Summer is the ideal time to be pulling out those healthy and refreshing salad recipes.
When the mercury rises, our body craves lighter yet filling meals and ice-cold drinks.
It is important to sustain a wholesome diet rather than picking on easily available junk and sugary foods.
Reaching for that sugar-filled snack will do more than add to your waistline, and will eventually leave you feeling unfocused and irritable. Junk foods are empty calories that cheat you into feeling full but actually leave you not so energetic and dull.
It is best in this weather to opt for healthier stuff—eat more of leafy vegetables and different-coloured fruits. Mother nature has packed them with vitamins, minerals and other goodies that keep you healthy and energised. Eating high-fibre snacks will leave you feeling fuller; in turn you’ll eat less and look great.
Rustling up a salad is like painting—playing around with splashes of colours, mixing textures and balancing flavours. You can also add fruits, pulses, nuts or cheeses, left-over grilled meat or grilled mushrooms and peppers. Salads can be hot, warm, cold, sweet, sour, salty, peppery, piquant or creamy. From light accompaniments to a whole meal in itself. This salad is a version of the regular coleslaw. It is fresher tasting and more colourful and makes a great accompaniment to many main dishes, be it burgers, steaks, barbequed seafood or even a wonderful curry.
This salad is packed with nutrients and antioxidants. Cabbage is an excellent source of Vitamin C. It also contains significant amounts of glutamine and amino acid that has anti-inflammatory properties.
Low on calories, cabbage is also the ultimate veggie to include in dieting programmes.
Carrots supply beta-carotene, which is great for your skin and respiratory system. Radish is rich in sulfur, which aids in liver function. It is also a good source of Vitamin B6, riboflavin, magnesium, copper and calcium. Zucchinis are rich in folic acid and potassium, which, along with cholesterol- lowering onion, provide support for your cardiovascular system. Sprouts are rich in digestible energy and high in protein.
Finally, the essential oils in the mint soothe the stomach and aid digestion.
Ingredients
3 carrots 1 bunch of red radishes 2 zucchinis Half a cob of green cabbage Half a cob of red cabbage 1 yellow pepper Half a red onion 1 cup sprouted moong beans Handful of mint leaves torn For the dressing 2 tbsp white wine vinegar 2 tsp Dijon mustard ( optional ) 2 tbsp mayonnaise 2 tbsp thick yogurt 4 tbsp olive oil a pinch of sugar Salt and pepper to taste Grate carrots in a large bowl. Thinly slice green and red cabbage, zucchinis, yellow pepper and radishes. Blanch the moong bean sprouts in hot water for few minutes and run them in cold water, straining off the excess. Finely chop the onion and mix all vegetables together with the mint leaves.
Whisk together vinegar, mustard, sugar, yogurt and mayonnaise until smooth; then gradually whisk in the olive oil. Taste and add salt and pepper. Toss the salad well and chill it for about 30 minutes before serving.
The writer is the author of Aapplemint, a food, travel and photography blog