I love fruits and salads and during lockdown, I have been trying to create different types of salads and dressings. My recent discovery is making savory and tangy fruit salads. When I was in India on holiday I tried a fruit chaat which was fruits dressed with a spicy dressing. I immediately fell in love with the idea.
This salad made with fruits is an idea I got from my recent holiday to Turkey. I have used Middle Eastern flavours of paprika, cumin and pomegranate molasses. I love the sharp and tangy flavour of the pomegranate molasses together with the spices in this salad. The salad is delicious served cold.
Black corn is native to Peru, it is often known as Aztec Corn or Mexican corn. Black Aztec is an heirloom corn variety, it has a deep purplish/black kernels.
Black corn contains a plant pigment called anthocyanins. It has anti inflammatory and antioxidant benefits and contains many essential nutrients such as iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, folate, phosphorus, and vitamin A.
Black corn stains very easily, it has a chewy starchy texture. It can be cooked in many ways such as boiling, grilling, steaming or roasting. It’s slightly tougher and less sweet than yellow corn and it can be used in many recipes such as salsa, salads, tortilla and cornmeal. It is not readily available in the UK but can be found in many specialist greengrocers.
Black corn is very popular in Mexican cuisine which is really colourful and rich in flavours. Why not check out this Mexican Food Guidefor some inspiring dishes to try.
Yield: Serves 2
Author: Nayna Kanabar
Black Corn Salad
Crunchy black corn salad with a spicy Indo Chinese dressing.
prep time: 15 Mcook time: 55 Mtotal time: 70 M
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lime juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon soya sauce
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger paste
For Salad
1 Black corn on the cob
1/2 cup shredded cabbage
1 carrot peeled and grated
1/2 red capsicum finely diced
1/2 yellow capsicum finely diced
1/2 green capsicum finely diced
8 mini silver pickled onions cut into quarters
1 tablespoon red pickled jalapenos finely diced
8 baby tomatoes cut into quarters
2 sprigs coriander finely chopped
Instructions:
In a large saucepan add the sweet corn cover with water and boil until tender. This took almost 45 minutes as black corn is very tough.
Once the corn is cooked cool it and then remove the kernels.
In a large bowl add the sweetcorn kernels, carrot, capsicums, pickled onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos and coriander.
In a jar with a lid add the vinegar, olive oil, soya sauce, lime juice,salt, pepper, chilli flakes,and ginger. Put the lid on and shake it all together.
Pour the dressing onto the vegetable mixture and toss together.
Serve immediately.
NOTES:
You can use yellow corn if black corn not available.
This is my recipe swap challenge for the month of April. This Month my partner was Veena who blogs at veenasvegnation.com. Looking through Venna's blog was really interesting. She has a lot of really exciting recipes, some with ingredients that were new to me. I book marked a fair few of them and hope to cook my way through them.
For the challenge though, I chose her Carrot and Zucchini noodles recipe. It's a simple recipe but I love both the ingredients and it is a perfect salad idea for our lunch boxes. As a family we are also on a healthy eating programme so it made sense to make this recipe.
I did make a few minor changes to the recipes. I could not get black carrots so I used some asparagus together with the orange carrots and zucchini. The flavours in Veenas salad were simple so I pepped up my version by adding added a few more ingredients to the dressing to give the salad a little spicy kick.
Yield: 2
Author: Nayna Kanabar
Carrot and Zucchini Salad with Peanut dressing
Spiralised Carrots and Zuccini with a tangy spicy peanut dressing.
prep time: 10 Mcook time: 3 Mtotal time: 13 M
Ingredients:
Juice from 1 lemon
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 tablespoon honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 large carrot peeled and spiralised
1 large zucchini spiralised
10 stalks tendar asparagus
40 g dry roasted peanuts
1 teaspoon white sesame seeds
Instructions:
In a pan add some water and when it comes to boil add the asparagus and boil for three minutes after which remove the asparagus with a slotted spoon and place in iced water to stop cooking. Drain and add to a large bowl.
To the Asparagus add the spiralised carrot and zucchini.
Coarsely grind 30 g of peanuts and add to the salad.
Add all the ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid and shake to emulsify.
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.
Transfer the salad to a serving bowl and garnish with remaining whole peanuts and sesame seeds.
Recipes created by other bloggers in the recie swap group:
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I love salads but sometimes when its cold I make this warm chickpea salad as its perfect eaten hot or cold. With middle Eastern flavours it goes really well with a meze of pitta bread, hummus, Baba Ganoush to make the perfect lunch.
