Garden Fresh Vegetable Rotini Salad

Considering this was the first year of home gardening,with limited space and brief abandonment during the vacation,it was a pretty good harvest over all.Herbs like cilantro and mint for some reason did not thrive,but thyme and fenugreek were in abundance.Carrots,kale,lettuce,okra,peppers and tomatoes turned out to be a great start for a beginner gardener like me.

Wish I had the right tool to dig out the carrots,it seemed forever to dig deep enough to get the them out whole.Since these were organic the size was smaller and taster was less sweeter.If you have noticed,these were also unique in its shades of color,from light orange to dark purple(I could not get the picture of that deep purple one though).A Pasta Salad suites best with such garden fresh vegetables,juicy and nutritious with no cooking required except for the pasta.

The pasta salad is my entry for Presto Pasta nights,hosted this week by Claudia of Honey from a Rock

Recipe :Garden fresh Vegetable Rotini Salad
Serves 2-3
Ingredients
1/2 pound Whole grain Rotini pasta.
2 medium carrots,cut in long thin strips
1 cup tender salad greens(I used baby kale,carrot greens)
1 cup cherry tomatoes,halved
1 big clove garlic,minced
3-4 small sweet peppers,seeded and thinly sliced
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or canola oil
2 tablespoon fresh parsley,finely chopped

Method
Cook the pasta until al-dente(not soft but with a bite to it) as per the package directions.Drain and cool.Transfer in a large salad bowl.
Make the dressing by whisking the oil with vinegar,salt,pepper and parsley.Pour over the pasta,toss in rest of the vegetables and combine well.Serve immediately or could be keep an hour to let the flavors fuse.



Make no mistake,the succulent garden fresh okra stir fry does not go with pasta,its a perfect complement with flat bread or brown rice.Find the recipe of Okra stir fry here.

An important note about the Health Nut Challenge,I am unable to continue it due to time constraints.But I promise to post the round up of Tropical temptations as soon as I can squeeze in time to work on it.

Plum Corn bread Salad with Cider Vinegar Dressing

A salad as good as a meal
Inspired by the Louisiana style corn bread salad, hearty corn bread,dry and fresh fruits,nuts,seeds ,baby greens and cherry tomatoes - this is the splendid low-calorie salad ,rich in essentially healthy ingredients.I skipped all the cheese and mayo and used the reduced cider vinegar dressing instead.The vinegar soaked bread gives a nice tart kick to the salad.One could also replace the cider vinegar with balsamic or rice vinegar.

Besides the other ingredients in the salad,the ancient acidic condiment - vinegar also has several health benefits unknown to many of us:
*Vinegar is good source of potassium,an essential nutrient.
*Aids in digestion,considered a good detoxifying agent
*Neutralizes the harmful substances in food when taken as drink before meals
*Helps in lowering cholesterol and blood pressure.And also maintaining blood glucose levels.
*Diluted vinegar drink ,taken twice a day can aid in weight loss and arthritis.
All convincing reasons to use it often in every day cooking.




Recipe : Plum Corn bread Salad with Cider Vinegar dressing
Ingredients
3 cups Jalapeno Buttermilk corn bread,cubed
2-3 fresh plums,seeded and sliced
2 cups baby kale or arugula
6-8 cherry tomatoes,quartered
3-4 dried figs,quartered
1 tablespoon pumpkin and sunflower seeds
1/4 cup dried nuts(cashews,almonds,pecans,pistachios or walnuts)

Dressing
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

Method
Heat the vinegar in a small saucepan,reduce to half its original quantity.Cool it.
Toss all the other ingredients in large mixing bowl.Pour the vinegar all over and toss again.Keep cool in fridge until time to serve.




The salad is my entry for WHB #248 ,hosted this week by Astrid of Paulchen's Foodblog

Kosambari,a raw vegetable salad(With Carrots,Cucumber and Lentils)

A summery salad with fresh veggies including cool cucumber,carrots and tender soaked moong lentils,Kosambari is a favorite side served along with rice,sambar among other tasty dishes in a full course Udupi meal. With minimum or no cooking required the salad\side is definitely a favorable dish for hot summers.

Recipe adapted from Ramya's Mane Adige
Ingredients
1 cup carrots,grated
1/2 cup Moong lentil,soaked (for 4-6 hrs or over night) or use full grown moong sprouts or any other tender sprouts(I used broccoli sprouts).
1 small cucumber,diced
1/2 cup coconut,fresh or dried
1 tablespoon cilantro,finely chopped
1-2 small green chillies,finely chopped(optional)

for dressing
2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil [exclude the oil here if tempering the salad]
1/2 teaspoon black pepper,freshly ground
1 tablespoon lemon juice,freshly squeezed
1/2 teaspoon salt

optional for Tadka (tempering)
2 teaspoon vegetable oil or coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
few curry leaves

3 leaves Romaine lettuce(optional)

Method
Mix all the ingredients in a large salad bowl.Whisk all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and pour in the salad,toss to mix.The salad in the picture is not tempered to keep it as raw as possible, for more flavor temper the salad.Heat the oil and add the seeds and leaves,when seeds start to splutter.turn off the heat.let cool for a minute or 2 before mixing in the salad.Served on fresh lettuce leaves with rice and curry or sambar or rasam.

