Som Tam (Green Papaya Salad)

We always order this salad a lot when we go to the Thai town restaurant. I try to replicate this dish and making it at home with this recipe it was just as good as in the restaurant. Remember the simplest ingredients made a  killer dish that was sweet, sour, hot, and tangy refreshing salad. By the way soak the dried shrimps in hot boiling water for few minutes (if desired) before adding them to the papaya salad to kill any bacteria.

Ingredients:
1 green papaya, make 3 cups of shredded papaya
3 tbsp palm sugar
2 red hot red chilis
2 tbsp dried shrimp
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 long beans, cut into pieces
2-3 tbsp fish sauce
15 cherry tomatoes,  sliced into halves
3 tbsp toasted peanuts
1 lime (squeeze)
Preparation: 

1. Wash and peel the green papaya shred the flesh on top layer into a bowl using a shredder, cheese grater or food processor. If you don't have a suitable implement for the purpose. It can be chopped up into strips with your knife may work.

2. Use the pestle to pound the papaya, pounding a few times just enough to bruise the shredded papaya flesh. However, if you have a big enough mortar and pestle you can crush the papaya together with all ingredients, or you can make the salad in separate batches.

3. Using a mortar and pestle, smash the garlic and chilis first until they're broken up.

4. Add the long beans and roasted peanuts, pound a few times just to bruise the beans and roughly crushed the peanuts so that most are ground fairly fine, but there are some larger pieces.

5. Add tomatoes ,fish sauce,lime juice, dried shrimp and palm sugar.

6. Lightly pound together until thoroughly mixed or until it picks up all the flavorings. This dish should taste sweet, sour, and a little bit salty. So taste taste taste and adjust as needed with more sugar, lime juice or palm sugar to your desire flavor combination.

7. In a bowl, combine the shredded papaya and tomatoes salad dressing. Toss together, making sure the peanut is well distributed.  Serve in salad plate and sprinkle with peanuts.

Smoked Salmon Caesar Salad

The combination of garlic, tabasco and smoked salmon in this caesar salad makes it a taste sensation. It is refreshing and very flavorful-garlicky salad dressing.
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce
Sliced of  Scottish smoked salmon
7 small or cherry tomatoes, halves
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp chopped red onion
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp fresh grated parmesan cheese plus extra peel-grated parmesan cheese
2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
2 egg yolks
¾  cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp french dijon mustard
tabasco sauce as needed
salt and pepper to taste
some black olives, sliced
1 tbsp caperberries
homemade croutons
Preparation:

1. Rinse and drain the lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces then sliced the cherry tomatoes, set aside.

2. Mince the garlic, and combine in a mixing or salad bowl with egg yolks, dijon mustard, lemon juice, and a few drops of tabasco sauce then salt and pepper and whisk, pour at a time the olive oil; mix well.

3. Add the cheese and parsley, whisk together until well blend.

4. Put the lettuce in salad dressing and toss until evenly coated. Place in serving plate and combine the smoked salmon, tomatoes, onion, black olive, capers, croutons, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

Prawn Salad In Pomegranate Salad Dressing

Prawn cocktail is a classic appetizer dish and this one I’m doing is a salad version, which uses prawns, mayonnaise and pomegranate juice makes this dish one of the best prawn salad to kick off a holiday season celebration. I confess and the truth is, this is my first time tasting it. And it taste so good and I like it a lot.
Ingredients:
500g prawn, sliced
1 head romaine lettuce, sliced or torn into pieces
1 earthbound organic carrot , sliced thinly
12 orange cherry tomatoes, cut into halves or serve whole one
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1 ripe avocado, peeled, cored and sliced
pomegranate seeds
For  Pomegranate Salad Dressing:
200g mayonnaise (light)
1 tbsp extra strong french dijon mustard sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp finely chopped red onion
4 tbsp tomato ketchup
1 tbsp worcesrshire sauce
1 tsp tabasco sauce
4 tbsp freshly squeeze pomegranate juice
salt and ground pepper to taste
Preparation:

1. Rinse the shrimp then steam for about 10 minutes over boiling water. Once cooked remove them from hot boiling water and cool for a few minutes. Once it cool, remove the heads, peel the prawn and set aside. You can devein the prawn if desired.

