Apple & Chickpeas Salad

Apple and Chickpeas Salad is a delicious and nutritious salad. It's made with lettuce, apple, chickpeas, purple cabbage, coloured baby carrots, Thai red chilli, chives, cherry tomatoes and tossed with a flavourful dressing using mayo, curd, mustard sauce and maple syrup. 

Salad is one of the healthiest and easiest choice of food when it comes to lunch, parties or dinner. Salad can be made either simple or exotic based on the ingredients and dressing. Personally, I love salad and can survive with that ;) Since my salad is loaded with veggies and a fruit, it can be served as a meal. A bowl of this salad and a glass of fresh juice was my meal when I prepared this nutritious salad. The creamy dressing with the mild sweetness from maple syrup is the highlight of the salad which made my family to fall for this salad including my little kiddo who hates salad. What else do I need than this as a mother :)

Have a look on few interesting salad recipes which I have shared on my page.. 

Chickpeas & Avocado salad

Apple & tomato salad using chickpeas dressing

Cucumber & Pinenuts salad 

Radish & Carrot salad 

Sprouts & Zucchini Salad 

Sending this salad recipe to a blogger event Shhh secretly cooking challenge which is happening every month among few fellow bloggers. Summer salad is the theme for this month and it was suggested by Kalyani Sri. And also, she is my partner for this month challenge :) 

Kalyani Sri is a wonderful blogger who owns a page in the name of Sizzling Tastebuds. Her page has loads of delicious recipes in all categories like Diabetic foods, party recipes, eggless baking, Protein rich recipes, sugar free recipes and many more.. Especially I liked her Vegan chilli chocolate mousse , Sugar free apple raisin muffins and Kidney bean - Sesame seed dip. For more recipes, head to her page. 

Coming to the secret ingredients, I was given Apple and chives by her and I suggested barley & Lemon juice for her. Using those ingredients, she prepared a healthy and an interesting salad "Warm Barley summer salad with kiwi and roasted peppers". 

This Apple and chickpeas salad can be served warm or cold. Variations can be done to this recipe by including more veggies and fruits like pears, grapes etc. The addition of maple syrup to the dressing gives a mild and delicious taste to the salad. Chives can also be substituted with spring onions if it is not available. 

Here comes the recipe of this refreshing salad... 

Ingredients :

1 Apple, chopped into small cubes

1 Cup Chickpeas, cooked 

1/2 Cup Purple Cabbage, shredded 

1/2 Cup Coloured Carrots, cut into small pieces or shredded

2 Tbsp Chives, finely chopped 

1 Thai red chillies, finely chopped

5 Cherry Tomatoes, cut into halves

6 - 7 Lettuce leaves

For dressing :

1/4 Cup Mayo 

3 Tbsp Yogurt 

1/2 Tsp Mustard sauce 

1 Tsp Maple syrup 

Method :

Beat Mayo and yogurt in a bowl and add mustard sauce followed by maple syrup.

Mix well and keep aside. 

Place the lettuce evenly on the plate and keep aside. 

Now add all the veggies along with chickpeas and apple to a bowl and add the prepared salad dressing.

Gently mix well and place it on the lettuce layered plate. 

Serve warm or cold. 

Wahan Mosdeng / Pork Chutney / Pork Bharta / Tripura Cuisine

Wahan Mosdeng is a popular Tripura cuisine in which pork is the key ingredient and apart from that, only minimal ingredients required to prepare this delicious salad. Wahan is nothing but pork and interestingly, this recipe is prepared without using a drop of oil. Yes! you read it right... this is zero oil recipe. This Wahan Mosdeng is also called as Pork Bharta and Pork chutney. Traditionally this recipe is prepared using pork but people who do not eat pork, substitute it with chicken.  The fresh ginger and roasted chilli gave a perfect flavour to the dish and personally, I loved it with rice.

