Our hectic lifestyle often leaves us no time to notice what we are eating on a daily basis. We either opt for a shop-bought snack or indulge in a heavy dish and then go hungry for the next few hours.
This kind of yo-yo eating also leads to health problems, foremost of which is obesity.
But as we get more health-conscious, we also want to eat food that is not only good to look at, but also tasty.
These two salads can be prepared at home easily, and are a good way to take a break from consecutive days of eating out, or heavy food.
Mix Seafood Salad with Coriander and Saffron
Ingredients
Shrimps (11-15 grade, peeled)) 500g
Hammour fish diced 500g
Diced tomato 1 cup
Sliced onion 1 no
Basil leaves few leaves
Chopped garlic 2-3 cloves
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil ½ cup
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Water for boiling the seafood
Saffron a pinch
Fresh coriander chopped few sprigs
Method
1. Boil the water in a sauce pan and boil the seafood for 3 to 5 minutes and refresh in cold water, drain and keep aside.
2. Heat saffron strands in olive oil to extract the colour and taste of saffron.
3. In a separate bowl mixed diced tomatoes, onion, basil leaves, salt, pepper, lemon juice, chopped coriander and saffron oil to make the dressing.
4. Add blanched seafood and toss it gently, make sure fish does not break.
5. Check seasoning and serve cold on a bed of fresh lettuce and lemon wedge
Yoghurt and
Spiced Apple Salad
Ingredients
Yoghurt ¼ cups
Red apples 4
Apple juice ¼ cup
Raisins 1 tbsp
Mustard seed 1 tbsp
Red chilli flakes (optional) 3g
Coconut sliced 1 tsp
Lemon juice 1 tsp
Ground cinnamon ½ tsp
Iceberg lettuce 3-4 leaves
Cherry tomato 7-8
Method
1. In a mixing bowl, combine the yoghurt, apple juice, raisin, mustard seeds, lemon juice and cinnamon powder.
2. Core the apples and cut into thin wedges or bite-size pieces. Toss the apples in the yoghurt mixture and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
3. Arrange lettuce and place salad on top, garnish with cherry tomato and thin coconut slices.
Apple
Apple is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits, and the most widely used by humans. There are thousands of varieties of apples which are widely cultivated and used around the world, resulting in a range of desired characteristics. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and uses, including cooking, fresh eating and medicinal use.
This wonderful fruit is packed with rich phyto-nutrients that in the true senses indispensable for optimal health. The antioxidants in apple have much health promoting and disease prevention properties, thus truly justifying the saying “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”.
Apples are low in calories — 100g of fresh fruit slices provide only 50 calories. They, however, contain no saturated fats or cholesterol.
Apple is rich in dietary fibre, which helps prevent absorption of bad cholesterol.
Saffron/Zafran
Saffron, long among the world’s most costly spices by weight, is native to Greece or Southwest Asia and was first cultivated in Greece. It has a wide use in the culinary world and has been used extensively in lavish, exotic meals around the world. It also contains a carotenoid dye which imparts a rich golden-yellow hue to dishes. Saffron is available in small bottles and is always sold by gram due to its expensiveness. Saffron when added with prawn in our recipe this week enhances its visual appeal and also imparts its taste and aroma to the shrimps.