2. To make the pomegranate salad dressing, combine the mayonaise,  worcestershire sauce, dijon mustard, honey, onion, ketchup, tabasco except pomegranate juice in a mixing bowl and whisk together well. Adding a good amount of salt and pepper to your liking, then whisk.

3. Add the pomegranate juice.

4. And whisk, make sure that this thoroughly blended well.

5. I like to put and make a bed of spoonful salad dressing into the base of salad bowl. Divide the lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, carrot, onion and prawn.

6. Then sprinkle the pomegranate seeds and spoon over pomegranate salad dressings. Garnished some parsley leaves and serve.

Eggplant Salad

This dish is turned me on to Turkish cookery called "Patlican salatasi' it taste delicious. I personally love eating this dish with grilled fish, kebobs and hot steamed saffron rice. So I had to try to replicate this eggplant salad dish. The taste is pungent, smoky, tangy and more pleasing in texture. Serve for 4 persons!
Ingredients:
750g eggplants
2 green sweet peppers
1½ lemon juice
7 pitted black olives, chopped
10 pcs cherry tomatoes
1 small white onion chopped coarsely
8 tbsp pure olive oil
1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:

1. Prepare and heat a charcoal barbecue. Wash the eggplants and sweet peppers and grill. Turning a couple of times until they are burnt outside and tender inside.

2. Place in a bowl while still hot, cover with plastic wrap until they are cool enough to hold.

3. Then peel off all the skin, cut the steam of the eggplants and deseed the sweet bell peppers. 

4. Put immediately in the mixing bowl and mash it with a fork.

5. Add the onion, salt and pepper to taste, olive oil, lemon juice, mix well.

6. Add the chopped pitted black olives, tomatoes and parsley, stir gently and blend all ingredients. Do not over mix. Arrange on a serving dish and decorate with black olives (cut into halves) and spring parsley.

Shepherd's Salad

Coban salatasi (Turkish shepherd's salad) a nice and refreshing salad with a bit of heat from fresh chilis.
Ingredients
3 large size red tomatoes
1 medium  size red onion
2 medium size green sweet chilis
2 small size cucumber
a handful of fresh flat parsley
olive oil
salt
sumac
Preparation:

1. Wash, peel and cut cucumbers into small parts. In the meantime, wash the tomatoes, peel and remove the seeds and cut into pieces.  If you prefer, you can leave the skins and seeds on the tomatoes although traditionally most of the restaurants we have eaten in Turkey will peel the skin of the tomatoes. Slice and dice the onion, then cut the chilis diagonally or slit along the length, coarsely chop the parsley, place in large bowl.

 3. Add pinch of salt and drizzle some olive oil.

3. Mix everything together.

4. Serve this salad in small portions on salad plates, sprinkle some sumac spice on top or just toss everything all at once. Garnish with parsley leaves.

Greek Salad

I personally love this salad it was nice and tangy, fresh, crisp and wonderful tasting and very authentic Greek salad ingredients. It is refreshing and perfect for hot summer season.
Note: You can add more peta cheese if desired.
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce
1 head red lettuce
1 medium yellow bell pepper
1 small red onion
1 baby cucumber
3 medium red tomatoes
200g or 1 package kolios feta cheese, crumbled or cut into small cubes.
10 pcs. whole pitted black olives
10 pcs. whole pitted green olives chopped
For Vinaigrette Dressing:
1 tsp strong Dijon mustard
1 tsp dried oregano
handful of fresh basil, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed and finely chopped
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ cup white wine vinegar
pinch of salt
pinch of ground white pepper
Preparation:

1. Cut and slice the cucumber, bell pepper, onion and tomatoes. Tear the lettuce's leaves into bite-sized pieces and transfer them to a large salad bowl.

