Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a very basic salad with few ingredients. It is near impossible to get this recipe wrong. It is also the first salad I tried in a restaurant and loved as a child. I have always loved the chilled crispy cabbage with the flavorful dressing. The little pieces of carrot peeking through an otherwise white salad. I like the slaw a little dry and not loaded with dressing. My daughter adores this salad too.

Last month I realized I did not have this recipe on my blog and decided to set things right. My daughter wanted to try it so we bought the cabbage and I waited. She got busy and the cabbage was used up for some other recipe. I shredded some more cabbage and waited for her to make the coleslaw. Finally this afternoon she brought out the mayo and other ingredients and we put this together. I am happy. I finally have coleslaw on this space. We enjoyed this salad with our dinner.

You will need
2 cups shredded cabbage (about 1/4 of a large cabbage)
1/2 carrot shredded
1/4 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1/2 a lime
salt and pepper to taste

Combine the last four ingredients and whisk until smooth. Mix in the shredded cabbage and carrot. Chill before serving.

Enjoy!

Watermelon, Olives and Feta Cheese Salad

This salad was an experiment. Everyone in my family loves watermelon eaten on its own. I rarely make anything with watermelon. On this space I have a cooler and a jello made with watermelon. Both were great but not made frequently. Then I saw the pictures of this salad. They are everywhere and I I had to try it.

I got a watermelon and cut it up into cubes. Luckily, I reserved a quarter of the melon to be cut later. By the time I got ready to make the salad the bowl of the cut up watermelon was almost empty. I had forgotten to tell the family that I needed it for a recipe. I chopped up the reserved quarter and forbade anyone from even looking at the sweet juicy fruit.

This salad has a very surprising blend of flavors with the salty feta, the olives and the sweet watermelon. I added mint as a garnish. If I make this salad again I would use a watermelon that is not as sweet and juicy as the one I had. In fact this salad would be perfect to use a watermelon that is not very sweet to eat on its own. There are no proportions to the recipe. Add the ingredients in the proportion that best suites your taste.

You will need
1 large bowl watermelon, cut up in cubes
6-7 olives, pitted and cut into slices
1-2 tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
2 mint leaves, as garnish

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Let it rest for a few minutes to allow the flavors to blend together. The salad is ready.

Enjoy!

Cucumber Raita

Cucumber Raita has to be the easiest recipe. It is perfect during the summer heat.

This raita is a little different from a cucumber koshimbir. The raita has more yogurt than solids and is better served as a side for rice based dishes. A koshimbir works well as a side to poli or Indian flatbread. In Maharashtra koshimbir can be made with or without yogurt. I tried to find the link to the yogurt based cucumber koshimbir and realized I do not have one on this space. Have to fix that soon. This is the Khamang kakdi another traditional salad made with cucumber.

My daughter loves to have a lot of raita on the rice. Adjust quantity per serving based on how much raita you like with your rice.

You will need (4-6 servings)
2 cups yogurt, do not use Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, diced fine
4-5 sprigs cilantro, minced
1/4 tsp. roasted cumin powder
1/4 tsp. paprika or red chili pepper powder
salt to taste

In a bowl whisk the yogurt till smooth. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix together. Adjust salt and heat based on taste preferences.

Enjoy!

Chickpea Avocado Feta Salad

A few days back I had soaked garbanzo beans without checking to see if I had all the ingredients I normally use to cook them. The next day I was in a bind. I had no time to visit the grocery store and did not have anything else prepped. I had an avocado in the refrigerator and some left over feta cheese. A simple dressing of lime juice, salt, pepper and I had a delicious salad ready.

You will need
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans or chickpea
1 avocado
1/4 cup feta, adjust to taste
salt and pepper to taste
juice of half a lime

If using dry beans, soak overnight and pressure the next day. Discard the cooking water. Peel the avocado and remove the seed. Dice finely. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl.

Enjoy!

This is my entry for week one, day one of BM #66 for the theme 3 Vegetables that are fruit. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#66.

Heirloom Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad

Heirloom tomatoes arrive in the stores with Spring. They are available in multiple colors and are very juicy. But most importantly they are delicious. I am not someone who loves tomatoes. But these tomatoes are an exception. The salad I present today is very delicious and it is not because the recipe is complicated. These tomatoes need very little to bring out their flavor. If you have not tried these tomatoes try this recipe. You will love it.

I found this recipe in a food magazine Cooking Light in my Doctor's office a while back. It was a two year old magazine and I started to browse through it to kill time. I liked this recipe and took a picture with my phone. It has been a hit ever since. In fact everything I make with these tomatoes is loved. I have decided to plant these in my garden this spring. Hopefully they will grow well and I will not have to buy them. I will keep you posted.

