Pan Roasted Butternut Squash Salad - Salads Galore

Lately my colleagues' favorite topic of discussion at lunchtime has been healthy living. Everyone has been trying to eat better, exercise more since the new year. I don't get a whole lot of exercise other than running around my daughter, and weekly dance class,  but I always make an effort to eat as healthy as I can. This includes eating lots of veggies, beans, whole grains, and fruits, and minimizing anything that comes out of a box/can. I have also been trying to buy local, organic foods as much as I can. Many of our dinners comprise of big bowls of salads. Luckily we can eat salads any time of the year, even while rest of the country is half frozen.

Here are three salads I prepared this week:

Broccoli madness: This is easily my most favorite salad ever! I have been eating broccoli madness at a local soups+salads chain called Souplantation. The chain also exists in Florida by the name Sweet Tomatoes. I had been consuming this salad happily until recently, when I found out that it contained bacon! No more broccoli madness at Souplanatation for me. But I found their copycat recipe here, and made it sans bacon. I loved the salad just as much, so it had nothing to do with bacon :D. I used a little less mayo than what the recipe required. My next experiment will be making this with thick yogurt instead of mayo.

Berry salad with maple-balsamic vinaigrette: I am a huge fan of fruity salads. I prepared a simple salad with mixed greens, sliced strawberries, chopped walnuts, and a sweet and tangy maple-balsamic vinaigrette. The vinaigrette was adapted from this recipe. I omitted shallots, added a touch of garlic salt instead of fresh garlic, and added a tablespoon of maple syrup instead of a teaspoon of honey. Totally delicious! My daughter snacked on strawberries. 

I picked up The Complete Vegetarian Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen at Costco over the weekend. For someone who loves to cook and eat, I am not big on collecting cookbooks. But one look at this book, and I knew I had to buy it. This book deserves its own post, so more about it later. However, here is something I tried from the book last night - roasted butternut squash with maple dressing and goat cheese. How good does that sound? It tasted just as great. The original recipe could be eaten as a side dish, but I turned it into a meal by making a few changes. First, I pan roasted butternut squash instead of roasting in the oven. I try not to waste energy by using the oven for small things. The key was using perfectly ripe butternut squash though - it cooked really fast over flame. The original recipe called for a topping of pecans. I had walnuts on hand. They worked perfectly fine. I laid these beautifully roasted butternut squash slices over a bed of baby spinach to turn it into a meal sized salad. This had everything I like in salad - the perfect blend of sweet and savory flavors, and contrasting textures. The big plus was that I could mash butternut squash with a fork and my daughter absolutely loved it!

Pan Roasted Butternut Squash Salad with Maple Dressing, Goat Cheese, and Walnuts

Ingredients:

1 Medium butternut squash

1 Tablespoon butter

1/2 Cup chopped walnuts

1/2 Cup maple syrup

1 Teaspoon paprika

Goat cheese for garnishing

Baby spinach - as much as you like

Salt to taste

• Wash and peel butternut squash. Cut it in the center lengthwise and remove all the seeds. Cut each half of the squash into 1/2'' slices. 
• Heat a large skillet/pan over medium heat. Add butter and swirl it around to cover the pan. Add butternut squash slices to the pan in one layer, sprinkle with salt to taste, and turn the heat to medium-high. 
• Cover the pan and let the squash caramelize on one side. Takes around 4-5 minutes. Once golden brown on one side, turn all the pieces and do the same on the other side. Insert a fork to make sure the squash is cooked through. 
• Take the squash off the pan and add walnuts to the same pan and toast for a couple of minutes.
• Add paprika, and a little salt to maple syrup and whisk. 

To assemble the salad:

• Add roasted squash over a bed of baby spinach. Drizzle maple syrup dressing. Sprinkle goat cheese and chopped walnuts. 

Dig in!

Simple Couscous Salad

Going forward, I'll make an effort to highlight easy meal options for the busy parents. I will add keep adding to this list, which you can access by clicking on the 'Kid-friendly' label.

To give you an idea of what goes on in my kitchen, here is what I cooked this week:

Monday - Thai red curry with sauteed tofu and mixed vegetables. I bought all natural (as natural as it can get) red curry paste from the store. This dish was hardly any work after that. All I had to do was bring a can of coconut milk and red curry paste to a boil, add sauteed tofu and mixed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, red and yellow peppers, a couple of red radish) and cook for 3-4 minutes. Lots of chopped cilantro for garnishing, and it tasted great with some leftover peas pulao from the night before. 

