Don’t Be Fooled By Its Appearance

These Snappy Salad Cups are the second recipe I took to my homemaker’s meeting the other night.  I had been racking my brain (tough gig, I know!) trying to come up with something different with vegetables- and refreshing at the same time.  I didn’t want anything heavy, and I just couldn’t get my mind off doing a salad of some kind.  I debated briefly doing some kind of lettuce wrap, but since there are often times where decent lettuce is hard to find, I decided that a recipe involving pristine whole leaves was a bad idea all around.

Then I remembered that my little local grocery store surprised me many years ago by carrying Athenos Phyllo Dough Cups.  These are one of the best products ever for making food look fancy.  You can put savory mixtures in it or you can put sweet mixtures in it, and either way, the cups themselves are going to deliver a fantastic crunch and a beautiful flakey texture.  I decided to do a simple, Mexican inspired tossed salad cup.   And when I say Mexican inspired, I mean Rick Bayless Mexican, simple flavors, lime juice, a little salt, and fresh crunchy vegetables.   My salad started with lettuce, tomato, radish, onion and cilantro, and then I decided to add an avocado.  The avocado was a gamble, as was the cilantro I suppose, because I know that many of my neighbors have never, ever tried an avocado, let alone chopped one up.

The avocado was a success, actually.  It really completed what I was going for with the salad and everyone enjoyed learning how to dispatch an avocado.  They also happened to enjoy the flavor it brought to the table, and I’m looking forward to seeing our grocery store try and keep the avocados well stocked.   The salad itself was a great success too, and I’ll tell you why.  It’s because it was simple in its construction, but complex in flavor.  This was another chop and drop affair, I just dropped the ingredients into the bowl and stirred to combine.  Normally, when you see a salad like this, you see the dressing components mixed separately and then drizzled on.  Not so here.  Everything goes in one bowl, it’s mixed together and you have an amazing salad.  It was fantastic in the phyllo cups, but I also had it straight up as salad for lunch- equally delicious.  This would be excellent scooped up with tortilla chips, or wrapped up in a tortilla as a condiment to some grilled chicken.

I’ll have to apologize for the photo, because I did not get a picture of an assembled cup, and since I’m out of the phyllo cups, I just grabbed a plastic condiment cup from the pantry.  This unassuming little salad is fantastic, and once again, I find myself thinking about it for breakfast.

Snappy Salad Cups

Serving Size  : 30

2               cups  lettuce — thinly sliced
2                     Roma tomatoes — diced small
1/8           cup  red onion — sliced paper thin
1/2           cup  radishes — diced
1/2           cup  cilantro leaves, whole — coarsely chopped
2                     avocados — cubed
1         tablespoon  olive oil
3        tablespoons  lime juice — about 2 limes
1/4      teaspoon  ground cumin
1               dash  garlic powder
salt and pepper — to taste
2           packages  phyllo dough — shells, thawed
extra cilantro for garnish — optional

Combine all the ingredients except for the phyllo shells in a large mixing bowl.  Toss gently to evenly distribute ingredients.

Fill each phyllo cup with a portion of the salad.  Top with the optional cilantro if desired.

The salad cups can be made up to a few hours ahead of time.  In the case of preparing ahead, toss the avocado cubes with extra lime juice or Fruit Fresh to preserve their color.

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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 33 Calories; 3g Fat (71.7% calories from fat); trace Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 9mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Vegetable; 0 Fruit; 1/2 Fat.

NOTES : Consider this salad as a blank canvas to build upon as desired.  Leftover chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or even chopped hard cooked eggs would make this a more substantial appetizer.  Add any fresh vegetables you would like, and omit any you don’t care for.  Shredded cheese would make an excellent addition, and a few dashes of hot sauce would please anyone with a taste for something spicy.