The summer salads – freshness during the hot season

Fresh, juicy and satiating - the summer salads with their rich taste and great variety are among the biggest delights in the summer menu of the new Smokini restaurant in Plovdiv.

The summer, this most enjoyable season of the year, brings us all an abundance of tasty and extremely fresh fruits and vegetables. The days are long and hot, we spend our time outside with friends and we often dine late. During the summer we usually do not spend a lot of time in the kitchen, we prefer to eat something small but also delicious and satiating. The long summer months are the right time to spoil ourselves with cool foods, including fruits and vegetables. The salads on our table during the summer are fresh and tasty. But how can we best combine the fresh fruits and vegetables in our menu and enjoy their rich taste?

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The salads over the years

The salads have been known to the Romans and the ancient Greeks. Their common name comes from the salt they have been seasoned with. Over the years, the salads have become more popular and today are offered in a great variety. The different regions of the world serve traditional local salads, which with they are famous for. Today we cannot imagine the Italian cuisine without the Caprese and Caesar salads, we know how popular the potato salad is in the United States, and we associate the tabule (Tabbouleh) salad with the Arabic cuisine and the Choban salad with the Turkish cuisine. Bulgaria is known among the foreign tourists with the shopska salad made of tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, parsley, onions and feta cheese.

The salads today

The classical summer salads are very tasty and part of our menu at home and in the menu of the new Smokini restaurant in Plovdiv. Every now and then however, we want to try something new, to open our senses to new exotic products. We can do that by putting a lemon and orange dressing on our salads, or by combining vegetables with seafood, fish or chicken. Once prepared, the salads are served in two ways - chilled or slightly warmed according to the products used.

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The abundance of vegetables and fruits on the market during the summer season, and the imagination of the person who prepares the salad, lead to magnificent results with a variety of ingredients, types of dressings and taste.

Fresh salads in the menu of Smokini – the new restaurant in Plovdiv

The salads take a special place in the menu of one of the best restaurants in Plovdiv and they are among the most popular dishes during the summer season. They are cool and refreshing, they easily match the selected wine list and predispose for pleasant and long outdoor dinners.

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The summer salads, which are present in the menu of the nice Smokini restaurant in Plovdiv, are based on salad rocket, baby spinach, valerian, edible flowers, iceberg, red cabbage, lettuce combined with other seasonal vegetables such as cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, eggplant, and also quinoa, chia, etc. Often these fresh and light salads include different types of cheese such as haloumi, smoked cheese, goat cheese, fresh sheep's cheese and mozzarella. The dressings are light, made of lemons, oranges, olive oil.

The summer salads of the new Smokini restaurant in Plovdiv that are served as desserts include many fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, apples, pears, figs. These salads are especially healthy and ideal for the season.

Among the highly recommended salads offered in the menu of the new restaurant in Plovdiv are:

  • Smokini salad - made of leafy mix, dried figs, Roquefort cheese, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, and honey dressing. The salad is gluten-free and is part of the vegetarian meals, served in the restaurant.
  • Salad with strawberries and haloumi.
  • Salad with baby spinach, apples, blueberries, walnuts - this salad is based on baby spinach, in combination with apples, blueberries, caramelized walnuts and raspberry dressing. This salad is suitable for vegans and vegetarians and is gluten-free.

Other interesting offers in the menu of the innovative restaurant in Plovdiv include:

  • Sheep cheese with tomatoes and roasted peppers - prepared with homemade fresh sheep cheese, pink tomatoes and roasted peppers. It is gluten-free and is suitable for vegetarian.
  • Baby spinach salad with zucchini, carrots and quinoa - served with citrus dressing. This salad is also gluten-free and is part of the vegan and vegetarian dishes served in the restaurant.

The menu of Smokini restaurant in Plovdiv further includes traditional meals such as:

  • Shopska salad - tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh peppers, cheese, red onion, hot pepper, parsley
  • Summer salad - tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh peppers, cream cheese, parsley, croutons, citrus dressing
  • Greek salad - tomatoes, cucumbers, fresh peppers, red onion, olives, marinated cheese
  • Caesar salad with chicken and crispy bacon - leaf mix, chicken parmesan, crispy bacon, walnuts and dressing

Of course, we should not miss the salads, which are served at the lunch menu of this new restaurant in Plovdiv.

The summer salads and the right wine for them

Summer is the season of the white wines, although sometimes we are tempted by the rosé wines as well. An excellent combination for the Smokini salad at the restaurant in Plovdiv is for example the White Story wine from Staro Oryahovo. This wine comes from a small boutique winery on the shore of the Black Sea coast with extremely limited number of bottles, predominantly with white wine. This wine is made from an old Bulgarian grape variety, which is intensely aromatic - with oriental aromas of rose oil, dried fruits, light nuances of indirce, great density, preserved freshness and pleasant finish. These wine flavors are best combined with figs mixed with the Roquefort cheese and honey dressing.

The fresh salads of green mix and vegetables (with or without tuna) are nicely combined with white cuvee from Villa Justina winery, which has a distinct freshness, as well as a dry and mineral body.

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Good for your health

The salads of fresh vegetables and fruits are recommended food in many diets due to their low calorie content and the products used which are extremely beneficial to the whole body. Consuming fresh seasonal and local fruits and vegetables is even more important because of the vitamins and minerals they contain.

The cucumbers, for example, are the best moisturizing and refreshing vegetable, and that is why they are a popular ingredient in the salads during the hot summer months. Cucumbers have a high content of water, fresh taste, electrolytes and many vitamins and that is why they are often used to relieve inflammatory processes in the body. The tomatoes are rich in antioxidants and vitamin C. The kale contains many amino acids. The spinach brings generous doses of vitamin C and E, protein, fiber, iron and beta-carotene. The delicious eggplant is rich in chlorogenic acid, it fights bad cholesterol and has antibacterial abilities.

The sun-ripened melons and watermelons help us fight dehydration and reduce our blood pressure. The watermelon contains a number of vitamins from group B, vitamins C and A, as well as magnesium and potassium. The melon is rich in folic acid and potassium, vitamins and fibers, magnesium and copper.

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