Yet another salsa What do you do with a melon that is tasteless? Eat it anyway, or sprinkle some sugar, drizzle some honey, make a smoothie or a salad? Endless options right? So I didn’t take the smoothie path but opted for a yummy salsa to go with the tortilla chips. Great as a starter or a snack. Serve it in style with friends and let them praise your culinary skills. MELON SALSA 2 Servings 1 cup finely chopped cantaloupe, honey dew, any melon ½ cup finely chopped fresh coriander ½ green chilli  finely chopped or paste ¼ cup finely chopped onion ½ tsp salt 1 tbsp lemon juice 1 tbsp olive oil Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Serve with tortilla chips or…

Fresh crunchy juicy cucumbers are a delight to have on its own or in a salad. Cucumbers grown locally in Mombasa seem to have disappeared. The ones from up country are fine but the skin can be a bit tough. Whenever I can, I buy English cucumber from the supermarkets. They rarely are bitter, are nice and juicy and the skin is thin and crunchy too. I used a mandolin (cheeni, slicer) to get thin slices length wise. Then I cut them into thin strips to give the salad a different look. You can just slice them into rings or semi circles, whatever you prefer.   CUCUMBER SALAD 2 servings 2 cucumbers or 1 English cucumber (approximately 2 cups of sliced cucumber)  1 cup fresh…

absolute luxury Special Theme:Redo Old Posts BM#78 Week 4 Day 2    What is a salad? A salad is a cold dish of raw or cooked vegetables mixed with meat, fish, fruits and served with a dressing. The dressing can vary from a simple drizzle of lemon juice over the salad to more flavourful ones. Dressings can be creamy or light watery type. I remember when I was growing up salad meant a mixture of tomato, carrot, lettuce, cucumber and not else. Sometimes radish were added. A sprinkle of salt and a bit of pepper and salad was served in this manner for every meal.            Its when I was browsing through Tarla Dalal cook books and a Hamlyn published cookbook that…

Grapefruit is available in abundance, both the local and imported ones. I prefer using the local pomelo. It tends to taste less bitter. The segments may not be as pink as the ones in the photo but I got lucky. If you like, you can use proper grapefruit. The tanginess of the grapefruit and sweetness from honey is a wonderful combination.      GRAPEFRUIT /POMELO ONION SALAD Serves 2   1 cup grapefruit segments 2 handfuls of greens, any of your choice ½ medium or 1 small white onion ¼ cup roasted walnut pieces 8 to 10 mint leaves   Dressing : 1 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp balsamic vinegar 1 tsp honey ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp coarse pepper powder Remove the membrane from…

Niku’s idea Coleslaw is such a basic salad, widely served with burgers, baked potatoes, chips or french fries, in sandwiches and so many other things. Unfortunately all those who don’t eat eggs cannot really have it as it has mayonnaise. I make my coleslaw at home without the mayonnaise. Once when I made the coleslaw to go with the baked potatoes, Niku said ‘Mum, make the cabbage salad a bit more interesting. Add some grapes’. That was when he was just about 7 or so. Then and there I should have figured out that my son will choose a career where food is the major interest. He is not a chef but works for the hospitality industry. Over the years many more suggestions have poured in…

crunchy green emeralds    Rainy season means loads of fresh crispy vegetables. Thats what exactly hit me when I entered the famous Mombasa Vegetable market this week. Just couldn’t make up my mind as to what to buy. Wanted to buy the whole market. The deep green fresh broccoli kept on beckoning me to buy her, him? I can eat raw broccoli, blanched, in soup form but I hate boiled broccoli. So it was broccoli salad for dinner on that day. The recipe is very easy to make and a nutritious one. Go on make it, you will love it. updated :05/05/2016           BROCCOLI SALAD Serves 2 1 cup broccoli florets, bite size 4-6 lettuce leaves or any greens of your…

Very tropical   The temperatures are soaring, its just too hot to have heavy meals. I just want to make a quick salad and be out of the kitchen in a jiffy. For today’s salad, I mixed avocado, mango with beans. You would think that avocado and mango would be a weird combination but when I made this salad it actually tasted really great. If you are a lover of both avocado and mango then this salad is just right for you. I did not add any form of sweetness as the mango was sweet. This salad has to be prepared just before serving as both the avocado and mango tend to turn black if kept cut for a while. Adding fruits, seeds, nuts and herbs…