My two grandmother’s could not be more different.  One has a PhD, was a career woman and takes pride in the fact that she ‘cant boil a kettle of water’. She is a connoisseur of fine food, but never enters the kitchen herself. My other grandmother works miracles in the kitchen. She can effortlessly turn out simmering pot after pot of the most delectable sambars, kuzhambus, rasams, poriyals, and kootus. She instilled in me a love for cooking; and not a week goes by when I’m not on the phone with my grandmother asking for recipes, techniques or clarifications. As different as they are from each other, both my grandmothers are remarkable women, and I continue to learn so much from them.

 My grandmother (the non-cooking one!), grandfather,  father and aunt. Late 1950s

 When its too hot to cook, I always turn to this mixed vegetable raita. Its cool, refershing and there is no cooking involved. I am happy just eating a huge bowl of this for dinner. But this colorful raita will be a great accompaniment to and Indian dinner of rice, roti and curry.

Its easy to remember this recipe – just remember the 6 Cs- cucumber, capsicum, corn, carrot, curd, cherry tomato. Then add pomegranates. Thats it! I didnt use pomegranate seeds in this recipe because I couldnt find any; but I highly recommend you use them!

My grandmother adds salt to the raita only just before serving. If you add salt any sooner, it will draw out the moisture from the vegetables and make your raita watery. And make sure you let the raita sit in the fridge overnight, it tastes much better than eating it right away.

My Grandmother’s Multicolored Mixed Vegetable Raita Recipe

serves about 10 as a side dish

1 large seedless cucumber, the kind with the plastic wrap or 4 small cucumbers (about 3 cups when chopped)
3 medium carrots (about 1 1/2 cups when chopped)
1 small green pepper (about 1/2 cup when chopped)
1 small orange pepper (about 1/2 cup when chopped)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
2 cups drained canned sweet corn
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (I didnt use, because I couldnt find them)
3 cups yogurt
salt

Peel the cucumber and carrots, and chop into very small pieces. Chop the peppers into tiny pieces as well. Cut each cherry tomato into 2 or 3 pieces.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, except salt. Place the raita in the fridge. Raita tastes better if it sits over night. Add salt just before serving and stir well. Serve chilled.

 I have a great giveaway for your from Chavrie cheese! You can win an amazing fall entertaining set worth $100! All you have to do is comment to enter the giveaway. One randomly picked winner will get a beautiful bread board, $50 cooking.com gift certificate, goat cheese coupons and more!

But first, here is a quick and easy goat cheese salad for you. Crisp romaine, soft goat cheese with bits of dried fruit and crystallized ginger, fresh pomegranate seeds…all served with some oil and vinegar on the side. Simple to make, but tastes so gourmet! I love the crystallized ginger with the goat cheese and could eat that all by itself

You may want to see my post on how to open a pomegranate without making a mess

 
Breaded Goat Cheese Salad with Dried Fruit and Pomegranate Recipe
serves 1 as an entree

4 tbsp bread crumbs, I used italian herb and garlic flavored bread crumbs
3 heaping tbsp goat cheese
1/2 tbsp chopped dried fruit, I used dried apricots and crystallized ginger
3 large romaine leaves, torn into pieces
2 tbsp fresh pomegranate seeds
Salt and pepper
Olive oil and red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar to serve on the side as dressing.

Place the bread crumbs in a small skillet and toast on low heat till bread crumbs are lightly browned. Turn off heat. Mix goat cheese (make sure its cold) with chopped dried fruit. Take 1 heaping tbsp of the goat cheese mixture. Using your fingers form the goat cheese into a ball and then flatten it into a disc. Gently press the goat cheese disc into the toasted bread crumbs. Make sure all sides are coated. Repeat with the remaining goat cheese and bread crumbs. You should have 3 breaded goat cheese discs.

Place the torn romaine lettuce in a plate. Arrange the goat cheese discs on top. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, salt and pepper. Serve oil and vinegar on the side for dressing the salad.
 

Cheesy Giveaway Part 2! Win this bread board with dip bowl and much more!

