Welcome!

 

Hello!

My name is Sapna.  I am a Financial Specialist by day, a home chef by night.  I've lived in Northern Virginia my whole life and will never leave!

I went to Fairfax High School followed by the University of Virginia (WA-HOO-WA!) and I currently work for the Federal Government.

I have been married to my amazing husband for two years -- we are still loving the newlywed phase :)

I've been growing my cooking skills since college and this is my first attempt at blogging so please bear with me!  I am not a professional chef -- I just love to cook and my kitchen is my favorite place to be!  I prefer to use fresh, organic and/or all natural ingredients and I make sure my meats are grass-fed (I always shop at Whole Foods and/or Trader Joe's) and I cook from scratch almost always.  The recipes you see here will reflect that.  Not everything is organic, but as much as is possible.  When it comes to baked goods I don't use organic -- I go for the full splurge :)  You are more than welcome to make all recipes using non-organic ingredients -- it is still equally as delicious!

I hope you enjoy these dishes as much as we have!  If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at sapna.s.bhatia@gmail.com.

XOXO
Sapna

Kheema - Indian Ground Lamb

Adapted from Aarti Sequeira's Food Network Recipe

Apparently I am on a roll with Indian recipes!  This is one of the first Indian dishes my husband made for me and I absolutely loved it.  I could never figure out how he got the meat to be so soft until he told me that the secret ingredient was a little bit of milk and/or yogurt!  So I added both and it turned out great!  I do have to say that I upped the spices from the original amount because we like lots of heat and flavor so feel free to tone it down if you'd like.  Also I ran out of fresh ginger so I used ginger powder.  You can really play around with the amount of spices to suit the dish to your desired taste.

Yields: 2 - 4 servings

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons organic extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 large organic onion
• 1 medium organic tomato  
• 2 large organic cloves garlic
• 1-inch fresh ginger (I used ~1 tsp ginger powder)
• 2 jalapenos (optional)
• 4 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons paprika 
• 4 teaspoons garam masala
• 4 teaspoons ground cumin 
• 2 teaspoons red chili powder (2 tsp of red chili powder is quite spicy, reduce to desired heat level -- you can also use cayenne pepper if you don't have red chili powder)
• 1 pound grass-fed ground lamb
• 1/4 cup organic milk
• 3 tablespoons organic plain yogurt
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop the onion, tomato, garlic and ginger.  Slit the jalapenos length-wise.

In a large skillet, warm the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until golden.

 

Add the garlic and ginger (or ginger powder) and saute for another minute. 

Stir in the coriander, paprika, garam masala, cumin and red chili powder/cayenne and cook for 1 minute.

Add the lamb, breaking up lumps with a spoon, and saute until the meat is no longer pink.  Add the milk and yogurt, season with salt and pepper and mix.

Add the tomatoes and jalapenos, stir well and simmer, partially covered, about 5 - 10 minutes. 

Chicken Curry

 

Hooray another Indian recipe that's ready to be posted!  Chicken Curry is an Indian staple -- so flavorful, pretty easy and uses the easiest protein :)  The recipe for the curry part is actually a pretty basic curry recipe that can be used with any protein so feel free to experiment!

Yields: 2 servings 

Ingredients:

• 1 large organic onion, quartered 
• 1 organic tomato, halved   
• 1 green chili pepper or jalapeno, chopped  
• 4 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 green cardamom pods
• 1 (2 inch) cinnamon stick
• 10 peppercorns 
• 2 whole cloves 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ginger garlic paste 
• salt to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper  
• 1 lb organic boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 2 teaspoons coriander powder 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala 
• 1/4 cup organic plain yogurt

Directions:

Place onion, tomato and jalapeno in a food processor and grind until it becomes a thick paste.

 

Heat oil in large pan; add bay leaves, cardamom, cinnamon stick, peppercorns, and cloves.  

 

When leaves begin to sizzle and fragrance starts to release, add onion/tomato/jalapeno mixture and saute until onions are light golden, about 12-15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir in the ginger garlic paste, salt, turmeric, cayenne pepper and chicken.  Continue cooking, stirring the mix, for about 20 minutes more.