My daughter ate cooked carrots, radish, peppers, and a little bit of tofu from the curry. 

Tuesday - Avocado and roasted red bell pepper grilled sandwich on multi-grain bread. Avocado is so creamy by itself, I didn't have to add any cheese. The girl ate avocado slices from my sandwich. 

Wednesday - Couscous salad with cucumber, tomato, and cilantro. Baby girl loved this couscous salad!

Thursday - Asian style salad with mixed greens, shredded carrots and broccoli (using leftover broccoli and carrots from Thai curry), tangerine, and peanut dressing. None of the ingredients were good for the baby - she ate some pear and avocado. 

Friday - Simple cabbage sabji with roti. Then we went out for dinner to kick off the weekend. Shreya loves eating fresh roti.

Saturday - Husband made a delicious pizza with kale pesto base, lots of veggies and cheese on top. Baby girl enjoyed picking out spinach off the top. 

I make variations of the couscous salad every time. And it always tastes great. This is the basic Mediterranean style salad to which you can add many other things. In addition to cucumber and tomato, you can have olives, black beans or chickpeas, diced peppers, diced zucchini, feta cheese, chopped spinach or basil etc. The simplest version is great as a light meal. Or you can eat it with a vegetable and beans stew or lentil soup. 

Couscous Salad with Cucumber & Tomato

Ingredients:

1 Cup uncooked couscous 

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 Small cucumber - diced (big or small depending on how you liked it)

1 Small tomato - diced

2 Tablespoons lemon juice 

Chopped cilantro for garnishing

Salt & pepper to taste

• Cook couscous according to the package instructions. Add olive oil and salt while cooking it. 
• Add pepper just before taking couscous off the heat. Take it out into a flat bowl, and fluff it up by running a fork through the couscous gently. 
• Once couscous cools down a little, add diced cucumber and tomato, sprinkle lemon juice, and mix well. 
• Garnish with cilantro. You can use your favorite herb, such as basil or parsley. 

Persian cucumbers taste the best in this recipe. You can use halved cherry tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes. They are bursting with juices and make the salad look pretty. Some toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds on top would be great for crunch. There, I just gave you a whole bunch of different permutations-combinations.

Lunch Club

Once every month or month and a half, a group of my colleagues and I get away from the cubicles at noon, take over one of the conference rooms, and instead of discussing statistical theories, enjoy delicious foods prepared by each other. We have a fun little Lunch Club, which has revealed many great cooks in the group. I can't tell you what feasts these gatherings turn into - we always struggle to get back to work while in food coma! It's nice not to worry about work for some time and talk about our lives outside of the office.

For this month's potluck, I made a simple make-ahead dish. It saved me the hassle of cooking early in the morning and worrying about how it would taste after reheating. A quick, tasty couscous salad which can be made ahead and served chilled.

Couscous, which is semolina flour rolled into little pearls, is softer and fluffier when cooked than semolina itself. I love all sorts of pilafs made with couscous, but my latest fad has been a cold salad with Mediterranean essentials and cranberries! I've eaten variants of this salad at many restaurants. This dish hardly requires any cooking skills; the only somewhat challenging part being the actual cooking of couscous. To make sure it doesn't become too clumpy and dense, I add a dash of oil to it while cooking. Also, it helps to be conservative with the amount of water. You can always add some warm water if the couscous is not cooked completely. And if you can help it, don't turn couscous vigorously - cooking in a non-stick pot on medium heat will help.

**Please note that the measurements in the recipe below are approximate. You can add as many or as little of the veggies/beans as you like.

Couscous Salad With Cranberries

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Cups dry couscous - the smaller variety
Vegetable stock - optional
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Small garlic cloves - minced
1 Small Persian cucumber - finely chopped
1 Small tomato - finely chopped
2 Scallions - thinly sliced
1/2 Cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 Cup dried cranberries and toasted almonds
2 Sprigs of basil - julienned
Juice from 1 lime
Salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste

• Cook couscous according to package instructions. For a more full bodied flavor, use half vegetable stock and half water in cooking. Also, salt it while cooking so it mixes more evenly. 
• Heat oil in a pot and add minced garlic and saute for a minute until golden brown. Add cooked couscous and turn gently. Then turn off the heat.
• Add all the veggies, chickpeas, cranberries, almonds and basil. Sprinkle juice from one lime, and season with cracked pepper to taste.
• Use a fork to mix everything together. This will fluff up the couscous while making sure it doesn't break.

