Green Salad

The week has  started and for no reason I am feeling a quite lazy. Just do not feel like lunching today. So maybe …. a quick salad and some left over soup for myself.

This salad is easy and pretty quick, so I do it this way. Also the dressing adds a great taste to it. Here we go…

Ingredients:

• Cucumber – 1
• Carrot – 1
• Celery – 1/2
• Lettuce – 1 leaf
• Tomatoes – 1/2
• Grapes – 1/4 cup
• Olive oil – 1 tsp (optional)
• Salad dressing – as required
• Salt, pepper and sugar – to taste and garnish

Method:

• Roughly chop all the ingredients and mix in a bowl.
• Add 1  tsp olive oil, salt, pepper and sugar to taste.
• Add salad dressing (any kind) and mix well.
• Note: The combination and the amount is completely as per your preference. Instead of chopping you can slice them as well.

Spinach Soup

Last week, suddenly, we realised that we should focus a bit on some healthy food and have small meals at frequent intervals rather than having large meals at one time. That obviously brought in lots of greens, fruits, salads and soups to our food menu. And hence this posting of a spinach soup… tasty and easy to make.

Go healthy – Go green !

Ingredients:

• Spinach – 4 bunches or 1 packet
• Onion, chopped – 1 medium
• Garlic Cloves, chopped -5
• Oil – 1 tbsp
• Bay leaf – 1
• Peppercorns – 6-8
• Vegetable stock – 2 cups (optional)
• Cumin powder – 1/2 tsp
• White pepper powder – 1/2 tsp
• Salt – to taste
• Skimmed milk (or else normal milk) – 1/2 to 1 cup
• Butter – to garnish (optional)

Method:

• Clean the spinach, wash thoroughly, first with warm water and then with cold water and roughly chop.
• Heat oil in a pan and add bay leaf, peppercorns, chopped onion and garlic. Saute till the onions becomes soft and translucent.
• Add the chopped spinach, mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
• Cool the mixture, remove the bay leaf and puree the mixture in a blender to a fine consistency.
• Once done, boil vegetable stock (if not available use water), add the puree, cumin powder, salt (to taste) and white pepper powder.
• Mix well and cook for 5 minutes.
• Add milk and cook for another 5 minutes to the desired consistency.
• Garnish with a square cube of butter (if desired) and serve with tortilla chips.

Note:

• Black pepper powder can also be used instead of white pepper. Check here for further reference.
• Those having high uric acid should avoid eating spinach as it contains naturally-occurring substances called purines which can be broken down to form uric acid, hence increasing the level in the body.