Baingan Ka Bharta is like the hearty and comforting eggplant stew you look forward to after a long day, but it’s also a side dish. Spiced up with all the right ingredients, according to Shoba of Food Mazaa, it’s usually served with Hyderabadi Biryani. Hyderabadi Biryani is a dish named after the city where it originated, Hyderbad, India; usually a mutton and rice based dish, it can also be prepared without meat.

After you try it, Baingan Bharta will have a place on your weekly menu. It’ll remind your taste buds that spices other than salt and pepper exist! If you’re new to preparing Indian cuisine, the is the recipe you’ll want to use to get started. Shoba provides clear instructions for the recipe that are easy to follow, and there aren’t that many steps! You’ll not only savor this dish after it’s prepared, but you’ll also enjoy taking in the aroma of exotic spices, like coriander and tumeric, while it’s simmering on the stove.

When it comes to dinner sides, think of of the box this year and travel the world via your taste buds. Make it your resolution to introduce family and friends to the delicious foods they’ve been missing out on, like Shoba’s Baingan Ka Bharta!

With all of this heavy holiday eating coming to a close, its time to start preparing lighter dishes once again. When I think of light, warm winter dishes soup always comes to mind first. I guess the idea of sipping a warm bowl of soup while wrapped up on the couch just sounds too appealing.

When I came across Thip’s recipe for Thai Soup on her blog, Bonbini!, it looked too good to pass up! This soup is not only beautiful, it is delicious! Thip’s soup contains the perfect balance of sweet and salty with warm earthy vegetables to compliment the fresh prawns. The base of this soup is usually made of coconut milk or evaporated milk to add sweetness, but Thip explains that most Thai restaurants leave the milk out completely, so not to confuse customers with a very similar tasting soup called tom kha. A few of the ingredients may be a bit tough to find, but should be more easily accessible in your Asian market or larger organic grocery stores.

Be sure to stop by Thip’s blog. Her meticulous creations and beautiful photos are sure to impress and inspire you :)

Happy New Year! See you in 2009!

I couldn’t help but laugh a little to myself when I came across Lizzie’s blog Hollow Legs. Though the title itself is unique, what caught my attention was the blog description, it reads because I’m always hungry. I have to say that’s also my life’s motto :).

Though I do find myself hungry every few hours, one thing I repeatedly find myself craving are prawns. I have a confession to make, I’ve had a craving for these guys since the Summer months! What am I waiting for? Well, maybe just that perfect recipe with my name on it. Lizzie’s Sambal Prawns will leave all of our mouth’s watering. It’s a recipe she adapted from another blogger who she referred to as Sunflower. Lizzie says you can’t go wrong with this one!

Lizzie put this Malaysian-inspired dish together after purchasing a bag of curry leaves without hesitating; she saw recipes including curry leaves everywhere and, after searching, Lizzie finally found them! Her discovery resulted in the creation of an aromatic dish. The flavors she used are some of the tastiest, ranging from coconut milk and onions to tomatoes, and even a little bit of sugar to balance out the savory with the sweet. I know it’s finally time to give in to that craving!

I can’t believe that Christmas has already come and gone. So much build up and preparation, and then its gone before you know it. As much as I complain about it being such an anticlimactic holiday I actually love the baking and shopping, and all of the giddiness that goes along with this nostalgic holiday. One of my favorite gifts to give and receive are baked goods. I don’t know if I can even count how many cookies I baked and ate over the past month :)

Jen, the Beantown Baker, had a wonderful time participating in the 12 Days of Cookies blog event. Her first, and probably her husband’s favorite cookies were these cute little Lumberjacks. Made with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon these cookies have a nice chewy texture and a warm holiday aroma. These cookies can be quite dangerous since they are just the right size and you can easily lose track of how many you’ve eaten! Jen says she has no doubt that her husband would eat the entire batch if she let him!

If you have already had your fill of holiday cookies be sure to file Jen’s delicious lumberjacks away for next year’s baking!

Let’s say you still have a few holiday leftovers in the fridge and you’d really like something more than a stale dinner roll to finish off the mashed potatoes and gravy with. Even if you’re really hungry, you’re still willing put a few minutes of time aside to make Olga’s Cherry Tomato Studded Jalapeno Corn Muffins because, unlike most dinner rolls, they don’t require yeast or much time to make!

You can use a simple box of Jiffy Cornbread Mix to make these, the way Olga explains she did on her blog Mango and Tomato. It’ll make the baking process go a little faster, and the best part about this recipe? You can put everything together in one bowl!

