Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint

So when one has a large backlog of recipes to post about, does it make sense to start with the most recent (that I remember the best) or the oldest (that have been waiting for me long enough)? Please comment if you have an opinion!

Anyways, to get things rolling, this is a recipe I made just the other day. Since it's summer, I'm trying to take advantage of all the yummy fruits and vegetables that are in season right now. This recipe fits that criteria pretty well, and it has minimal unhealthy ingredients so I can pretty much eat my fill of it!

Mango Slaw with Cashews and Mint
from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 mangoes, peeled, pitted and julienned
• 1/2 lb Napa cabbage, sliced thinly
• 1/2 red pepper, julienned
• 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 T fresh lime juice, about one lime
• 2 T rice vinegar
• 2 T neutral tasting oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 T thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
• 1/4 c toasted cashews, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Toss mangoes, cabbage, pepper and onion in a large bowl.
2. Whisk lime juice, vinegar, oil, and salt in a smaller bowl.
3. Toss cabbage mixture with mint leaves, cashews, and dressing immediately before serving.

Comments & Modifications:

• The original recipe called for crushed red pepper. I'm usually okay with spicy things, but couldn't quite see how it would fit in here, so I left it out.
• Lacking the motivation to harvest fresh mint leaves from my plant, I used a couple of big pinches of dried crumbled mint. A different flavor, I'm sure, but it was still delicious.
• If I could figure out how to get the flavor of the red onion without the lingering onion breath, I'd make this again right away.
  

Verdict: The mango was a bit of a pain, but this salad was worth it! I ate this for lunch two days in a row and found it pretty filling. Food like this makes me love summer so much.

Summer Squash and Corn Chowder

I guess enough people have nagged me about posting in my blog that it's time to get back to it. :)

Also, I needed to get this recipe recorded somewhere before I lost the photocopy! My lovely friend at work let me copy the recipe out of her magazine, after she made it and brought some in for me to try, and we both loved it. I did make a number of changes to simplify the steps even further; the recipe below includes my modifications.

Summer Squash and Corn Chowder
adapted from Cooking Light magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 slices bacon, diced
  
• 1/2 c sliced green onions or diced onion
• 1/4 c chopped celery
• 1 lb summer squash or zucchini, about two medium, thinly sliced
• 1 lb frozen corn kernels
• 1 1/2 c to 2 1/4 c milk, divided
• 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/4 to 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 c sliced green onions for garnish, optional
  

Directions:

1. Saute bacon in medium pot until crisp. Remove from pan, leaving some or all of the drippings.
2. Add onions, celery, and squash to pot and saute until tender, about 8 minutes. Place vegetables in bowl off heat and set aside.
3. Put about 1 cup of corn in the bowl with the other vegetables; add remaining corn to pot along with the milk. Process corn and milk with immersion blender until smooth.
4. Add thyme, salt, pepper, and reserved vegetables to pot. Add water if additional liquid is necessary. Cook over medium heat until heated through.
5. Garnish with crumbled bacon and green onions.

Comments & Modifications:

• Although I love green onions, I had two smallish yellow onions that were on the verge of nastiness so I used them instead.
• Oops! Forgot to buy celery. It was fine without.
• Oops again! I only had 1 1/2 cups of milk in the fridge, so I made up the rest with water. The pureed corn is so creamy, though, that I hardly noticed the difference.

Verdict: Dan said: "This is really good!" Pretty high praise for something so healthy and simple to put together! This soup tastes like summer to me; I suspect we'll see it again soon.