Prepared this recipe for a blogger event "shhh cooking secretly challenge" which is happening among food bloggers every month. For this month, I got a first time chance to get paired with a lovely blogger Narmadha who blogs at namscorner.com. Don't forget to check out her page to view loads of  delicious recipes. She gave me coriander leaves and chilli as my secret ingredients which helped me to create this authentic Tripura recipe. Likewise, check out her page to know the secret ingredients given by me. She made an interesting, simple yet delicious recipe out of it.

Ingredients :

250 gms Pork, Cut into pieces

1 Big Onion, thinly sliced 

5-6 Green chillies ( Adjust according to taste bud ) 

1 1/2 Tbsp Ginger, finely chopped 

1/4 Cup Coriander leaves, finely chopped 

Salt to taste

Method :

Wash the pork pieces and pressure cook it for 3 whistles by adding little water. 

Open the lid and cook it for another 2 minutes or until the water gets absorbed. This helps to keep the flavour in pork. 

Once done, cut in small pieces and keep aside. 

Dry roast the green chillies and grind it without adding water. Keep aside. 

Take the chopped pork pieces in a bowl and add the ground chilli followed by thinly sliced onion, ginger, coriander leaves and salt. 

Mix well and serve. 

Serving Options :

Serve with Rice or Roti.

Apple & Tomato Salad using Chickpeas Dressing

I was excited to get paired up with one of my favourite blogger Rafeeda from "thebigsweettooth.com" for Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge after a very long time. I love all her recipes and especially food pictures which shows the exact texture of the dish. I had to mention that she is a very cool person and also a wonderful baker.  As I had mentioned in lots of my Shh Cooking Secretly Challenge series posts about the rules, this time I was given Apple and Chickpeas as my secret ingredients. And the theme was Salads which is very much apt to this Summer season. By using Apples and Chickpeas, I prepared a quick and tasty salad and hope, I did justice to it . Instead of adding chickpeas in my salad, I gave a twist by preparing dressing using it to give a creamy texture to the salad. And also, the addition of fresh basil leaves gives a refreshing flavour.

Check out of my Co-blogger page to view a wholesome healthy and yummy salad prepared out of Avocado and Tomato, which was given by me.

http://www.thebigsweettooth.com/2017/04/simple-quinoa-salad.html

Ingredients :

2 Apples, cut into small pieces
6 Cherry Tomatoes, cut into halves
Few fresh Basil leaves

For Dressing :

2 Tbsp Black chickpeas ( soaked and cooked ) 
3 - 4 Basil leaves 
1/4 Cup Olive oil 
1 Tsp Lemon juice 
Salt to taste 
Little Pepper powder ( Optional ) 

Method :

Take cooked chickpeas along with basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice and salt in a blender.

Blend till it turns smooth.

Once done, remove from the blender and keep aside.

Take apples and cherry tomatoes in a large bowl.

Add fresh basil leaves and chickpeas dressing to it.

Mix well and sprinkle little pepper powder.

Serve.

Note :

Cut apples after preparing dressing, else apple pieces loses its colour.

I have used black chickpeas in this recipe which can also be substituted with white chickpeas. 

Cucumber & Pine nuts Salad

This is a refreshing salad with a mixed flavourful dressing which is prepared using English cucumber and Pine nuts. English cucumber is a variety of cucumber which has very less seeds ( sometimes with no seeds ) and with less bitter taste than the regular ones. The skin of cucumber will be thinner and this is an excellent variety for preparing salads. Adding pine nuts to the salad gives a delicious buttery taste in each and every bite. As mentioned in my previous Oats & Peas Congee post, I have used one more healthy product "Buckwheat honey" which I received from Gondiaorganic and it tasted yummy. It is rich and tasty without overpowering flavour. Buckwheat honey is a dark coloured honey with a robust flavour and also, has higher concentrations of macronutrients and anti - oxidant compounds compared to other varieties.

Ingredients :

3 English Cucumber, Grated lengthwise
1 Onion, Sliced 
3 Tbsp Spring Onions, Finely chopped 
4 Tbsp Pinenuts 

For Dressing :

1 Tbsp Honey ( I have used Buckwheat honey ) 
1/2 Tsp Lemon Juice 
Salt to taste 
Less than 1/4 Tsp Pepper powder 
1 Tbsp Olive oil 

Method :

Mix all the ingredients given in "For Dressing" and keep aside.

