The Burst of a Pomegranate on Yogurt in a Salad Story

Pomegranate, Baby Gherkin, Roasted Potato, Croutons, Rocket salad with Pistachio nuts in a Yogurt dressing…a nutritious Healthy Salad you can carry to your workplace

I feel salads are one of the most interesting playground of fresh flavors n it is full of surprises, every bite can be a little different, every flavor mixing with each other- a kick from this, a citrus note from that, a burst of sweetness all of a sudden, a gentle heat from somewhere, a touch of tanginess…it is a celebration of flavors. A well made salad is also a success story of the creator and a sign of how well the person understands the play of flavors, their chemistry and their combination. 

The reason why I adore salads is because I can be creative with them; it’s a great playground for me, trying n testing with new ingredients, sometimes humble ingredients and sometimes rare ones. For a lot of people salad means compromising on taste, the truth is far from it, a great salad is not only nutritious in leaps n bounds but it is a great carrier of flavors, unlike cooking where every ingredient exchange flavors under heat, mostly in a salad they are the freshest flavors n when you are making a salad you are letting the exchange happen for a short time in the bowl and mostly when you bite into it.

The more I play with salads the more excited I become, often I create salads which are total disasters and no one else can eat that but me, so I have to eat them anyways, but  I have found so much joy in them that those failures don’t dampen my spirit at all. Once in a while I also come up with recipes that win everybody n those recipes spread from friend to friend- the important thing is to have fun, to enjoy the process.

Now from a nutritional point of view salads come in all shades, some are not so healthy while some are very healthy and everything in between. A well balanced salad can replace your main course in the lunchtime or at the time of dinner, a good balance of protein, carbohydrate and fat. The salad recipe I give you today is healthy, nutritious and bursting with flavors.

In this exciting salad I have got pomegranate, that’s what makes it very exciting for me, the little ruby jewels that burst under your teeth n the explosion of juices, sweet n sour. Unlike a traditional vinaigrette with oil n vinegar, this salad has a yogurt dressing and yogurt is my soul food and so healthy. And then we have the baby gherkins in brine, they are so tasty on their own- little sweet, little sour with a hint of pungency, and they combine so well with the roasted crispy chunky potatoes. The potatoes are the only ingredient here that is pre-cooked and they provide an amazing flavor and a sense of fullness to the dish. The pistachios are another jewel and it works in a subtle way, it gives a mouth feel that is unique and delicious. The rocket leaves gives a strong edge to this salad, the leaves are peppery and pungent, and so they tend to come out stronger in taste, so I used them moderately here. We have crouton in this dish, the bread is pan friend in a little oil and it improved the flavor of the bread n provides a crunchy texture. When you finish assembling the salad spread a thread of honey over it and it gets that slight sweet honey flavor mixed with the yogurt, it’s mouth-watering.

What I give to you is a great base, many things can be added to it, poached chicken, shredded meat or a boiled egg or a fried fish, lettuce can be added to increase the green, a bit of sprouts will be exciting in this salad, so it is up to you what you feel like adding, experiment with it, in the meantime I will take you to the recipe.

For The Recipe: You will need

Serves - 2

For the Salad:

Pomegranate- ½ medium, cut into chunks n seeded

Yogurt- 3 heaped tbsp, whisked till smooth

Honey- 1 tbsp

Potato chunks- made from 2 medium potatoes

Baby Gherkins- 4/5, sliced lengthwise or in rounds

The brine in which the gherkins are stored- ½ tbsp

Rocket leaves- 2 medium bunches, washed n trimmed

Cucumber- ½ medium, peeled or unpeeled n cut into rounds of 1 cm thickness

Pistachio- 12/14, slightly roasted n crushed

White bread/ sourdough bread- 1 slice, roasted or pan fried to make crouton

Black pepper- to taste

Salt- to taste

Pink rock salt – 2 pinches

For the Crispy Potato Chunks:

Potato- 2 medium, washed well

Rosemary- ¼ tbsp, dry

Nigella/kalonji seeds-1/4 tsp

Red chili powder- ¼ tbsp

Garlic- 1 medium clove, made into a paste

Sugar- a pinch

salt-to taste

Soy sauce- ½ tsp

Red onion- sliced lengthwise into thick strips

Vegetable oil- 1 tbsp

Pre-heat your oven to 180 Celsius /356 Fahrenheit

1. Put the potatoes on a board and with a small knife put incisions all over them, then place them in water in a deep bowl with their skin on and place it on medium heat, in about 10-12 minutes the potatoes will be half done, soft but rigid, it will take 10/12/ 14 minutes for that,  given that you begin with cold water, so keep an eye, when they are half done, remove from heat and drain the water and place them in cold water, when you can handle them cut them in ¼ inch chunks.