Add a little water if necessary to keep food from sticking. 

Add coriander powder and garam masala and stir for 5 minutes, adding 2 tablespoons water.  Simmer for 15 minutes, or until meat is getting tender.

Lower heat.  Whisk the yogurt with a fork; and add to the pot slowly.  Then cook until meat is done to your liking and sauce is thickened.

Habanero Pepper Cream Pasta

 

Adapted from All Recipes Habanero Pepper Cream Pasta 

I love anything spicy.  I'm pretty sure I picked that up from my husband who can eat more spice than anyone I know.  So it's pretty appropriate that habanero peppers have made their way into our pasta dishes.  I will warn you -- this is a very spicy dish!  If you can handle the heat, I HIGHLY recommend this because it's basically fettuccine alfredo with some spice!!  I love cream based sauces and this is certainly no exception!  I would eat this every night if I wouldn't gain 100 pounds :)

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients: 

• 8 oz organic fettuccine
• 1 tsp organic olive oil
• 1 tsp Kerrygold unsalted butter
•  1/4 small organic onion, diced
• 2 organic boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• salt, to taste
• 4 tsp black pepper 
• 1 cup organic heavy cream
• 3 habanero peppers, halved
• 1 tbsp organic flour
• 1 small organic tomato, diced (optional)

Directions:
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain. 

Melt butter with olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until golden. 

Add chicken and season with salt and pepper.

Once chicken is cooked through, add heavy cream and habanero peppers.

Add flour, bring to a simmer and allow to thicken, 5 to 8 minutes.

Add the drained pasta and toss to coat.

Serve with diced tomatoes.  Enjoy!

Quesadillas

 

When I was in high school I remember taking a course called "Teen Living" where they taught us how to cook and sew.  During the cooking portion they taught us how to make quesadillas -- this is the first thing that I EVER learned how to cook!  Of course over the years I've put my own twists on it to make it my own, but I LOVE these.  In this recipe, I used Asiago Cheese, however I find that many cheeses work great (cheddar, mozzarella, mexican blends, etc.) so feel free to pick your favorite!  I like a lot of heat, hence the green chilies AND hot sauce AND jalapenos, but you can leave most of those out and just add one :)

Yields: 4 quesadillas

 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 lb grass-fed ground beef
• salt to taste
• organic ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 green chilies, diced (optional)
• 1/2 organic small onion
• 1 organic small tomato
• 2 jalapenos
• 4 organic flour tortillas
• 8 tbsp organic sour cream
• hot sauce, to taste (optional)
• 1 cup shredded organic cheese (any kind you like is great!)
• organic PAM spray

Directions:
In a saute pan, over medium heat, brown the ground beef.

Add salt and pepper and diced green chilies (if desired), toss.  Once cooked, keep aside.

Chop the onions and tomtaoes, and slice the jalapenos.

Take one tortilla and place on a plate.  Add two tablespoons of sour cream and hot sauce to taste.  Spread evenly on tortilla.

On one half of the tortilla, add shredded cheese, ground beef, onions, tomatoes and jalapenos.

Fold the other half of the tortilla over the half with the ingredients.

In a saucepan over medium heat, spray two sprays of an oil spray (such as PAM).   Place the tortilla on the pan.

Once the bottom becomes golden brown, flip until the other side is the same.  Serve and enjoy!

Spaghetti Carbonara

 

Adapted from Tyler Florence's Spaghetti alla Carbonara

One of the very first dates my husband and I had was at the Cheesecake Factory.  My husband had ordered the Spaghetti Carbonara -- and while it wasn't the most amazing thing on the menu -- it sure had potential!  I also realized how much I loved this man since he loved Italian ;)  So I went home and googled recipes on Spaghetti Carbonara.  All the recipes seemed tricky since you had to use an egg as the sauce and you had to cook it but not scramble it.  I read the directions a hundred times before I finally decided to try it -- worst case scenario I had to throw it out.  Turns out it was WAY easier than I thought!  This is seriously one of my favorite pasta dishes!  I'm pretty sure I could eat this every night and be a happy camper :)

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb organic dry spaghetti
• 2 tbsp organic extra virgin olive oil
• 4 slices organic bacon
• 2 organic eggs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• organic ground pepper, for garnish

Directions:
**Note: Prepare the sauce while the pasta is cooking to ensure that the spaghetti will be hot and ready when the sauce is finished; it is very important that the pasta is hot when adding the egg mixture, so that the heat of the pasta cooks the raw eggs in the sauce**

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender yet firm.  Drain spaghetti.