Squeeze the water from the grated cucumber and add it to a salad bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients ( pine nuts, onion and spring onions ) along with cucumber.

Now pour the prepared dressing and gently mix well.

Serve immediately.

Butterhead Lettuce & Mushroom Salad

My today's breakfast is a complete healthy one which is filled with high nutrients ingredients like alfalfa, butterhead lettuce, broccoli and mushroom. Though the dressing sounds very simple, the salad tasted very delicious. Butterhead is one of the variety of lettuce family with soft leaves and buttery taste. In addition it is also rich in vitamin and phosphorous. Alfalfa sprouts which is called as "Kuthirai masal " in tamil has lots of medicinal properties like preventing cancer, lowers cholesterol, reduce inflammatory process in arthritis, good for weight loss, controls blood sugar etc. This can be used in salads and sandwiches. Apart from the given veggies, any healthy  veggies can also be included to make a meal healthy.

Ingredients :

2 Bunches Butterhead lettuce 
1 Bunch Ice berg Lettuce 
15 Cherry tomatoes
15 Mushroom, cleaned and sliced 
10 Broccoli florets, blanched 
2 Tbsp Alfalfa sprouts 
Balsamic Vinegar 
Salt to taste 
Freshly ground pepper corns  
1 Tbsp Olive oil 
1 Tsp Olive oil for sauteing

Method :

Heat 1 tsp oil in a pan and add mushroom followed by the blanched broccoli florets.

Toss and cook it for 5 minutes. ( Do not over cook )

Once done, remove from the flame and keep aside.

Add the chopped butterhead lettuce along with iceberg lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, cherry tomatoes in a big bowl.

Add the sauteed mushroom and broccoli to the salad.

Now add balsamic vinegar followed by freshly ground pepper and salt.

Drizzle one tbsp of olive oil and mix well.

Serve.

Serving Options :

Serve it with fresh juice and bread toast.

Sprouts - Zucchini Salad / Diet Friendly Recipe - 49 / #100dietrecipes

Sprouts - Zucchini salad is a healthy and satisfying meal which can be served as breakfast or evening snack. Sprouts and greens are added in a bowl and lemon juice along with salt and pepper is used as a simple salad dressing.

Ingredients :

1 Zucchini, sliced vertically or peeled using peeler
1/2 Cup Mixed Sprouts ( Horsegram, Cowpea, Chickpeas and Green gram ) 
1/2 Cup Lettuce, chopped
7 - 8 Broccoli florets, blanched
1/2 Tsp Lemon juice 
Little salt ( optional ) 
1/2 Tsp Crushed pepper or pepper powder

Method :

Wash and add the mixed sprouts in a large bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients ( zucchini, lettuce and blanched broccoli ) to sprouts.

Add lemon juice followed by salt and pepper.

Mix well and serve.

Radish & Carrot Salad / Diet Friendly Recipes - 5 / #100dietrecipes

Salad is one of the healthy and satisfying meal or snack during dieting days. This fresh salad is prepared using radish, carrot and sprouts which is tossed with lemon juice. Easy to prepare and very nutritious to serve as such or as accompaniments to main dish like phulka and dal.

Ingredients :

1 Cup Radish, grated
1 Cup Carrot, grated
1/2 Cup Sprouts ( I have used Moong and Black Chickpea sprouts )
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp Spring onion leaves, finely chopped
3/4 Tsp Lemon juice 
Crushed pepper for garnishing
Lettuce leaves, for garnishing

Method :

Add grated Radish followed by Carrot, Sprouts and Spring onion leaves in a bowl.

Add Lemon juice and Salt. Mix well.

Take a serving plate, arrange lettuce leaves and place the salad.

Sprinkle crushed pepper and garnish with few spring onion leaves.

Serve.