Tasty mango treats

  Mango Garden Salad  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 head hydroponically grown (on Guam!) head of lettuce (butter, red oak leaf, etc.)
• 2 mangos, peeled and sliced into one-inch pieces
• 1 cucumber, sliced

DIRECTIONS:
Wash and distribute lettuce into four individual salad bowls. Top with cucumber and mango slices. Serve with your favorite dressing or keep it local and try Calamansi Poppy Seed Vinaigrette.

Consider incorporating local foods into your dinner parties. Your guests with appreciate the extra flavor, and you’ll get some new recipes under your belt!

  Calamansi Poppy Seed Vinaigrette  

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 tablespoons fresh-squeezed calamansi juice (about 4 or 5)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup coconut or olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Combine ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together. Drizzle the orangey goodness over a bed of locally grown lettuce, mango and cucumber for a delicious side salad. Add a piece of seared fresh ahi tuna on top and you’ve got dinner.

My next venture was a simple substitution of calamansi for lemon juice in one of my favorite dinner sides.

  Ginger Mango Salsa  

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 large ripe local avocado, diced
• 2 sweet orange mangoes, diced
• juice of 4 calamansi, or 1 lime
• 1 tbsp minced red onion
• 1-3 boonie peppers, seeded & minced
• salt and pepper
• ginger (grated or fresh)
• cilantro (optional)

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, season the diced avocado with salt and calamansi (or lime) juice. Lightly toss in the mangoes, onion, peppers. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and ground ginger (or a 1” piece of minced fresh ginger). Add chopped cilantro (if desired – I can’t get it to grow here so mine isn’t local). Serve as an appetizer with plantain chips or as a topping for fresh fish.

  Green Mango Salad - Island style  

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups of shredded local green mango
• 2 cloves of peeled garlic (or to taste)
• 2 fresh donne’ sali (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 locally grown cherry tomatoes (quartered)
• juice of ½ (medium sized) Guam lime (or to taste)
• 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup fresh local green string beans in 1 inch segments

DIRECTIONS:
Pour sugar into a mortar of sufficient size. Add the donne’ sali and garlic cloves into the sugar. Lightly pound the sugar, garlic and pepper with the pestle until they form a rough paste. In a bowl, combine the sliced string beans, shredded mango, sliced cherry tomatoes, and the sugar, garlic, and donne’ paste together. Add the juice of half a lime and the fish sauce. Mix the ingredients well so the sugar crystals dissolve. Taste and adjust to your liking. The key is to balance the sweet element with the salty element (sugar and fish sauce), as well as retaining the perfect blend of hot and sour elements (donne’ and lime juice). Plate up and garnish as you like, then serve immediately.

This is a local twist to a classic SE Asian dish, showcasing Guam’s seasonally ubiquitous green mangoes.

Source: Chris Leon Guerrero. Photo Source: InstantDaneTV