Melon, cucumber, and apple salad

Bangalore is hot and it is difficult for me to be in the kitchen over a stove, even though I cook very early in the morning. You will start seeing some dishes and salads that are both cooling and take almost no time to make.

Fruit salads are common across South America, India, and Asia, on the streets, you will see vendors with pushcarts hawking their produce. These healthy snacks both hydrate and refresh you in the hot weather. As you across the countries in the region these salad change to incorporate local fruit and spices and herbs. It is always a wonderful stop to both enjoy these snacks and learn recipes and about the local produce.

This salad is a more generic version for everyday consumption. Please feel free to bend the rules and add fruits of your choice experimenting with flavours and textures. In this salad, the sweetness comes from the melons oranges, and sweet-tart apples and are balanced by notes from the red pepper and cucumbers. The heat from the chillies is a lovely counterpoint to the sweetness making this salad addictive. This salad is lovely on a hot day, fresh, light and refreshing, perfect for when you do not want to spend time in the kitchen and desire just a small bite.

This is one of the first cookbooks I purchased over 27 years ago. I got it to learn how to cook and because it has such a wide variety of global cuisines that pop with spice. All the vegetarian recipes are easy to make and have always turned out delicious, though, on a few occasions, I have had to turn down the heat a notch or two. Jennifer is a well-published cookbook author, with 11 books, and Jump Up and Kiss Me a brand of natural spicy foods is amazing. This is a cookbook I need to pull out more often.

For more recipes from this very spicy book, click here.

Ingredients:

1/2 onion, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup water

Juice of 2 limes

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 Navel oranges

3 small cucumbers, cut into thin circles

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into small dice

2-3 green chillies, serrano or other variety, finely minced

1/2 red bell pepper, cut into fine dice

1/4 cup mint leaves

1 melon, peeled, deseeded and cut into crescents

Large grain sea salt, to taste

3 cups watercress, arugula or baby spinach

Bring the water to a boil with the salt. Turn off the heat and add the onions. Steep for 2 minutes and drain. Mix in with the lime juice and garlic and allow to sit for 20 minutes.

Cut the tops and bottoms of the oranges. With a knife cut the skin off the oranges exposing the flesh. With your fingers carefully remove the flesh in segments and add to a bowl.

Add the cucumbers, apple, green chillies, red bell pepper, mint and melon and mix well. Add the onion mix and toss well again. It is best to keep the ingredients separately so they do not give out juices, and mix them up just before serving.

To serve, layer a bowl with the greens. Top with the salad and sprinkle some large-grain sea salt. Serve immediately.