Yield: Serves 2 Author: Nayna Kanabar
Warm Chickpea and Pickled Walnut Salad
A warm spiced chickpea salad with lovely Moroccan flavours.
prep time: 10 minscook time: 5 minstotal time: 15 mins
Ingredients:
240 g Precooked chick Peas
1/2 green capsicum finely diced
1/2 red capsicum finely diced
1 small red onion finely diced
1 pickled walnut finely diced
1 tablespoon brine from the pickled walnuts
4 sprigs fresh coriander finely chopped.
1 tablespoon Olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
1 red chilli finely diced
Instructions
In a pan add the olive oil and saute the onions until translucent. To the onions add the the chick peas, peppers and warm through.
Transfer the chickpea mixture to a bowl and add two thirds of the pomegranate and pickled walnuts and the chopped coriander.
In a jar add the lemon juice, walnut brine,sumac, diced chilli, salt, honey, back pepper and mix thoroughly
Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well.
Transfer the salad to serving bowl and garnish with remaining pomegranate and chopped coriander.
This is my third month with the group recipe swap on facebook where a bunch of like minded food bloggers get together and team up in pairs to create a recipe from each others blogs. My partner for the month of May was Amber who blogs at Leggings 'n' Lattes, what an original name for a blog. Amber is a full time blogger and a stay at home mum with a young family. Her passion s to build a community to support women and inspire each other. That's a great outlook and I admire her for that.
Coming to the recipe post, I saw a few recipes that I short listed however since UK is having a rare heat wave we try and make the most of it by eating out doors as much as we can before the rainy weather returns. During these sunny days I always try to make easy recipes that we can eat out doors and those that pair up well with barbecues.
The pineapple salsa just screamed at me from Amber's blog, especially as this weekend we were celebrating my daughters birthday with a barbecue in the garden. The salsa was a super hit and I had to quickly make a second batch as the first batch got eaten in moments. The only addition I made to the salsa was that I added some cucumber,cherry tomato halves and used spring onions instead of red onion as they have a milder taste.
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Pineapple Salsa
by Nayna Kanabar June-1-2018
Refreshing and crunchy vegetables with sweet tropical pineapple, dressed with a garlic and lemony dressing with a hint of chili flakes makes this salsa simply delectable.
Ingredients:
1 pineapple peeled and cored and diced into 1 cm pieces.(You can use tinned also)
Method: 1. In a jar add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, chilli flakes,cucumber, pepper and garlic, put the lid on and shake the jar to mix the dressing, keep aside. 2. In a bowl add the pineapple, capsicums, sweetcorn, spring onions, tomatoes and coriander and toss together. Add the dressing and mix together 3.Transfer the salsa to a serving bowl and serve with crackers or tortilla crisps. Details Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: None Total time: 15 mins Yield: Serves 4 NB- If you use tinned pineapple make sure you drain the liquid and pat dry the pineapple before adding to the salsa.
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In my previous post I wrote about attending the John Lewis barbecue evening where with a bunch of food bloggers we created some wonderful and tasty barbecue dishes. My three foodie friends, Jagruti from jagrutiscookingodyssey, Manjiri from travelsfortaste and Lisa Moore and I are featured below with one of our signature dishes.
One of the dishes my group created was Barbecued Corn with Roasted Pepper and Mint Salsa. It turned out really delicious and I could not wait to recreate it again at home. The smokey flavours that barbecuing gives to food is lovely and this sweetcorn paired really well with the mint and roasted pepper salsa.
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Barbecued Corn with Roasted Pepper and Mint Salsa
by Nayna Kanabar May 21-2017
Barbecued sweet corn with a lovely roasted pepper and mint salsa, the mint, the spices and the lime sets this dish off beautifully.
Ingredients:
4 Fresh corn on the cob
2 Long red peppers
Few sprigs mint
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons honey
Juice of 1 lime
1 lime cut into wedges for serving.
1 teaspoon sumac powder
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon chilli powder(optional)
Method:
1. Place the sweet corn on the barbecue and roast it until its cooked, keep turning it to get an even roasting. 2. Add the peppers on the barbecue and roast them too, keep turning them to get them roasted evenly. 3.Remove the roasted corn from the barbecue and cut it into bite sized rounds pieces approx 2 cm thick .4.Remove the peppers from the barbecue and peel off the charred skin, remove the stalk and seeds. Roughly chop the peppers up and put them into a large bowl.5. Reserve 6 mint leaves and finely chop the remaining mint and add it to the bowl with the peppers. 7.Add the sumac, paprika, chilli powder, salt, juice from the lime, honey and olive oil to the peppers and mint and mix well. 8. Add the sweet corn to the salsa and toss it well so that its coated thoroughly with the salsa. 9. Transfer the corn to a serving dish and garnish with a few more mint leaves and lime wedges
Details:
Prep time: Cooking time: Total time: Serves: 6-8 people
Peaches are now in season and I particularly like the ones with the white flesh that are firm and great for salads. The slight tartness from the semi ripe peach with the crunch from them makes this salad really lovely to eat and it's the perfect accompaniment with a platter of freshly baked bread and cheeses.
