Mexican Salad in a Crisp Tortilla Bowl

Idea of this super fun tortilla bowl came to M while he was doing what he actually does for a living - not EATING - but working thousands of miles away from home (and N!). A lot of mexican restaurants in U.S. serve mexican salads in deep fried tortilla bowls and the crisp, edible bowl serves the dual purpose of a container and also like croutons - providing that crisp element to a simple salad.

However, true to our tradition, we were not going to deep fry anything. So we used a simple corn tortilla and baked it to make it crisp. We used an oven safe container to give it the desired shape and there we had it - our own tortilla bowl for serving a fresh mexican salad. Made for a great weeknight dinner.

Ingredients (serves 2)

For bowl

2 large tortillas (corn based)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp red chilli powder / paprika
1 tsp lemon powder (optional)

Salt
Any baking bowl

For salad

1 cup kidney beans canned or boiled in salted water. Completely drained

1/2 cup sweet corn

Red and yellow bell peppers - cut in squares 

1 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds) - lightly toasted 

2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped

1 medium white onion finely sliced

1 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped

For dressing:

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp cumin powder
black pepper

salt

Method

Make the crips bowl

1. Mix all the ingredients for basting the tortillas

2. Soften the tortillas by either microwaving in a damp cloth or heating on a pan till they soften

3. Apply the basting mixture on both sides of the tortilla and bake in a bowl to give the desired shape at 200 centigrade for 5-10 minutes, watching closely. Tortillas have a bad reputation to burn quickly if the temperature is not right.

4. Take out and let them cool for about 15 minutes before taking out from the container

Make the salad

1. Toast the pumpkin seeds slightly till they brown a little

2. Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients. The flavour of cumin is the king in this salad.

3. Add the dressing to all the ingredients and mix well.Serve them in the crisp tortilla bowl! 

Finish the salad AND the plate!