A crunchy salad, with unusual flavours

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APPLE & COTTAGE CHEESE SALAD Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS
1 large apple
1 cup cottage cheese, diced small
2 large white onions, diced fine
1 cup cabbage sliced fine
2 oranges, juiced
1/4 cup orange rind, zested (see New Foodie Words)
1 lemon, freshly juiced
2 tbsp mustard
2 cloves garlic
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tsp black pepper
1 green chilli, chopped fine
Salt
1/4 cup grated cheese

PREPARATION
Mix the mustard into 2 table spoons of water and let stand for 20 minutes.

Crush the garlic into the olive oil and let stand for 20 minutes.

Combine the dressing ingredients – olive oil, garlic, orange juice, lemon juice, mustard, pepper, chilli, in a bottle, screw on the lid tightly and shake vigorously till completely mixed.

Mix the apples, cabbage, onions and cottage cheese together in a mixing bowl and toss. Toss the salad with the dressing.

Top with grated cheese. Serve immediately.

One of those rare vegetarian Parsi favourites

I cooked after absolutely ages today. The Menu was Parsi iSh-tew- one of those rare vegetarian Parsi favourites, and Chicken Salsa ( a recipe I’d cut out and then adapted / Indianized from some ancient Elle magazine). The Apple, Cottage Cheese, Cabbage Salad wasn’t a hit, but then my family isn’t exactly what I’d call adventurous. I thought it was pretty good actually.
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PARSI-STYLE STEW Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS
50 gms Yam
2 sweet potatoes
50 gms Frenchbeans
1 capsicum
4 carrots
1 cup shelled green peas
2 large sliced Onions
3 chopped green chilli
1 tsp cummin seed
1 tsp coriander seed powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp vinegar
2 sprigs Coriander leaves
1 bunch finely chopped celery
1 tsp sugar
Oil
Salt to taste (more…)

Feel that chicken do the Salsa on your tongue
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CHICKEN SALSA Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS
4 large chicken breast fillets
1 cup yoghurt
Lime juice, freshly squeezed
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp crushed fresh ginger
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
5-6 cardamoms
5-6 cloves
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp red chilli powder
oil

For the Salsa
2 tomato, diced
1 small cucumber, seeded and diced
2 small red onion, diced
2 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
1/2 tsp red chilli powder
2 tbsp olive oil (more…)

A light summer salad that really simple to make.
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CHICKEN LETTUCE SALAD Serves 4
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INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts
1 large head lettuce
5 cherrie tomatoes
3 green onions
1/2 cup almonds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
3 slices bread

For the Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION
Tear the lettuce. Set aside.

Slice the onions long and thin. Set aside.

Meanwhile set the chicken to boil in 1 cup water and a teaspoon of salt till cooked but not overdone. Use your hands to shred into strips or cut long. Pop them into the refigerator to cool for 20 minutes.

Cut the bread slices into cubes and saute lightly in olive oil, till crisp and golden brown.

Blanche the almonds and cut into fine slivers.

When done, toss all these ingredients together with the tomatoes and sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Put all the ingredients for the dressing in a large jar and shake vigorously. Add the dressing just before serving. Serve at room temperature.

More healthy salads

‘Great Indian Feasts’, the latest cookbook by Britain-based celebrity chef Mridula Baljekar, has won the ‘Gourmand World Cookbook Award’ in the ‘Best Asian Cuisine Cookbook’ category.
To be a ‘best in the world’ cookbook, usually entails a strong author, excellent publishing standards and user-friendliness. ‘So the best books have a balance between the author(s), publisher and reader. The best are usually obvious when you compare thousands of books,’ said Edward Cointreau, founder of Gourmand Awards.

As cookery writer, Baljekar has several other titles to her credit, including ’500 Indian Recipes’, ‘The Low-fat Indian Vegetarian Cookbook’, ‘Curries of the World’, and ‘Secrets of an Indian Kitchen’.

Baljekar says she owes much of what she has learnt about Indian food to her grandmother when she was growing up in her native Assam.

There’s more wonders at her website.

er… just one doubt though. I always thought (and Google concurs) that ‘gourmand’ wasn’t an entirely positive word. In fact, it’s some kind of gluttonous eater, one who’ll eat anything, – the opposite of gourmet. Kind of a strange name for an award, hm?