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I believe that salt is to food, what food is to life. In right proportions, it can heighten the taste of what you eat..and in the wrong - destroy! Even the most delicious sweets come added with some salt...to taste!

As for me, I've never enjoyed cooking. And as contrary to my owning a food-blog as it may sound, I always think about daily, routine cooking as a chore. But my tryst with the pots and pans began when I got a kitchen all to myself...I began experimenting and exploring new worlds in my own home. Some outcomes were excellent and some plain disasters. Then sprouted the need to keep track of all those good ones...and hence this blog!

Here, I share those experiments that pleased more than one palate!




April 17, 2010

Rotini Garden Vegetable Salad

Summer is well on its way, and with it comes the thoughts of flaunting yourself. Unfortunately, winter comes packed with loads of festivity and good food which makes our minds and tongues happy, but our waist-lines, well...sad! So, before you head all out to show off that new skirt, but end up getting comments on your bulging love-handles, try gorging down salads through Spring to gear yourself up for a sizzling summer.

This fresh salad combines rotini pasta and garden vegetables, leaving you feeling both satisfied and light. And, adding whole grain pasta only goes further to make it completely guilt-free. Stick to your portion size of one cup of prepared salad (along-side garlic bread if you wish...although I can assure this itself is very filling), and you have conquered your 'What-do-I-have-for-lunch' moment! So, I will stop my jabber and share with you, this crisp, refreshing recipe.

 
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Ingredients
1/2 Cup Whole Grain Rotini Pasta, Cooked
1/2 Cup Brocolli crowns, steamed (or boiled)
1/2 Cup Carrots, chopped into half inch cubes, steamed (or boiled)
1/4 Cup Red Onions, julienned
1 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Lemon juice
1/2 tsp Ground pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (This is optional. You could substitute with Oregano)
And, of course, some salt to taste!

Method
- Combine together pasta and veggies in a large bowl
- In a separate bowl, stir together olive oil, lemon juice, ground pepper, italian seasoning and salt to make the salad dressing
- Pour dressing over pasta and veggies and toss
- Refrigerate for about an hour

SERVES 2


Noteworthy Notes
1. You could add salt when you steam/boil your veggies. Feel free to add more colourful, fresh veggies if you have them on hand
2. You can serve this salad as a hot salad, too. Just skip the refrigeration part.

This salad is off to chill at Madhuri's 'Serve Me Some...Salads' event.
Gurl...what can I say? Devour!

11 comments:

  1. Beautiful bowl of salad....my fav. kind of dish ...to eat & to make.....whenever I don't want to strain my mind by thinking what to cook for the next meal.....pasta with all the veggies is the answer...

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  2. Sounds yumm and perfect as a summer salad, the assortment of veggies makes it all the more yum and wholesome..

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  3. Such a beautiful salad, looks truly colourful..

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  4. I'll come to the salad later, but I have to say this first....love that bowl which is in the background of your last picture. It is gorgeous!

    I love pasta and one of the best things about it is that it can be made in a zillion ways. Your salad sounds wholesome and delicious!

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  5. Thank you everyone!!

    @ aquadaze - Yes, that happens to be the BEST bowl I possess. It is a hand-painted one at that!

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  6. It looks lovely Deepti! I could do with some salad now! Thanks a ton for sending it over :)

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  7. wow.. looks awesome.. do drop in at my site whenever.. following you

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  8. What a colorful and lovely salad!
    http://padhuskitchen.blogspot.com/

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  9. Thank you, Padhu for dropping by!
    I did see your blog sometime when I was hopping across recipe blogs...Will spend more time on it soon!

    Stay connected!

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