We continue with our Summer Special with children in Babies and more and also with our fresh recipes for them. This time, and also trying an indispensable dish in summer and that should also be present daily at our table: salads.
A salad can be a single dish using pasta, rice or legumes, it can incorporate some cooked or even fried food, but it should always have raw vegetables that will provide vitamins, water and fiber, in addition to the energy that vegetables also have. Prioritizing salads in summer allows us a cheerful, simple but full of nutrients kitchen. And above all, a complete and light heavy diet, which is the most important thing so that the diet of our children during this time is as appropriate as possible.
Multicolor salad
One of the most pleasant things that salads allow us is to play with the bright colors of food, creating even, if we give ourselves, beautiful designs. The multicolored salad It is based on that principle and making it beautiful and cheerful is the only rule.
Arranging the food in bands, concentric circles, blades or drawing a flower, we have to choose varied and brightly colored, tasty and fresh ingredients and place them so that the adjacent colors contrast as much as possible and are appetizing.
My suggestions are corn, raw spinach, chopped lettuce, grated carrots, black olives, diced apples, radishes, cucumber, red and green peppers, avocado, sliced mushrooms, tomatoes and peas. In addition, we can add sliced cooked egg, ham, bacon bits, serrano ham, tuna, cooked chicken, chickpeas, raisins, cheese and nuts.
For the dressing, given the richness of flavors that we are going to present and its cheerful color, we would have to opt for something soft and colorless, that would allow us to enjoy the multicolored salad in all its wonderful splendor. It must be served in a large flat dish, preferably white and remembering that the grace of this dish is, above all, in the presentation.
Creams and sticks
This is another of the summer salad preparations that guarantees success and taste, as well as being a really complete, fresh and beautiful-looking dish. The idea is to prepare different stick-shaped vegetables, that are hard and crispy, to go later dipping them in different sauces and creams Tasty, fresh and very nutritious.
For the crudités we should not miss carrots, cucumbers, peppers, celery and lettuce leaves firm and not very large. We can also serve different kinds of breadsticks or bread sticks seasoned with nuts or spices. They should be artistically placed on trays or plates, preferably plain color, without drawings, so that color contrast is not lost.
The sticks and the colines will wet them in dense creams that actually form the base of the plate. The idea is to try creamy and consistent sauces, fresh but with intense flavors, being able to include legumes and even an animal product that completes the proteins of this complete salad.
Creams will also have beautiful colors and will be different in appearance and taste. A soft white garlic garlic but quite pasty, a salmorejo, hummus of chickpeas and lentils and guacamole.
To make the white garlic we crush in the blender a couple of slices of white bread soaked and drained, a handful of almonds (about twenty), a stream of olive oil, garlic and salt.
For the salmorejo we will need very red tomato, oil, plenty of breadcrumbs, salt and garlic, beaten very slowly so that it is bound.
The hummus are based on the cooked legume normally with nothing but salt and then drained, which is crushed until a fine dough is made with a little oil, adding, to the taste of children, cumin, garlic and sesame seeds.
We will be wetting the sticks of vegetables and the colines in the sauces and I assure you that the dish will delight young and old.
Stuffed tomatoes and avocados
Again I suggest a plate of raw vegetables, where presentation and coloring are essential to achieve the success of the night. We will need an avocado and a big tomato For him every two people. We will empty them. The avocado removing the bone first and then, carefully, the meat with a spoon leaving the skin intact. The tomato must also be empty of the internal meat and the seeds, but we have to keep the meat attached to the skin.
For the filling we can choose different flavors, looking for soft textures and colors that contrast with the exterior. Normally I pick the avocado meat with what I have taken from the tomato, add salt. Fill the avocado with it and put some strips of smoked salmon or anchovies on top to decorate.
The tomato can be filled with cream cheese or a mixture of lettuce chopped with mayonnaise, decorating with chopped egg, sliced ham or some sliced sliced green and black olives.
As you can see there are many ways to present raw vegetables in a tasty and attractive way and, especially in summer, it is important to include them daily in the children's diet and for that, in addition, of course, that choosing quality products and presenting them properly, our example is indispensable. We will continue in our Summer Special with children in Babies and more with this selection of fresh recipes designed especially for the most demanding diners, our children.
