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Tag: What to Eat

Foods To Include In A Diet Made To Accelerate Your Metabolism

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

There aren’t any shortcuts to losing weight, the body is too complex and by its design, has not evolved to take on massive changes so suddenly. As we get older, although in our youth we may have been spritely and full of energy, a more mature body slows down. Metabolism is the process in the body which breaks down chemicals in order for life to be sustained. Exercising regularly and getting plenty of sleep, are ways which control your energy consumption needs at a molecular level. However, not everyone can lead an active lifestyle and have the time to workout to keep those extra pounds off. But there are certain foods which speed up metabolism, thus accelerating the breaking down of the food you eat, making the energy more viable to be used than be stored; these foods support the mechanisms that will aid in burning fat.

Source – Steve Johnson

Spice

Hot peppers such as jalapeno, green Indian chillies, cayenne and spicy Italian red chillies directly tell your metabolism to speed its circulation. The spicy nature of these vegetables also reduces cravings, for sugar and fatty foods. It’s because the compound capsaicin stimulates the body’s pain receptors and the body reacts to this by increasing blood circulation and the metabolic rate. Some studies have shown that if you eat a chilli dish, that makes you profusely sweat to the point you get a runny nose, it boosts your metabolism by nearly 20% and can last for 2 hours.

Softly softly approach

If you would really not go down the no pain no gain route, whole grains can act just as effectively but in different ways. Oatmeal and brown rice complex carbohydrates which force the body to speed up metabolism by stabilizing your insulin levels. Because, of their slow burn nature, they’re great ingredients for a meal to have with supplements such as HCG Triumph. The body’s natural processes of burning fat are combined with a low-calorie intake diet, that spikes your consumption rate. This the two methods balance each other out by the complex carbohydrates releasing slowly, yet the supplement hastening digestion.

Acidic fruits

Knowledge coming out of the State University of Rio de Janeiro has found that women who eat three small apples, pears, tomatoes and oranges lost more weight than those who did not. The obvious reason is because of the acidity of the fruit, reacts with the stomach’s own acid, creating a calm but turbulent metabolic rate. Whipping into action are enzymes which break food down, and the faster that happens, the quicker the nutrients enter into your intestines. Organic apples are one of the most available fruits in any shopping market, so you can’t complain about not have access to a simple solution to burning fat.

Credit – Robert Judge

Broccoli soup

Rich in calcium

Secrets in the Spice Mix- Book Launch by Pankaj Bhadouria at Piali, CP

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Pankaj Bhadouria, has been a household name ever since she won the title of first Master Chef India, and there has been no looking back for her. Her constant growth in terms of her cooking skills and her overall persona has been an inspiration to many women who used to think that cooking is only a duty and not a passion that can turn your life around. But Pankaj has proved her mettle over and over again, and more recently by launching her 5th book, she not only proves her capabilities as a chef but also tries touching a million chords by giving her readers exactly what they need.

Food is synonymous to breath for her and spices are the essence of it. Her journey of teaching kids in a classroom to teaching young chefs and cooks the art of making food is one of its kind. Right after winning the competition she has come to the world imparting her culinary skills to the world through the form of shows or books.

The right blend of spices is crucial to Indian cooking and it’s the combination of different spices that make some dishes so hard to resist. India’s First MasterChef Pankaj Bhadouria has identified around 50 such spice mixes with a tantalizing recipe following each spice mix which can be made at home. With 4 books to be acclaimed for, Pankaj’s 5th book, The Secrets in the Spice Mix, helps you make these wonderful spices at the comfort of your home and infuse some authentic flavours to your everyday cooking.

Chosen Piali, The Curry Bistro, as the venue for launch of her book, Panjak went on to conduct a live cooking session as well.

Piali’s menu is one of its kind and what makes it different is the class of curry and the spices that go into making them what they are! One such dish on the menu is the Thai Curry. Pankaj not only shared her secret spices and signed the books for her followers but also demonstrated the cooking of the Thai curry live for the present audience.

“I am really excited to be launching my secrets at Piali and the following live cooking session. I am happy to be able to share them with my audiences and where better than a place which savors the spices the most!” said an eager Pankaj.

