Wild rice salad with mushrooms, cranberries and almonds

Dear all!!! First of all I wish everybody a very happy New Year and hope you all enjoyed your holidays! We had some quit but nice days at home as with both families so far away, we weren’t able to see them these holidays. But we have big plans for the new year and will hopefully see all soon again.
Coming to the recipe today- Wild rice is a nutritious, healthy grain for which we recently acquired a liking. It is nice as a side dish or like in this recipe, as a salad. Have a very nice day…!!

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups wild rice
- 3 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 2 Tbsp. Canola oil
- 8 oz white mushrooms, sliced
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- ½ cup chopped almonds, lightly toasted in a pan
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- Juice of ½ lemon
- handful Italian parsley leaves, chopped
- 1 Tsp.cumin powder
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste

Method:

In a medium sauce pot heat 1 Tbsp. oil and add rice. Stir until well coated. Add the vegetable broth and let come to a boil. Simmer on medium heat for about 50 minutes or until almost all liquid is absorbed. Take off heat and let cool.
In a pan heat rest of oil and add shallot. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then add mushrooms and cook for some minutes till soft. Season with salt and black pepper. Take off heat.
In a bowl combine rice, almonds, cranberries, mushrooms, lemon juice, cumin, salt, black pepper and parsley. Mix well and serve at room temperature.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009-2010. All rights reserved.

Panzanella (Italian bread salad)

Panzanella is an Italian bread salad and can be served with different ingredients.
This recipe is inspired by Ina Garten from the Food Network. When I saw the recipe some days ago I didn’t write down the ingredients or quantities, so when I made it yesterday I went with my own measurements and changed some ingredients as well. Though S. eats happily whatever I make, he went literally crazy over this dish and put it immediately on his all-time favourite list. It is a very colourful salad and can be easily prepared ahead of time.

Ingredients:

- half baguette or ciabatta bread, cubed (it is best to use bread which is 1-2 days old)
- ½ cucumber, cubed
- 2 medium tomatoes, cubed
- 1 red bell pepper, cubed
- 1 yellow bell pepper, cubed
- ½ cup black olives
- 1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
- 1 Tsp. Dijon mustard
- ½-1 Tsp. Oregano ( I used dried one)
- 6 Tbsp. Olive oil
- Salt to taste
- Black pepper to taste
- Handful fresh basil leaves or Italian parsley, chopped
- 3-4 Tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil in a large pan. Add the bread cubes and fry till golden brown. Let cool. In a large bowl combine bell peppers, cucumber, tomatoes, black olives and bread cubes.
In a small bowl whisk together 4 Tbsp. olive oil, mustard, vinegar, salt and black pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and add the basil or parsley. Mix well. Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on top and mix. Let the salad soak at room temperature for about 30 minutes or longer.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Carrot-apple salad

Today I really wanted to make a salad since, I must admit, we didn’t have it for a while. Unfortunately I did not have lettuce in the house so I thought of making this nice and colourful carrot salad. I made it couple of times before but never wrote down the measurements and also never used the exact same ingredients. S. really liked this version so I am sharing it today with you. It is refreshing on hot summer days and easy and quick to make.

Ingredients:

- 3 large carrots
- 1 apple
- ¼ cup pistachios, chopped
- 2 Tbsp. Oil
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 4 Tbsp. Half&half
- 1 Tsp. Brown sugar
- ½ Tsp. Curry powder
- Salt to taste

Method:

Grate the carrots and apple with a hand grater. In a bowl mix oil, half&half, lemon juice, sugar, curry powder and salt. Add in the carrots, apple and pistachios. Mix well and cover. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes. Serve.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009. All rights reserved.

Pasta salad with beetroot

In the last days it became very hot here, so I thought of making a chilled salad for lunch. This pasta salad is made with beetroot which adds a nice pink colour to the dressing.

Ingredients:

- 1 lb penne pasta or any other pasta of your choice
- 2 cups beetroot, boiled, peeled and cubed
- ¾ cup frozen peas
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 1 chopped medium tomato
- ½ cup egg less mayonnaise
- Juice of ½ lemon
- ½ cup milk

- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- ¼ Tsp. coarsely ground pepper
- 1 Tsp. curry powder
- Salt to taste
- Handful fresh basil leaves

Method:

Boil pasta according to package directions, drain and let cool.
In a bowl combine mayonnaise, milk, lemon juice, olive oil, black pepper, curry powder and salt and mix well.
Boil peas and corn with some water till tender. Then drain and add to the mayonnaise dressing. Add tomatoes, beetroot and pasta and mix everything well together. Garnish with the basil leaves. Refrigerate till chilled.

Tip:
You can also sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese over the salad.

Text and photographs are copyright protected. Copyright © Masalaflavour.blogspot.com 2009 All rights reserved.