Italian summer salad

Heat is showing it's effect in March itself. Eating regular meal twice a day is real hard these days. So salad , juice, buttermilk are some good options.  Here is the nice and healthy option in Summer.

Ingredients
Brown Bread  - 2-3 slices
Boneless chicken - 100 gms
Tomato - 1
Cucumber -1
Lettuce leaves - 3-4
Green olives - 8-9

For DressingOlive Oil - 3 tablespoon

Garlic cloves - 3-4
Basil leaves - 1/2 cup
Vinegar - 1 tablespoon
Salt to taste

Procedure

Preheat oven on 180 C. Make small cubes of bread slices.  Bake this cubes in oven for 10 minutes.   Cut chicken into small cubes and boil with little salt into it.  Remove seeds of tomato and cucumber and cut in small cubes. Now take all the ingredients of dressing  in mixer pot and grind to coarse paste.   Now take this in a salad bowl.  Add olives, bread cubes, chicken cubes, tomato & cucumber cubes and cut lettuce leaves with your hands and put it in bowl.  Toss well .  Transfer it in salad plate and serve it.

Note - Vegetarians can replace chicken with Paneer  or boiled Rajma.



CHILLED MELON BALL SALAD

I had bookmarked this recipe long ago and now got the perfect time to make it. You can call it as melon salad or melon Chaat. It's is very attractive as you can see in the picture. Just what you have to do is scoop water and musk melon. Children will love to have this.

 
Ingredients

Watermelon - 1/2

Muskmelon - 1

Lemon juice - 1 teaspoon

Fresh crushed Black Pepper - 1/8 teaspoon

Fresh mint leaves - 1 tablespoon

Chaat Masala - 1/2 teaspoon

Black Salt - as per taste.


Procedure

Cut the musk Melon in half. Remove all seeds and Using a scoop take small round balls of it. Using a scoop take small round balls of watermelon too. Keep both the melon ball in the fridge. At the time of serving mix all the remaining ingredients with Melon balls and toss once or twice. Serve immediately.



Tthis goes to Pratibha's "ONLY-SALAD" event, brain child of Pari.

Capsicum Bharit

When I heard about this recipe in one cookery show, I was tempted to try that immediately. Till now I have heard about eggplant Bharit or pumpkin Bharit…but capsicum was very new to me. It is very simple and healthy one.

 
Ingredients

Capsicum - 1 big

Finely chopped onion - 1

Chopped green chili - 1

Danyacha kut (Peanut Powder) - 1 tablespoon

Curd - 1/4 cup

Salt and sugar as per taste

For tempering (optional)

Oil - 1 teaspoon

Mustartd seeds - 1/8 th teaspoon

Cumin seeds - 1/4 th teaspoon

Asafetida - a pinch

Sandgi Mirchi - 1

Procedure
Roast the capsicum directly on flame. It should get cooked from each side. Remove the black skin after it gets cool. Finely chopped or mash the capsicum. Now add all other ingredients and mix wel. Make a tempering with given ingredients. Tempering is optional but tempering with Sandgi Mirchi will give nice taste to your Bharit. Pour tempering on the mixture and mix it wel. Serve it with Roti or just eat like a salad.

Nachos with Salsa

Nachos or corn chips are a very quick and easy Mexican starters. It is mainly serve with salsa. Nachos are made from Maize flour and all purpose flour but this time I tried with whole wheat flour. The taste is same. When I read about the combo event by Pari, immediately nachos salsa combination came into my mind:)

Ingredients

For Nachos

Maize flour (Makai ka ata) - 1cup

Whole wheat flour (Gehun ka ata) - 1/2 cup

Oregano - 1 teaspoon

Red chili powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Hot oil - 1 tablespoon

Salt to taste

Oil for deep frying

For Salsa

Tomatoes - 3 medium

Onion - 1 medium

Capsicum - 1

Green chilli - 2

Chili Powder - 3/4 teaspoon

Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon

Lime juice - 1 teaspoon

Salt to taste

Procedure

For Nachos

Combine all the ingredients and knead a soft dough using water. Keep aside for half an hour. Make smal balls of the dough. Roll out ball like thin roti. Cut each roti in 8 triangular pieces. Prick slightly with the fork. Deep fry on medium flame. After it gets cool store it in a airtight container.

For Salsa

Blanch tomatoes for 10 sec. Immediately put under cold running water. Remove the skin of tomatoes. Deseed tomatoes and finely chop it. Pierce the capsicum with the fork and keep over the flame for 1-2 minutes. Remove the burnt skin and chop finely. Chop onion and green chilli very finely. Now combine all the ingredients. Mix nicely. Keep it in fridge.

