Sweet Potato - orange n thyme chips

These didn't last fifteen minutes after we made it!

Slice the sweet potato. Grate orange peel(about 2-3 tbsp), and mix it with olive oil(3 tbsp).
Glace the baking tray with olive oil and line up the slices. Brush the tops with the olive oil and orange rind mixture, and sprinkle fresh thyme, salt and pepper.

Bake @ 160 deg for about 20 minutes, or till they turn crisp.

Pumpkin- nut loaf

I got up early today. With Ram still in bed and nothing interesting on tv, I was looking at a really long lazy Saturday ahead of me. I had bought a wedge of pumpkin from the supermarket for making a soup, but then the bread seemed like a perfect baking project for the day.
Making this loaf involves two very basic steps- Making the pumpkin puree mixture and folding it into the flour mixture. (maida+atta+salt+sugar+cinnamon)

You can add dry fruits, nuts, muesli just about anything crunchy to the batter before tossing it into the oven for about 45 minutes at 170 deg c.

Notes: I added a bit of vanilla essence, you can add maple syrup to the pumpkin puree.
For an extra kick you can add more spices like nutmeg/ cloves to the flour mix.

Fig n' Feta Salad

I fell in love with the fig and feta salad in Mia Cucina. I wanted to try it at home so many times, but finding figs in my area for some reason is really hard! Finally chanced on a box in Godrej fresh and pounced on it. It's a really simple and refreshing salad, the fig dressing gives it a nice sweet flavor.

The fig sauce to dressing:
Toss 4 small peeled figs, 2 spoons sugar and a tbsp of butter into a saucepan of boiling water (1 and half cups approx). The figs will start to soften in a few minutes. Make sure you keep squishing the larger pieces of fig.
Meanwhile mix 3 tsp of flour with 3 tbsp of lemon juice, till it forms a thick smooth paste.
Pour this paste into the saucepan. Now this is where you need to be a bit patient. Keep stirring this mixture in medium heat for about 20 minutes or so, till it reduces and becomes a nice creamy thick sauce.
For the salad dressing you would need to mix about 2-3 spoons of this sauce along with 3 spoons of balsamic vinegar. Use less sauce and more vinegar if you prefer a thinner dressing.
You can store the rest of fig sauce in the fridge.

For the salad:
Lettuce- I used iceberg, but if you're able to get rocket, it's the best.
2 beetroots- boiled and diced
a few cubes of feta cheese
a slice of toasted bread, diced.
pumpkin seeds or grated walnuts for more crunch.
salt and pepper
Toss all the ingredients together with the dressing