Salads are good. They are an excellent source of fresh fruits and vegetables. I tend to use seasonal produce to create salads because it helps in keeping the body hydrated. It also helps that the ingredients are readily available. For me, a bowl of salad and a smoothie are the perfect summer lunch combo. It keeps you filled, light and keep you refreshed.
The best thing about salads is that one can play around with different combinations and ingredients and be surprised with the unexpected outcome of flavors. I don’t use fancy ingredients to prepare my salads.
Similar to the mystery box challenge in the TV show MasterChef, I challenged myself to create something new with summer’s delight: watermelon. Naturally, the first thought that crossed my mind was a salad, because I also had apples, lemons and cucumbers in my fridge. With the help of a circle cutting spoon, I scooped some circles of apples and watermelons, and added thin cut slices of cucumber to the fruits. I also wanted to add some homemade crispy fried cottage cheese (to give some crunch to the salad). Since I did not have cottage cheese, I added grilled malai chicken boti chunks. I also squeezed on some fresh lemon juice and sprinkled salt and pepper for taste. The star of the recipe however was the mint leaves.
A colorful savory watermelon salad, complimented with seasonal fruits and chicken, is the perfect summer treat. It’s very simple to assemble, let me show you:
Ingredients:
- Watermelon – 10 to 15 scooped circles
- Apple – 1, scooped into circles with a spoon
- Cucumber- 1, skin peeled and cut into slices
- Chicken Chunks – 10 to 12, grilled
- Lemon Juice – from 1 lemon
- Mint – 5 to 6 leaves, torn roughly by hand
- Salt – ½ teaspoon
- Black Pepper – ½ teaspoon
- Olive Oil – 1 tablespoon
Instructions:
- Cut all the fruits and vegetables
- Mix them all in a bowl with salt, black pepper and olive oil
- Toss well and serve chilled
Fatima Ali
I am trained to be an IT professional. I served National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) for six years after graduating from the same university. As long as I can remember, cooking good food has been my passion and it makes me happy. My cooking lessons were a bit unusual though. Back in the day when digital did not mean much, my father would record cooking shows (knorr ka kitchen, kaukab khuwaja and Zee Khana Khazana – Chef Sanjeev Kapoor) for me to watch endless times later on, before trying the recipes out. I would make brownies and cold cake almost every day while my mother was asleep. This was my way of surprising her every evening. My mother cooks amazing food too and I have tried many of the recipes written in her recipe book. I draw inspiration from a number of chefs from televised cooking shows such as Late Chef Farah, Chef Rahat, Chef Mehboob, BBC Food, Masala TV, Chef Shai, Chef Sharmeen, Master Chef Australia and my ultimate favorite Chef Shireen Anwer. I would not be as good a cook I am now without passive guidance from each one of these.
