Raise the bar with these innovative cocktails—spanning whisky, vodka, tequila, gin, rum and sparkling wine—that you can easily make at home!

Pink Mimosa

To make a good soup, you have to build flavours as you go. Vegetables like onion, garlic, celery and carrots — referred to as ‘aromatics’ — are part of most soup recipes for this very reason, sautéed in oil or butter as a first step of flavour-making.

We all love soups in all forms and flavors and they are so easy to prepare too!

Vegan Sweet Potato Soup

The sweet potatoes give this soup a creamy texture, so there’s no need to add cream or milk.

Ingredients 

2 tsp groundnut oil

1 onion, finely diced

2 sticks celery, finely diced

500 g sweet potato, peeled and cut into small dices

1 tbsp grated ginger

1 hot chilli, seeded and chopped (or to taste)

2 cloves garlic, sliced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 litre vegetable stock

2 tbsp smooth peanut butter

Chopped coriander leaves, to serve

Slivered almonds, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium-high flame, add the onion, celery and sweet potato, and cook for 10 minutes until the onion and celery have softened.
2. Add the ginger, chilli and garlic, and cook for two minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes and stock. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 20 minutes. Season.
4. Stir in the peanut butter, then blend until smooth.
5. Serve garnished with coriander leaves and almonds slivers.

Roasted Tomato Soup

This Roasted Tomato Soup is the perfect combination of sour, sweet, and savory flavors that will satisfy you; this recipe is a keeper.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

½ onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

100 ml tomato paste

4 large ripe tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped

½ stock cube

200 ml water

A pinch of sugar

Salt, to taste

100 g pasta, cooked

To serve:

Grated Parmesan cheese

Chopped basil

Method

1. Heat a saucepan over a low flame and add the oil.
2. Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
3. Add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes and bring to a boil.
4. Add the stock cube, water, sugar and salt to season and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. Stir in the cooked pasta and allow to heat through.
6. Remove from the flame and divide between serving bowls.
7. Serve hot, garnished with the cheese and basil.

Mint and Zucchini Soup

This delectable soup is like many spoonfuls of wellness!

Ingredients 

3 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

Salt, to taste

3 cloves garlic, sliced

6 zucchini, thinly sliced

740 ml vegetable stock

150 ml crème fraîche + extra to serve

1 small bunch mint leaves, chopped (divided usage)

Method 

1. Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium flame, and cook the onions with a pinch of salt for 10 minutes until softened; do not allow them to colour. Add the garlic, and cook for a few minutes. Add the zucchini, and cook on a low flame for 20 minutes.
2. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, and allow to cook for a few minutes.
3. Blend the soup until completely smooth. Stir in the crème fraîche and three-fourth of the mint. Blend again, and season to taste
4. Divide into serving bowls, and serve, drizzled with crème fraîche and garnished with mint leaves

Walnut & Mushroom Soup

This soup is so rich in flavors that you’d think it would take hours to cook, but, no, it is as easy as it gets, with a handful of ingredients and minimum time.

Ingredients

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

450 g fresh mushrooms, sliced

2/3 cup finely-chopped shallots

430 g vegetable broth

1½ tsp chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried thyme

1 cup walnuts

½ cup water

Freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over a medium-high flame.
2. Add the mushrooms and shallots, and cook for five minutes until softened, stirring several times.
3. Add the broth and thyme, and bring to a boil. Reduce the flame, and simmer, covered, for five minutes.
4. Place the walnuts and water in a food processor or blender. Whirl until the walnuts are completely blended and smooth and paste-like.
5. Stir into the mushroom mixture, and season with the sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper. Simmer over a medium-low flame for five minutes until slightly thickened, stirring frequently.
6. Serve as is, or puree soup with an immersion blender or in a blender until smooth.

Broccoli and Almond Soup

This soup is loaded with rich flavors and nutrition that your body is going to thank you for!

Ingredients

250 g broccoli

150 g spinach, blanched and placed in ice water

1 tsp oil

1 tsp butter

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bay leaf

15 g almonds, soaked

500 ml vegetable stock

1 green chilli

Salt and pepper, to taste

Pinch of nutmeg

Method

1. Bring salted water to the boil in a large saucepan. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for two minutes.
2. Remove the broccoli to a bowl of iced water, and blanch the spinach for two minutes in the same boiling water. Remove and add to iced water.
3. Heat the oil and butter in another saucepan. When warm, add the onion, garlic and bay leaf, and cook for two to three minutes until the onion is pink and translucent.
4. Remove the mixture from the flame, discard the bay leaf, and blend to a smooth paste along with the blanched broccoli and spinach.
5. Return the paste to the saucepan.
6. Add the almonds to the grinder, and blend to a smooth paste.
7. Add the almond paste to the spinach-broccoli paste along with the vegetable stock, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
8. Simmer, covered for five to seven minutes. Serve hot.

You all have a lot of favorites when it comes to snacks. And we have our regional specials that will swoon our taste buds. When we start to get health conscious we just avoid these yummy chatpatas and go on with our diets. Here are two recipes to try at home that are crispy and healthy.

Cookie in a bowl

Ingredients
½ cup jowar (foxtail millet) flour
¼ cup coconut sugar
½ cup chocolate
½ tsp vanilla extract or essence
½ tsp baking soda
¼ cup plant-based milk
½ cup hazelnut butter or any nut or seed butter
Chocolate chips, to garnish

Method

1. Place all the ingredients (except the chocolate chips) in a large bowl, and mix well.
2. Transfer to small serving bowls that can be microwaved.
3. Garnish with the chocolate chips
4. Microwave on high for one minute, or bake at 175° C for 12 to 15 minutes.

Ragi Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup ragi flour
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
4 tbsp grated jaggery
Salt, to taste
½ cup milk (or plant-based milk)
½ cup yoghurt (or dairy-free yoghurt)
½ tsp oil

Method

1. Place the ragi flour, baking soda, baking powder, jaggery and salt in a large bowl, and mix well.
2. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, and add the milk, yoghurt, and oil. Mix to a lump-free batter.
3. Heat a pan on a medium-high flame, and pour small amounts of the batter to make pancakes. Cook until you see bubbles, then flip and cook the other side.
4. Serve with honey, maple syrup, fruits, seeds and nuts.