You will need
2 heirloom tomatoes (I used one red and one yellow)
5-6 springs cilantro
1 tsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. goat cheese

Slice the tomatoes lengthwise and allow to drain. Dice the cilantro. Combine the tomatoes, cilantro, oil, salt and pepper in a bowl and allow it to rest for 15-30 minutes. Sprinkle crumbled goat cheese over the top and combine. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Tomato Garbanzo Beans Mediterranean Style Salad

The day I made this salad I needed something in a hurry. No one was very hungry as we had just come back from Prom dress shopping. Prom or farewell parties as we called them in high school in India are a formal affair. Formal dress hunting can be quite time consuming. Very few department stores carry prom dresses and specialty stores can be really expensive. In the end we found a pretty colorful dress that we all liked. And when we got home we felt like we had returned after a heavy meal. Luckily I had some soaked garbanzo beans. I quickly whipped up this salad.

I call this salad a Mediterranean style salad. Tomatoes with garbanzo beans and feta cheese and a hint of lemon and cumin. This salad is not authentic but close in taste to the salads typically served for breakfast with Pita bread. It is very filling.

You can make this salad with halumi or Mediterranean white cheese. But I have to go to a special store to get that and I did not have any at home. I used feta cheese instead. I used regular tomatoes in the salad. In the past I have used cherry tomatoes and they work well too.

You will need (3 servings)
1/2 cup dry garbanzo beans
1 large tomato
7-8 sprigs cilantro
3 tbsp. feta cheese
2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. powdered roasted cumin seeds
salt and black pepper to taste

Soak garbanzo beans overnight. Cook them in a pressure cooker for 10 minutes or 3 whistles. Alternately, cook them with 2 cups of water in a covered pan on the stove top. Drain the beans and keep aside. Dice the tomatoes and the cilantro. Combine all the ingredients and a bowl. Let them sit for 15-20 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Creamy mashed potatoes with chives

Mashed potatoes with chives is one of our must have recipes at the Thanksgiving table. I got this recipe several years back when I started looking out for recipes for a traditional Thanksgiving meal. My daughter loves potatoes and mashed potatoes are her favorite. This is one of the original recipes that has not changed at all over the years. I have offered to make the cream from scratch using fresh chives but my daughter will not allow it. And so every year we go looking for the cream cheese with onions and chives before the stores run out. Luckily, we all like the recipe and it is also liked by the visiting extended family. Thanksgiving would not be complete without it.

These mashed potatoes taste best with Yukon gold potatoes. They are available in every supermarket before Thanksgiving. However, just before Thanksgiving they usually sell out. One year I forgot to stock up early and had to go looking for them the day before Thanksgiving. I had a very hard time finding them. I had to go from store to store until I found a few in one of the stores. Stock up early if you plan on making mashed potatoes using Yukon gold potatoes.

You will need
3 lbs. peeled Yukon gold potatoes
2/3 cup nonfat milk
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup light cream cheese with chives and onion

Wash and peel the potatoes.

Quarter the peeled potatoes.

Place the potatoes in a Dutch oven, and cover with water. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Drain. Return potatoes to pan. Add the milk and salt. Mash the potato mixture with a potato masher to desired consistency. Add the cheese, and stir just until blended. Mashed potatoes are ready.

Enjoy!

Salsa Carioca (Venezuelan Salad)

Salsa Carioca is a simple Venezuelan salad. It is made with simple ingredients, tomatoes, onion, hard boiled egg and avocado. It is really the salad dressing that makes the salad. It has a good amount of hot pepper sauce giving it a real kick.

We like salad in my family and we like all the ingredients that went into this one. I used tomatoes and the Serrano pepper from my garden. The hot pepper dressing took the salad to a whole new level.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
1/2 onion
1 tomato or 10-12 cherry tomatoes
1 medium avocado
1 Serrano pepper
1 hard boiled egg

For the dressing
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. white vinegar
1 tbsp. hot pepper sauce
salt and pepper

Slice the onion. Remove the seeds and dice the tomato. Remove the seeds and vein from the Serrano pepper and mince it. Peel and dice the hard boiled egg. Combine these ingredients in a mixing bowl and keep aside so the flavors blend together.

When you are ready to mix the salad remove the seed and peel from the avocado and dice it. In a separate bowl combine the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Salsa carioca is ready.

Caprese Salad

A simple salad made with slices salad tomato, sliced fresh mozzarella cheese and basil. It is supposed to have been created to represent the colors of the Italian flag.

