CHEESY SALAD

Sattvic Food Recipes for Dinner Salads

For dinner, have a light meal like a salad or soup. You can either have both (salad and soup) or only one (only salad or only soup), depending on your convenience. You may have fruits for dinner if you ate your salad meal for breakfast. You may have your grain meal for dinner if you ate your salad meal for lunch.

CARROT RAISIN SALAD

The ingredients are very simple & all easily available in any Indian Kitchen. The raisins, tahini and carrots combine together to create an absolutely yummy dish.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2 AS MAIN MEAL

3 cups shredded carrots
1 cup homegrown vegetable sprouts (such as alfalfa, clover, radish)
2 tablespoon finely chopped mint
¼ cup soaked cashews, chopped
3 tablespoons raisins (kishmish)

Tahini Dressing

1 cup white sesame seeds or 4 tablespoons homemade tahini
½ cup water
4 dates, seedless
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon powdered jaggery
¼ green chili
½ teaspoon rock salt

PREPARATION METHOD
First, prepare the tahini.

To prepare tahini, add sesame seeds to a saucepan over medium heat and toast, stirring constantly until the seeds become fragrant and very lightly colored (not brown), 3 to 5 minutes. Careful, sesame seeds can burn quickly.
Once sesame seeds have been cooled, blend them until a paste forms, about 30 seconds. The tahini paste should be extra smooth, not gritty.
To prepare the dressing, place 4 tablespoons of this homemade tahini into a blender, along with water, dates, lemon juice, jaggery, chili and salt. Blend until smooth.
Place the carrots, sprouts, mint, cashews and raisins to a large mixing bowl. Mix well. Pour the tahini dressing on top and serve.

We don’t need to use real cheese to get a cheesy flavor in your salad. Simply blend soaked cashews with some flavoring and it tastes even better than Parmesan!

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2 (if served with a soup)

½ cup cashews, soaked
¼ cup coconut milk
½ small green chill
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup thinly sliced baby corn
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1 teaspoon rock salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano leaves

PRE-PREPARATION

Soak cashews in water for 6 hours.
Prepare coconut milk.

PREPARATION METHOD

Place the cashews, coconut milk and green chili into a blender and blend until smooth,
Steam the broccoli, baby corn and bell peppers for about 5 minutes. Bear in mind – bell peppers may get steamed faster and will need to be taken out sooner.
Pour the blended cashew mixture into a mixing bowl. Add the steamed vegetables, salt and oregano to the mixing bowl.
Mix well and serve.

THAI PAPAYA SALAD

Papaya salad gets its inspiration from Thai Cuisine. This is a cleaner version of the dish, made using only fresh, wholesome ingredients. It is crunchy and amazingly delicious.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2-3

½ small unripe green papaya
1 large mango
1 medium carrot
2 medium tomatoes
½ cup fresh coriander

Peanut Dressing (makes 1/3 cup)

2 tablespoons soaked peanuts
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 small green chili
½ teaspoon rock salt
1 tablespoon jaggery
2 tablespoons water

Topping

1 tablespoon roasted peanuts, chopped

Substitution When mango is not in season, use a soft pear.

PRE-PREPARATION

Soak raw peanuts in water for about 3 hours.

PREPARATION METHOD

Peel the skin of the papaya.
Cut the papaya and carrot into thin long strips. You can use a julienne peeler to do this.
Also cut the mango and tomatoes into thin long strips, using a knife.
Place the papaya, carrot, mango, tomatoes and coriander in a large bowl and mix well.
To prepare the dressing, place all the dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Combine the dressing with the salad and mix well.
Top with chopped peanuts for an extra crunch.

Tip The papaya used is unripe green papaya, which is green on the outside and a pale yellowish color on the inside.

BEET ROCKET SALAD

This is a quick and simple salad that tastes wonderfully gourmet. Rocket leaves have a spicy, mustard-like flavor that is balanced out by the dates and beetroot.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2

2 small beetroot, peeled
2 cups chopped spinach leaves
1 cup chopped rocket leaves
6 walnuts, soaked and crushed
¼ cup grated coconut
½ avocado, chopped (optional)

Middle Eastern Dressing

½ cup chopped cucumber
4 dates, seedless
¼ cup coriander
1½ tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon cumin powder

Substitution In case rocket leaves are not available, replace them with spinach leaves.

PREPARATION METHOD

Chop the beetroot and steam it until soft,
Place the steamed beetroot into a large mixing bowl, along with the spinach, rocket, coconut, walnuts and avocado (optional).
To prepare the Middle Eastern Dressing, place all the dressing Ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour the dressing over the salad, toss well and serve.

ZUCCHINI SPAGHETTI

One of my favorite things to create in the kitchen are zucchini noodles. Using raw vegetables in place of conventional cooked pasta is a great way to eat more vegetables. Since this dish is raw, it loaded with nutrients and living enzymes. Serve with a fresh green salad for a satisfying meal that almost anyone will love.

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 3 (if served with a soup)

Spaghetti Sauce

1½ cup cherry tomatoes
6 dates, seedless
1½ tablespoon oregano
3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves or 1 teaspoon dry basil
1 ½ tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons rock salt

Zucchini Noodles

3 medium zucchinis

Topping

1 tablespoon crushed cashews
1 tablespoon thinly sliced sun- dried tomatoes
8 cherry tomatoes, cut into halves
¼ cup basil leaves

PREPARATION METHOD

To make the spaghetti sauce, place all the sauce ingredients in a blender and blend until well combined.
To make the zucchini noodles, use a vegetable spiraliser and make spaghetti-style noodles.
Right before serving, stir the spaghetti sauce through the zucchini noodles. Do not combine the sauce and zucchini too much in advance or the zucchini will release water.
Top with cashews, sun-dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and basil. Serve.

SWEET POTATO SALAD

INGREDIENTS
SERVES 2-3

1 medium sweet potato, steamed
2 cups lettuce leaves, torn into pieces
1½ cup broccoli, cut into florets
¼ small red bell pepper, thinly sliced & then cut half
¼ small yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced and then cut half
1 tablespoon dry rosemary

For marinating sweet potato

1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt

Tomato Salsa Dressing

2 cups frozen tomatoes, peeled & seedless
¼ cup coriander
1 tablespoon chopped red bell pepper
½ teaspoon roasted cumin powder
½ teaspoon lemon juice
½ green chilli, chopped
½ teaspoon rock salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Topping

2 tablespoons dry roasted almonds, chopped finely

PRE-PREPARATION

Freeze the tomatoes for about 40-50 minutes to get a refreshing salsa flavour.

PREPARATION METHOD
For the salad

Peel the steamed sweet potato and mash it using a fork.
Add rosemary to the mashed potatoes and mix well. Using your hand, shape the mashed potatoes into small cubes.
Mix all the marination ingredients together and dip the sweet potato cubes in it till coated from all sides.
Meanwhile, dip the broccoli in water heated on a medium flame for 10 mins.
Combine the lettuce, bell peppers, steamed broccoli and marinated sweet potatoes in a mixing bowl.

For the dressing

Blend all the dressing ingredients in the blender. Don’t blend it too much. Keep it a little chunky. Refrigerate the dressing for a refreshing taste before use.
Pour the dressing on top of the salad. Top with toasted almonds & enjoy!