MUSHROOM ON TOAST

Hi friends,

College was most beautiful time of my life.
A life without responsibilities, absolutely carefree, full of laughter and fun which made the long hours so much easy. Life revolved around friends and project and file submissions, infinite dreams and lots of romantic novels read through the night while unsuspecting parents thought their poor child was hard at work.
I was a day scholar so got fresh home cooked meals everyday, cooked by mom, dad or the helper.

A few of my college going friends who live away from home, on their own, with parents comfortably tucked away in bed across the globe while they are rushing to their classes, wanted me to give them some more 'easy to make, healthy breakfast recipes' as they now seem to be done with the unhealthy food that they had been grabbing on the run.

 So here is something especially for them.

Another one of my favourites...MUSHROOMS
They are low in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol and a good source of dietary fibre, protein,iron, zinc,vitamin B complex, vitamin C and many more minerals.
1 cup of mushrooms make one serving.
More information on nutrition in mushrooms on my posts
Chili Mushroom and Grilled Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms in Capsicum Coulis


MUSHROOM ON TOAST

Ingredients:
.Butter..................................1/2 tsp
.Olive oil.............................1/2 tsp
.Shitake mushroom...............1 cup, diced
.Onion..................................1/3rd cup, diced
.Red chili (fresh)..................1 tsp, finely chopped
.Ginger.................................1 tsp, grated
.Dried oregano leaves..........1/8th tsp
.Dried thyme leaves..............1/8th tsp
.Black pepper powder..........3/4th to 1 tsp (depends on your spice tolerance)
.Salt......................................to taste
.Lemon juice.........................1/2 tsp
.Coriander leaves.................1 tsp, finely chopped
.Parmesan cheese shavings...a little
.Toast................................... 2 slices

Method:
.Rinse* and trim the stems of the mushrooms.
.Heat the oil in a flat non-stick pan.
.Add the onions and a pinch of salt*. Do not stir for a minute.
.Add the ginger and mushroom, dried herbs and add some more salt. Mix well.
.Let it cook in its own liquid (which will be released from the mushrooms and onion due to the salt) on
 low heat.
.When dry add the butter, red chili, and black pepper powder and saute till the onions and mushrooms
 get crisp and change colour.
.Check for seasoning. Remove from heat.
.Add the lemon juice and chopped coriander leaves and mix well.

.Serve hot garnished with parmesan cheese shavings and toast .

.You can be as generous or as stingy with the use of cheese as you feel that morning.



mushroom on toast



*This dish works well as breakfast, afternoon snack or a starter.

* Put on a lightly toasted bread slice as a topping and grill till cheese melts.

*A mix of shitake, oyster and button mushroom makes it tastier and visually more interesting.

*This method of cooking with salt uses less oil thus making it healthier.

*You can choose to clean the mushrooms using a brush. I prefer to wash them as I just cannot get myself

  to not wash them.

PEPPER PEAS ON TOAST

Good Morning!! to all my friends in the Eastern Hemisphere and
 Good Evening!! to all my friends in the Western Hemisphere..

 This morning while waking up my 17 year old son Avik and my 12 year old daughter Anana I thought about the sweet things they do to make my husband and me smile, and this led me thinking about what I used to do to make my parents happy as  a young child and remembered this story. It makes me smile and I thought I would share it with all my friends.

I was in junior college when my mother had taken ill and I took it upon myself to cook for the family. They were simple everyday meals but I wanted to impress my father as most girls like to. So all breakfasts, lunches and dinners were cooked by me and after mom became well I still continued to make the chappatis (Indian flatbread) on the behest of my father, who said I made the best chappatis in the family.
Later on much after I got married I was relating this to my husband and he said that it was my father trying to encourage me so I got better at it.

Well, I would like to dedicate my first recipe ever on this blog to my dear father whom I love so much and wish he was here in this world with me. He would have been happy to see the way I have turned out to be.

This is a simple recipe my father made for us kids often at breakfast. I loved it then and I love it now.
Breads available in India those days, where I grew up, were mostly white.
I have brought in a wholesome change in the recipe by using multigrain bread.


pepper peas on toast(multigrain beetroot baguette)



If made at home this bread can be made more wholesome by adding beetroot or spinach for the colour and the nutrients that come with them.

PEPPER PEAS ON TOAST

Makes a great breakfast dish, tastes lovely with fresh peas and does equally well with frozen baby peas.

Serves 2 or a very greedy 1 (like me)

Ingredients:

.Olive oil.......................1/2 Tbsp*

.Butter............................1/2 Tbsp

.Cumin seeds..................1 tsp*

.Frozen peas....................2 cups

.Green chili.....................2 tsp finely chopped

.Black pepper powder....8 dashes*

.Salt ................................to taste

.Lemon juice....................2 tsp

.Coriander leaves fresh...2 tsp finely chopped

.Multigrain bread slices..4



Method:

.Reserve half the butter and olive oil and heat the remaining fat in a flat pan.

.When hot add the cumin seeds.

.When toasted(almost immediately) add the peas, salt and pepper, green chili.

.Mix well and cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until cooked. The peas will cook in their own steam.

.Mix in the lemon juice and coriander leaves and set aside in a serving dish.

.Mix together the butter and olive oil and brush the bread slices with it and toast them on both sides in   

 the same pan and serve hot.

Spoon in with a bite of the bread and enjoy!!

*6 dashes make 1 tsp

*Tbsp is Tablespoon

*tsp is teaspoon