You can dress up the salad with feta cheese. I find it very satisfying the way it is. The salad is not too heavy, but doesn't make you hungry just few minutes after eating it. My favorite part of the dish are cranberries that soak up lemon juice and excess moisture and become plump. Alternatively, you can add raisins or chopped dried apricots for that sweet, chewy bite. 

Citrus Salad

Cleaning, cooking, grocery shopping, crafting, reading and studying. That's a Saturday well spent. In between all the chores (and a big scoop of Fro-Yo), I totally skipped my lunch yesterday. When the hunger finally hit, I threw together a quick salad for..umm..Luncher(Lunch cum Dinner=?) or Linner! Salad was the perfect choice for a meal on a hot day like the one we had yesterday.

I talked about this deh-licious salad my friend made for Thanksgiving dinner. I love love love fruits in salads, which you can tell from here, here and here. I didn't have the original dressing recipe, but I knew all the important ingredients that made up the salad. It wasn't really meant to end up on the blog. The salad was so darn tasty though, that I couldn't resist posting the recipe (hence the crappy photography). This citrus-goat cheese salad with honey dressing is just perfect for a summer afternoon. The goat cheese gives it plenty of creaminess and slight pungent earthiness. And what can be more refreshing than citrus? I used tangerines - perfectly citrusy, easy to peel and separate the wedges, and full of bursting juices. The dressing comprising of two ingredients altogether couldn't have been simpler. 

Citrus-Goat Cheese Salad with Honey Dressing


To make this 'too simple to post a step-by-step recipe' salad, simply toss together chopped lettuce mix (Italian salad mix is the best), tangerine wedges cut in half and crumbled goat cheese. For the dressing, whisk together honey and red wine vinegar in almost equal parts (a little less vinegar than the honey, adjust the flavor to your liking), salt & pepper for seasoning and drizzle over the salad. 


With as little as 3 main ingredients, you have a salad bursting with flavors, textures and colors. 

Foodilicious: Good Eats

Foodilicious: Good Eats: "It's so easy to eat healthy; I wonder why we succumb to the greasy, fatty, buttery, unhealthy foods (okay, don't answer that :P). I made a v..."

Summer Salad With A Winter Whiff

Hello there! I know my blogging has been very sporadic lately, and it can only be blamed on the gorgeous weather and weather alone. Come to think of it, I have been posting at least once a week on average (ah, there I go with my statistics!); but weather this beautiful needs to be relished while it lasts. Now, don't you all agree that summer should be more about appreciating the outdoors than being locked up in the house (read: kitchen)? Isn't that why we save all the serious cooking for the holidays?? This is the time to enjoy cool splashes of water, eat ice-cream to your heart's content, bring out the inner child visiting places like Sea World, have a picnic on the beach or just spend an afternoon lying on the grass reading a book. 

My list of 'things to do' and 'places to visit' this summer has been endless and I have little time to spare in the kitchen. Not to say that I don't cook, but simple and light meals seem to suit my summer apptetite and leave me plenty of time for more interesting things such as swimming (ahem!). Yes, my recent undertaking has been learning to swim <drum roll>! Or... not freak out in the water - depending on how you look at it :p. 

Anyway, we'll save my horror stories of sharing the pool with kids half my age for some other time. Let's talk about something I don't get nightmares over for now - Food! Husband is a big fan of simple salads and keeps asking for them for dinner - so much for a seafood lover. That makes me happy anyway, and I keep looking for new ingredients to use in my recipes. A couple of weeks back, a beautiful red apple sitting in my fridge was beckoning to be used. I usually ignore apples until they are the last thing in my fridge since it's not my favorite fruit to snack on, but it makes for a great salad ingredient! So with a couple of simple ingredients to pair with it, I paid the apple due respect and made a delicious salad out of it. Apple-Walnut salad with Maple vinaigrette - need I say more?? It was like turning a holiday dessert into a salad! Apples provided that perfect crunchy bite with slight sweetness, which paired wonderfully with the maple vinaigrette. Walnut is my favorite kind of nut and it completes any salad in my opinion.

Apple-Walnut Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

Ingredients:
1 Bag Spring Mix
1 Large apple - pick your favorite kind
2 Palmfuls glazed walnut - adds that extra sumthin'
1/2 Cup maple syrup
1/4 Cup red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons yogurt
Salt & Pepper for seasoning

• Stir together maple syrup, red wine vinegar, yogurt and salt & pepper for taste. The yogurt enhances sweetness and tanginess of the vinegar and makes the vinaigrette lusciously creamy!
• Cut apple into thin slices, crush the walnut slightly and mix with the spring mix greens. 
• Drizzle the vinaigrette over the greens, toss together and serve. 