2. Add and spread the olives and feta into the vegetables mixture.

3. In a small bowl, whisk olive oil, garlic, dried oregano, basil, Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar, pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk several times to mix ingredients until well combined.  Adjust the seasoning if needed.

4. Pour vinaigrette dressing over salad.

5. Gently toss until evenly coated then transfer to salad plates and top with feta bread or toss bread if desired.

Medley Potato Salad

Boiled baby potatoes are so simple and delicious. If you like creamer potatoes, they work great in this recipe. And my favorite potato salad ever! It's easy and very tasty.
Ingredients:
I kg gourmet baby potatoes
1 small fresh gherkin, peel and sliced
1 small meadow carrot, diced
2 thinly sliced ham
3-4 boiled eggs
½  small red onion, chopped thinly
½ cup fresh finely grated parmesan cheese
generous amount of peeled pecorino cheese
a spring of dill for garnish
For The Dressing:
200g mayonnaise
2 tbsp classic yellow mustard
1½ tbsp  whole grain mustard
2 tbsp white wine vinegar with walnut (vinaigre de vin blanc aromatise a la noix)
3 tbsp honey
1 tbsp Ram sweet pickle relish
¼  cup all purpose cream
2 spring fresh dill, chopped
2 spring fresh parsley chopped
pinch of paprika
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:

1. Rinse the potatoes and peel and cut the large size into halves. Meanwhile, pour cold water in a deep sauce pan with salt and bring to the boil over medium heat. Add the potatoes and steam, uncovered for about 10 minutes or just until tender.

2. Drain in a colander and set aside to cool slightly.

3. Place the sliced ham in a heated pan and fry over medium high heat. Cook until light golden and crisp, transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to cool and shred. If there is a sufficient amount of fat on the piece of ham no oil will need to be added to the pan.

4. To make the dressing, place all the dressing ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly blended and smooth.

5. When the potatoes are cool enough, place in a dressing mixture follow by gherkin, carrots, chopped parsley and dill and toss gently. To serve, transfer the potatoes to a individual serving salad plate. Top with the chop boiled eggs and shredded ham, sprinkle with a pecorino cheese and to garnish with fresh dill in you like.

Seasonal Fruits With Mixed Nuts Salad

This salad is typically composed of an assortment of fruits with creamy dreamy cream mixture that’s perfect over any type of fresh fruit and it can be serve as appetizer and after the main course as a dessert. Remember choose the fruit carefully, select fruit that is fresh and ripe, but not over soft.

Ingredients:
500g honey rock melon
500g ripe papaya
4 kiwi
2 banana
2 pacific rose apple
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts
walnut and pecans
150ml nestle cream or heavy cream
75ml condensed milk
3 tbsp light sour cream
pinch of salt
Preparation:

1. Wash and drain the fruits, peel and seed all fruit as necessary, then cut the fruit in uniform size.

2. Combine the condensed milk, heavy cream and sour cream to a mixing bowl. Sprinkle a little bit of salt, if desired.

3. Stir or blend the cream mixture slowly till it form a smooth consistency.

4. Pour the cream mixture over the fruits. 

5. Toss the salad gently but thoroughly. Place the salad on a plates, sprinkle with pecans, walnuts, pine nuts. Top with pansies flower for garnish. Isn't it beautiful!? Serve immediately!

Caprese Salad

Very light and refreshing delicious Italian salad layered with mozzarella, red tomatoes, our home-grown sweet basil with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Very easy to make in just a minutes.
Ingredients:

3 medium size fresh red tomatoes (1/4 inch sliced)

9 slices of mozzarella cheese (1/4 inch sliced)

6-8 of fresh sweet basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

Italian balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Arrange on a plate, alternating a slice of cheese, basil and tomato, overlapping elements slightly and sprinkle with some salt. In a small bowl, mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. Whisk add another salt and pepper to taste, drizzle the olive oil and vinegar mixture on top of caprese salad and serve.