This recipe for me was a really fun one! Just look at the
vibrancy and the great mix of colours in that bowl – this mango and avocado
salsa just screams joy, fun and laughter. But then again for me, so does
Mexican food in general.
In this country most people’s first experiences of Mexican food
come in the form of an Old El Paso fajita kit, (or perhaps these days it’s a
Discovery pack or your Supermarket’s own brand version...)
When I was growing up Mexican food was really just starting
to take off in this country. Old El Paso was seen as a real treat. It was
exciting, fun, and all the family could get involved by building their own fajita/taco
etc.
We still buy these kits every now and then and ‘fajita night’
is a much loved night in my house. It’s all about getting stuck in, getting a
little bit messy and tailoring your food to your mood. Some day’s I’m feeling
extra spicy and add mounds of jalapenos. Other day’s I want something creamy
and velvety and pile on the sour cream and refried beans.
While there’s nothing wrong with using these kits. It’s
really easy to do your own Mexican food at home – without taking these little
short cuts. In my second year at university, some friends and I decided to do a
“Come Dine with Me” style cooking competition. The idea was that we were all
skint and wanted some cheap indoor entertainment. I decided that I wanted to do
a Mexican Night. I had a bottle of margarita mix left over from god knows when,
and the essential like a pack of chicken, wraps and sour cream could all be
brought pretty cheaply. As it was a cookery competition I decided to steer away
from the packet mixes and spent hours analysing the back of “fajita spice”
packets before raiding my own spice cupboard to come up with my own
personalised fajita spice blend.
That spice blend saw me win our little competition (though
no prizes unfortunately) and set me up for fajita nights to come!
If you don’t feel like going to the extreme of developing
your own spice blend, I don’t blame you! BUT there are other ways you can jazz
up a Mexican meal without resorting to packets.
Take the jars of salsa for example. Travel to Mexico and I
promise you the slop we buy in a jar that seeps a greyish-red liquid is NOT
salsa. In fact they have hundreds of different salsas...none of which look like
that!
SO, I propose you make your own salsa to serve alongside tacos,
fajitas, enchiladas, or even just a delicious bit of steak as I did here. (But
that’s for another day!)
I think the key to making a good salsa is to go for the key
colour groups – green, red and yellow.
For example -
Green: coriander (cilantro),
lime, avocado, green pepper, jalapenos
Red: tomatoes
(fresh not tinned/canned), red pepper, red onion, watermelon, grapefruit,
chilli peppers
Yellow: yellow
pepper, sweetcorn, lemon, mango
You can mix and match any of these ingredients to make a fab
Mexican inspired salsa! One thing I must say, when choosing ingredients from
the colour groups above; don’t be afraid to add in fruit. The juice of lemons
and limes is an obvious choice to give the salsa a bit of zing, but chunks of
watermelon, grapefruit and mango all bring another flavour dimension and
texture to the salsa.
I think this salsa works well for that exact reason. Not
only does it include fresh mango, but also avocado which adds a creamy texture
to the salsa and balances out the sharp lime juice.
