Peppery Corn Salad

When I visited India in march, I brought some cookbooks with me to UK. No...No..I didn't buy any. My mom-in-law gave me many recipe books she had for some years now, which no one was using much at home. And as you all know..being a food blogger, we love to collect recipe books, lots and lottttts of 'em :D the one book which I loved the most is a book which has traditional Kashmiri Wazwan cuisine. My father-in-law had got this book from Kashmir many years ago. It has all the authentic and traditional Kashmiri recipes. And the other book is Sanjeev Kapoor's- ' Recipes for Indian Kitchen' which is a set of 8 books. And I must say, I am loving these recipes and these books and thats what do in my spare time- go through each and every page of these books :) All thanks to my mom-in-law for these books...I have bumped into so many yummy and delicious recipes. So, watch out for more recipes from these books.

And thus, when I was going through Sanjeev kapoor's book 'Recipes for Indian Kitchen'-Soups and Salads , this colourful salad caught my attention first..I really wanted to give it a try and I am glad I did. This salad was just delectable. I loved the crunchiness of the peppers, the sweetness of the corn and pineapple, the soft and juicy tomatoes and a lil tartness from the lemon. It was totally a perfect and mouthwatering salad for me. I am sure everyone will fall in love with this salad at the very first sight.


PEPPERY CORN SALAD

Ingredients:
2 cups of corn kernels,
1 yellow capsicum,
2 green capsicums(bell peppers),4 slices of tinned pineapple,
3 tomatoes,
1 green chilli(optional),
1/4 bunch fresh mint-chopped,1 tbsp of peppercorns-crushed,
2 tbsp of lemon juice and
salt to taste.


Method:
De-seed the yellow bell pepper, green bell peppers and tomatoes and chop them neatly into small cubes. Boil the corn kernels if using fresh corn. Cut the pineapple slices into small cubes.
In a bowl, combine the bell pepper (both green and yellow), the chopped tomatoes, chopped pineapple, corn, chopped fresh mint and chopped green chillies. Mix well and add crushed peppercorns, lemon juice and salt to taste. Serve chilled.
Note: The corn kernels should be boiled, only if using fresh ones. if using the canned one, just strain the water and wash thoroughly.
Those who don't want to bite into those green chillies and completely skip it.I would say its better, coz one cannot find it easily between those green bell peppers and chances are that your tongue will be on fire, if you bite any pieces :)

Creamy Dilled Cucumber Salad

For this months Tried and Tested event, Kevin's Closet Cooking is chosen. He has an awesome blog with many yummy recipes from different parts of the world. I love the simplicity of his recipes and yeah..I have bookmarked many things from his blog to try this month. So, here comes the very easy Salad. For the original recipe refer here.
This is my first entry for Tried and Tested featuring this month Kevin's Closet Cooking and hosted by Hema of Salt to Taste.

CREAMY DILLED CUCUMBER SALAD

Ingredients:
1 cucumber-slices,
1 small red onion-sliced,
1/4 cup of sour cream,
1 tbsp lemon juice,
2 tbsp finely chopped dill leaves,
salt and pepper powder to taste.

Method:
Mix everything in a medium sized bowl and refrigerate for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Tabbouleh/ Parsley and cracked wheat salad

TABBOULEH

Ingredients:
4 cups finely chopped parsley,
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint,
4 firm tomatoes- De-seeded and chopped,
4 tbsp fine burghul/bulgur,
1 small onion-finely chopped,
1/2 cup lemon juice,
1/2 cup olive oil,
1/4 tsp black pepper powder,
1 tsp salt and
Romaine lettuce for garnishing.

