Home chef Cherry Shethia shares with Nichola Pais her successful mission of a salad a day for a year
Cherry Shethia’s love for food goes back a long way to the time she was a child, trying to cook up a storm. “As days went by and responsibilities grew, cooking became my stress buster. Cooking became meditative, it’s that time of the day when I am with myself, no deadlines to chase or pressures of delivery,” she avers. In the days before Master Chef and personal computer, she would buy recipe books and try a new recipe every weekend. Her friends would land up on weekends, to try the ‘flavour of the week’. “All those who came home to eat, went back with their belly bursting with delicious homecooked food, setting a date for their next meal at my place, kids even demanding their favourites be made!” This spurred her on to experiment further. Out of this love, was born two restaurants in Goa. “Sometimes, I wish I was a trained chef,” muses this managing editor of children’s weekly newspaper, RobinAge. In time, she also decided to train as a nutritionist, to help her husband who is diabetic, eat the right food.
Thus, it wasn’t entirely unexpected when Cherry teed off her personal Mission Salad, on January 1, 2018. “They say the best way to start working on a diet plan or an exercise plan is to find a friend – I found social media. I made a commitment to myself and my friends. I set a time too, 8.30 pm, the salad would be my dinner with a grilled protein or soup or sandwich.”
The journey wasn’t easy. “Weekends were spent planning. Since I have a 12-hour workday, I had to plan everything down to the last sprig of dill! I had to shop each day for fresh veggies, fruits, herbs, get them home, soak them in vinegar water, clean them, chop them and then start assembling the creation of the day.” There were days when she wished to end it. There were others when she had to make many salads in advance. “But, by the time I had reached my 50th salad, a part of my brain had become a well-greased salad churning machine!” The recipes will now go into a book she is currently working on.
By the by, a new baby had been born, she reveals, referring to her own sugar-free, chemical-free jams, relishes and marmalades, dressings, mixes, breads, chocolates, cookies, cakes, kombucha and more. She is working towards bottling these preservative-free products and selling them under the label Soul Skillet, on a made-to-order basis.
Getting back to salads, they ooze multiple health benefits, with every colour of vegetable and fruit boosting immunity, detoxifying and restoring energy and vitality. “Foods consumed in their raw and natural form have a lot more vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytochemicals and thus enormous healing powers. They add to the fibre content, thus aiding weight loss; improve, hydrate and protect the skin; protect the heart and improve muscle power.” She does however point out that raw foods do not work with every body-type.
Getting down to the actual preparation of a bowlful of goodness, Cherry breaks it up, “Making a salad is actually like a formula. You use a base, which are your greens. You could use lettuce, ice berg, lollo rosso, kale, arugula or a combination of these or any other. The idea it to use a different green everyday. You could also use steamed amaranth or spinach. Add fruits, vegetables and a crunch keeping the base in mind.”
She suggests working with three to four vegetables and one fruit and a crunchy element, which could be a vegetable, fruit or nut. “Pomegranate pearls works with a lot of salads, as does apple. Softer fruits like kiwi may not work so well. Learn to experiment, bite into the fruit or vegetables to taste it and then start pairing it with other tastes and textures,” she advises.
The next step is to add flavour by introducing a cheese or herb. She adds a handful of seeds at the end, like sesame seeds, which are super for their calcium content or roasted flax seeds or even the tiny, nutritionally-rich chia seeds.
Drowning your healthy salad in a readymade dressing heavy with oil and mayo is a huge no-no. Cherry suggests a simple dressing made by mixing a fresh citrus fruit juice, mustard and lemon or honey, together with some freshy crushed pepper and salt. She adds, “Or you can go Asian by using palm sugar (this is diabetic friendly as it has a low GI), soya sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic and red chilli flakes. Another great dressing is combining avocado (very good fats) with parsley (great for the kidney), this works well for cruciferous greens with some seeds added for texture.”
She concludes, “Each vegetable has a positive effect, thus the idea should be to eat at least 100 different veggies and fruits in a week!” Now there’s a dare!