A Colorful Vegan Salad With Chickpeas, Avocado, Bell Peppers, Avocado, Cucumber & a No Fuss Dressing 

I don't have much of an appetite for Salads during winter. Now that Spring is upon us, Colorful salad bowls & smoothies will be back on the menu :)

Made this Easy Rainbow Chickpea Salad from a Plant Based recipe book I was sent last week 

Chickpea | Kabuli Chana is one of my favourite ingredients in a salad. They not only add taste but also keeps one full for a longer time 

Also, the dressing here is super simple without any fancy ingredients. I throughly enjoyed this one 

HOW TO MAKE RAINBOW CHICKPEA SALAD

You Will Need:

• 2 Cups of Cooked Chickpeas | Kabuli Chana
• Half an Onion - finey chopped
• 8-10 Cherry Tomatoes - halved
• 1 medium sized Avocado - diced 
• 1 small Cucumber - peeled & diced
• 1/2 Red Bell Pepper - diced
• 1/2 Yellow Bell Pepper - Diced

I've been experimenting with new flavours lately & I now have a few good salad recipes that I can bank on.

• 1 cup Chickpeas
• 2 large Apples
• 1 Red Onion
• 1 A handful of Walnuts
• 1/2 Red Pepper
• 1/2 Yellow Pepper
• 1 cup Rocket Leaves
• 4-5 slices of Pickled Jalapeños 
• Croutons - Optional

• A bunch of Asparagus about 250 g
• 1 small Red Bell Pepper
• 1 small Yellow Bell Pepper
• 1 small onion
• 1 small Carrot
• A handful of fresh basil 
• A handful of walnuts
• Salt to taste
• 1 tsp Cooking oil or use a Oil Spray

Building a Salad is a lot of fun. There is no recipe involved .. Its all about what you love & you can play with so many combinations that you will go crazy. Making a salad doesn't actually take that much time but you will need to do a bit of prepping.

Sometimes, I'd love to eat a Big bowl of colorful, hearty Salad for a meal.. But my laziness gets the better of me on some days & I end up eating a carb-heavy meal. I was determined to eat a healthy lunch yesterday so I soaked some chickpeas in the morning & made this easy peasy Chickpea & Raw Mango Salad for lunch.


How To:

You Will Need

• 1 cup Pomegranate seeds
• 1 cup sweet corn -boiled with a bit of salt
• 1 cup green bell pepper - finely diced

For the Vinaigrette

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp any dried herb
• Salt as per taste

How To Make the Vinaigrette:

• In a small bowl, add apple cider vinegar, dried herb & salt. mix well. Add extra virgin olive oil & give it a good whisk & set aside.

To Assemble the Salad:

• In a large bowl, thrown in pomegranate seeds, sweetcorn & bell peppers, mix well.
• Add prepared vinaigrette, toss well for the flavours to incorporate. Check for salt. Chill for an hour before serving

Enjoi !!!

You Will Need:

• 1 cup sweet corn
• 1/4 cup green peas
• 1 onion - finely chopped
• 1 small tomato - deseeded & finely chopped
• 1/2 red bell pepper - finely chopped
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper - finely chopped
• 1 carrot - grated
• 1 tsp green chilli paste
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp chaat masala
• Salt as per taste
• chopped Cilantro for garnish

How To:

• Boil sweet corn & green peas in salted water. Do not overcook. Drain & set aside.
• In a large bowl, add all the ingredients except cilantro. Mix well, adding salt to taste. Be careful while adding salt & chaat masala tends to be a little salty. 
• Garnish with cilantro

Serve as a starter/ tea time snack or even as salad .. Enjoi !!!

The other day, I was all by myself & I made this super easy Pasta Salad for lunch. This one is packed with nutrition & is very filling.

I am quite fond of penne pasta, but you can pretty much use whichever you like. I used wholewheat pasta, so the fibre part is taken care of. Next time, I might use tri-color shell pasta to add more color.

You Will Need:

• 1 1/2 cups Penne Pasta - I used wholewheat pasta
• 8-10 cherry tomatoes - halved
• 1/4 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/4 cup broccoli florets
• 1 carrot - julienned
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 cup cheese
• Salt as per taste
• 2 tsp olive oil
• Chopped cilantro - for garnish

How To:

• Cook pasta as per package instructions. Drain & set aside
• Blanch the vegetables till cooked yet firm.
• Heat oilve oil in a pan, roast the blanched vegetables for about 3 minutes. Throw in grated cheese & toss to coat
• Add cooked pasta & mix well. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve warm & Enjoi !!!

