In Spain, a green salad is almost always on the table at mealtime. When dining out at a restaurant or perhaps preparing a special meal at home, an “ensalada mixta” or a colorful, mixed green salad is served on a large platter in the center of the table. This salad usually includes a mix of ingredients that Americans may find surprising, such as olives, tuna and white asparagus, as well as tomatoes and onions. Easy to prepare, it is as tasty as it is attractive. Try it at your next dinner gathering!Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 head Iceburg or Romaine lettuce
- 2 tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 cucumbers, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 cup green olives, stuffed with anchovies
- 1 can (approximately 15 oz) white asparagus
- 1 red or yellow pepper, sliced in long thin strips
- 1/4-1/2 yellow or red onion, sliced thin
- 1 carrot, grated
- 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and cut into quarters
- red wine or sherry vinegar
- extra virgin Spanish olive oil
- salt to taste
- 1 15 oz can artichoke hearts, drained
Preparation:
This Spanish mixed green salad recipe 4-6 servings.
Hard boil the eggs. Allow to cool in cold water. Then, peel and cut into quarters, or slice in thick slices.
Cut the lettuce head in half. Rinse the lettuce under cold water and allow to drain. While lettuce is draining, cut the tomatoes. Peel and slice cucumbers and slice the red peppers. Grate the carrot.
Open the cans of the other ingredients and drain each one.
Break up the lettuce into small pieces for a salad. Make a bed of lettuce on a large platter. On top of the bed, place the tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers and carrots. Then spread out the tuna around the bed of lettuce, breaking it up into small chunks with a fork first. Place the egg slices, asparagus, olives and baby corn ears and artichoke hearts on top.
Dress with oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt to taste.
Note: Don’t worry if you are missing one of the ingredients! Each family in Spain has their own version of ensalada mixta, so it is slightly different in every household.
The salad sounds delicious. I will definitely fix it. My college roommate comes to visit frequently and is an excellent cook. I always try to serve something special for Dixie and John.
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Prep mentions Tuna, but Tuna not listed as an ingredient?
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Hi Jack,
Yes, the original recipe did call for tuna, but that was one of the ingredients that we left out. Here is a link to the original recipe. http://spanishfood.about.com/od/soupssalads/r/ensaladamixta.htm
Sorry about the confusion!
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We are going to be making the Ensalata Mixta for the first Pops in the Park.Sounds pretty tasty.Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to thr BBQ.
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