Almond candy

Almond candy is one of the easiest snacks I have found recently. Cooking something special on Fridays is a common scene in many households. I too love to make the weekends special by making a snack or special dinner on Fridays. Two weeks back, on a Friday morning I made this as a gift to hubby and kept it secretly in his snack box. Now this has become his another favorite :)

There are many versions to make this simple candy. But I have my own method to make it quickly in stove-top, though the original versions call for baking. So try this if you want some quick treat.

Glazed almond candy

Ingredients:
Almond - 1 cup
brown sugar - 1/2 cup (or little lesser)
cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp
water - 2 tbsp

Method:
Heat a wok and dry roast the almonds in low heat till they smell good. It may take almost 3 minutes for the almonds to get toasted. Look for spots while heating. Then add the brown sugar, cinnamon and water and mix well.
Continue stirring and wait till sugar dissolves and coats the almonds.
Almost after 2 minutes of low heat roasting we will notice caramelizing of sugar and it will get hard. Don't heat further. Switch off. Transfer to a plate and let cool completely (almost for 10 minutes). 
Almond candy is ready!

Serving suggestions:
Store them in airtight containers and serve as snack or dessert.

Sauteed Broccoli snack

Broccoli is another cute looking member from cabbage family. It tastes great by itself without much seasoning. Italians brought this vegetable to USA. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Broccoli is often sold in bunches by $1.49 per lb or bunch and mostly not more than that. Also we can see it in freezer aisles as microwaveable. I like fresh ones very much as they are more crunchy. But we should rinse them in water thoroughly to remove any impurities. Cooking broccoli will take less than 2 minutes in my saute process.  I make this sauteed broccoli as snack for us whenever this vegetable comes in season. Try this and enjoy a delicious easy snack.

snack box

Ingredients:
Broccoli - 1.5 lb (2 crowns)
butter or Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp
salt - to taste ( 2 pinches)
garlic -10 cloves
black pepper powder - 1 pinch


Method:
Separate small florets from the broccoli bunch. 
Fill water in a large basin and wash the florets. Take them out, discard the water.
Wash again and do this thrice to remove any sand or impurities.
Let the water drain.

In a sauteing pan , heat butter or EVOO. Add peeled garlic and broccoli florets.
Reduce flame and cook covered for less than 2 minutes. No need to add water.
Sprinkle salt, pepper powder and mix well.
Switch off.

Sauteed broccoli is ready!

Serving suggestion:
Serve as snack.
Also can be served as side dish with baked chicken.
Ranch dip can also be used as dip for this broccoli.
The left over can be refrigerated and used for 3 days.
We can do the same process in oven too, but it will take more time.

Sweet potato ladoo

Sweet potato is otherwise called sweet yam in some places. The Tamil meaning or translation is Seeni kilangu or sarkarai valli kizhangu.
The Indian sweet yams are more sweeter,flavorful, fibrous and starchy. We can distinguish them by their irregular shape and mild pink skin. They come as white or yellow yam depending on the inner color. We can use all kinds of sweet yam in this recipe.

My mom used to simply boil these yams during their peak availability and it is a guilt free snack too. But can we just satisfy ourselves with that natural yam? So one day she made some sweet balls out of it and the whole family started demanding her for this instead of the plain cooked yam:) But I like the boiled yam better than this ladoo, while as usual hubby dear started liking this one and now I have to make a few ladoos for him:)

Sweet potato ladoo along with some boiled ones.

Ingredients:

Sweet potato / Indian sweet yam - 1/2 lb
Freshly shredded coconut - 1/2 cup
sugar - 3 tbsp

Method:

Scrub and wash the yam to remove the sand.
Pressure cook or boil them in water.
If pressure cooking, halve the yam and cook them in 2 cups of water. After getting a whistle , reduce the flame and cook it in medium flame for 5 minutes. Then release the pressure and take it out.
Check by piercing a knife. It should pass freely.
Let it cool and remove the outer skin.
Mash the yam with hand and mix with coconut and sugar.
Shape into tennis ball size laddu (balls) and serve as snack.

Seeni kilangu ladoo is ready!