Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Corn-Tomato Salad with a Tomato vinaigrette!

Since A's been hounding people like me with desserts like those below, and much to my anguish, most of you seem to have taken to his tactics. So, as a response, I post this incredibly fresh and tasty salad with a vinaigrette I personally love.

Like I said, I was on a no-carb diet for a week. It worked great as a detox diet for me. I really didn't miss carbs as much as I thought I would. I'm consciously trying to reduce my carb intake irrespective of whether A wants to or not. I intend to outlive my husband, yes. Anyway, during that week, I made this salad sans the corn but added avocado instead, and loved it so much that I made it again yesterday. This time, I skipped the avocado and added corn. Considering its Holler's birthday and she seems to be a tomato gal like me, this one goes out to her for the Tomatoey edition of 'No Croutons Required' event. . Here's wishing you a healthy and happy birthday, Holler!

Ingredients:
1 cup corn
1/2 cup red onion, chopped.
1/2 cup cherry/grape tomatoes, cut into halves
1/4 cup baby spinach, chiffonaded
1/8 cup olive oil
3-4 tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 tsp Chipotle pepper
1 tsp honey
A dash of balsamic vinegar and/or red wine vinegar
1 tsp roasted cumin seeds
Lemon juice
Pepper
Salt to taste

Thaw the corn if frozen and add to the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over it. The lemon juice measurment may be slightly approximate, because I love lemon and add a lot of lemon juice to everything that I eat! Also add salt and pepper.

For the Vinaigrette -
- Chop the sun-dried tomatoes. You could use either the ones packed in oil or the dry ones. If you use the ones packed in oil, you may want to reduce the amount of olive oil used for the dressing.

- Blend the chopped sun-dried tomatoes, the chipotle pepper powder, roasted cumin, honey and the vinegar(s) along with olive oil and make sure it is of a pouring consistency. Add lemon juice if required. Again, add salt and pepper as you wish.

If you don't want to buy Chipotle peppers or Ancho chilli peppers which are essentially dry Jalapeno peppers, you may want to look for the readymade powdered ones available in your Farmer's Market or in the Mexican aisle at the supermarket. They lend a beautiful smoky flavour to the vinaigrette.

Pour the vinaigrette over the salad and mix well! Simple, filling and makes you feel like you put in a lot of exotic ingredients ;)


Happy Birthday to you, Holler. Hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

49 comments:

Deepa Hari said...

Lovely salad....looks colorful and yum.

FH said...

Beautiful looking salad. Love the tomatoey dressing, that's new. I love Chipotle, adds great smoky flavor to anything. I found green Jalapeno t chilli flakes the other day, great in Chaklis too.

Let me invite A to my Aroma for dessert then, you can have your salad! :D

Donna-FFW said...

The salad looks beautiful, I love all the veggies and its so colorful and the tomato viniagrette sounds just wonderful!!

Cham said...

One of the pretiest salad N, If it looks like that i don't even need a dressing! Let him live with his dessert I am with u for this lovely dressing. Happy New Year to both of u :)

Indhu said...

that is one colourful salad :)
looks soo yummy... I don't think I will feel deprived when I have this salad - that does not mean I am saying No to cheesecake :)

SJ said...

What the fuc# is "chiffonaded spinach"???????? I thought chiffon only applied to sarees!! Mmm.. that vinaigrette of yours sounds delish.

Soma said...

I love it ! I love it ! I love it ! For i love sundried tomatoes...

LOL .. I Could not but notice the comment before me.

Vibaas said...

lovely, colorful salad. i'm always looking for different types of dressing and this sounds yum!

Uma said...

ooh, what a lovely, colorful salad. Looks so tempting.

Red Chillies said...

Love the colorful salad. I am so trying to reduce my carbs as well. Love the dressing.

Priya Sriram said...

I havent been comfortable with salads, but these clicks are so colorful that I wanna try them right away! :)
Nice 'n healthy entry N!! :)

lubnakarim06 said...

Oh Wow looks bright and yum....Nice entry to the event...

chef and her kitchen said...

