Last month we challenged ourselves with a sweet something made from a fruit and two kinds of nuts which I interpreted as Mango Fool with Chocolate Chip-Nut Meringue Cookies
This month Alessio, Asha, Pamela and I decided to make something using mint and a seasonal fruit or vegetable. All four of us live in different parts of the world and at any given time, what’s seasonal for one of us is not for the others.
Pairing mint with something else doesn’t seem like much of a challenge, does it?
Well, it was a bit of one for me. For one thing, even though it is available in plenty at the market here throughout the year, mint is not an herb we (as in my kind of traditional cooking) we use. North Indian cooking does make good use of it, on the other hand.
So even though I like mint in small doses, it’s not very popular in the family except as mint-coriander chutney. Even the much loved ice-cream tends get a wide berth if there’s mint in it.
Mint is great in any summertime cooler whether as a drink or a soup. Since our sweltering Indian summer has thankfully given way to the monsoons (at least in my part of the country), “cooling” is definitely not the need of the moment.
Then somewhere along the way between last month end and now, I just forgot about all this “mint” challenge till a couple of days back. This suddenly meant that making something with “mint and something seasonal” just got more challenging as it had to be with whatever vegetables and fruit were in my fridge.
What’s really seasonal here, as far as fruit goes at this point in time are mangoes and cherries both of which I didn’t have. What I had were apples, some pears, tomatoes, cucumbers, a cabbage, some yard-long beans, two bell peppers and a couple of zucchini.
After some consideration, it seemed the best way for me to go was with a salad. My freezer had a bit of stuff including some paneer (a soft Indian cheese) which I decided to use as well.
I’m not sure I could call apple seasonal right now as the season for Indian apples is on winter. Imported apples are however, now available all the year round in our markets. Similarly, tomatoes and cucumbers are also available all the year round.
Since I also needed to use these up, I am going to consider them seasonal as they’re available in my market right now. I hope my partners in crime (?) will see this in the spirirt of the thing!
So I put together an apple, tomato and cucumber salad to which I added pan-grilled paneer. An orange-mint dressing was next and some lightly toasted broken walnuts were the final and finishing touch!
This salad can be served on the side with a main meal, but can make a filling meal in itself. It has plenty of vegetables, some fruit, nuts, protein and a bit of good fat. The lack of carbohydrates can be taken care of by adding a bit of cooked rice to it.
This is really not much of a recipe and all the ingredients can be adjusted or substituted for depending on what you like/ whatever you have on hand.
Apple, Tomato And Grilled Paneer Salad With Orange-Mint Dressing
Ingredients
For the salad:
- 2 apples (I used Fuji ), chopped or thinly sliced
- 1 1/2 tsps lemon juice
- 4 tomatoes medium sized , chopped or sliced into thin rounds
- 1 cucumber small , chopped or sliced into thin rounds
- 200 gm paneer pan grilled cubes (with a tsp of olive oil)
- 2 to 3 tbsps walnuts chopped , lightly toasted
For the orange mint dressing:
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- xbd tsp garlic paste
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 2 tbsps mint cut into strips
- to taste salt pepper and
Instructions
- Prepare the dressing.
- In a small glass bow, whisk the orange juice and olive oil till well emulsified. Add the mint, salt and pepper. Mix again and refrigerate till required, if not serving the salad immediately.
- The pan-grill the paneer cubes.
- Heat one tsp of olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Turn down the heat to medium and add the paneer cubes. Toss frequently till all the paneer cubes are uniformly grilled to a light brown colour. Remove to a plate and allow to cool.
- In the meanwhile, cut the apples and toss them in the lemon juice to prevent them from changing colour. Cut the tomatoes and cucumber into desired shapes and size. I personally dislike eating large pieces of raw vegetable, and so tend to cut mine a bit smaller than usual.
- Add the dressing and mix well so the pieces are coated with the dressing. Sprinkle the walnuts and serve immediately. Alternatively, do not add the walnuts but allow the salad to marinate in the dressing for about half an hour. Add the walnuts just before serving.
I'm Aparna and My Diverse Kitchen is my ovo-lacto vegetarian food blog where you'll find recipes, food stories & photography. I've been blogging since 2007 and believe the kitchen, and the dining table (by extension) is really the heart of a home. 
lovely recipe …just awesome 🙂
Wow, that looks so healthy and great, I have never used paneer in salad, sounds great !!!
Aparna, Love the salad and the “Seasonal” spirit behind it.. LOL … I pretty much had a similar trend in making mine but was only aided by a fresh farm basket :))
Thats a lovely and refreshing Salad!
Thank you for sharing, lovely picture and a delicious recipe!The dressing sounds amazing!
What an in between salad neither fruit nor vegetable..yet interesting. has some novelty and appeal..I might love the mixed flavours though I wonder if I can convince my husband.
this sounds like a great salad…and it looks so refreshingly colourful…thanks for sharing!
Sounds very refreshing and delicious!!
I love the different flavours that you’ve put together.
What a simple yet innovative dish Aparna!!Loved the presentation and am sure gona try it…
Like you, I too don’t use mint much. Just chutneys and maybe in some pullav. But this dressing sounds so good to go with salads. I am thinking some basil too would go well. And yes, I too would like to join you cool gals in this unique adventure. Sounds so much fun. Off to visit the others.
Salad looks nice…
This looks so nice! Love it!
This looks and sounds wonderful!
Healthy and colorful
A great refreshing salad!
Very refreshing, perfect for Summer!
Very colorful and falvorful salad.. Nice click.
Fruits and mint are a classic combination. And those walnuts add a whole lot of crunch too. Very summery!
I love salades like this, but i don’t know if i would like the addition of garlic paste in them.
Nice idea adding paneer in salads..looks perfect.. healthy salad..
I’m not much of a salad person, but am beginning to like salads of this type.Yes, it was fun, Asha. :)That’s what I like about salads like these, Lata. And that they’re like meal in themselves. :)Basil would be good, Jaya. Just that I needed to use mint here.I’m not very fond of garlic, Finla but its good here provided its on the lower side.
I was reading your blog post while you were reading mine, cool!I love your salad, love the mix of flavours and textures. I’d be curious to taste paneer!
I love palak paneer. Cottage cheese in spinach sauce.