Upon being asked what her favourite cuisine and dish was, she said it without any apprehensions that her favourite cuisine for sure is Indian, and she loves home cooked Khichdi, for the simplicity of the dish. Here is a glimpse of the event coverage right from the Piali’s Facebook Page.

She is such a down to earth person, that meeting her overtime, leaves me inspired totally. She fills me with so much of gratitude and warmth. I wish Pankaj all the success for her book, and stay tuned, will be sharing the book review and a recipe from it soon as I am currently reading my personally signed copy of the book, and in my kitchen trying the recipes.

 

 

Mango Mania at Imperfecto

Mango Mania at Imperfecto

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Come summers, and almost every restaurant comes up with special menus, and we surely need them, because we need a reason to celebrate summers, and what better than food. When talking of food and summers, its difficult to ignore mangoes, and keeping this combination in mind, Imperfecto came up with an AAM Menu.

 

To try this menu, I went to the Sector 38 Noida outlet, and first things first, you cannot ignore the ambience of this place. Right from the moment you step into the restaurant, the spaciousness, the decor, everything takes on you. Explore the place which is spread across almost three floors, as the terrace itself as two levels, and what a terrace, words cannot justify the beauty of this place, you really have to visit and see for yourself. Lush greenery, amazing artistic pieces, comfortable seating and a great view, it has all.

Now coming to the food, the mango menu, had a great mix of salads, appetisers and main course dishes along with specially curated cocktails and mocktails.

To beging with the 3 course meal, we first tried the salads,  Alphonso Mango Salad and Street Cart Mango Salad. The alphonso mango salad as the name suggests was prepared using alphonso mangoes and was on a sweeter side because of the obvious reasons, but was very refreshing. It had some apples too. Having alphonso mangoes is always a treat and I really enjoyed this creation. The Street Cart Salad, on the other hand was sweet and sour, striking a balance between flavours especially with the presence of capsicum slices in the salad the taste was well balanced. I enjoyed both the salads to fullest.

 

I enjoyed these salads with a glass of Mangoberry, which was an amazing mocktail made with fresh mango pulp, mint and a hint of lime.

 

Coming to the appetisers, its really difficult to say which one was the best, as each one of them was amazing and trust me I mean it.

Mango Chicken Tikka was simply delicious, chicken tikka grilled to perfection with a nice tangy mango sauce, an unusual combination but amazing tastes. Both the tandoori flavour of chicken tikka and sweetish tanginess of mango complimented each other.

 

Grilled Chicken with Mint Sauce was one of the best dishes I have eaten in recent times, such tender and juicy chicken chunks with dollops of mango sauce and green chutney, it was more than delicious. The sweetness of mango sauce, the spiciness of green chutney and the juices of grilled chicken, overall made it melt in a mouth experience.

 

Stuffed Chicken with Mango was another flavoursome dish and I really liked it. For vegetarians, there was Stuffed Cottage Cheese with Mango and Grilled Paneer with Mango Chutney, I tried a bit of both of these dishes, and they were amazing.

 

 

For the mains, we had Malaysian Style Mango Chicken Noodles and they were amazing. Though the mangoes were really sweet in themselves, but the overall spices balanced the taste well, and not even a single dish looked or tasted a forceful fit of mangoes.

Then we also had the Chicken Mango Rice, Yan Chow Style, which again tasted really good, and I again have to say that the mango wasn’t a force fit, the dishes, the spices, and presence of mango really complimented each other and that was the best part. Even the vegetarian varieties, were great to taste

 

I wish they had included some desserts to this AAM Menu, but sadly there weren’t any. Nevertheless, this mango menu trial should definitely be on your list and its available all across the Imperfecto outlets. So hurry up, offers valid till mangoes last!

