Crunchy Chickpea & Corn Cups

These savory appetizers are made with tortillas and are filled with either chickpeas or corn.

A tasty corn alternative for those who have a Trader Joe’s near by, is the Mexican Style Roasted Corn with Cotija cheese.

Make ahead: the cups can be baked up to 2 weeks in advance and stored at room temperature.

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Ingredients

Flour tortillas, to make the cups

Mini muffin pans

Chickpea filling:

1 cup chickpeas (approx 1 can)

3 tablespoons mint chutney

1-2 tablespoons oil

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 small tomato, chopped

1/4- 1/2  teaspoon red chili powder

1/2 teaspoon chaat masala (optional)

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

3 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon green chillies, finely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

Corn filling:

1 cup of boiled corn (or canned)

3 tablespoons cream cheese

3 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon green chillies, chopped,

 

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 350. Spray mini muffin pans with cooking spray.

Cut out large circles from the flour tortillas (even easier with a cookie cutter if you have one) and press into the mini muffin pans.  Bake for about 5 minutes until light brown.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Note: These can be made ahead and stored at room temperature in an air tight container for 2 weeks.

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Chickpea filling:

Heat the oil, add onions and saute till light brown. Add the tomato and cook for a minute.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir until mixed well. Cool until room temperature.

Fill into tortilla cups and serve.

Corn filling:

Heat the corn in a pan, add the cream cheese and cook on low till the cheese is softened over the corn.

Add the remaining ingredients. Cool until room temperature, fill cups and serve .

OR

1 packet frozen Trader JoesMexican style roasted corn with Cotija cheese.”

Prepare according to directions, cool until room temperature and fill.

 

 

 

 

 

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Low Fat Chicken Malai (cream) Kabab

IMG_1320You are probably wondering how a recipe using cream could be low fat!  This a very popular kabab dish in Indian restaurants  and I decided to make a healthy version using lower fat cream cheese instead of heavy cream. It is very tender and flavorful and can be eaten as an appetizer or as a main course. I use the double skewers for grilling the chicken from Crate and Barrel. I love using them as they are easy to turn with chicken so the second side cooks evenly.

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless chicken breasts

8 ounce Neufchatel cream cheese (1/3 less fat)

2 tablespoon plain yogurt or milk

1 1/2 teaspoon garlic paste

1 1/2 teaspoon ginger paste

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 cup cilantro finely chopped (thick stems removed)

2 -3 long green chillies, finely  chopped or ground

Preparation

Cut the chicken breasts into 1″ cubes.  In a large bowl beat the cream cheese, yogurt or milk till smooth.

IMG_1299Add the remaining ingredients and mix well. Add the chicken pieces to the cream cheese marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Skewer the chicken pieces and place under the broiler (one rack from the top)  and grill for 4 – 5minutes. Turn and continue grilling  for another 4 minutes till the chicken is cooked.   

IMG_1302To serve, remove from skewers and serve with lemon wedges and thinly sliced onion rings. To prepare in advance: Thinly slice raw onion into rings and add to iced water. Keep until ready to use. The onion rings will remain crisp.

 

 

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