Vegetable Salad
A vegetable salad can be made in many different ways – with raw vegetables, with boiled or steamed vegetable and also with grilled veggies. Whatever way you make it, a vegetable salad is absolutely great for your body as it increases the intake of your veggies. In the simplest form it is simply fine chopped raw veggies tossed with some spices and herbs. Optionally a lot many ingredients can be added in the form of a salad dressing, a sauce consisting of various ingredients like lemon juice/vinegar, oil, salt, herbs and spices. Again so many other ingredients like mayonnaise, garlic, flavored sauce, yogurt or sour cream are also used depending on the kind of salad. Vegetable salad is made almost daily at my home for lunch for myself and my 4 year old son. Without eating a bowl of freshly made vegetable salad our meal is incomplete. This is one of the habits I picked up from my mum and continued it for years now. Since phulka, bhakri or millet rotis are made for lunch in my mum’s home, she makes a salad or a variety of kosambari to go as a side along with a dal or curry.
About this Recipe
My recipe of vegetable salad is pretty simple which you can make under 15 minutes. Apart from adding nutrition, a vegetable salad also helps to digest a meal better. So my recipe uses basic pantry staples. I have also shared a lot of tried and tested tips which will help you customize it further to suit your diet and taste.
What you need
Vegetables – Carrots, onions, cucumber, tomatoes, beetroot, zucchini & green chilies are the basic veggies that go well. Raw bell peppers like tomatoes are actually a fruit but are consumed as a vegetable. So they can also be eaten raw. But if you have digestive issues, they are better sautéed or grilled for a short while. To use cabbage, shred the cabbage and blanch it in hot water for 2 minutes. This step helps to get rid of any worms hidden in the leaves. Drain and rinse well. Drain to a colander. Do not leave it longer in hot water as they lose the crunch. You can also add slightly sauteed spinach or a hand ful of methi leaves to this vegetable salad. Oil – Using oil is optional in the recipe and you may skip it for a oil free vegetable salad. Cold pressed oils apart from being a great source of antioxidants they are also heart healthy. So I take this opportunity and use cold pressed oils like extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, flaxseed oil or sesame oil. For a nutty aroma you can also use toasted sesame oil. If you have any diet restrictions, please use oil that is beneficial (recommended) for your health. Lemon juice/ vinegar – Apart from adding a tang to your salad, lemon juice and vinegar are a great source of antioxidants and vitamin C. I mostly use fresh lemon in vegetable salad. Balsamic vinegar or apple vinegar are great too. Spices – ground black pepper, cumin, cayenne, chilli flakes, chaat masala, ground mustard or red chilli powder can be used as a topping on your salad. Seeds and nuts can be added for some crunch. Soaked or toasted nuts & seeds go well. We sometimes add soaked and peeled almonds, sesame seeds or flax meal. You can also add any others like melon seeds, sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds. More salad recipes,KachumberOnion SaladSprouted moong saladQuinoa saladBeetroot lentil saladEgg salad Related Recipes
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