Now, use all that time you saved making this simple, delicious salad and do something fun!

Padres Game

Coronado Beach

Mission Bay

Cirque De La Mer @ Sea World

Mission Bay from the tram @ SeaWorld

Shamu Rocks!

Hello Sunshine!

Sorry...not you, the real sunshine..the sun - shine sunshine...like, OMG it's finally summer sunshine! What a gorgeous day to wake up to and what better way to spend it than at the swimming pool and later basking in the sun at the beach. I 'played' in water this morning and later bathed in sunshine at the gorgeous La Jolla shore while hubby and friends went kayaking (don't tell anyone, but I'm scared of water..ok, I'll go hide my face now). Guess what? Kayaking doesn't seem all that scary after all. I've conjured up every ounce of courage in me to give it a shot before the big trip to Alaska! This is going to be an adventurous summer for me, if you can call it that. Oh well, I just can't get enough of this season - especially when my weekends start with throwing a BBQ party on Friday evening. Ah..so relaxing, so refreshing, so...Summer!

Reading a book at the beach - a perfect way to spend an afternoon!

We had to show off the new grill to our friends. Chilled drinks, yummy food, some buzzed people - that's what I'm talking about! There was a mix of omnivores and herbivores in the group. I prepared a few vegetarian dishes and hubby (how eagerly he was waiting for this!) prepared chicken and shrimp for the superior kind <rolling my eyes>. After a couple of glasses of wine and a bottle of beer, I kinda lost track of taking pictures of the cooking in process. I took some pictures of 'the before' while marinating and getting stuff ready though.

Our friends showed up soon after work battered by the usual hectic week. Of course they were in the mood to just sit around, chat and crack jokes from Family Guy and South Park. I was scurrying about ensuring there was one course after the other to accompany the sudden bursts of laughter and animated 'Did you know...exclamation, exclamation, exclamation'. For the starters, I made sweet potato fries (third time in two weeks) and grilled Gorgonzola-pear flatbread. I made my friends guinea pigs for my experiment of the latter who willingly tasted it - gobbled it would be more appropriate. You know how I love recreating my favorite dishes from restaurants, this was one of them. I had gorgonzola-pear flatbread at this amazing tapas place in Seattle (I forget the name). The combination of this cheese and pear is pretty classic, but toss in some caramelized onions and honey in the mix and you have something divine tasting. I remembered the flatbread having caramelized onions and the honey was my addition. This is a semi-grilled dish. Here's how I made it:

Before going on the grill - trust me, the after looked much more appetizing

A closer look

Gorgonzola-Pear Flatbread

Ingredients:
3 Tortilla breads - or use regular flat breads
Gorgonzola cheese
1 Pear - ripe
1 Medium onion
Honey - as needed
Paprika - as needed
1 Teaspoon sugar
Olive Oil - as needed
Butter - as needed
Salt to taste

• I used this as a guide to caramelize onions. Chop onions thinly into half moons. Heat a saute pan and cover the bottom barely with oil. Add chopped onions, saute for a couple of minutes, then sprinkle some salt and sugar. Slowly cook the onions until soft and sweet and caramelized on low heat (about 10-15 minutes).
• Cut the pear in thin slices. Cook the sliced pear in saute pan as well in just a little bit of butter on each side (about 7-8 minutes all together). You can run these two processes in parallel. 
• To assemble, spread some honey on flatbread with a knife or a brush, add the pear then onion and top it with gorgonzola crumbles. Sprinkle just a little bit of paprika on the top. You don't want to kill the sweetness of the pear and honey, but just a nice pop of flavor. 
• Grill the flatbread for 2-3 minutes until the cheese melts and the bread gets crusty. You can do this in the oven as well. Cut into small pieces and serve this unbelievably delicious finger food in your favorite plate. 

After a couple of rieslings and zins, we were ready to move on to the next course. I made a berry refreshing salad as the second course - another one of those 'Oh this is so good, I must try it' restaurant items. I had a strawberry salad with strawberry vinaigrette at Souplantation a couple of days back. Nothing says 'Summer' like a salad this good.

