This salad was inspired by the Mexican Caesar Salad at El Torito Restaurant.
I used to always buy the dressing from the restaurant, but the one nearby closed, so I've had to learn how to make a pepita dressing at home.
This salad is perfect to serve along side
carne asada or fish tacos for Cinco de Mayo--or any day!
Make a salad with all the fixings--romaine & red leaf lettuce, red cabbage, tomatoes, black olives, yellow peppers, black beans, corn, etc.
Make it with everything you like in it.
Here are the ingredients for the dressing:
2 anaheim chiles, roasted and peeled (canned or fresh)
2 cups avocado
1/3 cup roasted pepitas
1/3 cup cotija cheese
1/2 cup lime juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
2 bunches fresh cilantro
1 cup water
Put all the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend.
Add enough water, a little at a time, until the dressing turns itself over in the blender.
Canned Ortega chiles are a lot less trouble than roasting fresh.
No need to cut them up, they'll get blended.
1 teaspoon pepper, unless you're a pepper lover, then add 2.
Add 1 teaspoon salt.
The cotija cheese is salty, so 1 teaspoon is enough.
Add 1/3 cup crumbled cheese.
This avocado is starting to get a little old, but the skin still comes off in one piece.
When they get older, the skin breaks into pieces--that's when it's better to scoop out the flesh with a spoon.
About 2 cups of avocado is about 3 medium sized ones.
Here's a good one, the skin comes away easily and clean.
Perfectly ripe.
The 2 cups doesn't need to be firmly packed.
Add the pepitas and cilantro into the blender.
Then add the lemon and lime juice.
Blend.
Add water, a little at a time, until the dressing is mixed thoroughly.
This is a little thick, but it's good like that, too.
You can make this a day ahead, the lime juice will keep it from turning brown.
Mix the dressing into the salad.
That's looking good!
Fry a few thinly sliced tortillas in hot oil to make some crispies for the top of the salad.
I like to add some cotija cheese crumbles and sliced avocado in my salad, even though it's in the dressing.
¡Buen provecho!
(Enjoy your meal!)
***
This is my niece Paige.
When she was little, she said a lot of funny things that we all remember.
We call them Paige-isms.
We all say them from time to time and I remember Paige at the age she said them.
When Paige was about this age, she said,
"I seen him bottom."
She saw Grandpa, in a towel, coming out of the bathroom after a shower.
We say that whenever we see something really funny.
Paige-ism:
"Let me pitch."
The kids were playing baseball in Grandma's front yard.
Paige must have said, "Let me pitch." a hundred times.
We say that whenever we want our turn at something.
Paige-ism:
"Aaaaaaaah---CO-CO-NUT!"
Paige loves See's candy.
When she was little she used to gaze into a box of See's candy and carefully make her choice.
She bit into a chocolate, and yelled,
"Aaaaaaaah--CO-CO-NUT!"
While running to the bathroom to spit out the candy.
We say that whenever there's something we really don't like.
Rick, Karen, Gary and I went to a benefit concert several years ago to see a wide array of artists sing for a cause.
I don't really remember who was there or what the cause was.
But I definitely remember one artist.
Karen said,
"Aaaaaaah--CO-CO-NUT!'"
When Dwight Yoakam started singing.
Paige-isms pop up at the funniest times.
Gary and I traveled to San Jose over the weekend and listened to a country radio station broadcasting from Bakersfield.
When I heard a song by Dwight Yoakam, I thought of Karen, Paige,
And coconut.
Paige and her family now live in Hawaii.
We don't get to see her often enough.
She will be visiting this summer for a family wedding.
We're looking forward to seeing her.
And maybe look for another Paige-ism.
Love you, Paige!
Can't wait to see you!
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