Kidz

Watermelon Lemonade

Summer heat is very bad here in India. We are drinking copious amounts of juices, smoothies and milkshakes. The other day I made a healthy summer drink, Watermelon Lemonade. Its a wonderful concoction with sweet and sour flavours and quenches our thirst during these sultry summer days. Just some freshly squeezed lemon juice, honey, a dash of salt and of course watermelon juice.

Watermelon Lemonade Recipe

Blend 3 cups of watermelon cubes and strain (if required). Keep aside.
Add 3 tbsps honey, 5 tbsps freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1/4 tsp salt to 3 cups of ice cold water. Add the blended watermelon juice to the lemonade and mix. Serve in tall glasses with ice cubes.

Variation – Add crushed mint leaves, 1/2 tsp chaat masala and 1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder for a desi twist.

Vegetable Stuffed Omelette

Healthy egg breakfast recipes usually comprise of our family favourites like Stuffed Omelette with vegetables and greens and scrambled eggs with toast. Chirag loves his omelette stuffed with vegetables or shredded chicken and of course, with a good dose of grated cheese thrown in. Preparing omelette in this manner means I get Chirag to eat relish certain vegetables that he usually detests. I even sneak in greens like amaranth and spinach. 

I receive a lot of queries from readers on how to make omelette. Making egg omelette is easy and its matter of practice before you attain that perfect omelette. 

Stuffed Omelette Recipe

Prep & Cooking: 15 mts

Cuisine: Western

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Ingredients:

2 eggs

salt to taste

black pepper powder to taste

1 tbsp milk

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsps grated cheese

For stuffing:

2 shallots, finely sliced

1 1/2 tbsps grated carrot

1 tbsp capsicum, finely chopped or sliced

2 french beans, finely chopped

1/4 cup chopped spinach

1 1/2 tbsps finely chopped cabbage

pinch of red chili pwd

salt to taste

2-3 tsps olive oil

How to make an Omelet
1 Heat 3 tsps oil in a pan, add shallots and saute for 2-3 mts. Add rest of the vegetables and spinach and saute for 7-8 mts. Season with salt and chili powder. Turn off heat and keep aside.
2 Break 2 eggs in a bowl, add milk, salt, pepper powder and whisk till frothy.
3 Take a pan, drizzle a tbsp of oil, and heat it for half a mt on medium flame.
4 Pour the whisked egg mixture into the pan and swirl it around to spread evenly. Reduce flame to low and allow to cook for a mt and flip over. Cook for a few seconds.
5 Flip the omelet again and place the sautéed vegetables on half of the omelet. Sprinkle grated cheese and cover the vegetables with the other half of the omelette and cook for a few sec.
6 Remove the omelette onto a serving plate and serve with tomato ketchup.

Zebra Cake

This recipe is long overdue. For Christmas I had prepared a Zebra cake 

following Farida’s step by step zebra cake pictorial. An impressive cake 

that turned out delicious.Since I used a small cake pan, only half of the

b

atter could be accommodated, hence I made two small cakes with the below

recipe.

Zebra Cake Recipe

Preparation: 15 mts, Baking: 40 mts

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Ingredients:

4 large eggs

1 cup sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup oil (corn, vegetable or canola)

2 cups maida/all-purpose flour

1 tsp vanilla essence

3 tsps baking powder

2 tbsps dark cocoa powder

1 Combine eggs and sugar in a bowl till light and creamy. Add milk, oil and vanilla essence and beat till smooth.
2 In a separate bowl, combine maida and baking pwd. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and beat until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are completely incorporated. Do not overbeat.
3 Divide the batter into two. Add the cocoa pwd to one portion and combine well.
4 Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease the baking pan. The most important part is assembling the cake batter in a baking pan. Pour 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan. Then pour 3 tablespoons of cocoa batter in the center on top of the plain batter. Continue alternating with plain and cocoa batter without pausing for the batter to spread.
5 Bake for 40 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the cake it should come out clean when ready. Remove from the oven. Run a small thin knife around the sides of the pan to loosen the cake. Leave aside for 15 mts and invert the cake onto a cooling rack. Turn the cake back over and cool further.