Imperfecto Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato

Chef’s Special Recipe- Garlic Tossed Spinach Filled Cottage Cheese Cannelloni

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Enjoy this amazing recipe shared by Chef Anirudh Nautiyal from the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel

Garlic Tossed Spinach Filled Cottage Cheese Cannelloni
Here is the list of ingredients and its quantity

CANNELLONI
Cottage cheese 100 gms
Spinach (blanched) 100 gms
Garlic 10 gms
Onion 10 gms
Nutmeg powder 01 gms
Salt 05 gms
Pepper 02 gms
Olive oil 05 ml
LENTIL SAUCE
Yellow lentil 50 gms
Onion 05 gms
Garlic 05 gms
Salt 02 gms
Olive oil 02 ml

 

METHOD

  1. Keep lentil for cooking and make a fine puree later on
  2. Sauté onion and garlic in a pan. Add blanched and chopped spinach-season it and keep it separate.
  3. Sauté onion and garlic in another pan, and add lentil puree-adjust seasoning and keep aside
  4. Now cut thin slices of cottage cheese and sear it on a hot plate, add spinach mixture and roll it like cannelloni
  5. Now arrange it on a plate and pour lentil sauce on top and serve piping hot

 

Recipe-Duo of Vegetable Dumpling with Lemon Honey Dip

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Who doesn’t love enjoying dumplings, so here is a beautiful recipe shared by Chef Anirudh Nautiyal from the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel, so don’t just enjoy dumplings, but make them yourself and then enjoy to the fullest

Ingredients and Measures

Carrot 10 gms
Beans 10 gms
Broccoli 20 gms
Cabbage 10 gms
Spinach 50 gms
Tofu 20 gms
Salt 5 gms
Sesame oil 05 ml
Garlic 02 gms
Light soy sauce 02 ml
Ginger 05 gms
Lemon 02 ml
Honey 10 gms
Spring onion 05 gms
Whole wheat flour 100 gms

METHOD

  1. Make dim sum dough by kneading whole wheat flour with water, add little salt to it and keep it covered.
  2. Now make a mixture of vegetables with ginger, garlic and light soy sauce
  3. In the other mixture, add spinach, pok choy and tofu…let the mixture cool down
  4. Now sheet the dough and make dim sum and keep it covered. Apply little oil to the tray so that the dim sum doesn’t stick
  5. Steam the dim sum and serve hot with lemon honey dip

Eating Enough Fruit And Veg Made Easy

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

We all know how important it is to get enough fruit and vegetables in our diet, yet the large majority of us fail to do this. It may not always feel like it, but eating the recommended amount of fruit and veg doesn’t need to be a challenge. Here, we’ll list some of the easiest things you can do to make sure you’re getting enough fruit and vegetables in.

Image: Wikimedia

Keep Them in the Open

Simply making the fruit and veg in your house more visible can be a great first step towards encouraging everyone in your household, you included, to get their fill. Don’t hide them away at the back of your cupboards. Instead, get a fruit bowl for the kitchen, keep it well-stocked, and have snackable things like carrot sticks available at the front of the fridge. Even taking the time to slice up apples, kiwis and so on can give you a little extra motivation to take a bite in passing.

Drink Them (Up to a Point)

Juice and smoothies are excellent ways to get your fill of fruit and veg, and make it feel easier. You can even start following a whole juice diet if you’re looking to lose weight. The next time you’re shopping for fruit, look for labels that say “100% fruit juice”, as a glass of these are guaranteed to give you a serving. Just be wary of the portion size, and make sure you know how much a serving is. It’s completely possible to wind up consuming more calories through juice and smoothies, even though they’re not exactly filling!

Think Frozen

Buying bulk amounts of peas and vegetables, and keeping them in your freezer, is an excellent way to make sure there’s always vegetables in the house. Frozen veg is remarkably easy to prepare, and can be kept for a long time, making them much more economical compared to buying fresh veg here and there throughout the week. Frozen raspberries and blueberries are also great to scatter over a bland cereal in the morning. Despite what you may have heard, it’s a complete myth that frozen fruits and vegetables are less nutritious than fresh ones, although the flavour can be a little dampened depending on where you source them from.

Get Started Early

Like a lot of things, the sooner you get started with eating your recommended amount of fruit and veg, the easier you’ll find it to polish it off. Start getting into the habit of making fruits or vegetables part of your breakfast. Adding sliced bananas or berries to your cereal is a classic, but you can also add vegetables to an omelette, berries to your yoghurt, or simply have a piece of fruit on the side. Soon enough, this will start to feel like part of the routine, rather than a chore you really ought to do. From there, you’ll have that much less to worry about through the rest of the day.

Start applying these tips, and you’ll find it so much easier to get your fill of fruit and veg.

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