Win a Gourmet Fall Entertaining Set (Value $100)One lucky winner will get:

-Williams-Sonoma Cherry Wood Bread Board with Dip Bowl (in the photo above)
-Dried fruits
-Crystallized Ginger
-Chavrie Coupons – Free Cheese, of course!
-Cooking.com Gift Certificate for $50.00
-Chavrie recipe cards (dips, quick tips and wine suggestions)

 
How to enter

-leave a comment here

To increase your chances of winning, also do one or more of the following. You will be counted as many times!

-blog about this giveaway on your blog and link to this post

-use the ‘share’ button below to share this post with friends

-tweet about this giveaway

US residents only please!
Contest ends Thursday, Oct 29th 11.30pm EST
One random winner will be announced on the 30th!

  ]]> https://www.veggiebelly.com/2009/10/goat-cheese-pomegranate-salad.html/feed 100 https://www.veggiebelly.com/2009/10/open-pomegranate.html https://www.veggiebelly.com/2009/10/open-pomegranate.html#comments Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:36:51 +0000 Sala @ Veggie Belly http://www.veggiebelly.com/?p=739 Ever made a bloody mess opening a pomegranate? Or do you buy pre-seeded, over priced pomegranates at the grocery store because you dont want to deal with opening a fresh one? If you’ve answered ‘yes’, this post is for you! A … Continue reading →]]> Ever made a bloody mess opening a pomegranate? Or do you buy pre-seeded, over priced pomegranates at the grocery store because you dont want to deal with opening a fresh one? If you’ve answered ‘yes’, this post is for you! A completely mess free way to open those lovely, fresh pomegranates that are in season now…

Fill a large bowl with water. Using a sharp knife, make two deep slits on top of the pomegranate in the shape of a ‘x’. Do this on a cutting board for more support. Place the pomegranate in the bowl of water.

 Put your thumbs where you made the ‘x’ shaped slit, and pry open the pomegranate. Do this underwater so that the red juices don’t splash on you. You should be able to pull the fruit apart in wedges. If the pomegranate is difficult to pull apart, make the slit on top deeper and longer. 

 Pull the pomegranate wedges apart into manageable pieces. Gently remove the white membrane, while keeping the fruit under water. Then use your fingers to gently remove the red seeds. The seeds will sink to the bottom and the membrane and skin will float to the top.

Skim the top of the water to remove all floating white membrane and skin. Then pour out the water, reserving the pomegranate seeds. Pour a little more cold water over the seeds and pour out once again to make sure all the white membrane is gone. Gently pat dry the pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately or store covered in the fridge.

This picture goes to Jugalbandi’s Click. This month’s theme is heirloom.

How gorgeous does this rice dish look?! This recipe for basmati with pine nuts, pomegranate and mint is from Monica Bhide’s book ‘Modern Spice’.

Check out my guest post about this dish on Monica’s site.

You can buy Monica’s book, ‘Modern Spice’ here:

Rose flavoring is used mainly in Turkish sweets and desserts. I also had some really nice rose flavored tea in Istanbul. This drink is inspired by all the rose flavor I encountered in Turkey.

Rose Pomegranate Fizz
makes 2 cups
 
4 tbsp Sugar (more, if you like it sweeter)
3 tbsp Water
2 tbsp Pomegranate molasses*
¼ tsp rose water
2 cups chilled club soda or seltzer
A few rose petals

Microwave the sugar and water just until the sugar dissolves. Let it cool. Then mix all ingredients together except rose petals. Stir well to combine.

To serve, pour into glasses and float a few rose petals on top.

Notes
Make sure you use roses that haven’t been sprayed with pesticides. Rinse the rose petals in cold water before using.

*If you dont have pomegranate molasses, use pomegranate juice. You may have to experiment with the pomegranante juice and club soda ratio (start with equal amounts of each).

This recipe yields a slightly sweet drink. Thats how we like it. If you want your drink to be sweeter, just use more sugar.

How to make your own rose water

I found rose water in my local grocery store. It will also be available in middle eastern stores. If you cant find rose water, here is a link to make your own on www.tipnut.com. See the section titled ‘homemade rosewater’. The recipe calls for steeping 1 cup of rose petals in 2 cups boiling water. Then cool, strain and use.