Fast, Fresh + Easy: Mexican Christmas Eve Salad

A lively, colorful crisp green salad is all you need to round out the groaning sideboard of deliciously rich holiday dishes and desserts, don’t you agree? I met and fell in love with Mexican Christmas Eve salad, or Ensalada De Noche Buena, the Mexican Christmas Eve Salad at Melissa’s Produce last week at a book launch luncheon for award-winning cookbook author Rick Rodgers’ newest book: The Big Book of Sides.  Perfect timing for this book of 450 recipes, since the candy rush is over and we can all focus on the biggest feast of all: Thanksgiving!

Of course, a cookbook filled with 450 recipes for the best vegetables, grains, salads, breads, sauces and condiments developed by a seasoned recipe tester, author and consultant can serve you the entire year! Meal and party prep always seems to center around the main dish or protein when, oftentimes, the supporting characters are more important to the overall success of a dinner and making it memorable vs. forgettable – just as supporting actors in a hit Broadway play or Oscar-worthy movie. For my first Thanksgiving dinner of this year – yes, we enjoyed a Thanksgiving-themed meal before Halloween, and my favorite dish was the vibrant Mexican Christmas Eve Salad!

An animated Rick Rodgers describing the feast of mouthwatering holiday dishes before we dig in: Mexican Christmas Eve Salad, Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Maple Syrup, Homemade Green Bean and Mushroom Casserole with Crispy Shallots, Roasted Beet and Orange Salad with Orange glaze, and Butternut Squash and Potato Gratin. All this and 444 more recipes in the Big Book of Sides by Rick Rodgers.

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Fast, Fresh + Easy: Mexican Christmas Eve Salad

Prep Time

20 mins

Total Time

20 mins

 

Bright with citrus and pomegranate arils, the festive Mexican Christmas Eve salad balances all the richness of your holiday table.

Course: Salad

Servings: 8 servings

Author: Priscilla

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• Finely grated zest of 1 lime
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 sweet apples such as Ginger Gold or Golden Delicious,
• cored and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 navel oranges cut into supremes*
• 1 cup pineapple chunks fresh or canned
• 1 jalapeno seeded and minced
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 cup pomegranate arils
• 1/3 cup chopped dry-roasted peanuts

Instructions

1. To make the dressing: In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, yogurt, lime zest and juice,and honey together. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. In a medium bowl, toss the lemon juice and apple cube together. Add the pineapple and orange supremes. Add 3 tablespoons of the dressing and mix well. Separately cover and refrigerate the salad and dressing until chilled, at least 1 hour and up to 4 hours.
3. Just before serving, mix the jalapeno into the fruit mixture. Spread the lettuce on a deep serving platter and top it with the fruit salad. Sprinkle it with the pomegranate seeds and peanuts. Serve the salad chilled, with the remaining dressing on the side.

Recipe Notes

*1 hour for chilling.

For a party, the dressing and all the components of the salad can be readied in advance, kept refrigerated, and assembled just before serving.

As its name suggests,the Mexican Christmas Eve Salad is an essential component to the last posada meal and is especially popular in the Southwest. It is perfect in the winter when citrus, pomegranates,and beets are in season. You won’t find any foods more colorful on the Mexican table than Christmas Eve Salad. At midnight (or earlier nowadays), the family gathers for la cena de nochebuena, or “good night” dinner. All the best dishes are presented for the festivities, including the traditional Ensalada de Nochebuena. Like a decorated tree, it comes to the table with brilliant reds accented by green and white. It’s as much for display as it is for feasting.

Although many variations exist, three ingredients are at the core: beets, pomegranate and jicama. The root vegetable – jicama is also known as “Mexican potato,” so it’s an appropriate member. Beets are included for color along with pomegranate seeds sprinkled across the top. The juice of beets and pomegranate also add color to dressings. Apples, oranges, and sometimes bananas round out the list. Other traditional toppings include peanuts or pine nuts. If you prefer the smaller pine nuts, but find them too expensive, just substitute with sunflower seeds. Also, mandarin oranges from the can make a prettier presentation and require less work. {Source: Hispanic Kitchen}

My pre-holiday dinner plate – see how the salad adds a pop of color and bright fresh fruit flavors.

Rick also demonstrated how to make foolproof turkey gravy which I will share in another post.