Serve crispy Nachos with crunchy Salsa

This goes to 'THE COMBO EVENT' by Pari of foodelicious

Khamang Kakdi

Khamang Kakdi is a type of salad. It's a Maharashtrian recipe. Marathi it is also called as Kakdichi koshimbir. It is very good in summer. It's very quick to make.

Ingredients
Cucumber -1
Roasted peanut powder (Danyacha Kut) - 2 table spoon
Lemon - 1/2
Sugar - 1 tea spoon
Salt as per taste

For Tadka
Oil - 1 table spoon
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Cumin seeds - 1/2 tea spoon
Asafetida - a pinch
Chopped green chili - 1
Curry leaves - 2-3


Procedure
Wash, peel and finely chop the cucumber. Keep aside for 5 minutes. Squeeze the water out from cucumber. Now add roasted peanut powder, sugar, salt and lime juice (You can add curd instead of lemon juice.). Mix well. Heat oil in small kadai add mustard seeds, cumin seeds , chopped green chilies, curry leaves and Asafetida . Pour the tadka on the cucumber mixture. Mix neatly. Khamang kakdi is ready to serve.

This is for AFAM: Cucumber event

and for WYF: Side dish event

Pineapple Raita

Last weekend we had get together at our place. I prepared pineapple raita as one of the side dish. I prepared this raita ample of time earlier but this time I served it in fresh pineapple. All my friends liked the idea.

Ingredients
Small cubes of pineapple - 1 cup
Thick curd - 2 Cups
fresh pomegranate seeds - 1/4 th Cup
Sugar -1 tablespoon
Cumin powder - 1/4 tea spoon
Salt to taste

Procedure
Nicely beat the curd and add salt, sugar and cumin powder into it and mix wel. Now add cubes of pineapple and pomegranate seeds. Mix it. Refrigerate it for some time and serve chilled Pineapple Raita.

Quick Methi Salad

Another healthy and very quick salad. This is very traditional recipe of my Mai aaji (my Grand mother).
There is absolutely no bitterness in the salad. Now a days variety of salads are becoming famous but our old ladies were knowing such type of healthy recipe from their childhood only. Hats off to them.

Ingredients
Methi(fenugreek) Leaves - 2 cups
Grated carrot - 1 cup
Chopped Tomato - 1 medium
Coriander leaves - 1/4 cup
Dalya (Roasted Gram Dal) - 2 table spoon
Grated Coconut - 1 table spoon (Optional)
Lemon Juice- 1 tea spoon
Sugar- 1 tea spoon
Salt to taste

For Tadaka
Oil - 2 table spoon
Rai (Mustered seeds)- 1/2 tea spoon
Jeera (Cumin seeds) - 1/2 tea spoon
Hing (asafetida) - 1 pinch

Procedure

Wash methi leaves nicely and chop it finely. Coarsely grind the roasted gram dal in mixer. In a bowl add chopped methi leaves, grated carrot, chopped tomatoes, grated coconut, Coarsely grinded roasted gram dal, lemon juice, sugar and salt . Mix it well. If you want you can add chopped onion and cabbage as wel.
Heat the oil in small kadai add mustard seeds and cumin seeds, when it splutter add asafetida. Pour this tadaka on the mixture and mix it. Diet cautious people can avoid this tadka.
Fresh Methi salad is ready. You can eat it with chapati.



This is my entry for Laksmi's SWC-Salads under 15 mins

Hesarubele Kosambari (Mung Dal Salad)

Whenever I attend a wedding or any small function in Bangalore where the meal served on a green banana leaf, the popular side dish is Hesarubele Kosambari that is Mung Dal Salad. Mung dal (green gram dal) is very easy to digest. This Kosambari is nutritious, It helps digestion and is good for constipation. You can have 1 bowl of this salad as your breakfast also.

Ingredients
Mung Dal - 1 cup
Grated Fresh coconut - 1/2 cup
Chopped green chilly - 1-2
Chopped coriander leaves - 2 tablespoon
Lemon juice - 2 teaspoon
Salt & sugar to taste
For tempering
Oil - 2 teaspoon
Mustard seeds (Rai) - 1 teaspoon
Asafetida (Hing) -1 pinch
Curry leaves - 2-3

Procedure

Soak the Mung dal for 3 to 4 hours. Drain the water with strainer. Take it in a bowl and add grated coconut, green chilly, coriander leaves, lemon juice, salt & sugar and mix wel. Heat the oil in small kadai add mustard seeds, when it splutter add curry leaves and asafetida. Pour this tadaka on the mixture and mix it. Salad is ready. You can add grated carrot, finely chopped cucumber or during mango season, add grated raw mangoes instead of lemon juice.

This is my entry for TONGUE TICKLER's FIC - January

&

Laksmi's SWC-Salads under 15 mins

&

Srivalli's Legume love affair and to Susan’s event page.