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Peach and Mint Salad
by Nayna Kanabar July-24-2016
A summery and refreshing salad thats quick and easy to make.
Ingredients:
2 Firm semi ripe peaches
10 Mint Leaves
1 Lime
1/2 tablespoon Honey
Sprinkle Salt
Sprinkle Freshly cracked pepper
Method:
1. Destone the peaches and slice them in round slices and put them into a bowl with the mint leaves.2. Zest the lime and add it to the peaches.3.Juice the lime and add the juice to a jar together with the honey, salt and pepper, shake the dressing and pour it over the peach and mint.4. Toss the salad to dress it with the dressing and transfer it to a serving dish.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: None Total time: Yield: Serves 2
I love salads that use fruits in them, as they make a refreshing change and are perfect for al fresco dining. Other fruits that can be use in salads are apple, pineapple and citrus fruits too. For example do check this delicious Mandarin orange slaw- lad recipe its great for barbecues.
Camargue red rice is a variety of red rice that is cultivated
in the wetlands of the Camargue region of southern France. Its outer red bran
layer contains 95% of the minerals and dietary fiber of the whole rice which is
made up of Iron, Zinc Potassium Sodium and Manganese. The Inner white portion
contains carbohydrate and proteins. The rice is rich in fibre and has a lovely
nutty taste. It can be used in salads and rice dishes. The rice needs plenty of
washing before cooking, and it also takes longer to cook compared to white rice.
Camargue rice has antioxidants that offer many health
benefits to the body such as:
Lowering cholesterol
Preventing heart disease,
Lowering s blood glucose
Helping to reducing asthma
Rich in fibre helping in digestion.
Good for bone health,
Lowering the risk of obesity as it reduces hunger pangs
High in vitamin B6 which is needed for organ function
Moong beans is a type of small, green legume that belong to
the same plant family as peas and lentils. They are a high source of nutrients
including: manganese, potassium, magnesium, folate, copper, zinc and various B
vitamins. Like the Red Camargue rice, moong beans are great for the body as
they too provide defence against, age-related diseases, heart disease, cancer,
diabetes and obesity.
Moong beans can be eaten raw, cooked, milled and ground into
flour and also sprouted in salads.
To sprout moong beans wash them in plenty of cold water and then drain them in a colander. Get a large muslin or cheesecloth and wring it in some clean water. Place the moong beans on the damp cloth and gather the edges up to form a parcel. Place the muslin parcel in the colander and place the colander in a dark cool place for 24 hours. After 24 hours you will find that they have sprouted. If you want longer sprouts you can sprinkle a few drops of water on the cloth and leave the beans for another 12 hours.You can freeze the sprouted moong beans to use at any time. This technique can be used to sprout any bean or lentil.
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Red Camargue Wild Rice and Sprouted Moong Bean Salad
by Nayna Kanabar June-1-2016
Nutty aromatic Red Camargue wild rice with healthy sprouted moong beans.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Red Camargue wild rice
1 cup Sprouted moong Beans (instructions above on how to sprout)
4 Spring Onion finely sliced whites and green parts.
1/2 Yellow Pepper finely diced
1 Red Chilli finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Chili powder
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1/2 tablespoon Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Turmeric powder
Method:
1. Wash the rice in plenty of water and them soak it in clean water for about an hour.2. Drain the soaked water from the rice and transfer the rice to a large saucepan.Add 1 pint of water and bring the rice to boil, once its boiling bring it to a slow simmer and cook uncovered for 35 minutes or until rice is cooked.3. Drain the rice in a colander and once it is drained spread it out on a plate to cool.4. Place the sprouted moong beans in a microwave safe bowl add, 1 tablespoon of water and cover and cook on high for 4 minutes.5. Remove the cooked sprouted moong beans from the microwave and transfer them to a plate to cool down.6.In a sauce pan add the oil when its hot add the chopped spring onions, diced peppers, red chilli and saute the mixtute for 2-3 minutes. Add the salt, turmeric, chilli powder and lemon juice and mix into the mixture. Saute the mixture for 1 -2 more minutes and then transfer the mixture to a large bowl.7. To the onion and pepper mixture add the moong beans and the cooked rice and toss well. Transfer the salad to a serving bowl or dish. Salad can be eaten warm or cold.
