Salad Brain Exercise–Salpicon, Smoked Brisket Platter Salad

by R.B. Quinn and Min Merrell
Salpicon

Turn your meaty leftovers into a fabulous Salpicon Mexican salad.

Salpicon, meaning “jumble” is essentially a Mexican salad of meat or fish and fresh vegetables. There’s not much of a recipe and how you make it depends on what’s in your kitchen at the time.

We make a Mexican-style salpicon whenever we smoke a brisket or braise a chuck roast. The shredded beef combines nicely with fresh chopped cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers topped with cilantro, sliced avocado, and a healthy squeeze of lime juice. It’s perfect for summer tomato season. Think of it as blending leftover meat with a spruced-up pico de gallo. You don’t need an oily dressing, just lime juice, because the meat adds plenty of richness.  

Serve Salpicon as a salad atop spinach or salad greens, or scoop it up with fresh romaine spears or iceberg cups. It’s a great hands-on salad for entertaining. Just set a big platter with all the fixings in the center of the table and let everyone have at it. Arrange the salad as a mixed-up jumble, or like a classic Cobb with rows of fresh ingredients. Everyone can build their own perfect bite. 

Salpicon

This dish benefits by starting out with a great smoked brisket. Here’s our Cheater Chef straightforward way to do that — How to Smoke Brisket — The Cheater Chef Outdoor/Indoor Hybrid Method.

How to Smoke Brisket

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