Guest Post : Quick & Easy meals and more awards !

Hello everybody !!!! In today's post I have focused on the importance of Quick & Easy meals . Be it work lunch breaks, dinner parties, family meals and many other aspects of our day-to-day lives can be simplified and made more enjoyable with easy meals.

This is a nice article sent to me by Carolyn , who's basically from Atlanta. She has shared some nice tips on cooking quick and easy Fish Recipes, which I felt might be helpful for everyone. In her words,

" While I was in college at the University of Texas at Austin, I realized that I was eating a lot of low quality food just because it was faster than cooking. I decided that I had had enough McDonald’s and Taco Cabana, and I began looking for quick ways to make meals. I started by looking up recipes online, and now I have just begun to develop my own little tricks and such."

Fantastic Fish Dinners on the Fly: Easy Meals for Busy Folks

These days, full schedules are a way of life.  Between work, kids, social obligations and having to take care of every little detail that keeps a house up and running, preparing a tasty, nutritious meal for the family seems too daunting to dare.  The key is to plan easy meals, and you’ll be able to keep everything under control.  Easy doesn’t have to come out of a box or freezer. Fish is fast to cook and a delicious protein with millions of simple sauce options just bursting with flavor!

If you keep a well-stocked spice rack and a few basic condiments in the fridge, any piece of fish can quickly turn into a family favorite in 20 minutes or less.  Grilled or broiled, pan seared or poached; a quality piece of fish is versatile to many different techniques and flavors.  Grab a bundle of asparagus or a bag of fresh spinach and sauté with olive oil and garlic or lemon and serve alongside halibut or mahi mahi with herbed drawn butter.  Cook fish however you like and heat 1 stick of unsalted butter in a pan, skim off the surface foam and add minced garlic, lemon juice and fresh chopped thyme or tarragon, salt and pepper to taste.  Your whole family will love this easy and simple dish, and you’ll know they’re getting essential omega-3 fatty acids.

For other nutritious side-dish ideas, check out what is in season for the best-flavored fruits and veggies to serve with your fish course. Also, the closer the fish is to your region, the less time it has spent traveling to you.  

If you have to debone or decapitate the fish, freeze the extra bones and bits to render a perfect fish stock for a great soup and stew base.  

Shrimp, clams, scallops and other shellfish are also a terrific and quick way to add a little protein and flavor to any simple pasta or noodle dish. With 3-5 minute cooking times, who doesn’t have a few minutes to sauté a dozen shrimp to top off dinner?  Try boiling angel hair or fettuccini pasta in a large pot and sauté scallops in butter, remove scallops and add lemon juice, garlic, fresh tarragon, thyme or basil. Then pour the herbed butter over pasta and scallops.  Top with Parmesan, fresh cracked pepper or red pepper flakes for spice.  For richer flavor, trade the butter in for bacon. Cook the bacon first and use the grease for the scallops.


Don’t think of cooking as something you need at least an hour or more to do. Whip up easy meals with any kind of fish, and leave everybody satisfied and begging for seconds!

If you find this article helpful , do share your thoughts so that I can come up with more such write ups. You are also welcome to share personal TIPS on easy Fish cooking. I would love to share them with everyone !!!!!!!!

Now coming to the award :

Manju@Manju's Eating Delights  has been so sweet to pass on this lovely  award  to me. Thanks a ton Manju for this kind gesture ! She has a wonderful space with so many unique and interesting recipes.

Now is my turn to pass on this award to 10 of my Blogger friends :

Suja of Kitchen Corner

Treat & Trick

Biny of Biny's Recipes

Sushma of Authentic Food Delights

Divya of Divya's Recipes

Kitchen Flavours

Vidya of Sugar'N Spice

Sarah of Vazhayila

Pushpa of Taste as you Cook

Reva of Kaarasaaram

Please accept the award and post it in your blog with the name of the blogger who has given you this award with a link to his/her blog. Pass on to 10 of your Blogger friends to keep the ball rolling.

One simple fish curry with Raw Banana

This is one more simple Fish Recipe with Raw Banana which my mom prepares occasionally. Other than Raw Banana, she also uses Potato/Cauliflower/Carrots/Beans  for preparing this dish. Check out for more recipe ideas with Raw Banana (only veg) at the end of this post !

Raw Banana, which is considered to be a good source of Potassium and Vitamins like A and C, helps to reduce the risk of Blood Pressure. Another major health benefit of Raw banana is their capability of fighting intestinal disorders. It not only helps to reduce diarrhea, but also gives relief  to ulcer patients suffering from over acidity.

