Mango and Pepper Salad

It is summer season in India and it is time for my favorite fruit which is "Mangoes". In Canada, we don't really get nice mangoes but I found the Ataulfo mangoes pretty good for this recipe. This is a Mexican variety and I found this particular variety of mangoes simply perfect for this recipe. But, you could really use any ripe mango. This recipe was passed down to me by a close friend of mine and I really liked it and hence decided to share it with you all.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Serves: 3- 4

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow bell pepper

1 medium red bell pepper

2 medium sized mangoes

3 small shallots sliced or you could use 1/2 red onion

3 tbsp of Jufran hot banana sauce (easily available in No frills)

2 tbsp of roasted salted peanuts chopped

1 green chilli chopped

a few coriander leaves finely chopped

Method:

• First cut the peppers lengthwise into thin strips and after you have finished cutting them, try to pat them dry using a kitchen towel. Make sure you remove all the excess water from the peppers.
• Once you have done that, combine the rest of the ingredients with the peppers and garnish with some peanuts on top.
• Serve it chilled.

Nutty Couscous Salad

Couscous is basically a Mediterranean dish. In general, I am not too fond of couscous and have never prepared it at home. But, one of my friend taught me this recipe. It was very easy to prepare and I liked this recipe of couscous, as a salad. I found it very nutritious and tasty. This recipe serves as a good side dish with fish, chicken or lamb or also a salad.

Preparation time : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine couscous
• 11/2 cup water
• 1 red bell pepper cut into small cubes
• 1 tbsp parsley or coriander finely chopped
• 1 small can of mixed beans
• 2 tbsp of roughly chopped pecans or walnuts
• 2 tbsp dried blueberry
• 2 tbsp dried cranberry
• salt to tast

Method:

• Bring 11/2 cup water to a boil.
• Pour this hot water over the couscous and cover and keep it for about 15 minutes
• Then with the help of fork, gently flake it like the way you would handle cooked rice.
• Drain the water from the canned mixed beans and rinse it nicely under the tap and mix these beans with the couscous.
• Add all the remaining ingredients to the couscous and gently mix it together with a fork.
• Chill it for about 1/2 hour in the refrigerator and serve it as a side or a salad.

Note: You can customize this salad and put in any ingredients of your choice. You can add grilled chicken breast to it if you like or some smoked sausages. Also serves as a great snack idea.

Tomato Feta Pasta Salad

I love watching Ina Garten cook on Food Network. Some days back, I was watching her show and I simply loved this Pasta Salad she made. So decided to try it out at home. I didn't have a few ingredients like capers, Parmesan cheese with me and hence decided to do without it. The salad was fantastic and we all enjoyed it a lot. So here is the recipe...

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time : 25 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

11/2 cup fusilli (spirals) pasta

salt

Olive oil

1 ripe tomato, chopped

3/4 cup olives chopped

1/4 cup feta cheese cut into small cubes

6 sun-dried tomatoes drained and chopped

For the dressing:

5 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 tsp pepper

salt to taste

Parsley chopped

Method :

• Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water with a splash of oil to keep it from sticking together. Boil for 12 minutes, or according to the directions on the package. Drain well and allow to cool. Place the pasta in a bowl and add the tomatoes, olives, feta cheese and chopped sun-dried tomatoes.
• For the dressing, combine all the ingredients in a food processor until almost smooth.
• Pour this dressing over pasta, sprinkle with parsley and toss well.

