Mexican salad: A vibrant twist for your festive feast
A colourful Mexican salad can add a vivid touch to the festive table. It's an addition that's often missing, which is a shame because it perfectly balances the heaviness of traditional pâtés, smoked meats, and roasts. Serve the chicken and vegetable salad with nachos or tortillas.
Even during Easter holidays, Mexicans don't part with their beloved corn tortilla, serving it with various fresh toppings. Popular choices include green vegetables known as quelites, salad from young cactus shoots, and tomato salsa or guacamole.
Mexican salad – choose your dressing and toppings
Below is a recipe for a salad with a mayonnaise dressing, but you can also prepare it with a light dressing based on olive oil and lime juice. Mix it with finely chopped coriander, add grated garlic, and a bit of jalapeño pepper to create a slightly lighter but very aromatic sauce, Mexican style.
You may swap romaine lettuce for rocket, which has a slightly sharper taste. Instead of black beans, you can add red beans, which have a more pronounced flavour. However, black beans are better suited for cold dishes – they are milder and more nutty, have a soft texture, yet don't fall apart easily. Meanwhile, red beans work better in hot dishes like chilli con carne.
Recipe for Mexican salad with chicken
An excellent idea is to serve the salad in tortilla bowls. To prepare these, simply cut circles from the tortillas and place them in muffin tins.
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast (cooked or baked),
- 1 ripe avocado,
- 200g drained black beans,
- 200g canned corn,
- 2 medium tomatoes,
- half a head of romaine lettuce,
- 50g grated cheddar cheese,
- 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise,
- 1 teaspoon of lime or lemon juice,
- 1 clove of garlic, pressed,
- a pinch of salt and pepper,
- optional: half a teaspoon of ground chilli pepper.
Instructions:
- Cut the cooked or baked chicken breast into cubes.
- Drain and rinse canned beans and corn.
- Peel the avocado, remove the pit, and cut the flesh into cubes.
- Tear the lettuce into smaller pieces and cut the tomato.
- Place the salad in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, mix the dressing ingredients: mayonnaise, lime or lemon juice, pressed garlic, salt, pepper, and optionally ground chilli powder.
- Mix the prepared dressing with diced chicken, beans, corn, tomatoes, and avocado. Transfer onto the lettuce. Sprinkle grated Parmesan on top.
