SPOOKY EGGPRESSIONS AND A LENTIL SALAD

Spooky Eggpressions are my little fun entry to Bee of "Jugalbandi"'s brand new event called "Click". we are the clicking the "Eggs" this October. Thanks Bee!:))


Why? What? Where?
When Bee chose Eggs as the subject for this month's "Click", I immediately thought of making these Eggpressions. Of course, my kids gobbled these up sprinkled with salt and pepper and some eggs were added to dal too after I took the photos. No waste here!!
October is THE month for Halloween. When you have kids at home, Halloween comes VERY early for parents as you mommies and daddies know!:))
What better theme than scaring the heck out of Y'all good people with my spooky bleeding eggs with creepy crawlies coming out of everywhere?!:D
There are just hard boiled Eggs, cooked with my new little gadget "Microwave Egg cooker" which works very well and Eggs are decorated with Ketchup, Gummy worms, plastic Spiders, few black Olives along with a black cat and of course, a scary Pumpkin Dracula to protect the evil ones!!

My camera:
My trusted little cameras is Sony Cyber-shot with 8.1 Mega Pixels. I use Macro mode and auto digital Zoom to take all my photos.

My own Spooky Eggpressions with creepy crawlies!:))




Another look:



Have fun!:))

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Lentil Salad, is my contribution to Hima of "SnackORama"'s event called "What's your favorite" with a theme of "Diet food" this month. Thanks for hosting Hima!:)




Diet food:
I personally have never dieted but you can always make your everyday lunches or dinners light, healthy and nutritional by choosing low fat, low calorie dishes which are high in Protein and high in Fiber and have smaller portions.Once in a while, go out or cook and eat whatever you like to your heart's content, smile and be happy!:D
Doctors advice that loosing 2 lbs per week as healthy and ideal rather than loosing 10 lbs a week, binge and gain all that you lost back and some more by crash dieting.Yo-Yo dieting has very bad effect on your heart and on your bones (risk of Osteoporosis). Use your judgment and remember "slow and steady wins the race".
Eating moderately and to have some kind of physical activity/exercise everyday would be more helpful to keep us healthy. To have a little bit of meat on your bones is quite okay too if you ask me!!:D

Whole red lentil salad:
Here is a light lentil salad for you. This recipe serves about 4 people. Salad recipe is adapted from "Complete Low-Fat cookbook" by Anne Sheasby.


About this Lentil Salad:
I used whole red lentils or whole Masoor as we call it in India for this dish. They are soaked and cooked until tender and mixed with lightly spiced onions and Lettuce and served with few Cherry Tomatoes, they make a great salad for a light lunch. Jalapeno and Cheddar Tortillas are optional. Nutritional values for this Lentil dish are at the bottom of the post. Enjoy!:))

What you need:


1 cup whole red lentil or whole Masoor, soaked for few hrs and cooked until soft but mashed and drained until dry. 1/2 a head of Iceberg lettuce (or you can use Cabbage too), thinly sliced into long slivers. 1 tbsp Apple cider vinegar or any flavored vinegar like Raspberry vinegar(optional).
To season:
1 tbsp olive oil, 1 small red onion sliced into long slices, 2 garlic,sliced into rounds, 1 Bay leaf, 2 cloves, 1 tsp dry or fresh Thyme leaves, 1/2 tbsp Lemon juice,salt and pepper(or/and few red chilli flakes).

To make the salad:


1. Keep the lentils cooked and drained aside. Chop all the veg and onions, keep aside.
2. Heat olive oil, add bay leaf, cloves.When they puff, take them out and add garlic and onions. Saute until soft, slightly reddish.
3. Add thyme, lettuce or Cabbage, stir fry for 3 mins.You don't have to cook too much,still little crunchy to bite lettuce tastes great.
4. Stir in the vinegar, lentils, salt, pepper to taste.Heat thru' for a minute or two and take out.Add enough lemon juice to taste.
5. Serve with a warmed Tortilla,Toast and few Tomatoes or on it's own. Delicious!:)

Lentil salad per portion without the Tortilla has all these approximately:
228 Calories
4.38g Total Fat
0.44g Saturated Fat
0 Cholesterol
8.09g Fiber
and loads of Protein of course!!

One 12" Tortilla has;
210 calories, 5grams Fat, 3g Fiber, 6g Protein, 800mg of salt and 3g of sugar.

Enjoy the delicious and nutritious Lentil salad. Be healthy and happy!:))