Kosambari is my entry for Lakshmi's RCI event,hosting Udupi and Mangalorean Cuisine this month is Sia of Monsoon Spice.

Grilled Vegetables Wild Rice Salad

Wild Rice has splendid qualities that would make any diet-conscious go wild about them.It out beats brown rice in protein and richness of minerals.See the comparative nutritional values here. The unusual conditions it grows "wild" in isolated lake and river bed areas mostly in Wisconsin and California and laboriously harvested in Canoes,makes this a rare and expensive grain.Wild rice was of immense important produce to Native Americans.
I was delighted to find a small box of this amazing grain in a natural food store,though I can't afford to buy it as often as brown or white rice,I'll reserve this for some very special dishes like this Salad with juicy grilled vegetables.It takes longer to cook this whole grain when compared to white rice,soaking for 15-20minutes can lessen the cooking time.Mix with other grains and relish them in soups,salads,Casseroles and Pilafs.

Recipe
Serves 2
Ingredients
1/2 cup wild rice
1/2 cup brown rice

Vegetables
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
1 small red\green pepper
1 medium Onion
use any other summer fresh vegetables like asparagus or corn
Marinade
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon of dry herbs,rosemary or thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon chilly powder

Salad Dressing
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dry herbs and spices mix
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 cups of fresh dark greens,chopped(I used Beet greens)

Method
Cook the rice
Wash and soak the rice in cold water for 15 minutes.Cook in 2 cups of water,season with salt,until cooked through,35-40 minutes.Keep aside

Grill or Bake
If using bamboo skewers cut the peppers and onions to smaller size squares or cut in to strips otherwise.Combine all the marinade ingredients. Transfer all the vegetables in large bowl and toss them with the marinade. Set aside for 10 minutes.
Heat your grill or grill pan on medium high heat.
Either thread the vegetables on the bamboo skewers or simply place on heated grill about 6-8 minutes. or Bake in 400F oven for 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the dressing
Whisk together all the dressing ingredients in big salad bowl.Stir in cooked rice,grilled vegetables,combine well.Finally mix in the dark greens.Serve.


This wholesome grain salad is off to No Croutons Required :Grains over at Lisa's Blog.

Show me Your Breakfast.
Muffins ,home made granola ,pancakes or scones with fresh seasonal fruit along with Eggs and cuppa hot coffee or green tea is my usual breakfast.I'm glad to sharing this breakfast with Divya at Dil Se...


Whole grain Fruit Chocolate Muffins,Scrambled Organic eggs and Instant Coffee.And a ray of sunshine adds to the warmth.

Peruvian Causa ,a layered Potato and Vegetable Salad

Potato salad never looked so gorgeous before,I was overwhelmed to see this kaleidoscopic salad at Veggie belly.Causa is a Peruvian layered salad served as an appetizer,made using a variety of potatoes and other vegetables.
I stacked mine with pretty much what I had in hand.The tomato layer is the spiciest and rest of the layers are mildly flavored.And unbelievably I didn't buy any special mold , but reused the tall Pringle can,halved it for an open end on both sides,the smooth interior worked out very well for a mold.
Thanks to Veggie Belly I learned to stack a potato salad with a wholesome makeover :>

Makes 4 stacks about 8inches tall & 4inches wide

Spicy tomato Layer
Ingredients
4 plum red tomatoes,chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
pinch of turmeric
2 clove garlic,chopped
1 tablespoon chick pea flour(besan)
1 teaspoon coriander powder(Dhania)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Method
Heat the oil on medium heat,add the garlic ,after few seconds add the chopped tomatoes and spices.cover and cook until tomatoes are tender,about 10 minutes.Season with salt,then stir in the flour,keep stirring until completely mixed and cook for another 6-7 minutes until mixture is thicken.Allow to cool.

Vegetable Layer 1 White potatoes
boil or bake 1 big or 2 medium potatoes, until cooked through.Peel and mash,season with salt and pepper.keep aside.
Vegetable Layer 1 -Purple Cabbage
Finely chop or coarsely grind in a food processor 2 cups of cabbage .

Vegetable Layer 2- Edamame
coarsely grind 2 cups cooked edamame ,mix with teaspoon of lime juice.

Vegetable Layer 3 -Sweet Potatoes
Boil or Bake 1 big or 2 medium sweet potatoes ,peel ,mash, season with salt and mix with some spices like coriander powder if desired.

To Assemble the layers
Place the mold on a serving plate.Assemble them in any order but make the top and bottom layer as a layer of potato or a firm layer.Take the about a 2 tablespoon of sweet potato and spread on the bottom.Over this spread 2 tablespoon of edamame,gently press down each layer.Next spread 2 tablespoon of cabbage ,then 2 tablespoon of white potato and finally the spicy tomato layer.
To unmold,slowly lift the mold ,don't panic if the stack doesn't unmold smoothly,as it happened with mine,lightly push it down on to the plate.Serve with some sprouts or Veggie belly's creamy avocado dressing.I figured this salad also made a good dip with baked chips.

This Unusually healthy Potato salad is now a part of Weekend Herb Blogging #188,host this week is Graziana at Erbe in Cucina(Cooking with Herbs)


And the stack is in for Click- Stack Photography event at Jugalbandi.