A Splash of Colour

Sometime back when I visited my younger brother, a bachelor working and living in another city, I did not expect him to cook fancy meals for me. He is after all my kid brother, I am supposed to take care of him, and I take pride in the fact that I being the elder one keep giving him advice on practically all matters in the world as part of that responsibility. I just refuse to let go, to accept that he too is as mature as me – he will remain the little one till I am 90 and he is 88!

But I was taken by surprise (and particularly touched) when I woke up the first morning - the aroma of warm grilled sandwiches wafting through the kitchen! My brother had cooked up sumptuous mashed potato and egg sandwiches. The breakfast was a treat, but it also left me wondering about the kind of food my brother eats – mostly carbohydrates and fats, high in calories, and very less vegetables. And as usual, I decided to shower him with my advice on the importance of vegetables of various colours, and how easy it is to incorporate them in his daily diet without too much effort.

I use some very simple ways of adding a splash of colour to my regular dishes, as each colour stands for a particular energy (the basis of colour therapy) and nutrient. Let me share some here:

• Coriander – Sprinkle finely chopped coriander leaves on salads, curries, raita, sprouts. Use in paratha fillings, cutlets, omelettes, sandwiches for a refreshing green.
• Capsicum (bell pepper) – Instead of using green capsicum in pasta, noodles, curries, sprouts or salads, combine yellow and red capsicum also. While they add vibrant colours to your food, red and yellow peppers also add a bit of sweetness to the dish.
• Pomegranate seeds – Sprinkle a few of these bright red seeds on fruit salads, curd rice, kheer, custard, pudding, sooji(rava)/carrot halwa.
• Corn – This yellow vegetable can be boiled and sprinkled into raitas, mashed potato, spinach curries (or any mixed veg curry), chaats, pasta, noodles, cutlets.  

Here is my quick recipe for multi coloured potato and vegetable sandwich:

• Finely cut and boil vegetables, like carrots, green peas, corns and beans for bright red, green and yellow colours. Shallow fry and add to boiled and mashed potatoes. Add salt and green chillies to taste.  Fill between 2 slices of bread and cook in a sandwich maker (or directly on a tawa/flat pan)

Go on....add colour to the lives of your loved ones...it is not that difficult, yet worth it after all!