Korean Style Cucumber Salad

It feels great to get hold of the computer from N and write a post! She is busy baking for a Thanksgiving feast at a friend's place and so, I thought I should seize (literally!) this opportunity to redeem myself.

First of all, let me address my love for sports. Don't think that I don't check all those Facebook status messages where N tries to portray this sad picture where she has to watch sports with me to save our marriage and the plethora of sympathy that she garners as a result of that : P

All I have to say is that I'd love to be a sportsman. But once you choose to get into sciences, it is rather hard to do so. So I live my dreams vicariously through them. Like millions of us who hail from a country that didn't particularly encourage sports as a full-time career when I was growing up. I am not sure how much things have changed now. But yes, growing up, I'd rather salute to the waving Indian flags when Sachin raised his bat after scoring a fifty or a hundred than when a patriotic song was played on the TV or radio. I'd rather scream to defend Ganguly's decision to field first than when a bunch of politicians screwed up or debated over an issue. I'd rather demonstrate my boiling rage on Ponting or Waqar Younis or Shoaib Akhtar by booing them vehemently than over potholes on the streets or at a protest to oppose something :)

Being in the US, I'm naturally into college and professional sports big time. I am an AVID Yankees fan, a BIG Kobe Bryant fan, apart from a couple of college football and a few other NFL, NBA and MLB teams. But I was a cricket fanatic before coming to the U.S. I am one still ;) I go to great lengths defending Sachin Tendulkar when someone blames him solely for any loss that we incur. I provide them with useful statistics to support my arguments ;) Unfortunately, N is neither a fan of statistics, nor logic :P

Speaking of N, she went on this salad diet sometime ago. It took a lot of convincing on her own part to get on this regimen. She ate salad for lunch and dinner and spent one whole month criticizing my food habits. She hates cucumber and doesn't eat much of the cukes lying around though is one of the first few things we pick up at the Farmer's Market. Its a classic N situation. She has a list and her eyes dart up and down the Market looking for people ( she can identify and wave a huge hi and give this huge 'OMG, I've missed you' smile), then quickly turn into this efficient shopper - all with equal ease and aplomb. It was one such day when she spotted these English cukes like every week and gave herself a lecture on how one should eat healthy food.

N: You know what? We should really eat healthy. All the chocolate cakes you bake are going to be the end of me.

A: But you hate cukes!

N: So what? If you try to eat, I'd also feel like eating! So its your fault.

A: Great! Pick it up.

N: Tonite is this salad that I saw at Susan's blog. Remember?

A: (I have no clue, to be honest) Oh ya, sure! I hope its only for you. I'm looking forward to some Lasagna.

N: (very disapproving, School Principal look) - Well, if that's what you want. I mean, look who is going to put on weight, who is going to be really sick when we get old. Fine. Be like that.

When N says "Fine. Be like that" that is exactly the opposite of what she means!! It means that she would LOVE to be in a situation where she'd get to eat all the lasagna but not put on a attometer of waistline. She will talk about it forever ;) and point out how unhealthy my lifestyle is. Which she did, very very promptly for the whole salad month. Just to give you a little context, I eat normal food. 3 Rotis with sabzi, Rasam Saadam, Lasagna occasionally, Pasta more often, dessert every night. Of course, to me, dessert could mean cubed apples with a drizzle of honey and some roasted almonds. However, for one whole month, N sat next to me with her salad bowl and would purposely eat the salad with a crunch, ooh-aah it and claim that she can feel good health in her bones. She'd shake her head as I cooked 'regular food' and said: "Sigh, you do realize you are getting older? We should take care of ourselves. Look at me? So responsible!"

So that cucumber night, she made this salad with a lot of enthusiasm and ate it with equal drama. However, late in the night, she casually mentioned: "I hate salads, but this one was pretty good. Makes me want to stay on. Does cucumber taste the same in India too?" (She never ate much cucumber before this!) Here is the recipe for her latest cucumber obsession!

So, dear fellow food bloggers, I'm glad that this salad won my wife over and she's continued to make this every now and then and eat it regularly now. And likes cucumber ONLY in this salad and doesn't call this salad: Ghaas-Phoos (Leaves)!

