Sauteed Corn and Avocado Salad!

With fall just behind us and winter fast approaching, the weather has been such that we mostly tend to spend the evenings getting cozy and comfortable on our couch. Getting cozy on the couch often gets associated with a hot cup of tea and something to snack on. This warm corn salad is another one of my mom's recipes that makes me nostalgic during those fall-winter evenings. Of course the avocado was my touch to it to add another texture dimension to it (and not to mention for my avocado crazy hubs). The sweetness of the corn together with the kick from the spices and the creaminess from the avocado chunk creates an interesting play of taste and texture on your palate. Not to mention the occasional peanut to add that nutty flavor and a crunch.

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Minty Fresh Berries and Fruit Couscous Salad

y
hubs is not the biggest fruit lover. Just about the only fruits he likes (read: can eat) are banana,
guava and ripe mangoes. I on the other hand love all kinds of fruit
(except banana and mangoes, go figure) and can live on the fresh fruit
juice and salads for a few days. Also, because of all the goodness of
fruit, I try to incorporate them in our meals at-least once a day. Hubby
always takes one or two bites and I am the one left to finish my plate and his. Same with my little one. She is even stranger with her fruit
habits. She only likes fresh pineapple and orange juice. Her reasoning
why she doesn't like a particular fruit is because of the color,
watermelon is too red, papaya is too yellow, guava is too green. But
then who's to argue with her that my dear pineapple is yellow too, lol!

Anyway,
thats a little 'fruity' detail about my family, back to the post. Summer brings in colors, brightness, vibrancy, fresh fruits and vegetables and 
also the sun and the heat. The local markets got crates of fresh berries and fruits and mostly on sale nowdays which means I completely go crazy and bought us more than we could handle. It was not possible for me alone to finish
(although I did finish most of them all by myself). Now, hubs is a salad fan mainly couscous salad and last weekend I was all set to make some veggie salad and I opened the fridge and saw the rack full of fruits wanting to get my attention and hence this recipe. Some time back I had a similar kind of salad at the salad bar of the local Whole Foods market so this is slightly inspired from that. Mixed in a
few home grown organic mint leaves and a lite lemony dressing. To
my surprise both hubby and kiddo loved it. It was refreshing, gorgeous
and a great alternative to regular salads and helps with your daily fruit intake as well.

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Curried/Masala Couscous salad

 do love cooking elaborate meals and I do know (most days) I am not lazy at all when it comes to that ~ But then there are days when I don't even feel like lifting my little finger (not happening with an hyper-active toddler). All I would love to do is to snuggle under my blanket and settle down with a good book or just randomly blog hop or just sit on the couch and watch TV. Fixing a meal on such days is such a pain. I am sure most all of you are going in your head 'yeah me too'. This filling and comforting salad is so apt for such a time. The other day, kiddo and I were all by ourselves, daddy was in a two day business conference. We made this super easy delicious couscous salad for lunch and kiddo totally loved it, the result that pleases me the most.

This one is packed with nutrition and is very filling. I love couscous and always have some in my pantry. One of the easiest and very versatile ingredients to work with. I have made it several different ways but this time around I added a some indian spices and the salad ended up being a fabulous fusion meal.

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Minty Cantaloupe Salad with Caramelized Walnuts

t was the day after Valentine's Day and the taste of the chocolate cake still lingered. Along with that thought there was obviously this feeling that I probably should've eased up a little on my sugar intake... lol... anyway so the following morning was the perfect occasion to start the day with a light yet absolutely flavorful fruit based breakfast. Hence the idea to make this cantaloupe salad. This salad not only looks pretty, the taste does its looks justice too. It obviously has the refreshing taste of fresh cantaloupe and watermelon and it becomes a complete meal with the added flavor of mint and the crunchiness of lightly candied walnuts. If anything, hubby and I are not big cantaloupe and melon fans and we absolutely loved it.

Here's how you make it.

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Corn Kosambari (Bangalore Special)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Corn, Pomegranate Seeds, Carrots, Cucumber, Apple, Onion, Grated Coconut

2 Tbsp Golden Raisins

2 Green Chillies

1 Tbsp Lime Juice

1 Pinch Asafoetida

Salt to taste.

Lets Prepare:

1. Peel and de-seed the cucumber and chop into small cubes.
2. Cut Onions and carrots into small pieces.
3. Core the apple and cut into cubes.
4. Freshly Grate the coconut.
5. Steam the corn with little salt for 5 mins and rinse twice in cold water.
6. In a wide bowl add all the ingredients and mix well mix the asafoetida and lime juice and add to the salad add salt as per your taste mix well and garnish with either coriander or candied cherry serve as side dish with any south indian meal...Enjoy...:)

I've done detail video demo do watch and enjoy...:)

Cucumber & Carrot Raita Recipe

Ingredients:

1 Cup Cucumber

2 Carrots

1 Large red onion

1 tsp Mustard

1/2 tsp Cumin seeds

1 Dried red chilly

2 Green Chilly

1 Pinch Asafoetida = hing

Curry leafs

1 Cup Yogurt

2 tsp Oil

salt

De-seed the cucumber and finely chop shred the carrots chop the onion and chilly finely chop the coriander and curry leaf finely mix all the ingredients with yogurt and add 1 tsp of salt heat oil in a fry pan and add mustard, cumin, red chilly and hing add the curry leafs and fry for a second and temper the mixed yogurt and cucumber serve along with pulao or any rice dishes or can even be served as a dip along with corn chips...do try this and post your comments...enjoy...:)

I've also done a detail recipe video on youtube do post your comments and suggestions I would love to hear from you...:)