Southwestern beef salad with mango salsa and guacamole

This salad brings real Southwestern flavor to the elimination phase without the tomatoes and peppers that usually carry it. Mango salsa stands in for tomato salsa, and it works, carrying the same bright, fresh contrast against the warm beef. This is a real meal, full stop.

The avocado in the guacamole brings monounsaturated fat and is a source of potassium and folate, and the mango adds vitamin C and beta-carotene. Fat and color on the same plate, both doing quiet work while your body keeps recalibrating. Ginger and garlic carry the flavor that peppers used to.

It comes together in about 20 minutes, with only the beef touching heat. The salsa and the guacamole are each good on their own, so make a little extra and you have tomorrow's lunch half-built.

Ingredients

Salad

• 1/2 lb beef, sliced thin
• 2 tbsp onion, minced
• 1/4 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/4 tbsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• romaine lettuce, torn

Mango salsa

• 1 small mango, chopped
• 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar (omit for low-histamine)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp sea salt

Guacamole

• 1 avocado
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp onion, minced
• 1/4 tbsp lime juice (omit for low-histamine)
• sea salt to taste
• (source calls for a dash of black pepper here; omitted for AIP elimination)

Method

Warm the coconut oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced beef, minced onion, ground ginger, and salt. Cook, stirring, until the onion softens and starts to caramelize and the beef is cooked through, only a few minutes.

While the beef cooks, make the salsa. Stir the chopped mango, vinegar if using, minced garlic, and salt together in a small bowl.

Mash the avocado in a second bowl with the garlic, minced onion, lime juice if using, and salt. Let the guacamole rest for about thirty minutes so the flavors come together.

Build each plate with a bed of torn romaine, then the warm beef, then a spoon of mango salsa and a scoop of guacamole.

*Adapted from acleanplate.com*

*Lower-sugar note: the sugar here is the mango, not added sweetener. For less, use a smaller amount of mango and lean the bowl toward the greens and lower-sugar berries.*