An Ankitha Gadag original recipe for a super easy pesto
I absolutely love pesto. Not only is it simple and quick to make, it is one of the most versatile recipes ever! Why would anyone ever buy pre-packaged pesto when it is such a cinch to make?! By making your own pesto, you can avoid all the artificial preservatives that come with most store bought products. The recipe I’ll be sharing today is an Ankitha Gadag original recipe! The key here is of course the fresh basil & garlic, but as you will see, every other ingredient can be a concoction of your favorite herbs, nuts and spices.
You can use pesto with pretty much everything. I use mine with eggs, pasta, as a spread in a sandwich, or even as a sauce to a good steak (it’s the italian chimichurri ;))
For this recipe you will need:
Ingredients:
Parsley (1 bunch)
Basil (1.5 bunch)
Garlic (1 bulb)
Nuts (1 cup of your choice, I prefer cashews or pine nuts… you can use almonds if you want to keep it healthy)
Parmesan cheese (1 cup)
Serrano (1)
S&P to taste
Olive Oil
lime juice to taste
Steps:
Add all ingredients except olive oil into your blender
While blending, slowly pour olive oil until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency
Impress your guests with this easy Sudanese side-dish with only 5 ingredients!
Hello & Welcome to Ankitha Gadag Recipes where all the recipes you will find are unique, exotic and curated by myself, Ankitha Gadag. If you are a new follower to Ankitha Gadag Recipes – Welcome! If you are a loyal follower – then I apologize for the long delay in curating a new recipe 😦
To catch you guys up to speed, I have been busy on the art front, I gave you guys a little snipped of some of my creations in my last blog (Ankitha Gadag’s Baked Whole Snapper Recipe!) Butttt, let me tell you, selling and establishing your artwork is no easy feat! How do you entrepreneur artists make it out there? I am open to any and all advice, suggestions 🙂 I have also been working on framing and customizing packaging for customers. Here is an example :
Apart from the art, I have been busy working on my portfolio website for my technology consulting business. (Yes, I am an artist and a tech-geek :)) If you haven’t checked it out already, make sure you go visit Ankitha Gadag Portfolio – and don’t forget to send me feedback.
Alright, enough with catching you all up on my life. Back to business. Now, you are probably wondering, what in the world is Salata Aswad and why would I want to make it? Well, let me explain…
Salata Aswad is a wonderful eggplant & peanut butter dip that originated in Sudan. Although there are variations of this dish within South and North Sudan, the version were going with today is the most authentic. The flavors remind me a lot of baba ghanoj, except better, and all credit is due to the creaminess from the peanut butter. This dish was inspired by my Sudanese friend’s mother who is an amazing cook herself. I feel so fortunate to be able to share this treasure of a recipe with you all today! It is so easy to make with all the ingredients you most likely already have. Why would you NOT make it, is the real question?!
This recipe can be eaten as a dip with some pita bread, or served as a side. I personally love to spread it over my scrambled eggs in the morning.
Ingredients:
1 eggplant
2-4 cloves garlic
1 tomato
1 lemon
2 heaping tbsp peanut butter
1 serrano pepper
1 tbsp cumin powder
Instructions:
Start by cutting your eggplant in half and drizzling some olive oil on both sides
Set your oven to broil and bake the eggplant for about 10 mins. You will want to flip the eggplant halfway through
Your eggplant is done baking when the outer skin is crispy and the inner meat has browned a little
With a fork, scoop out the inner flesh of the eggplant and dispose of the outer skin. In a bowl add in the remaining ingredients.
Blend well and add salt, pepper and cumin powder. Garnish with parsley (optional)
Serve with some hot pita bread! Enjoy and let me know how you made it yours!
You guys know I love featuring ethnic cuisines in Ankitha Gadag Recipes. Anything with spice, flavor and speaks to cultural influences in the ingredients is a good candidate for an Ankitha Gadag recipe! Sambusas are generally crispier less oily version of samosas which are absolutely delicious. I like to think they are the healthy version 🙂 Check this recipe out, I am salivating!
0000 OUR MINI ETHIOPIAN FEAST We didn’t forget that we promised to post a couple recipes from our non traditional feast that took place last Thursday, more specifically, our crispy lentil sambusa recipe. I think you’re really going to like this one. If you haven’t caught on already, I’m a swooner for all handheld appetizers. They…
A great week night recipe when you are running low on energy and time. Another Ankitha Gadag original recipe!!
Fellow Bloggers & Readers,
First off, I, Ankitha Gadag owe you all an apology. I cannot believe it’s been over 14 days since I have posted a recipe to Ankitha Gadag recipes! This is not the Ankitha Gadag treatment I would like to uphold for my readers.
That said, boy do I have a treat waiting for you guys. Before we get into that, let me update you guys on what has been keeping me busy these last few weeks.
ART
Yes, my passion. I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to take the plunge and give my artwork the fair shot of being visible to the masses. That was really my only goal. I had no idea HOW or WHAT I was going to do to make this happen, but I took it step by step. Started by researching a few shows nearby, and submitted my work to one that looked easy enough to apply to… and VOILA! Ankitha Gadag is a featured artist at the upcoming Pancakes & Booze art show. That was the single catalyst that has gotten the ball rolling on all the work I have been procrastinating for… since forever. (Just to give y’all a sneak preview, here’s one of the pieces I’ll be showcasing 🙂 )
Any who, back to why were all here: FOOD!! Today’s recipe was a little challenging for me, but if y’all know me you know me, you know I love a challenge! I love fresh fish, and I wanted to try cooking a whole fish, but I requested that the butcher take out the eyes. He looked at me perplexed, but did it anyways. I didn’t want to have the added anxiety of eyes staring up at me while I was garnishing the fish’s interior.
