Thursday 31 October 2013

Eerie Salad : Halloween Special !!!

Halloween is a very popular festival in west. It was not-so-popular in India until a couple of years back. Infact, just last year and this present year, i am seeing a lot of buzz in India about Halloween. Halloween theme parties, Halloween special costumes, Halloween celebrations with decorating home with fake cob webs and jack-o-lanterns, accessories... we have it all here in India now!!! In simple terms, Halloween is an occasion to remember the spirits.... Sounds eerie, sounds scary, doesn't it? Still people prefer watching horror movies, dressing in all sorts of "Scare-to-Death" costumes and wearing masks to get the thrill of it all ! For me, all i have seen about Halloween is in Hollywood movies and read about it in newspaper. 

This year Halloween and Diwali ( the biggest festival celebrated in India) fall together. So a long weekend and people have all the more reasons to party ! Halloween party calls for all sorts of dishes decorated or garnished, going by the theme. So i made this "Eerie" salad specially for this day! The main ingredient behind making it look "eerie" is "Beet-root"; yes, the red colour signifying "Blood".

This can be served as a starter-salad or along with main course or even serves as one complete meal, as it contains all the nutrients to give you a balanced meal. And it can even be eaten chilled. So, make it, refrigerate it, and serve when its needed !!And did i forgot to mention? Its very easy to make. You can add different types of dressings according to your likes. I made this from what i had in the kitchen and kept it simple.

Salads are a very healthy diet. I was not much of a fan of Salads, until now when i have started experimenting with food and making salads according to my taste and choice. The basic ingredients are always fresh fruits and vegetables but you can always make additions of corn, sprouts, mushrooms, mashed potatoes or whatever you can think of ! Salads really give an exercise to your brain of how innovative you can make it look and taste ! And every time the result is always something new :) Salads give us fiber, helps lower cholesterol level and also prevents constipation. The foremost - Salads help us lose weight !!! Yes, a healthy way to lose weight is by eating salads or adding salads to your meal everyday. Just a plain Green Salad also serves the purpose. So all-in-one advise " EAT SALADS !!!!"



Ingredients :

Apple - 1/2 chopped 
Orange - 1/2 ( chop the slices... each slice into 2 or 3 parts depending on the size of orange)
Green capsicum - 1/2 chopped ( i purposely didn't add red or yellow capsicum as i wanted the beetroot colour to come out prominently... Remember our theme is "Halloween" )
Beetroot - 1/2 (wash, peel the skin and grate )
Cucumber - 1/2 chopped
Oregano - to sprinkle
Pepper and Salt - to sprinkle according to taste ( preferably use black salt )
Red chilli flakes - sprinkle according to taste
Lemon zest and Orange zest - a few strands for tangy flavour ( optional)

Recipe  :

Mix everything together ( all the fruits and vegetables ) in a bowl. Sprinkle oregano, salt, pepper and chilli flakes. If you like tangy flavours, then only add the zest or else the salad tastes juicy and yummy otherwise too.
Zest is the outer hard cover of citrus fruits like lemon, lime, orange, sweet lime etc. Make sure when you grate it, don't use the white part ( the inside skin of the zest)... Grate it carefully, so that only the upper portion is grated. The white portion is normally bitter.

Happy Halloween and Happy Cooking :)

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