In the roasting pan place the minced garlic with all the other ingredients except the onion and mix well, then coat the potato chunks with this mixture well, place them in the oven for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes turn the potato chunks on the other side with a fork and add the onions, then give another 20 /25 minutes until the chunks becomes crispy. Take them off the oven and let it cool.

2. Take the white bread and coat it a little oil lightly on both sides, then place on a frying pan and keep on a low heat for 8/10 min, flip it over through half the time, you want it to be medium brown n crispy on the outside. When done cut it into rectangles with a sharp knife. Alternatively you can crisp up the bread in the oven at 180 with a tbsp of oil to coat them or skip the oil completely, they will take about 10 minutes, keep an eye on them.

3. In a mixing bowl place the rocket leaves, cucumber slices, the gherkins, half of the chunky potatoes with the onion slices, the pomegranate seeds, then whisk the yogurt with honey and the brine until smooth, add to the ingredients in the bowl and coat with the yogurt, then add salt, rock salt n black pepper, after that scatter the roasted n crushed pistachios all over and then the croutons and rest half of the potatoes and serve immediately, if you are serving it later, don’t add the croutons n rest half of the potatoes n the pistachios, they will get soggy, add when you are ready to eat.

You are done and now it is time to taste, n it is going to be an explosion of flavors in your mouth, its bold n its addictive, I love the moment when the pomegranate jewels burst in each bite, so very delicious, share it with your loved ones, pack yourself this as lunch for work or afternoon snacks and modify as you wish. Bon Appétit.

The Beginning of Summer Salad in Thai-Italian flavors

Grilled Chicken N Pasta Salad with White pea sprouts, Cherry tomatoes, Green Papaya, Lemon grass, Green mango, Cashew nut and three herbs in Lime vinaigrette- Thai-Italian Salad

It is spring now n and I’m back home to see the summer approaching, in the last 2 months the earth has traveled around 250 million kilometers through deep space, coming close to the sun n warming up the soil, melting the ice in the northern hemisphere, bringing the season of transition-the spring. And the mango trees reflect that story, I see the mango trees have blossomed, producing tiny little green dots which will turn into delicious mangoes in the coming 4 months and I smell summer. Here in Kolkata spring is short lived, it didn’t get much cold this year, spring is soon melting into summer and it’s time for the new produce-mangoes are only one of them. 

I am a person who loves salads, so this week I translated this salad in my plate as it was hanging in my mind, it has bold flavors of Thailand mixing with Italian Pasta, making a brand new palate of flavors in my mouth. The salad brings together the flavors of grilled chicken, cherry tomatoes, basil, flat-leaf parsley, coriander leaves, lemon grass, red chili, garlic, lime, red onion, cashew nuts, sprouted white peas- so many ingredients together and it is a healthy plate filled with amazing bites.

The good thing about eating salads is the freshness and the different little taste explosions on the tongue at every single bite which is so much fun…unity in diversity! Did I say that right? Ha-ha. One important thing before making salads is washing some of the leafy greens well under running water, washing away the dirt, because we are eating it raw it is good to take extra care of washing the vegetables.

Fresh lime provides the citrus notes in this salad, so in the vinaigrette I used lime with extra virgin olive oil, if you have lemon use that, you can also replace the olive oil with flavorless oil like soybean oil. The green mango is sour and it gives us that sour fresh bite with that amazing mango flavor, you know what goes really well with green mango, pink rock salt! As for the cashew nuts they add that subtle sweetness in the bites, if you want to add peanuts or almonds-go for it.

The grilled chicken has simple flavors in it, I marinated the chicken breast with garlic, ginger, red chili, yogurt with turmeric n cumin powder and that’s all, one hour is good enough for the marinating, then simple grill them in the oven.

