Roasted corn and Watermelon salad

Anecdote

While most of us women can boast of being artful dressers, I find this one friend of mine pulling it off superbly. What strikes me in her self-styling is her ability to be different and yet match perfectly with an occasion. Well, this is one of her least important skills as this woman boasts of a large repertoire of life abilities. 

Doctor by profession, a successful practicing pediatrician, she helps me at the oddest of hours, a good cook with a lovely home which boasts of her artistic touches, mother of two promising lads with one doing some self earning already right in the start of college, a happy and social friend who comes all the way to Andheri from Walkeshwar every time that I request her and makes time for friends and relatives for all their important occasions, and...and..and...Bela, a relatively new buddy in my longish life now (sigh!) is someone I admire very much. 

While I am sharing Bela's kick-ass (pardon me but I cannot think of a more suitable adjective) salad with the most intriguing dressing, I must add that the one thing about Dr.Bela Doctor which impressed me the most is that she learnt driving only a few years back and she regularly drives all the way to Karjat come rains, come summer. Wow!

Stuff that you must have

Watermelon - cut into cubes with seeds cleaned out
Roasted corn on the cob
One large green capsicum
150 grams of cottage cheese
A sprig of coriander leaves
2 green chillies
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp sugar
Salt to taste(optional)

What to do

For the dressing; in a blender whisk together, crumbled cottage cheese, coriander leaves, lime juice, sugar and green chillies. Give it one quick whisk. The mix will be mildly grainy.

For the salad; take the corn off the cob with a sharp knife. Loosen the corn with your finger tips. Separately cut the capsicum into cubes so that both the watermelon and the capsicum are of the same size. Store in the fridge. When you are about to serve, throw away any extra juice that is released by the watermelon. Now add the corn. Mix in the dressing. Serve with a sprinkle of some more corn on the top. Add salt for taste though you may not require this step.

How to serve

A simple plating on a solid platter does it all. The colours of the salads provide a natural charm.

Trivia

Did you know that corn always has an even number of rows on each ear?

Thai Cabbage Salad

Cabbage has been historically appreciated as a salad vegetable like in Sauerkraut and kimchi. And who does not enjoy a classic Cole-slaw with their burger? 

This salad is very unique especially because it boasts of a rather unusual dressing. So going straight to the recipe for the dressing; take half a cup of coconut milk, 2 tbsps fish sauce, one lime rind and juice of one lime. Mix them all and keep it aside.

Finely chop cabbage to make about 2 cups. Blanche in warm salted water for 4 minutes or so. Drain well. take chopped shallots(4 green ones or even one large red onion), 5 pods garlic and 2 red bird eye chillies. Toss in warm oil till brown and crisp. Separately roast 2 tbsps peanuts and saute with a touch of salt and red chilly powder. 

Now add the dressing to the cabbage. Mix with 1/4th the shallot fry and peanuts. Set in a salad plate and top with the remaining fried shallot and peanuts. 

Serve with Vietnamese rolls or some Laksa. 

Paneer Kalimiri or Peppered Cottage Cheese

Ishani has been advising me to try this lovely easy creation for a long time. Pepper being a source of vitamins, A and C coupled with fresh and crunchy vegetables, makes this dish appetizing in looks, taste and health. 
Last Sunday we were spending another lovely day with the Talwars who love simple and fresh food which do justice to quality produce. 

All you need is coloured peppers, all three colours,  red-green-yellow, one each, a large onion, about 300 grams of fresh cottage cheese and some salt and home-milled pepper powder.

Chop the vegetables in round rings and the cottage cheese in cubes.In a hot wok or sauce pan, add about 2 tbsps of olive oil. Layer the onions, sprinkle salt and pepper powder. Now layer all the coloured peppers and sprinkle salt and pepper. Cover with a lid for 2/3 minutes and keep the flame low. The onions begin to caramelize and the peppers start to soften. Top with cubed cottage cheese. Sprinkle salt to taste and generous amount of pepper powder. Again cover with the lid for 4/5 minutes while your flame is low.

Enjoy as a side dish, a warm salad or a main course item.