Healthy Springtime Treat: Mango Salad
Mango salad is one of my favorite warm weather treats. A tantalizing mix of mango, chile-salt and lime juice, I usually cop this from one of the Mexican street vendors spotted around town in a plastic ziploc bag for a couple of dollars. It’s cooling and refreshing while teasing my tastebuds with a mix of sweet, salty, heat, and zest.
Want to make this yourself? You’ll need:
1 mango
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 tsp dried chile powder
1/4 tsp salt
(Yields 1 serving, 2 if you’re sharing. I’m a single girl, I cook for one)
1. Cut mango into desired size. I found this helpful video on youtube on the best way to cut a mango (cause my ish doesn’t look so neat). Getting around the stone in the middle can be a little tricky.
2. Cut your lime in half, squeeze the juice of the lime over the mango. Try to resist the desire to eat it before seasoning.
3. Combine chile powder and salt together in a small bowl, making sure to smash together with your fingertips. This step is essential because the chile powder and salt need to be completely immersed to achieve maximum results.
4. Top mango-lime mixture with chile-salt seasoning. You can throw it in a little baggie and squish it around to distribute everything evenly, or you can lightly sprinkle the mango with the seasoning to give it a dusting of flavor.
5. Enjoy!
The beauty of this dish is that it can be tailored to your liking. Tyler Florence added jicama to his mango salad on the Food Channel. Some people like to use red pepper flakes instead of dried chile powder. I’ve also seen mango salad topped with cilantro, and I’ve seen red onion, green onion, and even avocado thrown into the mix. I encourage you to tweak it to your liking.
Shopping tip: Mangos are typically in season from late April to September. When selecting mangos, look for ones with a reddish blush to them. The red mangos are ripe. The redder, the sweeter. If they’re mostly green, they’re not ripe yet and will not be as sweet.
