KIWI CUCUMBER SALAD WITH MINT AND WALNUTS

Kiwi Cucumber Salad – Not Your Usual Green Salad!

There is no doubt that it’s a plateful of ‘very green” ingredients but please don’t run away jut yet because this Kiwi Cucumber Salad is not your typical green salad that might taste as if you are chewing on fodder. Nope, I’m all for ‘healthy’ food but I can’t make myself eat it if it tastes like vitamin pills. No matter what, the food has to be fun and delicious to land on my pate! When Spring brings a flood of beautiful produce, It’s hard for a foodie not to play with different combos. I love to combine juicy, sweet and sour fruits with vegetables in my salads to enhance the flavors so that I can skip complicated dressings and sauces.

The Gorgeous Greens On My Plate

You will not find too many pure green recipes on my blog. It’s not because I don’t love the color (quite the opposite, green features very prominently in my home décor). And I love pistachio ice cream, pickled green olives, peas pulao and spinach curry 😉 But if the food looks like the gooey stuff from The Prince of Darkness or something bubbling in Dexter’s Laboratory then I plain out refuse to eat/drink it. So none of that stuff here, only very sweet & sour kiwi fruits, with juicy cucumbers, crunchy cabbage and refreshing mint. You know why I love kiwis so much? Because underneath the fuzzy skin, which is very easy to remove, it’s yumminess of strawberries, bananas and pineapple combined in one fruit.

Kiwi Fruits Health Benefits

Kiwis are, undoubtedly, the star of this Kiwi Cucumber Salad. They add a bright, juicy, acidic, tropical kick and freshness to the whole thing. But they are not just fun and yum, you’ll be amazed to know all fabulous health benefits. Just two kiwi fruits have twice the vitamin C of an orange and nearly as much potassium as a banana. It’s loaded with fiber, reduces blood clotting and bad cholesterol levels. There is one more fun thing you can do with kiwi fruits – make paste and freeze to use later as natural meat tenderizer in cooking

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Cool It With Cucumber

Did you know that cucumber is actually a fruit and not a vegetable? And, humble though it might be, it’s a powerhouse of beneficial nutrients. Low in calories, rich in soluble fiber and high water content, it’s an ideal food to keep you hydrated in hot months. We use cucumber as an essential part of our diet in the South Asian summer, be it simple cucumber raita ( cucumber in yogurt side) or Doogh ( cucumber and yogurt drink). Cucumbers contain magnesium, potassium and vitamin K- a trio of nutrients that’s vital to cardiovascular health.

Cabbage Conundrum

Well, if you have a whole lot of it growing in your garden, you might wonder sometimes what to do with it? Eat it? Put a cabbage stall outside your home? Feed it to your neighbor’s goat? It’s a simple, nourishing and flavorful vegetable but keep coming up with recipes to add to your diet can be tough at times. I add cabbage leaves as greens base to my salads very frequently. I simply shred the cabbage, put it in a colander, heat water in my electric kettle and pour over it slowly. This way the raw smell and taste go away, while the cabbage retains it’s crispiness. One more vitamin C rich and heart friendly ingredient added to your salad which makes it filling as well. If cabbage is not your choice of greens, go for iceberg lettuce or your favorite greens.

IF YOU LIKE THIS RECIPE, ALSO CHECK

• GARLIC SAUTEED SPINACH SALAD
• INSTANT KOREAN PICKLED CUCUMBER
• CHICKEN PINEAPPLE PICO de GALLO SALAD

Ingredients:

1 small head cabbage or greens of your choice

6 kiwi fruits

1 large cucumber

4-5 walnuts, roughly chopped

fresh mint leaves, a few sprigs

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

2 tablespoons lemon juice

black pepper to taste

salt to taste

2 pickled red peppers, chopped (optional)

This Is What You Do:

To begin, wash and pat dry all the fresh ingredients (cabbage, cucumber, kiwi fruits and mint leaves).

Shred cabbage. Heat water in a kettle. Now add shredded cabbage to a colander and slowly pour the hot water over cabbage. Immediately after run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside till all the water drains away.

You can choose to peel or not the cucumber to suit your taste. Slice cucumber into very thin slices.

Peel the kiwi fruits and slice into rounds.

Add cabbage, cucumbers and kiwi slices to a salad bowl. Toss to combine.

Garnish with mint leaves and walnuts. You can add a couple of chopped pickled red chilies or jalapenos if you like a little extra kick of heat.

Mix together olive oil, honey, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Drizzle this simple vinaigrette over the salad right before serving.

Serves 2