Guest post from FillMyRecipe: Vegetable Rice (Pulav) seasoning mix

My girls are still absolutely crazy about rice, and these days I've been packing a hot thermos with rice dishes to send in my daughter's school lunch every day. I try to mix it up with the spices a little to give her different tastes from around the world. Today with the help of FillMyRecipe I made her a little taste of India for her lunch tomorrow using the spices for vegetable rice (pulav).

Her pre-packaged seasoning mix comes with all spices needs to make this delicious dish.



Pulav seasoning mix (single use)

½ tsp cumin seeds
2 pods green cardamom
1 pod black cardamom
1 bay leaf
1” stick cinnamon
¼ tsp clove
Pinch of saffron

What else you'll need

1 cup chopped vegetables (carrots, peas, green beans)
2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup long-grained rice or basmati rice


To garnish

2 tsp oil,
1 tbsp chopped cashews
1 tbsp raisins
1/2 cup white onions chopped thin & long (optional)

Cooking Directions

Remove spices marked with * before serving

1. Heat oil in skillet on medium heat, lightly brown cumin seeds, green cardamom*, black cardamom*, bay leaf*, cinnamon*, clove* for 20 seconds.


2. Add chopped vegetables, stir fry 1 min


3. Add washed and strained rice, stir fry 1 min


4. Add water, saffron and salt, cook covered until rice is ready (Note: you could cook mixture in a rice cooker if you like)



Optional:

5. Garnish: fry cashews, onions and raisins in 2 tsp oil for 1 min until golden brown. Add garnish to cooked rice and vegetables, mix and serve hot



The rice was perfect, fragrant and delicious (I managed to sneak in a few bites while packing her lunch). Definitely another hit from FillMyRecipe!

Guest post from FillMyRecipe: Curried Green Beans Spice Mix

Today we have Sara from FillMyRecipe guest posting for the blog. Back in June she posted with her delicious curried cauliflower and carrots spice mix. I still make that recipe all the time to serve with tandoori chicken , chana masala, or masoor daal.

Curried Green Beans Spice Mix (single use)

Contributed by Sara Parthasarathy, co-founder, FillMyRecipe LLC



Fresh green beans delicacy is flavored with genuine ethnic spices included in this package. This popular recipe of South India is relished as a side dish with rice and lentil soup.

Whenever I dine at an Indian restaurant, I look forward to savoring the salivating curries, flavorful rice dishes and soft breads. While these dishes from North India are popularly served in Indian restaurants in United States and Canada, there are many more interesting dishes prepared in other parts of India that are healthy, tasteful, and unique. You see, India is a land of many states, and each state has its own culture, its own cuisine, and yes, its own language! Imagine driving to the next province or state and experiencing a different culture, different food, and speaking a different language!!

I hail from Tamil Nadu, one of the South Indian states, and, the dishes I make are way different from those generally available in local Indian restaurants. Born a vegetarian and living life as one, I have collected a variety of South Indian dishes that have been passed down through the generations. Many of these dishes fall into the vegan category as well, since they don’t include dairy products.

Here is the recipe for one such dish – Curried Green Beans – an all time favorite of mine, that my great grandmother used to cook! My great grandmother was a culinary master, whipping up exotic South Indian curries with aplomb, cooking for a family of no less than twenty hungry youngsters. To this day, her culinary skills are unrivaled – and I am sure you will love her simple recipe.

Add a unique twist to this year’s Thanksgiving Dinner with this new Curried Beans casserole! You can acquire pre-measured, individually packed spices for this recipe from www.fillmyrecipe.com .

Enjoy the experience of cooking this flavorful dish!

Curried Green Beans recipe pack contains following ingredients for 2 servings:



Prep time: 5-10 minutes, Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients assembled in the Spice Mix packet

1 tsp splitblack gram lentil
1 tsp chick peas lentil
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp red chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric powder
1/4 tsp asafetida

You need

1/2 lb (2 cups)fresh green beans cut into 1” pieces (Tip: you could use frozen beans as well)
1 tbsp cooking oil
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp grated coconut (optional)
10” non-stick skillet



Cooking Directions: (Remember to stop and savor the flavors!)

1. Heat oil in pan, sputter mustard seeds
2. Add cumin seeds, asafetida, split black gram lentil and chick peas lentil fry to golden brown
3. Add green beans, salt, turmeric powder and red chili powder
4. Cook covered for 10 mins stirring every 2-3 mins.
5. Remove cover, stir fry on medium heat until moisture evaporates
6. Stir in shredded coconut (optional), remove from fire

Variation: substitute ¼ cup green beans with carrot cut into 1” cubes

Serve hot with rice and lentil soup





I tried out her spice packet in the Mix It Up kitchen. First I assembled my ingredients:



I stir fried all the spices in order, then added the green beans. I omitted the red chili powder which I suggest anyone with small children do as well. Use it if you like spicy food!! When I make the recipes from scratch I substitute the chili with paprika to keep the red color/mild pepper flavor. Also if you can't track down asafoetida you can substitute 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon onion powder for 1/4 teaspoon asafoetida (I know this doesn't add up, but it works. I use it all the time in my Indian cooking).



