Avocado Mango Cashew Salad
Serves 2-3
My riff of my favorite salad from my now-defunct favorite Thai restaurant. Rice Avenue is long gone but their luscious melange of ripe mango and avocado bathed in sweet lime dressing and dusted with a nutty, toasty touch of roasted rice powder is going on strong. This salad tastes like summer no matter what time of year you serve it.
Tip: Slicing a ripe mango is best done with a thin, slightly flexible but very sharp serrated knife. Place knife about 3/4 of an inch from the nubby “stem” and balance the other end of the mango on a cutting board. The idea is to cut alongside the flat wide seed of the mango (that runs almost the whole length of the fruit) and cut off a large a slab of mango as possible while avoiding the seed. Using a gentle sawing motion cut through the mango flesh; if you encounter resistance you’re probably cutting into the seed. No worries, just shift your knife slightly and continue slicing until you’ve removed one side of the mango.
Continue with the other side for another mango half. Then trim around the exposed seed to remove remaining flesh and remove skin (but not from the halves). For diced mango, run the tip of the knife in strips about 1/4 inch apart through one of the mango halves, taking care not to cut through the skin. Then slice parallel lines the same width apart making a grid across the mango. Now for the magic trick: grab the opposite edges of the mango half and push the skin underneath. You should now have lots of perfect little mango cubes that can be gently peeled or sliced away from the skin. Repeat with the remaining side, and dice those little side strips into cubes. Now suck on the juicy mango pit, you’ve earned it.
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar or well-packed grated palm sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Big pinch ground white pepper
1 ripe avocado
1 ripe mango
1 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
1 tablespoon chopped mint leaves
1 small hot green chile, finely minced (optional)
1/4 cup chopped roasted cashews
1 tablespoon Roasted Rice Powder (see recipe in Recipe Index)
1. In a large mixing bowl whisk together lime juice, palm sugar, salt, and white pepper. Slice avocado in half, remove the pit, and dice the avocado flesh. Peel and dice mango and avocado and add to the bowl, then add the diced red onion, cilantro leaves, chopped mint, green hot chile, and chopped roasted cashews.
2. Use a wide rubber spatula to thoroughly stir the salad, making sure all the avocado and mango is coated in the lime dressing. Mound the salad onto a serving platter and sprinkle with roasted rice powder. Serve and eat this salad as soon as possible!
