Sometimes one must count their blessings and today’s post is about to do that. A garden to plate salad which makes me realise how blessed I am. Roasted Bell Pepper Salad with a Podi Spiced Dressing with home grown cherry tomatoes, lettuce and pomegranate. Organic flax seeds podi from the local grocer, this salad is the perfect example of growing local yet eating global.
This Roasted Bell Pepper Salad is one of those things that was a result of let’s empty our fridge (yes I have been having a lot of these off late). I looked at a batch of red bell pepper & baby corn lying in the corner begging to be used. I did a quick grill in the oven and went around to my kitchen garden to check what else can be foraged to put together a meal.
Each time, I harvest something from my kitchen garden it really makes me count my blessings. In a concrete jungle that Bangalore is turning out to be, I have a little patch of land my backyard where I can grow vegetables. The pleasure and satisfaction one gets when you grow your own food is something that has to be experienced and not described. You nurture something, see it grow and then when you pluck it and eat it fresh you really realise what freshness means. Every time I eat a meal like that I feel more and more convinced to make my long term dream of retiring on a farm or an estate come true. It pushes me to work harder to save that money, it is a different matter that when I see an outfit, a saree or a kitchen device I forget all about it.
Till the time I set up my farm and make my dream come true, I am trying to live it a little in the backyard of my house. Lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, spinach, rocket, methi. A few fruit trees like papaya, pomegranate, lemon. Herbs like basil, mint, coriander, thyme etc and life seems so blessed.
Anyways, as usual I digress into my stories. Here is the recipe of the lovely and comforting salad I made that day. Most ingredients easy to source and now local (yes I think lettuce is pretty much local now). If you make this, don’t forget to share a picture on any of the social media channels.
Roasted Bell Pepper Salad with a Podi Spiced Dressing
Ingredients
- 2 large red bell pepper (you can use green or yellow)
- 5-6 baby corn
- 1/2 cup cherry tomato sliced in two
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 1/2 cup lettuce leaves washed, dried and roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp pistachio toasted
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp chilli flakes
- Salt to taste
For the dressing
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp flax seeds podi (use any other podi as well)
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 190C. Chop the deseeded bell pepper in cubes, baby corn roughly in large slices. Pour 2 tsp olive oil, salt and chilli flakes. Mix well. And grill in the oven at 190C for 15-18 minutes till slightly charred
- In a small empty jam bottle, blend together all the ingredients on the dressing. Keep aside
- Mix together the grilled vegetables and the other salad ingredients. Pour dressing and gently mix. Serve immediately
I love roasted bell peppers and here are a few more recipes you can make with them
Outfit, saree and kitchen appliance 🙂 . Its a blessing to have a kitchen garden in a city like bangalore. Do you also grow seasonal stuff?
Yes I do. Lots of seasonal stuff. It is such pleasure growing it