Monday, April 20, 2009

Day 1: Fatoush like Salad


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Today was ok. I definitely craved all kinds of grains from Biryani to fish and rice but that was all in my mind.

I sacrificed my morning tea too and still I was ok. I am not a coffee drinker so no problem there.

Lunch was pretty satisfying but I need larger portions tomorrow. After 3pm I wasn't feeling that good though. For some reason I have a pounding headache.

I couldn't do the Fatoush as I didn't have zatar or feta at hand. So my salad was this:

In a bowl add chopped cucumber, chopped red radish, halved grape tomatoes and chickpeas. In a separate bowl make a dressing of Olive Oil + Lime Juice + Minced Garlic + Red Chili Flakes. Toss the salad with this dressing.


I have this dressing saved for the other salads too.

The Keema Chickpea was damn good. I kind of followed the Rajma Keema recipe but did not marinade the keema(minced meat) or anything. I also did not use Whole Garam Masala or my favorite Maggi Ketchup to make it tangier. Added the canned chickpeas after washing thoroughly towards the end of the cooking and mixed well


The Hot & Sour Soup went like this

In a deep bottomed soup pot add very little olive oil. Flavor the oil with minced garlic, ginger and green chillies. Add chopped mushroom(I added carrots).Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, white vinegar, little salt and bring to boil. I did not add the cornstarch which goes in mixed with little water. When the soup comes to a boil add some shrimp. Add lime zest and garnish with chopped scallion. I omitted adding an egg to make the string thingy


Thanks for all your ideas. Cheela wins hands down for weekend menu. I have not had pesarattu so don't know how it will be.

Besan or Gram Flour is flour made from chickpea, a legume. I guess if that is processed even cooking oil is. However Besan contains high proportion of carbohydrate but no gluten. The higher carb is ok or not ?

18 comments:

  1. Hi Sandeepa,
    Looks like it's going great. Headaches happen in such cases where u move away from the regular diet. Probably drinking plenty of water may help to get rid of it.(press the thumb on either sides towards the tip using the thumb and index finger of the other hand. do this 14 times on both the thumbs,this helps subside the headache) The salad looks colourful and really health packed.
    Take care

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  2. So a successful day now, the salad looks awesome you were telling us in your post that it is gonna be tough to follow but you did it with ease... I am waiting to see how and what you did for the rest of the days sply the weekend specials... Hats off you are giving the rest of us some encouragement... I dearly appreciate you for this effort as you have crossed this day, managing your kid too...

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  3. No carbs, Sandeepa :) so I'd advise you to skip cheela. Pesarattu is also caleld Adai. Its basically lentils soaked and ground with some spices like chillies and ginger and made like dosa.

    Full of proteins. Skip rice flour if that is mentioned in the recipe!

    And great going! :)

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  4. Great going! Salad is pretty attractive...wait the rest of the week!

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  5. One down ... 6 more to go. I think ektu non veg (grilled / roasted) allow korle onekta craving kome jaye.
    All the best. :-)

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  6. Hi sandeepa .
    1 successful day is over & another 6 days are remaining .Salad looks really delicious . I will also start from next week ( after read you review) .
    By the way you can't have tea without milk & sugar ?
    All the best ...

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  7. Sandeepa, besan is skinned garbanzo beans - finely ground to a powder. Not processed.

    If that bothers you, skip it.. Try this instead - easy to make. I've skipped the rice many times and got similar good results.
    http://towardsabettertomorrow.blogspot.com/2007/03/easy-pesaraddu-light-breakfast.html

    All beans and dals have carbs - but lesser than grains. They are not simple carbs like white rice or white flour. It's upto you to decide whether you want to do besan or not.

    Looks like a great first day!!

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  8. Salad looks like great idea for lunch Sandeepa, fills you and good for you too. Make everything spicy, they say that chillies make you lose wt and make you feel full for longer time. Beyonce girl drank hony and Cayenne pepper drink for 2 months to lose wt for a movie!
    I had a nasty headache too when I did one day Liquid thing, drink lot of water to rehydrate.
    I am making Pesarattu today, soaked green Moong! :)

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  9. Besan has protein, right? Flour made of Chana dal, so why not make Cheela? You do need some carb per day to keep up the energy, so not bad.

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  10. U must have got headache, becoz of the change & also may be hunger, since it sounded like u did not fill up. that looked little yaar. add more beans to the salad, ... boiled rajma, chickpeas.. that kind. the veggies just disappear, but those fill u up. or pan grill a chicken breast at night & have a cold grilled chicken. That's a big filler. Drink lots of water. can't say about the carb in besan, don't know enough... but i guess it is not the same as white things.

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  11. yayyy, for the first day. Today is my 1st- had fruits and yogurt for breakfast, and got some toasted walnuts for the munchies. I made adai(1/4 cup each of - moong, toor, masoor & channa dal; 1/2 cup-urad dal, soaked for 1hr and coarsely ground with red/green chillies, ginger, salt and hing) and tomato chutney for lunch. I usually have coffee in the evening, but going to replace that with green tea or orange juice. Might make a veggie/lentil soup for dinner (& lunch tomorrow). Need to figure out the exercise part :D

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  12. Great start, Sandeepa! Drink lots of water too. Sorry about the headache - maybe it did not have anything to do with the headache.
    If you like Avocado maybe add that to your salads, the fat is good with the carbs reduction.

    Oh and for the exercise, the weather is nice today, take the kiddies for a stroll that counts right?

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  13. Here's a carby not-so-carb drink: Boil two tsps of oats with lots of water (maybe about a litre) and a pinch of salt. Drain off only the water into a glass and have that - it sounds like blah, but it fills you up. You can use other seasoning too! Though managing the craving is the hard part in any diet. With a chickpea/other lentil salads, it won't be so bad.

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  14. i promise you, dear sandeepa, if you stay without sugar for a week, you won't crave it at all. i wish you all the best with your diet plan.

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  15. Good work - and kudos for your persistence! am sure it will pay off. The salad looks very healthy and delicious.

    The pesarattu is made of green whole moong dal and is full of proteins and tasty to boot. Plus very simple to make. Just soak overnight and grind with spices - no fermenting etc.

    Miri

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  16. Hi Sandeepa,
    Hope u r diet prg is going good. Must have got rid of ur headache too I guess. Was here to let u know that I made paati shapta today evening, it tasted great :) I made it using wheat flour. My husband loved it. Thanks dear.
    Wishing u luck for the rest of the diet prg!
    TC

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  17. hey i make this salad too, albeit slightly modified form.

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  18. I could tuck into this salad, zatar or no zatar. Great dish, Sandeepa. I'm backtracking here to your Day 1 post, but I see that you survived your low-carb adventure. ; }

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