There is really no recipe here. Just use the freshest ingredients that you can find. Use mozzarella cheese that is sold in brine. Do not use the dry packaged stuff. I used basil leaves from my garden. Just sprinkle a little salt and pepper. Then drizzle some olive oil over the top.

Kold Kartoffel Salat (Danish Cold Potato Salad)

This is a cold salad perfect for a hot summer day. This potato salad is a Danish variation of a very versatile and popular salad. This version uses lemon juice with the mayonnaise as the dressing.

My daughter loves potatoes and potato salads so I have tried to incorporate those in every meal. I made this salad as part of a Danish meal. I almost ran out of Mayonnaise but luckily I had just about enough at the bottom of a jar in the refrigerator. I had made Canadian salad yesterday which was only slightly different. We enjoyed the subtle variations in all the potato salads I tried.

Recipe adapted from here
You will need
1 large potato
3 tbsp. onion, minced

For the dressing
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard (I used organic without turmeric)
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Dill to garnish

Boil the potato in a tub of water until fork tender. Drain and let it cool a little. Peel the potato and slice it. Mince the onion and add it to the potato. Keep aside.

In a separate bowl combine the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together until creamy. Add the dressing to the potatoes and mix together. Garnish with dill. Refrigerate until needed.

The cold salad is ready.

Prairie Potato Salad

This is a Canadian style variation of the popular potato salad flavored with eggs, radish and onion. My daughter would live on this for a month if I let her. If you love your potato salad you have to try this variation. It is divine.

My daughter helped me with this salad. She does not like Dijon mustard and read the recipe. She kept asking me if I was going to add any and I assured her I would not. The day before I had invested in a bottle of organic Dijon mustard with no added turmeric. I knew it would not color the salad yellow and she would never know. Dijon mustard completes the flavor profile of the salad so I added as much as the recipe called for. She never found out. I did leave out the celery because no one likes it in our house.

Recipe adapted from here

You will need
5 medium sized potatoes
2 eggs
4 round red radishes
1/4 onion
1/4  cup chives

For the dressing
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tsp. Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Put the potatoes in a pan with enough water to completely submerge them and bring the water to a boil. Continue to cook the potatoes until they are fork tender. Take them off heat and drain the water. Put the cooked potatoes into cold water for 5 minutes to stop the cooking process. Drain the cold water. Peel and dice the potatoes into small cubes. 

Meanwhile in a pan add the eggs and enough water to submerge the eggs completely. Heat the water but do not let it boil. Keep it simmering for 20 minutes. Turn off heat, drain the water and drop the cooked eggs in cold water to stop the cooking process. After a minute peel the eggs and dice. Dice the onion and mince the chives. Combine the potatoes, eggs, chives and onions.

In a bowl combine all the ingredients for the dressing and add it to the potatoes. Chill in the refrigerator for a couple hours before serving.

Shopska (Vegetable Salad)

Shopska is a salad that is served covered with sirene cheese. It is very additive. It is little wonder it is so popular in Bulgaria. I have to say the cheese makes the dish giving the vegetables a lovely flavor that is hard to put into words.

I am glad I took the time to find this Bulgarian cheese in our local Mediterranean store. Sirene or Bulgarian Feta is not available by the name 'Feta' because of European politics. It is a white spongy cheese made from sheep or goat's milk. The cheese goes very well with the vegetables and the salad was amazingly good.

This recipe is mainly adapted from here and here. I read a lot of travelogues with pictures of this dish as presented in restaurants in Bulgaria and used that information for the presentation.

You will need
1 cup Sirene cheese (white sheep or goat cheese)
2 salad tomatoes
1 cucumber
1 red or yellow bell pepper
a bunch cilantro (the original uses parsley but we don't like it)
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt to taste if needed

Chop the tomatoes, pepper and cucumber. Mince the cilantro and combine it with the other chopped vegetables in a bowl. Add oil and mix together. Plate the vegetables and shred the cheese over the top. If needed add salt. I did not add any.

Tricolor Pasta Salad with Tomatoes, Spinach and Mozzarella

A simple pasta salad that comes together very quickly. Great for warm summer days.

You will need
1 cup tricolor penne pasta
a handful spinach leaves
1 small ball fresh mozzarella
a handful cherry tomatoes
1 tsp. lime juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Cook the pasta according to package instructions. Drain, wash in cold water and keep aside.

Cut the cherry tomatoes into quarters, chiffonade the spinach and dice the mozzarella. In a bowl add the drained pasta, tomatoes, spinach and mozzarella.

Squeeze lime juice, add olive oil and black pepper. Season with salt and serve.

Enjoy!