Category Archives: Salads

10Oct 2012

Going Raw: Day 2 & Day 3

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I have survived two days of my raw food diet, and seems like I would survive Day 3 (today) as well. (Fingers crossed).

Yesterday was a little difficult. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it was my friend’s daughter’s birthday. And she was serving pizza and cake AND beer! And for those of you wondering if I survived, well yes I did! I did feel a little weak by the end of the day- I think the shock of having cake in front of me and not eating it just did not sit well with my body. Today morning though I was fine. And fresh. And did 45 minutes of yoga with V. He does a different yoga than the one I am used to. I do P-90X yoga, while he does a lot of breathing exercises and of course a few asanas as well. I need to expand my lungs, so the breathing exercises were a good change.

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09Oct 2012

Going Raw: What I did for Day 1

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Today is Day 2 of my going Raw diet.

Somehow I survived Day 1. Although, watching television in the evening was painful. Every other advertisement on TV was a food one. A juicy burger between a sourdough bread and lots of close up shots- seriously painful to watch. And I never noticed how many shows have their scenes around food. People talking with chinese take out boxes, or sitting at the table to eat warm beans and grilled chicken with mashed potatoes. I knew that eating raw would make my senses more active, but I did not know that just one day of raw food would make me so much more observant to what’s happening on TV. I never noticed that food was such an integral part of the idiot box’s life. Raw Food Revelation 1!

Day 2 has been easier for now. But it’s going to get tougher in a few hours. My friend’s kid has her birthday today and my friend is having a small get together- the food on the menu- pizza and cake. No, this diet is not going to be as easy as last week when I was only on the gluten free, sugar free diet. At least my food was warm last week. It was cooked. And I could eat cheese. But this week none of that. Just raw fruits and vegetables and nuts.

Day 1 I started my day with some watermelon, soaked almonds, and a cup of this homemade almond milk that I am sharing today. I added some pistachios, saffron and crushed cardamom seeds.

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08Oct 2012

October Recipe Swap

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My first week of gluten free, sugar free diet was not as difficult as I thought it would be. I got to eat GF chickpea crepes lasagna, GF parantha made from ragi flour, tandoori chicken with zucchini noodles and a black bean corn tortilla casserole. ; But from today onwards I go raw for a week. I have been posting about my adventures in gluten free and sugar free cooking on my Facebook page and this week you will see how my Going Raw cleanse works out. Today I made homemade almond milk and had it with some crushed cardamom, saffron and pistachios. For lunch, I made a raw cauliflower “couscous” salad which was pretty good, although I have to admit I miss eating something warm and cooked. It’s just my first day and I have six more to go. This week is going to be difficult.

And posting pictures of this potato salad is not helping. Not helping at all!

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16Mar 2012

Home Alone making paranthas, salad & pizza and thinking of all things sweet & scary!

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So I am home alone for three nights.

V had to go for some office stuff to Texas, and I am left home alone.

This is the first time I am staying alone in our house. And I was very nervous about it. Our town is quite safe. So I was not scared of somebody breaking in (although, I made sure all my windows were closed and do not laugh, but I also put a chair/stool in front of the front and back doors. Just in case someone does decide to break in, I will be warned by the noise. Too much of CSI does that to you!)

Like I mentioned, I am not scared of someone breaking in (you are rolling your eyes, aren’t ya?), but all the horror movies I have seen have made me a little scared of the paranormal- ghosts to be more precise. So that you are sure, yes, I am an adult. But I have an overactive imagination. A very overactive imagination.

I remember after watching the movie The Ring , I slept with my lights on for a month, imagining the girl ghost in the movie standing next to my bed every time I switched off the lights off and then even when the image of the ghost left after a month, I continued sleeping with the lights on, thinking the ghost would get pissed off that I wasn’t sacred anymore, and would be tempted to scare me off.

Yes. Overactive. Imagination. Mine is.

So, how I always do when I am alone, the first night I slept with the lights in my room on. And with the TV on. And the bathroom lights on. And the hallway light on. And the living room light on. With the phone in my hand every time. I felt really bad that I was wasting so much electricity, but honestly I could not help it. This is how I slept last night as well. Today though, my protector, my husband, will be back home, and I should live in a world less scared of the evils it possesses. (I repeat- do not roll your eyes! or laugh! Please?)

Besides being scared at night, the other thing that was bothering me about being home alone for three days was the food situation. With V gone, I knew I would not feel like cooking for one. I knew I would be cooking Maggi noodles for lunch, dinner, and well, even breakfast. But, I did not want that. So, instead, as soon as V left I made it a point to pre-make things. I made the tomato feta pasta salad. I made the topping for the artichoke spinach pizza and also had the necessary leftovers for the chicken paranthas I had packed for V before he left. The maggi packets are left to be eaten some other week.

This post has no recipes. It has links to some of my previous recipes though. And all of them are good. Some are quite old, some not so much.

Chicken Paranthas

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06Feb 2012

February SRC: TSRI’s Tomato Feta Pasta Salad

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I am not used to posting recipes one day after the other. And that is why I should have drafted this post earlier. Especially since this month I was very good at managing my SRC recipe selection. For once I did not procrastinate till the last moment to try a recipe. But that’s the only thing I was good at it this month.

I thought I would have the weekend to complete the writing part of the post- as the making part had been taken care of. But on Saturday, we had a pre-Super Bowl party at home and I got busy with that. And on Sunday, half day was spent hungover and the rest watching the super bowl. I also managed to lose $10 to V, betting on the Patriots to win! I was not happy.

So, as always, even though the intitial planning was great, by the end I was left rushing through another SRC post.

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10Oct 2010

CAESAR SALAD

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I often wondered where did the name Caesar Salad come from. Was it named because Julius Caesar liked it? Well, duh, no! So I researched and here is some Caesar Salad trivia: the salad’s creation is attributed to Caesar Cardini (an Italian born Mexican- yes mexican!). He stumbled upon the idea to make this salad during July 4th celebrations, when most of his pantry emptied out and he had no choice but to make a salad with what was on hand. And, voila! Caesar Salad was born!

The salad is simple, quick to make and tasty to eat. The recipe I use is from a magazine I bought in India, published by Femina. All the recipes in that magazine have been great. The original recipe calls for mayonnaise but I use tartar sauce. I like the sharper flavor that tartar sauce adds. The original recipe also calls for anchovies, instead I add a few drops of worcestershire sauce. You can add grilled chicken as well, but I like to keep this salad vegetarian.

Unfortunately, I always forget to photograph the salad and by the time I realise, its all gobbled up!

CAESAR SALAD

DRESSING:

1 garlic flake, finely chopped

1 tbsp grated Parmesan

salt to taste

5 tbsp mayo (or tartar sauce)

1 tbsp white wine vinegar

Few drops of worcestershire sauce

FOR THE SALAD

1 head Romaine Lettuce

Croutons, about 1 1/2 cups

1 cup cherry tomatoes, optional

Shavings of Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS

Mix all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl. The consistency should be that of yogurt. Just before serving, in a salad bowl, add the lettuce, cherry tomatoes and croutons and drizzle the dressing on top. Using tongs, mix well together. The salad should be well coated. Top with shavings of the parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.