Sunday, August 05, 2007

Grilled Pork Chop with Mango and Black Bean Salad


It seems every summer there are fruits and vegetables that disappoint me. This year it is mangos. They are one of my favorite fruits and I cannot wait for them to come in season. Sweet and juicy, with a sharp little bite at the back of the tongue, they are the perfect complement to black beans, avocados, corn, and more. They are also good with Vanilla Yogurt, or cut up in a bowl with some chili powder and lime juice. And they are delicious all by themselves.

The mangos I have bought this year taste the way mangos should, but they have been super stringy - so stringy that I can barely cut through the flesh. This past week I bought one last pair of test mangos. If they were stringy, I decided, I wasn't going to buy any more this season.

Alas, each was just one big mass of stringy pulp. But it wasn't a total loss. Even stringy, I was able to get enough flesh off of them to make a salad with black beans and tomatoes, which paired beautifully with my George Foreman grilled pork chops.

Will I stick to my decision not to buy any more mangos this season? Probably not. There's always tomorrow . . .
Mango and Black Bean Salad

1 Mango, peeled and diced
1 avocado, peeled and diced
1 medium or 2 small tomatoes, diced
1/4 red onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresh serrano or jalapeno pepper, minced
1 14.5-oz. can black beans, drained
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

juice of 1 lime
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine first eight ingredients in medium size bowl. In smaller bowl or jar, combine oil, lime juice, honey, cumin, salt and pepper and whisk briskly. Pour over salad and mix gently.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...