Mango Salsa

To me, there is nothing like fresh salsa. I love all the bright flavors of fresh onion and cilantro that you cannot get with jarred salsa. When I have a large amounts of tomatoes, I will sometimes use them up in some fresh salsa. It is not really hard to make, other than the time to chop everything. Sometimes when I get the desire for some and do not have any fresh tomatoes, I will BRIEFLY consider buying some at the grocery store. However, the price is simply outrageous! So I walk away until I either find some tomatoes on sale that look ripe enough or until they are in season. As I write, I am eyeballing some lovely tomatoes growing on my numerous plants and salivating over the first fruits of my tomato crop this year.

I must admit that in the past I had never been one who loved mixing sweet and savory flavors together- although I am beginning to try more such foods and really enjoy them. One of these was a pineapple salsa. I was amazed at the great flavor that pineapple and tomatoes gave each other. Then my husband came home from work and told me he just had the best salsa EVER! and I must try making it. It turns out that a coworker's wife made it and was gracious enough to share her recipe for Mango Salsa.

I have modified it according to what ingredients I had on hand. Instead of the typical larger mangoes found in many grocery stores, I used a couple small bright yellow mangoes I found at the local Indian grocery. I realized later that they are not as sweet as the larger greenish/yellowish/rosy pink ones. So this affected the final flavor in my salsa. Next time, I will make it with the sweeter mangoes. I also did not soak my red onion in water/vinegar solution, as I thought I would like the onion flavor to come through more. I also may have used more chopped cilantro- just eyeballed some of the amounts and kept tasting it. Since I did not have a jalapeño, I used a couple shakes from a bottle of green pepper tabasco sauce, which gave a hint of heat.  I also added a large clove of garlic, put through a garlic press, which gave a little more zing.

Jin's Mango Salsa Recipe (makes 4-6 servings)

1 ripe large mango diced ( or 2 medium size)

5 tomatoes diced (remove seeds to prevent making soupy salsa)- more needed if using smaller plum tomatoes

1 medium sized red onion chopped

(*soak in water vinegar solution for 10 min to remove pungency)

1/2 cup of cilantro chopped

1/2 tsp. salt & 1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 jalapeño finely chopped

1 lime, juiced

Mix, and enjoy

• As an aside, I just found out recently that there are many different varieties of mangoes, although not so many are available in U.S. grocery stores. However, they are all rich in Vitamin A, B-6, E, C, potassium and copper, as well as antioxidants that help prevent numerous types of cancer, including colon and breast. It is also rich in prebiotic fiber, which is beneficial to our colon health.
• It is wonderful put in smoothies, blended with milk, and added to fruit or vegetable salads.
• Feel free to check out the following link http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/mango-fruit.html for more helpful information on mangoes and how to use them.

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