By Michael Minorgan for Curtains Up minorganmichael@yahoo.com
MEXICAN CHOPPED SALAD
Summer is coming, have faith. This week’s recipe is a delicious combination of flavors and an abundance of different textures. It could easily be combined with shrimp, scallops, crab or even shredded grilled chicken breast.
Salads are one of my favorite ‘go to’ meals. Although salads were very popular on the tables of the Greeks and the Romans they were much harder to introduce to the eating habits of Western civilization. John Evelyn in his book Acetaria: A Discourse on Sallets published in 1699 tried with little success to encourage his fellow Britons on the benefits of eating fresh salad greens. It was however a popular dish with Mary Queen of Scots who often indulged in boiled celery root over greens with a creamy mustard dressing. Salads were popularized in the USA in the late 19th century and throughout other western countries in the second half of the 20th century (1)
Feel free to mix up the ingredients and……Enjoy!
(1) wikipedia
Ingredients:
Dressing:
2/3 c. sour cream
2 chipotle chiles, (in adobo sauce), minced
½ c. cilantro, chopped
1 TB red wine vinegar
1 TB lime juice
1 lime, zested
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Salad:
1 large head lettuce, shredded
½ small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, seeded, chopped
½ lb. cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 (15 oz) can pinto beans or black beans, rinsed, drained
1 ( 8.5 oz) can corn, rinsed, drained
4 oz. jalapeno jack cheese, shredded
4 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Garnish: 1 large avocado, peeled-seeded and sliced, sliced black olives, cilantro leaves, chopped green onion
Method
In a jar; combine dressing ingredients. Shake well to combine. Refrigerate until ready for service. In a large mixing bowl; toss together salad ingredients. For service: Optional to toss salad with dressing or serve dressing on the side. Arrange avocado slices around edge of serving bowl/platter. Top with olives, cilantro and green onion. Serves 3-4.