Sichuan Slaw

One of my favorite things to do every day is to read the NY Times, and in particular their Dining and Wine section (Under Style -ya!) Bittman is a huge favorite of mine and I love his no-nonsense, healthy, foodie column. So, when he spoke about 101 salads for this summer, I knew I'd find something there. I'm not a salad person. And being an Indian, the first time I saw people grappling at leaves with their forks, I was quite amused :) I tried it myself only to hate it. All because I thought you need a lot of the dressing to make up for the leaves. And all this snobbery when I'm a vegetarian. But now, I'm a convert. Some salads can be tasty. Especially when the dressing does not overpower the actual flavour of the ingredients! Like the Sichuan Slaw. Salad no. 6. As long as it is evil to my hips, even partially ;)

May I say that this salad was as good as great, trashy Chinese take-out that we so enjoy on those depressing nights? Now, I totally understand texture, the amount of dressing to be made, the punch of flavour in soy sauce...the toastiness of the sesame oil. If I'm waxing about the salad so poetically or like a food connoisseur (which I'm not), you can imagine how good it is. As I write this, my mouth waters! I can eat this salad through the year and not complain. The sprouts are crunchy and fresh, the carrots lend the sweetness along with honey in the dressing, the green chillies satisfy my Indian tongue and the peanuts are just the icing on the cake with the sesame oil rounding it all up to create a fantastic feeling in the mouth. Indians will identify the texture to be like a good road-side chaat!

The ingredient list is not measured. I threw in things together, much like the way Bittman's described it. So, please adjust seasonings and the components of the salad per your taste. We all have these ingredients, and trust me, nothing is simpler.

Ingredients

Sprouts - They are the basis of this salad, so use fresh ones and I used around 2 cups
Carrots - Grated or shredded. I grated one carrot
Peanuts - a handful
Cilantro - 1/3 cup - Do add them, because it does magic visually.
Mint - 1 or 2 sprigs, finely chopped
Celery (acc. to Bittman's recipe. But I didn't have it, so didn't add this)

For the dressing:

3-4 green chillies, minced.
Ginger - grated - 1/4 tsp or so ( My addition to the original recipe)
Lemon juice - Per your taste. I used more than a tbsp
Soy Sauce - I used about one tbsp
Sesame oil - 1-2 tbsp
Honey - Just enough to take away the searing heat of the green chillies ( Bittman says to add sugar. I chose to add honey)
Basil (Bittman recommends all the three herbs - basil, cilantro and mint) However, I didn't have any, so didn't add any!
Salt - Per taste

1. Pile all your ingredients in your salad bowl. There's no major chopping really, apart from the carrots, and maybe shelling of peanuts.

2. Make the dressing: Mix all the ingredients and make sure to taste it. If it turns out to be too spicy (I used a lot of green chillies for the amount of dressing), go ahead and add some more honey. I also added some extra soy sauce and sesame oil to increase the amount. So, its totally upto you.

3. Pour dressing over salad and mix well. Eat!

Other additions that I thought could make this better were, maybe some roasted garlic? Or, even, some garlic chips sorta thing? Shredded tofu or marinated tofu, made crisp by pan frying or baking? Noodles may be great too! What else do you think can go into this salad? I intend to make this again and I'd love to hear you give your suggestions on this.

I'm actually considering trying out every vegan/vegetarian salad in this list except for a few with a couple of veggies I hate! With an aim to shed some pounds, I love the idea of following a list like this (keeps me sane!) and certainly helps in planning out a meal. The last thing you want to do when you are on a diet is constantly think of what to eat - something that won't pile on the pounds! So, this list works fantastically well in planning my grocery trips. And most of the ingredients are so easily available and almost always stocked at home. So, you don't have to buy dressings, or any expensive, extra ingredients!

I found out through Twitter that Kellypea of Sass And Veracity is doing the same exercise. Go figure out the fun she's having with all the salads. For all you non vegetarians - she is planning to cover all the 101 and the salads sure do look pretty there! :)

So, please do yourself a favour and make this and let your taste buds tell your hips who the boss really is! ;)