Mecca Azteca Salad

Recipe from Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook


Salad:
1 cup chopped tomato
1 cup peeled, chopped cucumber
1 cup chopped jicama
1 cup chopped avocado
1/2 cup chopped red onion
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 cups mixed salad greens
4 cups cooked quinoa, cooled


Mango Lime dressing:
1 cup chopped fresh of frozen mango
1/2 cup safflower, sunflower, or canola oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger

Garnish:
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
4 tbsp roasted pumpkin seeds
4 tbsp currants, raisins, or chopped dates
4 slices fresh mango
1 tsp chipotle powder or cayenne pepper

To prepare quinoa, bring 2 cups of water per 1 cup of couscous to boil. Add couscous, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes. If there’s any water left in the pot at that point, just let it sit, removed from heat, to absorb remaining liquid.

To prepare salad dressing, place all ingredients in a blender and puree (or use stick blender). If you use frozen mango, you can either defrost first or blend frozen (the blender will defrost it).

In a bowl, combine tomato, cucumber, jicama, avocado, and red onion. Toss with lemon juice and sea salt. Divide salad greens onto 4 plates, top each with about a cup of couscous. On each serving, drizzle quinoa with about 2 tbsp mango lime vinaigrette. On each serving, place 1/4 of the tomato mixture on top of the quinoa. Drizzle a bit more lime vinagrette on top of the tomato mixture on each serving. Garnish with fresh cilantro, pumpkin seeds, currants, fresh mango slices, and chipotle powder.

Yields 4 large servings.