Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

I've had a box of rice noodles lying around in the kitchen cupboard for quite some time now. They have been unopened because I couldn't think of a good recipe for them. I did not want to make a regular stir-fried Thai noodle dish from them. So I kept thinking, and these noodles have been lying around in the kitchen cupboard for some time.

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

A few days back, I heard them call out to me... they were desperate to see the light of the day! And so I decided I had to make something out of them soon. Even if it is as simple as a salad. That's it! Why not try a salad out of them? And the salad had to be Thai-style salad that would go with the noodles.

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

I have made the dressing of the salad in the philosophy of Thai cuisine. It has a delicate balance of sour, salty, sweet and pungent tastes that Thai cuisine is so famous for. Another interesting aspect of the salad is the jugalbandi of the textures of the noodles (softness) and the cabbage (crunchiness).

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

This salad can be had as a side dish with some Asian-style grilled meats or by itself as a meal. I like pairing it with some soothing jasmine green tea that adds an interesting floral note to the meal.

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

Spicy Thai Rice Noodle Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Making Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

For the Salad:

50 gms 3mm thick rice noodles
500 ml water
50 gms green cabbage shredded
10-15 fresh corriander leaves
6-7 Thai basil leaves (optional)

For the Dressing:

1 tsp peanut/ sesame oil
2 tsps soya sauce
2 tsps white vinegar
3 cloves of garlic chopped
3 Thai red bird's eye chilly (or 1 fresh regular red chilly ) sliced
1 1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste

Method:

First mix together all the dressing ingredients. Stir well till the sugar dissolves... a fork is very helpful in doing this!

Put in the refrigerator for 15 minutes to let the garlic and red chilly's flavours infuse into the dressing.

Bring the water to a boil. Lower the flame and put in the rice noodles for 2 minutes in the boiling water. Drain and rinse the noodles under cold water. Let them cool.

In a bowl, mix the shredded cabbage, the noodles, the corriander and Thai basil leaves.

Pour the dressing over it. Mix well with your hands till the dressing coats the noodles evenly.

Serve with some jasmine green tea.
  

Thai Raw Mango Salad Recipe

The first time I had this salad was in Singapore. We were having lunch at my husband's best friend's favourite place to have Thai food in a local food court. (Side note: If you're in Singapore and want to try South East Asian cuisines, local food courts are the best way to do it!). We had a feast that day of Thai dishes I'd never even heard of in India. This was one of them. And of course, because of my love for raw mangoes and Thai flavours, it instantly became a favourite.

Thai Raw Mango Salad Recipe

This salad is a burst of flavours in your mouth. It has fruity sourness from the mango, saltiness from soya sauce, pungency from chilly flakes, spice from the garlic and spring onions and sweetness from sugar. It covers the balance of tastes and freshness of ingredients that lie at the core of Thai cuisine.

Thai Raw Mango Salad Recipe

 This salad makes for a great side dish to any Asian meal.You can serve it at barbecues too for an extra zing!


Thai Raw Mango Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Assembly Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Salad

2 medium sized raw mangoes
2 spring onions
1/4th cup roasted peanuts
2 tbsps finely chopped corriander leaves

For the Dressing

2 tsps fish sauce or dark soya sauce
1 tsps lemon juice
1 bird's eye chilly finely chopped or 1 tsp chilli flakes
2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
2 tbsps sugar

Salt if needed

Method

Wash the mangoes well and julienne them. A large-sized grater works well for this. Thinly slice the spring onions and mix them with the mango. Deskin the roasted peanuts and break them roughly with your hands. Add this in to the salad mix.

Whisk together the dressing ingredients. Pour over the salad. Mix it in well with your hands, crushing a little to bring out the flavours. Taste and add more sugar if the mangoes are very sour.

Serve immediately.

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad Recipe

I'm back from the land of tikkhat (pungent) shev bhaji, smoky flavoured bharit (roasted brinjal mash), and sweet creamy badam shake. I've been to Jalgaon for a long weekend to meet my brother who has moved there 2 months ago for his job. And like always, I've associated the place with it's food.