Berry Good Salad

Ingredients:
1 Box strawberries (the standard box with ~15-20 berries depending on the size)
Spring mix greens
Macadamia nuts - I got these at the farmer's market so added some. Use any of your favorite nuts.
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Teaspoon sugar
Salt & Pepper to taste

• Puree 8-10 strawberries, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper. Be a little conservative with the BV while pureeing and add later if needed. 
• Take this puree out in a bowl and whisk in olive oil slowly. Adjust the amount of BV & OO as needed and per your liking. You should end up with a vinaigrette slightly thicker than Italian. 
• Toss in spring mix greens, fresh sliced strawberries, some crushed macadamia nuts and drizzle a generous amount of the vinaigrette. Tastes much better cold so chill the vinaigrette for a little while before serving. This salad is like a burst of flavors in one bite! Can you believe my friends actually helped themselves to extra servings of the salad when there was this whole fare for the main course?

For the real grilling part, I made the usual Panner-Bell Pepper-Onion thing. I've grilled paneer so many times now that I just add whatever suits my mood at the time. This time it was just a yogurt, red chili, cumin-coriander powder, chaat masala, salt marinade.Don't forget to splash some lemon juice after you grill it though. That last touch does it!

Grilling Cheese with Salt-Pepper-Lemon Pepper

I tried something new this time. I found this grilling cheese at the grocery store which looked and tasted very similar to Paneer, just a bit chewier. I wasn't really sure what I was gonna do with it. When in doubt, add salt & pepper! I just added lots of fresh cracked pepper, some salt and lemon pepper (this is my hubby's go-to seasoning) and grilled it. Quite tasty I must say.

Hubby took over the 'man kitchen' after I was done with the puny vegetarian grilling. He made Indian style grilled chicken in yogurt-ginger&garlic-red chili-garam masala marinade that soaked up flavors overnight and his signature shrimp. He marinated shrimp in a bright green paste of cilantro-mint and some other spices overnight as well. Friends raved about his preparations till the minute they drove out of the parking lot. I totally validated their sentiment by tasting some of both (shhh...). Oh c'mon! I had to be a good wife! I'm not converted though...it's okay.

Wanna feel like a kid again? How about a Popsicle!

To round up the meal, a very refreshing, all natural, homemade watermelon pops. Just fresh watermelon juice and nothing else! Mmmm..

Summers In Style

Yesterday, as I was eying some tempting dishes in the spring special issue of Bon Appetit waiting for my appointment at a store, two things caught my attention about spring/summer cooking:

1. Nothing you serve in this season needs to be 'piping hot'.
2. The good thing about summer is you get to eat plenty of vegetables. It also means you end up with more produce than you know what to do with. 

The highlighted text was surrounded by pictures of seasonal favorites prepared with minimal treatment. That's the thing about summer time cooking - you really don't need to do much except prettying up your fruits and veggies. I'm all for just emptying a bag of salad and digging into it, but it never hurts to dress up your veggies differently to keep it exciting.

I'll be very honest, I do get greedy looking at all the fresh produce in the market around this time and stock up much more than I need to. After reading the two statements from Bon Appetit, I decided to clean out my fridge and make dinner that required minimal cooking. Being inspired by all the pictures in the magazine, I got my fancy on. The dinner comprised of watermelon salad, avocado-tomato salad and stuffed sweet peppers.

Watermelon Salad

Watermelon Salad

Last summer my GF and I discovered how to successfully use the melon baller. It turned into an all afternoon activity trying to carve the perfect ball shapes. It's really not that difficult to use a melon baller but you can quickly crush a delicate fruit like watermelon if not used properly. Dig the scoop firmly into the melon and scoop out flesh like you would ice-cream. Make sure you turn the scoop all the way around to get that perfect round shape. After scooping out the flesh, you end up with a watermelon resembling swiss cheese from Tom & Jerry :D. Now all you need to do is add a tablespoon of lemon juice + 1 teaspoon honey and drizzle it over melon balls. Garnish with chopped fresh sweet basil and your fancy looking salad is ready!
Lemon juice helps maintain freshness of the melon and honey brings out the sweetness. Mint is an excellent choice for garnishing as it goes well with anything sweet. Basil comes from the same family and I happen to love its pairing with fruits.
You can make a mixed melon salad with watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew. The three colors look just beautiful together.

Avocado-Tomato prettied up

Avocado Tomato Salad

For a savory note, I just cut up one tomato and an avocado and placed them on a plate like a blooming flower. Sprinkle some lemon juice to stop avocado from turning brown/black. Salt and freshly cracked pepper and a little bit of feta cheese on tomato. Garnish with some cilantro. Keep it simple, keep it stylish!

