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Vianca de la Parra
Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad
By Kathleen Furore
Are you listening to what the dining-out public is saying about salad? According to Datassential’s 2024 Healthy Food Trends report, 53 percent of consumers say it’s important for restaurants to offer healthful main dish options — and they identified salads as the most important option. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they want salads on the menu, even if they sometimes select more indulgent options.
Data from POS company Toast is equally positive, and cites global flavors as one of today’s top salad trends.
“As diners continue to seek unique dining experiences, salads that reflect global flavors are poised for long-term popularity,” information from the Toast report says.
Those facts make it simple to see why Mexican- and Latin-inspired restaurants should offer a variety of interesting salads on their menus.
Exceeding Expectations
Vianca de la Parra
Casa Gabriela's Caesar Salad
Two types of salad have always been pretty standard fare on Mexican restaurant menus. Customers have come to expect a basic lettuce salad with carrots and onions served with dishes like enchiladas and burritos, as well as a taco salad.
That’s not what customers find at Casa Gabriela in La Mesa, California and Paraiso Taqueria & Mezcaleria in Washington, D.C.
“We have always offered the three salads since opening in January 2023 — the Caesar Salad, Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad, and Panela a la Plancha,” Casa Gabriela’s Chef-Owner Gabriela Lopez (aka “Chef Gaby”) says. “They definitely do well…I would say at least a third of our covers order a salad, and that is a conservative estimate.”
The Caesar salad is the most popular salad — one she calls “a staple of mi casa.”
And while that offering doesn’t change with the seasons, the others do.
“For the Mexican Street Corn Kale Salad and Panela a la Plancha, I go more seasonal. I always use kale for the former, and I always use baby arugula for the latter,” she explains. “Then in fall, for example, I add roasted carrots or roasted butternut squash to the kale salad. I also recently used honey-roasted pear in the panela salad.
The dressings change, too, depending on what is the freshest available. Right now, the kale salad has a pomegranate vinaigrette. Before that it had an ancho vinaigrette.”
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Casa Gabriela's Panela a la Plancha
At Paraiso, the namesake Ensalada Paraiso — a refreshing mix of greens, cherry tomatoes, carrots, queso cotija, roasted pepita seeds and cilantro ranch dressing — is a guest favorite that is always on the menu, according to Tahmina Ghaffer, VP of operations and marketing. Other options, which change seasonally, have included the Roasted Beets Salad with fennel, beets, orange wedges, greens, queso cotija, pepitas and hibiscus vinaigrette and the Avocado Salad, a half avocado stuffed with roasted corn and gratinated cheese, topped with crispy carnitas, cherry tomatoes, red pickled daikon, red onion, feta cheese and beet hibiscus vinaigrette.
The Creative Process
The salads Lopez and Ghaffer describe are fresh, creative and modern, yet maintain the Mexican spirit of their respective restaurants.
So, what’s their secret to achieving that balance?
“First and foremost, my inspiration for the salads and anything I create comes from my grandmother and mother, who both came from Guadalajara. They taught me so much, and many of my grandmother's recipes are on my menu to this day,” Lopez explains. “Secondly, since I grew up in Tijuana, I felt it was fitting to have a Caesar on the menu since that was the birthplace of the salad. And I infuse my own flavors like using toasted chile de arbol to make the croutons a little spicy. I also include basil, roasted tomatoes, shaved cotija enchilado, and spiced pepitas. And all the dressings I create are made from scratch with fresh ingredients. I use freshly squeezed juices like from watermelon, honey, garlic, fried garlic. It's like I come up with something out of nothing sometimes.”
Paraiso Avocado Salad
The simplest explanation, she adds, is that the way she creates her salad goes back to her love of playing with textures and flavors. “I've done that ever since I was a little girl. Fortunately, I was always good at that. I think I was different than most kids in that I had this palate that was very open,” Lopez says.
“At Paraiso, we offer a creative cuisine inspired by the streets and home kitchens of Mexico,” Ghaffer says. “When our chef develops recipes, he sometimes takes a classic recipe and incorporates Mexican ingredients.”
The Impact of Tariffs
Are you finding (or fearful) that the current situation with tariffs and the economy overall will impact your ability to source the fresh ingredients you'll need for your menu?
The teams at Casa Gabriela and Paraiso aren’t overly concerned but are taking a wait-and-see approach.
Paraiso Beet Salad
“I am not yet concerned about the situation with tariffs. We are lucky to have many options of sources for produce, including a farmer’s market right across the street from the restaurant every Friday afternoon,” Lopez says. “I have a great purveyor, too, called Vesta Foodservice.” (For more about the benefits of sourcing from local purveyors, see the story “The Local Advantage” on page 32.)
“We are sure the produce we buy will be affected, but we will see how things go and how we will tackle this challenge,” Ghaffer says.
Whatever happens, they won’t stop creating salads that enhance their menus, and offer this advice for other Mexican restaurants that want to craft outstanding salad options.
“You can always create a non-traditional salad with Mexican ingredients that pairs really well with the rest of the food on the menu,” Ghaffer says.
“I suggest always, always, always use fresh ingredients. Nothing out of the can, and everything as fresh as possible,” Lopez stresses. “And be creative. Think a little outside the box to create something wonderful that will 'wow' your guests.”
Click here to go to the next article, On the Road: Mexican Restaurants in Spain