Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries - Easy Healthy Dessert

Summer means bountiful berries and delicious desserts, but when it comes to ripe and luscious strawberries combined with rich and dark chocolate, more often than not, a platter of Chocolate Covered Strawberries can easily serve to be the perfect answer for your dessert needs, without being overly heavy! The summer in California gives us huge red strawberries that can be amazingly sweet, and with a packet of Ghiradelli's delightful dark chocolate, you are all set to make a dessert that's pretty and healthy. So for our bbq last evening, I chose to make a dessert of strawberries dipped in chocolate ganache, and as expected, everyone loved it!

Ingredients
6 ounces semisweet chocolate - chopped
15-20 large strawberries - washed and dried very well

Method
Wash all the strawberries, and make sure to keep their stems.

Put the semisweet chocolate into a large heatproof bowl. Fill a medium saucepan with a couple inches of water and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Then turn off the heat; set the bowl of chocolate over the water to melt. Keep stirring until it becomes smooth and silky. (Alternately, melt the chocolate in a microwave at half power, for 1 minute, stir and then heat for another minute or so until melted.), in batches of 30 seconds each.

Once the chocolate has melted, remove from heat. Line a sheet pan with parchment or waxed paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip the fruit into the dark chocolate, lift and twist slightly, letting any excess chocolate fall back into the bowl. Set the strawberries on the parchment paper. Repeat with the rest of the strawberries.

Set the strawberries aside until the chocolate sets, about 30 minutes, or you can refrigerate them for 15-20 mins too, or until its time to serve!

Drizzle your strawberries with some white chocolate if you like. Serve the beautiful chocolate-dipped strawberries with some cold coffee or a round of chocolate-coffee martini!

Related Recipes:
Chocolate-Banana Bread
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake
Liquer-Infused Chocolate Heart Cakes

Related Tags
chocolate, desserts, fruits, healthy, entertaining

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Creamy Asparagus & Mint Soup

Since my last adventure with grilled asparagus salad, I had been itching to try the creamy Asparagus Soup which is considered to be a favorite way to devour the goodness of these stems. Its really easy to make, and there can be several variations that you can try. I chose to make a simple one with creamy white sauce mixed with onions, garlic and spices. Asparagus has a strong flavor by itself, so cream and mild spices help to tone it down a bit, accentuating it in a nice way. I chose to add a few mint leaves as well to give it a nice color, and a wonderfully fresh aroma!

I took inspiration from the traditional Cream of Asparagus soup recipe, and modified it a little to add the mild flavor of mint. I also reduced the cream a little to make it healthier, and substituted that with regular milk. With a touch of thyme, butter and black pepper, this asparagus soup is as refreshing to eat as it looks! Off this goes to Dee's Herb Mania featuring "Mint" this month!

Ingredients
Serves 4-6

2 tbsp + 1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp fresh cream (or whipping cream)
2 cups milk
3/4 pound fresh asparagus
1/2 white onion - chopped finely
2 cloves of garlic - chopped finely
3-4 mint leaves
water (as required)
salt and pepper - add to taste

Method
To make the white sauce, melt the 2 tbsp butter in a saucepan over low heat. Blend in the flour, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth. Then add the milk and cream, and allow to cook and thicken, all the while stirring constantly, so it does not stick or get burnt. Once it starts to bubble, remove from flame, give a final stir, and set aside to cool.

Take 1 tbsp butter in another wok; melt it, then saute the onions and garlic in it to it becomes soft and glazed.

Wash the asparagus and cut in 1/2-inch pieces. Cook asparagus in a small amount of boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain the cooked asparagus, and reserve the remaining liquid.

Set aside a few of the asparagus tips or pieces for garnish. Wash the mint leaves, and blend them with the cooked asparagus to form a smooth paste. Add the onion-garlic mixture to this, and blend again to make a smooth puree. Pass the puree through a food mill or press it through a sieve to remove smaller granules.

