Mango Salsa

Now is the time for all good women to come to the aid of their waistlines – and hips and thighs too actually. Alright, enough of the rich cakes, creamy risottos, greasy ribs and ice cream too. I’m trying to go light – at least for a couple of days. In my feeble and short attempt to rein in the fat and calories, (while still self-sabotaging with the leftover pita chips from the weekend) I made a mango salsa and steamed halibut for dinner.  The mild halibut was the perfect foil for the flavorful salsa – laden with mango, cilantro and jalapeno.  The salsa is also great on other types of fish, chicken or even pork chops. Or have some before dinner with tortilla chips and drinks. Whoops, I pledge allegiance to the bathing suit that I will stay away from tortilla chips and drinks, especially those gin and tonics.

The fish is a snap – hardly a recipe involved. Just sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of a piece of skinned and boned halibut and steam it. It took less than five minutes to cook.

The key to the salsa is making sure you’ve got a ripe one. Otherwise, you’ll be puckering more than a carnival kissing-booth sweetie. Most of the time, I can’t find a really ripe mango in the store. I buy the one that has the reddest exterior, and leave it on the kitchen counter for a few days, until it’s not so hard anymore. By then, it should feel the way an avocado does when it’s ripe – not mushy, but you should be able push down into the flesh a little with your thumb.

Mango Salsa

1 mango

2 scallions, sliced

1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced

1/2 red bell pepper, minced

2 T. minced cilantro

juice of 1 lime

dash of salt

Here’s the mango salsa over steamed halibut:

And here it is over day-old grilled chicken. Leftovers never tasted so good.

 

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