Mango Salad
I came across this mango salad as a condiment for a curry-coconut encrusted baked chicken recipe from a really great cookbook called Clean Eats which is full of recipes that coincide with several cleanses written by the cookbook authors, all doctors and nutritionists. I’ve never done their cleanses, but I cook from this cookbook quite a bit, and I’ve made this particular Mango Salad to go on top of and along side of so many dishes lately, I couldn’t not make it to go along with last week’s Jerk Chicken.
(Jump to the recipe file here.)
(I will post that above-mentioned curry-coconut chicken recipe soon, because cleanse-compliant or no, it’s delicious, and also surprisingly quick to bring together, especially if you’ve made this mango salad beforehand. Though I will say, this Mango Salad really doesn’t last more than a day or two. It’s usually gone the night I make it, but if some ever makes it past dinner, I try to use it up the next day in another meal or with lunch, which is not hard to do, since it pairs so perfectly well with so many things.)
Let’s Tango, and make some
Mango Salad
You’ll Need:
- 1 ripe mango, cut into ¼” cubes
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeds scooped out and cut into 1/8” cubes
- ¼ red onion, diced
- 1 red chili pepper, minced (I used a Fresno pepper)
- 2 Tbs roughly chopped fresh mint
- 1-2 Tbs lime juice, from 1 lime
- Generous sprinkle of sea salt
Dice your mango. I cut the two sides off as close to the pit as I can get, then slice away any flesh from the pit so as to get it all, then slice the sides into strips, slice off the peels, then cube the slices. (Then I nibble any flesh that’s left from the seed; waste not want not; and then of course I steal a few chunks too.) Place your mango chunks [that you haven’t eaten] in a medium-sized bowl.
Then peel and slice your cucumber in half, lengthwise. This will let you use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Then you also have a flat side to lay on the cutting board to get thin slices that you can then slice into teensy cubes. Place your cubed cucumber bits in the bowl.
Dice your ¼ red onion.
Remove the pith and seeds from your red pepper and mince.
Pluck your mint leaves from the stems and mince those too.
Sprinkle in some nice sea salt or Himalayan salt, to taste. (I’d say I used about ½ tsp, but I didn’t measure it. You can always start with ¼ tsp salt and taste test at the end to decide if you’d like more.)
Juice your lime, then pour the juice over.
Toss everything together until it evenly mixed and the salt and lime juice have covered every last bit.
Taste a bite (or four) to taste for salt level.
Cover and chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve. This can be served chilled or at room temperature; I actually can’t decide which I like better.
As I mentioned above in the beginning of this post, this does not keep well for more than a day or two, so it’s best enjoyed fresh, but boy is it amazing in those first couple days!
Serve with Jerk Chicken, Arepas, on Curried-Coconut Chicken (recipe coming soon), or just scooped up with some salty, limy corn chips.
Enjoy!
—Becky
Download the recipe file here.
