AmSub Grub! Tropical Flavors

One of the things I had been looking forward to in Florida was lighter food. Even though I make salads for supper several days a week at home in England, we still have a couple of meals where comfort food seems to rule. When it is cold and wet outside, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire puddings, and homemade baked goods seem to make it more bearable.

I learned some great new recipes from a friend of mine while she visited us on the island. I hope to repeat them at home if it ever stops raining or I am just a bit homesick for Florida!

One of the great things about these recipes is how easy they are. My friend R who spotted the injured hawk, not only shared them, but prepared them for us during her visit. Now for those of you who know R, she has not been known for her culinary skills. She works multiple jobs, has long hours, and racks up a ton of miles driving all around Florida in the aid of sick and injured sea turtles. Convenience used to be the most important factor, so fast food drive throughs would win out over home cooked meals. They would for most of us when driving 10+ hours in a day. Knowing even someone with that kind of schedule can make great tasting and healthy food gives hope to us all!

Our supper consisted of chicken with citrus and avocado salsa and mango salsa with whole grain tortilla chips for "dessert". Now we didn't have exactly what the recipes called for, but it didn't matter, they still tasted great.

She started by making the mango salsa and enlisted me to assist with some of the chopping. I think she said the recipe came from simply food, but I am not positive. We chopped everything and let it sit in the bowl for the flavors to combine while we were out on our bikes.

After the bike ride, I made some brown rice while R poached some chicken and did some more chopping and dinner was served! So easy, I could even handle it on vacation.

MANGO SALSA RECIPE:

One ripe mango
Tomato
(we used some plum tomatoes, but
what ever you have in your garden
would work I'm sure)
Cucumber
Onion
(we used a but of vidalia onion I had
in the fridge but I think the recipe
called for red onion)
Cilantro
(fresh coriander for my English
friends!)

Chop all the ingredients into a small dice. Remember you will be scooping it out with tortilla chips, so small is good in this case. I would add nearly equal amounts tomato to mango. The other flavors are up to you. If you like onion add lots, if you hate onion, skip it!

We didn't have any fresh cilantro on hand and the island grocery store was out as well, but it tasted fine. I loved the mango salsa but my husband found it a bit sweet (English taste buds). I thought adding some jalapeño peppers might add a nice contrast of heat to the other flavors. I'll let you know how it turns out!

CHICKEN WITH CITRUS AVOCADO SALSA:

1 grapefruit section and chopped
1 avocado chopped

Serve over chicken

I have attached a photo of the original recipe out of an old issue prevention magazine, one of those walking fit guides you find at the checkout. We once again did not follow the recipe exactly. That is the great thing about good foods, you can adapt to fit your situation, and as long as you have the basics it's pretty good.

We served over brown rice instead of salad as we had eaten salad several days in a row earlier that week. We also did not have fresh basil. The island grocery store had it, we just forgot to buy it (I think some chocolate took presidence lol). This would be great just with salad or rice as a vegetarian meal. Or try it with grilled chicken or fish.

A tip: I would always cut the grapefruit first for 2 reasons, first it takes more time, second the citric acid (grapefruit juice) prevents your avocado from going brown.