Beans and Sprouts Salad

This is one of my own creation. The combination of bean sprouts with onions, lettuce, and kidney beans makes this salad very nutritious as well as tasty.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes + soaking time

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

1/2 cup of kidney beans

1/2 cup black chana

1/2 apple cut into small pieces

1/2 ice-berg lettuce

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 onion cut into thin slices lengthwise (optional)

for the dressing:

salt

1/2 lime squeezed to get juice

1 tsp honey

1/2 tsp pepper

Method:

• Soak the chana and the kidney beans overnight in
• Boil the chana and kidney beans with some salt and allow it to cool down.
• Then in a salad bowl, combine all the ingredients including the chana and kidney beans.
• Combine the ingredients for the dressing and pour it over the salad.
• Refrigerate and serve chilled

Cucumber Raita

Cucumber Raita is a simple Indian dish made with cucumber which is added to spiced yogurt generally served as a cool, refreshing accompaniment with heavier curry dishes.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Serves : 10

Ingredients :

2 large cucumbers (don't use the long English cucumbers - they're too wet)

750 gms plain yogurt

3 green chillies finely cut

a few coriander leaves finely cut

a few mint leaves finely cut

a pinch of salt

2 tsp sugar

Method:

• Hang the yogurt in a muslin cloth for about 30 minutes and drain the excess water from it.
• Cut the cucumbers finely and keep aside.
• Combine the cucumber, yogurt, chillies, salt, sugar, coriander leaves in a bowl.
• Garnish with some mint leaves and serve chilled.

Note: You could also add 1 onion finely chopped to this raita. It enhances the flavor of the raita. But, I haven't added it to my recipe, because my guests don't like eating raw onions.

Crunchy Munchy Salad

I prefer to call this salad as "Crunchy Munchy" because the ingredients in this salad are very fresh and crunchy. They are complemented very well with by the honey balsamic vinaigrette.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Serves : 3

Ingredients :

2 small cucumber cut into small cubes

200 gms baby spinach

1/2 raw mango cut into small cubes

50 gms fresh bean sprouts

10 cherry tomatoes cut into half

for the dressing:

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp crushed dried basil leaves

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method:

• Mix the salad dressing ingredients together in a bowl and keep aside.
• Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl and pour the dressing over it.
• Crunchy Munchy salad is now ready to eat.

Pomegrante Raita

I came across this recipe on one of Nigella Lawson's shows. I found it very interesting and was wondering how pomegranate would taste with yogurt. So, decided to give it a try and believe me, it is a wonderful combination. This is a slightly sweet raita and goes well with biryani rice.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Serves : 8

Ingredients :

11/2 cup natural yogurt

3 scallions, finely chopped

1 pomegranate, to give 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

salt to taste

Method:

• Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, reserving some pomegranate seeds for garnish.
• Add a squeeze of pomegranate juice from the husks of the seeded pomegranate at the end.
• Stir everything together, and serve in a bowl scattering the reserved pomegranate seeds over as a garnish.

Pomegranate & Spinach Salad

This is a very quick and easy salad to make. I make it quite often and it is very much loved by everyone.

Pomegranate arils make the dark green spinach pop and contrast with the white onions and cherry red tomatoes. It's as pleasing to eat as it is to look at.

Preparation Time : 5 minutes

Ready in : 5 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

2 cups of baby spinach

1 pomegranate peeled and seeds separated

20 cherry tomatoes

1 small onion cut finely lengthwise

for the dressing :

1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

1 tsp of honey

1 tsp of lemon juice

salt to taste

pepper to taste

Method:

• First cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and keep aside
• Wash the spinach in cold water and drain the water.
• In a salad bowl, combine the tomatoes, onions, spinach and the pomegranate seeds .
• Then mix all the ingredients for the dressing in another bowl and just before serving the salad gently pour the dressing over the salad.
• Pomegranate & Spinach Salad is now ready to eat.

Tip: An easy way to separate the seeds from the pomegranate skin, is to cut the pomegranate into half and then take a rolling pin and gently hammer the back of the pomegranate and you will see the seeds fall out easily.

Note : In order to make this salad a little more exotic, you could also add a couple of walnuts and crumbled feta cheese to it. It will simply taste amazing. But for daily cooking, I like to keep mine simple.

