Homemade Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad Recipe

This Homemade Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad Recipe is super easy friends. 

It may not look like the perfectly dainty Hotel styled salad however this Homestyle Simple yet Refreshing salad is delicious.
Watermelon and feta salad with some arugula ( Rocket leaves)
party!

A watermelon feta salad with fresh lime and mint dressing, with Rocket leaves. A light and delicious summer salad, with added croutons, would make a complete meal by itself. Perfect for an alfresco lunch or dinner.
It’s safe to say that I am not a natural-born salad eater. My tendency has always been to carb-loaded meals, Rotis or rice with every meal.

If you want to make something light and low calorie for dinner then this recipe is for you
All you need to do is deseed and cut your watermelon into small cubes. Add feta cheese, mix in some arugula leaves with a dressing and you are done.

 The juicy watermelon, with peppery rocket, delicate leaves, and salty feta are a winning combo.
Simple to construct and colorfully satisfying on the palate!!

Note the ingredients you will need for this Homemade Watermelon and Feta Cheese Salad Recipe 

Ingredients

Half a Watermelon
1 cup grated or cubed Feta Cheese
1 bunch of Arugula (Rocket) leaves
Juice of half lime
1 tbsp Virgin Olive oil
1/2 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
15 mint leaves

Method

1. Cut the watermelon into small cubes. Deseed and keep aside

2. Wash and roughly the arugula leaves

3. Crumble the feta cheese, or for a better presentation, you can even chop it up into tiny cubes. I used Dlecta Foods- Feta Cheese for this recipe.

4. Take a  bowl, mix the olive oil with the salt and pepper, add the lemon juice and mix it well.

5. In another bowl add the watermelon, feta cheese, and arugula leaves. Top it with the marinate. Miz it gently with a wooden spoon.

6. Add in the chopped mint leaves.

Here is my Youtube video of the same Recipe

Note 

The Feta Cheese can be salty so add salt accordingly.
You can even add a dash of Honey for a sweetish taste.
Add Croutons to make a wholesome meal by itself
Try garnishing with crumbled walnuts as an option.

Quick and Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

Quick & Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

When life gives you lemons, use them to make lemonade”, is an age-old adage used to encourage positivity in any situation you are put into.

Well, today I wish to add to make another saying. When life gives you broccoli, use it to make a quick & easy Broccoli cheese soup.

So are you ready to make a delicious creamy broccoli soup with me? The best part of this soup is filling and very easy to make.  Yet it is a different soup, unlike the regular ones we make eg - Tomato or Spinach soup.  It is very healthy and has fab nutrient content.

This Broccoli soup was made with a twist. I added a dash of Parmesan Cheese to it. I have used Dlecta There’s just something magical about a hearty bowl of soup in your belly sipping warm soup as you watch your favorite TV aerial on the weekend.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 chopped onion
3 cups fresh broccoli
1 potato
1/2 teaspoon  thyme (optional)
1 Chicken Stock Cube ( can use veg option)
2 garlic pods
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp fresh cream
1 heaped tbsp fresh parmesan cheese.

Method

1. Take a large saucepan, melt the butter and lightly saute the garlic.

2. Add the chopped onion, broccoli flowerets and chopped potato to this. Stir for about two minutes until vegetables soften

3. Now add the chicken cube, one glass of water to this. Simmer until broccoli is softened, about 8 minutes.

4. For faster results pressure cooker this for one whistle or maximum 5 minutes. We don't want to overcook it as the nutrients get destroyed.

5. Now transfer the vegetables into a blender and make a fine paste of it.

6. Place it back in the saucepan on low flame.to simmer. Add the pepper and thyme at this stage.

7. Lastly, add fresh cream.  At this stage no not add any water as the taste will get adulterated.

8. Turn off the heat and continue whisking until thick and bubbly.

9. Stir in cheeses & serve immediately. You can serve it with soup sticks or garlic bread.

Note 

You can even take the stems of Broccoli for this recipe.
The color of the soup can vary from yellow-green to light green. But that doesn't matter as you are definitely going to love the warm mushy soup.

Traditional Albanian Wheat Pudding

My knowledge about Albanian Cuisine was purely limited to the country Albania.

More on Albania 

However after attending the 6th edition of #wildasparagustable I got to learn so much more about this beautiful Mediterranean Country.

Albania boasts of delicious dishes like tave kosi (a spiced lamb and rice casserole with a baked yoghurt lid) and perime ne zgare (a simple dish of fresh grilled vegetables). The gang of gorgeous Homechefs researched and replicated dishes from that land. Take a bow you have overdone yourself this time.
I decided to stir up an Albanian Wheat pudding and guess what? It really turned out very well.

While the other participants had already decided what to make. Mine was a last minute entry as someone dropped out. I googled the net and discovered this very interesting Albanian Wheat pudding.

Traditional Albanian Wheat Pudding 

It was interesting to learn that this Albanian wheat pudding is also known as "asure" or  Noah's ark pudding. It is The Oldest Dessert In The World.
Turkish tales tell you that has it that the first version of 'asure' was made by Noah himself. After weeks on the ark, the waters began to recede. As food on the Ark diminished, Noah decided to use the last few grains of wheat and other bits along with sugar in a large pot.
And What he got was a delicious Tradional Albanian Wheat pudding.



You can adapt the ingredients and according to your taste or what you have on hand. Classic versions of this pudding requires over 24 hours to prepare  however you can hasten up the steps by using a pressure cooker.  It I am really not sure if it will give the same results.

Ingredients

 2 cups Whole Wheat
1/2 cup sugar ( or any other substitute sweetener)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 /2 cup golden raisins
1 apple finely chopped
1 tbsp  honey
1 tsp  cinnamon
1 litre or more water depending on the wheat

Method 

1. Wash and soak  the wheat in cold water the night before. See that there is enough water for it to soak.

2. The next morning, drain the wheat grains and transfer them to a large pot. Now pour the water in and allow it to cook . You  need to cook it until they turn very soft.

3. See that there is a little water as wheat will further swell up. Let the wheat sit in the pot overnight or for minimum 12 hours.

4. If you have less time,  pressure cooker the grains. Do not strain this water. Next day you’ll notice that the grains have absorbed the water and the thickened in size.

5. Now after 10 hours transfer the wheat grains to a large cooking vessel, add the sugar and keep stirring on low heat and for about 40-50 minutes until the wheat gets caramelized and darkened in color.

6. Now add the honey, cinnamon, chopped apple, walnuts and raisins and cook for 10 minutes more.

7. Once thick in consistency the wheat pudding is ready. Divide in individual bowls and serve it when cool.

Note

You can substitute sugar for any sweetener or even jaggery.
Serve it hot or cold.  Both ways it tastes brilliant.

Thanks to our dearest Salloni Malkani and Ananya Banerjee who have introduced the epic Wild Asparagus table.

Ahoy!! Let's sail to Albania.