Hispanic Heritage Month is still going strong and I'm extremely excited about sharing this recipe from Nicaragua with you. It's a salad that's actually very filling, which is exactly why I love it.
Vigorón, a Nicaraguan salad made with yucca, pork rind and cabbage, is a dish that's so easy that you can actually find street vendors serving it up in the cities. It's considered a fast-food because it can be eaten with the fingers and is so easy to make that it's the go-to Nicaraguan dish for when guests unexpectedly come over and you need to serve them something. However, I love this dish as a filling lunch that takes almost no time to make and is full of great, authentic flavors.
Read more ¿Qué más? Hispanic Heritage Month: Ecuadorian fruit salad (RECIPE)
Vigorón, a.k.a. Nicaraguan yuca, pork rind & cabbage salad (recipe courtesy of NicaraguaFood.org)
Ingredients:
4 lb. of chicharron de cerdo, which is a type of fried pork rind or pork crackling
4 lb. of yuca (cassava)
1 head of garlic
Salt to taste
Oregano to taste
3 rolls of fresh cilantro
3 lbs of ripe tomatoes
1/2 lbs of onion
1 red pepper
15 limes for juice + 5 limes for slices
1 teaspoon of sugar
Salt and cumin to taste
4 lbs of cabbage
10 tropical almond tree leaves
Read more ¿Qué más? Hispanic Heritage Month: Traditional Chilean Beef & Corn Casserole for Independence Day! (RECIPE)
Directions:
1. Peal the cassava and cut it into 2 inch long pieces.
2. Place the cassava in a pot and fill up with water until the water is 1 inch above the cassava.
3. Boil the cassava. When it starts getting soft, add a whole head of garlic, salt and oregano.
4. When the cassava is soft, drain the water and leave the cassava to cool down.
5. Chop cilantro, tomatoes, onion and red pepper into thin pieces. Place in a bowl and mix them together.
6. Squeeze 15 limes and save the juice.
7. Mix the juice with the sugar and pour into the bowl.
8. Add salt, pepper and cumin to taste.
9. Chop the cabbage.
10. Slice the 5 remaining limes.
11. Place each tropical almond tree leaf on a plate.
12. On each leaf, place an ample amount of chopped cabbage before adding three pieces of cassava, two pieces of chicharron and four tablespoons of the vegetable mix.
13. Serve the vigorón with slices of lime that each person squeezes over his or her own dish.
Image via Sifu Renka/flickr
