We are midway into March and the mercury is already showing uncomfortable upward trends. With summer almost on us, it becomes imperative that we eat right. That means less masalas and lots of vegetables and salads. For India’s climate, salads, in fact should form a large part of our summer diet though unfortunately it is usually relegated to the realms of raitas and kachumbars. Nowadays, salads have come to mean so much more and should be an integral part of a meal or are a meal by themselves.

Ginger Chicken Salad with Sesame

This is a wonderfully fresh-tasting salad. It requires a bit of work cutting the vegetables needed, but the end result is well worth the effort.

Ingredients

2 grilled chicken breast, cubed
1 medium onion, finely sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
5-8 button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ginger, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 2 limes
1 clove garlic, finely minced
Few salad leaves like rocket or crisp lettuce
1 tsp white sesame seeds, roasted

Method

Place the chicken, onions, bean sprouts and mushrooms in a large bowl.
In a glass bowl, combine the soy sauce, ginger, oil, lime juice and garlic and mix well with a fork. Pour over the chicken mixture and toss well.
Make a bed of the salad leaves and arrange the chicken mixture on top and sprinkle the roasted sesame seeds.
This salad should ideally be served cold.

Gado Gado (Indonesian salad with peanut sauce)

The salad is from Tushita Patel’s cookbook Flash in the Pan. It’s relatively easy to make and a delight in summers.
Gado gado is a wholesome Indonesian salad with a spicy peanut sauce. Unlike most western salads where one can take or leave the dressing, here it is very important. The vegetables should be well coated in the sauce. This salad works well for any meal, or as one of the dishes at a buffet party.

Ingredients

200gm long green beans, cut into 4-5 cm pieces
1/3 cabbage, shredded
Florets of 1 medium broccoli or cauliflower
200gm bean sprouts
1 tomato, wedged
1 medium cucumber, sliced
1 large potato, boiled and quartered
2 hard-boiled eggs, wedged
Shrimp crackers
For the Gado gado sauce
3 cloves garlic
1 cup roasted peanuts
2 tsp oil
½ onion, finely chopped
½ tsp salt
3 fresh red chillies
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp heaped black pepper, freshly ground

METHOD

Boil a large pot of water and add the beans. Boil for two minutes and add the cauliflower and boil for a minute more. Lastly, add the cabbage and bean sprouts and immediately turn off the heat. Drain in a colander and chill in the refrigerator. The vegetables should be crunchy but not raw.

Gado Gado Sauce
Coarsely grind the peanuts in a blender, not too fine, but not too lumpy either. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic till light brown. Add a cup of warm water, the peanuts, salt, chillies and brown sugar and mix well.
Turn off the heat and add lime juice and pepper. Wait five minutes for the flavours to settle and mix before tasting.
Keep the sauce warm.

To Serve
Place lettuce, potatoes, blanched vegetables, wedges of boiled egg and tomato and slices of cucumber on a large platter. Pour the gado gado sauce over everything, garnish with crushed shrimp crackers.