380. mango paneer salad

deliciously sweet

    Mangoes eaten on its own, as dessert, in a salad, aam ras, smoothies, pickles, jams.... whichever way you have it, tastes amazingly delicious. We are so lucky as the mango season is just going on and on. Lovely juicy apple mangoes as they are called here, are sweet and aromatic. Ok, I have intentions of making all my family and friends living in the temperate and freezing zones jealous, but no amount of praises for this fruit is enough. To beat the heat I made some salad and worked around ingredients that were at home. Some people do not like fruit in their salads but I feel that it makes the salad more exotic, appealing and interesting. Textures and taste vary with each bite. So I will stop raving about the exotic fruit and share the recipe with you.

MANGO PANEER SALAD
2 servings as a light lunch or 4 as an accompaniment

1 cup diced ripe mango which has been peeled
1 cup paneer cubes
1 small onion, sliced
10 to 12 cashew nuts
2 cups of lettuce leaves or baby spinach
2 tbsp olive oil

Dressing:
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tbsp white wine vinegar or any good vinegar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ginger paste
½ tsp coarse pepper powder
½ tsp grated orange peel

1. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and keep it on the side in a bowl.
2. Add the onion slices to it and let it marinate for 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, heat oil in a wide pan over medium heat. I prefer a non stick pan.
4. When the oil becomes hot, add the paneer and let it become light golden brown on the underside.
5. Turn the pieces over and let the other side become light golden in colour.
6. Remove the paneer from the pan and place it on a kitchen towel. Let it cool down completely.
7. In the same pan lightly roast the cashew nuts over low heat till they become pinkish. 
8. Remove them from the pan and place them on a kitchen towel till they are cool.
9. Layer the salad leaves over a serving plate.
10. Mix mango, paneer, cashew nuts and the dressing mixture.
11. Top the salad leaves with the mango mixture and serve.

Tips:

• Add about ¼ cup of sun dried tomatoes if you like. I didn't add any as they are not available here.
• Add any fresh herbs like mint or basil if you like. I didn't add any as I wanted the orange and ginger taste to come through with each bite.
• Use salad leaves of your choice.
• Instead of cashew nuts you can add almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts etc.

You may want to check out the following:

beetroot mango feta salad

mango avocado salad

salad with mango dressing

Sending this recipe for the following events:

The big sweet tooth
Priya's versatile recipes


Fabulous Feast Friday#5