COTTAGE CHEESE, BROCCOLI AND CORN SALAD

Bob and I were discussing the sweet chilli sauce recently. We always have a bottle of it at home. It’s so versatile. I use it as a dip, as a sauce while cooking Chinese dishes, a marinade and as a salad dressing.

When I buy sweet corn, it’s almost always used in salads. The other day, I had R (our cook) boil one for dinner time. I LOVE sweet corn.  I used to love eating the corn spinach cheese sandwich at Cafe Coffee Day but sadly it didn’t always taste fresh. This sandwich has been on my list of things to make since long . The next time I buy corn, I shall make this.

I walked into the kitchen with my phone and a frown and R asked me if I was going to make something for the blog. R knows my dislike for clicking pictures of food. Most of my cooking for the blog is done in the evening and it is so difficult to get good pictures with artificial lighting. Hats off to all those food bloggers out there who post such amazing pictures of their food.

R was steaming broccolis for a stir fry and I took a handful of those, threw in some cottage cheese, nuts and voila, I had the salad ready. I don’t follow recipes while making salads and if they turn out great, I’m mighty pleased with myself.

Increase the quantity of the ingredients used and the salad could be a meal in itself. The cottage cheese and nuts make the dish filling. I like adding caramelised nuts to my salads, they enhance the flavour and I like that additional crunch. I don’t consider salads as meal replacements, so I had to have a tiny bowl of curd rice after the salad.   

COTTAGE CHEESE, BROCCOLI AND CORN SALAD  (SERVES 2 ADULTS)

Ingredients:

Cottage Cheese (Paneer) – 100 gms

Broccoli (steamed) – 1 cup

Sweet corn (boiled) – 1 cup

Nuts (cashew, almond) – ½ cup

Raisins– 5-10

Sweet chilli sauce – 1-2 tbsp

Olive oil

Sugar – ¼ tsp

Salt – a pinch

Method:

1.      Into a bowl add the steamed broccoli and boiled corn.

2.   Cut the paneer into cubes and shallow fry in olive oil ( 2 tsps) until it slightly browns.

3.      Add the paneer into the bowl.

4.      Into the same pan, add the almonds and cashews. Sprinkle the salt and sugar on them and toast them lightly. Add the raisins and when they have browned, add the caramelized mixture into the bowl with the veggies.

5.      Drizzle a little olive oil and the sweet chilli sauce and give the salad ingredients a good toss.

6.      Done.

Recipe notes

·        Don’t fry the paneer for too long, it will turn rubbery.

·        Don’t let the broccoli lose its crunch. 

·     You needn’t stick to the proportions listed by me. Feel free to alter it to suit your taste.

The sweetest smelling Poppy from our garden: