by Bennett Kalafut

Created on: January 08, 2008

Somehow, the "taco salad" and "fajita salad", both certainly gringo inventions (and boring, too), became what we in the USA thought of as authentically Mexican salad. Mexico has as rich a tradition of salads (ensaladas) as the USA, mixing its own ingredients and flavors into cold light dishes, some as different from each other as potato salad and Caesar salad.

To get you started, I provide four mostly authentic Mexican salad recipes: the popular corn salad, a salad of prickly pear cactus from Sonora, and my take on ceviche. Pick up a Mexican cookbook or any of the many good English-language books on Mexican cuisine and you'll learn that I barely scratch the surface.

(1) Ensalada de Elote (Corn Salad)

This does well as a snack or light lunch on a hot summer day, served ice cold. In US neighborhoods with large Mexican expatriate populations, pushcart vendors sometimes offer this in addition to paletas.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag frozen corn, cooked according to package directions (microwaving is best) and drained
1/2 cup olive oil, preferably virgin or extra virgin
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1 can roast green chile, or 2 freshly roasted green chiles
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 tomatoes, in small (corn-sized) dice
1 medium onion, in small dice

Preparaton:
Whisk together oil, vinegar, oregano, salt, and pepper. Toss vegetables and cilantro together. Pour dressing over this mix. Toss again. Chill.

(2) Ensalada de Nopalitos (Prickly Pear Salad)

A whole cookbook could be devoted to the ways the nopal (Opuntia ficus-indica, a species of prickly pear) is prepared in the folk cuisine of northern Mexico. Diced nopal is available in jars or cans, alternately, one may grill a cactus pad to tenderness, after having removed the spines. Like okra, it will become slimy if overcooked. Many local species of prickly pear-even the ones that grow in Saskatchewan, or so I'm told-may be cultivated and cooked in the same way. Wild cacti are protected in many areas, but farmed pads can be found in many Mexican-American groceries.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
juice of 4 Mexican limes
1/2 cup, diced green onion
2 tomatoes in small dice
3 cups diced nopal (nopalitos), rinsed
3 cloves garlic, diced
1 small red onion, in half-rings
1-2 cups panela cheese or queso fresco, crumbled (optional)
Salt to taste

Preparation: In a glass bowl, Toss all dry ingredients except cheese. Whisk oil and lime juice together in a small bowl with salt, pour over dry ingredients, and let marinade for several hours.

Serve chilled, topped with the panela cheese.

(3) Ceviche

There are at least as many ceviche recipes as there are cooks. Mine is more garlicky than most. Quite a few include celery; mix a diced stalk with the marinating seafood if you like it. I find that it detracts from the dish. Mexican lime or even lemon will work well; orange is too low in acid and must be supplemented with white vinegar.

Ingredients:

1 cup lime, lemon, or sour orange juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 cup white vinegar (less if using lime juice)
1/2 cup oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 medium onion, in small dice
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 small handful cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp Mexican hot sauce

2 pounds seafood: shrimp, octopus, firm-fleshed fish, clam, or lobster meat, cut to appropriate size.

2 avocadoes, cut into wedges
1 lime, in thin slices

Preparation: Mix first group of ingredients, pour over seafood in glass dish, and marinade overnight in refrigerator. To serve, spoon or arrange into glasses and garnish with avocado and lime.

Learn more about this author, Bennett Kalafut.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.