In the time of Kaliyug, when the need of the hour is to spiritualise society, the role of the householder seeker is a crucial one. Juggling career, family, multiple relationships and traffic jams, the householder must bloom like the proverbial lotus in the muck of everyday life More>>
Fruits
or sea food, frozen or fresh—salads are
complete meals by themselves
Salads
mean different things to different people. Most people take it to mean
uncooked vegetables like cucumber and lettuce, sliced and served as
such. The general impression is that a salad is any vegetable eaten
raw, such as a piece of radish or
a carrot.
The most
popular salad is onion slices with a piece of lime or maybe a little
vinegar. An elaborate salad would include some other vegetables too,
like tomatoes, cucumber, beetroot, turnip, green chilies, lettuce and,
of course, the inevitable lemon. Salt and black pepper powder may also
be used to enhance the taste. Few people take the trouble of using conventional
salad dressing like a French dressing or mayonnaise.
Other food
items can be used in salads. For instance, fruits
like apples, pineapples, grapes and cherries are used in salads prepared
with a French dressing. Vegetables like boiled peas may also be added.
In a frozen gelatin-based salad, fruit juice may be used along with the
fruit. It is somewhat like jelly, only much prettier as it is made up
of fruit slices. A frozen salad with different-colored fruits makes for
an attractive and appetizing spectacle on the dining table on hot summer
afternoons.
Come
to think of it, there are umpteen salads, in existence and in imagination,
because there is no fixed recipe for salads. They are made according to
available resources, convenience and, of course, taste.
There are
plenty of salads that make use of some unconventional ingredients. The
Waldorf salad is topped with chopped nuts. Then there are 'ham and potato'
salads for non-vegetarians. Even salami, sausages and eggs may be used
in combination with boiled vegetables and mayonnaise. There is yet another
unusual salad known as the 'seafood salad', which has boiled rice, sweet
corn, trout or salmon (if you are fond of fish) and prawn or crab apart
from the usual vegetables and dressing!
Salads can
also constitute complete meals. After all, what does a balanced
meal consist of? Bodybuilding proteins, energy-yielding carbohydrates
and fats, vitamins and minerals. Various foodstuffs that provide these
are meats, eggs and milk products for protein, fruits and vegetables for
vitamins and minerals, and cream, butter, salad oil, nuts, cereals and
starchy tubers like potatoes for energy.
Of
all the food groups, routine salads that have slices of carrots, radish,
tomatoes and onions provide vitamins and minerals. Such salads can be
made tastier and more nutritious simply by adding a few other ingredients.
A
mixture of diced fruits and vegetables, a few pieces of cheese or some
boiled corn would account for the protein, a boiled potato would provide
the carbohydrates, and a few chopped nuts and a teaspoon of olive oil
would give the required fat. With all the nutrients available, the humble
salad becomes a complete meal!
Fruits
or sea food, frozen or fresh—
Come
to think of it, there are umpteen salads, in existence and in imagination,
because there is no fixed recipe for salads. They are made according to
available resources, convenience and, of course, taste.
Of
all the food groups, routine salads that have slices of carrots, radish,
tomatoes and onions provide vitamins and minerals. Such salads can be
made tastier and more nutritious simply by adding a few other ingredients.
A
mixture of diced fruits and vegetables, a few pieces of cheese or some
boiled corn would account for the protein, a boiled potato would provide
the carbohydrates, and a few chopped nuts and a teaspoon of olive oil
would give the required fat. With all the nutrients available, the humble
salad becomes a complete meal!