I served them with some basmati rice. I ate the whole thing myself because it was so good and I didn't want to share.



FillMyRecipe is a great company because it allows you to try out Indian spices in small quantities without buying huge packets of spice right away. They have many pre made packets but can also 'fill your recipe' by providing the spices you need in a recipe you find in a cookbook or online.

You can also 'like' their Facebook page.

Tandoori Seasoning Mix

Our thirteen year old car is due for an emissions test in January and there is no way it's going to pass. In the meantime we're frantically saving our money for the new car we're going to have to buy when the time comes. This means... no more take out!!

One of the most tempting and expensive forms of take out I crave is Indian food. We can easily blow $40 on just one meal for the two of us and right now that's not an option. So if I want Indian I have to make it myself. And yesterday I really, really wanted it...

Tandoori Seasoning Mix (single use)

1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons coriander powder
3/4 teaspoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon pepper
3/4 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
pinch cardamom powder




What else you'll need

1 cup plain yogurt
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken cut into cubes

You can use this as a dry rub too, but it tastes more authentic if you marinade the chicken in yogurt first. Combine the mix and yogurt and stir well, then mix in the chicken. Marinade in the fridge for 8 hours.



String marinaded chicken pieces onto skewers and lay them on the grill to cook.



Grill until chicken is cooked through and marinade darkens in color.





I served the chicken skewers with basmati rice and cauliflower curry (seasoning mix found here).



Not only did this make a large and authentic meal inexpensively for my husband and I, it also made 2 small meals for the children and best of all?

2 big containers of leftovers for lunch today! Because everybody knows that Indian tastes even better the next day!

Onion Salt Mix

This is a simple seasoning that I like to sprinkle on whole chickens before roasting them. It's also amazing on fries and other potatoes.

Onion salt mix

3 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon onion powder



I poured the ingredients directly into a dollar store spice jar.

And shake!!!



Done! Easy and delicious!

Blackened Seasoning Mix

I am just getting over the flu. Who gets the flu in May? What a waste of beautiful weather!

I didn't make it grocery shopping this week so we are still eating from our freezer. Aside from all the ground beef, we also have a giant bag of frozen sole I bought at Costco, so I wanted a new way to cook it. I looked around and came up with...

Blackened Seasoning Mix

2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon- 2 teaspoons cayenne (1/4 for super mild-feed-to-your-kids, 2 for super spicy or anything in between)



I put mine in a dollar store spice jar with a shaker top. A double batch would probably fill the jar.



Blackened seasoning is good on chicken or fish, but I had fish to use up so that's what I made. I'll probably use the rest of the jar on some chicken later this week.

I coated the fish in melted butter, sprinkled on the seasoning on both sides and then pan fried it.





I served it with homemade fries and steamed broccoli. It was perfect!

Montreal chicken seasoning

BBQ season is here! (Well some days. It just keeps on randomly snowing around here). I like this seasoning because it's great on the grill or in the oven (depending on if we have snow or sun).

Montreal Chicken Seasoning Mix

1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon thyme



Combine seasonings in a spice jar with a shaker lid.



Shake it on top of chicken before grilling or baking.



Perfection!

Apple Pie Spice

One of my favorite Christmas gifts from my husband this year was an apple corer/slicer. I got sick of finding slimy apples with 3 bites out of them around the house but was too lazy to slice one up every time my 3 year old asked for one. Now I just whip that baby out and have a sliced up apple in 2 seconds. Any leftovers can be easily popped in the fridge for later consumption, baking or drying at no extra effort to me.

Now that it's so effortless to chop apples, and the cold weather makes using the oven a pleasure instead of a pain, I've been been able to whip up apple crisp any time I feel like it. I already use my: universal fruit crisp mix for the topping to make things easier, but I needed something to quickly season the apples underneath as well. So...

Apple Pie Spice (single use- for one pie)

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
pinch allspice
pinch ginger

Big batch (makes a whole spice bottle for multiple uses)

1/4 cup cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger

I sliced up my apples with my handy dandy cutter and put them into pyrex bowels before sprinkling on the spice. I like to do individual crisps- 2 bigger ones for mama and papa bear and a little one for baby bear. There is less mess, less dishes and less waste this way.

I covered the apples with crisp topping before baking in the oven at 350 until the topping began to brown and the apples below were tender.

This dessert is SO delicious but is loaded with fiber and is low in sugar. It's less fat and work than pie, although this spice works nicely for traditional pie, cakes and turnovers as well. I also had a dieting roommate who would make it WITHOUT the topping- just bake the apples and spice in the oven and eat it which is also incredibly delicious and 100% healthy. But I don't mind a little bit of topping myself...