Happy New Year 2013!

Happy New Year!! Wish everyone all the best for 2013!

Healthy Oatmeal Cookies
They are very easy and fast to make. They are not really sweet, so if you want sweeter either you add 1 cup of chocolate chip/raisin/cranberries/almond slices or put an addition of 1/2 cup of sugar. Personal preference : 1 cup almond slices to give more crunch.


Ingredients :
BOWL 1
1 egg
3/4 cup margarine softened
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp water

BOWL 2
3/4 cup white/whole wheat flour (1/2 cup whole wheat flour + 1/4 cup of ground flax seed)
3 cups oatmeal
3/4 tsp sodium bicarbonate
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chip/raisin/almond slices (optional)

Directions :
1- Preheat oven at 350°F.
2- Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
3- Whisk BOWL 1 until foamy and light.
4- Add BOWL 2 to BOWL 1. Mix well until all dry ingredients become wet.
5- Spoon out the mixture on the baking sheets.
6- Oven for 12 minutes. Cool down. ENJOY!

How to keep your fresh parsley/cilantro fresh?

As usually recipes call for only a quarter or at best half the bunch of fresh parsley/cilantro you just bought at the store, so what to do and how to keep the rest for future recipes?

1- Wash only when using them. Dry the leaves.
2- Put them in a pot with water.
3- Cover with a plastic bag and put them in the fridge.
(I heard that parsley don't need to be put in the fridge, so left it on the counter)

Baked Falafel

Don't feel like eating meat? Try this recipe. 

Please finely chopped the herbs/onions, otherwise it won't hold together because they will be too big (several trials and errors caused by my laziness).

Baked Falafel 

Ingredients : 

2 cans 19oz fl chickpea, rinsed and drained

2 TBSP white/whole wheat flour

3 TBSP fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 TBSP fresh cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2 tsp cumin, coriander, hot pepper flakes

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tsp baking soda

salt to taste

Directions :

1- Use a fork/potato masher and press against the bowl to mash the chickpeas until no more whole chickpeas visible.

2- Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.

3- Use your hands/spoon and form balls on a baking sheets then flatten them.
(more they are flat, more they will be crispy/dry)

4- Bake at 375°F (preheated oven) for 15 min each side. 

(Lazy advice : as I don't want to fatigue myself from flipping them, I switch bake mode to grill mode).

Enjoy plain or make pita sandwich with mint yogurt/tomatoes, according to your laziness level :)

~V.Cat~