Recipes: Two summer salad preparations by Chef Saurabh Srivastava

With the sweltering summer heat showing no signs of departure any time soon, it's of vital importance to ensure that your body is not depleted of the essential nutrients. And it's very important to stay hydrated with cool salads and light food. Keeping that in mind young Chef Saurabh Srivastava, the executive chef at Aloft New Delhi, Aerocity shares two cool summer salad recipes for Indulge readers to combat the heat and keep healthy.

Beet and Mozzarella Salad

Ingredients:

Half kg small beets |  250 gm mozzarella di buffalo | 1/4 cup whey| 4 tsp extra virgin olive oil |  2 tsp good quality balsamic vinegar | 1 tsp apple cider vinegar |  1/2 tsp salt |  Black pepper | Chopped fresh chives, parsley and mint |  Orange segments | Beetroot microgreens 

Method:

 Preheat the oven to 380F/ 180 C.   Dice the mozzarella and place in a colander over a bowl for about an hour, and if you’ve bought good quality mozzarella, you should have at least a few tablespoons of whey in your bowl.  

Wash the beets and toss them with a bit of olive oil. Wrap them in tin foil (if they are small, about 3 to a package) and place them in the preheated oven. If small, they should take about an hour to cook. Take out of the oven and slip the skins off. Cut into dices and put them into a solution of white wine vinegar and sugar for at least two hours.

 Place the lettuce and arrange the dices of mozzarella and beetroot.

 Scatter the orange segments over the top, and then the herbs and microgreens.

  To make the dressing: Pour the whey, olive oil, balsamic, vinegar and salt and pepper in a small jar. Shake to combine.

Pour dressing over the salad, and add a bit more freshly ground pepper and sea salt.

Beetroot poached pear with maple and dijon glaze

Ingredients:

Poaching of pear:

  1 pear (peeled whole)

·       ½ beetroot (raw)

·       1 bay leaf

·       3 cups (24 ounces) water (mineral or distilled)

·       1/2 cups brown sugar

·       4 star anise

·       1 ounce white wine vinegar

·       1 teaspoon salt

·       1 cinnamon stick

Dressing: 1 tbsp maple |1 tbsp honey | 1 tbsp lemon juice | 1/2 tsp kosher salt |1/2 tsp black pepper | 1/2 tsp Pommery mustard | 4 cloves

Caramel Walnut:

1-ounce sugar |   5-6 walnuts | Pinch Himalayan salt

Salad:

1-ounce Arugula leaves | 20 gm goat cheese | 15 ml Extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Take water in a stockpot add all the ingredients, which are mentioned under the poaching pear head.   Place a parchment paper or butter paper over the top and make sure that pears are completely submerged in the water.  Leave it for 1 hour on simmer mark. Let cool down and keep refrigerated until you want to serve it.

Slice up the pear width-wise and take out the core

Toss the arugula into the dressing.

Assemble the salad according to the layers, put goat cheese over the top, and garnish with caramel walnuts.

Drizzle the remaining dressing over the top