Tomato and Carrot (No Cream) Soup + Amazon & Olive Garden Gift Card Giveaways

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Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

That's exactly how the weather is here in Hyderabad right now. Temperatures are dropping rapidly day after day, a clear indication that the winter has already arrived and its here to stay for few more months to come! It is always the case with me that when cold settles in, I need to make some thick, hot soup to warm up myself, from deep within - perfect to brighten up rather a dull, morose winter's day. Today's recipe of Tomato & Carrot Soup is one such hale and hearty dish. Its filled with goodness of vegetables & herbs with tingling ginger note at the background and a light sprinkling of red chilli flakes at the very end, for some heat.

I highly recommend to make this soup, wrap up warm and with a book in hand enjoy with a buttery, crusty bread to keep the chill out.

..and to know more about and participate in the give-way(s), feel free to scroll down to the end of this post for more details. 

Enjoy!

{Recipe} (No Cream) Tomato and Carrot Soup 

Ingredients:

2 cups of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 garlic clove, peeled, minced
4 cups of water
1 tsp olive oil
3-4 pieces of roughly chopped ginger
1/4 cup coriander leaves
1/2 cup milk
salt - to taste
1/2 tsp or more black pepper
few pieces of bread & butter
red chilli flakes + beaten yogurt for topping

Preparation:

1) Boil 4 cups of water. Add chopped carrots, coriander leaves and ginger. Cover and let it simmer for 15-20 mins. Discard 2 pieces of ginger from the stock.

2) Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan and add garlic & onions. Saute for 3-4 mins until light golden brown. Add tomatoes. Cook until mushy on low-medium heat for 15-20 mins. Add boiled carrots along with stock, coriander leaves and ginger. Season with salt & pepper. Mix well and Let it cool a bit.

3) Blend everything into a smooth soup-like consistency. Add milk and bring the soup to a simmer again and water or stock if desired.

4) Melt a bit of butter in a pan. Place few pieces of bread and cook until golden brown.

5) Top with few red chilli flakes + beaten yogurt and serve soup with toasted bread on the side.

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2012 Holiday Giveaways

It is Holiday Season and best time to spread some happy cheer all around. Its time to give-away something special to my lovely readers who support me all along the way. Two lucky winners (**not applicable for Indian readers. Check this Canon Powershot Camera giveaway and enter there) will be chosen for an opportunity win these two exciting give-aways:

1) A chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card 

2) A chance to win a $25 Olive Garden gift card.

Here is what you need to do to win either of these give-aways

1. Leave a comment on this post. As simple as that.

To increase your chances in the random drawing, do one or more of the following and leave a comment once you did so. 

2. Follow Cooking With Siri on Facebook and/or Follow me on Twitter. - @sirime

3. Subscribe to Cooking With Siri feed.

4. Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the below text - 

{Holiday #Giveaway} #Enter for a chance to #win $25 @Amazon and @Olivegarden #giftcards at @sirime's blog. Details - http://tinyurl.com/giftcardsgiveaway 

If you are already liked me on facebook, following on twitter or subscribed to RSS feed, just leave a comment letting me know and you are entered in the giveaway automatically! You don't have to be a blogger to win these give-way(s). 

Last date for participation is November 30th 2012 midnight IST and two winners randomly chosen will be announced on December 1st 2012. 

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Today is Day 20 of my NaBloPoMo challenge. Check out all of the posts previously published here.

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until tomorrow,

Baked Potato Spinach Corn Tikkis

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Thank God It is a Friday and today, am gonna talk about a really simple-to-put-together baked goody. more on that in a bit.

Baked Potato Spinach Corn Tikkis

Though it was gloomy, foggy morning, my day actually started on a good note, with a package arriving at my doorstep, just as I was about to start off for work. Remember  I won Vegan-A-Day challenge by Harini. Well, this is my reward (Krya). I am yet to try this product on my clothes and see the difference. I will keep you guys posted on that.

Coming back to today's recipe. If you do one thing this weekend, then I would strongly recommend to bake these guilt-free beauties for a change. Perfect for lazy bakers like me, it serves as a good, sumptuous appetizer or for brunch. Trust me, it is nearly impossible to eat just one.

Baked Potato Spinach Corn Tikkis 

Ingredients:

2 medium sized potatoes, boiled
2 cups chopped spinach, loosely packed
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels (I used frozen, no need to thaw. just microwave with little water for 2-3 mins)
salt - to taste
1 tbsp lemon juice (optional)
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp red chilli powder (optional). [You can substitute with 1 finely chopped green chilli]
1/4 tsp turmeric
about 1/2 cup bread crumbs - to roll the tikkis
2 egg whites (skip it if you want this dish to be vegan)
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Preparation:

1. In a bowl, mash all the ingredients listed above except for bread crumbs,egg whites and olive oil. Check the seasoning. Adjust if necessary.

2. Preheat oven to 200C or 400F.

3. Make small lemon sized balls out of the mixture, roll and gently flatten into a patties. Dip the patty into egg white & then roll in breadcrumbs, so that its coated evenly.

4. Repeat the same process to make all the patties, ready to bake.

5. Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray or little oil and place the patties on it. Don't over crowd. Leave enough space between each one of them. Drizzle little olive on both sides.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, by turn on the other side after 10 mins - until the crust is slightly brown. Serve with ketchup.

With great pleasure and pride, I announce that am a Zagat Fork and Tell blogger now. I strongly believe that this will open more avenues where my posts will be read & appreciated by a wide variety of audience :-)

Hope you all have a great (Thanksgiving) weekend ahead.

until next time,