mexican street salad

ingredients

• ½ a small white cabbage
• ½ a small red cabbage
• a small bunch of radishes (about 10), trimmed and finely sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and finely sliced
• a large bunch of fresh coriander, leaves and stalks finely chopped
• 2 large jalapeño chillies (or other green chilli), to taste, finely sliced
• 1 red onion, peeled and finely sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• juice of 2–3 limes
• sea salt

servings
4-6

method

This simple little salad can be quite extraordinary, but you’ve got to season it with that Mexican spirit by being brave with the lime juice, salt and chilli, until it’s singing in your mouth. It does a great job of waking up the other things it’s served with – a few spoonfuls of this next to a grilled chicken breast or pork chop would be an absolute celebration.

Veg-wise, the onion, coriander and white cabbage are non-negotiable, as they form the base of this salad, but feel free to have a play with the other ingredients and use things like fennel or asparagus. Basically whatever’s in season and available should be a nice addition.


The easiest and quickest way to make this is to use a food processor with a slicer attachment or a mandolin. If you don’t have either of those, use a speed peeler, or simply grate everything finely.

Shred your white and red cabbage into two separate piles. Put just the white cabbage into a large bowl with the radishes, carrots and most of the coriander. Mix everything together really well, then kick up the flavours by adding almost all the chopped chilli, the sliced red onion and a good few lugs of extra virgin olive oil. Add most of the lime juice and a good pinch of salt, then toss together and have a taste. Just keep adjusting everything, adding more fragrance with the coriander, heat with the last of the chilli and acid with another squeeze of lime juice, until it’s just right for you.

When you’re happy, fold in the red cabbage right before serving so it doesn’t stain everything, and tuck in.