Sunday, August 31, 2014

Mango Salsa

10550900_10152728088951663_7587840872357302494_n This summer the mangoes have been huge, sweet, juicy and delicious!  We’ve enjoyed them in so many ways, cut–up fresh plain or mixed into a fruit salad, in Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothies, as a refreshing Mango Gazpacho, as part of our main meal in Mango Thai Chicken and Eammon’s favorite, in a Mango Lassi.  So, when we received this month’s assignment for Secret Recipe Club (check out the new SRC blog) and started scrolling through recipes on Heather’s blog, The Tasty Gardener, we stopped dead in our tracks at her Mango Salsa and knew what we’d be making.  Trust me, there were plenty of other wonderful looking recipes like her Sesame Green Beans, Guacamole, and Green Bean Salad, but Mango Salsa just had to be made.

10455806_10152728089071663_8119404573924796178_nWe stayed pretty true to Heather’s recipe, only making two small changes.  One because of a mistake as I thought we had red onions in the house but only had Vidalia and the other was, we chose to use cilantro in place of her parsley.  We really enjoy the flavor of cilantro but I’ll bet that this salsa would be just as delicious with the parsley.  The sweet of the mango, the heat of the pepper, the sweet-sharpness of the onion and the tang of the lime juice all blended in perfect harmony to make one delicious salsa.  Oh and don’t leave out the salt and pepper as they really make the flavors pop!  We enjoyed the salsa with some chips, over some fish and just as a little side on our plate so it’s one very versatile dish.  If you don’t know how to cube up a fresh mango, Heather provides a nice visual tutorial on her blog so check it and the recipe out.  Also gardening tips and instruction as that’s her field of expertise so spend some time reading Heather’s blog, it’s an enjoyable way find some new recipes and learn some new things about plants and the garden. 

10600418_10152728089806663_6962831439350897451_nMango Salsa (adapted from here)

  • 2 mangoes, cubed
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 2 TBS. minced Vidalia onion
  • 1 Thai red chili, seeded and minced
  • 3 TBS. chopped cilantro
  • 2 limes, juiced
  • Himalayan Salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and chill before serving.

Enjoy!!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing 
Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry

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Sunday, August 3, 2014

Pomegranate Molasses Salad Dressing

995062_10152654339876663_9097679169292867688_n I can’t believe that here in Georgia, summer is technically over as most of the children in public school return to classes today!!  Maisie has two weeks remaining to her summer break but she would happily return to school today as she loves school and her teacher.  In my mind it’s still summer as it’s Georgia and HOT outside!  With that being said, most meals are quick, cold or made on the grill.  Those three factors were a consideration this month when choosing a recipe for this Secret Recipe Club reveal.  This month I was assigned Sawsan’s blog, Chef in Disguise.  We were super excited when we perused Sawsan’s blog because she lives in the UAE and shares easy and authentic middle eastern, Levantine and arabic recipes and we adore middle eastern food.  We also knew that it would be a great opportunity to use some of our rarely-used pantry items in a new and different way.  Sawsan had quite a few recipes that caught our attention including her Kofta bi tahini which would have been made with sweet potatoes to better fit in with our diet; and then two totally off-diet and non-middle eastern treats, sfogliatelle, one of my favorite Italian treats and my all time absolute-favorite-cake-ever, Swedish prinsesstarta. But as I said, it’s hot here in Georgia and we’re trying to eat healthy so a new and interesting dressing on a salad topped with some sesame crusted seared Ahi tuna won the recipe contest.  We chose Sawsan’s Ponegranate molasses salad dressing because it sounded totally delicious AND we had all the ingredients in our pantry.  Big Win! 

10570383_10152654339701663_3476597734126377673_n I don’t know why the lemon and garlic were left out of this picture, but trust me, they made it into the dressing.  I love that we were able to use two of our rarely used ingredients in a new and delicious way.  We generally use pomegranate molasses when making Fesenjān and sumac combined with garlic powder, dusted onto poultry before roasting, makes for an easy and delicious way to make a bird

We followed Sawsan’s recipe for the dressing pretty closely, but since we have an abundance of mint growing in the garden, we used fresh instead of dried.  Also, Sawsan mentioned in her post that balsamic or apple cider vinegar could be used, each giving the dressing a different flavor profile.  We decided to split the difference and play off the sweet, sour and the tart notes of the dressing and used both types of vinegars.  Our decision to use both vinegars made for a totally delicious sweet, tart, complex and well balanced dressing.  I especially liked the mint component of the dressing, subtle and a wonderful addition.  We stored the extra dressing in a glass jar in the fridge and just gave it a shake each time we used it. 

Check out Sawsan’s blog for not only fabulous recipes and photos, but also for an interesting look at her culture, the country in which she lives and of course a few glimpses of her cute little kids.

10527459_10152654339526663_4237637794752415354_nPomegranate molasses salad dressing (adapted from here)

Add all the ingredients to the jar of a blender and process until well combined.  

Enjoy!!

My previous Secret Recipe Club Recipe Posts: 

Beef Keema  
Roasted Grape Tomato, Garlic & Poblano Ragu
Mexican Feast: Cream of Ancho Chile Soup, Roasted Poblano Burger with Chile de Arbol Guacamole & Pork Crusted Baked Poblano Fries 
Zesty Zucchini Skillet 
Garlic Seafood in Coconut Milk 
Lamb & Eggplant with Chiles
Fijian Ceviche
Carrot & Sweet Potato Pancakes   
Chicken Burgers with Spinach & Mushrooms 
Paradise Mango Curried Shrimp 
Laura Goodenough’s Apple Coffee Cake 
Loaded Potato Soup
Lemon Almond Biscotti 
Creamy Mints 
Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken 
Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings 
Fried Green Tomatoes 
Chicken Satay Noodle Salad 
Double Chocolate Mousse Cake 
Candied Popcorn
Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad 
Broiled Sushi 
Health(ier) Peanut Brittle 
Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites 
Texas Chicken with Lime Butter 
Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens 
Thin Mint Irish Coffee 
Levain Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies 
Welsh Cakes 
Nutella Crêpes 
Cilantro Lime Chicken 
Holy Guacamole 
and
Home Style Chicken Curry


Secret Recipe Club
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