Peanut and Avocado Salad

This is a refreshing and nutritious salad with all the fixings to make a wholesome and filling snack or starter. 

Peanuts are full of protein, but are under utilized in our cooking. They are often used to season desserts or dishes, but are hardly used in the same manner as chickpeas or kidney beans are. 

While scrounging around for what to make for an evening snack, I started with the idea of making peanut sundal, and before I realized it, I was on a completely different course. Thankfully, the end result was liked by the family, so it was a fruitful diversion!

Raw Mango and Black Bean Salad

This is a zesty and spicy salad that can be had as is or piled on a crispy taco shell lined with shredded lettuce, cheese and some sour cream. A good friend of mine suggested the addition of chaat masala instead of cumin powder and chilli powder. And this small addition made quite a difference to the overall flavor!

Tabbouleh

Tabbouleh is a Middle-Eastern salad made with bulgur wheat, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and herbs such as parsley and mint drenched in a simple lemon juice-olive oil vinaigrette. While the husband loves tabbouleh and all things Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern, I have never been a fan of bulgur/cracked wheat. I used to grimace just thinking of cracked wheat upma when I was growing up. I used to call it "mannu (sand) upma". Cracked wheat literally tastes like gritty sand to me. However, having to fend for myself now, I am no longer that picky and more open to things. So, on those few days that I do make a salad or upma with cracked wheat, I add a lot of strong flavors to mask the muddy, sandy quality of cracked wheat.

This is my version of Tabbouleh, with hints of Mediterranean (feta) and Italian influences (basil). I really like this salad, because when basil is ground to a paste (similar to pesto), it just brings out more flavor and punch, so I like to use ground basil. You can even get basil paste at the grocery store near the herb section. To me, basil makes the salad more palatable. I don't like parsley, so I added our Indian substitute - coriander leaves. You can also substitute bulgur wheat with couscous, and the salad tastes great.

Ingredients (serves 4): 

1. 1 cup bulgur / cracked wheat
2. 1.25 cups boiling vegetable broth/stock or just boiling water
3. zest of 1 lemon
4. 1/4 cup lemon juice
5. 2 tablespoons olive oil
6. 1 cucumber, finely chopped
7. 1 tomato, chopped
8. a few sprigs of coriander leaves/cilantro, chopped
9. 2 tablespoons basil paste (puree basil, some oil, with a hint of lemon juice)
10. 2 teaspoons dried mint leaves
11. 1/2 teaspoon salt, or as needed
12. 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
13. 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preparation:

1. In a wide bowl, add bulgur and the boiling vegetable stock / water. Close the bowl and let the bulgur cook/stand for 20-25 minutes. Then, fluff the cooked bulgur with a fork. 
2. Add basil paste and dried mint leaves and mix well. 
3. Add cucumber, tomato and lemon zest and mix. 
4. Whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper to form a vinaigrette. 
5. Pour over the salad and toss. 
6. Finally add feta and coriander leaves and gently mix. 

Let the salad rest for 1 hour (at the least) and then serve at room temperature. 

Quinoa Fruit Salad

There are so many quinoa recipes these days that inspire me to try some of my own. This is one such a simple recipe that I put together as I went along.

Some people may not be a fan of the cumin powder in this recipe, so I suggest that you tone it down a little if you are not a fan of sweet and savory salads. Other than that, I loved the simple ginger-lemon-honey dressing. It complemented the fruits really well and made the quinoa delicious.

Easy to make, filling, and healthy.

Ingredients (serves 4):

1. 2 mangoes, de-seeded and diced
2. 1 cup sliced red grapes
3. 1 cup sliced strawberries
4. 1 green bell-pepper, diced
5. 1.5 cups uncooked quinoa (cook the quinoa with 1:2 ratio of quinoa:water)
6. 1 tablespoon olive oil

For the dressing:

1. 1 tablespoon cumin powder
2. 1/4 cup olive oil
3. juice from 1 lemon
4. 1 - 1.5 teaspoons salt, as needed
5. 1 teaspoon pepper
6. 2 - 3 tablespoons honey (adjust according to how sweet/tart the fruits are)
7. 3 teaspoons grated ginger

Preparation:

1. In a tablespoon of olive oil, stir fry the bell-pepper until they are slightly charred and tender. Add the cumin powder to the bell-pepper and mix everything well. When cool, add the bell-pepper to a large salad bowl.
2. Add all the sliced fruits (grapes, mangoes, and strawberries) to the bell-pepper and mix everything gently.
3. Cook the quinoa with 3 cups of water. 
4. Make the dressing by whisking together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, honey, and ginger. 
5. Add the dressing to the warm, cooked quinoa and mix evenly. Let the quinoa cool. 
6. When the quinoa is cool, add it to the fruits in the salad bowl and give everything a stir. 

