Har saal June mein Pride Month celebrated hote hai. Aur celebration ka matlab hota hai khana! Delectable food was gulped down with delicious drinks and finished off with an irresistible scoop of dessert. When the month puts the rights of the LGBTQ+ community on the world map, can food be far behind?
So, throw in a dash of colour and a splash of your imagination into these 6 food and cocktail recipes to celebrate Pride Month.
1. Rainbow Veggie Skewers
Preparation Time:
Cooking Time:
Ingredients
For the dressing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
For the veggies
- 1 red bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 orange bell pepper (chopped)
- 16 cherry tomatoes
- 1 yellow squash (chopped)
- 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
- 1 zucchini (cut into ½-inch slices)
- 1 large red onion (chopped)
Steps
- Take all the ingredients required to prepare the dressing and blend them thoroughly.
- Add all the chopped veggies into a large bowl, pour the dressing over it and give it a thorough toss.
- Cover and put it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to 8 hours.
- Soak them in water before grilling, if you are using wooden skewers.
- Place the grill to medium heat and then thread the veggies into the skewers in the sequence of the colours of the rainbow.
- You may sprinkle more salt or pepper if you prefer it that way.
- Next, place the skewers on the grill and cook for 5 to 7 minutes for each side or till it has been cooked through.
- Remove from the grill and serve hot.
2. Rainbow Salad
Preparation Time:
Cooking Time:
Ingredients
For the orange vinaigrette
- 1 cup orange juice (from the real fruit or a packaged one)
- 1 tsp orange zest
- ¾ cup olive oil
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
- ½ minced shallot
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the salad
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes
- 8 – 12 oz green veggies
- 1 avocado (chopped)
- 2 carrots (thinly sliced)
- 6 small radishes (thinly sliced)
- 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1 small red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 cup purple cabbage, shredded
- Handful of dhaniya (coriander), chopped
- Hemp seeds (for garnish, optional)
Steps
- Take a mixing bowl and add all the veggies. Give the bowl a good shake, so that the veggies get mixed up.
- Add salt and pepper.
- Pour the orange vinaigrette dressing and give the veggies a good toss again and then serve fresh.
Read: 10 Mast Iconic Street Food Dishes Of Mumbai
3. Rainbow Fruit Cup
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 0 minutes
Ingredients
- 1½ pounds strawberries/ apples for then red colour
- 5 kiwis for the green colour
- 3 mangoes for the yellow colour
- 1 pound blueberries for the violet colour
Steps
- Wash the fruits thoroughly and chop them into equal, bite-sized pieces
- Add the strawberries or apples as the bottom layer, followed by layers of mangoes, kiwis, and blueberries respectively.
- Refrigerate for a few hours and serve chilled.
4. Rainbow Confetti Cake
Preparation Time: 2 hours
Cooking Time: 3½ hours
Ingredients
- 16.5 oz classic white cake mix
- 3 cups water
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup oil
- 9 large egg whites
- Food colouring gels of all the rainbow colours
- 16 oz creamy white frosting
- Buttercream decorating icing of all the rainbow colours
- Sprinkles of all 7 colours of the rainbow
Steps
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While at it, line the bottoms of two 8-inch round cake pans with parchment paper. Then, spray it with non-stick cooking spray evenly.
- Blend 1 cake mix, ¼ cup flour, 1 cup water, ¼ cup oil, and 3 egg whites in a medium bowl. Beat it with an electric mixer on low heat until it is moistened and then beat it on medium for 2 minutes.
- Separate the batter equally into two small bowls. Add food colour of a certain colour of your choice into one of the bowls and another colour into the other bowl.
- Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the cake.
- Allow this to cool for about 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the baking pans, throw away the parchment paper and then let them stay on the wire rack until they cool down completely.
- Repeat all these above steps for the remaining cake mixes and allow them to cool down completely before frosting.
- Cut the centre out of the cake layers of all the rainbow colours with a 3-inch cookie cutter. Keep these cut pieces for another use.
- Take the violet cake layer on a serving platter and spread the frosting evenly on its upper surface.
- Repeat the same for the remaining 6 layers of cakes.
- Pour sprinkles into the hollow layers of the cakes. Frost the top and sides of the cake.
- Segregate 3 cups of frosting into 6 small bowls. Add decorating icings into the frostings of each of these bowls, each bowl getting a different colour of icing.
- Apply each colour of frosting to the cake layer of the identical colour. Even out the frosting on the side and top of the cake with a large spatula, smoothing out the colours as they change gradually.
- Pour the remaining ½ cup of frosting into a piping bag with a large, round tip and then pipe dollops of it on the edge of the cake.
5. Rainbow Popsicles
Preparation Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
For the violet layer
- 1½ cup blueberries
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1tbsp milk
For the red layer
- 1 cup strawberries
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp milk
For the orange layer
- 3 apricots
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp milk
For the yellow layer
- 1 cup pineapple chunks
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp milk
For the green layer
- 1 packed cup (40 g, 5 – 10 leaves) swiss chard, stalks removed
- 5 – 7 sprigs of pudina (mint)
- ½ milk
- 3 – 4 tbsp maple syrup
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the pink layer
- 1 cup raspberries
- 1 tbsp milk
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Steps
- For the violet layer, simmer the lemon juice and blueberries on medium-high heat to soften the fruit and allow it to release its juice. Pass the fruit through a sieve to remove the seeds and skin. Pour milk and maple syrup to the blueberry juice and blend well. Transfer the juice equally into each of the 5 plastic cups.
- For all the other colours, blend the ingredients for each of the colours separately and pass the mixtures through a sieve to segregate the skin and/or seeds.
- Place a stick into the violet colour and refrigerate the violet layer for 45 minutes or until the layer is firm but not entirely frozen. Repeat the same for all the other layers in the order of green, yellow, orange, and red.
- Freeze overnight. To take the popsicles out of the glasses, run cold water on its side and, ta-da, the rainbow popsicles are ready to be slurped off!
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6. Rainbow Paradise
Preparation Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 0 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 oz. grenadine
- 4 oz. natural pineapple juice (chilled & sugar-free)
- 2 oz. coconut-flavoured rum
- ½ oz. blue curacao
- 1 oz. water
- Crushed ice cubes (as per preference)
- Orange slice/peel (for garnish)
Steps
- Take grenadine in a glass, preferably a hurricane glass.
- Fill the glass with crushed ice.
- Blend the coconut-flavoured rum and pineapple juice in a measuring cup and then slowly pour them into the glass.
- Pour water and blue curacao into the glass slowly over the layer of rum and pineapple.
- Garnish with an orange slice or peel before serving it chilled.
Whether you are a member of the LGBTQ+ community or are an activist or just a commoner rooting for the rights of this community, here are just a few recipes you can try out to show your solidarity with the movement. Here’s your opportunity to #BeALittleMore proactive towards standing up for their basic rights and showing your true colours!
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