Ensalada de Nochebuena

Christmas Eve Salad - A very traditional dish from Mexico.

This family favorite recipe has been made every Christmas for about 70 years. My grandmother loved it and mother could not serve Christmas dinner without it.

It’s called an ensalada (salad) but it’s more like a cold soup since you need a spoon to eat it. The fruit floats in this refreshing combo of beet and orange juice, and you get the crunchy jicama and peanuts.
For me, it also became a symbol of Christmas dinner, the colorful, bright flavors that only appear during December in Mexico. Feels like a party in a bowl!
Now I’ve joined in the tradition and have been making it for a few years now, I recommend preparing it a day before you plan to serve it, allows all the flavors to blend.
Keep scrolling for the translated recipe, well worth preparing!

Ensalada de Nochebuena - Christmas Eve Salad

2 large beets
4 pieces of sugar cane (3-4” long)
5 oranges (4 to juice, 1 to slice)
8 oz. roasted unsalted peanuts
2 jicamas
4 limas (it’s a combo between lemon and lime, sweet and fragrant)
8 oz. sugar

Wash the beets thoroughly, and place them in a pot with enough water to completely cover them. Boil the beets until soft when pinched by a fork.
Peel the sugar cane, and cut into thin strips about 2” long.
Peel and cut the jicama into small pieces.
Juice the oranges and set aside.
Peel the limas, remove the seeds and split into segments, set aside.

Once the beets are cooked, take them out of the water (don’t discard the liquid) Allow them to cool down. Peel the beets and slice them into small pieces.

In a deep bowl, pour the beet water passing it though a sieve, add the orange juice and the sugar, mix until dissolved.
Carefully add the beets, jicama, cane sugar, lima segments and orange slices. Mix it all together and top with orange slices and a few of the roasted peanuts.
Cover and place in the fridge until ready to serve.

When serving add some more peanuts on each single bowl.

Enjoy!

Buen Provecho!

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