Recipe: Stacked Tomato and Sweet Onion Salad

Stacked Tomato and
Sweet Onion Salad with Mango Vinaigrette

Yield: 4 servings

Stacked Tomato and Sweet Onion Salad I use big, ripe, summer beefsteak tomatoes from Fort Davis and supersweet Texas 1015 onions in this salad. You can use any vine-ripened tomato and sweet onions like Vidalias, Mauis, or Walla Wallas. But the size of the tomato and size of the onion should be about the same to make nice stacks.

2 avocados
Eight 1/2 inch-thick slices beefsteak tomato
Eight 1/2 inch-thick slices 1015 onion
2 cups Mango Vinaigrette
12 sprigs cilantro, stemmed
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Cut both avocados in half. Cut each half into three wedges, peeling as you go. Spread 1/3 cup of the Mango Vinaigrette on four salad plates. Set a slice of tomato on the dressing, top with an onion slice, then tomato, and again an onion. Fan 3 avocado wedges on top of each stack. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and garnish with 3 sprigs of cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Mango Vinaigrette

Yield: 4 cups

I use this spicy, tropical fruit salad dressing on all kinds of summer salads. Make same extra and keep a bottle in the fridge.

1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons honey
1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup peeled, ripe mango pieces
plus 1/4 cup peeled, finely diced ripe mango
1-1/2 cups olive oil
1/2 cup minced cilantro leaves
1/2 habanero pepper, stemmed, seeded, and minced
2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions
Kosher salt to taste

Put the vinegar, mustard, garlic, honey, lime juice, and 1 cup ripe mango in a blender.

Blend at medium speed. with the motor running, remove the top and slowly drizzle in the olive oil. The mixture should be thick and emulsified.

Fold the cilantro, habaneros, scallions, and diced mango into the dressing. If the dressing is too thick, thin with water.

Serve at once or store the dressing; it will keep for up to 4 days.

A Cowboy in the Kitchen:
Recipes from Reata and Texas West of the Pecos
By Grady Spears and Robb Walsh
Ten Speed Press
Cloth, $29.95
224 pages, full color
Publication Date: February 1999
ISBN: 1-58008-004-9
Recipe Reprinted by permission.