Roasted Vegetable Salad with Quinoa

For over 2 weeks now I am doing this Project #saladeveryday on my Fb page. I feel salads are a way of life and the easiest and fun way to include fresh veggies and fruits in your diet. With a fussy 7 yr old and an equally fussy husband when it comes to eating greens, I have been pretty much successful in this effort of mine.

This week its the the Salad Week at KFB and I made an easy  - Roasted Vegetable Salad with Quinoa. Now I am very new to quinoa, this is probably the first time I am using this grain as I have heard such nice things about it, it being sort of a wonder grain - gluten free and all that. My friend Sarani of Cocoawind uses it in many innovative ways! I found the texture nice and it went well with the vegetables alomost making it a complete meal.

 

Ingredients:


Carrots - 1 medium - cubed

Cucumber - 1 medium - cubed with skin on

Mushroom - a cup - halved

Tomato - 1 large - cubed

Beans - a few - stringed and cut

Onion - 1 large - cubed

Oilve oil - 2 tbsp.

Honey - 1 tbsp.

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Balsamic vinegar - 1 tsp

Quinoa - cooked  - 1 cup - Follow instruction on packet. The quinoa to water ratio is 1:2.

Method :


In a baking tray toss together the cut vegetables with olive oil , honey, salt pepper and balsamic.

Heat oven to 180 degree C and grill the vegetables for 15 to 20 mins.

Serve warm along with the cooked quinoa.

                                          I am sending this recipe to the ongoing KFB event

 

Aloo Ka Achaar - Nepali Style Potato Salad

The thing with having foodie friends is that you are constantly learning new things from them too. My one such very dear friend A is my partner in crime when it comes to food. We do lunches and dinners to satiate our souls every now and then! She is from Nepal and she treats us to these Nepali delights often. I wouldn't be exaggerating, if I say that she make the best momos I've ever had, so much so that now I never want to eat momos outside! Nepali cuisine is extremely under rated I would say and there is definitely more to momos. One such delightful dish is this Aloo ko Achaar - Nepali Style Potato Salad that A makes and we all love . She was very kind to part with the recipe and I did not lose much time preparing it in my kitchen. It is a delightful salad made with potatoes, red onions, garlic and sesame seeds. And what makes it so different is the tempering with mustard oil . Serve it as a starter with your drinks or as a side dish to your meal - you are going to love it anyway!

 

 

Ingredients:

Potato - 2 large sized - par boiled - thinly sliced

Onion - 1 large - thinly sliced

Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Sesame seeds - 1 tbsp - dry roasted and grounded into a powder

Green chillies - 2 - finely chopped - use more or less as per taste

Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Salt - to taste

Turmeric powder - a pinch

Chilli powder - 1 tsp

Mustard oil - 1 tbsp

Fenugreek/methi  seeds - a few

Spring onion - finely chopped- for garnish

Method:

In a bowl mix together the thinly sliced potatoes, onions, green chillies, turmeric powder, chilli powder , salt, sesame seed powder and the lime juice. Give it a good gentle mix.
Check if its well seasoned. Feel free to add more lime juice as per your taste.

In a small pan heat the mustard oil and splutter the fenugreek/methi seeds. Temper the salad with this. Give it a mix. Garnish with chopped spring onion and some toasted sesame seeds.

This is best served at room temperature. A tells me that another variation would be to add dried fish or shrimps to enhance the taste. Sometimes even diced cucumber is also added to it. The options are many and in any which way this is one yummy dish that can be prerpared in a jiffy.

Summer Salad with Lemon Pepper Vinaigrette

In anticipation of those dreadful summer days I am already exploring cool summery recipes. Come summers - well, its already here considering the temperature is already soaring as high as 35 degress we all need to plan our diet to include fresh vegetables, fruits a plenty. Salads will surely be a part of our daily menu. Like this Summer salad made with everyday vegetables with a generous drizzle of Lemon Pepper vinaigrette.

 

On my recent visit to Bangalore to spend two days with my friend of 15 yrs sans the little boy and the husband I explored few food stores in the city and was spoilt for choices. I was like a little girl in a candy store who didn't know what to buy and what to leave. What first caught my fancy was the variety of peppers - I didn't know of more than 3 kinds and here there were more than 10! There was pink , long and green pepper that I was seeing for the first time. Ideas started flooding my head and I picked up an assortment of 6 kinds of pepper.There were hoards of other stuffs I picked up which would need a dedicated post I suppose. Coming back to my Summer salad with a dressing of lemon pepper vinaigrette using some pretty pink peppers! Those peppers were a revelation..very sweet at the first bite with a woody fiery after kick to  it. I couldn't resist eating those while I prepared the dressing.

 

Ingredients:

Penne pasta - 1 cup - boiled al dente - follow instruction given on the packet

Cucumber - 1 cup - diced

Red bell pepper - half cup - diced

Cherry tomatoes - a handful - halved

Green olives  - a handful - halved

Oilve oil - 1/4th cup

Rice wine vinegar - 1 tsp

Lime juice - 1 tbsp

Pink pepper - 1 tbsp. - crushed

Black pepper - 1 tbsp. - crushed

Coarse sea salt - 1 tbsp. - crushed

Fresh mint leaves - few sprigs - roughly chopped for garnish

Lettuce or any other salad leaves - few leaves for garnish

Grated Parmesan cheese - for garnish - optional

Method:

For the vinaigrette:

Mix together the olive oil, rice wine vinegar,lime juice, crushed pepper and salt. Give it a good stir and keep aside.
This dressing can easily be stored for later use .

