Salad with chat masala vinaigrette

Here goes one more salad recipe I love - the basic ingredients are same as muri mixture (puffed rice with tomatoes, chillies, onions, salt and lemon juice). Boil black eyed peas with salt until cooked ( I used a frozen packet). Toss in pomegranate seeds, chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, chopped spring onions or green onions and chillies (for heat). For seasoning/dressing it would be salt, lemon juice, pinch of chat masala and cumin powder mixed with half tbsp of extra virgin olive oil I call it "chat masala vinaigrette" :). I should try it on for salad with baby spinach leaves next time. The salad is great without the olive oil as well. The amount of peas and pomegranate seeds could be adjusted as per taste.

Between, its such a bad photograph - the bulb reflection can be seen on the spoon. I clicked this photograph in the night, didn't have natural light in the house - I am still figuring out how to avoid such situations, I am learning - its much better than my first picture on the blog! Look at that :) The recipe is kheema tomato curry. I don't know what I was thinking, I didnt even clean the dish properly, didn't prep the dish. Anyway, practice makes things perfect.

Cucumber Dill Salad

OK! Holiday season is long gone! I am back to the salad days with the cool cucumber and dill salad. I feel this is somewhere between a salad and a raita (because of the yogurt/curd factor). The ingredients would be cucumbers(1 cup peeled and chopped), red onion (1/4 cup of thin slices), salt to taste, dill leaves (2 tbsp I used dried from McCormick), pinch of garlic powder, tiny bit of sugar and lemon juice. Mix everything together with yogurt and serve chilled. Yeah! I know its such a common recipe, but hey -its my blog!



Tomatoes, chillies, shredded carrots, shredded coconut, roasted nuts, rice crispies - all or any of these could also be added for the extra zing to the salad.

Spicy Persimmon Salsa

I noticed this recipe in the "cooking light" edition this month. When I tried the recipe, I really loved it-Spicy taste with the cinnamony sweet crunch of Persimmons bites. The Salsa is very easy to put together. Combine the following in a bowl and serve over rice crackers for a quick healthy snack. The chat masala is the indian touch to this recipe.

1. 1 cup Persimmon (chopped into small pieces)
2. 3-4 tbsp cup Spring Onions (chopped)
3. 1 jalapeno (finely chopped)
4. 2-3 tbsp Cilantro and mint leaves chopped
5. 1 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar
6. Pinch of salt and chat masala

A note for people wanting to buy the Persimmon fruit - it has to be ripe before eaten. There are couple of varieties - Hachiya and Fuyu. The Hachiya variety is not palatable in its unripe state. So, it wold be better to take the suggestion of the food monger if you are trying these fruits for the first time.

Salad days continue with Date Cilantro dressing

My salad days continue further. I am looking forward for the weekend to cook some Indian dishes. Do check out my blog on sunday for "Endi royyalu puratu". I plan to make that sunday - kind of craving for it. Btw, today I had some dates in the fridge so quickly made this salad dressing. Lime - Cilantro salad dressing is common - Dates are my addition instead of sugar used in the dressing. The dressing can also be used as a savoury dip.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp - dates chopped
1/2 cup - cilantro
1 tbsp onions chopped (optional)
pinch of salt and pepper
1 tbsp red wine vinegar or lime juice
1 tbsp olive oil

Grind the above to a smooth mixture. Use as salad dressing or for a veggie dip. This yummy dip also goes for AFAM Dates hosted by Chandrika.

Variations and other ideas
1. Try adding a tbsp of chopped chillies for extra heat
2. Any of your favorite nuts would be a wonderful addition
3. For more indian flavour - cumin powder can be added with a bit of chat masala.

Strawberry Poppyseed dressing

My salad days continue! I quickly whipped up this tasty dressing and tossed with bunch of spring mix salad leaves - my lunch for today. How this dressing recipe is born? - I was looking on the salad dressing aisle in the grocery store - trying to find some other tasty stuff than the usual ranch, thousand island etc. I happened to see poppyseed (Ghas ghasalu in telugu, also known as Khus Khus)dressing - I didnt want to buy the whole bottle - what in case i didnt like it - so I tried it at home and I simply love this dressing for its exotic flavors. The strawberries are my own addition to it.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp poppyseeds dry roasted (I used white poppy seeds (indian variety))
1 cup strawberries
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tbsp red wine vinegar ( any other vinegar or lemon juice can be used)
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp olive oil

blend all the above together to get a smooth consistency. Toss with your favourite vegetables or salad mix and enjoy. The strawberries can be replaced with other berries or pomegranate.

Babycorn pomegranate salad

The more colorful your diet, the more antioxidants you get, according to USDA. So make your salads as colorful and imaginative you can get. Combined fruits, veggies, herbs and spices to make tasty and healthy salads. Whenever I make such tasty salad I end up feeling happy that I could give some good nutrition to the cells in my body. The babycorn pomegranate salad is one such salad I came up with.

Ingredients -
1. Babycorn -1 cup (cut into pieces and toasted in oven at 350F until crunchy)
2. Pomegranate seeds - 1/2 cup
3. Celery - 1/4 cup chopped
4. Black olives - 2 chopped
5. Chives - for garnish
6. Salt, pepper, chat masala, lemon juice and olive oil (as per taste)

Toss the above ingredients and serve in a tomato shell. Easy isnt it?

Other variations:
1. Sweet corn kernels can be used instead of babycorn.
2. Use shredded cabbage and the above ingredients and some light mayonnaise to make a wonderful crunchy salad/dip.
3. Bell peppers (capsicum) can be used instead of celery

Quinoa with Asparagus and Chickpeas

There are some days like today when I become too picky about what I eat - ie become totally a health freak! and thats when I try to follow tips from books like "Chasing Life" by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. He mentioned one's plate has to be filled with food with all the colors of the rainbow. So my veggies - tomatoes (red), asparagus (green). Beets (purple) can be added too - but i didnt here - I dont have them at home now. I can make a rice dish with these veggies - but instead chose a healthy option - Quinoa

I first tasted Quinoa orange mint salad at Whole foods market and its become one of my favourite salads. Quinoa is a high protein, tasty grain which is easy to cook. It is high in fiber contentnt and essential linoleic acid that are required by the body. Quinoa has twice as much protien as the same amount of rice. It is light and crunchy at the sametime. Many desserts and salads can be made with it. The rooty flavaour of asparagus and the savoury taste in the sun-dried tomatoes combined with chickpeas will be a great addiiton to quinoa.



Ingredients:
Quinoa (prewashed) - 1 cup
asparagus - cut into 1/2 inch pieces - 1/2 cup
sundried tomatoes - 1/4 cup
chickpeas - canned - 1/4 cup
garlic - minced 1 tbsp
olive oil - 1 tbsp
cumin powder - 1tsp
mint and cilantro for garnish
Heat olive oil in a pan and saute garlic for a minute. Add the asparagus, sundried tomatoes and chickpeas and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add 2 cups of water, salt, cumin powder, 2 tbsp of lemon juice and quinoa. After the water starts to boil, cover the pan and simmer the mixture until quinoa absorbs all the water(takes about 15 minutes). Quinoa (initially white) turns transparent and a small white spiral sprouts of the seeds(look at the closeup). I had this salad with yogurt - tasted very healthy and very yummy. I will be sending this recipe to Suganya's Tasty Palettes Veganism Event. Its so amazing that so many food blog events are being organized and all of us can share the wonderful recipes and food experiences.

Fruit salad - mango, raspberry, mint & basil

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Ever tried mixing fruits with herbs? You ought to try this one and it can be one of the salads you serve on the thanksgiving table or as a dessert. Its part of my thanksgiving dinner table. My tryst with this salad happened at a display counter in central market. It was just mango and basil salad. The mint and raspberries are my addition to this recipe. The flavors in the salad are so distinct yet when combined - the salad is heavenly.

Ingredients -
1 cup chopped mango
1/2 cup raspberries (optional)
1 tbsp basil chopped
1 tbsp mint chopped
1 tsp lime juice

Mix the above ingredients and savour all the tastes that pop in your mouth. The mangoes i bought are a bit tart - so i added 1 tsp of splenda - artificial sweeteners or sugar can be added.