Let the salad rest for an hour and then serve at room temperature. The more the salad rests, the better the flavors will meld together. 

Caprese Salad & Sandwich

Caprese is the quintessential summer salad. It has four simple ingredients - tomato, basil ("things that go together grow together"), mozzarella, and some balsamic vinegar. So simple, yet oh so delicious! And given how much we love this, it easily becomes dinner.

Ingredients (serves 2-4):

1. One large tomato, sliced into thick circles
2. a few wedges of round, thick mozzarella (depending on how many you are assembling)
3. a few fresh basil leaves
4. a drizzle of balsamic vinegar
5. a drizzle of olive oil
6. a sprinkle of salt and pepper

Assembly:

1. Layer the caprese by first placing a tomato. Top it with a thick wedge of mozzarella. Top that with a single basil leaf. 
2. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Or use any fruit infused balsamic vinegar. I used peach balsamic vinegar, thanks to my wonderful friends from California :)
3. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

That's it really. You wouldn't believe the burst of awesome flavors. Summer on a platter. 

 

You can easily convert this to sandwich form. Toast a couple slices of bread, moisten the sides with a little olive oil. Sandwich the caprese and enjoy!

Broccoli Salad with Avocado Dressing

Salads can be incredibly filling and tasty. They are easy to put together and refreshingly healthy. Perfect for a weeknight dinner or afternoon snack.

This is a salad I made recently. I loved using avocados in the dressing. It generously coats the salad and keeps it moist and flavorful.

Ingredients (serves 4-5):

1. 2 heads of broccoli, broken into florets
2. 5 carrots, peeled and grated
3. 3 cups grapes, sliced
4. 1/4 cup walnuts
5. 2 ripe avocados
6. 1/4 cup lime juice
7. 2 teaspoons salt
8. 1 teaspoon black pepper
9. 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

1.  Blanch the broccoli florets in a pot of boiling water. Dunk the broccoli florets in the boiling water for 3 minutes, and immediately run them under cold water, or dunk them in a bowl of ice-cold water to stop the cooking. When cool, put the broccoli florets in a large bowl.
2. Add the grated carrots and sliced grapes to the broccoli and toss everything together
3. De-seed the avocados and grind the pulp along with lime juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper until smooth. 
4. Pour the avocado dressing on the salad and toss everything well until well combined. 
5. Add the walnuts and give a final mix.

Refrigerate the salad for 1 hour and let the flavors meld together before serving.

Carrot Kosumalli

It's a funny name - Kosumalli :). This is nothing but simple carrot salad, the Indian way.

Ingredients (6-8 servings)

1. 9-10 grated carrots
2. 2-3 green chillies, finely cut (remove the seeds if you are wary of spice)
3. 2 inch strip of ginger, finely cut
4. 1.5 teaspoons black mustard seeds
5. 1.5 teaspoons split urad dhal / thuvaram paruppu
6. 1/2 teaspoon hing / asafoetida
7. 1- 2 tablespoons olive oil
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 lemon
10. 1/4 cup chopped coriander leaves / cilantro

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil. When hot, splutter mustard seeds, and then add urad dhal, green chillies, ginger, and hing and stir for a few seconds until the urad dhal begins to brown a little. Remove from heat and pour over the grated carrots. Mix well. 
2. Add salt, the juice of one lemon and the coriander leaves and mix well. 

That's it! Serve on the side of any dish. 

Guacamole Salad

We've been living off this salad for the last couple of days. It is delicious, easy to put together, and healthy in a guilt-free kind of way.

It is a mix of grape-tomatoes, bell-pepper, onion, garlic, black-beans, avocados and lime zest, dressed in a zesty and light vinaigrette of olive oil, lime juice, salt, pepper, paprika and cumin. Paprika and cumin are the only additions of mine. The lime zest brings out a bite of freshness that is so refreshing. A simple and lovely salad.