Soup n Salad Meal

Temperatures are soaring in Bombay and my appetite is going for a toss which is a good thing. Good thing because now I can concentrate on my favourite food, soups and salads and lose some weight in the process. Also, the reason for going the soup n salad way is Citylight Market in Matunga. The elaborate mandi which is on my way to work has every possible ingredient right from exotic vegetables and fruits to spices and seafood. Once in a while I stop at the market to do my weekly shopping. Last week I made a healthy soup and salad combo, Asparagus and apple salad with Celery soup. The recipe for the former came from Sanjeev Kapoor and the latter came from BBC. Obviously, I modified them a little bit according to the ingredients available.

Celery Soup
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Celery - 2 stalks
Garlic - 1 clove
Onion - 1 medium
Olive oil - 1 tsp
Maggi chicken cubes - 2
Water - 200 ml
Cream (optional) - 1 tsp

Method:

• Chop onion, celery and crush garlic.

• Heat oil in a pan. Fry onion, garlic and celery till they are tender.

• Add maggi cubes and water and let it boil for 10 mins.

• Let it cool for a bit, transfer it to a blender and liquidify.

• Heat it again and top with cream before serving.

Apple and Asparagus Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cooking Time: 10 mins
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
Asparagus - 6
Apple - 1 medium sized
Red radish - 5 (without leaves)
Pickled gherkin - 2
Iceberg lettuce - 4-5 leaves
Romaine lettuce - 4-5 leaves
Olive oil - 1 tbsp
Lemon juice - 1 tsp
Honey - 1 tsp
Mustard seeds - 1/2 tsp
Kalonji - 1/2 tsp
Croutons - 1/2 cup
Salt to taste

Method:

• Take asparagus in a pan and pour half olive oil over it. Leave it while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

• Slice apple, radish and gherkin and tear the lettuce leaves.

• Grill the asparagus in a pan till it is tender. Chop it.

• Throw in apple, asparagus, radish, gherkin and lettuce in a bowl.

• Take mustard seeds in a mortar, add salt and crush it. Add the remaining olive oil, honey and lemon juice to it. Add this dressing to the salad and mix well.

• Roast kalonji in a pan and add to the salad.

• Top it with croutons and serve immediately.

Hope you liked the recipe and will try it soon.