The green papaya adds a very subtle touch to the salad, it is finely shredded, then lightly pounded in the mortar n pestle with the garlic n red chili just to slightly bruise it, it reminds me of the Thai green papaya salad, I would say if you have fish sauce in your pantry, try adding a little bit of that in the salad, though I didn’t do it but you can always.

The salad has three herbs in it-the coriander leaves, the basil and the flat-leaf parsley, and they bring a whole new fresh dimension to this salad, I have used more basil and coriander than parsley.

So now I will take you to the recipe so you can make it.

For The Recipe: You will need

For the Grilled Chicken:

Chicken breast- 1 about 250 gm, boneless and cut into strips about 4 inches long, 1 ½ inch thick

Yogurt- 2 tbsp

Turmeric- ½ tsp

Cumin powder- ½ tsp

Ginger- ½ inch, grated

Garlic- 1 medium clove, grated

Red Chili- 1, cut into thin slices

Salt

Oil-1 tbsp

Butter- for basting

Sugar- a pinch

For the Salad:

Grilled chicken- from above

Red onion – 1, sliced

Cherry tomato- 100 gm, halved

Pasta fusili/ penne/ macaroni/gomiti rigati- 50 gm

Basil- 2 tbsp, chopped or torn by hands

Coriander leaves- 3 tbsp, finely chopped

Flat-leaf parsley- 1 tbsp, chopped

Lemon grass- 2 stalks, inner core cut into 1 inch pieces

White pea sprouts- 50 gm

Red chili- 2, thinly sliced

Green mango- 1 small or ½ medium, peeled and thinly sliced

Green papaya- 1/8 of a medium papaya, thinly shredded

Cashew nuts- 4 tbsp, lightly toasted

Vinaigrette:

Lime juice- 2 tbsp

Extra virgin olive oil- 4 tbsp

Red chili-1/2 chili

Garlic- 2 cloves

Black pepper- to taste

Salt

Pink rock salt 

1. Begin by marinating the chicken strips with grated garlic, grated ginger, sliced red chili mixed with yogurt and cumin and turmeric powder, salt n a pinch of sugar and give it at least 30 min to an hour. Then put your oven on the highest temperature and place the pieces on the grill and give them about 12-15 minutes, baste them with butter once in between, as soon as the chicken gets a slight charred color get them out, otherwise they will go dry.

2. Peel the papaya, then with a sharp Chinese chopper or a big knife give vertical firm strokes on the flesh holding the papaya in your hand or to be safe keep it on a platform and do it, make sure the knife goes a little inside with every stroke and give strokes as closely as possible, you are stroking along the length of the papaya, then rotate the knife at 90 degrees and shave off lightly from the stroked surface of the papaya n you will see fine shreds coming out.

3. Put a frying pan on medium heat, add the cashew nuts and toast them until they get lightly browned which will take about 5 min.

4. Put the water to boil, when it comes to boil add enough salt to make it quite salty, then add the pasta and cook it until it is done, Al Dante if you like it or until they are just soft, drain n set aside.

5. In a big wooden/metal mortar n pestle crush the garlic clove and the red chili together, when they are well bruised add the lemon grass and pound it until it becomes flattened n released its flavor. After that add the shredded papaya and pound them lightly with one hand and turning the mixture over from the bottom with a spoon on another hand, pound until some of the papaya is bruised, then add the lime juice, thin mango slices and bruise again, then add the salt, black pepper, pink rock salt and the oil and give it a good mix.

6. In a big bowl add the sprouted white peas, then the red onion slices, the cherry tomatoes, the herbs, the pasta, the grilled chicken pieces and then add the whole mixture from the mortar onto them and mix well with your hands, season with salt if needed and add an extra pinch of pink rock salt, lastly add the roasted cashew nuts on top and another sprinkling of black pepper. It is now ready for the plates.

Great you made it; plunge a fork and go for the biggest possible bite without choking….now tell me isn’t it something so refreshing and something brand new. I felt the same and as it is so healthy and great balance of protein, carb n fat,  you should include salads like this more often in your diet, share it with people who love salad and who loves trying brand new food. Till then I will say bon appétit.