"Frozen" Hot Chocolate

If you love chocolate and are craving for hot chocolate in summer, this drink is for you. If you don't love chocolate (or pretend not to), this recipe will make you fall in love.

It is super easy to prepare and everyone you serve it to will love you even more. I Promise.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients
Milk - 2 cups
Hot cocoa mix packets (I used Nestle's) - 2
Semisweet Chocolate Chips - 2 tablespoons
Whipped cream on top (optional)
Chocolate sauce for garnish (optional)

Procedure
1) Boil milk in a saucepan on medium heat just until bubbles appear on the surface. Once they do, turn the heat off.
2) Pour the hot cocoa mix and stir with a whisk for 30 seconds.
3) Pour in the chocolate chips and whisk again until well incorporated.
4) Try not to drink all the hot chocolate. If you have a sweet-er tooth, add some more sugar at this step. Note that the hot cocoa mix already has some sugar.
5) Let the milk come down to room temperature.
6) After the milk has cooled, pour it in the serving glass.
7) Put the glass in the freezer for about 30 minutes.
8) After 30 minutes, remove from the freezer, add some whipped cream and garnish with chocolate shavings or chocolate sauce.

Note: The above recipe just cools the milk but does not set it. If you like a daiquiri type consistency, then you can pour the cocoa-milk mixture in ice tray, cover with plastic wrap, and let it cool a little longer. When set, throw them in the blender and serve chilled. To make life easier, you could also make a bulk of hot chocolate and store it in the ice trays covered with plastic wrap for up to one week.

Strawberry Lassi to Beat the Heat

On our regular days, when my husband and I get home from work, we are super hungry and grab anything edible that's in sight. Most of the time, that happens to be a bag of chips, which is not very healthy. The aim is to be full just for an hour or two, until dinner is ready. One day, I made Strawberry Lassi and we got hooked to it. It is cooling, refreshing, low fat and much healthier than potato chips. Also in scorching temperatures during summers like the current one, it helps keep the body cool and hydrated. The ingredients are very simple and you can tweak the recipe to your preference. Also you can use other fruits such as mango or pineapple to make variations of lassi.

This recipe serves two.

Ingredients
Skim Milk - 1 and 1/3 cup
Plain Yogurt - 2/3 cup
Strawberries - 8-10
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 teaspoon
Ice Cubes - 3-4
Honey - 1 tablespoon, or to taste (you can also use sugar, agave nectar, or sugar substitute)

Procedure
1) Blend all the ingredients together for about 10-15 seconds. That's it!

Easy Foccacia Recipe

Foccacia is very easy as compared to other breads, does not need much hard work with kneading or shaping and goes great with most soups and stews. It is also a great appetizer by itself with some herb olive oil! My recipe is adapted from Showmethecurry. I love their recipes!

Ingredients
All Purpose Flour - 2 cups
Warm Water - 1 cup
Yeast (preferably rapid rise) - 1 tsp
Sugar - 1 tsp
Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
Sea Salt - 1 tsp
Rosemary - 1 tsp
Thyme - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp

Procedure
1) In a small cup or bowl, add half a cup of warm water, yeast and sugar. Let it sit for about 10 minutes till the yeast blooms.
2) In a mixing bowl, mix in the all purpose flour and salt.
3) After the yeast has bloomed, add the water to the flour and start kneading. Gradually add more water and knead for 5-6 minutes till you get a soft and pliable dough. It should not be too sticky or dry.
4) Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and knead again for a minute or two.
5) Line a baking pan with parchment paper or if not using, grease the surface of the pan with olive oil. Place the dough in the baking dish and spread it so it has uniform thickness. Cover it with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it rest for 1.5-2 hours. 
6) Preheat oven to 400F.
7) Mix a tablespoon of olive oil with sea salt, rosemary, and thyme and gently brush the oil mixture over the dough.
8) Let the bread bake in the over for 15-20 minutes. It should be golden-brown on the top.
9) Slice into pieces and save a large one for yourself!

Note: In the picture you see the tomatoes which I have not included in the recipe, because I felt that the tomatoes prevented the bread underneath from getting fully baked and so it would be best to skip them.

