mango salsa

A twist on summertime salsa… add some mangos! This recipe is courtesy of my sister [thanks Caro!]. I made this the other night to go with some spicy coconut chicken; it’s sweet but it has a little kick to it too. Also tastes really good with fish!

ingredients -

• 1 large mango, diced
• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4-1/2 cup cilantro, chopped [to taste]
• salt & pepper to taste

Chop up all your veggies, then combine all ingredients and admire all the pretty colors before digging in!



I like eating it on chips, and it’s also strangely good mixed with plain yogurt! Got a little bit of sweet and spicy going on at the same time, but the heat is significantly cut by the dairy. It makes a great after work snack :D

 

quinoa tabbouleh

Ta-what? I can’t even pronounce some of these ingredients, much less what it’s called… who are you and what have you done with the girl who eats fried foods like they’re going out of style?! I know, I know… but occasionally I actually do enjoy eating healthy foods [despite the fact that I’m typing this up while eating some Starbursts… true story], especially when they taste so good you aren’t really even aware of the fact that you’re eating healthy foods because there’s such an epic party going on in your mouth. This recipe sounds all kinds of intimidating, but it’s actually really easy, just a loooot of prep work. Totally worth it, though :D

what you will need -



1 cup quinoa
3 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped
2 tsp salt
1/2 c lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil

getting down to business -





> First things first, cook your quinoa. Bring two cups of water to a boil, then add in quinoa. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes, then remove from heat and drain the rest of the water [there shouldn’t be much left, if any].







> While that’s doing its thing, you got a lot of veggies to chop up. Hopefully you’re faster than me and can chop up everything in less than 30 minutes…. I’m too much of a perfectionist [check out those cucumbers…. unnecessary] to chop up anything quickly…



> Combine everything in a bowl and mix well. Refrigerate before serving to let all the flavors mix together.



This stuff tastes awesome when it’s 939261243 degrees outside… it’s really refreshing because of the cucumbers and the lemon juice and the mint. Annnnd since I’m not a food critic or anyone who knows anything about food other than that I like to eat it, I’m gonna quit talking and let y’all try it for yourself :D

pico de gallo

Our garden at the house is starting to have stuff come in - best time of the summer! There’s not a lot better in the world than eating a tomato right off the vine :D We eat a looooottttt of Mexican food at home, and this time of year is awesome [insanely hot temperatures notwithstanding…] because we can get most of the ingredients from the garden - no comparison to store bought veggies!

what you will need:
[there aren’t many fotos because chopping up tomatoes doesn’t mix well with cameras, haha]

3-4 large tomatoes, seeded and cut up
2-3 large jalapenos [more or less depending on how hot you like it], seeded & diced
half a large onion [~1/2 cup], diced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
juice from one lime [~2 tbsp]
2-3 cloves minced garlic [to taste]
1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste



Chop up veggies and cilantro and throw into a bowl; add lime juice and spices and mix well. Then devour with some corn chips :D It also tastes awesome in tacos, on nachos, in rice casserole like I had for lunch the other day, and probably lots of other things too!