For assembling the salad:

Line a salad bowl with the salad leaves. Toss together the pasta, diced cucumber, red bell pepper, tomatoes, olives into the salad bowl. Put in a good drizzle of the vinaigrette. Give it a good mix. Throw in the chopped mint leaves and some grated parmesan. Serve chilled.

Notes:

• This salad is best served chiiled. You can use whatever freash vegetable that catches your fancy!
• Instead of pink pepper use normal black pepper and white pepper.
• Rice wine vinegar can be substituted with apple cider or even normal vinegar.

Potato Salami Salad - Creamy Deliciousness

I for one don't like spending too much time in the kitchen..as in I like recipes that can be made in a jiffy and people think that you had to slog out to make that. Most of my recipes are hassle free but tasty nonetheless. And I think that is what we all want in todays time- where people hardly have any time to do a lot of things. This Potato Salami Salad is something that I whipped up last weekend when friends came over for drinks and dinner. I served it cold and as a starter and the husband was all praises. So I made it again today to serve with the grilled chicken that I would be making for dinner tonite.  Very few basic ingredients is what you will need. Infact most of it I am sure you have at home. Can be served cold or even warm if you wish to. Just a word of caution here..this is not really a salad salad..if your looking for that healthy quotient but sinful indulgences should be allowed once in a while!

Ingredients:

Potatoes - 2 medium - par boiled and roughly cut into cubes

Chicken Salami - 6-7 slices - roughly chopped - you could even use ham or sausages

Mayonnaise - 4 tbsps. - I used low fat!

Fresh cream - 4 tbsps. - I used Amul low fat cream!

Cheese spread - 2 tbsp.

Mustard sauce - 1 tsp

Chilli flakes - a pinch

Salt - to taste

Pepper powder - to taste

Spring onions - a few sprigs - finely chopped - use only the green part

Method:

In a bowl mix together the mayo, cream, cheese spread and mustard sauce.

Arrange the chopped potatoes and salami in a bowl , pour the cream mayo mixture. Give it a good mix. Add the salt,pepper,chilli flakes - mix well. Garnish with chopped spring onion..serve cold.

Notes:

• Don't over boil the potatoes or else the salad turns mushy.
• Boil the potatoes in salt water - gives a better taste
• Keep a check on the salt added as mayo and cheese spread already has salt added.

Happy Cooking!

 

Quick Fix Summer Salad

Hello All! Am sure you guys must be wondering whatever happened to me.Well a lot of things actually..friends visiting, sonny boy being unwell,short trip to hometown and then this disgusting Kolkata weather. I mean this is my 8th year in this city but it has never been this bad. And to be honest am in this constant fear that my little boy will not be able to cope up with the heat and fall ill. But then as my friends tell me that kids do just fine..its us moms who hyperventilate. After all we have also survived everything and come so far!

I am having to really drag myself to even make a square meal for my family.Now even the husband is noticing and asking me if everything is ok with me.So I decided that I HAVE to get back to my love.My dearest bunch of blogger friends at KFB have been whipping up delicacies and I am taking inspiration from them. This bout of laziness also meant that my pantry is practically empty and I am having to make do with whatever is available.

Making a start with a Quickfix Summer Salad with a dressing with Asian flavours. Hope you will like and I promise to get back full swing.I used everyday salad veggies like cucumber,onion,tomato,corn and some green apples which gave it the perfect balance.

Ingredients:

Cucumber - 1 large - cut into cubes

Tomato - 2 medium - cut into cubes

Onion - 1 small - cut into cubes

Sweet corn - 1 cup - microwaved for 1 min

Green apple - 1 medium - cored and cut into cubes

Carrot - 1 large - cut into cubes

For the dressing:

Olive oil - 4 tbsp.

Roasted cumin powder - 1 tbsp.

Salt - to taste

Chili flakes - 1 tsp - adjust according to taste

Lemon juice - 1 tbsp.

Honey - 1 tbsp.

Method:

Clean the vegetables and cut them into cubes. Take a bowl of chilled water and immerse the chopped veggies for 15 mins.

In a glass bowl mix well all the ingredients listed under dressing. whisk well.

Drain the veggies and transfer to a salad bowl. Drizzle the dressing on top, mix well and chill in the refrigerator for a while.

Eat it as it is or it even goes very well with everyday home cooked meals like dal-chawal.

               I am sending this recipe to the ongoing event at KFB "Beat the Heat"

 

The Detox Series - Grilled Chicken Salad

Confession time! I was slipping away from my detox therapy and being lured towards food and more food again. But I quickly got my act together and got back to eating healthy and I intend to do that for a few more days. This salad I made today is one of the easiest really. No fuss, hardly any prep and what emerged was a plate full of gorgeousness! Didn't have too many fresh veggies at hand so had to make do with peppers,onion and chicken. Am not complaining though - it tasted superb. Sharing my Grilled Chicken Salad recipe with you all.

Ingredients:

Bell peppers - 1 cup - diced - I used red and yellow ones

Chicken - 1 breast piece - diced

Green tomatoes - 2 small - diced

Tomatoes - 1 large - diced

Onion -1 medium - diced

Spring onion - 1 stem - finely chopped

Feta cheese - a handful crushed

Salt - to taste

Pepper - to taste

Honey - 1 tbsp.

Mustard sauce - 1 tbsp.

Olive oil - 2 tbsp.

Method:

Take all the diced vegetables (except spring onion) and the chicken in a baking tin. Drizzle a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Put the baking tray in a preheated oven and grill for 15 mins at 200 deg C.
In a glass bowl mix together the olive oil,honey and mustard sauce. Season with salt and pepper and mix well into the grilled vegetables.
Garnish with chopped spring onion and crushed feta cheese. Serve warm.