Fresh Guava Salad

A guava salad.

Any other day, I wouldn't even have thought of it. But today, I had in my possession what I can only call the best guavas I have ever had. Being one who prefers being oblivious to guavas in the fruit markets, fruits seller's cart or in the fruit basket at home, these guavas definitely had some mettle to make me hail them. I had only gone to the kitchen to get some water and I saw these large, beautiful, fresh looking guavas sitting on the kitchen counter. Well, I don't like guavas but others in my family do.

It was about time for lunch and I thought I would make a salad. And I did. The usual cucumber, onions and tomatoes salad. But all the while I kept eyeing the guavas. Call me crazy, but I thought they were smiling and staring at me. Finally, I picked one and decided to slice it for lunch, too. As I began slicing, I took a bite. And that's when all changed.

The guava was perfect, and I am not overstating. It was fresh and full of soft watery crunch and had the kind of sweetness that comes only with perfectly ripened fruits. Without a doubt, it was the best of guavas. I might have seen a white light with that bite. I don't remember. But that's when I decided that this sweet freshness deserves a salad.

And I didn't need much. I did not have to do anything complicated. I didn't have to whip up a fancy salad dressing, just a little bit of seasoning. All I had to do was find something that would match the freshness of these fruits. That's how came the sweet limes in the picture. And I added a few home made sun dried cherry tomatoes, well, they were almost dried.

The result was this gorgeous salad I never thought I would make.

On an unrelated note, I think I am becoming much salad savvy these days. Huh! Good for me.

Ingredients:
Guava, diced - 1 cup
Sweet lime, peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces- 1 nos.
A few sun dried cherry tomatoes
Kosher salt to taste
Red chilly flakes to taste

Recipe:

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl.

Serve.

Spinach and Pomegranate Salad with Walnuts

The last time I posted a salad recipe, I was set on using veggies that are not available in my town and spent an entire day travelling back and forth another town to procure them. But this time I decided to use what I had and the result is this beautiful fresh salad. I am in love with the colors and the juicy crunch of pomegranate in this salad. I have to admit that otherwise I do not like a lot of nuts in my salads, but walnuts add a welcome flavor addition in this one so I cannot complain too much.

A fresh, uncomplicated salad such as this one is what's cheering me today because there are too many complications to deal with in life anyway. Why make a mess of your food too when there's simplicity to your rescue?  Much like this salad I posted earlier and this one here today, there are times you go out of your way to get the things you want and then one day you have to settle for what you can get because no matter how hard you try to go out and get the things you want, you can't because it's a rainy day; and even if you manage to get on the road somehow, others couldn't have.

Vegetable Salad with Creamy Cumin-Yogurt Dressing

Over a conversation a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine said that she loves salads and asked me to post a vegetable salad recipe. A vision of a beautiful, colourful salad started forming in my head. I agreed to her request and told her that I will post a salad recipe soon. A couple of hours later I realised that heavy rainfall in the past week had flooded the bridges and blocked the roads in and out of town, due to which the markets in my region were not being supplied fresh vegetables; so a salad was out of question. Besides I do not get fancy vegetables like bell peppers, red cabbage, zucchini etc. in the small town where I live. Anyhow, these restrictions weren't going to deter me. I was already committed to preparing a salad and wasn't ready to make-do with what I had.

I texted my cousin who lives in the capital city of our state of Chhattisgarh and asked her if she was free on  a day this week. Luckily she had a day off. She asked what I wanted to do and I told her I wanted to buy vegetables. She went all "LOL"! So we set up a plan for yesterday and took a train in the morning to Raipur. Buying vegetables wasn't going to take all day so we watched a movie, had lunch, window shopped and moved about town. She took me to a market where I bought all the fresh and fancy vegetables I wanted and also went eye balling and hoarding food props to photograph my food in. This is what I call work plus fun. Lucky for me, she too loves cooking so she did't think I was crazy! Hey, am I putting ideas in your head? Trust me, I am not crazy.

This is today's salad story and it has a happy ending.