Baby Spinach and Strawberry Salad with Balsamic/Honey Vinaigrette

Recently, i came across this recipe on Fight the Fat Foodie and i just had to give it a try. The fact that i had most of the things needed for the recipe with me kinda helped. I just loved this, had i not seen this recipe there, i wouldn't even have thought a combination like this was going to taste this good. A special thanks to Scott for posting this recipe...:D

The recipe called for minced Shallot...which i didn't add...I made enough just for 2 people and i added Bread Bites that we get in retails shops here to get an extra crunch...so my version of this recipe is little less healthy i guess...:)

A pic of the Twistos-Bread Bites that i used in this salad is given here....the link will give you the Calories in these :(...but it does not put me off....you see it tastes really nice...:D


Ingredients:

1. Baby Spinach: 200gms
2. Strawberries: 100gms (sliced)
3. Olive Oil: 2tbsp (extra virgin -if possible)
4. Balsamic Vinegar: 2tbsp
5. Garlic: 1 clove (minced)
6. Honey: 1 tbsp
7. Twistos- Bread Bites: 1/2 cup (optional)

Method:

Step 1: To make the vinaigrette, combine balsamic, garlic and one of the strawberries (crushed).

Step 2: Slowly whisk in the oil.

Step 3: Combine spinach, strawberries and dressing, add the bread bites if you are using it n' serve immediately.

To get my husband to eat greens is a big task for me...but he loved this n' that just made this Salad even more special...definitely going to feature in my kitchen again......:)

p.s. this snap has also gotten accepted in tastespotting...still leaving me feeling i'm on top of the world...;)

I'm sending this post to the Serve me Some....Salads event hosted by Madhuri of Cook-curry Nook.

Spinach Salad with Alfalfa Sprouts and Feta Cheese

I posted some of the food pics on my facebook profile and i came across this snap i had taken a while back n' had forgotten to post it here...the recipe was downloaded....but i made a few changes n' omissions here n' there...the reason why i decided to give it a try was coz i had found this packet of Alfalfa Sprouts and wanted to make something with them....so here you go..

Ingredients:

1. Spinach: 450gms (cleaned and dried)...(i didn't have any when i wanted to make this so i used lettuce instead...)*
2. Alfalfa Sprouts: 1/2 cup
3. Feta Cheese:1/2 cup (crumbled)
4. Apple: 1no (sliced into matchsticks)

* i'm sorry i left the name of the dish as a spinach salad itself even though i didn't use it myself...the reason why i didn't change the name to a lettuce salad is cause i really think that this will taste even better with spinach than lettuce.

Dressing Ingredients:

1 Yogurt: 1/2 cup (low-fat)
2. Garlic: 2 tsp (minced)
3. Fresh Parsley: 1/2 cup (chopped)-(i added mint leaves instead)
4. Light Mayonnaise:3 tbsp
5. Dijon mustard:2 tsp
6. Fresh Basil: 1/4 cup chopped (didn't have any with me)
7. Orange Juice: of one orange
8. Salt and pepper to taste
9. Sunflower seeds: 3 tbsp (to garnish) (i added pomegranate seeds instead)

Method:

Dressing Instructions:
Step 1: In a medium sized bowl whisk all dressing ingredients together starting with the yogurt excluding sunflower or pomegranate seeds .

Step 2: Cover and let stand in the refrigerator for 1 – 2 hours to allow the flavour to develop.

Salad Instructions:
Step 1: In a large bowl toss the spinach together with dressing. Add the remaining ingredients (sprouts, feta cheese and apple) and top with Sunflower/ Pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately.

Spinach Cutlets- i didn't think so either!

I didn’t think I would ever make this….but what the hell….life is full of surprises…
Due to some health reasons I have been advised to take in a lot of iron and instead of taking iron tablets I decided to eat healthy. That led me to Spinach. I have never eaten or liked spinach…I don’t know why and I always associated a bitter taste to it. Again I don’t know why. I think it was aplenty at home n’ every other day during the rains, one could be assured of finding a ‘cheera thoran’ (Spinach & Coconut dry dish) on the table.

Anyways, I didn’t want to make that and wanted to try Spinach Cutlets instead. Was pleasantly surprised with the results! I followed the basic meat cutlet recipe. Here goes

Ingredients:

Spinach: 250gms (cleaned and finely chopped)
Onion: 2nos (finely chopped)
Potato: 1no (boiled, peeled and mashed)
Egg: 1no. (separate the yolk)
Ginger: ½ inch piece (grated)
Chili: 2nos (finely chopped)
Bread Crumbs: (as required)
Semolina: 1-2 tsp (Optional) - (mix with bread crumbs)
Oil: 2-3 tbsp (for shallow frying)
Salt: to taste
Garam Masala: 1 tsp
Chili Powder: ½ tsp
Meat Masala: ½ tsp (not required while making meat cutlets)
Black Pepper: 2-3nos ground (Optional) - (avoid this if you don’t like spicy food)

Method:

Step 1: Heat a wok adding little oil and add the ginger, chili and onion to it.

Step 2: Once the onion is golden, add garam masala, chili powder, meat masala and salt. Stir it till the masala is cooked and looses its raw taste.

Step 3: Add the beaten egg yolk to this at this stage. Stir until the egg is cooked.

Step 4: Add the chopped spinach to the above mixture and cook till tender. 3-4mins should be enough. Ensure there is no moisture retained in the mixture. Add the ground pepper at this stage. Keep it aside to cool down.

Step 5: Add mashed potato to this mixture and shape it into cutlets. You can refrigerate the cutlets for 20-30mins for the shape to set or use it right away.

Step 6: Coat the cutlets with beaten egg white and bread crumbs.

Step 7: Heat a non-stick pan, adding oil for frying and place 4-5 cutlets and shallow fry on both sides till brown. Serve hot.