I used a beautiful red snapper, I highly recommend you request the butcher to de-scale and de-bone the fish!
Notice: No eyes
Here is what you will need:
Fish of your choice ( I used a red snapper)
compound butter (I used a garlic herb butter)
2 clove garlic
lemon pepper seasoning
lemon
salt/pepper to taste
basil
Method:
Melt the butter and add the seasoning and garlic into the butter.
Cover the cleaned finish with the butter seasoning mix. Make sure to dress the cavities of the fish thoroughly
Top with the lemon slices and basil
Cover and bake for 15-20 mins & enjoy!
How easy is that?? Literally 20 mins and great for a late weeknight meal. Pairs wonderfully with a simple cucumber avocado salad or fresh greens!
I wanted to feature this on Ankitha Gadag recipes because I think this recipe trumps it in terms of creativity. What a cool concept to create a mouse like concoction with your breakfast eggs! What do you guys think?
I have prepared eggs many different ways, but was only just recently introduced to steamed eggs. The eggs are blended with twice the volume of liquid, strained and cooked in a steamer. The result is a very light silky smooth custard. Learning of this technique opened up a whole new culinary playground for me. The […]
Easy tomatillo salsa with less than 5 ingredients!
Tomatillo salsa has an extremely unique taste in my opinion. The green tomato adds a tartness to the mix that can be a little hard to handle if its not blended with the right spices. It needs balancing flavors to take the bite out of it. Originally, I had planned for this recipe with an addition of roasted spicy hatch peppers. I had never heard of hatch peppers before coming to Texas, but they are a BIG deal in the Southwest. There are entire festivals dedicated these roasting events and you can find hatch flavored anything at the grocery stores. Salsas, cornbread, biscuits,cheese, bread, etc. It only made sense that I hop on the bandwagon and incorporate them into a recipe. Unfortunate for me, my hatch peppers sat in the fridge way too long, and um, expired… so we will be omitting that today from the recipe. But, feel free to incorporate them if you are able to get your hands on some hatch peppers! Instead I used a regular tomato to balance the tartness of the tomatillo.
What you need:
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
2-3 Tomatillos (green tomatoes)
1 -2 serrano peppers (depending on your spice preference)
handful of cilantro
1 red tomato
Method:
Start by setting your oven to broil, and laying all your ingredients in a tray to broil. Leave skin on everything
Drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and black pepper
Roast until veggies are blistered
Now, dispose of the blistered skin, and blend all the veggies in a blender.
An easy recipe for a Sunday brunch recipe that’s all vegan!
As you may have picked up by now, I, Ankitha Gadag, am NOT a vegetarian or vegan or any variation of that. Ankitha Gadag is and will always be, a (proud) Carnivore. No offense to anyone who is Vegetarian/Vegan/Other, but I am still primitive in the sense that my hunter-gatherer ancestors and I had one thing in common – our love for MEAT!!!!
That said, this recipe will blow you away. It’s dairy free, vegan, vegetarian, etc and it still tastes delicious. I had to get creative when cooking brunch for a vegetarian friend (FYI, brunch options get REALLY limited when you can’t use eggs…).
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy it. It’s relatively easy to make and needs few ingredients!
Ingredients:
1 package of firm tofu, drained and pressed
3/4 can of coconut milk
1 tbsp of ginger
½ onion, chopped
½ onion, chopped
1 large garlic clove, minced
¼ red bell pepper
4 white mushrooms
¼ teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon of salt
Lemon zest
Paprika
1 serrano pepper
1
Method:
Saute onions, garlic, ginger and sliced serrano pepper in some olive oil to let out the flavors
Add in the bell peppers and mushrooms and let it cook till soft
Recipes on Ankitha Gadag are healthy! Ankitha Gadag’s recipes is proud to present a favorite fall time treat from Ankitha Gadag.
Absolutely love that this creaminess is achieved….all while keeping it healthy. Great weeknight recipe, check it out guys!
I just love gnocchi!! They are wonderful, fluffy little pillows of potato-ey goodness! Now you add some veggies and a generous amount of creamy sauce and you have a tasty, comforting soup that will…
Welcome to Ankitha Gadag recipes. I am your “host” Ankitha Gadag. Ankitha is the recipe curator behind all of the original recipes found here on Ankitha Gadag’s Recipes.
Here is a cool spin (get it… cool? cucumbers? …nvm) on a recipe I posted a while back on Ankitha Gadag Recipes for a chilled avocado & cucumber soup. This recipe is great, because it’s dairy free for all my vegan friends and still has the same great flavor of cucumbers.
Check it out on the blog below!
Since the girls started school, it feels like a whirlwind of nonstop activity! It seems as though I am even more time challenged than ever before. I want to post this recipe, however, before the winter really sets in and no one can even think about making a cold soup. There is always the possibility […]
A healthy easy week night dinner salad with oil-free dressing!
Welcome to Ankitha Gadag recipes. I am your “host” Ankitha Gadag. Ankitha is the recipe curator behind all of the original recipes found here on Ankitha Gadag’s Recipes.
This light and refreshing salad is fantastic when paired with a nice fresh piece of salmon. Most people feel the need to pair a vinegar with an oil. What’s great about this salad is that it’s able to achieve great flavor & texture through champagne vinegar with no added oil! Have you guys tried champagne vinegar yet? I am new to this phenomenon but a definite fan 🙂
To get started, you will need:
1 mandarin orange
1/4th cup crushed walnuts
1 cup arugula salad
1/4 th cup shaved Parmesan cheese
drizzle of champagne vinegar
handful of raisins
S & P to taste
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and serve! Easy Peezy!
Hope you guys enjoy this delicious salad. Let me know how it tastes!
Ankitha Gadag Recipes 