I love salads more than burgers. Yes you heard it right! I think, taste always take a backseat when health is on mind. I am always on my on trip to make my own versions of salad every now and then. It gives me immense sense of satisfaction to quickly make my own bowl of salad when I want to go a little light on my dinner. Here I bring you some of my favorite salad recipes.
Chickpea salad
In a bowl, toss cooked chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, bell pepper, carrots and season it with olive oil, garlic (minced), tahini sauce, lemon, honey, black pepper, salt. Canned chickpeas are a good ready to use option; however if using uncooked version, cook it in a cooker for 5-10 mins.
Spaghetti salad
Cook spaghetti as per instructions. In a plate, add chopped spinach, bell pepper, tomatoes, corns, spaghetti and season it with olive oil, Italian seasoning (oregano, thyme, parsley), parmesan cheese, salad dressing ( I used Kraft Thousand Island) lemon juice, salt, black pepper.
Quinoa salad
Cook quinoa for 10 mins or as per instructions. In a bowl, toss your veggies bell pepper, corns, lettuce, carrots, salt, green chili and into it add cooked quinoa. Quinoa is a superfood, however it’s rich in its carb content. Just need to watch the quantity if you don’t want to consume too much of carb.
Mexican salad bowl
In a bowl take cooked (or canned) beans, greens (lettuce, cucumber, bellpepper, avocados, cabbage), corns, tomato onion salsa and season with myonnaise, ranch seasoning mix, taco seasoning, lemon and salt.
For salsa: Finely chop onions, tomatoes, garlic, pepper, red chilli powder, lemon, cilantro, and salt. You can also coarsely grind all the ingrediends in a grinder.
Cajun spice corn salad
Take corns, cucumber, onion, tomatoes in a bowl. Since it is a corn salad, take half the quantity of corns and rest of the ingredients half of it. In another bowl mix together myonnaise, cajun spice and greek yogurt and season your salad with it. You can also add sour cream instead of greek yogurt.
Note: Since store bought cajun spice has a blend of other spices along with salt, you don’t need to add salt in the seasoning mix.
Classic Garden salad
In a bowl, toss lettuce, spinach, cherry tomatoes, carrots, bell-pepper, cheddar cheese, and season it with olive oil, parmesan cheese, lemon juice, Italian seasoning, salt, black pepper. Add croutons. You can buy croutons from store or make your own batch.
Mom's Diary 