Sign up for Meridian’s Free Newsletter, please CLICK HERE
Temps are already heating up! Time to find something cool to fix for your meals. You can have a fiesta this summer with these delicious Mexican salads. They are all full of flavor and we think you will love them. Salads come in all shapes and sizes, but leafy greens topped with beans and cheese and a touch of Mexican zest are my favorite.
We hope you enjoy these Mexican-inspired salads for your summer fiestas!
Don’t forget to check out our Weekly Specials!
Café Rio Copycat Salad
This salad is our version of the famous pulled pork Café Rio salad. Most of the same ingredients are used in their burritos, so if you don’t feel like a salad, just roll it up and go easy on the lettuce.
Makes 6 salads
6 large tortillas
Shredded cheese, Mexican blend or cheddar and parmesan
Cafe Rio Rice (see the recipe below)
Cafe Rio Pinto Beans (see the recipe below)
Cafe Rio Sweet Pork (see the recipe below)
Leafy green lettuce
Pico de gallo or salsa (optional)
Guacamole
Sour cream
Tortilla chips, crushed
Cotija cheese, crumbled, or parmesan and cheddar cheese
Cafe Rio Cilantro Ranch (see the recipe below)
Putting the salad together
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
In a large, shallow, oven-safe bowl or aluminum dish, lay one tortilla. Sprinkle shredded cheese blend on the tortilla, to taste. Place the bowl or dish in the oven and cook for about 5 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the cheese is melted.
Remove the dish from the oven and add the rice first, followed by the pork, the lettuce and then about a Tablespoon each of pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole.
Top it all off with crushed tortilla chips and the Cilantro Ranch Dressing.
Garnish with cilantro (optional). Repeat with remaining ingredients for additional salads.
For the Rice
1 c. uncooked white rice
1 teaspoon butter
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 Tablespoon green onions, minced
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 15 oz. can chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
In a medium saucepan combine the rice, butter, garlic, green onions, chicken broth and the water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook on low 20 minutes, or until the rice is soft.
Remove the saucepan from the heat.
In a small bowl combine the lime juice, the sugar and the cilantro.
Pour the mixture over the hot rice and mix in as you fluff the rice with a fork.
For the Pork
2 pounds boneless pork (we like to use pork shoulder)
3 cans Coca Cola
2 cups brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon onion salt
1/4 cup water
1 small can diced green chilies, drained
1 10 oz. can mild red enchilada sauce
Place the pork, 2 cans of the Coca Cola and ½ cup of the brown sugar in a zipped plastic bag to marinate. Let the meat marinate for a few hours or overnight.
After the pork has marinated, drain marinade and place the pork in the crockpot. Pour in ½ of the remaining can of Coca Cola, the water, the onion salt and the garlic salt in crockpot.
Cook on low for 8 hours until the meat shreds easily.
Remove the pork from crockpot and drain any liquid that is left over then shred the pork using two forks.
In a blender, pour the last half of the remaining can of Coca Cola, the drained chilies, the enchilada sauce and the remaining 11/2 cups of brown sugar. Blend until fully incorporated.
Place the shredded pork back into the crockpot and cover it with the sauce from the previous step. Cook the pork on low for another 2 hours.
For the Pinto Beans
2 Tablespoons butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 15 or 16 oz. can pinto beans, drained
1 ½ cups tomato juice
1 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
In a medium skillet, sauté the garlic and the cumin in the butter on medium heat until the garlic is fragrant.
Add the drained pinto beans, the tomato juice and the salt. Stir until the beans are heated all the way through.
Stir in the cilantro and serve.
For the Creamy Tomatillo Dressing
1 1 oz. package ranch dressing mix
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup mayonnaise
2 medium-sized tomatillos (ask your grocer if you don’t know what they are)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2/3 cup cilantro, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 small jalapeno, without the seeds (optional)
Blend all the ingredients together in a blender; place in the refrigerator for at least 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together.
Enjoy on top of your Café Rio-inspired salad!
Frito Salad
Ingredients:
1 Diced Green pepper
1 Diced Red pepper
1(15 oz) can of Black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can of Kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15 oz) can of Corn
1 cup of shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1 package of Taco seasoning
2 cups of shredded Chicken
1 cup Mayonnaise
Chili Cheese Fritos
Directions
Cook chicken with packet of taco seasoning and water (the amount listed on the taco seasoning packet) until water is absorbed. Allow time to cool.
Mix all remaining ingredients (except for the Fritos) in a bowl with the cooled chicken. Store in refrigerator for at least an hour to allow time for flavors to meld.
Stir in Chili Cheese Fritos with each serving.
Chicken Taco Salad
with Homemade Chipotle Sauce
Taco salads are easy to make. Use tortilla bakers to make low fat shells rather than fried shells. If you don’t have bakers, you can simply load your salad onto tortilla chips.
This salad serves six as a side salad or two as a main dish salad.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked shredded chicken or chicken breast cut up into small cubes
3/4 cup homemade taco sauce
1/2 head of iceberg lettuce, shredded
6 small tortillas or two large tortillas
1 14-ounce can of cooked black beans, well drained
1/2 cup diced red onions
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/3 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey jack cheese
12 pitted black olives
1 cup homemade salsa
Chipotle Sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon finely chopped canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon taco seasoning
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
To assemble the salad
Bake the tortillas in tortilla bakers, the shape of bowls, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Let them cool.
Lay a bed of lettuce in the bottom of each tortilla bowl. Starting with the chicken, layer chicken, beans, red onions, and tomatoes on the lettuce. Top with a dollop of sour cream. Sprinkle with cheese. Slice the olives and scatter them on the salad. Top with chipotle sauce.
Southwest Chicken Salad
You can cook the chicken on patio or on the stovetop. Our Deluxe 11-inch Frying Pan is perfect for the stovetop. Season the chicken with your favorite Southwest blend or taco seasoning. The dressing is very simple made with cider vinegar and sugar.
Ingredients
2 large boneless and skinless chicken breasts
Southwest seasoning
4 slices bacon
1 bunch spinach greens, washed
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
2/3 cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tomato, thinly sliced
Directions
Season the chicken with Southwest chicken and cook over the grill or on the stovetop.
Cook the bacon in the microwave until crisp and break into pieces.
Place the spinach greens on four plates. Arrange onion and red pepper slices on the spinach. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
Slice the cooked chicken breasts and place one half breast on each plate.
Mix the vinegar and sugar together until the sugar is dissolved. Drizzle over the salads. Garnish each plate with a tomato slice or two.
We hope that you enjoy these recipes this summer!
About the Author
Dennis Weaver has burned food from Point Barrow, Alaska, to Miami, Florida. He is the founder of The Prepared Pantry in Rigby, Idaho and the author of “How to Bake: The Art and Science of Baking” available as an E-book or as a Kindle book on Amazon. Dennis lives in Rigby, Idaho, with his wife, Merri Ann. They have five wonderful children and six beautiful granddaughters.
