Mango Salsa

(Ellie Krieger at foodnetwork.com)

1 mango, peeled and diced (there’s a secret to doing this that I’ll share in a minute)

1/2 c peeled, diced cucumber (about 1/2” dice)

1 T finely chopped jalapeno

1/3 c diced red onion

1 T lime juice

1/3 c roughly chopped cilantro leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine everything but the salt and pepper and mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

It seems like peeling and dicing a mango should be easy, but there’s a big, flat, pesky seed in the middle that complicates things. Here are directions from mango.com.

Start by washing the mango, then stand it on your cutting board stem end down and hold on to it. Place your knife about ¼” from the widest center line and cut down through the mango. Flip the mango around and repeat on the other side. You should have two side pieces with no seed and one center piece that is mostly seed. Cut parallel lines about 1/2” apart (or however you want your pieces to be) into the flesh of one side, being careful not to cut through the skin. Turn it around a quarter of the way and cut another set of lines about 1/2” apart to make a checkerboard pattern. To release it from the skin, either use a large spoon to scoop it out (like you would an avocado), or turn the piece inside out by pushing the skin up from underneath and scrape the mango off the skin with a knife or large skin. Do the same thing with the other side piece.

Laurel's Coleslaw

(based on a recipe in Laurel’s Kitchen, by Laurel Robertson, et al, 1976)

1/2 head cabbage, red and/or green, finely shredded, about 1-1/2 pounds

1/4 c mayo

1/4 c lemon juice or vinegar

Salt to taste

Toss everything in a big bowl. It’s only half a head, so it should make about six cups of coleslaw.

Variations (don’t use more than one or two added ingredients at a time):

Dill weed

Tarragon

Caraway seeds

Poppy seeds

Celery seeds (that’s my addition – she doesn’t mention them)

Toasted sunflower seeds

Chopped walnuts

Slivered almonds

Raisins

Dates

Chopped dried apricots

Fresh pineapple chunks

Fresh orange chunks

Grated apple

Cardamom (if you’re adding fruit)

Green beans, cooked

Grated carrots

Corn (she says cooked, but I think it’s even better raw off the cob)

Minced green pepper (red pepper would be even more colorful)

Chopped celery

Minced parsley

Shoestring beets, cooked (in which case I think you’d end up with oddly colored salad)

Onion (again, she doesn’t mention this, but I think it’s good)

Buttermilk instead of some or all of the mayo

Coleslaw

(closely based on a recipe in 500 Low-Carb Recipes, by Dana Carpender, 2002)

1 head green cabbage, finely shredded (about 3 pounds)

1/4 sweet red onion, finely minced (about 1/2 cup or 2 ounces)

Coleslaw Dressing:

1/2 c mayo

1/2 c sour cream

1 to 1-1/2 T apple cider vinegar

1 to 1-1/2 t prepared mustard

1/2 to 1 t salt

1 to 2 t sugar (or 1/2 to 1 packet artificial sweetener)

Mix the dressing in a small bowl. Combine the cabbage and onion in a big bowl, pour on some of the dressing, and toss well. You may want to use all of the dressing, or you may not. Or you may want to use more, in which case you’ll need to make another batch of the dressing. In any case, it’s a lot easier to add more dressing than to take some back if there’s too much.