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

 Before I left for the trip, I came up with this lovely salad recipe. A refreshing Lebanese style chickpea salad. It can be put together quickly and makes for a good mains or even a starter.

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

The smooth creaminess of the yoghurt plays well with the sharp flavour from the garlic. Added to this are the hints of nuttiness from the tahini paste that surprise your tastebuds and comfort them!

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad

Lebanese Style Chickpea Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 8 hours (soaking time for chickpeas)

Cooking Time: 25 minutes (for pressure cooking the chickpeas and cooling them)

Assembly Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the salad

2 cups white chickpeas (kabuli chana/ chhole chana) soaked overnight
4 cups water (for cooking the chickpeas)
2 medium sized onions finely chopped

For the dressing

4 tbsps yoghurt/ curd
2 tbsps tahini paste (recipe here)
4 cloves of garlic
Salt to taste

Method

Pressure cook the chickpeas with the water and some salt till they're done. It takes about 15 minutes.

In a blender, blend together the yoghurt (you don't need to hang it, the tahini paste thickens it enough), the garlic cloves and the salt to make the dressing.

Drain the excess water from the chickpeas and let them cool a bit.

Mix the chickpeas and the onions in the salad bowl.

Add in the dressing and let it coat the salad well. It helps to use your hands and fingers for this!

Serve fresh. I have garnished it with a few slices of pickled jalapenos. You can garnish with corriander leaves or flat parsley leaves.

Spiced Lettuce Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad Recipe

I am my biggest critic.

The End Result of the Salad

So when something I've made gives me this result at the end, I am the happiest!

Now let me show you what was at the beginning of this...

Spiced Lettuce Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad

Surprised? Yes! It was a salad!

Spiced Lettuce Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad

With less than 4 months to my wedding, weekend invitations for lunches and dinners from our extended family have started pouring in. So after some wonderful lunches that are quite filling, I crave for lighter meals in the week. A light and filling meal that I always turn to are salads, especially lettuce based ones. So here's a recipe I recently tried of a Spiced Lettuce Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad.

Spiced Lettuce Cherry Tomato and Olive Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Assembly Time: 5 mins

Total Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients

For the salad

15-20 iceberg lettuce leaves separated from the bunch
10 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
2 tbsps olive slices

For the dressing

1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
Salt to taste

1 tbsp Mayonnaise (eggless)
1 tbsp whole grain mustard sauce

For serving

1 tsp grated parmesan cheese (optional)

Method

Wash the lettuce leaves thoroughly. Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice and soak iceburg lettuce leaves in it for 10 minutes to make them crispy. Remove the leaves from water and pat dry.

In a salad bowl put in the refreshed iceberg lettuce leaves, the cherry tomato halves and the olive slices.

In another bowl, mix together the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lemon juice and the salt and stir well with a fork. Add the dressing to the salad and toss well.

Put the mayo and the mustard in small dollops on the salad such that it can be mixed with it while eating.

Sprinkled grated parmesan cheese and serve fresh!

Three Step Broccoli Salad Recipe

I recently appeared for the final exams of my Masters course... and like all exam times I ended up having a very hectic schedule everyday. This schedule left me no time for making elaborate lunches and dinners. And rather than rely on preservative-laden instant foods or heavily oily and spicy restaurant food, I prefer to make quick meals of soups and salads. One such recipe I 'came up' with during these exams (when I was supposed to be focussed on studying) was this quick broccoli salad.

Three Step Broccoli Salad

The three-step broccoli salad can be made in 5 minutes and is light, filling and tasty. In this salad, the typical pungent and astringent flavour of broccoli combines well with the sweet, spicy and sour Thai Sweet Chilli sauce based dressing. 

Three Step Broccoli Salad Up Close

This salad can be had by itself for a light yet filling summer meal. It can also be had as a side-dish with a meal of Thai Red Curry or Thai Green Curry and steamed rice. Here's how you can enjoy this salad at your home:

Three Step Broccoli Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 8 minutes

Assembly Time: 2 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 cups broccoli florets

3 cups water

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

A pinch of salt

For the dressing

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tbsps Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce

Method

Step 1: Bring the water to a boil in a sauce pan with a pinch of salt. Add broccoli florets for two minutes. Drain and run under cold water. 

