Cold not-sesame noodles Salad

No, even I don't know why this is named this way... I simply got inspired for this salad from the NY Times salad article and went ahead with it. :-)

However, the name makes this salad feel very exotic, at least to me ;-) If you love peanut butter, you will definitely LOVE the idea of this dressing. What's not to like about peanut butter mixed with soya sauce? :-)

Peperoni Arosto

Well, am not sure if this is really peperoni arosto, but this is my version of it, and it tastes pretty damn good.
Can be used as a topping on toasted garlic bread like a Crostini, or can be eaten with lavash crackers. I intend to use this in a pasta, to get a smoked bell pepper flavor next time. Another idea is to add this to a salad, with tons of feta cheese, and may be some pineapple cubes. If all else doesn't work out, you can slip in these smoked peppers into your mouth as it is!

This dish takes a long time to make, but is very easy, and can be made well ahead in time. I've noticed that it stays well in the fridge for up to a week.

Method -
1. Over roast full bell peppers at 200C for 30-45 min, till the skin blackens.
2. Once roasted, keep them in an airtight container for 10 min.
3. When the peppers are still hot, peel the skin off and chop coarse.
4. Mix in washed parsley , oregano, sea salt, red chili flakes, grated/chopped garlic and extra virgin olive oil.
5. Store in an airtight container for up to a week

Masala Chick Peas Sundal

Hey there! Those 2 visitors of mine, that still have hope that I might've posted something new :-)

So, I've done some introspection and realized that the reason for me not blogging is the pressure on getting hits and hence the need to shoot great pics, and socialize this on various sites. In all this time that I haven't blogged, I realized that I search my blog for various recipes that I wanted to make one more time! That was the eureka moment for me! I wasn't enjoying food photography, and I was pressurized into taking good food shots! So...

The Meal Algorithm V2.0 will not attempt at any of those above items! Am not going to be bothered about the various sites and my photo getting listed there. In fact, I might not even shoot with my SLR anymore. Phone camera, Insta with tags for me to be able to search them, Tweet at the same time to let interested folks know, and last and least, if you are interested, you can subscribe to the feed which will send you the post as soon as I post it.
This means that I only have to write down the ingredient list, shoot with my phone camera and post it on this blog and Insta. I should be good and done! Lets see how long it lasts! :)

Do one of these, and you'll be notified everytime I post a recipe - Subscribe to the RSS feed, follow me on Instagram or Twitter.

Zucchini & Noodle salad

To end this month , I wanted to make a wholesome salad, something which could also be a meal by itself. Something that has all the flavours I like… :)

And that is the how this awesome salad was born, yet again inspired by the recipe listed on this article!

Veggies in Indian salad dressing

Over this one month, I have tried so many dressings, but I realized there wasn't an authentic Indian dressing there.
Yes, I agree that Indian salads do not really have dressings except for lemon juice, if at all. But what I wanted to create was a dressing which only had Indian flavours.

And that's how this brilliant dressing was born.

Bell peppers in a garlic and oregano dressing

A full month of salads only and I still haven’t gotten over bell peppers. I’ve grilled them, toasted them and baked them and loved in them in every format.

And the dressing ideas just keep coming… just when I think I am done with all the dressings that I can think of, this one just came to my mind. I was going through my herb cupboard (yes, I have one ;-)) and realized that I hadn’t used the Oregano at all. Neither did Thyme and Sage make an appearance. Well, they are for another day, but Oregano and Garlic are today’s heroes.

Chargrilled Vegetables… as a meal!

Yes, chargrilled vegetables can be a meal too! If you don’t trust me, try it and see.

I had a bunch of these veggies in my fridge and the only thing I could think of today was to oven roast them. I didn’t think of a dressing nor an accompaniment. The veggies as they were, roasted, of course.

Chick peas and Broken wheat salad

Yummy, healthy and fills the stomach – that’s what this salad is for me!

I toasted the broken wheat or Dalia a bit before cooking this in hot water to remove the raw taste. The addition of Kasuri Methi is for the flavour. I also added the chopped chillies to the broken wheat while toasting it to get the flavour of chillies into the wheat. This step is totally optional.

Carrots with Honey & Chilli dressing

I don’t know why, but this salad is also called The Classic Moroccan Salad in this article, from which I’ve been inspired for this recipe. I guess its because of the use of toasted cumin and the raisins in this salad, which are a total hit, by the way!

I first tasted the honey and chilli dressing during a food review I did for Syn and I’ve been itching to try this ever since. The sweet and chilli combination just bursts in your mouth and you will be pleasantly surprised. For this salad , you could you just the honey as a dressing, but I strongly suggest you try this dressing! :-)

Soba Noodle salad with Asian peanut dressing

The ring of the words ‘Asian Peanut Dressing’ literally made me drool when I read this recipe first. And I knew I had to try the noodle salad with Asian peanut dressing.

The grated ginger and soya add a zing to the otherwise bland-in-a-salad peanut butter and thus a new dressing is born! :-)

Cucumber & Bell pepper salad in a soya and a mustard oil dressing

When I started with the A Salad A Day project, I had decided that I would not make any salad with cucumbers in it. As much as I love the freshness of a nice cucumber, it really is a boring vegetable when it comes to salad.

But when I thought of this dressing, I was tempted to try this.

The Four-Bean Salad

Jar lunches are a concept I am just warming up to. I haven’t heard of them till the time Siri told me about Recipe Redux and their theme for August, 2013.

But after having discovered such a convenient method for lunching, I don’t think I can go back.

Roasted Bell Pepper & Bean salad

Another simple, easy and flavourful salad featuring bell peppers and beans.

Apple & Tomato Salad

Technically this one’s not a vegetable salad, given that tomato is also a fruit. But the addition of raw onions (*gasp*, yes! ;-)) makes it one, I guess.

Almost Caprese Salad

Who doesn’t love the simple and refreshing Caprese salad, tell me?

In this recipe, I’ve tried to reproduce the fresh taste of the salad, but gave it my own spin.

Roasted tomatoes and French beans salad

This is one of those simple salads that you can serve as an appetizer or a full meal.

Its best served with salad leaves also, but I decided to give it a miss. It tasted good nevertheless. Oven roasted tomatoes is one of those simple pleasures I’ve discovered and begun love in this month.

Fattoush salad

Here’s a classic salad recipe… something so famous that it needs no introduction!

Its like spring in a bowl! :)

Grilled Sweet-potato with raw mango salad

Growing up, I’ve eaten a lot of sweet potatoes. In fact, they were one of my favourite vegetables to snack on. I could eat it boiled or curried or even as a papad, a Mangalorean speciality. This vegetable , also called Genasu in Kannada is clearly a favourite. So it had to feature in my ASaladADay project!

Am pretty proud of this dressing and I loved the way it turned the taste of the sweet potato into a not-so-sweet-but-starchy-potato. The spring onions complement the Berbere mix well. If you do not have the mix handy, you can substitute it for any Indian curry powder, because the idea is to make the potatoes spicy.

Beet, pea & cottage cheese salad

Yet another beet-based salad, but with a different dressing , as usual.

Yes, I had an overload of beetroots delivered to me last week and I had no other option but to use them in my salads.

Watermelon & Tomato salad

Doesn’t the ring of this salad make you feel fresh! :-D

This one is something that would taste good if you had it as a salad or if you juiced all the ingredients together. No matter what the form is, this combination is a winner!