It's raining cakes and desserts! and just in time to counter the sugar shock I'm craving salad and to go with the mood lets's have "Red Velvet Salad"! for a change. Red is trending this month and when I tossed this up I was amazed with how it came out and the beautiful components left us asking for more.
Talking of components, I did a little research on the importance of color in fruits and vegetables, and was amazed by its benefits and pondered again on how, the marsterpiece the Almighty has painted on natures's canvas ...has no bounds.
The visual appeal in fruits and vegetables comes from three main types of pigments-Carotenoid which give Orange and yellow color, Flavonoids which provide blue , red and cream colors and chlorophyll which makes greens green.
Now that we are talking red, here is an extract from the article I referred.
"Red and orange fruits and vegetables are among the highest in vitamin C. A one-half-cup serving of red bell pepper provides 95 milligrams of vitamin C, which is about 25 milligrams more than a medium orange -- the popular gold standard for vitamin C. One cup of strawberries contains 85 milligrams. However, some red fruits and vegetables are relatively low on the vitamin C scale, while some non-red vegetables are good vitamin C providers. A medium tomato, for example, contains 16 milligrams, much less than one-half cup of broccoli, which has 51 milligrams, according to the Linus Pauling Institute."
Here is the link to the complete article. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/colors-vegetables-nutrients-2311.html
So toss up this simple salad to wash out toxins and take a break from those heavy meals and desserts and Red velvet cakes!! Literally ....For a bit
Ingredients
- Pomegranate- 1
- Red kidney beans- 1 can
- Cherry tomatoes- 8-10
- Strawberries- 8-10
- Red bell pepper- 1
- Beetroot- 1 medium size (blanched)
- Rose petals(optional)- handful
- Dry cranberries- handful
- For the Dressing:-
- Rose Syrup- 5-6 tbsp
- Apple cider vinegar- 1 tbsp
- Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
Directions
- 1For branching beetroot-Boil water. Take off heat. Place beetroot in the water, cover and keep aside for 15 mins. Once done, rinse, peel and cut into thin wedges. Keep aside, the beetroot will be added just before serving the salad to avoid color bleed into other components. Drain water from the canned kidney beans.
- 2In a mixing bowl, add all the other red fruit- veg components( strawberry, cranberries, pomegranate etc etc). Keep aside.
- 3In another bowl mix all the components mentioned under "for the dressing". Taste and adjust the sweet- tart as per taste.
- 4Pour the dressing over the red fruit- veg mix. Toss gently. Taste and adjust the dressing if needed. Before serving toss in the beetroot wedges and rose petals. Give a gentle stir. And your easy peasy "red velvet Salad" is ready.
