Coming from an Andhra family, all our meals almost always included rice in some form or the other. My mom gets very concerned when I tell her that I had salad for lunch, when in reality I ate a whole 8oz. bag of greens with another 1 cups of toppings added (I don’t eat tiny salads, my salads are huge—sometimes I feel embarrassed to even open my lunch box in the cafeteria, that I sneak lunch at my desk).
So growing up salad was rarely on our menu. It was the biggest cultural shock for me when I came to US. For international dinner on my graduate school orientation, in my very early days in the US, we were served salad and pasta (with meat of course). In those days I wouldn’t touch all that “Ghas Phoos” (rabbit food for non-Hindi speaking people) with a bargepole even if I had to die of hunger. But with time I’ve become more accepting and I actually enjoy salads once in a while (please don’t talk about serving sizes here).
My mom would be very happy with this salad, ‘cos it has rice in it. This is a Friday night clean up recipe that is wholesome, filling and super simple to put together. I’m not including any measures ‘cos I used whatever I had left-over in my fridge, so change the measures and ingredients depending on what you have.
Ingredients:Brown & White basmatic rice – micro waved until just heated through or at room temperature
Black-Eye Peas – cooked
Shallots – chopped fine
Garlic – minced
Curry powder – I used madras curry powder
Cherry tomatoes – roughly chopped or left whole
Arugula – roughly chopped (any green leafy veggie would be good)
Lemon juice, Salt & Pepper – to taste
Method:
- Heat some oil in a pan, add shallots, garlic and black-eye peas and sauté until shallots turn translucent; about 5 minutes. Add curry powder and salt; mix well. Remove and keep aside.
- In the same pan, add arugula and chopped tomatoes; cook till the greens are just wilted; about 3 minutes. Season with salt and curry powder.
- To serve: layer the rice, beans and greens in the order of preference and enjoy with a squeeze of lemon juice.
This is my entry to this month’s No Croutons Required – Indian style Salads/Soups being hosted by Lisa’s Kitchen.
Actually, we were used to eat salad back home. I never made salad with rice , i wouldn't mind to have brown rice and beans. They are really filling and different :)
ReplyDeleteGhaas-Phoos...u reminded of me, few years back I was the same :-D....but now I totally enjoy them in all ways. Excellent entry...looks healthy and delicious .
ReplyDeleteLovely salad!
ReplyDeleteWhen i came here first i was also shocked to se epeople eating leaves and I had to get uesed to thesesalades and now i really enjoy them and i too eat them in heaps, but then at home, nobody is glaring then :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for participating in NCR. I adore black eyed peas. Combined with the rice, this is a perfectly balanced salad.
ReplyDeleteSalad looks tempting:)
ReplyDeleteIf I am using rice with my salad then it mostly lands up to be with wild rice..will post that someday. This one would make a yummy meal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that sweet comment - trust me, you will think what all the fuss was about, the minute u start baking..u will fall in luv with it believe you me :) :)
Waiting to see your luscious creation for BBD :)
Love the addition of brown rice. BTW I like your pictures.
ReplyDeleteHere we are Friday... and this is EXACTLY what i was looking for. I want to add some chicken, some golden raisins.. and make wraps with them.
ReplyDeleteThankyou for this great starter! :)