Tortilla Salad- Fresh and Sassy!

 Fresh and Sassy!

This recipe is for those times when you just get home from a busy day and find you only have 30 minutes to put together a tasty meal. It only takes about 20 minutes to prepare and if you want to add some protein to the salad, like chicken or boiled eggs, you’ve got a meal in one.

If you think this recipe looks familiar to the one in Jamie Oliver’s ’15 minute Meals,’ you’re right- except I salsa-fied it by adding chili and coriander and a surprise ingredient, dried chili strawberries. I found this product by browsing through a local Sprouts Farmers Market store- a chain of grocery stores located in the western U.S. states, specialising in organic foods and grains. (I see this company recently listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, doubling its share price on the first day of trading. Hmmm, do you think I maybe should invest?)

The dried chili strawberries combine the slightly sweet taste of the strawberries with chili flavouring and gives a nice added punch to the recipe (although this ingredient is optional).

                                  Dried Chili Strawberries from Sprouts Farmers Market

Jamie Oliver says he can make this dish within 15 minutes (along with his Jerk Pork recipe), but I reckon it takes me at least 20 minutes to comfortably prepare the Tortilla Salad, since it takes at least 7 minutes to grill the corn cobs (but on second thought, I probably could get it down to 15 minutes!).

Tortilla Salad

Ingredients

• 4 – 5 soft tortillas (corn or flour)
• Romaine lettuce
• 4 corn on the cob
• 10 – 12 mixed-color cherry tomatoes
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 fresh chili, chopped finely
• juice from 1 lime
• 2 tbp coriander, coarsely chopped
• dash of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp dried chili strawberries (optional)

Directions

• Pre-heat oven to 180 C (360 F)
• Remove husks from the corn cobs. Place several tablespoons of oil on a grill pan and grill the corn cobs over medium-high heat. Turn them frequently so they cook evenly. They are ready when they are evenly charred, but not burned (about 7 – 8 minutes total).
• While the corn is cooling, arrange the tortillas around a large salad bowl or casserole dish. Place in the oven for 5 – 6 minutes until the edges are crisp.

• Remove the ends and lower spines of 4 – 5 large Romaine lettuce leaves and place them in the salad bowl with the tortillas- standing vertically against the sides of the salad bowl.
• In a separate bowl, combine the following ingredients for the salad filling: Hold each corn cob vertically and scrape the kernels off the cob onto a cutting board, using a sharp knife, then add to the bowl.
• Peel the avocado and cut into small cubes; add to the ‘filling bowl’ along with the diced chili pepper, onion, coriander, lime juice and olive oil. Toss all ingredients lightly and add salt and pepper to taste. Place the filling inside the bowl holding the tortillas and Romaine lettuce leaves.
• Add the chopped chili strawberries on top (optional).