Sprouted Moong (Mung) Soup - Microblog

Spinach and Tofu Puffs - Microblog

Spinach and Tofu Puffs - the recipe

Tomato Pumpkin Soup - Microblog

A favorite recipe handed down to me from my mom, this soup combines tomatoes with Indian white pumpkin,  a great source of dietary fiber.  If pumpkin is hard to source, substitute with zucchini or summer squash. Additional variations can include peas, corn, or spinach.

Tomato Pumpkin Soup - the recipe

Chocolate Mango Truffles - Micro-blog

The name pretty much says it all -- make sure to stick with the darkest chocolate that you enjoy -- I generally use equal parts 60% and 75% cocoa -- to maximize both taste, as well as nutritional benefits.

Chocolate Mango Truffles - recipe

Chocolate Mango Truffles.

Fresh Vegetable Spring Rolls - micro-blog

Here's the first of many 'micro-blogs' to be posted on Clean Platter. What is a 'micro-blog' you ask? Why, what a good question! Check out this recent post for more on the format: Micro-blog Format
As always, if you'd like a more complete recipe, please ask for it in the comments section below. Your feedback is always much appreciated, so I'd love to hear what you think of this new format.

The recipe can be found in the first picture, which can be enlarged for clarity. Enjoy!

The recipe - click to enlarge

More pictures...

Freshly shaved Napa cabbage

Spring rolls and ingredients

Introducing the 'micro-blog' -- recipes to inspire you.

Often times when I search for recipes on the web, all I'm looking for is inspiration.  Inspiration in the form of ingredients; inspiration via novel cooking techniques; suggestions for presentation and pairings; and of course, lots and lots of drool worthy pictures.  Many times, this is all I need to get off the couch and into the kitchen to whip up something novel for my next meal.  I suspect that a lot of you operate the same way.  After all, you don't want to have to abandon a recipe just because you don't have one of the ingredients on hand, when you could easily find something else in your fridge to stand in.

This is what makes blogging about anything other than baked pastries extremely difficult.  When you make cakes, cookies and other such treats, recipes are critical.  However, with most of the cooking that we do, recipes are just suggestions -- a starting point to inspire you in the kitchen.


This got me thinking of a new blog post format that might be suited to posting 'recipes' in a manner that piques your curiosity as well as your creativity.  In the spirit of experimentation, I'm rolling out a new 'micro-blog' format for many of my posts.  I will post a quick how-to and other salient details of a recipe, including suggestions for serving and accompaniments, when appropriate.  I will pair these with lots of pictures for your visual consumption.  For those who prefer a more detailed recipe to work off of, you will have the option of requesting it in the 'Comments' section below.  I promise to post a detailed recipe, if requested to do so.

I'm hoping that this new 'micro-blog' format will a) make it easier for you to be inspired to create something new in your kitchen, b) make it easier for me to get posts up in a timely manner, and c) create greater engagement with my readers through interactions in the Comments area.  I will still be posting full-length recipes, mainly for baked pastries.

Your comments and suggestions on this new 'micro-blog' format are welcome!

Tomato Fritters

No matter what the situation, we humans always find a reason to complain.  And nothing, in my mind, elicits more complaints from people everywhere (except maybe those lucky enough to be living in some paradise like Hawaii or San Diego) than the weather!  All winter long, we complain that it’s too cold, or that there’s too much rain or snow.  And then come summer, suddenly, it’s too hot, it’s too dry, there are too many mosquitoes – the list goes on and on.  Similarly, if you live in the Northwest (of the US) and fancy yourself to have a bit of a green thumb, every summer you complain from June to September about how your tomatoes are just not ripening fast enough.  And then, all of a sudden, at the end of September, the tomatoes start coming in all at once, and now you’re stuck with finding a way to consume all those plump, juicy, red (or yellow or orange) fruits, in larger-than-Costco quantities.

Some of my more domestic friends look forward to this task and whip out their canning equipment to make salsas and pasta sauces and other delicious things.  But by September, with all the jam that I’ve canned during berry season, I don’t want to see another boiling water bath until at least next year.  To my lazy bones, tomatoes in September are for immediate gratification – after all, I have waited all summer for them to ripen!

In the spirit of wholesale tomato consumption, I try to experiment with new recipes that incorporate these summer ripened fruits.  I recently came across a recipe for a Greek dish, called domatokeftehes, or tomato fritters, which seemed to be just the thing to accompany a Friday evening cup of tea with the hubby.  Of course, as I started making these, my Indian brain took over and turned these fritters into something that no Greek person would recognize, but I think they turned out rather nice.  Do you agree?

 Tomato fritters

1 large ripe tomato, diced

½ zucchini, diced

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 T chopped fresh herbs such as oregano or cilantro

½ C flour

½ tsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients together, adding the flour and baking powder last.

Add enough water to form a thickish batter

Heat oil in wok on high heat until a drop of batter dropped into oil rises immediately to surface

Reduce heat to medium and drop tablespoon-fulls of batter into oil

Allow to brown on all sides; remove from oil with a slotted spoon, and drain on paper towels

Serve hot with spiced tea.