Stuffed sweet peppers

Stuffed Sweet Peppers

This dish was my take on a stuffed piquillo dish I had at a restaurant in Pismo Beach. Now it's not completely cooking free, but there is no 'cooking to death' involved either. 

Season some low-fat cream cheese with Italian herbs, paprika and salt. Stuff this mixture into sweet peppers that are slit open on the top. 

Grill the peppers just for a couple of minutes until they get grill marks. 

Finish cooking these peppers in simmering red wine in a pan. Heat a flat pan, add wine and once it starts boiling place the peppers in the pan. Cover and cook for 2-3 minutes on medium-high. 

*Use a sweet wine as it'll work well with the sweetness of the peppers. I used a Port.

The peppers will absorb some of the wine and the cream cheese will ooze out. When serving, place peppers in the dish and add the reduced wine to the dish. 

All that fancy-shmancy food with practically no work! Put on your cute summer dress and call your girlfriends over for a fun backyard lunch. 

Good Eats

It's so easy to eat healthy; I wonder why we succumb to the greasy, fatty, buttery, unhealthy foods (okay, don't answer that :P). I made a very healthy, energy packed salad today which frequented our dinner table when I was in school. My entire family had joined a course that promoted the 'raw food' (completely raw or very lightly steamed vegetables) philosophy along with other means of a healthy lifestyle. We religiously followed the raw food diet during the course and atleast 3-4 times a week later and the results were stunning. The course taught us some simple yet tasty recipes for eating food the right away. Some dishes were quite unique and creative - peanut drink, banana salad, raw carrot halwa. You'd never believe they were delicious until you tried them. The salad I made doesn't come close to the other items in terms of uniqueness, but it's just as delicious and full of all the good stuff! The star ingredient of this dish - moog beans - are best consumed sprouted as they are high in Vitamin C. Little to no cooking also helps retain their nutritionial value. This low-cal salad is a perfect way to dine in summer.

I love the simplicity of this recipe and how complete of a meal it is being a salad. I thought it would be a great recipe to submit for the MLLA event hosted by Preeti this month. This event is initiated by Susan and is hosted monthly by different bloggers. Isn't this a great way to connect with your fellow bloggers?

Moog/Mung bean salad with mixed veggies

Moog/Mung Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 Cup green Moog beans

2 Cups chopped vegetables (carrots, onion, beet root, cucumber, broccoli)

1 Small bunch cilantro - chopped

1-1.5 Tablespoons lemon juice

Red chili powder to taste

Dash of lemon pepper

Salt to taste

• Soak moog beans in warm water overnight. You can tie them in a cloth and let them sprout. I used the beans just as they started sprouting. The salad can be made with raw beans or slightly steamed. I steamed them just for 4-5 minutes to make them soft.
• Dice all the veggies (I used boiled beetroot instead of raw) and toss them with the moog beans.
• Add lemon juice, chopped cilantro, salt, lemon pepper(my addition) and red chili powder to taste and mix well. You can use salt & black pepper or any other seasoning you like. The salad is ready.

This salad can be changed up in a hundred different ways. You can add different colored bell peppers, jalapeno, zucchini, tomato, even avocado, or any vegetable you like really. A simple lemon juice-salt-chili powder seasoning is tasty and adds to the freshness of veggies. This is a complete meal with protein and plenty of vegetables and won't leave you hungry within 30 minutes.

Here's to healthy eats!

Pretty in Pink

Now you could debate on whether beetroot is deep red or magenta or pink or any other fancy color..all that matters is it looks beautiful! Here's a very simple tasty side-dish recipe that will add a splash of color to the table.

Beetroot Koshimbir (Salad)

Ingredients:

2-3 Beets
1 Cup yogurt
1-2 Green chilies - chopped
Chopped cilantro
1/2 Teaspoon sugar
Salt

• Clean the beets well and cook them in boiling water until you can poke a knife into them easily. I usually use a pressure cooker for faster cooking (2-3 whistles). Once they are cool enough to touch, peel the beets. The skin comes off very easily without a peeler. Cut them in small cubes.
• Add yogurt, chilies, cilantro, a little bit of sugar (Beets are naturally sweet but a bit of sugar brings out the sweetness) and some salt for taste. Mix well.
• Garnish with some more cilantro and you are done. Simple as that!

I usually eat this with roti/rice but it tastes great by itself.