El Torito Salad
(I got this recipe from Geenie Chapman – my sister in
law)
1 cup cilantro – coarsely chopped
1 cup mayonnaise
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup anaheim chilies – coarsely chopped
¼ cup red wine vinegar
¼ cup pepitas – roasted and salted
1/3 cup cotija cheese – crumbled
1 clove garlic – grated or coarse chop
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
More cotija and pepitas will be needed in the salad itself.
1 bag of red or blue corn chips
Put the cilantro, chilies, and garlic in the food processor
and give it a whirl. Add the pepitas and
cotija and whirl it again. Last, add the
mayo, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper.
Finish the blending. Store in the
refrigerator in a sealed container.
For the salad, use romaine and cut into bite size
pieces. Chill the lettuce until ready to
make the salad. To make the salad, put
the lettuce in a bowl. Sprinkle in some
pepitas and cotija and crumble in some corn chips. Put the dressing on and toss.
My notes: I always
make the dressing just as it says here. Once I put in extra cheese because I love it
so much, and that made the dressing too dry.
It’s perfect just the way it is.
The brand of cheese that I buy is Cacique. I get the pepitas at Trader Joes.
When you go to the store to get the chilies, you will see
that there are a million different kinds of chilies. The chilies are anaheim chilies sometimes
called green chilies. They are a lighter
green than a green bell pepper and they are kind of long and skinny (like 6 to
8 inches long). They are considered
mild, but don’t lick your fingers or touch your eye while cutting.
My sister Carolyn makes this dressing in a blender and it
turns out fine. I think it’s a bit
smoother in the food processor, but don’t skip making it just because you don’t
have one. If you do use a blender, it
might be better to chop everything a little finer.
It’s a beautiful salad at Christmas time if you can get the
red corn chips. I can only find them
around Christmas.
Last thing: I’ve only
made a single batch of this dressing once.
Everybody likes it so much that I make a double batch every time. And if you make a double batch, buy two
packages of cotija!!
