Mango Black Bean Salsa or Salad - refreshing nutrition

This is one of my favorite salads. It is refreshing in any season and is packed with all kinds of nutrition. It can be a meal in itself served over a bed of lettuce, or make a great filling for wraps and sandwiches. Want to be a bit naughty? Scoop it up with some tortilla chips and you have a fancy appetizer. Or serve it with some grilled tofu.

The mango is the star here and provides a heady sweet flavor. Use any ripe mangoes available. If you can get your hands on a ripe Alphonso or 'hapus', go for it. The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -

2 cans black beans
1 can sweet corn kernels
1 small red onion chopped
1 bunch scallions chopped
1 ripe mango chopped
1 green pepper or capsicum chopped
1 red or yellow pepper chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro or coriander

Dressing -

1/4 to 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper or pepper sauce like Tabasco
1 garlic clove grated or crushed
1 tsp sugar or honey
salt to taste

Method -

1) Rinse the black beans from the can to remove all canning liquid. You can also soak dry beans and pressure cook them. You will need about 3 cups cooked beans.
2) Rinse the corn or defrost it if you are using frozen corn.
3) Chop all vegetables and add to a bowl.
4) Mix the dressing in a small bowl and pour over the veggies and beans.
5) Refrigerate overnight or at least for 4-5 hours until flavors intensify.
6) Serve chilled

This is a great vegan dish that has no added fat. It is so colorful and high in flavor that you will never think you are eating anything 'healthy'. The beans and different veggies provide a wide variety of nutrients. This is an exotic alternative to your store brought salsa that is ready with very little effort.

Citrus corn and peas salad - Spring's here!

I know, I know! It's only January and Spring seems far away. But it can't be far behind. And this is a salad or side dish that is sure to perk you up even if there is a raging blizzard outside. It will taste best using fresh English peas and fresh corn on the cob, but you can get away with using frozen stuff too. The star ingredient here is probably the dressing, which is made with fresh squeezed orange juice. Curry powder adds a hint of spice and exotic flavor. This salad is fat free so you can indulge in it upto your heart's content.

The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -

2 cups green peas

2 cups corn kernels

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 orange juiced

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup orange segments or pulp

salt to taste

Method -

1) If you are using fresh peas or corn, you will need to blanch them first. Boil a pot of water and dunk the peas/corn in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2) Prepare the dressing - Squeeze the orange along with the pulp, mix in lemon/lime juice. Add the salt, pepper and curry powder and crushed garlic. Whisk this and add to the corn and peas.

3) Depending on how juicy your orange is, you may add more orange juice if needed. This salad gets tastier with time.

4) Refrigerate at least overnight for the flavors to develop. Serve as a side dish, or use as filling for sandwiches or wraps.

This is a healthy treat you can indulge in. The citrus dressing takes the ordinary corn and peas to a whole new level. If you love the orange element here, be sure to try my Orange couscous salad.

Chickpea and beet salad - Dressed in Pink for Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day to you all. If you read the title of this post and are wondering what kind of fashion disaster I am committing, rest assured. The pink here does not refer to the color of my attire, but my chickpea's costume or dress(ing). This weekend is always long awaited because it is a long time coming after the endless dreary winter, and denotes the beginning of summer to me. This day also reminds me that its been four years since I met a lot of my friends. Folks have moved on in various ways, most have crossed the big 3 mile marker and changed their tax statuses more than once. Time has also flung us over different corners of the globe, making it more difficult to plan any reunions. Which brings me to this quick and easy salad. Not that there is any connection here, just me reminiscing for a few minutes.

This is a pretty simple salad mostly thrown together out of things languishing in the fridge fast nearing extension. A bowl of boiled beets, a cup of boiled chickpeas, red pepper about to wilt, and son on...you get the idea. The dressing is simple - mostly splashed over everything in the pot, instead of any fancy emulsifying by whisks or blenders or in jars etc. I use a couple teaspoons of my favourite hot sauce and several dashes of Mrs.Dash Tomato and Basil. I truly love Mrs.Dash. I feel its copy 'Salt free, Falvour-full' does it full justice. I have tried a lot of these and they are sure to add some zing to all of your dishes without upping your sodium levels. I did not have any Mrs.Dash Lemon pepper blend on hand, otherwise I would have used it here.

Once everything is mixed together, it gets a uniform coating from the beet juice and its all cloaked in pink. Of course, there are the inevitable stains on my clothes too :o

This is my quick lunch as I continue reading old entries from NYtimes's Frugal Traveller blog/column which I stumbled upon today. I also keep looking at this pink salad and dream of SATC2, which sadly I haven't watched yet.

The recipe is as follows -

Ingredients -

1 can chickpeas or 1-2 cups boiled

2-3 boiled beets

one onion chopped

1/2 cup green peas

1 red pepper diced

Hot sauce to taste

2-3 tsp Mrs. Dash

splash of vinegar and EVOO

Method -

1) Assemble all ingredients in a bowl. Dice the red pepper and onion in bite sized pieces. Dice the beets in a medium dice so that they retain their shape. The more you cut them, the more 'juice' they will give away. Add half a cup of rinsed frozen peas for some green color. You can also add scallions, but I did not have any on hand.

2) Add the hot sauce, Mrs.Dash seasoning of choice and roughly one turn of the vingear and the extra virgin olive oil.

3) Season further with salt and pepper if desired.

4) Mix everything and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. As with any salad, the flavours will intensify after chilling and over time.

This can be eaten as a meal served over a bed of lettuce, or in a wrap if desired.