What’s a jalapeno corn muffin without the cheese? Of course, Olga’s muffins include cheese but she also adds cherry tomatoes for that extra pop of color and flavor. Now it’s time to pop these savory muffins into the oven, and they bake in less than 20 minutes!

It is very rare to come upon a blog that is actually fun to read and makes you laugh out loud….. that is not to say that there are not a plethora of blogs containing tantalizing recipes and amazing photos. But, Julie from Blah Blah Blog knows how to entertain the blogosphere with her hilarious posts and tasty treats.

I’m sure we have all come across the infamous microwaveable chocolate cake in a cup recipe, some of you may have even tried it out. Julie tried it, and was far from impressed. Determined to warn her chocolate posse of this less than desirable cake, she prepared a tempting shortbread recipe to lure them away. Her shortbread is quite simple to prepare and overwhelmingly delicious! It has been said that this recipe will bring peace to mankind, improve the lives of your children, and bring the microwave cake to its demise. With that said, I don’t know how you can still be sitting in your chair reading this…. go make these now! Make them for your children; make them to achieve world peace!

Quick meals usually fall under the fast food or deli sandwich category. We tend to put our healthy eating habits on hold if we need to grab or make something quickly. Sure, we can snack on a bowl of fruit, but you know that’ll burn off in about an hour! So what to do when you need to make a quick but healthy lunch that’ll fill you up without leaving grease stains behind?

…And what if you’re on a gluten-free diet and can’t just eat any ol’ sandwich or tuna with crackers? Even burgers are out of the question, and a bun-less burger is no fun! If you need a quick lunch, or a gluten-free meal, or both…then you’ll be happy to hear (or read? :) that we’re featuring Melissa’s Asian Chicken Salad recipe today!

You won’t find croutons in Melissa’s recipe, just fresh veggies and rice noodles. In her blog Chewlog, Melissa mentions that the salad is just as tasty the next day. Her friend Kate finished it off with lime juice. When you can sprinkle a salad with something as simple as lime juice and savor the leftovers, there’s no doubt that it has to be tasty :)!

The Iron Cupcake challenges have stirred up quite a frenzy among cupcake fanatics. Bakers and Cupcakers anxiously await the first of each month when the “secret” ingredient is announced. You will be pretty impressed by some of the amazing concoctions that are submitted.

November’s ingredient was cranberry, and Baking In Galoshes’ very own Joeli was not overly excited. Not the biggest fan of cranberry, she found herself a bit uninspired. Not one to be defeated, Joeli pulled her creative resources together and produced a delightful cranberry buttercream to compliment her favorite vegan chocolate cupcakes. This uninspiring challenge led Joeli to create one of her favorite cupcakes to date. She compares the flavor to Dunkin’ Donuts’ chocolate donut holes, and is convinced that cranberry juice is her new favorite secret ingredient! She tried this same recipe with coffee instead of cranberry juice and the results just didn’t compare. Whether Joeli won November’s challenge or not, these cupcakes will be a definite winner at your next gathering!

Ever had to replace dry herbs for the fresh ones in a recipe, only to find that you aren’t satisfied with the results? The dish is missing the aroma that drew you in when you tried it somewhere else. You swear that you followed the recipe to the T, only replacing those few herbs! Then you realize that minor detail of using fresh herbs is what really makes or breaks a dish!

Chris from Spanish Sauce emphasizes the importance of using fresh ingredients in Faves a la Catalana! What’s more, putting this dish together isn’t as difficult as it might be to pronounce :). Broad beans shine in this dish when combined with…what else?! Fresh herbs, like thyme and mint.

Though Chris made a vegetarian version of this dish, feel free to spice it up with sausage. If you’re going for true Spanish flavor, add botifarra or botifarra blanca, two sausages Chris says are traditionally added to the healthy and protein-rich dish!

Savory pies are a great choice for brunches, picnics, or any kind of gathering really. They not only taste delicious, but make for a beautiful presentation. Harri, from Audax Artifex, loves to serve his spinach and cheese pie at picnics since this pie is delightful whether served hot or cold.

Harri makes his pie with crispy phyllo dough, and lots of cheese! This buttery and savory pie is always a hit! Harri usually doubles the recipe since it disappears so quickly, and the doubled recipe creates a nice, large pie overflowing with goodness :) He tells us that this pie is very similar to the Greek dish spanakopita.

Aduax Arifex has quite the collection of creative and tasty recipes; be sure to stop by and take a look!