If you are in the mood for a happy salad? Why not try a tostada salad? It is fresh, nourishing and is bursting with all kinds flavors and textures. I used fresh kale and romaine but you can use romaine only. If you use kale (curley especially), remove the stems, chop it into smaller pieces and use a little lemon juice to tenderize the leaves because they can be a bit chewy. A simple way to remedy this is to massage the leaves with your hands to break down the fiber a little. But it is totally worth it because kale is packed with lots of minerals (calcium, magnesium, potassium), vitamin A, C and K and even protein. It grows all year around so look for it or even better grow it yourself.
I usually drape a soft wheat tortilla over an upside down bowl and bake it for 10 minute to create an edible bowl but I didn’t have any at home so I used a large hard corn tortilla instead. The result isn’t as pretty but it tasted just a good!
Optional vegies:
1 green, red or even better orange bell pepper diced
2-4 radishes chopped (optional)
1 cup of corn kernels
1/2 cup of mild chiles (fresh or canned)
- 1 head of romaine lettuce (per person) and/or
- 4-6 fresh kale leaves
- ½ cup of pumpkin seeds
- 1 tomato chopped and seeded
- ½ avocado slices
- ½ cup of beans rinced per person (I used white beans on the photo)
- ½ cucumber peeled and sliced
- 2 large wheat tortillas
- Tortilla chips to mix with the salad
- DRESSING:
- 2 Tbsp vegenaise (eggless mayonaise)
- 3 Tbsp salsa
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- ¼ cup of chopped fresh cilantro
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Wash and dry the kale or the romaine lettuce.
- If you are using canned beans, wash and rince them well.
- Drizzle some of the olive oil on the beans with a little sea salt.
- Prepare the salad dressing.
- Chop the romaine lettuce and/or the kale.
- In a large bowl combine the chopped tomatoes, the pumpkin seeds, the cucumber and other chopped vegetables. Pour the dressing and mix well.
- Lay a large round tortilla on the bottom of each plate.
- Spoon some of the beans on the tortilla, then serve the salad part.
- Crush some corn tortilla chips and sprinkle over the salad.