Here is a picture of banana plantation in my backyard in West Bengal..isn't that awesome! 

Mixed Veggies with Prawns and more awards :-)

I don't know why I didn't post this recipe before, but this is one Quick and Healthy side dish which my mom prepares almost everyday for lunch. In this recipe ,you can add different veggies according to your choice and taste. Instead of prawns , my mom sometimes use Fish head of Rohu/Katla. There's one very special recipe made using cabbage and head of Rohu, which I may post very soon. 

Exclude the prawns if you like. This is one good recipe for vegetarians as well. 

One spice mix that is used in this recipe is Panch phoron (Bengali 5 spices ). I have mentioned about this spice mix in my earlier posts . As a recap, Panch phoron, also known as panch puran is a colorful blend of flavorful seeds - the green of fennel seed, black mustard and nigella seeds, golden fenugreek and buff-coloured cumin seeds. There are other variations like : substitute anise for the fennel seeds or wild mustard for cumin, radhuni seed for mustard, and possibly black cumin for nigella. If not available in market, add all the ingredients in equal proportion or according to your taste.

 There are lot such Bengali recipes which are very simple yet healthy and flavorful. I'll come up with more such Recipes down the line :-) 

Crab Chettinad Masala

Reposting Recipe for ongoing events....Pls .find the event details below

Whenever I have prepared a chettinad curry before , I have tried with either chicken or egg.  As my hubby was insisting on preparing  a chettinad  curry for quite some time and I also had my last batch of crabs in my freezer, so I thought of  trying chettinad crab masala instead.  I was also inspired by Harika's Chicken chettinad masala she posted some time back in her blog . I have used the same spices as I use for my Chicken chettinad masala . I have kept the gravy medium spicy so that my daughter can also try it. Both my hubby and my daughter loved the crab masala  so much, my hubby has  insisted on making it with crab again :-) 


Those who are new to the term  Chettinad, it is a region of the Sivaganga district of southern Tamil Nadu state, India . Chettinad is well known for its Chettinad cuisine, Mansions, and Temples.

Shorshe Golda Chingri (Lobster in mustard sauce)

Reposting recipe for ongoing events....pls find the details below....

     

WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY & PROSPEROUS DIWALI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm back with this delicious and super simple Recipe of Indian Scampi or Golda Chingri which is an absolute favorite among the Bengalis.

              

 Also known as Fresh Water lobster, they are extremely flavorful and little sweet in taste . This dish is preferably prepared with Black mustard seeds as it's intense aroma and the heat always add a kick to your dishes. Can use Yellow mustard seeds  instead  if you want less heat going in. 

Just love these gorgeous Lobsters !!!

Crab Kosha

Reposting Recipe for ongoing events....

"Chicken kosha ", a bengali specialty curry  is one of my party favorites  . Generally I make this dish with chicken/mutton , but I  was dying to try this recipe with crab for a long time .   If you do not want to use crab ,  try this recipe using chicken . It's better not to try this dish with any other fish as it needs a lot of stirring and the fish might break into pieces .   

Celebrating Bhai Dooj with Bengali Fish Recipes

This time Bhai Dooj was very special for me as I happened to celebrate the same with all my cousins in my maternal uncle's house after 17 LONG years ! It was the First Bhai Dooj celebration for my daughter as well !

Of the 5 days I spent óver there, I happened to visit the Fish Market one day . Located very near to Bay of Bengal , I was truly amazed to see so many varieties of sea fish like Seer, Mackrel, Pomfret, salt water shrimp, Rangi Ruli, Baul, Gang morala, Paniasia, Tapda, Rupa patia to fresh water fish like Rohu, Katla, Bhetki, Sole , Pabda, Pangash and many more. ( Could not figure out the english names of majority of the fish, hence used their Bengali names :-)).  

Of which the Sun Dried Fish was the most significant. They reminded me of my childhood days when we used to enjoy the Fish fry with Rice soaked in water with a little mashed potato to go along with it. Though it gives out a very pungent odor while frying, but it tastes awesome. All you need to do is to fry them in a little oil :-)  

On the eve of  Bhai Dooj my aunt, who is a Great Cook  prepared  some beautiful  Prawn Tikkis, Prawn Malaikari (Prawn in coconut milk gravy) and Macher tetul/imli tok (Fish in tamarind sauce). Read more for Recipes....