Mango Avocado Tomato Salsa

Finally, the real reason behind the whole blog. The salsa. It came to us in a combination of ways.. there is a lovely restaurant in Salisbury, MD called Cactus Taverna that serves mango slices on top of their entrees and it really adds a great flavor to fish.

We decided that we wanted to try mango on our own fish. Dennis talked to my mom about mango/peach salsa and said he wanted to try to make some at home. So we planned on making the salsa to put on top of some tuna steaks that we got from Target. I know right? Target has a really great grocery section now, in case you didn't know.

Anywho, Dennis asked me to find a recipe for mango salsa, and this is the first one I found. The prep work is time consuming, but once you have finished you just toss all of the ingredients together and let them mellow.

Ingredients

1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced

1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced

4 medium tomatoes, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1/4 cup chopped red onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

Combine the mango, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic in a medium bowl. I have a slap-chop type device that I use to dice all of the ingredients. It seems to work well and it is a lot easier than cutting everything with a knife.

We bought 2 of everything so that we could try the recipe twice. The second batch was better because everything was a lot riper so I would recommend buying your ingredients a few days in advance.

We used jarred jalapenos & jarred minced garlic for the recipe but you could try to get them fresh. We just kind of eyeballed it as far as the amounts go, but it ended up being about 8-10 jalapeno slices and 2.5 teaspoons of minced garlic.

Stir in the salt, lime juice, red onion, and olive oil. Just FYI - one large lime will give you 2 tablespoons of juice, but if the limes are on the small side I would get 2. To blend the flavors, refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.

We grilled the tuna steaks and did some boil-in-a-bag white rice, then put a scoop of salsa on the plate. The meal was perfect.

This tastes amazing the day after you make it. We had it stored in a mixing bowl with a lid, but the lid isn't 100% airtight and when I opened the fridge the next morning, the amazing aroma hit me in the face like a 2x4. I was getting creamer for my coffee and I started wondering if salsa would be good for breakfast! I ate it later in the day with tortilla chips and it was excellent.

The second time we made the recipe, we doubled the mango and it was still amazing. I had salmon and Dennis had chicken, and they both went very well with the salsa.

Here is the original link from AllRecipes.com.

Chicken Teriyaki, Yellow Rice, & Cheesy Broccoli

This meal was made back in March after Dennis & I first started dating. We were so proud we sent pictures to his mom, which is the only reason I have such an old meal documented.

It was really simple to make. I think the hardest part is probably timing everything.

The chicken (from what I remember, this was March 2008!) is just a chicken breast, basted with Ken's Steak House Teriyaki sauce. We have some KSH Honey Teriyaki sauce in the fridge right now, so I'm not sure whether we used that or plain teriyaki sauce, but I'm sure either one works.

The rice is also easy enough - yellow rice called "Vigo." We are partial to Success Rice, the boil-in-a-bag kind, so making rice the regular way is annoying now because it always seems to stick to the bottom of the pot. Someday I will find a way to fix this, but not today! The yellow rice packet suggests adding a chicken bullion cube to the boiling water for flavor, which we do, and it makes it very flavorful indeed.

The cheesy broccoli comes from Dennis' mom's recipe. I usually throw some broccoli in a pot with a half-inch of water, put the lid on, and then just check on it occasionally. When it starts to look really bright green, I take a little piece out and taste it. When it has the right consistency, I take it out. I should probably start timing this process, but that would take out the spontaneity factor!!

The cheesy sauce is made of Velveeta, butter, flour, & milk.

1 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

Mix ingredients, warm in a pot on the stove, and then add the cheese. I asked Dennis, "How much cheese?" & he said, "As much as it takes..." So basically, to your own taste. Just stir continuously & add slices of cheese slowly until it reaches the consistency that you like.

Voila! Again, the timing can be difficult but it helps if you have an extra pair of hands in the kitchen. I have to thank Dennis for this one as it was his idea & we have had it many times since.

House of Tsang Hunan Smokehut Spicy Grill Sauce

Dennis & I collaborated on burgers last night... and by that I mean, he pattied them and I cooked them on the grill (only my 2nd time cooking on the grill!). We seasoned them with Emeril's Original Essence and the sauce in the title of my post.

Dennis happened upon this sauce in the International section at the grocery store. We have gotten some teriyaki sauce by House of Tsang & thought it was great, so when Dennis saw this grill sauce it caught his eye. We tried it on some burgers and bratwursts for the first time a few weeks ago and it was fantastic! I usually load up my burgers and hot dogs with condiments, but with this grill sauce you really don't need much else. So far we have just put the sauce on the burgers with a basting brush, but there is a way to mix it into the meat before you patty it that Dennis is waiting to try out.

Last night we basted the burgers with the grill sauce and topped them with provolone cheese. Dennis added some Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue sauce and I decided to add to the spice and put some jalapenos on mine. It was superb!

We have also used the grill sauce on the burgers with a little Marzetti gorgonzola cheese dressing on top. It was simply magical. For those of you who aren't familiar, this gorgonzola dressing is similar to Bleu Cheese dressing and it has little chunks of cheese in it. It makes for a lovely combination.

What you should take away from this post is that House of Tsang Hunan Smokehut Spicy Grill Sauce is a mouthful to say, but... (forgive me in advance for this terrible pun) it is also a mouthful of FLAVOR!!!! Seriously though, if you are looking for a grill sauce with a kick, give it a try. Or come over for dinner at our place some night and we'll let you try before you buy. :)