Palta Rellena
Palta rellena is the avocado starter you meet all over Peru, a ripe half turned into an edible bowl for a cold, confetti-bright vegetable salad. Palta is the Andean word for avocado, and here it does the job of a whole-food fat, rich enough to carry the dish with no mayonnaise underneath. The filling is the familiar potato, carrot, pea, and corn mix, but bound with plant yogurt and mustard and sharpened with lime rather than drowned in oil. Red onion soaked in the lime loses its harshness and turns almost sweet. Fill the halves at the last minute, because a cut avocado does not wait.
Ingredients
- 1 whole Potatoes, peeled and cut small
- 1 whole Carrots, peeled and cut small
- 1/2 cup Frozen peas
- 1/2 cup Frozen corn
- 1/4 whole Red onions, finely minced
- 3 tbsp Plain plant yogurt
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp Lime juice
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1/4 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 2 wholes Avocado, halved and pitted
Method
- Boil the diced potato and carrot in water until just tender, about 10 minutes, adding the peas and corn for the last 2 minutes. Drain and spread everything on a plate to cool. Cooling the vegetables dry keeps the salad from turning to paste and stops the warm potato from browning the avocado later.
- Soak the minced red onion in the lime juice while the vegetables cool, at least 5 minutes. The acid tames the onion's raw bite and pickles it slightly, which is how Peruvian cooks get onion flavor without a harsh edge.
- Fold the cooled vegetables together with the plant yogurt, mustard, parsley, and black pepper, then stir in the lime-soaked onion and its juice. Yogurt and a little mustard give the creamy bind that mayonnaise usually provides, with far less fat and a welcome tang, and the mustard also emulsifies the dressing so it clings.
- Cut a thin slice off the rounded back of each avocado half so it sits flat, then mound the vegetable salad into the hollows and over the top. A ripe avocado is the whole point here, rich enough to be the plate rather than a garnish, so choose ones that yield to gentle pressure.
- Serve right away, or fill just before serving if you make the salad ahead. Cut avocado browns fast, so the flesh gets its lime and its filling at the last minute; the vegetable salad itself keeps a day in the fridge.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 230 calories, 5 g protein, 8 g fiber, 120 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
