mango and avocado summer salad

Blame it on August's unforgiving heat for my cravings of all things juicy and sweet, but lately nothing has sounded more delightful and refreshing than fresh mango.

Mango is my favorite fruit, by from-here-to-Africa far. Impossibly, I didn't try mango until the old, old age of 23! I visited a friend and her family in Waikiki several summers back (ROUGH life, I know). Every afternoon, we'd return from the beach sun and water-logged, and my friend's Mom would hand us a mango straight from the mango tree in their front yard, cut and seeded. (Scouts honor, I didn't make that up! That really happens in Hawaii!) Ever since then, I've been hooked like fish on bait.

As much as I love mango, it's the only fruit that comes to mind that I have no clue whatsoever how to handle. How do you get rid of the skin? And maneuver the giant pit? And how, oh how, pray tell, do you cut it?!

Fortunately, I have Chef Boyfriend, who is a spectacular mango cutter. Pair my love of mango with Chef Boyfriend's love of avocado, and you have yourself a summer salad in the making. Tuesday night we joined forces for dinner, and by that I mean, I brought him a mango and an avocado, and he made me dinner. Voila!

I challenged myself to live off the contents of my fridge and $10 this work week, from Monday-Friday afternoon. Fortunately, I had a mango, avocado and red onion from last week's Green Grocer box, making this an easy meal to keep within my cheap to free range! (Check back here on Friday to see if I survived the week!)

Zan paired our mango and avocado salad with roasted pork loin and okra. We opened a bottle of Chardonnay, and dinner was served.

This salad is refreshing, beautiful and inexpensive. If you can manage cutting the mango, the rest is simple enough for non-cooks and refreshing enough to make those hot summer nights bearable.

From the Food Network:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar


• 1 tablespoon lime juice


• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil


• 2 mangos, cubed


• 2 avocados, cubed


• 1/2 small red onion, diced


• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large serving bowl, whisk together vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in oil. Toss in mangoes, avocado and red onion to coat. Serve immediately.

ps - Anyone want to teach me how to cut a mango?