Saturday, March 7, 2009

Tasty Salads - Really?

If you are a salad person, you are going to like these salads.

If you are NOT a salad person, you are going to LOVE these salads.

I am NOT a salad person. I never ate salads until I moved to the US. Even there, I stayed away from them for a couple of years. It was only when I joined work and would go out for business lunches and dinners that I started eating salads. I hated them, but I didn't want to look like an idiot . Exact same reason why I started drinking wine....but somehow that was not so hard to get used to :)

A month ago, Saru and I attended an Isha Yoga class. They talked about the importance of eating uncooked food and made us lunch with a spread of salads. Both Saru and I were shocked at how tasty the food was, so we promptly got the recipes. We have been making these salads for a month now and absolutely love them. They are so delicious that we cut our rice intake to half. It feels so good to eat these nutrient rich, colorful and tasty salads. Some of the ingredients and combinations may puzzle you, but I guarantee that they taste great.

1. Carrot Salad




Ingredients: 4 medium sized Grated carrot, 1 handful of sprouted green grams, 1 small finely chopped capsicum, 4 spoons of grated coconut, lime juice, salt, freshly ground pepper, coriander and curry leaves.
Method: Mix all of the above. Heat a spoon of oil and season it with mustard seeds (Tadka). and a pinch of grated ginger Add the seasoning to the vegetables and mix it very well.
Tip: Leave out coconut if it is too much trouble. Use half of the US style large capsicum.
Comment: My first reaction was - how will carrots and sprouts go together? Trust me, they do and taste awesome.

2. Beetroot Salad



Ingredients
: 2 medium sized beetroots, 1 handful of soaked groundnuts, 1 small finely chopped capsicum, 4 spoons of grated coconut, lime juice, salt, freshly ground pepper, coriander and curry leaves.
Method: Mix all of the above. Heat a spoon of oil and season it with mustard seeds (Tadka) and a pinch of grated ginger. Add the seasoning to the vegetables and mix it very well.
Tip: Soak a handful of groundnuts for a few hours. Apparently soaked groundnuts are more healthy (and tasty too) . Leave out coconut if it is too much trouble. Use half of the US style large capsicum.
Comment: Betroot, lime juice and soaked groundnuts combination is too good. We were as surprised at the taste and you will be when you make this.

3. Cucumber Salad


Ingredients: 2 finely chopped cucumbers, 2 small chopped tomatoes, 1 small finely chopped capsicum, 4 spoons of grated coconut, lime juice, salt, freshly ground pepper, coriander and curry leaves.
Method: Mix all of the above. Heat a spoon of oil and season it with mustard seeds (Tadka) and a pinch of grated ginger. Add the seasoning to the vegetables and mix it very well.
Tip: I added some yogurt to make it like raita. Leave out coconut if it is too much trouble. Use half of the US style large capsicum.
Comment: Betroot, lime juice and soaked groundnuts combination is too good. We were as surprised at the taste and you will be when you make this.

4. Ash Gourd, Bottle Gourd Salad


Same procedure as cucumber salad, but leave out the capsicum.



6. Snake Gourd Salad



I know, you must be thinking - "
how can raw snake gourd taste good!" It does and I challenge you to try it. Preparation is the same as that for cucumber salad.

7. Pumpkin Salad


Procedure is the same as that for carrot salad.

I use my food processor to grate the vegetables, but hand grating achieves a finer texture and is more tasty. For the recipes that require chopped vegetables, chop them as finely as you can. The more the vegetables get covered with salt, pepper and lime juice, the tastier the salad is. The good folks at Isha Yoga told us that it is easier to wake up early in the morning if you eat a lighter meal with salads. I find that mostly true.

41 comments:

  1. WOW! Can't believe these are pics of simple salads made at home! Vam, you should have posted one salad per day. I didn't read all the recipes...only the first two. Will try them this weekend and move on to the rest. Bhaskar will kill me if I cut his rice intake in half...but I could certainly use less of it!

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  2. Ummmmm looks good. Will try it this weekend.

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  3. I never tried snake gourd - but I will now! Thnaks for the recipes! I LOVE those salads. I use pumkinseed oil and orange juice for the Pumkin salad :) Did you ever try raw green aspargus? I think they taste better raw than cooked :)

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  4. Thanks for sharing....will try it out.

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  5. Vam, I'd tried these salads when I did my Isha yoga class three years ago and they're now an integral part of my diet. And yes, one does wake up more alert and fresh.

    Thanks for putting up the recipes complete with pix.

    Here's to more healthy eating and a greener earth.

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  6. Kala,
    Thanks. You made my day with that comment! I took all the pictures except the beetroot one which Saru did. We are automatically reducing rice because we go back for a second serving of the salad....these are that good!

    Beachbum,
    Thanks

    Fida,
    Thanks for your comment. Don't have pumpkin seed oil, but orange juice sounds good.
    I LOVE grilled asparagus. Will try it raw.

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  7. wow....they do look interesting, but the only salad Ive liked so far is the fruit salad and sometimes the pasta salad

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  8. Vamsee, I like salads but my salads are just raw vegetables without much taste. I am going to definitely try these. Can't believe salads looks that good. Very nice pictures!

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  9. Looks yum. I will give it a try.
    This might help in my ever going 'weight loss' program. - Swati.

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  10. with so much time in the evenings for me & as I'm depending on my own cooking skills, I'm sure gonna try these...

