Where eating healthy becomes eating fun
At Salad Festival 2016, which starts today and runs until Wednesday, health-conscious consumers will find that there is more to salad than just a mix of fresh produce and classic dressings like vinegar and olive oil. Salad can in fact be fancier, thanks to the seven-colour salad dressings newly introduced by the Royal Project Foundation.
The event is hosted by the foundation in collaboration with Central Pattana as part of a healthy eating culture and their efforts to encourage people to eat more vegetables. The event takes place on the ground floor of CentralPlaza Lardprao.
Secretary to the foundation’s president, MR Datcharabimol Rajani, said that the idea behind the initiative is simply that having fresh vegetables on a regular basis is good for one’s health.
The new set of colourful salad dressings, imitating colours of the day, will be launched for the first time and also available only at the event.
Thais have a tradition of assigning a colour for each day of the week — yellow for Monday, pink for Tuesday, green for Wednesday, orange for Thursday, light blue for Friday, purple for Saturday and red for Sunday.
The seven-colour salad dressings will come in these seven colours of the day. The yellow dressing is made of pumpkin, the pink one of strawberries. The green dressing is made of mint leaves. Orange dressing is made of carrot, while the brown-and-black dressing has sesame seeds as the main ingredient. Light-purple dressing is made of beetroot and red dressing is made of tomatoes.
Those who visit the festival will have a chance to taste or buy these new vegetable dressings, together with the various choices of fresh vegetable salad.
Another highlight will be seven healthy new dishes created by Sushi Den, a Japanese restaurant. The menu will be prepared with fresh ingredients from the Royal Project. Samples of new dishes are Passion Salad, whose dressing is made of passion fruits, Portobello Salmon Sushi, and Zucchini Spicy Salmon Roll.
In addition, the festival will feature 50 booths, including outlets offering a wide range of chemical-free vegetables, fruits, processed food and other products. There will also be ready-to-eat meals, snacks and other products affiliated with celebrities, including the Khun Ying Salad of Kanya “Ying” Riwin, and Chaokuay Phu Dee (aromatic black grass jelly with brown sugar on top) of Pudit “Book” Khunchanasongkram.
Salad Festival 2016 is expected to draw huge fans, particularly among the younger generations, and to encourage them to pay more attention to healthy foods. The festival is open from 10am to 10pm. Call 02-635-1111.