Now measure 1 cup of the cooking liquid and allow to boil on medium-heat; add water if needed. Then add the white sauce and pureed asparagus-mint mixture.

Heat thoroughly and check for taste; season with more salt and pepper if desired. Once done, remove from flame and allow to cool a little.

transfer the Asparagus soup into serving bowls. Garnish with a stalk or 2 of the reserved asparagus. Dash some more pepper on the top, or add some more cream if you like. Serve the hot and creamy asparagus soup with some breadsticks, and enjoy the goodness of the greens!

Have a wonderful July 4th weekend, and hope you have a great time with your bbq grills and your family & friends!

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Tofu & Basil Thai Soup
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Handvo - Healthy Vegetable Cornmeal Cake

"Handvo" is a cherished gujarati recipe which can be called a savoury steamed vegetable cornmeal cake, and is filled with several nutritious ingredients. The flour used in Handwo generally consists of corn, rice and chana dal(lentils). It is then combined with yogurt, spices and healthy vegetables, then allowed to ferment before steaming in a vessel, leading to yield a soft and delicious, yet healthy snack which can be relished with chutneys or tea. It is a beautiful blend of spices, flour, fresh vegetables and yogurt to make a light snack, or in my case a fulfilling dinner!

"Handwa Flour" can be bought from any indian store, and would look like coarsely-ground idli-flour; it consists of chana dal, rawa and cornmeal, so I would recommend trying to get the actual flour first. If you simply cannot find it, then you can use yellow or white cornmeal. Please keep in mind that the latter has a typical corn flavor, which will dominate the flavor of the dish. I'm sending this traditional gujarati recipe to Pam who's hosting weekend-herb-blogging for Kalyn this week.

Ingredients
2 cups handva flour (or cornmeal, as a second option)
1/2 cup bottle gourd or zucchini
3 tsp shredded carrot
1/4 cup fenugreek leaves
1/4 cup spinach leaves (optional)
2 green chillies -finely chopped
4-5 garlic cloves - finely chopped
1/2 tsp ginger paste
3 cups buttermilk (or yogurt mixed with water)
1 tsp soda bi-carb (fruit salt)
** increase it by 1/2 tsp if you don't feel its frothy enough
1 tsp each urad and channa dal
salt - to taste
1 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar (optional)

For Tempering
1 tsp mustard seeds
2 tsp sesame seeds
2 tbsp oil

Method
Take buttermilk in a large vessel. Add salt, soda and flour and mix well. As the mixture begins to froth, cover and set aside for 6-7 hours for fermentation.

Grate the bottle-gourd or zucchi and squeeze out all excess water. DO this after the fermentation is done, as leaving bottle-gourd in air oxidises it and makes it turn brown.

Now add all the vegetables, bottle-gourd, spices and green chillies to the flour mixture.

Heat oil in a pan, add urad & channa dals, and the mustard seeds. Allow to splutter, then pour half of it into the batter and mix thoroughly.

Steaming
Pour the mixture into a steel or aluminium container. Place in a Steam Cooker and cook like idlis, for about 25-30 mins, then check to make sure its cooked through. Remove from flame and keep it covered for another 7-10 mins. Once cooled, you can slice it into wedges.

Baking
Put in a greased oven proof deep container. Pour remaining seasoning and sesame seeds on the top. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes. Then reduce to 300 and bake for another 30 minutes until done. Check by inserting a skewer or toothpick, which should come out clean. Slice into wedges and serve hot.

Individual Pancakes
You can even drop pancake-sized portions in a greased covered cook-top sauce pan instead of the oven, and let it cook for 10 mins, or until done. Its a little time-consuming, but works great when you want to dazzle your guests!

This goes to my Healthy Cooking event, and if you haven't cooked already, please do share you healthy recipes with us for the winner gets a copy of Pam Anderson's new cookbook!

Serve the Handvo with cilantro chutney or tamarind chutney; for me, I'll gladly have it with a cup of Masala Chai!

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