Salads for the Summer with Godrej Natures Basket

Summer brought with it a new opportunity for A Perfect Bite to consult with it's favourite store Natures Basket. We spend so much time browsing through it's aisles and finding inspiration for our cooking, that we welcomed the opportunity to share some of our discoveries!

With the sun being relentless, cooking is minimal in our kitchen at the moment so the first Natures Basket Gourmet Safari we have embarked on is via the salad bowl. These days we find we want to eat something that is light, quick and refreshing salads fit the bill, not only are they light and fresh but they are packed with loads of nutrition and add a few select ingredients and you have the makings of a gourmet meal in a bowl!

Workshops at various Godrej Nature's Basket outlets, throughout the summer will have us tossing up bowlfuls of salad inspired by cuisines from around the world and sharing tips and tricks to reworking salads into soups, appetizers and even whole meals! All the recipes have been chosen keeping ease of preparation topmost but to factor in variety inspiration has been taken from different world cuisines.

On the cards (literally as you can see above) are 12 recipe cards that will be released at 10 day intervals throughout the summer to give people something new to look forward to with every shopping trip. Corresponding kits for each recipe will also be available for one to pick up on the go.The trial run took place to a packed house at Godrej Nature's Basket yesterday. The final round will take place in the month of June. Watch this space for dates. Untill then here is the first recipe.

Spicy Mango and smoked chicken salad.

'Salsafy' your mango! I serve this with iceberg lettuce leaves. Roll spoonfuls of the salad into lettuce wraps and enjoy the contrasts of flavours and textures. Sweet Mango savoury chicken, spicy chilli, and cool crunchy iceberg lettuce. Perfect to serve as a light summer meal or as starters or a side to Mexican meals. Eliminate chillies and the kids will love this as well.

Serves: 2-4, Time: 25 mins

For the dressing
1 cup salsa sauce
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander,
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
1 chilli minced

Method: Mix well and reserve.

For the salad
1 cup firm sour –sweet mango diced fine
1 cup avacado diced medium
1 cup chopped smoked or cooked chicken diced (please check what we have in stock)
1 onion diced fine
1 cup of celery sliced fine

To serve
1 large head Iceberg lettuce

Method: 15 – 20 mins before you are ready to eat, fill a large bowl with water and ice, place lettuce in it and put in the refrigerator to chill. In a large bowl combine mango, avocado, chicken, onion and celery and toss well. Add dressing, mix well and allow to stand so flavours combine. When ready to eat, remove lettuce from fridge, separate out leaves and serve on a platter along side chilled salad.

Serving Suggestions:
Serve with Nacho chips as dip or with Tacos as a taco stuffing. Dice mango, avocado and chicken into bigger chunks. Finely chop onions and celery. Combine everything and allow to stand for 20 mins. Then skewer chunks of mango, avocado and chicken on sate sticks, arranging on a platter as you go, pour leftover juices and bits from the bowl over skewers and refrigerate until ready to serve.