Chop your slices of bacon into small pieces.

 

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium flame. Add the bacon.

Saute the bacon until the bacon is crisp and the fat is rendered. 

  

Add the hot, drained spaghetti to the pan and toss for 2 minutes to coat the strands in the bacon fat. 

Beat the eggs and Parmesan together in a bowl, stirring well to prevent lumps. 

Remove the pan from the heat and pour the egg/cheese mixture into the pasta.

Whisk quickly until the eggs thicken, but do not scramble (this is done off the heat to ensure this does not happen).
 

Season the carbonara with freshly ground black pepper and taste for salt.

Baked Salmon with Vegetables

Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis Salmon Baked in Foil Recipe

This recipe has easily become a staple in our household.  Quick, easy, healthy and most importantly -- delicious!  This requires so little prep work and most of the work will be done by your oven.  And the best part is that you can really play with this recipe -- add different seasonings, add some more heat, whatever fits your taste.  Serve alongside some pasta or vegetables and it's a great well rounded meal!

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/2 medium organic onion
• 1 large organic tomato
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 clove organic garlic
• 1 sprig organic rosemary
• 2 8-oz organic salmon filets
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon organic garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• juice from 1/2 organic lemon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Chop the onion, tomato, jalapeno, garlic and rosemary.

Next, place each salmon filet on a piece of aluminum foil and season with salt, pepper, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Wrap the ends of the foil to form a spiral shape, creating a pocket.  Split the chopped vegetables (onion, tomato, jalapeno, garlic and rosemary) equally among the pockets of salmon.  

Bake until salmon is cooked through, 25 - 30 minutes.  Once finished, add lemon juice on top of salmon.  Using a large metal spatula, transfer the foil packets to plates and serve.

Fish Curry

My husband and I are both Indian.  He was born and raised in India and I was born and raised in the US.   There is nothing that he loves more than a home cooked Indian meal.  When we got married I couldn't cook a single Indian dish.  After many experiments I am slowly but surely learning and this fish curry is one of his favorites!  This is just the first in a line of many Indian recipes to come :)  All the spices can be found at an Asian supermarket and if you want organic spices, I'm pretty sure all of them are available at Whole Foods or at www.simplyorganic.com.  Enjoy!

Yields: 2 - 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp organic olive oil
• 1/2 small organic onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 tsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp red chili powder (more or less to your taste)
• 1/4 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp ginger garlic paste
• 3/4 cup organic plain yogurt 
• 3 green chilies, split lengthwise, optional
• 1 lb organic salmon, cut into pieces
• fresh cilantro, optional (for garnish)

Directions:
In a deep pan, heat olive oil on medium.  Add thinly sliced onions to the pan and saute until caramelized.  Drain them out of the pan.

   

Keeping the heat on medium, place mustard seeds in the same oil in which the onions were sauteed.  They will start popping.  Once they stop popping add salt, pepper, coriander powder, chili powder, turmeric powder, ground cumin, garam masala and ginger garlic paste.  Add water (a few tablespoons) to prevent burning.  Stir frequently.

Place the drained onions and yogurt in a food processor or blender and blend well.

Once some of the water has evaporated from the pan, add the onion and yogurt mixture along with the green chilies (if desired) and mix well.

 

Allow the mixture to simmer and let more of the water evaporate.  Stir occasionally.  Add salmon.

Toss the salmon with the mixture and then place a lid over the pan and allow the salmon to cook for 8 - 10 minutes until cooked through.

Garnish with cilantro and serve.