Quick Mango Cucumber Salsa

I was hooked on this mango cucumber salsa the very first time I made it in the 90s. I’m sure I came across it in a woman’s magazine as the internet experience back then involved dialing into AOL and navigating their forums. Mangoes weren’t easy to come by at that time, either, at least not in my area. We’ve served it on chicken and pork chops, but most of the time we eat it as is with the scoop shaped tortilla chips.

Mangoes, for those unfamiliar with them, have an odd shaped pit that clings tenaciously to the flesh of the fruit. The fruit itself is quite slippery. For that reason, I don’t peel the mango before cutting into it. I use a knife with a long thin blade (like a filet knife) to cut as close to the pit as I can.

There will be two good sized pieces of mango to work with, plus a little bit of flesh on either side of the pit. I don’t mess with the fuzzy bits clinging to the pit itself. Cut the side pieces off, trim away the skin and dice. The next step is to score the larger pieces in a checkerboard pattern, then invert the piece to make a mango hedgehog.

I’ll make a couple passes with my knife to “shave” the mango away from the skin.

You don’t need to peel the cucumber if you don’t want to. Cut it in half the long way and use a spoon to scoop the seeds out. You’ll have a cucumber “boat” (which can be filled with good things, but that’s another post 😉 ). Cut the boat into strips and cut the strips into a small dice about the same size as the mango.

The rest of the mango cucumber salsa comes together quite easily after the mango has been diced. You should be able to find the ingredients year round, although the price of the mango will vary depending on the season.

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small mangoes, pitted and diced into small cubes
• 1 small cucumber or half a large one, diced (my store had the pickling cukes that day so I took what I could get)
• 1/2 a large onion, diced
• 1 jalapeño or serrano pepper, seeded and diced fine
• 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 1 lime, juiced
• dash chili powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. As you prepare the mango, cucumber, onion, jalapeño and cilantro add them to a medium sized bowl.
2. Squeeze the lime directly into the bowl (I like to use a reamer or citrus press for this).
3. Stir well.
4. Add the chili powder, salt and pepper as desired.
5. You can eat the mango cucumber salsa right away, but it’s better if you put it in the fridge and allow all the flavors to mingle.

I just love the fresh flavors of this salsa. It has been served regularly in our home for over 20 years.