Step 2: Mix together the lemon juice and the Thai Sweet Chilly Sauce.

Step 3: Pour the dressing over the florets and garnish with sesame seeds.

And voila! Your salad is ready to eat! 

Waldorf Salad Recipe

Waldorf salad: an American classic that has been accepted very well and relished by the world. The salad is so named as it was first created in 1893 by the maitre d'hotel of the Waldorf hotel (currently Waldorf-Astoria hotel). 

It was a loved one's birthday very recently and I wanted to make something new, interesting, delicious and yet simple for the occassion. I was thinking of and chalking down ideas when I remembered that Waldorf salad is a particular favourite of this person; rather it is one of the very few salads they eat. Since it is the first time I had bought celery, I thought what better than this salad's surprise. 

Fresh and Crunchy Waldorf Salad

I had a trial run of half a bowl of this salad at around 8 p.m a day before, and it turned out okay-ish, so I put some back in the refrigerator, wondering what the hoopla about it really is! Since I had nothing to show for my efforts and I was still thinking about what to make, I couldn't sleep. So at night at around 11:00 a.m., I went back, took out the salad from the refrigerator and tasted it again to try and make some sense of it... and it was perfect then! The simple thing was to refrigerate it before serving because it makes the salad really crunchy and delicious to eat!

Waldorf Salad

And with this great salad served on fresh lettuce, I could say a very interesting and lovely Happy Birthday!

Crunchy Waldorf Salad Served on Fresh Lettuce

Waldorf Salad Recipe

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Refrigeration Time: 1 hour

Total Time:  1 hour 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

For the Salad

1 red apple chopped into 1/4 inch cubes

2 stalks celery finely chopped

10-15 walnuts roughly chopped

For the Dressing

2 tbsps mayonnaise 

1/2 tsp lemon juice

For Serving

4 fresh iceberg lettuce leaves

Method

Combine the chopped red apples, the chopped celery and the walnuts.

Mix well the mayonnaise and lemon juice for the dressing.

Add the dressing to the salad ingredients and toss well so that the dressing coats the salad well. You can mix and add more of the dressing if you wish.

Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Around 15 minutes before taking the salad out from the refrigerator to serve, take a large bowl of ice cold water. Dip the iceberg lettuce leaves in it. Arrange them in a bowl and serve the cold salad on top.

Enjoy it cold and crunchy! 

Asian Style Salad

I am in my salad phase. With exams around the corner and having to study for them, I do not have much time to go to the kitchen and cook elaborate meals. So I prefer making dishes that are quick and filling. And salads are a no-brainer for that. This Asian Style Salad has a balance of flavours of tangy, sweet, salty and punjent. For all tea lovers, it goes really well with lightly brewed green jasmine tea.

Asian Style Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds

Asian Style Salad

Ingredients

For the Salad

100 grams cabbage
50 grams carrot
2 spring onions
10-15 fresh corriander leaves

For the Dressing

1 1/2 tsps sesame oil
1 1/2 tsps soya sauce
1 1/2 tsps white vinegar
1 tsp chilly flakes/ finely chopped fresh red chilly
1 tsp honey
Salt to taste

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Method

Finely shred the cabbage. Julienne the carrots. Finely slice the spring onions. Mix them together in a bowl with the corriander leaves.

To make the dressing stir in the soya sauce, honey and vinegar into the sesame oil. Add the chillies and salt to taste. Pour over the salad, mix well with your hands.

Serve fresh and crunchy as is or topped with the toasted sesame seeds.

Asian Style Salad

Cheat's Kimchi Salad

I have a confession... this is not the original kimchi salad recipe nor does it claim to be authentic. The original Kimchi salad is had with every meal in Korean households. Korean kimchi salad is traditionally made of cabbage, raddish or cucumbers with ingredients such as chilly sauce, fish sauce etc. It is a fermented salad that is usually fermented for 2 or 3 days and can be sometimes fermented for months. I neither ferment it nor use fish sauce or other such condiments as I have never really tasted them and am weary of their flavours.