Method:
In a small bowl, mix the chopped onion with salt and black pepper powder and keep aside.Rinse the the burgul and drain in a fine strainer to remove excess water and transfer into a large bowl.
Add the finely chopped parsley and finely chopped mint leaves to the bowl, add tomatoes, lemon juice, seasoned onions and olive oil. Season again to taste if necessery.
Place some lettuce leaves on a serving dish/ plate and transfer the salad to this serving dish.
Serve with barbecued meat/chicken or serve on its own :)

Source: From the book 'Middle eastern cookbook' by Maria Khalife

And Hurry!!! Another award from sweet Priyaraj of EnSamiyal and Babli of Khana Masala . They have given me this Scrumptious blog award. Thanks Priya and Babli.

It is the Scrumptious Blog Award -a blog award given to sites who:

Inspire you

Encourage you

May give Fabulous information

A great read

Has Scrumptious recipes

Any other reasons you can think of that make them Scrumptious!

The rules are:

Put the logo on your blog or post.

Nominate at least 7 blogs

Let them know that they have received this Scrumptious award by commenting on their blog.

Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award from.
I would like to nominate this award to my following blogger friends:

Ayesha of http://ayshadileen.blogspot.com/
Shab's of http://shabscuisine.blogspot.com/
Yasmeen of http://yasmeen-healthnut.blogspot.com/
Duchess of http://roseteacottage.blogspot.com/
Priyaprashanth of http://recipes-priya.blogspot.com/
Parita of http://paritaskitchen.blogspot.com/
Simran of http://foodiezone.blogspot.com/

Kindly accept this award and pass it to your friends.

Fattoush / Mixed vegetable salad

FATTOUSH
Fattoush is a Middle eastern salad made from mixed garden veggies fried / toasted pieces of pita bread. And this recipe is adapted from MIDDLE EASTERN COOKBOOK by Maria Khalife.

Ingredients:
2 small cucumbers-peeled and diced,
4 sliced radishes ,
2 medium tomatoes,
1/2 romaine lettuce,
4 spring onions-cut into small pieces,
1/2 cup chopped parsley,
3 tbsp chopped mint,
1 pitta bread,
1/2 chopped green pepper,
1 clove of garlic,
1/2 tsp salt,
1/3 cup lemon juice and
1/2 cup olive oil.

Method:
Usually the pitta bread is deep fried till brown and crisp, but as I wanted it to be on the healthier side, I toasted the pitta bread in the oven until brown and crispy. Break this toasted pitta bread into small pieces and keep aside. Shred the lettuce into small pieces. In a big bowl, mix in the cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes, radishes, spring onion, pepper, parsley and mint.
Make the dressing by crushing the garlic in a small bowl with the salt. Stir in the lemon juice and olive oil. Drizzle this dressing over the salad just beforee serving oil and also add the toasted pitta bread and toss well. Serve.

Tips:Usually sumac is also added to fattoush. But I had to skip it because I didn't have it :(

Domates salatasi / Tomato salad

I always make sure to bring home some recipe books from the library every time I go there. Last week I saw this book with wonderful Turkish recipes and brought it home to try them. This is the first recipe I tried from the book, because this was the easiest of then all ;-)
This is a Turkish Salad. This accompanies most Turkish meals, particularly in summer, when tomatoes are at their best. This recipe is adapted from the book ''TURKISH COOKING'' by Tess Mallos . Here is what you need.

Ingredients :
4 medium sized tomatoes,
1 cucumber,
1/2 cup black olives-drained,
1 tbsp white vinegar,
1/4 cup lemon juice,
1/2 cup olive oil,
1 tsp freshly chopped mint,
1 tbsp finely chopped Italian parsley,
1/2 tsp black pepper powder,
1/4 tsp salt and
few parsley sprigs for garnishing.

Method :
Thinly slice the tomatoes and arrange in two rows on an oval/ round platter. Peel the cucumbers and score with tines of a fork. Thinly slice the cucumbers and arrange on one side of the tomatoes. Cover and refrigerate until required.
Beat together lemon juice, vinegar, oil, chopped mint and parsley, salt and pepper.
Just before serving over the tomatoes and cucumbers and place olives on the other side of the tomatoes and garnish the platter with parsley sprigs .