Daily Salad - Kids Favorite

At home, salad is an integral part of each meal. Without fail, we have a raw vegetable salad everyday. 

Fresh vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, fibre and all the goodness which leads to a healthy lifestyle. They offer quantity AND quality and at a low calorie cost. Raw food is nature in its purest form.

Today's theories state that adding a lot of colour to the meal is important. That is,different coloured vegetables add various vitamins and minerals that the body needs. So what I am saying here is the experts believe a plate piled with fruit and vegetables with all the colours of the rainbow will ensure that you eat a wide array of nutrients essential to the body.

I love this salad a LOT and so do my kids. They enjoy it and just go though bowlfuls without a murmur. I first had it at the Gymkhana Club when someone ordered it as a starter. Initially I was take aback, salad for an appetiser??  But it tasted good... And now though I may not actually serve it as an appetiser along with drinks, I most certainly adapted it to make it healthier and tastier. 

It is easy enough to make if you discount the the effort that goes into dicing all the vegetable finely..

INGREDIENTS:


1 Red Capsicum
1 Green Capsicum
1 Yellow Capsicum
1 Tomato
1 small Cucumber
1 Carrot
1/2 cup Peanuts
1/2 cup Corn Niblets
3 Cheese cubes (or 75 grams Cheddar cheese)

Juice of 1/2 Lime
Salt to tatse

METHOD:

Dice the Capsicums, tomatoes, cucumber, carrot finely into even sized bits.

Dice the cheese into bits of the same size.

Mix everything into a serving bowl. Top with the corn and peanuts.

Just before serving. squeeze the lime juice over and season with salt.

Keep chilled until serving.

ENJOY!!!!!!!

Greek Salad

I love eating out. I think that is the absolute single reason I do not end up losing any of the weight that I have gained over the last many years. And going out of town for me is reason enough to pig out. It is a standing joke amongst my friends that I am food obsessed. If I am visiting a new place, I love to research the restaurants there, food specialities there.. Now for the record, that's not the only thing I research. I also look up sightseeing, transportation but checking out food is of paramount importance. Nothing wrong, is there? No wonder I have a food blog...

On a visit to Bangalore, I was determined to eat at Sunny's. Hadn't eaten there for a couple of years. So like a stuck record, I kept repeating Sunnys, Sunnys. Finally out of sheer frustration, my family said okay. Then realised that the restaurant was on the opposite side of the street where we were staying. How fortuitous was that?

When there, my niece ordered a Greek Salad. Tasted divine. Fresh, crunchy with a sweetish tangy dressing. It was outstanding.

This is an attempt to replicate that. A greek salad is a rough country salad.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Red Capsicum

1 Yellow Capsicum

1 Green Capsicum

1 Cucumber

1 Small Onion

10 Cherry Tomatoes

10-15 Olives

200 grams Feta Cheese

1 Head Iceberg Lettuce

Dressing:

1 Lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 teaspoon Powdered Sugar

1 Clove Garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano

Salt and Pepper to taste

METHOD:

Place all the dressing ingredients in a small screw top bottle and shake well. Keep aside till ready to serve.

Slice the onions finely.

Cut the capsicums into 1" bits.

Wash the lettuce carefully and tear into bite sized pieces.

Slice the cucumber into half moons.

Use the cherry tomoatoes whole or cut them in half. If you cannot source them, use regular tomatoes with each tomato cut into 8 pieces.

Cut the Feta into 1" cubes. (You can use Paneer instead as Feta is an acquired taste).

Assemble in a bowl.

When ready to serve, pour the dressing over and toss well.

ENJOY!!!!!!

Kosambari and Random Acts of Kindness

Once long ago I watched a talk show which spoke about random acts of kindness. It really touched a chord within me. We go through life sometimes in such a hurry that we miss a lot of things along the way. We miss a lot of opportunities to help others. Little realising that we need people as much as they need us. One act of kindness performed will come back manyfold even if it is in the form of just smiles. No one need know that we are doing it. It can be our little secret. It is one thing that benefits both the giver and the receiver.

Helping someone disabled cross the street... feeding someone who just needs the next meal... just a smile at people in the lift..volunteer at the school...have a conversation with the elderly at an old age home..just say something nice to everyone you meet today...call a long lost friend.. tell your parents how much they mean to you...there are ways and means. Everything we do need not be linked to money. Each of us has within ourselves the time, patience or talents to give others.

I guess teaching this one value to the kids will help them a lot in the long run. It makes the world a better place to live.

I read on one of these blogs about the blogger helping out in a community kitchen and making things from whatever is available. I am sorry I forgot which one. What a commendable job.. That is exactly what I am talking about. Volunteering your time and effort. Thats all it takes.

Now for the food part... Kosumbri is a salad made typically in Karnataka. It is a salad made up predominantly of lentils along with some raw vegetables and a tadka of mustard seeds.. Garnished with coconut and coriander leaves, it makes a wonderful accompaniment to a meal.

Ingredients

one carrot peeled and grated

one cucumber peeled, seeds removed and grated

3 tablespoons split moong dal soaked for 2 hours

1 green chili chopped finely

1/2 a lime juiced

2 tablespoon grated coconut

1 teaspoon coriander leaves chopped finely

salt to taste

Method

Mix the grated carrot, cucumber, soaked moong dal, grated coconut and green chili.

Add the lime juice and salt when ready to serve ( otherwise the salt will make the cucumber water pour out and will dilute the taste)

Garnish with coriander leaves and serve with a meal.

Carrot Salad

Each family has members who are very picky about what they eat and have very definite dislikes. My husband is one such who will not eat chana/chole, banana, tindora(aka dondakai/kovakai) etc etc. He has such hatred for cooked carrot that never will he eat carrot curry in any form. But on the other hand he loves raw carrot. I guess all things crunchy are welcomed by him.




Now we all love one raw vegetable dish with lunch. So as a compromise we made up this yummy South Indian tasting carrot salad which is simple but extremely healthy and full of goodness.


4 medium Carrots
2 green chillies
1/2 a lime
Oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds.
Salt to taste

Grate the carrots. Heat oil. Add mustard seeds. When they start spluttering, add green chillies and switch off the flame.

Pour over the grated carrot. Add lime juice and salt to taste.

And thats it. Its that simple.