Then why do I call it a kimchi salad? It is simply because of the way it tastes vis-a-vis the ones I have had at good restaurants in India. Of course, as we all know, all restaurant recipes are guarded as diligently as national secrets. So the best I could do is to try and construct it back based on what I can taste commonly across these recipes. Also, I have used shortcut ingredients, because they have a good flavour and just work great at times.

This salad  has the crunch and freshness of the cabbage, piquancy and tangy flavour of the sauces and a slight nutty flavour from the toasted sesame seeds on top. With its spiciness and tanginess it is a family favourite at our household!

Piquant and Tangy Cheat's Kimchi Salad

Cheat's Kimchi Salad

Ingredients

1 small cabbage cut into 1 inch square slices
1 tbsp Schezwan sauce/ chutney
2 tbsps tomato ketchup
1 tbsp sesame seeds
Salt to taste

Method

Take the cabbage slices in a large bowl. Add in the schezwan sauce/ chutney (I prefer the chutney), the salt and the tomato ketchup and toss them well. The sauces should evenly coat the cabbage slices throughout. Refrigerate for about 15-20 minutes so that the flavours seep into the cabbage well.

Toast the sesame seeds on a low flame for about 2 minutes till they release a nutty aroma. Cool for another 5 minutes. Garnish the salad with the toasted sesame seeds and serve!

Cheat's Kimchi Salad Up Close!

Italian Style Tomato and Mozzarella Cheese Salad

A fresh salad simple salad that is best suited for an Italian countryside. Think of summery green fields, sunflowers, hillsides, a small cottage, farmers in the noonday sun and this fresh salad just completes the picture.

Tomato and Mozzarella Cheese Salad

For the salad

4-5 medium sized tomatoes diced
50 gms mozzarella cheese diced
10-12 black olives pitted and sliced

For the dressing

2 tbsps olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves chopped
2-3 basil leaves chopped
Salt to taste

Arrange the diced tomatoes, diced cheese and the olive slices on a plate. Mix the oil, garlic, basil and salt to make a dressing and pour it evenly over the salad. Refrigerate for 10-15 mins and serve chilled.

Thai Style Red Cabbage Salad with Mint

Salads are healthy and filling but the real reason I eat them are because they are tasty and easy to make! I am not lazy when it comes to cooking but its great once in a while to take time off and just chop some stuff up add a dressing and just enjoy the meal. Salads to me are also a great way to play around with textures and minimal flavours and make it really fun to experiment with!

This is again a recipe I found online but I have adapted it to the ingredients commonly found in an Indian vegetarian kitchen except the red cabbage which however is easily found nowadays at your local vegetable vendor!

Thai Style Red Cabbage Salad with Mint

For the salad

1 small red cabbage shredded
1/2 medium sized green cabbage shredded
1/4 cup mint leaves shredded
1/2 cup spring onion greens chopped
1/2 cup roasted peanuts broken down coarsely by hand

Contrasting purples

For the dressing

2 tbsps olive oil
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tbsp sugar
1-2 tsps chilli flakes (depending on how spicy you like it)
Salt to taste

Mix all the salad vegetables, pour the dressing and then add the peanuts last to preserve their crunch. Refrigerate for some time (about 20-30 minutes) before serving.

The photo Contrasting Purples is for The Colour Me Photography Challenge Series

Corn Chaat

We Indians can 'chaat' anything up: fruits, vegetables, pulses.... name it and we're ready with our handy lemon, chaat masala, chilly et al to spice up the most boring of things! I tried this chaat recipe shared by a colleague of my sister and it turned out yummy!

Corn Chaat

Ingredients

1 cup boiled American corn
1 medium sized onion chopped
1 medium sized tomato chopped
2 tbsps lemon juice
1 tsp chaat masala
1/2 tsp amchur (dried mango) powder
1/2 tsp rock salt
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp pepper
 Salt to taste

Chopped corriander to garnish

Mix up all the ingredients well in a bowl. Garnish with the chopped corriander and serve.

Note: You can substitute the corn with cooked pulses like brown or green chana or sprouts and it will be just as yummy!