Tomato, Corn & Avocado Salad from The Official Netflix Cookbook (Maya and the Three)

The third dish I've made from the Netflix Cookbook was Tomato, Corn & Avocado Salad, inspired by Maya and the Three. A 3D animated miniseries with nine episodes, it released in 2021 and chronicles the story of Princess Maya of the Mesoamerican kingdom of Teca. Her coronation is attacked by the underworld gods, who demand that she be sacrificed, and she goes on a journey to fulfill a prophecy and destroy the gods before they can lay waste to humanity.

Unlike Heartstopper and Young Royals, I had not watched or heard of the show before undertaking my journey through the Netflix Cookbook. It sounded intriguing, so I made plans to watch through the series ahead of making the recipe. I was struck by the heartfelt performances, the complicated family secrets and dynamics, and the show's respect for Mesoamerican culture.

Like the Vegan Swedish Meatballs for Young Royals, this salad is inspired by Mesoamerican cuisine rather than something actually eaten in the show. In fact, there are hardly any scenes with food. The only example I can think of is in the final three episodes, where Lady Micte joins Maya and the King and Queen of Teca for dinner, during which apples and corn are served. You could think of this recipe as the Latin American equivalent of a panzanella or fattoush salad, since it combines vegetables, a tangy dressing, and a bread/grain (tortilla chips).

The salad recipe makes a lot, and I halved it because I was only making it for two people, including myself. Additionally, the avocado and tortilla chips in the salad would not hold up in the fridge. Since the salad on its own wasn't a substantial enough meal, I paired it with Laura Vitale's Fiery Cumin Grilled Chicken, a recipe that also calls for a jalapeno pepper. That meant I could use half a jalapeno pepper in the chicken marinade and the salad each, although the tradeoff was the chicken not being as "fiery" as advertised.

I was making half the recipe, but I made the same amount of dressing since that wouldn't have been enough to cover everything. I'd also added too much garlic. The full recipe calls for one clove; I added a whole clove and it was very potent, but upping the quantities of the other ingredients fixed it.

Although I was sure I'd bought fresh cilantro, since I needed it for both the salad and chicken, I didn't find it in my fridge. Therefore, I had to get some and I ended up going to two stores looking for it. I hate it when that happens. I did have a small container of pre-chopped, air-sealed cilantro, so that helped, but the salad uses cilantro as the leaf ingredient rather than the garnish. When used like that, you get the full fresh flavor of it. Unless you're someone for whom it tastes like soap, in which case you won't enjoy this recipe.

Part of my cooking journey over the last few years has been learning to grill. It was never something I learned how to do since I had family members take care of that for me. Now, it's up to me. Above is my attempt at charred corn, done on the barbecue alongside the chicken. This needed a higher heat and longer to cook, so I had them on separate sides of the grill as I worked.

Right as I was ready to serve, I cut the tomatoes and avocado to maximize their freshness and ensure the latter didn't turn brown. I had yellow tomatoes because I couldn't find red, but it didn't matter since it still made the salad colorful. Everything in the salad added a wonderful note, either texture or flavor. Sweet summer tomatoes and corn, creamy avocado, salty Cotija cheese, it all worked. High praise for this salad!

If you want to make this recipe yourself, you can get it in The Official Netflix Cookbook: 70 Recipes from Your TV to Your Table.