What friends cooked for 'Lunch'

I start with saying thank you to one and all who took time to send in their delicious dishes for the Microwave Easy Cooking Event, I was happy to host with 'Lunch menu'. And even before that, I should thank Srivalli for giving me the opportunity to host the event.

However much I would like to participate in all the events happening month after another, there are other tasks to be dealt with and everyday vanishes into the dark nights even before I realized. The same happened even when I took this chance to host the event, hoping to post more than I do usually. But I am glad that many others are not like me. I am happy to have received quite a few sumptuous ideas from fellow bloggers that I am about to share through this post. It is a round up post for the MEC Lunch event that was held at this space through April 2011.

Thank you all who have participated and thank you all who take their time to read this. Please feel free to drop into the participants' spaces to enjoy the recipe and many others they have in there. It is just a click away from here.

The lunch ideas were from all parameters of cooking, salads, soups, snacks, desserts, dry dishes and gravies, but what topped it all were the number of rice dishes.

Cham sends her Couscous Fruit salad, Couscous and berries will certainly be an awesome combination and this low cal salad is irresistible.

Soups are so wholesome, that you can skip any extras while you can fill yourself with a bowl of soup. If Shanthi invites you to enjoy a fibre rich oats vegetable soup, Suma indulges us with her creamy cauliflower soup. Both of them are winner recipes.

While Indu brings delicious sevai varieties that are favourites amongst kids and elderly too,

Smita packs Cheesy macaroni with vegetables that will find your children wiping their plates off, clean.

Usha sends an any time snack that is zero oil, her low fat mung snack was one I tried soon after reading her post and I warn you, be prepared that you will do it again many times over.

As a tamilian, I can never imagine lunch without rice. And variety rice dishes are very welcome because they can be made one pot meal or cooked up quickly with ready at hand mixes. I found a few who think alike too.

Count on Priya to send you as many entries as possible thus to pep you up...I will never match her energy, ever! Her Mango lemon rice comes when the trees are laden with mangoes raw and ripe alike, followed by Tandoori paneer tomato pulav. She sends a very tamil delight of Curry leaves rice. Then comes her grated paneer and peas pulao to top them all.

Srivalli sends her masala sabz pulav while Richa Priyanka speaks of her version of peas pulav another delight for rice and peas loving guests. Supriya's microwave pulav with paneer chunks are something to look forward to cooking in your kitchens.

Veena makes her mint corn pulav for her daughter, which I book mark it to treat myself someday.

I am pitching in my arroz verde that I tried from DK’s Chef in you, only this time in the microwave mode.

So much said for variety rice and pulaos, a regular everyday meal calls for plain rice and gravies with dry curries added. Kavitha makes the delightful potato stirfry in her microwave and Priya cooks mixed vegetables with toordal in a stirfry.

Srivalli packs her lunch box with beans paruppu usli. I bet she is happy to have the microwave sparing her enough time to attend to her threesome and other duties.

Harini – Jaya’s okra (bhendi) crisps are something I could not shake it off my mind until I tried making them at home. It may well be you next, I am sure.

Are you thinking of rotis, then try Priya’s easy and quick panner capsicum stirfry

I am hoping Dum aloo classifies in both dry curries and gravies as versatile as it is. Deeksha will keep you going back to her recipe again and again. Potato lovers will bid for this dum aloo.

Can you make koftas in the microwave? Want to take a bet?

Just wait till you read Srivalli’s carrot kofta curry before betting on the negative. She has cooked them for the subz pulav, you may have it with any rice or roti as you fancy.

Have a look at Veena Krishnakumar's Paneer Bhurji that makes her daughter enjoy a meal. Be sure that you will try this for your lunch soon.

I have some maor kuzhambu with plain rice, that I love.

To end a meal with dessert, Jayasree makes sheera, living in Pune gets her sharing a Maharashtrian delight!

And just to throw in another, my sister makes rawa kesari. Given the fact that she is an awesome cook and time and again drops me some ideas over chats, I have not been able to convince her to co-author my blog. So I am down with the chore of writing up the recipe…how about I share her pictures and the recipe as I watched her cooking it, few months ago?

Microwave Rawa Kesari:

1 cup semolina

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup ghee

3 cups water

10 numbers cashew nuts broken

2 whole green cardamoms crushed

Food colour a few drops or a pinch of saffron mixed in warm milk.

Rub in 1 tea spoon of ghee to the semolina. Spread it on a microwave safe flat dish, filling along the edges evenly.

Microwave on 100% power for 30 seconds. Remove and toss once. Again spread it and microwave on 100% power for a minute. The rawa would be roasted. Set aside.

In the same dish heat 1 teaspoon ghee for 30 seconds on micro power 100%. Add the broken cashew pieces and microwave on 100% for 3 minutes, repositioning the contents once in between.

Remove the cashews and keep them reserve for garnish at the end.

Grease the inner walls of a microwave bowl with little ghee. Add the water and roasted semolina. Add also the saffron/ food colour. Microwave covering the contents on 100% power for 5 minutes. Open at 2 minute intervals and stir.

Add the sugar and mix well. Add part of the ghee and return to the microwave, covered with lid to cook on 100% power for 5 minutes.

Let this stand a minute further. Remove from the microwave oven. Stir the remaining ghee and add the cardamom and roasted cashews.

Serve as desired hot or cooled.

That sums up the event.

Many thanks to all of the participants.