01-02-2012

Very versatile mango salsa

Happy New Year’s!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas & New Year’s and has made it through day 2 of their New Year’s resolutions.

I’m guessing I am not the only one hoping to eat more healthy this year, so I want to share a tasty fruit salsa we had during our trip to Nebraska over Thanksgiving. This salsa is spicy, sweet, and addictive. Which is perfect when watching yet another, BCS BOWL GAME! Unfortunately, the Huskers lost today but it was a lot of fun to try to cheer them on.

The good news about this recipe is that it is very versatile so feel free to substitute with what is in your crisper. This recipe is actually a variation of the original because my cousins got creative with what was in their kitchen.

NOTE: If you have a garden still going you might have some cilantro fresh on hand and hopefully a local farmer will have onions available. For future reference later this year…You can freeze peppers for 2 to 3 months and they’ll still provide a kick. So this October/November when you experience WAY TOO MANY peppers on hand, put some in a freezer bag for later use. A good way to have herbs always on hand is to harvest continually during the growing season and preserve by placing chopped herbs in ice cube trays and adding water on top. Once frozen, place cubes into Ziploc bags.

Mango Fruit Salsa

Ingredients

1 medium sized mango
1 small can crushed pineapple
1 medium sized apple
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 jalapenos
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
2-3 tbsp fresh lime juice
1-2 tbsp olive oil
dash of kosher salt

Recipe

After peeling the mango, apple, and onion, roughly chop and dice them along with the jalapenos and cilantro. Place all items except for salt in a food processor and chop until desired consistency is reached. This can be as chopped/pureed as you would like. Season with just a dash of kosher salt if desired.

Now, what made this fruit salsa especially great were the cinnamon sugar chips we had with it! I unfortunately do not have a picture but here is a recipe. And beware, you’ll eat a ton of these just as soon as they come out of the oven so definitely buy more tortilla shells than you think you’ll use!

Cinnamon Sugar Tortilla Chips

Ingredients
24 ounce bag flour tortillas
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 – 2 tbsp ground cinnamon

Note: The ratio of sugar to cinnamon is a suggestion. Add/Decrease each amount to what suits your taste.

Recipe
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a microwavable bowl and in a separate bowl stir together the cinnamon and sugar.

Brush melted butter over one side of a tortilla and then generously sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cut into 8 pieces and place on an unlined cookie sheet. Continue the above process with additional tortilla shells until cookie sheet is filled.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 – 15 minutes or until crispy and lightly golden.

Happy Football Watching & Happy New Year’s!

Jessica

PS…And can I just say how lucky & blessed I am to be able to call my husband’s cousins my own and so thankful for how welcoming they’ve been to me through the years. Love ya’ll!