Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

Carpaccio is a dish made of raw meat (or veggie as in my case) whichly is thinly sliced and topped with dressing or sauce and is served as an appetizer.I have been wanting to make a vegetarian carpaccio for a long time and did so when I found an excellent and flexible recipe with Kalyn's zucchini carpaccio salad made with a simple dressing of lemon juice and olive oil.The recipe is originally of Tyler Florence and is from FoodNetwork and you can also find the same at SideWalkShoes.The only adaptation I have made is the addition of toasted pinenuts.

Ingredients:

Zucchini: 1 medium

Olive Oil: 2 tbsp+

Lemon Juice: 2-3 tbsp

Lemon Zest

Dill Leaves: 2 tbsp+

Spring onion/Scallions: 1 white part only

Salt /Sea Salt

Pepper

Paneer/Cottage Cheese/Ricotta/Parmesan (optional)

Preparation:

Clean zucchini and using a mandoline slicer thinly slice it into transparent rounds.

Arrange the zucchini in salad plates in a layered fashion and sprinkle salt and pepper.

In a bowl mix together lemon zest,lemon juice and olive oil and pour it over the zucchini.Let it sit for 15-20 minutes for the flavours to blend.

At the time of serving,top the zucchini with chopped spring onions/chives and chopped dill.Garnish with crumbled paneer and toasted pinenuts.

A simple yet elegant salad.The salad is lemony and the first feel on consuming is the freshness,then the tanginess of the lemon and the crunchiness of pinenuts bursts into your mouth.Enjoy the elegant salad.You can adjust the ingredients as per taste and availability.

The simple carpaccio salad which I made thanks to the excellent adaptation by Kalyn goes to NCR:Zucchini/courgettes hosted at TinnedTomatoes.

Mango Coconut Pops

OK,I am back.I was really busy shifting to a new apartment and the work is still on,cartons to be unpacked,kitchen to be set up etc.I thought I could manage an effortless shifting and had planned for this in advance,but things got a bit out of hand at the last minute.I had thought of scheduling some posts but could never get close to the laptop.It was that much hectic work.On top of it,I thought that I may have to bid an emotional farewell to my rented apartment where I had lived for almost 7 years or in cliched words "sharing joys and sorrows",but forget being senti,the topmost thing in my mind (even now) is unpacking. Anyways,I deliberately missed my second blogversary on May 31st due to this.Well,I had prepared a simple sweet treat for this -Mango coconut pops.Easy to prepare and perfect for summer as well.

I had already prepared mango milkshake and here I simply replaced the milk with coconut milk and freezed the shake.You can turn this into sorbets or granita or whatever cool treat you like.The quantities given can be varied as per taste.

Ingredients:
Mango: 1 big or almost 1 cup of pieces
Coconut milk: 1/4 cup +/- few tbsp
Honey/low fat sweetner: 2 tbsp or as per taste
Cardamom: a pinch(optional)

Preparation:
Blend together all the ingredients smoothily.Fill the popsicle molds till 3/4 th full and freeze for atleast 45 minutes or more depending on the fridge's coolest settings.

I used coconut milk made by using coconut milk powder prepared as per instructions on the pack.You can increase the quantity of this or use much more thicker milk or even avoid it just to make pops with mango puree.I increased the mango as I wanted the mango and the cardamom taste more.Also make sure you add sweetener a little bit more than necessary as on freezing the sweetness will decrease and I just did not want to depend on the natural sweetness of mango.You can also add powdered ginger and walnuts/cashews while pureeing or even ice to obtain a mango coconut slush.

This simple summer treat goes to Yasmeen's Healthnut Challenge 6.

On a different note: I am yet to settle down and hope to do so by this month end.I may try to schedule my posts as and when I am able to despite being late sometimes and though I may be visiting all the yummy blogs sooner or later,I may not be able to leave my comments there as regularly as I wish.Hope you will bear with me as I am knee deep in packing tapes and cardboard rolls than measuring cups and baking flours.