I haven’t always been a fan of world cuisine. When I was a kid, the most exotic I would get is eating a tin of pasta shapes, a far cry from the range of Italian, Indian, Chinese, Thai and now Mexican food that I love. I think an appreciation of spicy flavours can come with age, although I know plenty of kids that love their curries! Right now Mexican inspired dishes are some of my favourite foods. I certainly don’t profess to being an expert in Mexican food, or having tried a great deal of dishes. All I do know is I love chilli, burritos, enchiladas and tacos as well as simple tortilla chips and salsa. Add avocado to any of those and I’m sold.
I’ve featured this salad a few times on the blog but have never properly shared how I make them. After lots of requests I thought it was about time! I guess this is kind of like a lightened up deconstructed taco. I love the mix of crunchy salted corn chips, creamy avocado, mild salsa and spicy beans, all lightened up with a base of crunchy shredded romaine lettuce.
This is vegan, but you could easily make this with taco beef instead of beans and add other none vegan ingredients such as greek yoghurt or sour cream and grated cheese. I made a very basic guacamole and used a jarred mild salsa, but of course you can just add sliced avocado or make up a proper guacamole and use fresh salsa.
- 1 head of romaine lettuce
- 1 tin of red kidney beans
- 2 small red onions
- 1 red pepper
- 1-2 tsp taco seasoning or hot chilli powder (taco seasoning may not be vegan depending on brand)
- 1 avocado
- 1 lime
- half jar of salsa
- 2 handfuls of plain tortilla chips
- sliced jalapeños (optional)
- Drain the kidney beans and add to a pan along with the seasoning. De seed and chop the pepper and finely slice one of the onions and add to the pan along with the seasoning mix. Simmer until the peppers and onions have softened.
- Make the guacamole my mashing the avocado with the juice from a lime, a pinch of salt and the other red onion finely sliced. Wash and shred the lettuce and divide between two bowls, then top each bowl with a handful of crumbled tortilla chips.
- Divide the warm spicy bean mix between each bowl and pile on top of the lettuce and tortillas, then add a dollop of guacamole followed by a few spoonfuls of salsa. Top with some sliced jalapeños if desired and tuck in!
- To keep this as healthy as possible look for plain tortilla chips which just contain corn, oil and salt. I use store brand jarred salsa, most of which contain a little sugar but they are my fave! Feel free to replace with your own fresh salsa or a shop bought fresh salsa.
Blue corn chips would also work so well with this and just add more colour to the dish.
Do you like Mexican food? What’s your favourite dish? How do you lighten up traditional recipes?
Can’t wait to try this one! The hubby is going to love this spicy salad too, will make his with beef!!
Brilliant! Let me know what you think :-)
Oh my god this looks amazing. I’m not a huge salad fan (I prefer vegetables over salad) but this looks so hearty!
India / Touchscreens & Beautyqueens
Thanks India, hope you enjoy it!
I love Mexican food. They have a little Mexican place in Brixton Village where you can get a huge burrito for a fiver. It is so delicious and definitely the “balance” of life! I love a good chili too, we had it last night and I have leftovers for lunch today! This salad looks super simple yet delicious!
Thanks Lauren! There’s a burrito place in Newcastle that I still need to try, I completely agree they are so delicious!
I make these kind of meals all the time. Mexi-style bowls are a favourite here too!
I think this time of year is perfect for them!
Love this! I’ll definitely be trying it with some meat in. I really love Mexican food and have cooked quite a bit of it from my Thomasina Miers book. I would be very hard pushed to pick a favourite meal though, there are just too many!
Let me know what you think! I should probably get a Mexican recipe book :-)
Looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it out! :) Thank you!
Thanks Urszula!
Oh WOW. I was excited for you posting this one! It’s pretty hard to get red kidney beans in Argentina but as soon as I’m home I’ll be whipping up this one :) perfect for summer!
Hope you enjoy it Pip!
Mexican salads are my favourite. The more guacamole the better :)
I think I need to go out and buy more avocados!
This looks incredible! I love Mexican food (2nd favourite cuisine!) and I love salads *swoon*.
Oooh what’s your favourite? I’m just being nosy now ;-)
Indian food. I could eat it everyday!
Oh yummy. I added tortillas to my salad the other week when you blogged about it. I love that unexpected crunch you get. I love all those foods you mentioned now and more but as a child I ate next to nothing I was soooo fussy (and now I have fussy children). I’m more than making up for it now though.
The crunch is so good isn’t it! I was incredibly fussy, it’s good to know as we get older we can change our ways!
Mexico must be on our minds, I have just written my paleo/grain free nacho recipe for later this week – we can have a mexican feast! I’ve been using cayenne pepper in mine so help me bust through hayfever as naturally as possible – It looks totally delish
It must be, I’ve seen about 4 recipes on a Mexican theme on different blogs! Love the sound of your nachos, will be looking out for that!
I make mexican food quite often and Nick has wraps but I always prefer a big mexican salad bowl especially with a load of avocado :)
I think that’s quite a good way to change up meals when you make them for you and your partner, I often go for salad instead of a wrap!
This looks so good! Definitely one I need to try – especially as it sounds so quick and easy to make. x
Quick and easy to make meals can be such a lifesaver!
I love all the Mexican flavours. So tasty. This sounds really simple but really good. Love the fresh guacamole as well. Yum.
Yummy! Looks great! I would definitely add some meat in there since I’m not a vegan, but what a great recipe!
I do enjoy trying meals from different cuisines. Like you, when I was younger I never really ventured out into anything too wildly adventurous but I love trying traditional dishes when I go away on holiday now and adding them to my regular meals list.