This recipe was born out of necessity. Not a distinct, overwhelming need mind you (as in, Oooohh I need this in my life like right now) but rather as a way to use all those bits of left over this and that. That’s ingenuity people!

You see as someone who cooks his fair share of (Vegan) Mexican Food (errr, I sorta do a blog about it) I’m left with a fluctuating array of this and that – leftovers from a week of cooking.

As much as I strive to (or have striven to) I never seem to be able to use everything before it goes bad. This is where this recipe comes into place. All those little odds & ends are lightly dressed and thrown into what is essentially a salad. But what I didn’t know (or forsee) is that, this little hand-me-down dish would morph into something that works perfect as a (crunchy) topping for tacos & the like. And it’s pretty tasty as a straight up salad too!

Oh Happy Accidents!

I call it Picadita because, well, the name makes sense. (Roughly translated, Picadita means “little bits”). You can interchange the ingredients as you please. Leftover cabbage, chili peppers or vegetables – that sort of thing works perfectly here. Below is the basis of my recipe but by all means, feel free to play around and adjust!

Picadita

1 cucumber (peeled, seeded & Diced)
2 tomatoes (seeded and diced)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
6 – 8 radishes (trimmed, and diced small)
2 TBS red onion diced
1 – 2 jalapeno (seeded and minced)

1 (heap) tsp of Vegenaise
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1`tsp fresh lime / lemon juice
1/4 tsp garlic powder
pinch of paprika
pinch pepper
Salt to taste

1. Place all of your (diced) vegetables in a medium bowl; sprinkle with salt, shake or stir and allow to sit for 10 minutes.
2. Add your remaining (spices etc) ingredients to the bowl and toss with a spoon, making sure that all ingredients are mixed.
3. Salt to taste.
4. Cover and place in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat.