Tropical glass noodles salad

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Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 3-4 members

Description

salads by  itself is a real difficult task for me to pull of and to add to this challenge having to come up with a salad that’s apt for a Chinese meal with Asian flavours was like welcoming me to a new adventure . First had to come up with ingredients from my pantry that can be used for the salad . Found a packet of glass noodles and made up my mind to run my imagination of flavours and play around it . Well Chinese food usually has a very dominating strong factor of sweet , hot , spicy and sourness to it . So had to keep in mind about all these when deciding for the salad dressing . Came up with a unique dressing and tossed the salad . Tasted and there were two elements missing , sourness and a crunch . So added raw mango for the sourness and walnuts ( wanted to use peanuts but as I was out of stock had to settle with walnuts ) for crunch . Mixed and tasted and  worked well.  This was not an obvious marriage of ingredients but one that’s simple and exceptionally good . I loved the challenge of bringing together familiar every day ingredients in an unfamiliar yet incredible way where every one at home unanimously agreed for this one time .

Ingredients

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Ingredients Dressing

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Method

  1. Mix the yellow , red and green bell pepper strips with grated raw mango , walnuts crushed , basil and glass noodles . Toss well .
  2. Mix all the ingredients together for the dressing and whisk well until Palm sugar dissolves and gets to a pale brown colour .
  3. Taste and adjust seasoning .
  4. Toss the mixed salad ingredients with the dressing and chill in the fridge for 20- 30 minutes allowing the flavours to infuse well .
  5. Serve cold as it is .

Notes

  1. This salad must be made just before 40 minutes to one hours time before serving as the coconut water in the dressing gets stale if kept out for a long time .
  2. Make sure to finish off the salad on the table with no left overs as it can not be saved for later as well .

Italian herbed salad

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes

Serving : 4 members

Description

Being a foodie the greatest obstacle in life is to stop your cravings as hunger has no time and instead opting for a better healthy yet comforting treat .  This salad was one such invention when I was craving for pizza . I prepped up all I need for a pizza topping and tossed it up together as a salad instead with slight twists here and there . I ended up gobbling the entire lot and made sure to make plenty the next time . Even then it was devoured in no time . Perfect party starter as it can be made ahead and served in tiny lettuce cups topped with the salad . The secret benefit being it’s healthy , light , quick to cook and no need to work hard to impress . You will be surprised to see juniors coming back for more as the rainbow of colours and flavours just hits the right spot .

 Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
mushrooms100 grams sliced
Onion 1 chopped
Garlic2 flakes crushed
Green , yellow and red peppers / capsicum1/2 each strips
Tomato1 chopped
Cabbage 1/4 cup shredded
Lettuce 1/2 cup shredded
Carrot1/4 cup chopped
Olive oil1 tablespoon
Butter 1 teaspoon
Dried Italian herbs1 teaspoon (mix of rosemary , oregano , thyme and basil )
Chilli flakes to taste
Vinegar 1 teaspoon
Pepper to taste
Salt to taste
Grated cheddar cheese50 grams
Celery to garnish

Method

  1. Marinate the mushroom and onions with crushed garlic, salt, pepper, and butter for 10 minutes .
  2. Sauté in a pan to cooked . Remove from heat and cool completely .
  3. Mix dried herbs , salt , pepper , chilli flakes , vinegar , grated cheese and olive oil together .
  4. Taste and adjust seasoning . Mix all the veggies together with the cooled mushroom – onion and mix well .
  5. Top with the salad cheese dressing and toss well . Place in the fridge until needed to be served .

Tri- colour macaroni salad

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Preparation Time : 25 minutes

Cooking Time : 30 minutes

Serving : 5-8 members

Description

An all girls , out of station trip with my friend meera aboo Thamby for the first time after my marriage was done nearly before eleven years from now . Well the trip was to my moms place but I made sure these two days must be cherished by both of us for decades there after . Rarely did we dine at moms place and the few times we did mom made sure to treat us well . On one such dinner we were served a macaroni salad , baby ( that’s how I call meera ) and myself just could not stop ourselves from eating it . The different textures from soft , chewy , crunchy to crispy tossed over in a melt in the mouth slippery sauce was to die for teasing all the theories in your taste buds . The stand out ingredient being the mopped up crispy bread in the mayonnaise sauce .  I could not ask mom the recipe as she was busy with other guests at home  . Once back home , had to treat hubby dear’s niece and her family for dinner . Made sure I wanted that macaroni salad recipe and called mom but she was like it was made by her cousin sister dilnawaz . Now I had to hunt her down with those days of no access to mobiles , SMS , Facebook or what’s app and finally got the recipe , followed it exactly as she told and it sure was the star dish on the table with being the talk of the dinner gathering as well . Since then , I do make sure to keep it on the table as a must try for special guests . A one platter dish with very few simple steps to follow that’s a terrific choice for an easy family meal or a causal entertaining . These simple but impressive dishes are for sure keeps and it’s one among the first few recipes noted down in my first hand written recipe note book as well . So peeps , make sure to save the recipe as well .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Tri coloured macroni 1/2 pac ( 200 grams ) boiled , strained and run under water to avoid stickiness
Boiled Potatoes2 medium sized cubed
Boiled Carrots 3 medium sized cubed
Bread slices 8 cubed and deep fried to golden , crisp and stored in an air tight container
Capsicum1 big chopped
Onion 2 big chopped
Tomatoes 2 chopped
Tomato sauce3 tablespoons
Celery 1 stick chopped
Mayonnaise 1/4 cup
Red chilli powder1/2 teaspoon or more to taste
Sugar 1 teaspoon
Saltto taste

Method

  1. Mix tomato sauce , mayonnaise , red chilli powder , sugar and salt together . Mix well until sugar dissolves .
  2. Taste , adjust seasoning and set aside the mayonnaise dressing . Mix boiled tri coloured macroni , potatoes and carrots together . Add chopped onions , tomatoes , celery and capsicum .
  3. Toss all together well adding the mayonnaise dressing . Place on the refrigerator for 2 hours . Just before serving add the fried bread slices , toss once again and serve chill .

Crispy bread salad dressed with orange and maple syrup

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes

Serving : 2-3 members

Description

My father – in – laws elder brothers wife mrs mahmudha Rabbani is a foodie like me but a vegetarian by choice and a bit fussy too . But she enjoys experimenting with new dishes in her kitchen that she gets to know through her enormous traveling around the world . She makes sure to send her trials home to me for a second opinion flaming with passion of a true food lover . My challenge next is to send some thing in return which has to be healthy that tastes good and must be a vegetarian dish . So on one such occasion I came up with this salad instantly . Amma loves salads in any form but with out water melon in it . She went head over heels with this salad that she finished her savoured lunch just by eating the salad alone with her eyes and taste buds alike . My secret  was the right balance of various textures , flavours  and the right combination of colours used . The ingredients mentioned for this salad are often in use in my cooking . Now it’s your turn to wow all your loved ones around food lovers .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Boiled sweet corn1 cup
Capsicum1/2 chopped
Red bell pepper1/2 chopped
Yellow bell pepper1/2 chopped
Onion1 big chopped
Red cabbage1/4 cup thinly shredded
Spring onion greens 1 string chopped
Celery 1 stalk chopped
Bread slices 6 to 8 cut into cubes
Oilto deep fry bread cubes

Ingredients for Dressing

Ingredients
Quantity
Apple cider vinegar 2 tablespoons ( can substitute with normal vinegar 1 tablespoons )
Maple syrup 2 tablespoons
Dijon Mustard 1 teaspoon
Orange juice of one orange
Olive oil1/2 teaspoon
Salt + pepper to taste

Method

  1. Heat oil to deep fry . Fry the bread cubes to a deep brown colour and crisp . Drain and store in an air tight container .
  2. Mix all the other ingredients together except for deep fried bread cubes and set aside . Mix dressing ingredients together .
  3. Taste and adjust seasoning . Drizzle over the mixed salad . Place in the refrigerator until to be served . Just before serving toss the deep fried bread cubes and serve chilled over a bead of lettuce leaves in a platter .

Apple capsicum and peanut pesto salad

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Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 2-3 members

Description

Salads have become a must on the dinning table every afternoon here at home  which has left me with a fix as the salad has to be healthy and tasty . That’s where the real challenge is as how can healthy be tasty ? Any thing that tastes good is not healthy that’s what I think . So with my search for salad and salad dressing recipes came across this beautiful recipe from vicky ratnanis new cook book vicky goes veg where he has used this pesto recipe to serve along with a salad but I just loved the idea of using a fruit in a pesto so I used the pesto as a short cut cheats dressing to the salad . Vickys recipe demanded for red bell pepper to be used but as I didn’t have it in my pantry substituted with green capsicum . The results were mind blowing as it livened up the staid salad with a smattering of sweet and spicy fresh pesto . Having to feed your loved ones at home in a healthy way with taste is not an easy go job so with what ever I come up that’s healthy I make it a point to serve them in style and sooth their eyes with the healthy food first on their plate before it goes into their tummy . The same way this salad also did get it’s turn to be show cased in a contemporary classic way like in restaurants at home . That leads to not wanting to dine out and if we do with complaints pouring in  most of the time . My trick to impress my loved ones at home has served to play it’s trick on me with keeping me busy in my kitchen always .