Hearty Italian Veggie Soup

There are some days when all you want is a nice and warm bowl of soup. This Italian Veggie Soup is perfect for one of those days, and feels especially satisfying on cold winter nights. It is like a carnival of flavors and is really and canvas, that you can play with endlessly to match your preferences. This soup goes really well with Garlic Pull-Apart Rolls or freshly baked dinner rolls.

Ingredients
Olive Oil - 2 tablespoons
Garlic - 3-4 cloves
Onion - 1 small
Diced Green Bell Pepper - 1 cup
Carrot - 1
Canned Crushed Tomatoes - 1 cup
Frozen Corn - 1/4 cup
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes - about a teaspoon, or to taste
Salt - 2-3 teaspoons or to taste
Dried Rosemary - 1 teaspoon
Dried Thyme - 1 teaspoon
Chicken broth - 1 cup
Water - 0.5 cup
Italian Seasoning - 1 teaspoon or to taste

Procedure
1) Get all your ingredients ready - mince the garlic, dice the onion (does not have to be too fine), peel and dice the carrot and the bell pepper.
2) In a soup pot or a pan, start heating the olive oil on medium heat. You can substitute for vegetable or canola if you don't have olive oil on hand.
3) One the oil is heated enough, throw in the minced garlic and diced onion and saute for two minutes, until the onion and garlic start browning on the edges.
3) Add in the carrot and bell pepper and saute for two more minutes. You can also add other veggies that you like at this step (artichokes, boiled potatoes, zucchini) or omit some that you don't.
4) Add the crushed tomatoes and cook until bubbles appear on the surface and around the edges.
5) Add the chicken broth and half a cup water and mix well.
6) Add in the seasonings - crushed red bell pepper, salt, thyme, rosemary.
If I ever met the person who discovered thyme and rosemary, I would hug them for 10 minutes. Maybe more.
7) Let the soup cook for about 7-8 minutes on medium heat. Add the corn and let it cook for a minute more. Do a taste-test and adjust the seasonings until you love the balance of the flavors. Add water if the soup appears too thick.

Sprinkle some more Italian seasoning while serving the soup. A spoonful of pesto mixed just before serving also gives a very interesting dimension to this soup!

Serve warm with pull apart rolls, dinner rolls, or a Foccacia and enjoy your supper!

Blueberry Cobbler

There's really nothing much to say about this dish. It's sweet, tart, rich, and very summery. Combine it with vanilla ice cream to make a dessert which reminds you why you are blessed to be alive and taste something so delicious. My recipe is an inspired/modifed version of this one.

Ingredients

Fresh Blueberries - 2 cups
Sugar - 1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons (divided)

Orange, Mango, or Pineapple Juice - 2 tablespoons
All Purpose Flour - 2/3 cups
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1 tsp
Milk - 3 tablespoons
Egg (preferably at room temperature) - 1
Butter (regular, unsalted and at room temperature) - 1/4 cup
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp 

Procedure

1) Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2) Line a cake pan with parchment paper (or grease it with butter and a little flour). I used a regular circular cake pan and it worked great with this recipe.
3) In the baking dish, mix the berries, orange/mango/pineapple juice and add 1.5 tablespoons sugar. Give it a good mix and let it rest while you finish the next steps.
4) In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. If using self rising flour, skip the baking powder. If using salted butter, skip the salt.
5) Take another bowl (I'm making you use a lot of bowls but I assure you it will be worth it) and cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix until its nice and silky. Sometimes the egg curdles when you add it to the butter-sugar mixture. This can be avoided by using eggs at room temperature.
6) Now add 1/4 of the flour mixture to the egg-butter mixture and mix lightly, just until incorporated. Then add a tablespoon of milk. Mix well and continue adding flour and milk alternately.
7) Pour the batter over the berry mixture and mix lightly. Let the orange juice get mixed with the batter.
8) Bake in the over for about 35 minutes. After 20-25 minutes, sprinkle the cobbler with about half a tablespoon sugar and let it bake for another 10 minutes.
9) Remove from oven when the surface is golden brown and let it cool if you have the patience. If not, dig right in!

This goes great with a dollop of Vanilla Ice Cream. Go ahead and have a second serving, you deserve it!