JUICY TOMATO AND CILANTRO SALAD WITH RICA RICA
Call me a hippie (whatever, I was called much worse when I quit school to do yoga teacher training), but one of my favorite things about food is how you can make a meal that not only fits the nutritional needs that your body is craving, but also somehow perfectly suits the environment you’re in. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, just think about that one time where you ate something and thought, “wow, this is exactly what I needed.” It’s my personal belief that there’s no better way to achieve this harmony than by eating food that was grown as close to where you are as possible.
One of my goals while traveling through Chile was to dive into Chilean culture through food (who would had guessed that I love to eat), so one of the first stops we took after making our way to the Atacama desert at the northern end of the country was to a local market in the city of Calama, where we were greeted with piles of fresh produce, hand pickled olives, and dried legumes and grains. I was immediately struck by the colors and textures everywhere- there were no waxy films or perfectly smooth skins to be seen; instead I found peppers molting from red to yellow to green, garlic with a purple and white striped sheath, and cilantro with roots still covered in dirt from growing. I wandered without a real plan for a meal in my head, instead just picking the ingredients that caught my eye. With an armful of onions, tomatoes, grapes, mangos, and quinoa (to name a few), we headed towards the Andes mountains to begin our adventures in the high altitude town of San Pedro.
One of the big goals of this part of the trip was to summit an 18,000 ft peak, and we were planning to spend most of our time above 14,000 ft to acclimatize for this. Before beginning the ascent, our final stop was to a local vendor in San Pedro who had a variety of dried native plants for sale. After learning a little about each one, I settled on a package of dried rica rica, a little plant that was growing ravenously all around San Pedro. It tasted like mint, but with an earthy, robust undertone, and was said to provide a cure for altitude sickness. Being someone who does not handle altitude well, I figured I could use all the help I could get.
After an early (and successful) summit of our goal peak, we headed back down to a more manageable 14,000 feet to enjoy the biggest meal of the Chilean day, lunch. I chopped up the fresh veggies we’d bought a couple of days ago, squeezed in a few limes, sprinkled in a generous dash of rica rica, set it all on a bed of quinoa, and the first bite proved it to be just what was needed in that moment. Juicy, fresh, hydrating, and filling.
I assume that most of you won’t be traveling to the Atacama desert anytime soon, but this simple mix will still serve you well when you’re in need of a refreshing meal.
JUICY TOMATO AND CILANTRO SALAD WITH RICA RICA
1 medium tomato
3 limes
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 red onion
1 bell pepper
3 cloves garlic
1/2 avocado
1 Tbsp dried rica rica (or 1 Tbsp mint + a dash of rosemary)
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup dried quinoa (or your grain of choice/ convenience)
3 cups water
Bring water to a boil, then add quinoa and let simmer until quinoa is soft and fluffy, about 15-20 minutes. While quinoa is cooking, finely chop the onions, cilantro, garlic, bell pepper, and tomato. Squeeze limes over vegetables, add salt, rica rica (or mint), and toss together. Let sit until quinoa is ready, then dice avocado and add to veggie mix. Serve promptly over quinoa.
Grittify: Use whatever grain you have on hand for the base of this salad (couscous and rice also work great), and adjust the “salsa” ingredients to what you have on hand. Key ingredients that you won’t want to miss out on are lime, tomato, and cilantro.
Gourmetify: If you’re a cheese eater, add some crumbles of soft white cheese on top (cotija or queso blanco).