Balanced and delicious
Salads form an essential part of any Iftar table. Even if you are not celebrating Ramadan, you will totally love preparing and munching on these fresh, filling and absolutely divine salads from chef Sonu Koithara or Taj Jumeirah Lake Towers Dubai.
Ramadan Kareem.
Quinoa Tabbouleh
Ingredients
1/2 cup black quinoa
1/2 cup red quinoa
1/2 cup white quinoa
2 cups flat leaf parsley
1 tomato
1 cucumber
1/2 white onion (large size)
1/2 pomegranate (seeds)
1 tsp salt (to taste)
5 tbsp olive oil
1 lemon (juice)
Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch the three varieties of quinoa so that they have a slight bite to it. Cool and keep aside.
Wash the parsley and chop it finely making sure that the stems are avoided
Finely dice the tomato, onion and cucumber. Mix the chopped onion with sweet spice and squeeze to release the juice of onion.
In a bowl, mix the blanched quinoa, chopped parsley, tomato, onion and cucumber
Add olive oil, lemon juice and salt and lightly mix
Serve with pomegranate seeds and a lemon wedge
Smoked eggplant salad
Ingredients
1 eggplant (medium size)
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 lemon
1/2tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp chilli paste
4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup rocket leaves
Smoke the eggplant and peppers over an open flame until charred and soft
Let it cool and wash off the peel
Dice the eggplant and peppers into small pieces
In a bowl, mix the eggplant, peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, chili paste, lemon juice, salt and olive oil
Serve with pine nuts and rocket leaves
Greek Salad
Ingredients
1 cucumber
1cup cherry tomatoes
1 cup Kalamata olives
1 red onion (medium size)
2 leaves of iceberg lettuce
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp oregano
50g feta cheese cubed
Method
Wash all the vegetables.
Cut the cherry tomatoes and olives into halves
Dice the red onion and cucumber
In a bowl, mix the vegetables with olive oil and oregano
Arrange in an iceberg cup and serve with feta cheese
