Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Delightful dinner.. Soy curry & greeny-kopita..

I was all excited today.. about my new joining date at work which will be after our west coast trip.. yes! got an OK from my lead engineer @ work.. the much awaited trip for both of us after a very long time..

I just wanted to celebrate the moment... so I thought of trying some new recipe.. Now that Sel and I have decided to reduce the intake of oil / carbohydrate-rich food, I have to consider that while venturing out any new dish.. So, I decided to prepare something with mustard greens.. Usually I prepare saag paneer, but as paneer is loaded with fats and calories, I have to find some new recipe to use the greens.. Then I remembered that Sel wanted to buy spanakopita but refused after looking at the nutritional value.. So I decided to prepare the same with mustard leaves + spinach as an appetizer.. The entire dish used only 1 tsp of olive oil and I baked the final mixture instead of frying it.. So, we saved ourselves from a whole load of calories.. :)

Greeny-kopita Recipe: (I prefer fresh veggies as frozen ones has more sodium.. It takes an extra few minutes, but that's OK by me.. :) But, if you are on a time crunch, then go ahead and use frozen veggies..)
> Boil Mustard greens + Spinach leaves - 5 mins
(later, you can also drink the water from boiling the greens.. Just add a pinch of salt & pepper for a tasty spicy drink)
> Heat Oil (1 tsp).
> Add Chopped Garlic (1-2) + Ginger + Onions (1 medium sized)
> When the raw smell is gone, add coriander cumin powder (1 tsp) + red chilli flakes (depends on your spice level.. Sel doesn't eat spicy foods, so I added 1tbsp even though I would like to add more spice...* ufff*)
> Add boiled greens (it'll be a little watery, but wait till it evaporates).
> Add cheese (I used fat-free cheese).. Cheese is usually salty so check before adding extra salt..
> Keep stirring and add salt and then wheat flour (1/4 cup).

When the paste consistency is reached, let the mixture cool..
Now, prepare the phyllo sheets as instructed (I usually get this in Target).. I know how difficult it is to use the phyllo sheets, but believe me, its worth it... :)
>> Take a layer of phyllo sheet, use fat free spread on the corners (it does a better job than butter)..
>> Fill in the greens mixture and roll it into small triangles or any shape you want (just keep the filling covered)..
>> Preheat the oven to 350 deg. With a little bit of cooking spray (calorie free) in the baking oven, arrange all the greeny-kopitas...
>> Kopitas will be ready in 20-30 minutes (Depending on the size of the kopitas).. :)


Ofcourse, I didn't stop with just that.. For main dish, I wanted to prepare something with paneer.. But decided to go for soy chunks and prepared soya curry.. (Just a regular mix of oil + jeera + fenugreek seeds + garlic + ginger + onion + tomatoes + coriander-cumin powder + garam masala + salt + ground soya chunks (boil before grinding)).. These chunks are fat-free and are loaded with proteins.. So, there wasn't any need for me to prepare a after-dinner dish (because there are days when we feel hungry within an hour or two after our early dinner.:))..

It sure looks yummy and we really enjoyed our guilt-free, low calorie food!!!!
It was tasty and yummy and healthy.. Which led me to a thought of preparing similar low-calorie dishes and posting it in my blog whenever time permits..

I'm glad that Sel and I are trying our level best to keep up our promise to eat healthy food everyday... :)

3 comments:

  1. Wow!! as soon as I saw the pics I was like "Oh my god"!! Looks very tasty. Make sure that you keep this zeal of cooking even after you start your new job. Eating healthy is important. I don't think at this age you have to really worry about all the carbohydrates and everything. Just keep it under par thats it. Thats my 2 cents

    ReplyDelete
  2. That looks RIDICULOUSLY MOUTH WATERING !!
    when are you giving us the pleasure to try this ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. @ Alex - Thanks.. Will post more pictures from my cooking from now on..

    @ Caesar - Thanks re.. Pleasure will be mine when I give you such foods to eat ONLY when you visit NJ.. *did you hear that!!!*

    ReplyDelete