Of course side dishes are more memorable to me than a starring protein. I’m not that interested in meat, so sides are where the excitement is in my opinion. At holiday meals, my plate is piled with vegetables, breads, casseroles, and salads. And, potlucks are the best events ever because they’re all about celebrating side dishes. The latest book from Tara Mataraza Desmond, Choosing Sides, does that as well. It’s an entire book of what to serve to round out meals, what to take to parties at different times of year, and what to make for those big holiday celebrations. I recently received a review copy. Each recipe comes with suggestions for what it could be served with. Brunch and lunch are covered with things like Cinnamon Challah Muffins which are like bread pudding in muffin form and Bloody Mary Shrimp Salad which could be served on toasted brioche squares or in lettuce cups. Other chapters include Breads, Salads, Weeknight Dinners, Cookouts, Intimate Gatherings, Potlucks, and Holiday Feasts. The buttery, rich Pumpkin Rolls look delightful, the Coconut Cilantro Toasted Israeli Couscous could go with all kinds of great things, and Blood Orange Wild Rice with dried cranberries will be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner. I love that throughout the book the dishes incorporate a good variety of vegetables, mix together different textures with grains and nuts, and keep flavors bright and interesting with herbs and fresh dressings. As I read the Salads chapter, the Smoky Tomato Dressing caught my eye, and then I backtracked to the Crunchy Corn Tortilla Salad to serve with it. The dressing is thickened with yogurt and combines tomato, olive oil, and red wine vinegar with smoked paprika. It sounded like a nice match for a late summer salad with lots of cherry tomatoes, avocados, sweet pineapple, and black beans.
I took a few minor liberties with the salad. In the original, both black beans and pinto beans are suggested, and mango in addition to pineapple is in the ingredient list. I had recently cooked a lot of black beans and stored them in the freezer, but I didn’t have any pinto beans on hand. And when I shopped for the pineapple, it just so happened that the mangoes were all very green that day. Also, I opted for a bed of chopped, red leaf lettuce as a base rather than a mixture of iceberg and romaine. So, my salad was slightly simplified, but all the important flavors and texture were covered. For the crunchy topping, corn tortillas were cut into strips, tossed with vegetable oil, seasoned, and baked until golden and crispy. I built the salad in layers with the chopped lettuce on the bottom. Tomatoes, pineapple, avocados, black beans, cilantro, green onions, and garlic were tossed with some Smoky Tomato Dressing and spooned on top of the lettuce. I added a few slices of hot chiles, crumbled cotija cheese over everything, and topped with salad with the crunchy tortilla strips.
Crunchy Corn Tortilla Salad
Serves 4 to 6
This salad is so full of color, flavor, and texture it can easily steal the show from the main dish. Use whatever tomato variety you prefer, but this mix is a perfect place for those little red, orange, and yellow cherry, grape, and pear varieties that look like gumballs and candies tucked into pint containers on farmstand tables all through the summer.
Add the yogurt, tomato, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, sugar, salt, and pepper to a blender and puree until completely smooth and creamy, 20 to 30 seconds. Adjust the seasoning to taste. Drizzle on salad immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to one week.
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