fresh mango & pink grapefruit salsa.

it's may! it's may!!!!! hip hip hooray!

the month of may calls for fresh fruits and colorful foods. cinco de mayo is coming up here real quick...i've put together quite a spread to celebrate/to 1 up my spread from last year. coming up in a later post.

i'm currently hiding inside on a super fabulous sunny sunday. i hate to do so, but pete is jackhammering a bunch of cement at the back of our driveway and its sewww loud and unbearable. so so sorry, neighbs. i'm actually really excited about what he's doing because it will essentially widen our backyard to twice the size that it is now! just some very loud noises until then. 

back to fresh fruit salsa. i'd never had pink grapefruit in a salsa so i thought to give it a whirl. i love grapefruit and didn't want it to feel left out of all the fruit salsa fun.

conclusion: fabulous!!!

i personally think it added a good tartness to a type of salsa that can sometimes be way overly sweet. you hafta watch out for some mango salsas, especially store-bought...toooo sweet and swimming in sugary syrup. i also really, really love grapefruit, so i enjoyed it in this combo. if you don't fancy it, perhaps leave it out or just use a half a grapefruit. i ended up using close to a whole one since a lot of it was pulpy stuff i had to toss.

peter was only concerned that the grapefruit was sorta bitter and wasn't chopped up small enough, but i think it was because that particular grapefruit could have been sweeter. he got all the bitter bits.  make sure to get a juicy, ripe, sweet pink grapefruit! best of luck to ya.

another note is that i didn't necessarily want to use red bell pepper. i wanted to use a small red chile, but couldn't find one at the store. i just used a tiny bit of the red bell for color, but would have used any other little bit of red fruit or veggie just to get that color in there. the red bell pepp flavor in there was starting to throw me off because it reminded me of the flavor combo for my tuna salad recipe, which was very veird since i was trying to channel the mango flavors. i would have used a strawberry, tomato, a cherry, plum, etc. ideally i wanted this to be a spicy red chile, and would have also used only half a jalapeño in that scenario.

Fresh Mango & Pink Grapefruit Salsa

Makes about 2 cups of salsa

Keep refrigerated // Eat within 3 days

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe mango
• 1/4 a medium red onion, minced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 medium jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1/2 - 1 pink grapefruit (ripe, sweet)
• 1/8 of a red bell pepper (I used this just for the red color. Would have alternately used tomato, a red chile, strawberry, etc.)
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 clove garlic, minced (or 1 tsp. pre-chopped garlic)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1 tsp. white vinegar
• dash of cayenne pepper

Instructions-

Chop and mince all fruits and veggies as instructed above. Place in a medium bowl. Add garlic, salt, pepper, cayenne, and vinegar and toss gently with spoons until everything is evenly combined. Drizzle lime juice and any remaining grapefruit juice over the top and toss again.

Keep cold or chill for 15 minutes before serving. Serve with chips, on tacos, sliders, etc!!

qp

thai style veggies with spicy coconut peanut sauce.

heyhey. i made this tasty little colorful dish o' veg. and quite delighted about it.

and it's accidentally vegan! i didn't realize until after i was done making it and had to read over the ingredients like 10 times to verify they were all plant-based. huzzah! 

i don't think all peanut butters are technically vegan, but i used an all-natural one with just peanuts. so watch out for that if you are indeed a plant-based eater.

this spicy peanut sauce is so mighty delicious and flavorful...i'd like to eat it on its own. it has kind of a lot of ingredients, but i think they all matter to get the full flava flavvvvv.

this dish is simple to make, too! the sauce ingredients just go in a food processor or blender, and thats that. the vegetables get chopped and sautéed in one pan, and thats that. you could easily have everything ready in 30 minutes. 

i thought this was a great meal that tastes exciting and a little complex with the peanut sauce, but at the same time its just fresh vegetables. a good balance of healthy freshness with yummy savory, creamy, spicy, & zingy flavor. i don't know if 'zingy' is actually a word, but i think i use it a lot. i think what i mean is that it has a kick! ginger + red wine vinegar + shallots + lime = all the zingers.

also, if i'd had red thai curry paste on hand i would have added some to the peanut sauce for sure. then this recipe could just be called 'spicy curried thai veggies' instead of this other kooky long title that i've come up with for it. oh wHell. 

i think the little broccoli florets were surprisingly my favorite part since the peanut sauce seeps down into all its little crevasses and they're bursting with spicy creamy peanutty flavor. "flavor treasure troves", as pete would call it :)

this is certainly one of those things that tastes a little better the second day after all the veggies and sauce have ample time for flavor melding goodness, by the way. mmm boy!

Veggies with Spicy Coconut Peanut Sauce

Serves 2-4

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Spicy Peanut Sauce (yields 1 1/2 cups of sauce)

• 1 inch knob of ginger
• 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
• 1/2 can (about 7 oz.) coconut cream
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 medium sized shallot cloves
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 2 TB sriracha
• 3 tsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• juice from 1 lime
• dash of salt
• dash of paprika

To prepare the peanut sauce, add all ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Set aside. Store extra sauce in airtight container in fridge.

Veggies

• 1 large zucchini, chopped into chunks
• 4 broccoli crowns, stems removed and cut into florets
• 1/2 a red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 1/2 a green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
• 5-7 small crimini mushrooms, chopped into chunks or wedges
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and then shaved into ribbons
• 1/4 cup cashews, roughly chopped
• 2-3 TB olive oil

Instructions:

Prepare peanut sauce as described above.

Chop all veggies as instructed above. Heat a large pan to medium heat and add 1 TB olive oil. Add the zucchini, bell peppers, and mushrooms to the pan and drizzle 1 more TB olive oil over the top (mainly on the mushrooms). Sautée these veggies for about 5-7 minutes, tossing frequently with a wooden spoon until tender but still crunchy.

Reduce heat to medium/low and add the broccoli florets and carrot ribbons. Add about 1 cup of the peanut sauce. Gently coat the veggies in the sauce and simmer 3-5 minutes until sauce is heated and thickens a bit.

Remove from heat and serve immediately, with rice if desired. Add a drizzle of extra peanut sauce, and sprinkle the chopped cashews over the veggies as well.

qp