I have been living on salads ever since May. Sometimes I'll throw whatever is in the fridge into one bowl and other times I'll actually make an effort. Sure this Cuban salad with mango and requires some cooking but when it's this good, it's worth turning on the oven. Bake some spiced sweet potato fries, quick braise some pinto beans, and caramelize some plantains and you have one amazing salad ready to go! Plus, the spicy southwestern dressing doesn't hurt either.

Recipe

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Cuban Salad with Mango

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Main Course, Salad

Cuisine: Cuban

Keyword: vegetarian

Servings: 4

Author: Christine Ma

Ingredients

Cajun spiced sweet potatoes

• 2 medium sweet potatoes peeled, cut into matchsticks
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar

Braised pinto beans

• 14 ounces canned pinto beans drained
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon cumin ground
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chicken broth

Southwestern dressing

• ⅓ cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon canned chipotle with adobo juices
• ¼ teaspoon dried oregano

Remaining ingredients

• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 yellow plantains
• salt
• 8 cups salad greens
• 1 large mango peeled and sliced
• 2 avocados pit removed, sliced

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
• Peel and cut the sweet potatoes into matchsticks. Toss the sweet potatoes with 2 tablespoon olive oil, 2 teaspoon Cajun seasoning, and 1 teaspoon brown sugar. Spread the potato onto a baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the potatoes over and roast another 7-10 minutes or until cooked.
• Meanwhile, braise the pinto beans. Drain and rinse the beans and combine with ½ teaspoon oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1 cup chicken broth in a medium saucepot. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
• Make the southwestern dressing. Blend together ⅓ cup yogurt with 1 tablespoon honey, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon chipotle with adobo juices, and ¼ teaspoon oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
• Peel 2 plantains and slice into ⅛ inch thick slices. Heat 2 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the plantains. Cook until caramelized and browned, flip and cook on the other side. Remove from heat.
• Assemble the salads. Portion salad greens into 4 plates and top with fresh mango, avocado, braised beans (without the juices), Cajun spiced sweet potatoes, and plantains. Serve with southwestern dressing.

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

I've been making most of my salads vegetarian including this Cuban salad with mango but you can easily add whatever protein you desire. But when you have filling ingredients like sweet potatoes, pinto beans, and plantains, you might not even miss the meat.

Let's start by roasting the sweet potatoes. The sooner we can finish cooking the tubers, the faster we can turn off the oven. The idea is to make oven-baked fries so cut the sweet potatoes into french fries or matchsticks. Toss them with olive oil, Cajun seasonings, and a touch of brown sugar. Spread out the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the potatoes over and cook another 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.

While the fries are baking, quickly braise some beans. I used canned pinto beans to make life easier so all we have to do is simmer it with some seasonings. You can also make the beans the day before.

Lastly, cook the plantains. For this Cuban salad with mango, we want yellow plantains for their sweetness. Green plantains are much starchier and are typically used more for tostones or plantain chips. The blacker the plantain, the sweeter it'll be.

Cut some mangos and avocado, blend up the Southwestern dressing and you are ready to assemble. See that wasn't too much work, right? One bite into this Cuban salad and you'll be glad you went through the effort!

For more salad inspiration check out this cauliflower kale and farro salad!