Salad Mania!
Jul 01, 2016
— This article appeared in the July/August, 2016 Bamboo Telegraph, Singapore
When the weather is hot one of the best meals to keep you cool is a salad! Refreshing, healthy and easy, salads are a great go to meal in Singapore. Salads are good for lunch or dinner without heating up the kitchen.
Make a salad with local flavours, creative pairings or filling add ins. A popular combination in Singapore is pumpkin with spinach, sprinkled with sesame seeds; easily recreated at home. Below are ingredients you can add to make any salad more filling, nutritious and satisfying, creating a simple and delicious meal.
Lentils – Adding color, texture, and nutrition, lentils are an excellent ingredient to add to salads. Lentils add protein, B vitamins and iron. Use red lentils for an added splash of color!
Legumes – Beans are an economical way to incorporate more vitamins and nutrients into your diet. Add black beans and cilantro for a Spanish taste, garbanzo beans and feta for a Mediterranean taste or navy beans, basil and tomatoes for an Italian taste.
Beets – Grated raw, roasted and chopped, or pickled and canned, beets add flavor and brightness to salads. Beets are low in fat, high in carbohydrates and filling, making them the perfect salad addition.
Eggs – Hard boiled eggs are a good source of protein. For a local taste place a fried egg on top of a warm spinach and potato salad. Drizzle with a balsamic vinaigrette or Thai flavored dressing.
Rice – Don’t throw out the leftover rice! Save it for a salad the next day. If your rice is already flavored, make a salad to match or enhance those tastes. If not, give it a Mexican flair with salsa, or an Asian spin with sambal or chili sauce.
Noodles – Try rice noodles and peanut sauce for a Thai inspired salad or soba noodles with a ginger and carrot dressing for a Japanese style salad.
Mung bean sprouts – Popular in Chinese and Indian cuisine, mung beans add flavor and crunch to your salad. In refrigerator, soak mung beans in water for 3-4 days, changing water 1-2 times per day. Once sprouted, add to your salad.
Bread – Tuscan Panzanella is the most famous bread salad, but you can add day old bread to any salad. Keep bread wrapper free on the counter for a day or two to make croutons.
Olives – Fresh olives are easy to find in the deli section at most markets and are an excellent source of healthy fats.
Healthy grains – Farro, quinoa and bulgar make great additions to a salad. While they each make a great base for salads, these grains can be added to any salad for a nutritional boost. Add these nutritious grains for extra protein and fiber as well as other important vitamins and minerals such as B vitamins, copper and magnesium.
By adding hearty ingredients to your salad you can change a side dish to a main course meal. Add a loaf of good quality bread and a glass of wine and take time to enjoy the good life in Singapore!
Bon appétit!
