Friday, July 23, 2010

Mango and Lychee Salad

By Kathryn Washburn Breighner
  
A huge birthday box of mangos and lychees arrived from Dave this week--picked in his yard. And we had our Thursday dinner potluck and I guessed that no one else would be bringing anything with mangos and lychees. I was right. And this was a hit!

This salad evolved as I was preparing it. I began with cutting 3 mangos into 1" chunks. Next came peeling a handful of lychees and cutting into small chunks.

But what next? I need to balance the color, textures, and flavors so I went to the garden and came back with a small red and yellow onion. Those were chopped and added to the fruit.

It still needed more. Two small cucumbers were chopped and added. The cukes were the finishing touch as far as color, crunch and flavor.  I didn't have a red pepper--that would have been perfect.

Next came the dressing: I tossed it with sherry vinegar and olive oil, about 3 T vinegar and 1/3 olive oil.  I added salt, pepper and some hot Serbian paprika for a bit of heat.  It was still missing something. So back to the garden for a huge handful of cilantro. Perfect! 

3 mangos, chopped into 1" pieces
6 lychees nuts, cut in 1/2 (or use canned lychees, or just skip the lychees)
1 small red onion, chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 small or 1 medium cuke cut into chunks
3 T sherry vinegar
1/3 c olive oil
salt  and pepper
a dash of something for heat: Penzey's black and red, hot paprika, cayenne
3 T chopped fresh cilantro