Leftovers turned into a Risotto-pasta dish

Leftovers are something we all have to deal with at times.  We are often faced with the extra rice or boiled pasta at the end of the day and very reluctantly we keep it in the refrigerator to toss it in the garbage the following day.  If we stretch our imagination a little, we can come up with innovative dish, something not available in any cookery book.  Moreover you don’t want your family to accuse you of feeding them stale food.

One such day I saw the leftover rice and boiled pasta in my refrigerator.  So I decided to turn that into something relished by everyone.  Here is my experiment.  I hope you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed cooking it.

Ingredients:

1 cup leftover cooked rice, 1 ½ cup pasta, 1 cup washed and chopped broccoli, ½ cup chopped carrots, ¼ cup chopped green peppers (bell pepper), ¼ cup chopped onion, 1 clove of garlic crushed, 2 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp cream cheese, 1 tsp chives, 1 tsp lemon pepper, ½ tsp coriander powder, 1 tsp red wine vinegar, ¼ cup ketchup, salt to taste

Method:

Heat oil in a pan; add garlic and onion and sauté for a couple of minutes.

Add broccoli, carrots, green pepper to it till vegetables turn little tender.

Mix chives, salt, lemon pepper, coriander powder to it and stir.

Add cream cheese and mix it well so that everything gets well blended.

Now add your leftover rice and pasta and stir it for a couple of minutes.

Sprinkle the red wine vinegar and toss it.

At the end pour the ketchup over it and mix it.

Serve hot.

No Cook Chocolate Ice cream

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.” has been rightly said by Charles M Schulz.  On a hot summer day, what else can you ask for other than chocolate and ice-cream.  This no cook chocolate ice-cream has cream, condensed milk, nuts and gobs of chocolate.  In other words this is no low fat, low calories or low anything so if you are looking for something guilt free, go for salads and carrots. I must tell you this ice cream is loved by everyone and it is hard not to go for second and third helpings.

 Ingredients:

1 cup grated semi sweet baking chocolate,  ½ cup grated white chocolate,  ½ cup almonds roasted and chopped into small pieces, ½ cup cashews chopped, ½ can condensed milk, 2 cups whipping cream, ¼ cup milk

Method:

Take out half of condensed milk in a big bowl.

Beat the whipping cream till it is smooth and creamier.

In a double boiler, melt dark and white chocolates.  Mix milk into this to make it more liquefy.

Immediately pour this into the bowl of condensed milk.  Wisk  it vigorously so there are no lumps formed.

Now add half of whipped cream and nuts to this and mix it very well.  Save the other half of cream in the refrigerator.

If you feel it is less sweet you may add a spoon full of sugar to it.  Remember we shall add other half of cream to it so add sugar accordingly.

Freeze it in a flat dish for 3 or 4 hours.  Take it out of the freezer, when it melts a little, add the other half of cream to it and blend it well.

Freeze it overnight.  

Note that the ice cream may be quite hard when you first take it out of the freezer, so may want to let it sit for a few minutes to soften it before trying to scoop.

Mango Ice cream

Mango ice-cream is a delectable dessert and the best part is, it is easy to make.  The sweet and scented aroma of this king of fruits gives this ice-cream a creamy texture.  When mangoes are not in the season, you may use ready made mango pulp available in the market but I must acknowledge that the flavor and aroma of fresh mangoes imparts this dessert a luscious and heavenly taste.

 

Ingredients:

3 Alphonso mangoes or any other sweet mangoes, ½ can of condensed milk, 2 cups of whipping cream

Method:

Peel off mangoes and take out the pulp.  Put it in a blender and puree it.

Take out the condensed milk in a big bowl.

Add mango pulp to the condensed milk and mix it very well.

Beat the whipping cream with an electric beater.  Creamier the better will work here.

Add half of this cream into the mix and save other half in the refrigerator.

If your mangoes were a bit tart, you may add a teaspoon of powdered sugar.  It just depends on how sweet is your tooth.

Freeze it for 3-4 hours.  Take it out of the freezer and mix it well with a tablespoon.  Now add the other half of the whipped cream to this semi frozen mix.  Blend it well and freeze it overnight.

If you have extra mango, chop it into small bits.  Top these pieces on the ice cream while serving.