Mango & Mixed bell pepper Salad

My friend prepared this salad at a party and I simply loved it so much. I couldn't believe how bell peppers could taste so delicious. Although, there were a lot of yummy dishes to eat at the party, I simply made this salad as my meal for that day :)

She never gave me the recipe for this salad, but I guessed the ingredients while eating it and came out with a dressing of my own for it and it turned out to be almost similar to what I had eaten. I simply love the colors of this salad.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Ready in : 10 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients :

1 big green capsicum

1 big red bell pepper

1 big yellow pepper

1 big orange pepper

1 raw mango

1 white onion cut finely lengthwise

for the dressing:

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp of lemon juice

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1/2 tsp of crushed dried basil leaves

Method :

• First cut all the peppers into thin long strips. All the strips should be cut evenly.
• Cut the raw mango also in thin long strips.
• Mix all the salad dressing ingredients together in a bowl and keep aside
• Take a nice salad bowl. First add the peppers, then the finely cut onion and then the raw mango and mix well and refrigerate it for about 20 minutes
• Just before serving the salad, pour in the dressing over it and mix well
• This salad goes well with continental dishes.

Garden Salad

I normally don't like adding a lot of the readily available dressing to my salads. I feel salad dressings mask the goodness of fresh vegetables and most of them are not very healthy. So as far as possible I try avoiding them.

So here is a recipe of a great tossed salad that brings out the crispiness of these fresh garden vegetables.

Garden Salad

The reason I call this salad as Garden Salad is because it contains all the fresh green vegetables and is so colorful that reminds of being in a garden.

Preparation Time : 15 minutes

Cooking Time : 5 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients:

10 broccoli florets steamed lightly

1/2 cup of peas boiled

1 cup of baby spinach

1 cucumber cut into cubes

1/2 cup of ice-berg lettuce

1/4 th cup of boiled corn

1 small onion cut into cubes

1 small tomato seeds removed and cut into cubes

For the dressing:

salt to taste

pepper to taste

1 tsp of honey

1 tsp of lime juice

Method:

Take a glass bowl and first place the lettuce in it. Then add the rest of the ingredients except the dressing and mix well. In a small cup, add all the ingredients for the dressing and give it a good mix.

Pour this dressing over the salad. Garden salad is now ready to serve.

Tip: Always pour the dressing on the salad just before serving it, else the salad becomes soggy.

Pa's Tuna Salad

I am not a great salad fan. Growing up I hardly remember eating salads. For any function or festival, the only standard salad my mom used to make was cutting cucumber, tomatoes and onion and placing them on a plate.

When I got married, my father in law (Pa) made a nice and yummy tuna salad one day for me. It was so delicious that I couldn't believe how tuna could taste so good. Well, from then on, I have loved this salad and have also tried converting it into a starter. Although I have made this salad innumerable times, I just can't beat my father-in-law in making it. He is really good at it. So this recipe is of my loving father-in-law who loves making amazing salads once a while.

Pa's Tuna Salad

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Serves : 5

Ingredients:

1 tin of tuna chunks in olive oil

1 medium sized onion finely chopped

1 medium sized tomato chopped

1 medium sized green capsicum finely chopped

1 green chilli finely chopped

1 small piece of ginger chopped finely

1 tsp of vinegar

2 tbsp of mayonnaise

1 tbsp of tomato ketchup

salt to taste

a few corriander leaves chopped finely

Method:

• Take a nice glass bowl. Add vinegar, green chillies and ginger and mix well smashing it with the spoon.
• Then add the onions and capsicum and give it a good mix
• Now add the tuna with the oil, salt and mix again
• Then add the mayonnaise, the ketchup and the tomatoes and mix thoroughly.
• Finally garnish with coriander leaves.

Tip: In order to convert this salad into a starter, simply make the salad as above and then add a spoonful of it on a small toast or a monaco biscuit and you get tuna on toast.

Alternatively, you can also convert it into a sandwich spread by placing the salad between two slices of toasted bread. Goes as a good breakfast or brunch.