RECIPE: Grilled Salsa Salad

June 1, 2014 at 8:43 am · Filed under Recipes, Vegetables-Salads-Herbs

Like salsa? Make a “salsa salad.” Photo
courtesy Melissas.com.

Sweet and savory, this delicious salad is perfect for grilling season. It is from Melissa’s wonderful new The Great Pepper Cookbook, The Ultimate Guide To Choosing And Cooking With Peppers.

Prep time is 15 minutes, total time 35 minutes.

RECIPE: GRILLED SALSA SALAD

Ingredients For 8 Servings

6 large roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise and seeded

3 limes, halved

3 garlic cloves, peeled

2 large avocados, halve lengthwise and pitted

1 large mango, halved lengthwise and seeded (do not peel)

1 sweet onion, thickly sliced

Extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh cilantro

15 dried tepin chiles, ground (see section below)

Salt

1 head butter lettuce

Preparation

1. PREHEAT grill to medium heat.

2. BRUSH tomato and the next 5 ingredients (limes through onion) with oil.

3. PLACE fruits and vegetables on grill rack. Grill, rotating halfway through grilling to achieve even grill marks, about 3 to 5 minutes. Set limes aside.

4. PEEL and finely dice remaining grilled fruits and vegetables.

5. TOSS fruits, vegetables, cilantro and chile in a bowl. Squeeze in lime juice. Sprinkle with salt to taste.

6. SERVE with butter lettuce leaves.

Tepin chiles. Photo courtesy LatinMerchant.com.

ABOUT TEPIN CHILES

The tepin (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is a hot chile that is native to southern North America and northern South America. It is also called chiltepe, chiltepin/chiltpin, chiltecpinas and chile tepin, variations of the Aztec name. In English, they are called turkey, bird’s eye, or bird peppers, due to their consumption and spread by birds.

Sold fresh or sun-dried, tepin is a small, searingly hot chile. It has a dry, musty flavor that produces a quick burn.

Small (approximately 1/2 inch in diameter) and round or oval in shape, looking a bit like large dried cranberries, the name means “flea” in Nahuatl, the Aztec language. The tepin is easily crushed and sprinkled on beans, salsas and other Mexican dishes, and to add a red-hot note to soups, sauces and vinegars. Its thin flesh makes it perfect for pickling.

Substitutes: cascabel, cayenne or pequin chiles.

MORE ABOUT CHILES

Check out the different types of chiles in our Chile Glossary.

Editor’s note: THE NIBBLE uses the word “chile” instead of “pepper.” When chiles were first encountered by Columbus’s crew in the Caribbean, they related the spicy heat to the black peppercorn and long pepper which were known in Europe.

Peppers and chiles are not related, but the misnomer, pepper or chile pepper, has endured in the English language.

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