've found myself going back to most often is flavoured yogurt and fruits. A match made in food heaven.
You could go for the readymade flavoured yogurt, but honestly, they're just ripping you off in the name of said flavours. All you really need to make the same or even better stuff at home is yogurt, obviously, and your flavour arsenal - think fruit preserves, cocoa powder, melted chocolate, cookies & biscuits, seeds & nuts. It's a wonderful spectrum.
Some of my go-to combinations: Yogurt and ___
🍫 Unsweetened cocoa + some honey
🍫 Melted dark chocolate
🍓Any type of berry jam. Personal faves - raspberry & strawberry
🍯 Spreads like Nutella or Biscoff
🌼 Extracts! You'll be surprised at how good plain 'ol vanilla yogurt sweetened with some honey can taste with fruits.
🌸 Lavender extract is also one I've found to beautifully complement fruits with its floral notes.
🍪 Biscuits/cookies of your choice - think Oreo, Bourbon biscuits, Hide 'n Seek - this one might be a curveball but it's the best kind of naughty yet kind of healthy thing you can get away with for breakfast. The first time I tried it, maybe a month back, I was genuinely annoyed at myself for not having thought of it earlier.
Now that we've got the flavour bases sorted, let's talk add-ins!
Seeds like chia or sabja (sweet basil) seeds are a lovely add-in for some added texture and nutrients of course. The only caveat is making this the night before and letting it snooze in the refrigerator. The seeds need the time to hydrate properly.
As a thumb rule, I tend to make my stash of flavoured yogurt in a jar which can last me 3-4 servings through the week (re: Bon Maman jars from the last blog🥰). Make it on a Sunday night, and I'm all set for the weekday breakfasts. Just scoop some yogurt in the morning, cut up some fruits, add in some granola or cereal if I'm feeling like it and we're sorted.
It's a wonderful and magical world of flavoured yogurt+fruit+cereal bowls out there and I still find myself trying out new things every week. Give it your own spin!
The Second Breakfast 🥪
If you're one of those people who must be thinking - ye kaisa breakfast? This might be more up your alley.
Breakfast sandwiches - oh holy food Gods and everything magical in this world.
Breakfast sandwiches are my kryptonite. The power and energy of a good breakfast sandwich is something to write an entire thesis on.
For now, I'm just going to riff on the little one I made this week for a second breakfast - the official pre-lunch snack.
Buttered bread on a hot pan, some grated Gouda on top, sliced tomatoes on one slide, chilli sauce on the other, an oozy sunny side up egg to finish it off & sandwiched. Behold -
If you're talking breakfast sandwiches, you're talking eggs. If you're talking eggs, you've got to be talking molten egg yolks. Uff.
Weekend Cooking
Every weekend I try to tick-off at least one recipe from my I-have-to-try-this recipe list from all over the internet. This week it was Ranveer Brar's Dal Makhani. He is not definitely not fooling around with the Makhani level of this Dal.
Indian food is not something I cook very often, because it's a given mom territory. When I do, it's usually something that we've never tried before. This Dal Makhani was the perfect candidate.
Ranveer's recipe tutorial for it begins with a nice origin story and the recipe if pretty straightforward to follow as well. What I really appreciated about it was the slow-cooking of the dal as opposed to the usual pressure cooking. A dish like this deserves the patience of slow cooking.
Dal, at its core, is very simplistic yet wholesome. There's a kind of beauty in treating this humble ingredient with time and care through slow-cooking and see it transform into something soft and nourishing. These words may sound all dreamy and up in the air, but it's a process which you have to experience to truly appreciate. I'm sure there's a book out there somewhere about the therapeutic nature of slow-cooking.
That aside, the amount of butter and ghee in this recipe if not for the faint of heart, but boy does it make a heart and glossy dal. I found the tomatoes key to balance out the richness and also made some pickled onions to go along with the final dish.
All in all, I'd say it was a success. The dal paired with rice is straight-up comfort food max. I can't wait to go enjoy the leftover dal for dinner after posting this blog. 😇
I'm a Sohla stan 🙌🏼
If you haven't heard of Sohla El-Waylly, please allow me to you to this culinary queen and YouTube star. Sohla is a Bengali-American chef who rose to internet adoration through the Bon Appetit Youtube channel. A whole lot of controversial shit went down after that and now she has her own shows on various Youtube channels like NYT Cooking, Food52 and the likes.
This week's hot hot recommendation is Sohla's new show 'Stump Sohla' on the Babish Culinary Universe Youtube Channel. If you like people having fun with food, in terms of cooking up whacky dishes and themes, this is the perfect show. The themes range from Astronaut Food to Food Illusions and elaborate 7-Course Convenience Store Tasting Menu - it's just so much fun to watch!
Or if you're like me and will watch anything Sohla features in, you're probably already watching this. And if that is you, please message me so that we can fangirl over this amazing woman. Team Sohla all the way, baby! 👑
Cute Food Things
Another serving of some adorable foods I came across on the interwebs this week 🐣
It's highly likely Tanaka Tatsuya is going to be featured in every one of these segments in the future. I mean, just look at the genius! 🤯
That's it from me for this week! Keep cooking and eat all the delicious foods, mi amigos. Pasta la vista!
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