Tomato, Onion and Chilli Salad

This refreshing salad is absolutely great with fried or grilled foods.  Serve this over rice with the Tandoori fish. Yummmmm..... Adjust the spiciness by increasing or decreasing the number of chillies.

Ingredients:
2 large tomatoes (chopped)
1 red onion (finely chopped)
1-2 green chillies (remove seeds and finely chopped)
1/2 lime
1tsp sugar
salt and pepper

In a non-metallic bowl, place all the igredients and mix well.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Taste and adjust with salt and pepper before serving.

Green Papaya Salad (Achara)

This a very popular pickled salad in the Philippines.  It is usually served with rice and your favorite grilled or fried fish and meat.  Try it with the Filipino fried chicken or barbeque.  It is so easy to make.  You can find green papayas at most Asian grocery stores.  Adding the red chillies provide some heat.  Reduce or add the number of chillies to adjust to your taste.  They can be removed if you do not want it spicy.

Ingredients:
1 green papaya (cut into julienne strips)
1 carrot (cut into julienne strips)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar or coconut vinegar
1-2 red chillies (cut into very thin strips)
1/2 red bell pepper (cut into julienne strips)
1/2 cup raisins and/or sultanas
3 shallots (minced)
1 inch ginger (minced)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt

In a small sauce pan, heat the vinegar, sugar and salt.  Once sugar and salt has disolved, remove sauce pan from heat and allow to cool. 

In a separate bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients.  Pour sweet vinegar over the vegetables in the bowl and mix well.  Store in an airtight container for at least 4 hours or overnight.  Serve with rice and your favorite fried or grilled foods.

Asparagus and Tomato Rice Salad

This is a very pretty salad. So easy to make and so refreshing and wonderful during warm days when you don't want anything heavy or need something to go with grilled meats. A great way to use leftover rice. Try it out. 

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked long grain rice

1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)

1 cup blanched asparagus spears (cooled)

3/4 cup Miracle Whip salad dressing

1 tblsp Dijon mustard

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tblsp fresh parsley (chopped)

Salt and pepper to taste

In a small bowl, add salad dressing, mustard, lemon juice and parley; mix well.  In a large bowl, gently mix tomatoes, rice and asparagus. Add the dressing mixture and stir gently until evenly coated.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover with platic wrap and store in your refrigerator for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

Note: if you are watching your glycemic index, use basmati rice.  Basmati rice works great with this salad.

Curried Rice Salad

There are days you don't want hot rice to go with your meal. A cold salad is what you are looking for. The first time I made this I thought "what a wonderful find". I made it for a holiday lunch that included my two best friends Nita and Vera and their husbands. Since Nita and her husband were vegetarians, I wanted to fix something really nice. This was it! They absolutely loved it.  I tried it with ham at another time, but I really like the vegetarian version best. But,  feel free to add 2-3 oz of chopped ham and make it into your one dish meal for a light lunch or dinner with a lovely glass of white wine. This is great served at room temperature.

Ingredients:
1 cup long grain or basmati rice
2 1/2 cups water
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp of grated lemon zest
1/2 lb sugar snap peas
1 red bellpepper (diced)
1/2 cup green peas (fresh or frozen)
2/3 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp mayonnaise
3tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp of ground ginger
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes (cut in half optional)
1/2 cup dark raisins
2 tbsp sliced almonds
salt to taste

In a large sauce pan or rice cooker, combine rice, water, garlic, lemon and salt. Rice cooker: cook rice according to cooker instruction. Sauce Pan: bring to a boil in high heat, reduce to a simmer, cover and cook until rice is done (15-17 minutes). Remove from heat and stir to allow rice to cool.

In a large pot, boil water and blanch snap peas, bell pepper, and peas for approximately 30 seconds. Drain and submerge in cold water or ice bath to stop cooking process.  This allows the vegetables hold its bright color.

In a large bowl, whisk yogurt, lemon juice, mayonnaise, curry powder, ginger and season with salt. When blended. When rice is cool, add to the yogurt mixture with snap peas, bell pepper and peas. Stir and combine well.  Before serving stir in raisins, almonds and cherry tomatoes.