Monday, November 9, 2009

Spinach, Chick Pea, Fruit & Veg Salad and Almond Milk for brunch

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During school days, my kids have to be woken up really hard. But in the week ends, they get up by themselves earlier than school days and we are all up and running early in the morning. My husband sits with them and make them do little yoga and exercise and i am off to the kitchen making an elaborate breakfast for the special Sunday. So we have full breakfast and lunch(in fact a little elaborate than the weekdays) on the week ends too. But unusually i ended up having brunch on a Sunday morning few months back. This salad i prepared for brunch on one of those Sunday's for myself when my husband was travelling out of country and my elder one had gone to his friend's place for a sleep over and stay. Only me and my younger one were at home, lazing around we both read for some time, watched tv for some time. Being a picky eater i had prepared things which my younger one normally eats and for me i had a little bit of everything in my refrigerator. Little lazy to cook just for me, i prepared this healthy & filling salad.

Know what you Eat - Spinach is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin A, Spinach is also an excellent source of folate. Folate is needed by the body to help convert a potentially dangerous chemical called homocysteine that can lead to heart attack or stroke if levels get too high, into other benign molecules. In addition, spinach is an excellent source of magnesium, a mineral that can help to lower high blood pressure and protect against heart disease as well. Chick Pea(Garbanzo) are a good source of Protein, folate and also contain the following minerals Calcium, Iron, Potassium and Magnesium. Eating diets rich in fresh vegetables help in weight loss and are good for people with diabetes and for the healthy people to remain active throughout the day. Source - Whfoods & Nutritiondata.

Preparation Time - 15 mins
Cooking Time - none
Serves - 2


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Ingredients

Spinach - 1/2 bag(I had  half of 5 oz bag)
Cooked Chick pea - 3/4 th cup
Iceberg lettuce - 1/2 cup(chopped)
Carrot - 1(Peeled & cut into thin strips)
Beet root - 1(small)
Cherry tomatoes - 10(cut into half)
Black grapes - 10(cut into half)
Red raddish - 5(cut into thin slices)
Cucumber - 1/2(cut into thin slices)
Orange - 1/2(cubed)
Red bell pepper - 1/4 (cut into thin slices)
Toasted walnuts - handful
Shredded Cheese(vegetarian) - handful

Dressing

Extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp + 1/2 tsp
Orange juice - 1 tsp
lemon juice - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp or to taste
Freshly ground black pepper - 1/2 tsp or to taste

Method

1) Peel the beetroot and cut into small cubes, add 1/2 tsp of olive oil and put in a toaster for 2-3 minutes.
2) Remove it and once cooled, add the spinach, lettuce, chick peas, carrots, raddish, cucumber, grapes, tomatoes, orange, bell pepper strips, toasted walnuts and cheese.
3) Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together and add it to the salad ingredients and serve.
4) I had this salad with Almond milk and believe it, this is a very nutritious and filling lunch.



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Almond Milk


Ingredients

Almonds - 12 nos
Raw Milk - 6 oz
Ice cubes - few
Honey - 1 tsp
Cardamom powder - pinch
Saffron - pinch

Method

1) Boil the almonds in little bit of water for a few minutes and set it aside to cool.
2) If you press the almonds between your fingers, the almond peel will come off.
3) Grind the almonds into a smooth paste and then add milk, ice cubes, honey, saffron and cardamom powder and blend them together and serve.

Event Participation

1) Taking the Salad & Almond Milk to Monthly Mingle Brunch hosted by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey.

2) This also goes to No croutons required-November theme root vegetables hosted by Lisa.

3) This also goes to Yasmeen's healing foods event.

39 comments:

Sailaja Damodaran said...

Very healthy & filling.

SE said...

wow..such a wonderful and colorful salad,and its an iceing on the cake with almond milk for brunch..yummy

Sanghi said...

Very colourful and healthy fresh menu dear! Excellent clicks..!

Tina said...

Perfect and colourful salad......

ann low said...

WOW! This is so healthy.

Suparna said...

hi,
Wow, I like the idea of making kids exercise :) it's really essential these days!and love all that u prepared for the brunch,it's hard to choose one ..it's a healthy feast dear :)

Shri said...

My intention was not to blog hop now (with tons of work lying around) but when I saw Almond milk in my reader, I could not stop myself but look at the pic..I want to have it now!:((Looks totally delicious and so is the salad!

Home Cooked Oriya Food said...

thats a healthy salad and yummy drink!

Jeyashris Kitchen said...

wow what a healthy brunch.Wish to be ur guest for a weekend to enjoy this.Nice clicks

Avisha said...

Nice Colorful salad. Badam Milk is a fav at my home.I am the salad person.5 stars!!!

Unknown said...

Looks so colorful!

chakhlere said...

I just love these kinds of salads so much. Amazing!!

Shanthi Krishnakumar said...

Such a healthy bruch and perfect for the entry

Oraphan said...

Oh! Your salad looks fantastic! I LOVE raw salad and homemade dressing, yours sounds so delicious. Your homemade almond milk also sounds so amazing.

I'm so impressed with how you get your kids do some yoga and exercise in the morning!

Savi-Ruchi said...

what a healthy way to start the day dear.., they look cool :)

Abhilash said...

The salad looks colourful and healthy too.

Super work boss!!!

Priya Suresh said...

Such a healthy brunch, very perfect for a lazy sunday morning..

lata raja said...

Salad for the brunch is excellent. Incidentally the salad might qualify for this month's theme of No Croutons Required too. Both the sallad and drink are very appetizing.

Vidya Rao said...

Oh wow..Honey in almond milk...hmm..fantastic blend!

Finla said...

I love salades like this, looks so colourfull too.

Vrinda said...

Another healthy salad from u..looks colorful,lov hot badam milk...

Padma said...

Healthy and perfect filling brunch... and loved your salad... so colorful and filling.

Anupama said...

What a healthy and wholesome meal!!!

Namitha said...

Looks very inviting..healthy and perfect meal :-)

Veggie Belly said...

what a healthy salad! i love chickpeas in salad :)

Anonymous said...

Sadhana/ Muskaan
Thanks a lto for that flu supplements info..Dr has given mesome medicines and am almost back to normal now.It was so nice of u to leave me a msg..I shud b resuming posting from trw.thats one helluva salad..I too do this..top it with whatever I like..

Mythreyi Dilip said...

Both salad and almond milk are great, really healthy. Will try ur almond milk, book marking it.

Uma said...

healthy salad!! looks so yum! So does the almond milk!!

Unknown said...

Your salad looks so colourful and inviting and nurturing!Almond milk looks yummy!!

Preety said...

that sounds like a gr8 and healthy brunch

my kitchen said...

Colourful & healthy & perfect meal

Raks said...

A healthy salad and a lovely cilk of it too!

notyet100 said...

yummy this looks

Swarna said...

Very healthy salad.. I have become ur blog follower..pls do visit my blog
http://kovaihotkitchen.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

OMG so colorful this will be a real feast for me great brunch idea. Nice and healthy.

Unknown said...

Such a vibrant salad with all healthful ingredients.And with almond milk on the side ,I'm sold :D

Meeta K. Wolff said...

a brilliantly healthy meal. perfect for the mingle. thanks for the entry!

Joanne said...

I love throw-together dishes like this. What a great way to use up the odds and ends in the fridge!

iRaw said...

What a beautiful salad..lots of color, yay!

 
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