Spicy Cucumber Mango Ginger Salad
I Blame Misfits Market
At some point during quarantine my friend Trish convinced me to try Misfits Market, a subscription box services that delivers organic produce at a discount by sourcing the sometimes funny looking grocery store rejected fruits and veggies. The basic box is $22 and she had a promo code for me to get 25% off. So I figured, best case scenario I fall in love with this service and the idea of getting my produce delivered to me. Worst case scenario, I get a box of produce delivered to me for under twenty bucks and cancel.
Organic produce subscription box from Misfits Market sits on porch
Well, three or four weeks in, I have not cancelled. I’m actually really loving Misfits. Being the sceptic that I am, I was surprised at the quality of the produce. I’ve enjoyed receiving perfectly ripe avocados that still have a few days on them and I have been especially surprised by the sweet ripened, Ataulfo and Kent mangoes I’ve received!
If you’re curious about trying Misfits Market, use this code and get 25% off your first box: COOKWME-CK7XFP
Too many cucumbers!
Here’s the other problem that led to this delicious salad. Around the same time that we began receiving our subscription produce, my in-laws began to harvest the veggies in their garden. Before we knew it, we had a vegetable drawer filled with subscription and garden cucumbers. Til this day, as I type, we have a crazy amount of cucumbers. Needless to say, we’ve been enjoying a bounty of cucumber salads and I really need to get to pickling asap.
Padma Lakshmi’s Taste the Nation
This part is major. Have you seen Padma Lakshmi’s new show on Hulu? In Taste the Nation, Padma Lakshmi, takes audiences on a journey across America, exploring the rich and diverse food culture of various immigrant groups, seeking out the people who have so heavily shaped what American food is today. I highly recommend it.
So if you know me well you know what I did. I watched it completely out of order and let my interests drive how I experienced the show. I started with the Thai episode (Episode 9: The Pad Thai Gamble) and one of the best quotes came from Chef Dan Coughlin of Le Thai in Las Vegas:
I talk to friends all the time, like when they’re asking to cook at home and stuff. Put like a spoon of fish sauce, a spoon of sugar, and a spoon of lemon or lime. Mix that up, see what it taste like, and then go from there. You take one of those components out and they wouldn’t eat it. It wouldn’t taste right.
Given my own interest in the flavors of Thai cooking, I immediately knew what he was talking about and it’s really this simple philosophy of how to use these three ingredients that led to my Spicy Cucumber Mango Ginger Salad. Ingredient Finder
Ingredient Finder
Spicy Cucumber Mango Ginger Salad
Ingredients:
- 2 mangos
- 1 large cucumber
- 1 shallot
- 2 tsp grated ginger
- 1/2 cup of mint leaves
- 1/4 cup of cilantro leaves
- 1/2 tsp black sesame seeds (optional)
- 1/2 tsp white sesame seeds (optional)
- 4 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tbsp of sesame oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions:
- Start with the dressing. In a large bowl, whisk fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, and red pepper flakes.
- Slowly drizzle in sesame oil while whisking. Set dressing aside.
- Chop cucumber, mango, and shallot into long thing strips (julienne style).
- Toss chopped cucumber, mango, and shallots into your large bowl with dressing.
- Toss in ginger, mint, and cilantro.
- Plate and top with black and white sesame seeds (optional)