Tomato vinaigrette is something which is tempting me to try this salad....looking great..nice pic..
plz try to visit my blo@
http://thechefandherkitchen.blogspot.com/

Shama Nagarajan said...

delicious salad dear

Jayashree said...

Gorgeous looking salad. Love the colours in it.

Mahimaa's kitchen said...

so colorful. love corn.

suvi said...

love love love those colours!!!

Raaga said...

looks so colourful and tempting. Perfect for summer!

Chitra said...

looks gorgeous, healthy too;)

Anonymous said...

LOVELY variety of colors and textures and tastes! so refreshing!
but how did you live without carbs? I would be one very cranky, unbearable girl without my daily carb-fix!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

A refreshing and colorful salad! i love that tomato vinaigrette! A wonderful idea...

Cheers,

Rosa

miss v said...

awesome post! perfect timing when weather is calling for lighter meals. and i love the tomato vinaigrette - i've been experimenting with new dressings... sounds great!

vanillasugarblog said...

Hey! The comment you just left on my blog? The deep red color is from the sweet potato fries. Try them, they are wonderful!

sra said...

What glorious pix! Corn sure perks up a salad.

Sum Raj said...

perfect salad

Laavanya said...

I'm loving that dressing and the salad looks so bright & inviting.

Lisa Turner said...

Wow! What a refreshing and colourful salad. Thanks so much for participating this month!

Deepthi Shankar said...

I love salads. I really like that dressing, N

AnuSriram said...

Thats so colourful and lovely! Gr8 click!

Madhavi said...

Colorful and yummy salad!!!

bee said...

no carbs (or low carbs) is easier to maintain than most people think. we made pulao with one cup of rice a few days ago and we've still got about a quarter left. after many meals. i just don't crave carbs anymore. you need to save the calories for the fats and chocolate. :)

Unknown said...

what a great idea to use tomato in the 'grette too!

tuki said...

I love your blog! Thankyou!!

Cynic in Wonderland said...

woah. this is NICE!

A_and_N said...

Everyone: Thanks :)

Asha: Take him away. He got on my nerves only today morning! And jalapeno flakes?!?! I need to find them!

Pratibha: Sure thing!

Bee: I know! I'm pigging out on desserts :D

Pooja: He bakes EVERY night. You're invited anytime. We're sure to have dessert if not water!

Maria said...

Beautiful salad!! LOVE it!

Pooja said...

Healthy salad..Dressing is new to me..

Juliana said...

Such a great looking salad, very colorful and with tomato dressing...looks really delicious!

Bharti said...

That's quite a mix of flavors in the dressing. It sounds and looks delicious. I love corn in every way possible.

Shreya said...

Hi Nandu, such a lovely salad-so colourful! Your pics look grt:-) I have been off blogging for a while now, been busy with things at home. I have not been visiting your blog for a while too..such a lovely fare you have put up...the nombu adai, the cheesecake(yummm) and the cucumber almond soup are awesome...keep it up!

Vegetarian Zest said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Vegetarian Zest said...

I love the sun dried tomato dressing. Me too planning to go for no carb diet.Though A.(hubby)is always spoiling my plans by tempting me to eat all screaming calorie foods

Sia said...

I get really cranky if i miss carbs in my meals! may be I should give it another try and see if I can succeed this time.
and thanks for trying stuffed capsicum recipe. that was really quick :)

Anonymous said...

I'm starting a low carb diet (tomorrow, if it ever comes!) and this looks good enough to include. Very healthy and looks appetising.

TBC said...

Oh! that looks so pretty, N ...it's like summer in a bowl! :D
But why a "no-carb" diet, girl? Everything's fine in moderation.:)

Elyse said...

Mmm, this salad sounds delicious and light and refreshing. A perfect spring salad, a perfect respite from sugary desserts :)

Priyanka Agrawal said...

i like the link of this! i will try to make it although i m missing few ingredients :)
thanks for the recipe

Ingrid_3Bs said...

Mmmmm, love salad! I'm gonna add both avocado AND the corn! Can we say YUM?!
~ingrid

sheba said...

the salad looks beautiful...am on a diet now..so its something i could use