A fresh and delicious Chilean salad, also known as “ensalada chilena,” is ideal to accompany your best national homemade dishes such as pastel de choclo (corn pie), roasted ribs, or lamb barbecue.
Contents
How to make Chilean salad?
Preparing a good Chilean salad is really simple and relies on the freshness and quality of its main ingredients: tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, to which you can optionally add a touch of spiciness.
Nutritional Information
Category: Salads
Cuisine: Chilean
Calories: 150
Preparation: 10 minutes
Servings: 4 people
Chilean salad recipe
Ingredients
- 6 tomatoes
- 2 white onions
- 1 bunch of fresh cilantro
- 1 medium yellow or green chili pepper
- Sunflower oil
- Salt
Preparation
- Wash, peel, and cut the tomatoes into thin slices or medium wedges. Set aside.
- Slice the onion thinly, soak it in cold water, and gently press to eliminate acidity. Set aside.
- Wash the cilantro and finely chop it. Wash the chili pepper, remove the seeds, and dice it into small squares. Set aside.
- Arrange the tomatoes in a salad bowl or individual plates, season with oil and salt to taste, and top with the onion, chili pepper (optional), and cilantro.
- Serve the Chilean salad immediately, either on its own or accompanied by another main dish.
Tips for a perfect Chilean salad
- Depending on the type of onion, it can be soaked or not, always trying to enhance its natural flavor without overshadowing the rest of the ingredients.
- Salting the tomatoes before combining them with the other ingredients will help release their natural juices and can provide an extra level of flavor.
- Using neutral vegetable oil instead of olive oil is traditional and recommended to allow the freshness of the ingredients to shine.
Benefits of consuming tomatoes
- Its high iron content helps prevent anemia and maintain good overall blood health, preventing cardiovascular diseases.
- Tomato is an excellent diuretic due to its high potassium content and low sodium level, helping prevent fluid retention while aiding in toxin elimination.
- It has a high antioxidant content, which helps slow down cellular aging, making it a great ally for dental, skin, and hair care.
Did you know?
The Chilean salad gets its name from the color combination of the salad -red from the tomatoes and white from the onions- resembling the Chilean flag, although the exact period when it emerged as a preparation is unknown.
