Chicken pasta salad

Ingredients 

1 cup pasta, boiled 1 lemon, juice 2 chicken breasts, boiled 4 pineapple rings ½ cup mayonnaise ¼ piece iceberg lettuce 1 tbsp sugar 1 tbsp red chilli flakes Salt to taste

Method

Boil the chicken breasts and slice them finely. In a bowl mix chicken and boiled pasta. Also add finely chopped iceberg lettuce, chopped pineapple rings, red chilli flakes, sugar, salt and mayonnaise in it. Garnish with lemon juice before serving.

It’s not possible to invent new dishes all the time, but sometimes our taste buds ask for more than they have been fed on. In such situations a little twist or addition will do the trick. Here are a few recipes you can try.

Rainbow fried rice

Ingredients 

300 gm rice 3 tbsp oil 4 - 5 cloves garlic, crushed 1 medium piece ginger, chopped 2 tbsp sesame seeds 1 tsp lemon skin 1 bottle gourd 1 carrot

1 green capsicum 1 red capsicum 2 spring onions, chopped 2 chicken breast (strips) 2 tbsp soya sauce 2 tbsp Worchester sauce ¼ bunch coriander and mint leaves 2 egg, A few drops red food colour A few drops, green food colour, 

Salt to taste

Method

Boil 300 gm rice and keep it aside. Cut all the vegetables (bottle gourd, carrot, green capsicum, red capsicum, spring onion) and chicken breasts into strips.Blanch sliced bottle gourd for a few minutes and keep aside.Beat the eggs separately, and add a few drops of red colour in one egg and a few drops of green colour in other, and shallow fry both the eggs separately.Heat two to three tablespoon oil in a wok; add in the chopped garlic, chopped ginger, lemon skin and chicken. Cook for one to two minutes. Then add in the boiled rice and all the sliced vegetables.Also add salt, black pepper powder, soya sauce, Worchester sauce, chopped coriander and mint leaves. Mix very well.Cut fried eggs into strips and add to the boiled rice. Mix well and serve hot.

Hi tea eggs

Ingredients 

2 celery sticks 1/4cup peas, boiled 6 eggs, boiled 1 onion, medium-sized 1 capsicum

12 large prawns 1tbsp lemon juice Salt as required 1/4tsp crushed black pepper 1/4bunch parsley                 2tbsp cream cheese 1 potato, boiled

Method

Hard boil the eggs and remove the yolk after cutting the eggs in half, and set aside.

In a food processor chop together celery sticks, capsicum and onion. Add boiled potato, salt, crushed black pepper, lemon juice, cream cheese, cup peas, bunch parsley and boiled egg yolks. Pulse the mixture in a food processor until a paste is formed. Make slits on shrimps about three-fourth of the way and boil in water for a few minutes. Fill the egg mixture in a piping bag and evenly pipe into the egg halves. With the help of a tooth pick, insert one boiled shrimp along with a sprig of parsley into each egg white half and serve.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 7th, 2016