Salad Splurge: Broccoli on a Tropical Trip

There’s a food for every season and if left to the Tadka girls, more than enough seasonings for every food, if you just took a second look in your pantry and stared long enough into the depths of your refrigerator trays. In the summer, with the voluptuousness of gardens and markets all around..and the sheer crispness of greens, herbs and the motley of colorful vegetables, the joys of cooking become naturally aggrandized with a slew of salad selections. The word salad, ofcourse, comes from the Latin term for salt, sal. Taking the word of food historians, the first salads, apparently, were merely shreds of greens and vegetables dressed with salt, oil, possibly vinegar and herbs. But today salads have come to mean much more, they are full of all manner of proteins and produce and exude the spirit of healthfulness and youthfulness.

Today, you can go from green leafy side salads to a platter of deftly chopped vegetables..right upto protein-rich mishmashes of legume, chicken, and egg paired with the green stuff that best complements them. Similarly, you could work your way up from simple, citrus and fruity oil-based dressings to richer, creamier and spiced up ones, depending on the mood ascribed by the sun, or the air around you. You could conscientiously toss up a meat-and-potatoes house special for the salad fanatics at your backyard party, holding court as the salad perfectionist, humming your fatiguer la salade motto in a sotto voce, or you could crank up the volume on a chipper Mudgal raag that flatters a sudden downpour, and work up a bowl of festive salad, replete with the motifs and textures that evoke fanfare. No matter how you do it, a salad has the power to enliven you with its earthy, tangy, peppery, or minty flavors. With a salad at your table, dearies, you can bring to your guests an entire garden, and a season, in a bowl.

Our first offering in this Salad Splurge special is a Tropical Broccoli Salad to help you cool off without having to give up the heat and spice this summer.

Tropical Broccoli Salad

(Serves 2-3)

3 Cups broccoli florets

¼ Cup canned pineapple chunks, drained

2 Tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

2 Tablespoons golden raisins

2 Tablespoons roasted cashews, chopped

Dressing -

¼ Cup light sour cream or hung curd

¼ Teaspoon garlic-green chilli paste (1 tiny garlic clove and 1 Thai or other hot chilli, de-seeded and smashed to a paste)

½ Teaspoon sugar

¼ Teaspoon salt or to taste

¼ Teaspoon each black pepper and cumin powder

Whisk together all the ingredients for the dressing and refrigerate while you prepare the salad fixings. Mix the broccoli, pineapple, onions and raisins together gently, cover and chill if possible, and then toss with the cold dressing. Transfer to a serving bowl and top with the cashews.

Note:

Blanch the florets if desired in a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain and shock in a bowl of ice and water to help retain the color and crunch.

Our salad is taking side-trips to -

• Healthy Lunchbox Ideas
• Friday Potluck
• My Meatless Mondays
• Melt in Your Mouth Mondays
• Mangia Mondays
• This Week’s Cravings

          

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