HYDERABAD : Over the years, we have heard all the salad jokes and the most common one is ‘Haha, are you a goat, why are you eating grass? Haha.’ Lame. I say, all these ‘not-a-salads-person’ kind of people make these jokes only until they take a bite from a perfect bowl of salad. A chilled watermelon feta salad with mint garnish for lunch on a hot summer day or a Subway chicken teriyaki salad bowl is all you need for a hearty meal.
Salads are refreshing, easy to make and nutritious. “In summers, nutrient-rich yet tasty food is a good way to keep your health in check, especially when a lot of people are working from home. Quinoa, for example, is a rich source of protein, essential minerals, and amino-acids which regulate your body function. Include citrus fruits, cheese and nuts in your salads as they help in immunity building,” says Md. Shahid Hossain, executive chef at the Taj Krishna.
Whether you are working from home or attending an online class, try to switch to a salad for lunch. These are very light and prevent you from dozing off in your chair. Summer salads, paired with a good workout plan, will help you shed those ‘pandemic pounds’ easily. Otherwise, include a salad as a side dish to your meal or snack time and you will be able to inculcate the necessary veggies and hearty greens into your diet effortlessly.
Mansi Patel, a nutritionist based in Hyderabad, says, “Salads are a good source of fibre, which helps relieve constipation. Salad bowls usually contain a rich source of protein, a healthy amount of fat and veggies that contain vitamins and minerals. For people who are watching their weight during the lockdown or those who want to improve their strength, salads are the easiest and most beneficial.”
Everyone loves a salad at a restaurant but a lot of us will not touch lettuce unless it is in a delicious burger. The creamy and savoury dressings make all the difference to a salad bowl. Be it any sauce -- a tangy BBQ or a refreshing mint mayonnaise or a basic mixture of mustard, honey, and vinegar -- salad dressings add flavour and zing to your greens. Some of the sauces that are available on e-commerce platforms are mint mayonnaise, BBQ, chipotle southwest dressing, sriracha sauce and honey mustard, among others.
Instead of boring yourself with a standard salad dressing, which will eventually make you give in to cravings, mix and match various dressings and sauces. I’m sure you’ll be waiting to dig into your bowl every day. Finding veggies has become a hassle since the second lockdown has been imposed on the city. With all markets open during a short window early in the morning, it is not easy to find all the veggies you desire. Instead, check out the recipes below and order these vegetables and foods enough for a week, and you are all set.
Recipe
Quinoa and Avocado Salad
(This salad is gluten-free and can also be enjoyed by people with dietary restrictions)
Ingredients
100 g quinoa | 1 avocado | 20 g cherry tomato | 50 g olives | 10 ml lime juice | 40 g walnut | 1 orange | 25 ml olive oil | 20 g feta cheese | 5 g mustard cress | 5 g chives
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
● Soak the quinoa for 1 hour and boil it till softly cooked. Drain the excess water and refrigerate the quinoa
● Mix chopped olives, olive oil, lime juice, salt and pepper to make the dressing
● Peel the ripe avocado, remove the stone, and dice it neatly
● Mix the dressing with the boiled quinoa and adjust the seasoning accordingly
● Mould the quinoa mixture and arrange the avocado. Garnish with orange segments, feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, mustard cress, chives, lettuce and walnuts
— Md. Shahid Hossain, executive chef at Taj Krishna, Hyderabad
Recipe
Corn Paneer Salad
(For weight watchers)
Ingredients
4 thin slices of paneer | 1/2 cup sweetcorn | 1 ½ cup chopped lettuce | ½ cup long-sliced capsicum | 1 cucumber - sliced | 3 cherry tomatoes - cut into halves | 10 black olives | 4 walnut kernels
Method
● Pan roast 4 slices of paneer without oil or butter
● Boil the sweetcorn
● Chop lettuce, capsicum, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and black olives as instructed above
● In a mixer, add 1 tbsp of mayonnaise, 8-10 mint leaves, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 inch of ginger, 1 green chilli, 1/2 tsp lime juice, salt and pepper according to your taste. Grind it into a smooth paste
● On a bed of chopped lettuce, throw in all of the diced veggies and roasted paneer and serve it with this dressing - you’ll have a zippy salad bowl ready
— Mansi Patel, nutritionist