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  11. Hey Vamsee - these look good! Janvi is a huge salad fan - she likes cucumber, onion and cabbage (if you can believe it). We were at Kokila's kitchen - she ate half their buffet salad up. Let me try some of these on her. Mini.

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  12. Soaked peanut in beet salad & sprouts in carrot salad; got to be a Ratatouille recipe - Unbelievable.

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  13. hi vamsee,

    Thanks for the timely prod. could do with some rice cutting...

    vj

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  14. More on cookie and bread recipes too please. I will leave another comment after I try all the recipes. I have tried your Beetroot salad recipe and it is awesome.

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  15. Now that's surely not "going on Vacation". That's "going on a diet", just joking Vamsee.

    On second thoughts some of these salads look delicious. While I m not a salad person, "S" surely is and would love this post, but the only flipside of asking her to take a look at your post is that I might suddenly have to have salad for dinner during the weekend.

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  16. I am so motivated seeing these recipes. Believe me this is an eye opener. I will surely start eating more salads. Anjali, Dev and Raju are lovers of salad. They will be proud of me. If I start making such grand salads. Thanks a ton sweetie. Deepa

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  17. Lakshmi / karuna,
    Try making these, you will love them.

    Swati,
    Welcome to my blog. You love salads, right!! These salads definitely help in weight loss. Saru has been loosing weight consistently. I loose and then travel and put on weight again:)

    Prashanth,
    You get the best carrots and beetroots in the Western world, so try them. They might cheer up the gloomy England days.

    Mini,
    You always make good salads. No wonder Janvi is hooked. These will look great for parties.

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  18. Saru,
    You are the Rat in the family...I mean Ratatouille!
    Vijay,
    Thanks. I need to publish my Singapore post. It has been sitting on my desk. Will do and get your take on it.

    Suganya,
    Yes, I am going to start taking pictures of the breads I make. Problem is that the whole wheat ones look horrible....and I can't post bad pictures:) Saru will kill me. He apparently has a reputation to keep.
    Try the carrot, it is our favorite.

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  19. Hey Vamsee,
    Yesterday we got up reading your blog, drawing inspiration to eat healthy!! I will update you next week on how it went :)

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  20. We often have the first salad at home, bu the other salads are new to me. I must give a try.

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  21. Leave alone taste, they LOOK delicious !! Not all but have tried some of them.

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  22. I recollected my experience with the salads....When i first visited USA....my coworker was nice to take me out for a lunch...But when i told i was a vegetarian...there was only one place she could think of - Super Salad. :-) Believe me; I had never had such trouble with such a simple lunch. :-) But you are right; we get used to certain food style there over a period of time and even start liking them. Like i did with Burritos...at 3 Margarita...

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  23. Is it a Konkan speciality that curry leaves are used in their salads? I like their aroma though.

    In addition to other food, salads and/or vegetables is a day today part of my diet, so would like to try out some of these promising to be delicious salads.:)

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  24. wow - I should try these. Even the recipes sound tasty!

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  25. A refreshingly different post in a travel blog indeed. I never was a fan of salad, until I had a couple of dishes near my office. Have started developing taste buds for them it seems. Will try out a couple of these.

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  26. I like the pumpkin salad the best. Yummyyy..

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  27. Hi Vam, Amazing pictures! I am going to tell mom and dad abt it - as they are getting bugged with my broccoli, carrot, cucumber salad. I started eating a lot of raw veggies these days so I can't wait to taste these :-)

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  28. Hey I haven't yet tried any of the recipes but man the pics sure are professional level! awesome!

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  29. Nice variety Vam ! Now, I need to try making some if not all of them. Will update yoy after I try some of these...

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  30. they do look delicious and i take your word for it that they are!

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  31. Hi Vamsee!
    OK, I'm not for salads, but with these ones I'll make an exception... ;)
    Meanwhile miss you at Blogtrotter, which now has Akbar’s capital city for you. Enjoy and have a great weekend!

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  32. This is just what I needed...I fall into the dont really like salads category but am trying to eat healthier...it's so hard to do when most of my lunches are eaten away from home, at work...I think I'm going to be trying out your salads for take with me lunches. Other than the gourd ones, they all look yum. I hate the taste of anything gourd-y...always have.

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  33. Hi Vamsee,


    These salads looks great, i have been waiting to try out these salads ever since i saw your post but have been missing one ingredient or the other..today i have all of them so i am going to treat myself !! thanks for sharing :-)

    Chithra

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  34. hey ,
    i was searching for some salad receipes and i think i found in your website .thanks and god bless for being so considerate to the people out.will defenitely try all cause i have to loose a lot of weight.but was dissapointed that i could not save this page but had to write it down ....but anyways ,hope it works

    thanks again,shaila

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  35. Thanks for sharing!!!

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  36. This was so yummy as shown by the fact that I ate way more of it than anybody else! It is so pretty too! Thanks for always bringing the best part of the meal!

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  37. Thanks for Sharing these holy recipes.
    I already do some of these things with carrots and sprouts but the rest of the veggies are a surprise. Will start making these salads from today.
    I have one QUESTION though, is it ok to make these salads and refrigerate for 12 hours before consuming? Like if I can prep these and take to work for lunch ?

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  38. I have tested first two salads in this list in Isha yoga center. they test really good. Always wondering how to make it. Thanks for posting

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  39. Thanks for these wonderful recipes. Tried the beetroot salad, it was hard to believe that everything in it was raw.

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