Ingredients for pesto

Ingredients
Quantity
Green capsicum 1 seeds removed and chopped
Unsalted , skinned and roasted peanuts 3 tablespoons
Ginger1/2 teaspoon
Green chillies 2 or to taste
Olive oil 3 tablespoons
Peeled Apple1/2 chopped
Jaggery1 tablespoon
Vinegar 1 tablespoon
Coriander leaves 1/3 cup chopped

Other vegetables for salad

Ingredients
Quantity
Carrot1 big cut into thin long strips
Cucumber 1 big cut into thin long strips , squeezed with both hands to remove excess water
Cabbage1/4 cup shredded
Red cabbage1/4 cup shredded
Onion1 sliced thinly
Red bell pepper ( red capsicum ) 1/2 thinly sliced ( I used green as I didn't have red bell pepper )

Method

  1.  Grind all the ingredients together until it’s smooth and a pale green colour .
  2. Taste and adjust the ground pesto . Mix with all the cut vegetables for salad . Place in the refrigerator until to be served .
  3. Serve cold with masala paped .

Cucumber relish salad with cheese dressing

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Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 10 minutes to cook sweet corn kernels

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Cucumber relish salad with cheese dressing . A salad I came up with when I had to have a grand spread on the table for lunch when my brother visited my place after three years on a holiday to India with his family from United Kingdom . The food habits that the NRI people follow does challenge you a lot at times . I had to come up with four different salads with each tasting different making sure not to repeat the vegetables used as well . Some how I managed to pull it of and this cheesy fatty culprit did shine among the four salads on display ending with a clean whipped empty bowl that was removed after the lunch . The difficulty in putting up a salad is that it’s not a melting one pot dish with flavors let to infuse into each other . In a salad bowl, you put in the different things. You want the vegetables – the lettuce, the cucumbers, the onions, the green peppers so on so forth to maintain each of their identity along with a dressing that marries each one of the vegetables used perfectly . You have to be prepared to appreciate the difference in taste , texture and color . Gear up people for a mouth full of different munching .

Ingredients for cheese dressing

Ingredients
Quantity
Cheese spread5 tablespoons
Butter milk2 tablespoons
Hung curd2 tablespoons
Mayonnaise2 tablespoons
Vinegar1 teaspoon
Sugar1/4 teaspoon
Garlic powder1/4 teaspoon
Salt + pepper to taste

Method for dressing

  1. Mix all the above ingredients together to get a smooth thick mass of dressing .
  2. Taste and adjust seasoning , set aside .

Other ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Big Cucumber1 1/2 chopped
Apple1 chopped
Canned Pineapple4 slices chopped
Red pepper1/2 chopped
Onion1 chopped
Cooked Sweet corn Kernels 1/2 cup

To Decorate 

  1. Thin long slices of cucumber’s with skin done with the help of a potato peeler .

How to proceed 

  1. Mix all the chopped fruits and vegetables together .
  2. Toss with the cheese dressing with the mixed chopped fruits and vegetables . Taste and adjust seasoning .
  3. Place in the refrigerator until required to be served .
  4. Roll the thin cucumber slices into roses and decorate to your choice . ( in case the roses don’t stay intact ,use tooth picks to secure them together ) serve chill .

Tandoori chicken salad

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Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : Nil –  If tandoori chicken is already ready in hand

Serving : 5 members

Description

Tandoori chicken salad . Salad was rocket science to me until I realized that its just a combination of raw vegetables with a dressing and few crispy garnishes to pike it up . This salad was the first salad that I came up with when I first started to cook but with out the tandoori chicken and the crushed pepper paped . From then till date , I religiously make this salad with a few twists every time a salad is required on the table as its fuss free , so simple to make , high in taste and all the ingredients are cupboard friendly at home . This salad is a great healthy eating option as there is no oil used . The nutritional boost of this salad will make it your go to food to beat the diet flunk . I made this salad when my friend meera aboo thamby had come over for lunch along with her family . Her hubby aboo ( Annan ) just loved this salad that he made sure to pack the left overs before they left . I made four salads and still this salad managed to stand out among them all . The best part being it was the easiest salad to pull of and even beginners can raise a lot of eye brows around .

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Tandoori chicken flesh shredded
1 cup
Carrot1/2 cup cut into strips
Onionssliced thinly 1/2 cup
Cabbageshredded 1/4 cup
Cucumber1 chopped
Tomato1 big chopped
Green chillies
4 chopped finely
Coriander leaveschopped 2 teaspoons
Lime juice1/2 lime
Salt to taste
Vinegar1 1/2 tablespoon
Pepper paped2 tossed over flame or microwaved for 30 - 40 seconds and crushed .

Method

  1. Mix tandoori chicken pieces , carrots , cabbage , onions , tomato ,cucumber , green chillies and coriander leaves together .
  2. Add salt , lime juice and vinegar and toss well . Taste and adjust .
  3. The salad must be a bit tangy . Place in the fridge until required to serve . Garnish with crushed pepper paped and serve .

Note

  1. Vegetarians can substitute with tandoori panner and do the same .
  2. Make sure you add the crushed pepper paped just before serving so that the paped stays crisp .

Cheesy potato canape

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Preparation Time : 30 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serving : 5 – 6 members

Description

Cheesy potato canape . A Peruvian style cheese dip recipe that is served with tapioca finger chips . I came across this recipe in the telly on food safari program in fox traveller hosted by maeve o ‘ meara . One day was just flipping through a cook book and came across a recipe with the same cheesy dip used with potatoes and served as a canape by chef ritu Dalmia . Was wonder struck with her great idea of using this cheesy dip with potato rounds . Stored this idea in mind . In a few weeks time had my friend meera aboo thamby and her family come over for lunch at my place . Her hubby is a health freak and has a lot of salads , soups and proteins . Rice is a big no , no . ( you know about these NRI ‘S ….. Oops no offence to any one ) so I had to cater to her hubby’s needs as well . Planned to make four salads and the first one on my mind was the potato canape recipe that was stored in my mind . I followed ritu dalmias recipe and ended up resulting in a very runny sauce instead of a creamy one . Had to use more feta and salted biscuits than demanded in the recipe . Compared this recipe with the food safaris and found out that I had to use evaporated milk but ritu Dalmia had mentioned just milk and that to one cup . I guess that’s what made my sauce runny . So I have substituted milk with cream here . The entire world revolves around with borrowed , tweaked , followed and inspired recipes with their own twist.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Oil1 tablespoon
Yellow bell pepper/ yellow capsicum1 chopped
Onion1 chopped
Garlic2 flakes
Green chilies2 chopped
Feta cheese100 grams
Cream2 tablespoon
Salted biscuits6 to 8 ,( I used Monaco biscuits )
Salt and pepperto taste
Potatoes4 boiled , peeled and sliced into 1/2 centimeter thick slices
Cappers1 tablespoon
Celery leavesfew

Method

  1. Heat oil in a frying pan . Saute yellow bell pepper , onion , garlic and green chillies until soft .
  2. Cool completely . Put this mixture in a blender along with feta cheese , cream , biscuits , salt and pepper .
  3. Blend to get a thick creamy sauce . Season the potato slices with very little salt .
  4. Lay the potatoes in a single layer on a flat platter and top them with the cheese sauce .
  5. Garnish with capers and celery leaves . Serve at room temperature .

Watermelon feta salad

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Preparation Time : 10 minutes

Cooking Time : nil

Serving : 4 members

Description

Watermelon feta salad . A Greek origin dish which I first got to know through nigella lawsons show on the telly . Fell in love with the idea of using the water melon in a salad . Following her recipe I just spiked it up a bit with our desi ingredients and wolla it was heavenly with the freshness of the ingredients , crunchiness of the cucumber , saltiness of the feta and enhanced lemony zing . This salad is a perfect iced appetizer . Water melon was one fruit as a kid that I just got to mournfully flip through pages and had to wonder how it would taste as it was no where to be found in Coimbatore and surrounding areas . The vibrant red with black seeds sparkling in between with the white lining along with the green skin was a fantasy to me . At last one holiday I finally got to taste water melon that was sourced from Bombay in my grand mothers( dads mom ) place in Coimbatore . As we were a huge gang of people there , each one of us got one piece each . Loved the taste and wateriness of the fruit but the taste didn’t register in my mind and was a for gotten episode . Finally water melon was sold a lot in Coimbatore and at school in Ooty , we were served a triangular piece each during lunch on summer days . Got married of to tirunelveli and not a sign of any fresh fruits available in the local market except for apples , oranges and bananas . My parents used to send over fruits of the season through lorry service over to in – laws place . Gone are those days , now Nellai has platform fruit stalls , fruit shops and huge department stores filled with imported fruits and veggies . Good things come to those who are patient . Right !!! We Nellai people are enjoying the exciting transformation for the lost time.

Ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
watermelon cubes deseeded
250 grams
Cucumber cubes 50 grams
light soy sauce1 teaspoon
spring onions1 stalk
black olives6 to 7
feta cheese 50 grams
Black salta pinch
Coriander leaves (chopped)1 teaspoon
Mint leavesfew
tomato1 chopped
pumpkin seeds 2 teaspoons , ( or use any nuts of your choice )
chaat masala1/4 teaspoon
olive oil2 teaspoon
oregano leaves2 pinch
lemon zesta pincn
lemon juice1 teaspoon
sugar1 teaspoon

Method

  1. Peel and cut water melon into cubes or chunks if you like. Add the cucumber and Season with soy sauce and black salt.
  2. Slice the spring onions thin. Chop the olives. Crumble the feta cheese.Cut the tomato .
  3. Toast the pumpkin seeds, sprinkle the chaat masala with sugar. Prepare a dressing by whisking together the olive oil, oregano, lemon juice and zest in a mixing bowl .
  4. Add olives, the spring onions, tomato , feta, with the dressing. Season to taste.
  5. Place the cubed watermelon and cucumber on the plate with the dressing . garnish with coriander leaves and mint leaves .
  6. Place in the refrigerator until needed to be served and serve chill .

Millet rice balls with avocado aioli dressing

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mrbwaad

Preparation Time : 35 minutes

Cooking Time : 15 minutes

Serving : 4 to 6 members

Description

Millet rice balls with avocado aioli dressing . It’s been quite some time since I made salad at home . Last afternoon decided to skip my regular lunch . instead make a decent salad that should be healthy and fulfilling . I was in a mood to use ingredients from my refrigerator kind of thing , as it was fully loaded with vegetables ,fruits and herbs after my return from kodaikanal . Picked what ever I felt was right enough to be used and ripe along with some other ingredients . I remembered going through a recipe ( not sure where ) , where they had used quinoa balls in a salad . So I borrowed that idea and started of with millet rice balls . The first time I was experimenting with millet grains . Made a dressing with ripe avocado and mayonnaise . Tasted bland and buttery so just added a piece of sun dried tomato and its oil . Tasted and it just did pure Magic . I didn’t want to use regular salad vegetables so opted for the remaining avocado and spiked it with all the green herbs that I had . Proceeded and put the salad together . The salad was creamy , crunchy , tart , fragrantly herby with colour bursting all over . This haute make over with marvelous pairing of contrasting flavours are for keeps and sure to be a hit on any table . finally my quest of skipping lunch and having a salad alone was done in style .

Ingredients for the millet rice balls 

Ingredients
Quantity
Millet rice ( husk removed )120 gm
Brown bread4 slices
Red , yellow and green pepper1/4 each chopped
Olive oil2 tablespoons
Chilli flakes to taste
Dill1/4 teaspoon
Pine nuts1/4 cup
Lime juice 1/2 lime
feta cheese100 grams
Salt and pepperto taste

Ingredients for avocado aioli dressing

Ingredients
Quantity
Ripe Avocado 1/2
Mayonnaise4 tablespoon
Sun dried tomato1 piece with 1 teaspoon oil
Saltto taste

Salad ingredients

Ingredients
Quantity
Ripe Avocado1/2 cut to stripes
Leeks1 stem alone sliced few
Fresh whole basil leaves15
Mint leaves 8
Spring onion1 with greens chopped

Method for millet rice balls

  1. Pressure cook washed millet rice with 3 times more of water to the ratio of 1 share millet : 3 shares of water for 3 whistles and set aside to cool .
  2. Blitz the bread slices to a coarse powder . Heat oil and saute pine nuts and chopped coloured peppers to soft and nuts to lightly golden .
  3. Mix the cooked millet rice , pine-nuts pepper mixture , bread slice coarse powder , feta crumbled , lime juice , salt , pepper , chilli flakes and dill together .
  4. Mix well and shape into even size balls . Place on a greased microwave safe plate and microwave on high for 2 minutes . Remove and set aside

Method for avocado aioli dressing

  1. To make the avocado aioli for the salad , Blend the avocados with the mayonnaise , salt , sun dried tomato and oil to a smooth paste .
  2. Taste and adjust and set aside .

Method for salad 

  1. For salad , Mix avocado strips with leeks , fresh basil leaves and chopped spring onion .
  2. Toss half of the avocado aioli with the salad .

How to proceed and plate

  1. To serve , spread the salad on the base , top with millet rice balls and serve the remaining avocado aioli beside .
  2. Serve at room temperature .