Thai Mango Salad

A girl I follow on YouTube called Leyla from Getfitwithleyla occasionally posts recipes for healthy meals, namely vegan. This salad was one of those recipes I’ve been wanting to try for a while. It looks so colorful and full of flavor, and I’ll eat pretty much anything with mango in it. I also like trying new salad recipes to keep me motivated to eat salads and keep vegetables interesting. It turned out pretty well, and the flavors were pretty interesting because there were so many in this dish. It mixes sweet with salt, and spice with tartness. You can also adjust this to your own liking if you’re not a fan of spice or anything else in this dish. I didn’t follow Leyla’s recipe exactlty because i forgot to buy red onions, so I used shallots/green onions instead. I rarely follow instructions so I’m sorry I don’t have exact measurements of things. My measuring involves, “Yeah, that looks about good.”

Ingredients

• Bell peppers/capsicum: assorted colors.
• 1/2 cucumber
• 1 Mango
• 1 Cup parsley
• Bean sprouts

Dressing

• 1/2 Jalapeno pepper
• 1 Tbsp grated ginger
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Directions

First is the painstaking task of cutting the mango, bell peppers and cucumber julienne style. Julienne is a fancy way of saying cut stuff into long thin slices. They make machines for this process but I like most people I imagine do not own such a machine. It is also quite trying to peel the mango, but I think my years of working in a restaurant have traumatized me from having to peel and cut onions and potatoes en masse.

So, two hours later after you’ve completed this step you need to finely chop the parsley and green onions.

Now set these ingredients aside to prepare the dressing.

Grate the ginger and cut up the jalapeño peppers finely. In a small bowl add the soy sauce, olive oil, salt, pepper, jalapeño peppers and ginger and mix together.

The dressing may sound odd, but it’s what really creates the thai flavor in this. If it sounds too weird, you really could add whatever dressing you’d like to this…it just wouldn’t be a Thai salad anymore.

Now you just add all the ingredients to a large bowl and mix together. Leyla suggested to add cashews to this dish to add even more of an Asian flavor. That would be a good idea if you are eating this salad on its own. It is a pretty filling salad. I didn’t add cashews because I was serving it with steamed cod.

This salad was pretty good to me but I like weird flavors and have a love for mango. I was actually pretty surprised with how much it had that signature thai flavor. I honestly thought it was going to just taste like a salad with soy sauce, but all the flavors work really well together. I actually think this would be a hit with my vegan in-laws so I’ll definitely be making it the next time we get together. I have to admit my husband didn’t warm to it immediately. There was a bit of slow chewing and a look of befuddlement going on, but he only likes about 3 of all known vegetables. He also is not a fan of mango.

But if like me you are drawn to the weirdest thing on the menu, are adventurous and have 5 free hours then give this a go!

Note: It really only took me about 45 minutes to julienne the ingredients, it’ll be okay.

Cumin Pork with Avocado Salsa

I found this recipe on one of the major recipe sites. I can’t remember which one, but so many have this recipe. I don’t make it exactly as they describe because I am terrible when it comes to reading instructions. I just borrowed my mother-in-law’s sewing machine and skimmed over the instructions. After messing with it for an hour I got fed up with it not working and put it aside. In comes my husband who is all for technicalities and reads the manual. He figures it out immediately and gets it working. It’s just one of my downfalls…What was I thinking going into accounting when I clearly have NO eye for detail?

Anyway, once again I like this because it’s so easy. Pork cooks really quickly, and only needs about 10 minutes on the pan. I am also all for recipes that use such few ingredients. I don’t have the patience or desire to go out and find 50 different ingredients, especially when some require going to exotic stores.

Ingredients

Pork Chops/Tenderloins

Whole or ground Cumin

Salt

Olive Oil

Sauce

1 avocado

1 Cup Salsa Verde

I may be wrong but I feel like using whole cumin that you ground up brings out more flavor, especially during the cooking process.

All you have to do is add some salt to the pork, and then sprinkle cumin over both sides. I then add a small amount ( about 1 Tblsp) Olive Oil to the pan, and then cooking the pork on medium to high heat for about 5-10 minutes on each side. For the sauce you just cut up one avocado into small cubes and then combine it with the salsa. It is very hard to make this sauce look appetizing, but I assure you it is really good.

Now you just pour the sauce over the pork and serve it with whatever you like. I usually serve it with salad or corn. The flavor of the avocado salsa mixed with the cumin pork just works so well together. I’m sure that if you try this you will add it to your dinner rotation. It’s also really healthy, and the sauce makes it very filling!