Apple and Celery Salad

 

Summer is that time of the year when you open the refrigerator door, and make a pathetic attempt to soak up all the cool air.

It is the time of the year when you genuinely wish Shah Rukh Khan’s “Duniya ka sabse chota AC” is not a marketting gimmick.

It is the time of the year when you volunteer to do the grocery shopping in the fancy neighborhood shopping mart, just because their centralized cooling is so much more forgiving than the air conditioner in your parents room (circa 2002).

Clearly, it is not a happy time for those living in the Indian Subcontinent.

Much less for students who are forced to write semester exams amidst such heat.

 

So it is but natural, that this heat will not only soak up your body’s water content but also your hunger.

The frequency of snacking urges which have occurred in the last 2 months unnerve me a bit, because there have been none. You don’t even feel like having complete meals. Much less the very spicy fish curry your darling mother made on the weekend.

 

For such instances of light eating, this Apple and Celery Salad is perfect.

 

 

Apple and Celery Salad

Serves : 4

Difficulty : Easy Peasy. When that MS fellow in Amreeka can make it too, why can’t you?

Preparation Time : Nothing.

Cook Time : 5- 7 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized Apple
• 2-3 Celery Stalks
• A handful of Raisins
• 2 tablespoons of Lemon Juice
• 3 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Pepper, to taste
• Salt, to taste.

 

First, grab a hold of your apple. Admire it. Yes, it is important to admire your fruits in such difficult times. Else, they will never co-operate with their juiciness.

 

Bring in the green. Inhale its freshness.

This is the first time I’ve ever used Celery. I just happened to run into a bunch of it during aforementioned visit to the shopping mart. I must say, its crunchy and has a very distinct taste. And it has an ever so lightly mint-y in flavor too.Though it might be too early to say its something serious, but I do kinda love it.

 

Chop the apples and the celery. As chunky, or as fine as you want. I like chunky pieces myself, so I kept them big. (It is NOT because it is less heartburn cutting big chunky irregular pieces. It really is because I like them chunky. Really )

 

 

Dump the fruit and the celery into a big inviting bowl.

Now take out half a lemon, and use that lemon juicer ..erm.. apparatus your mum got from that shop ages ago, and think of all the times your professors made you stay after hours for one signature or stamp, and then release all that anger into that one squeeze of lemon into the bowl.

 

 

Now, whip out a spoon, and drop in three tablespoons of glorious extra virgin olive oil into the bowl.

 

 

At this point, drop in a handful of raisins into the bowl . It balances the tangy kick of the salad with a pleasant sweetness. And not to mention, a few pinches of salt and pepper.

And voila.

 

Say hello to freshness in a bowl.

 

This salad is actually an immediate mood lifter. A light eat, a super quick make, has just the right balance of flavors and it simply makes you feel good on the inside .

Now go on, make some soon before summer ends.