Avocado and lettuce salad with lemon and garlic dressing –

Ingredients -

Avocado – 2

Iceberg lettuce – ½ or 1 small

Scallions/spring onions with onion greens – 1 bunch/ 4-5 onions and greens

Tomatoes – 2 medium

Cilantro/coriander – 2-3 tb-spoons finely chopped

For dressing –

Juice of 2 lemons/limes

Garlic cloves – 4, finely chopped

Extra virgin olive oil – 3 tb-spoons

Freshly crushed black peppercorns – 6-8

Mustard powder – 1/4^th t-spoon (optional)

Salt to taste

Procedure –

1. Chop the avocado in bite size chunks. Shred iceberg lettuce. Slice onions and greens. Slice tomatoes.

2. Mix in lemon/lime juice, garlic, black pepper powder, mustard powder, salt and EVOO.

3. Arrange iceberg lettuce in plate. Arrange tomato slices around the corners over the bedding of lettuce. Keep avocado pieces and onions in the center. Sprinkle onion greens and chopped cilantro/coriander.

4. Drizzle the dressing on salad and eat little cold for that crunch of lettuce and fresh taste and color of avocado.

Tomato-onion raita (tomato-onion salad) –

Ingredients –

Tomatoes – 2 medium

Onion – 1 medium

Curd – 1 bowl

Salt and sugar to taste

Green chili – 1 chopped

Green coriander leaves

Crushed peanuts (danyache koot) – 1 tb-spoon

Procedure -  

1. Finely chop tomatoes, onion and green chili. If you have small kids at home, don’t chop green chili, just slit into two.

2. Add salt, sugar, dhanyache koot and chopped coriander leaves. Serve cold.

Beet raita (beetroot salad) -

Beet raita (beetroot salad) –

Ingredients -

Beetroot – 1 medium size

Curd – 1 bowl

Salt to taste

Asafetida – 1/4^th t-spoon

Chopped green coriander leaves

Procedure –

1. Cook the beetroot in a pressure cooker.

2. Chop in small cubes.

3. Add the rest ingredients – salt, asafetida and green coriander and serve the salad cold.

Variation –

You can add 1 chopped tomato along with beetroot. If you would like to try with tomato, add little sugar with tomato.

Cucumber Salad (खमंग काकडी)

Khamang kakdi (cucumber salad) –

This is a maharashtrian salad/koshimbir, common in all marathi households.

Ingredients -

Cucumbar – 3 medium

Crushed peanuts (danyache koot) – 3 tb-spoon

Lemon/lime juice – 1 tb-spoon

Ghee/clarified butter – ½ t-spoon

Cumin seeds – ½ t-spoon

Green chili -1

Salt and sugar to taste

Chopped coriander for garnish

Procedure –

1. Wash cucumbers and peel the skin. Chop cucumber in very small pieces. You can use food processor or chopper for that.

2. Add danyacha koot, lemon/lime juice, salt and sugar and mix well.

3. Heat ghee in a small pan, add cumin seeds and chopped green chili, sauté for a minute and turn off the heat. Let the tadaka cool down completely and mix in a prepared salad.

4. Sprinkle chopped coriander and serve cold.