Salad ideas

Salad greens with dry cranberries, honey-roasted almonds, feta and balsamic vinaigrette

Salad greens with julienned carrots, endive, dry apricots, pistachios, blue cheese crumbles and white balsamic

Baby spinach with caramelized walnuts, grape tomatoes, cheese crumbles 

Arugula lettuce salad with pork chop in tarragon butter

For the salad :
Get arugula and lettuce mix , add halved cherry tomatoes and dressing of your choice.

For the pork chop :

1. Marinate pork chops in vinegar overnight. [ Tip: When you are confused with what to marinate your meat, remembering the following components will help- Salt (I use soy sauce or garlic salt for steaks); acid(I use freshly squeezed lime juice or  white vinegar); aromatics (like ginger, garlic, herbs, and ground spices) and oil (depending on the cuisine).]
2. Mince garlic and green chilis. Crush peppercorns.  Mince tarragon. Rub the ingredients and salt to taste and a bit of butter in the center of a square  Aluminium foil. seal in tight so that no juices escape.  Use as many foils as many chops you will be cooking. (You can choose to drain /wash the vinegar off. Then  you will need to dab the meat with paper towels to remove any water)
3. Heat a conventional oven to 350 F and slip in  the foil packets for 20 mins. Switch off the heat and let it stay for 5 mins. Enjoy with the salad.

Bengal gram salad (boiled chana)

Banglay, pati chola siddho. :P

My mom used to say germinating Bengal gram is very nutritious and tried her best to make us gulp some down with a bit of jaggery every morning. I loved it in a different avatar though. Boiled, non-germinating ones with a dash of lime juice, black salt and minced onions -as an evening snack. Dry-roasted peanuts (or Planters Heat peanuts), cilantro and green chilies make a decent entourage. Topped with a fire-roasted crumbled papad.

Bengali Ghugni (oil-free recipe)
This is so easy to make and healthy. Soak yellow vatana in water overnight. In  a pressure cooker, add minced onions, matchstick ginger, minced garlic, cloves, cardamom, bay leaves,  dry roasted & ground cumin and coriander seeds, black salt, dry mango powder (amchur)  turmeric,(I add aloo bhaji masala too). Cook and serves with pico de gallo or khacumber 

It is as simple as that, but always a hit with the guests. Goes well with Indian puffed bread or puri. (luchi in Bengali). I like it with fish kachori too.

Aloo Kabli

Ghugni chaat
You can boil chickpeas and potatoes in pressure cooker (like ghugni recipe) and serve it with diced onions, cucumber, 1 tsp yogurt , chaat masala and  nimboo natkhat or other spicy sev.

Kiwi chicken salad

Ingredients:
1 cup cooked chicken breast, diced
4 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced
3 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup red cabbage, thinly sliced
Juice of 3 limes
3 tablespoons light olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped cilantro
Salt to taste

Directions
Place the chicken, kiwi, onion in a large bowl.

Whisk together the lime juice, olive oil, and cilantro in a small bowl. Add salt to taste.

Pour the dressing over the chicken mixture and carefully stir until evenly coated with the dressing.