COLOURFUL AND HEALTHY SALADS

SALADS

Tiring summer calls for a lot of green watery food items in our daily menu. The low calorie salads made of green vegetables are very good for health. Ingredients beneficial for our health are not lost since we do not boil or fry it. Salads should be crisp, colourful, refreshing and delicious. The nutritive value of salad is as varied as the food that goes into them. They are a source of minerals, vitamins and fibre, when fruits and vegetables are used and a source of protein when meat, fish, cheese, eggs, beans, sprouts and pulses are used.

SALAD DRESSING

Dressings add colour and flavour to salads, improve their palatability and appearance and help to combine the ingredients.

There are four general types of salad dressings:

1. French dressing, a temporary emulsion of oil and acid.
2. Mayonnaise, which is a stable emulsion.
3. Cooked dressing which is a dressing thickened with egg and flour.
4. Curd dressing which is a milk-based dressing.

Some salad dressings:

1. French dressing
2. Mayonnaise dressing
3. Mayonnaise without eggs
4. Curd dressing

1. FRENCH DRESSING

2. MAYONNAISE DRESSING

Ingredients

1. Eggs - 2
2. Mustard powder - 1 tsp
3. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
4. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
5. Oil - 1½ cups
6. Salt - ½ tsp
7. Sugar - 1 tsp
8. Pepper powder - ½ tsp

Method:

Break the eggs into the blender. Add all other ingredients except oil and lemon juice. Churn for a few seconds to blend all ingredients. Keeping the blender on, add oil slowly spoonful by spoonful. Churn all the time. Keep adding oil gradually, till the sauce starts to thicken. Once the sauce thickens slightly, keeping the blender on, pour the oil in a thin stream from the top and you will get a thick mayonnaise dressing. Add lemon juice. Churn once more. Remove from the blender. Chill it before use.

3. MAYONNAISE WITHOUT EGGS

Ingredients

1. Milk - 1 cup
2. Mustard powder - ¾ tsp
3. Vinegar - 1 tbsp
4. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
5. Olive oil - ½ cup
6. Salt - ¼ tsp
7. Sugar - ½ tsp
8. Pepper powder - a pinch

Method:

One-cup milk is reduced to half cup by heating. Put mustard powder, sugar, salt and pepper powder into a liquidizer. To this add the evaporated milk. Switch on for a few seconds, and then pour oil drop by drop through the hole in the lid of the liquidizer with the speed at minimum setting. Add vinegar and lemon juice alternately with the oil. This will yield 1 cup of mayonnaise.

4. CURD DRESSING

Ingredients

1. Curd - 200 gms
2. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
3. Salt - a pinch
4. Pepper powder - a pinch
5. Garlic paste - 1 tsp

Method:

Drain water from the curd by hanging it in a muslin cloth for 2 hours. Put it in a bowl and whisk it to make creamy. Add the remaining ingredients into it. Mix well.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF SALADS

1. MIXED VEGETABLE SALAD

For decoration

1. Shredded cabbage - ¼ cup
2. Carrot sticks - ¼ cup

Ingredients

1. Cucumber - 200 gms
2. Tomato - 200 gms
3. Onion - 200 gms
4. Capsicum - 200 gms
5. French dressing - ¼ cup

Method:

Cut the vegetables into cubes and mix with the French dressing already made. Serve in a glass vessel. Decorate with shredded cabbage and carrot sticks.

2. SPROUTED GREEN GRAM SALAD

Ingredients

1. Sprouted green gram - 1 cup
2. Refined oil - 2 tbsp
3. Onion sliced - 1 cup
4. Green chilli, chopped - 1 tbsp
5. Tomato chopped - ½ cup
6. Coriander leaves chopped - ¼ cup
7. Salt - to taste
8. Asafoetida - a pinch
9. Curd beaten - 1 cup
10. Sugar - a pinch

Method:

Steam sprouted green gram in a steamer for 5 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of oil in a frying pan and sauté onion and green chillies lightly. Cool and mix with salt, asafoetida, curd, sugar and steamed sprout green gram. Transfer them to a serving bowl and decorate with sliced tomatoes and coriander leaves.

3. POMEGRANATE SALAD

Ingredients

1. Pomegranate - a small one

(shelled, cleaned & segmented)

2. Cabbage - 1 small

3. Spring onion - 3

4. Capsicum - 2

5. Green chillies - 2

6. Salt and pepper - to taste

7. Lemon juice - 1 tbsp

8. Sugar - a pinch

9. Orange segments - few

Method:

Grate the cabbage. Finely slice the capsicum, spring onion and green chillies. Mix all the vegetables in a salad bowl and chill. Just before serving, add salt, pepper, lemon juice and sugar. Toss well, garnish with pomegranate seeds.

4. CARROT AND ORANGE SALAD

Ingredients

1. Carrot - 500 gms
2. Orange - 2
3. Olive oil - 1 tbsp
4. Lemon juice - 2 tbsp
5. Pistachio nuts chopped - 3 tbsp
6. Cashew nuts chopped - 1 tbsp
7. Salt - to taste
8. Pepper powder - a pinch

Method:

Peel the carrot and grate it. Peel the oranges and collect the juice in a bowl. In another bowl, mix olive oil, lemon juice and orange juice. Season it with a little salt and pepper. Toss the orange segments together with carrots and pour the dressing over. Place this in a serving dish and decorate with nuts.

5. PINEAPPLE PASTA SALAD

Ingredients

1. Pineapple cubes - 2 cups
2. Pasta (boiled) - 1 cup
3. Cucumber, cut into cubes - 1
4. Tomato cubed - 1

(without its fleshy part)

1. Spring onion chopped - 3
2. Capsicum cubed - 1
3. Cherries - 3
4. Pineapple rings - 8
5. Mint leaves - few

For dressing

1. Pineapple juice - ½ cup
2. Orange juice - ¼ cup
3. Lemon juice - 1 tsp
4. Honey - 1 tbsp
5. Salt & pepper - to taste

Method:

In a bowl, mix pineapple cubes, boiled pasta, spring onions, cucumber, capsicum, tomatoes and mint leaves and keep them aside. Mix all the ingredients for dressing and add to the above items. Decorate with half cut pineapple slices. Refrigerate and serve.

6. TOMATO MOULD SALAD

Let’s see how to prepare a special salad with tomato- Tomato mould salad.

Ingredients

1. Ripe tomato (chopped) - ½ kg

2. Chopped onion (Big) - 200 g

3. Chopped garlic - 1 tsp

4. Cinnamon powder - 1 pinch

5. Nutmeg powder - 1 pinch

6. Gelatin - 1 tbsp

7. Lemon juice - 3 tsp

8. Celery -1 stem

9. Sugar - 1 tsp

10. Salt - as required

11. Water - as required

Method:

1. Add 1 tbsp of gelatin into ¼ cup of water taken in a vessel and put the vessel on the top of boiling water bath to melt it. Keep aside.

2. Mix all the ingredients, except lemon juice in a vessel.

3. Add 1 cup of water and cook it in a medium flame for 10 minutes with the lid closed.

4. Let it be cool and grind it in a blender.

5. Then filter the whole contents and add the melted gelatin into this filtrate.

6. Transfer it into a serving bowl and add 3 tsp of lemon juice.

7. Keep it in fridge for setting.

8. Tomato mould salad is READY! Put the vessel in hot water for at least 5 minutes before serving.