Solterito is one of the specialty dishes of Arequipa, a beautiful city surrounded by dramatic volcanos in southern Peru. Solterito is a vegetable salad, traditionally prepared with the giant lima beans and large kernel choclo corn that grow so well in Peru. (You can find frozen choclo at Latin food markets).
Chunks of salty queso fresco cheese, spicy rocoto chile pepper, tomatoes, olives and red onion make this salad burst with flavor and color. This is a great summer picnic salad, but it can be prepared with frozen vegetables in the winter as well.Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Yield: Serves 4-6 as a side salad.
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups lima beans
- 1 1/2 cups corn kernels
- 1 cup of diced carrots
- 1/2 cup black olives, sliced crosswise
- 1 tomato, seeded and diced
- 1/2 cup chopped red onion
- 1 1/2 cups diced queso fresco cheese (farmer's cheese or feta cheese work well as a substitute)
- 2-3 tablespoons diced red chile pepper (or to taste)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsely
- 3-4 tablespoons vinaigrette dressing (or 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste)
Preparation:
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook corn kernels until just tender. Remove corn to a bowl of ice water.
- Cook carrots and lima beans together (in same pot of boiling salted water) until crisp-tender. Remove and place in ice water with the corn for 5 minutes.
- Drain vegetables well and toss with remaining ingredients. Let salad marinate for a couple of hours in the refrigerator if possible before serving.
Serves 4-6 as a side salad.