• 250g Green Beans - Tender & Fresh (trimmed)
• 200g Carrots ( julienned )
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp rosemary leaves - crushed
• 1 tsp thyme leaves - crushed
• 1/2 tsp black pepper powder
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• In a large uncovered saucepan, Cook Beans & Carrots in salted boiling water on medium heat for about 6-8 mins or until tender crisp
• Drain excess water.
• Return Beans to the sauce pan, toss with olive oil, crushed rosemary & thyme leaves. Add black pepper powder. Stir over medium heat for a couple of minutes.
• Let it stand for about 5 minutes before serving

Transfer to a serving bowl & serve warm with HOT steamed rice or even Fried Rice. Enjoi !!!

You Will Need:

• 3 Bananas ( any variety ) - cut into round chunks
• 2 tbsp grated jaggery
• 2 tbsp grated coconut
• 2 tbsp almonds - chopped

Method:

• Mix in banana chunks, grated jaggery, grated coconut in a large bowl
• Garnish with chopped almonds
• Chill for 30 minutes before serving

Enjoi !!!

If you want to cut down on custard & sugar in fruit salads, then this is for you ..

This one does taste different from the regular fruit salads. The slight sweetness from jaggery & creamy coconut coats well with banana & chopped almonds add a nice cruch. I sometimes have this as an evening snack too ..

NOTE:

• Serve as a dessert topped with vanilla ice cream.
• Though, traditional Rasayana calls for bananas, you could add other fruits like apple, pineapple, orange, grapes etc. to this
  

Last week was one such day when I was at my laziest best. Having skipped breakfast, I was too hungry to have eaten those bits n bobs. I had some leftover broccoli florets lying in the refrigirator for nearly a week. With some sundried tomatoes & fettuccine pasta, I whipped up this quick meal.

Here's how I made it,

You Will Need:

• Fettuccine Pasta - 300 gms
• 1 cup Broccoli florets
• 2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp - black pepper powder - coarsely ground
• A pinch of turmeric
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt as per taste
• 1 tsp Lemon zest for garnish (optional)

Method:

• Cook Pasta in a huge pot of heavily salted water as per package instructions for about 8 minutes or until cooked. Do Not overcook the pasta. Drain & keep aside
• I added a pinch of turmeric to the boiling water for that bright yellow color. I know it sounds crazy to add turmeric in an Italian dish, but well, it did look bright
• Heat olive oil in a heavy bottomed pan & saute broccoli until tender. The florets must retain their cruch.
• Add sundried tomatoes & pasta. Add in lemon juice & black pepper powder & toss well to combine. Adjust salt as per taste
• Garnish with lemon zest & Serve HOT.

Can be served as Pasta Salad too at room temprature.

Enjoi !!

I made these on a whim & it turned out to be great. This time around, I experimented with lemons & I wasn't disappointed. The lemon juice & zest are the highlights add a nice flavor to the dish. The lemony flavor blends well with black pepper & give broccoli a nice spicy & lemony crunch. Sun dried tomatoes add a bit of flavor from their side & binds well with fettucine. Together, it made a great dish.

This did put a satisfying end to my hunger, without much effort. I will be making this again, probably on another lazy day.

NOTE: Since Iam not a big fan of cheese, I didn't add them. You could top it with grated cheese for that creamy texture. But, It tastes great without cheese

This goes to Vaishali's , Its a Vegan World: Italian !!

I usually experiment with most vegetables & herbs & include them in my daily diet.
The one that I have for you today is a very simple mexican salad that I make quite often. Its a perfect mix of legumes & vegetables.

Preparation Time: 20 mins

You Will Need:

• 1 cup french beans
• 1 cup american sweet corn
• 1 cup red kidney beans/rajma - soaked overnight or for 5-6 hours
• 1 cup haricot beans/white kidney beans - soaked overnight or for 5-6 hours
• 1 small red onion - finely chopped
• 1 tsp vinegar
• Salt as per taste

Method:

• Pressure cook french beans, kidney beans & haricot beans
• Cook sweet corn on stove top until tender
• Mix together all the ingredients in a large bowl
• Add vinegar & salt as per taste
• Toss well & serve

Can be served as an evening snack too . . . Enjoi !!!

Am sending over this recipe to Divya's Dil Se for the event Diet Foods .. & also to Sra's Place for the event My Legume Love Affair & A Recipe which is a brainchild of Susan

Thanks Divya & Sra & Susan for hosting.