Green Mango Salad

I was in Toronto last week. A most memorable dish was this salad at Happy Thai on West Queen West. (I was the only customer there for a late lunch, so needless to say the service was excellent as well.) I tried duplicating it at home, but my dressing just wasn't the same. It was good though! My recipe for two follows:

Salad

• Green (slightly hard) mango, sliced into fat matchsticks (one small or 1/2 large)
• 1/3 sweet red pepper, also sliced in thin strips
• some red onion, sliced a bit chunky
• crushed peanuts
• whole roasted cashews (ok to use salted)
• cilantro, some chopped fine and some for garnish
• cucumber and orange slice for garnish
• large piece of lettuce for the base
• optional: carrot, sliced into very fine matchsticks

Dressing

• juice of 1/2 lime, or to taste
• 1 tsp Thai fish sauce
• 1 tsp sugar dissolved in 2 tsp warm water
• 1/2 tsp spicy toasted sesame oil, or to taste, since this is the source of hot peppers
• 1 tsp pickapeppa (I wanted to get tamarind flavor in there somewhere, since I didn't have any in the house)

Arrange the salad ingredients on the plate, then whisk together the dressing and pour over.

Salsa, tortillas, and lunch

J asked me to blog about this because she worked from home today and thought lunch was fantastic. It was another simple faux-Mexican dish, and it took only a few minutes to make on our wonderful stovetop griddle. Of course, that was because I made the salsa this morning (warning: don't handle hot peppers before inserting contact lenses, even with hand-washings and a shower in between).

Quesadillas

Heat griddle to 350°F and coat lightly with oil. Heat 4 white corn tortillas until golden, turn and add a sprinkling of cheeses: I used ricotta salada and Monterey Jack. When the cheese is hot, add a tablespoon of black beans (if it's out of the can, rinse first) and 2 T salsa. Fold and eat!

Mango-Black Bean Salsa

1 small mango, diced 1/4"

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed well

juice of 1 lime

1 small tomato, chopped

1 small poblano pepper, chopped very fine

1/4 c chopped red bell pepper,

1/2 t salt

1/2 t black pepper

cilantro, added prior to serving

Mix everything in a non-reactive bowl and let sit for a few hours

Ice Tea

4 c water

1 x-large plain black tea bag

handful of fresh mint

Steep the tea bag for 5 minutes. Chop and add fresh mint leaves, or bruise with the back a knife if you don't want to strain it. Let cool off and pour into a pitcher. Chill.

I don't know why J insisted that I include the tea. I figure everyone knows how to do this. Right?

The trickiest part of this whole meal is finding good, fresh corn tortillas. At supermarkets that carry them (not our local ones) they are made in NY and are full of preservatives (and they do last forever). Last week I bought a bag of blue corn tortillas at Whole Foods, only to find they were moldy when I got them home -- well before the expiration date! Luckily I was at the Reading Terminal the other day and got a bag from 12th Street Cantina: fresh, local, preservative free. They're slightly heavier than the yellow corn variety and they taste great.